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Are you READY for Rocks Off's
Washington Shoreparty this Thursday? If not, this video of Jersey Shore's Snooki
interviewing Phoenix on MTVwill melt your brain. If you read even one Houston-based music Web site, you probably already know that a petition is circulating to show support for the closure of Westheimer as a way to bring back the
Westheimer Street Festival(or Westfest, if ya nastay). Mayor Annise Parker gushed all about her love for The Montrose in a
documentary that aired recently on HoustonPBS, and she supposedly verbally committed to
Free Press Houston's Omar Afra to help bring Westfest back to Houston, so go sign the petition and put the ball in her court. If you live in Houston and you are in a band (or you want to be), and you aren't yet reading
Matthew Wettergreen'sblog, well, yer doin' it wrong. Wettergreen, the mastermind behind
Bandcamp, A DIY school for musicians; and
Caroline Collective, a coworking community, has this week alone published a guide to
Houston's local music pressand a free e-book on
booking your band at Texas venues. And we're not just saying that 'cuz he said nice stuff about us.
Speaking of music blogs, two new ones were brought to MCM's attention this week - at least, two we didn't know about before:
HoustonMusicReview.com, which dubiously boasts to be Houston's best music source since 2001 (Rocks Off begs to differ); and
Unsigned Houston, the latter of which recently featured this
video interviewfrom
Springfield Riots, who have kind words about the Houston music scene. And speaking of video,
Electric Purgatory, the independent film about black rock musicians by Houstonian Raymond Gayle (Rocks Off wrote about it
in November) is now available on DVD from
Microcinema. Oh. Em. Gee. This Hands Up thread about
fake Houston band names with historical significance is HILARIOUS pre-humpday reading.Makes MCM giddy for the cleverness of Houston's music community. The post was inspired by Rocks Off contributor Jef with One F's
query for real bands whose names are based on historical events(see the afore-mentioned Springfield Riots). Anyone want to start The Avondale Hustlers with us? Friend of MCM™ Marc Brubaker has
taken the editorial helmover at Houstonist, and one of his first projects as Gentle Leader is a series called
Ol' Houstonian's Music Emporium, an "attempt to expose local music of which we either weren't aware or hadn't listened to yet, accompanied by a few remarks about said artist." MCM thinks it's awesome. Garage-punk aficionado
Mal Thursdayhas posted a new podcast called "Texas Tyme Machine," featuring music from John Wayne to The 13th Floor Elevators to The Ugly Beats. Download it
here, and subscribe to the podcast while you're at it. Where will you be Saturday night? MCM is going to be at the
Balaclavas CD release partyat the Mink. However, saxaphonist
Matana Roberts'performance for
Nameless Soundthat same night seems like a good Valentine's date. Formspring is this trendy new Web site where you can ask a person any question you want them to answer. No, MCM doesn't get it either. But it is our duty to tell you that
Hollywood FLOSShas an account there. So does
someone else we know. Yay!
B L A C K I E's going on tour! Kickoff starts March 4 at 1816 Calumet. What is it with local bands naming their CDs after upcoming years? You can download an mp3 from
The Rozz Zamorano Group'snew album, 2012, at
JazzTimes Magazine. Hater Magazine links to
H.I.S.D's new song, "Lando", which was Turning the Screw's
Single of the Week. And finally, in celebration of the Saints' Super Bowl win, Chingo Bling is offereing free downloads of his musical query,
"Who Dat?"Have something that should be included in Magnolia City Mixtape? Leave a comment below or email brittanieshey (at) gmail (dot) com.Keep the Houston Press Free... Since we started the Houston Press, it has been defined as the free, independent voice of Houston, and we would like to keep it that way. Offering our readers free access to incisive coverage of local news, food and culture. Producing stories on everything from political scandals to the hottest new bands, with gutsy reporting, stylish writing, and staffers who've won everything from the Society of Professional Journalists' Sigma Delta Chi feature-writing award to the Casey Medal for Meritorious Journalism. But with local journalism's existence under siege and advertising revenue setbacks having a larger impact, it is important now more than ever for us to rally support behind funding our local journalism. You can help by participating in our "I Support" membership program, allowing us to keep covering Houston with no paywalls.
