Bullet the Blue Sky
Last week’s mystery label to be headed by former Misra owner Phil Waldorf now has a name: Dead Oceans, part of the Secretly Canadian/Jagjaguwar family. First on the new label’s agenda are albums from Iran, Dirty Projectors, Bishop Allen, and Evangelicals, who aren’t being pursued by Nettwerk after all but are on the labels’ combined SXSW showcase March 15 at the Mohawk.
First it was Johnny Rotten, now Half Price Books‘ Christopher Jones swears he saw Jimmy Page browsing the store’s North Lamar location last week. “He had the hair, the nose, the chin, the very thick accent, the hip suit, the slight odor of gin,” lists Jones. “If he wasn’t Page, he must have been pretending to be, and pretty convincingly.” Pagey looked at the store’s Aleister Crowley books and mentioned losing some collectibles in Hurricane Katrina. “We recently sold some rare Crowley-related letters online, so my theory is that he came hoping we had more,” Jones says. “We didn’t.”
TCB will be a proud judge at Misprint‘s Beard & Moustache Competition 9pm tonight (Thursday) at Club de Ville, hosted by local comedian Matt Bearden with music from ZZ Top cover band Sharp Dressed Men. Categories include Gnarliest Beard, Sweetest ‘Stache, Fiercest Chops, and a Ladies’ Division. Huh? “It’s open to interpretation,” says Misprint‘s Bryan Keplesky.
Several bands gather Saturday for an afternoonlong, two-stage show to help beleaguered Eastside smokehouse Ben’s Longbranch BBQ get back on its feet. Ralph White, Cavedweller, Midori Umi, the Lonesome Heroes, the Stags, American Graveyard, and many more get going around noon at Ben’s, 900 E. 11th.
This article appears in February 23 • 2007.