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Boris - Rubber Gloves Rehersal Studios - April 26, 2013

Take a little walk to the edge of town, and go across the tracks. Rather than a viaduct looming, there you will find the incomparable Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studios. Described on its website as an "industrial dive bar", I take this to mean that the quantities of dive involved in the construction of ... More >>

Okay, Illegal Downloads Probably Are Hurting The Music Industry

This would have surprised me no matter who had turned it up, but there was a special irony in learning that illegal music downloads "aren't hurting the music industry" from a beleaguered print magazine's free-news arm: Illegal downloads aren't hurting the music industry, new study claims | ti.me/10 ... More >>

Señor Fin Hopes to Bridge Denton's Rock and Jazz Scenes

Denton has been known for harboring the type of house shows that keep our youthful hope alive. That was exactly the case with a little house on Bernard Street this past January, when Denton's jazzy, experimental rock quintet Señor Fin threw a house show for the release of their debut full-length, U ... More >>

Billboard Now Counts YouTube Plays, so "Harlem Shake" is Number One

"Harlem Shake" is the No. 1 song in the United States of America this week, which means that now is your chance to listen to more than fifteen seconds of it. Baauer's meme soundtrack is the beneficiary of a Billboard rule change--YouTube views have been added to the Hot 100 calculations, joining phy ... More >>

Chubby Checker Sues HP For Penis-Measuring App, The Right To Appear In This Blog Entry

Look, I told my editor, over the weekend: This Chubby Checker penis-measuring story is the blog post I was born to write. (This is not something I was excited to learn about myself.) I own and until recently used an HP Pre 3, which is a Palm WebOS phone that did not actually come out--the fastest ph ... More >>

House of Cards' Netflix Bow is Just Another Way for Pop Culture to Pretend it Unnerves Us

It's been nice to watch TV--fresh off House of Cards's Netflix premier--deal with the same questions people have been addressing about music since Napster or iTunes or Spotify, depending on which iteration of the issue you remember best. Specifically: Now that Netflix can create programming based on ... More >>

Why EDM Is Thriving While Other Genres Are Sinking

DJs are the new rock stars? Maybe. (Although chefs are already the new rock stars.) Still, the big name DJs do seem to be living pretty large, what with the constant travel to exotic locations, goofily-clad fans, eager women, drugs and parties. Just swap MacBooks for guitars and it doesn't look so d ... More >>

Holy Ship!! Wrap-Up: It Was the Best of Times....

There were a lot of grim faces on Monday morning as the electro-loving masses emerged off the MSC Poesia -- a.k.a. the EDM party boat Holy Ship!! -- and did a slow zombie shuffle through U.S. customs and back into the real world (a.k.a. Fort Lauderdale). Here in the industrial port, the sky was over ... More >>

Spotify and the Future of the Independent Artist

Spotify and the Future of the Independent Artist

On August 31, Todd Gautreau, the brains behind excellent area dream-pop act Crushed Stars, took to the band's Facebook page to sound off on a topic that's turned into a national debate among artists, record labels, music consumers and various streaming services, specifically and most notably Spotify ... More >>

Get To Know Your 2012 DOMA Nominees: Vanessa Peters

Leading up to our November 10 showcase, we'll be getting you familiar with some of our Dallas Observer Music Awards nominees, either via past features we've done on them, or new ones. You can vote for your favorite acts, venues and more right here. This piece originally appeared on October 3. The ... More >>

ACL 2012: Friday's 12 Best and Funniest Moments at Zilker

In the interest of being tidy and not boring you with minute details of the three-day exercise in sweaty and human endurance underway in Zilker Park this weekend, Rocks Off is giving you a break. Our team on the ground at the Austin City Limits Music Festival -- Brittanie Shey, Craig Hlavaty and Mar ... More >>

Vanessa Peters On Kickstarter, Grizzly Bear and Keeping Her Chin Up

The last ten years have seen singer-songwriter Vanessa Peters roaming the globe, living in Italy, and touring across Europe and the States. That nomadic lifestyle is reflected in her lyrics, like those of "Drowning In Amsterdam," from 2009's Sweetheart, Keep Your Chin Up: "Well it could rain for d ... More >>

Playdough Digs Into Oddisee's People Hear What They See

See also: Bludded Head's Nevada Hill riffs on Harvey Milk We've started poking around in locals' iTunes, iPods, Spotify playlists, CD players, cassette decks, turntables and brains with one question in mind: What are you listening to? We don't even care if it's good, we just want to know what the ... More >>

Nevada Hill Riffs On Harvey Milk's My Love Is Higher...

See also: Smile Smile love the Ronettes See also: Shiny Around the Edges on Death Grips We've started poking around in locals' iTunes, iPods, Spotify playlists, CD players, cassette decks, turntables and brains with one question in mind: What are you listening to? We don't even care if it's goo ... More >>

Smile Smile Are In Love With Foxy Shazam, The Ronettes

See also: T. Tex Edwards on John Fahey, the Hangmen We've started poking around in locals' iTunes, iPods, Spotify playlists, CD players, cassette decks, turntables and brains with one question in mind: What are you listening to? We don't even care if it's good, we just want to know what the music ... More >>

T. Tex Edwards Digs Up John Fahey, The Hangmen

We've started poking around in locals' iTunes, iPods, Spotify playlists, CD players, cassette decks, turntables and brains with one question in mind: What are you listening to? We don't even care if it's good, we just want to know what the music community has been obsessing over, playing on repeat, ... More >>

Waltz Around Our 100 Best Texas Songs

Best Texas Songs of All Time: #19-1

Songs #100-80 Songs #79-60 Songs #59-40 Songs #39-20 The Spotify playlist for songs #19-1 19. Billy Preston, "Nothing From Nothing" Houston pianist Billy Preston got to hang around some decent talent (The Beatles, The Stones), but his solo material went in another direction altogether. This is ... More >>

The Best Texas Songs of All Time: #39-20

Best Texas songs, #100-80 Best Texas songs, #79-60 Best Texas songs, #59-40 The Spotify playlist for songs #39-20 39. Billy Joe Shaver, "Live Forever" "Live Forever" is an emotional experience. The line, "Don't let the darkness take them" is tear-inducing, given that his own son, Eddy, was take ... More >>

The Best Texas Songs of All Time: #59-40

Best Texas songs, #100-80 Best Texas songs, #79-60 The Spotify playlist for songs #59-40 59. Tum Tum, "Caprice Music" For years, the Dallas hip-hop community's had a love affair with the Chevy Caprice Classic. Tum Tum's "Caprice Music" was an ode to that car culture, illustrating the unique trend ... More >>

The Best Texas Songs of All Time: #79-60

Best Texas songs, #100-80 The Spotify playlist for songs #79-60 79. Lift to Experience, "Falling From Cloud 9" From one of the best albums of any North Texas act in recent history, "Falling From Cloud 9" is one of the more accessible songs on 2001's The Texas-Jerusalem Crossroads. It's probably t ... More >>

Girls Rock Dallas' Rachel Michaud Digs the Spazzys

See also: Lauren O'Connor opens the history books for Girls Rock Dallas See also: Shiny Around the Edges on Death Grips, Patti Smith We've started poking around in locals' iTunes, iPods, Spotify playlists, CD players, cassette decks, turntables and brains with one question in mind: What are you l ... More >>

Tony Ferraro On the Soul of David Ruffin

See also: Shiny Around the Edges on Death Grips, Patti Smith See also: Oil Boom on Donnie and Joe Emerson We've started poking around in locals' iTunes, iPods, Spotify playlists, CD players, cassette decks, turntables and brains with one question in mind: What are you listening to? We don't even c ... More >>

Shiny Around the Edges on Death Grips and Patti Smith

See also: Oil Boom on the magic of Donnie and Joe Emerson See also: Vinyl Fantasy's Nathan Johnson on Sunn O))) We've started poking around in locals' iTunes, iPods, Spotify playlists, CD players, cassette decks, turntables and brains with one question in mind: What are you listening to? We don't ... More >>

Oil Boom on the Magic of Donnie and Joe Emerson, Wolf People

See also: Vinyl Fantasy's Nathan Johnson on Sunn O))), Carly Rae Jepsen See also: Dennis Gonzalez on Ramón Ayala We've started poking around in locals' iTunes, iPods, Spotify playlists, CD players, cassette decks, turntables and brains with one question in mind: What are you listening to? We don ... More >>

What Are You Listening To? Dennis Gonzalez Schools Us On Ramón Ayala

We've started poking around in locals' iTunes, iPods, Spotify playlists, CD players, cassette decks, turntables and brains with one question in mind: What are you listening to? We don't even care if it's good, we just want to know what the music community has been obsessing over, playing on repeat, ... More >>

SOPA is Dead, but the Copyright Debate Rages On

And it's happening where it belongs: online.

How Merle Haggard Turned Me On To Bedhead

I was fortunate enough to speak with legend Merle Haggard for this week's print edition of the Observer. Aside from being in awe each time he mentioned Willie Nelson, Lake Shasta (his home for many years, which he refers to in multiple songs) or Johnny Cash, I was particularly struck by our quick di ... More >>

When Hipsters Procreate: Children's Music That Won't Make You Wish You Were Deaf

I don't know how my kid does it. He's heard "ABCs" a thousand times and it's still his number one request. If you have a little one, you know you're going to hear the same song hundreds - no, thousands - of times. If you're particular about the music you listen to, choosing good music to play for yo ... More >>

Area Man Admits to Liking a Marilyn Manson Song, Shames Parents and Former Youth Group

Earlier today, an old friend of mine Tweeted, "Hey Marilyn Manson, 1995 called. They want their Metal Zone back." My friend is a guitar player and was referring to the eardrum-grating guitar pedal used by novice rockers to achieve a sort of '90s rock distortion.He and I come from a similar backgroun ... More >>

Beneath The Dead Eyes: Two Writers Correspond Via Letters About Boy Bands

Welcome to Dear Audra/Dear Hunter, where Audra Schroeder and Hunter Hauk correspond through a series of dramatic letters about pop culture that flummoxes us, like we're Marlene Dietrich and Noël Coward. Dear Audra, I don't know if I can handle it again. I've been seeing headlines to the effect o ... More >>

The 20 Best Madonna Songs You Won't Hear at the Super Bowl

I've paid entirely too much attention to Madonna since the age of six, when I stood in front of a neighbor's TV, captivated by the "Lucky Star" video. And, no matter how annoying and schoolmarmish the artist has become in her 40s and 50s, part of me will always stop and stare when she's in my line o ... More >>

Staff Picks: Top Ten Local and National Albums of 2011

​I'm not one for New Year resolutions, but at the beginning of 2011, I made one I was actually pretty excited about keeping. My goal was to listen to more music this year than any other year before. Thanks to the help of some generous publicists, Spotify and some solid purchases over at Good Recor ... More >>

Best Musical Trends of 2011

OK, Sexy Sax Man. Just 15 more minutes. ​Tell the world, rock is coming home This year saw a wave of rock bands catching up to a new generation. We got Soundgarden touring again, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Blink-182 and even less renowned bands like Urge Overkill and Bush releasing new albums. Aft ... More >>

The Conversation: The Effects of Blog Culture on Music in North Texas

Sachin TengThat's a Gorilla versus a Bear -- get it?​As you can see from the cover story this week, blog culture has undoubtedly changed the face of the North Texas music community. The sheer amount of blogs here in the metroplex is evidence that some feel their favorite artists are not being repr ... More >>

America: Meet Spotify, Europe's Successful Foray Into The Future of Free(ish) Music...

​Americans are understandably wary of sites that offer free music. For the past decade, we've seen site after site go in and out of favor, sometimes quickly. We got excited about Napster back in 2001, but after all the foolishness that ensued in the wake of its demise, we're quick to give the side ... More >>

The Dark, Cloudy Future Of Your Music Collection