Joan As Policewoman, The New Mary Jane, Jessie FryeClub DadaApril 29, 2011Better than: superstars seen from great distance, and police from up close. Sometimes, expectations get exceeded. And, on Friday night at Club Dada, Joan Wasser, who performs under the monikers of Joan as Policewoman, easily exceeded those of her…
Joan Wasser is a multi-instrumentalist who has contributed to the songbooks of some of the more singular artists of the past decade. Among those who have tapped Wasser for her virtuosic work on violin and string arrangements: Rufus Wainwright, Lou Reed, Antony and the Johnsons, Elton John and the Scissor…
The KillsGranada TheaterApril 19, 2011 Better than: sweating in a real sauna. The early evening rain made for a swampy atmosphere at the Granada last night — entirely appropriate for the greasy sonic assault of The Kills, who played to a packed house of ecstatic fans. On a stage made…
Alison Mosshart confesses to being in a very good place at the moment. It’s late March, and, after countless delays, her band The Kills will finally be releasing their fourth full-length, Blood Pressures, on April 1. She couldn’t be more excited. That’s mainly because with every new album there’s an…
Destroyer, The War on DrugsThe LoftMarch 26, 2011Better than: listening to karaoke Wham!, I guess. The bottom line: I wish I had thought to bring a Kindle to read at The Loft on Saturday night — not unlike the guy helping me hold up the column in the middle of…
Broken Social SceneHouse of BluesFebruary 19, 2011Better than: on a night of so many choices, that’s hard to say… This weekend provided music lovers in Dallas with an overload of great options. Commitment to any one performance left the nagging feeling early in the evening that one might have made…
Broken Social Scene is anything but broken. With a roster that casts a wide, if loose, net across the musical landscape of Toronto, band members float into and out of each other’s musical projects like the friends they very genuinely appear to be. A short list of solo and band…
DeerhoofThe LoftFebruary 2, 2011Better than: Ice, ice baby It was a stroke of good luck, aided with a bit of coaxing by Loft promoter Kris Youmans, that got two luminaries to agree to share the bill on Wednesday night at The Loft. And, for fans of more experimental music, the…
In one of the more inspired pairings seen around the region in some time, two musical acts that feature avant-garde approaches will share the stage at one of the more intimate venues Dallas boasts. Opening the evening is Deerhoof, which has evolved their sound from wild noise rock contrasted with…
Guitar shredding used to a males-only club. But Lauren Langner Larson, the blonde pixie guitarist and vocalist of the Austin alt-rock trio Ume (pronounced ooo-may) is working hard to change that. And while she’s joined by equally gifted female artists these days (Marnie Stern and Orianthi come to mind) in…
Girl Talk Saturday, January 15, 2011 The Palladium BallroomBetter than: Listening to a bunch of actual girl talk. Whether you can dance or not, you know you want to. You just need a good excuse and, in some cases, a little lubrication. Saturday night Girl Talk provided the excuse. An…
Is Gregg Gillis, aka Girl Talk, providing a new litmus test for how a performer or band confirms their place in popular music? Based on the reaction from Fort Worth’s own Toadies last November, who were excited to hear their hit “Possum Kingdom” sampled on Gillis’ latest album, the answer…
Kurt Vile & The ViolatorsCity TavernNovember 19, 2010Better than: Revisiting the Nightmare This was sooo much better. Forced to relocate from what would have been a triumphant re-opening of Club DaDa to City Tavern (thank you, ponderous permitting process of our local government), Kurt Vile and the Violators delivered an…
Octopus Project South Side Music HallNovember 18, 2010Better than: Quadrophonic?It was bleeding Octophonic! Or so it was last night, when The Octopus Project treated a couple hundred people to an immersive performance of their new Hexadecagon release.As promised in the promotion for this event, the four-member Austin-based band trucked in…
Pianist/singer Amanda Palmer (or Amanda Fucking Palmer to her fans) is having a great fucking day. It’s the Friday of Halloween weekend—just hours before her final performance as the master of ceremonies in the American Repertory Theater’s acclaimed two-month production of Cabaret in her hometown of Boston. In two days,…
Kurt Vile is a sensational guitarist who spends considerable recording time crafting songs and sounds seemingly designed to obscure that fact. The Philadelphia native has concocted a wildly diverse song book with four album releases during the past three years, all of which demonstrate prodigious skill and a musical palette…
Joanna NewsomGranada TheaterNovember 10, 2010 Better than: listening to Joanna Newsom’s recorded songs. I think it’s fair to say that very few people would accidentally find themselves at a Joanna Newsom concert. With her unique voice, epic song structures, and unusual instrumentation, she is not a casual musical choice. Last…
Deerhunter, Best CoastGranada TheaterNovember 5, 2010 Better than: forgetting that Deerhunter are shoegazers at heart “You win some and you lose some” said Deerhunter frontman Bradford Cox as he ended an impromptu solo jam taken when his bandmates and crew tried to work through equipment problems early in their set…
Let’s get to the heart of the matter up front: Is Deerhunter a band, or just another tool for the prolific songsmith Bradford Cox? “The band dynamic is really strong,” says Moses Archuleta, drummer and Cox’s co-founder in Atlanta’s indie darlings, Deerhunter. “We feel really strongly about the four of…
There is a group of musician elite, whose members stand out as totally different, clearly following a muse that is unseen and unheard by others. They make music on their own terms, challenging the listener in ways that can dazzle and sometimes bewilder. And they challenge themselves, too, refusing to…
of Montreal, Janelle MonaeGranada TheaterNovember 2, 2010Better than: Glee on acid! All photos by Hal SamplesFor a full slideshow from last night’s concert, click here.Last night, the ascending funky soul diva Janelle Monae served as the opener for seasoned psych funk ravers of Montreal in one of the more compelling…
The Thermals, Cymbals Eat Guitars, The CoathangersGranada TheaterOctober 24, 2010Better than: sitting at home, drumming my fingers and waiting for the World Series to start. Considering that it was a Sunday night, last night’s vibe at the Granada Theater was surprising.Only some 250 people turned out to see Portland’s smart…
