It’s not every day that you get the chance to witness a live performance by someone who literally invented a new instrument and was one of a handful of people responsible for an entire genre of music—especially a genre that has had the immeasurably monumental cultural impact of hip-hop. Kool…
In an odd coincidence, both The Eagles and The Eagles of Death Metal are playing Dallas this week. Which is as good an opportunity as any to compare the hard rockers with the classic rock geezers who inspired their name. On the basis of how each band sounds, EODM would…
Austin artists Jennifer Chenoweth and Todd Campbell created Shine + Burn through a variation on the exquisite corpse game, passing shapes back and forth until they evolve from tiny models into much larger works. As I can’t find pictures, I can only guess how the project looks. They’re a couple,…
You know that friend who doesn’t drink or get high anymore, but he’s always telling crazy-ass tales from when he did? I don’t mean mundane stories about passing out on bar stools or pissing in washing machines; I mean stories about stealing telephone poles, setting them ablaze and falling into…
It’s quite appropriate that such a diverse lineup would play at the closing party for the Jason Janik exhibition at Kettle Art Gallery. Over the past decade, Janik’s photgraphy has captured striking images of musicians ranging from Tripping Daisy and Dimebag Darrell to, um, Vanilla Ice and an amazing shot…
There are very few bands that manage to come up with a name that really says something about the band’s sound, but The Slow Burners have done it perfectly. The electrified, countrified folk songs of George Neal’s post-Little Grizzly band smolder intensely but deliberately. Drummer Grady Don Sandlin and guitarist/keyboardist…
I despise Ikea. The store’s furniture is rickety, particle-board crap that costs about twice what you’d pay at Wal-Mart and is distinguished only in its “modern” styling that apparently appeals to the store’s customer base, middle-aged divorcees and Wayne Coyne. Canadian comedian Jeremy Hotz is with me, judging by his…
Nice to see that The Granada Theater is continuing the tradition of honoring one of the most influential musicians associated with the city. Freddie “The Texas Cannonball” King had a distinctive fingerpicking style that caught the ear of many an aspiring blues guitarist, including Eric Clapton, who shared a tour…
Symbolyc One, aka producer and rapper S1, keeps a busy schedule as part of Waco’s Strange Fruit Project and Erykah Badu’s funky electronic production crew The Cannabinoids. And his distinctive soulful blend of organic funk and banging beats has lead to increasingly high-profile production work for artists including Chamillionaire, Slim…
There are few bands that manage to come up with a name that really says something about the band’s sound, but The Slow Burners are perfectly named. The electrified, countrified folk songs of George Neal’s post-Little Grizzly band smolder intensely but deliberately. Drummer Grady Don Sandlin and guitarist/keyboardist Ryan Thomas…
If you’re planning to go see the Dan o’ Steel live, you’d do almost as well to find a set list from one of the band’s recent shows, duplicate the song order on an iPod playlist and listen to it on a decent stereo. Donald Fagen and Walter Becker, the…
The Great Tyrant can always be counted on for some coffin-dark rock. Vocal effects alternately give Beck voice-of-God depth and the guttural roar of a B-movie demon, and his keys spit forth insane-asylum piano dissonance and horror-movie organ blasts. The synth-bass-drums trio needs no guitars, thanks to the ferociously noisy…
Open letter to my daughter: Iris, I regret to inform you that you’re forbidden to attend the All Pet Expo. You’ve already turned our house into a petting zoo. Your mother and I would have been content with two Great Danes, but at your insistence we’ve supplemented these monstrous drool-and-stool…
It’s time to bid adieu (again) to one of Dallas’ music VIPs, as John Freeman once again leaves town. And sending off the Dutch Treat and former Sloppyworld owner is one of the bands with a local history that goes back just as far as the former Dooms U.K. mastermind…
The night before Ozzfest, I was regretting that I’d agreed to write about it for this week’s music column while Dallas Observer music editor Pete Freedman was on vacation. There were precious few bands that interested me. Sure, I would have really been stoked to see Metallica in junior high,…
At “Dog Days of Summer,” an event benefiting the Greyhound Adoption League, executive chef Chris Ward will demonstrate “recipes for humans and canines alike.” Presuming the press release isn’t referring to soylent green and Korean food, why the hell would you cook something for a dog? Guess what: The dog…
I haven’t read Kathy Peel’s latest book, Busy Mom’s Guide to a Happy, Organized Home: Fast Solutions to Hundreds of Everyday Dilemmas, but I can tell from the title (and the woman pictured on the cover, a cross between Martha Stewart and Hillary Clinton) that it would bore the crap…
Big Daddy Kane is the headliner here, but make sure to show up on time for the local boys. “Soul Clap,” from Strange Fruit Project’s 2006 The Healing, is a perfect example of what the group does best. It marries funky brass (arranged by Denton funk-rockers Mingo Fishtrap) and jazz…
The latest service to exploit singles’ fear that they’re incapable of finding love without some gimmicky introduction, HurryDate offers a series of four-minute “dates” packed into one desperate night. After each interaction–can you really call it a date?–you write down whether you want to see the other person again. HurryDate’s…
Comedian Ralphie May looks like an average white guy–or rather, a morbidly obese white guy–but claims to live in the ‘hood and have “a few drops” of black blood in him. Racial humor is his specialty, which would be fine if he didn’t depend on such tired, beaten-to-death topics, like…
Twenty years ago we launched this annual tradition called the Dallas Observer Music Awards—way back in April of 1988. “Our stated goal with these awards is to narrow the odds a bit in favor of locally created sounds,” then-music editor Clay McNear wrote at the time. It still rings true…
Master photographer and naturalist Frans Lanting amassed a collection of beautiful, vibrant photos from 20 years in the field, taken everywhere from the Congo lowlands to the cloud forests of the Andes. Personally, I’m excited to see that jungles still exist, as I was under the impression that they all…
