Ms. Lauryn Hill South Side Ballroom, Dallas Wednesday, December 10, 2014 Going into last night’s show at South Side Ballroom, no one had any clue what to expect from Ms. Lauryn Hill. There’s no denying HIll’s place as one of the most formative female R&B and hip-hop artists in history,…
Rungs of records balance on every flat surface, coils of electronic cables stretch every which way, threatening to snatch at your ankles. A studio’s worth of musical gadgetry frames the room, flirting with certain free fall. But I’m more concerned with what hangs on the wall. I try to shake…
Brain Gang, Dallas’ premier rap collective, has received a lot of press for their rowdy presence, charisma and ambition. Boasting eight members, its ranks were loaded with talent and the drive to make a real impact in the music world. 2014 has been a banner year for members of the…
Blake Ward is one of the busiest DJs in Dallas, with four different weekly events and recently taking up the management of his new Four Four Booking agency. He has a longstanding Saturday night Glamorama gig at Beauty Bar, plays every Friday at Boxwood or Zaza, hosts a newish party…
There you have it, folks. Yet another Dallas Observer Music Awards has come and gone, and hopefully it was a memorable one. We laughed, we cried, we even had a prom. Between the crowning of our prom king and queen and the ambush performance of the End of the World…
As 2014 draws to a close, there’s one thing that seems pretty clear: It’s been a hell of a year for Dallas music. Tonight, in fact, we here at the Dallas Observer will be celebrating some of the best music to come out of North Texas over the past 12…
I stumbled on Avant Age in the unlikely hip-hop haven of a coffee shop open mic. That may not sound very promising to some, but bear with me here. The space was rife with comedians and folk-oriented musicians working to carve out a space for themselves in the Denton music…
Hoo boy, do our heads ever hurt. Well, they hurt yesterday, at any rate. Today’s a little bit better. But we’re still not totally sure where all these bruises came from. Which means, yep, it was a pretty successful Dallas Observer Music Awards showcase. (We had fun anyway. We hope…
Moshing is an art form. Like the heavy metal music it was intended to accompany, it’s a brutal, punishing art form, one built on the deliberate collision of bodies and the sweat, blood and bruises of concertgoers. And it’s an art form that gets celebrated each year here in North…
With the 26th annual Dallas Observer Music Awards finally upon us — in fact, voting just closed last Friday and the music showcase convened in Deep Ellum over the weekend — we’ve spent the past couple month highlighting some of the nominees for this year’s awards. And when we say…
Tons of shows to get jiggy with this week. Fleetwood Mac makes lovin’ fun at the American Airlines Center. Yung Lean hits Trees, which will be a haven for pale teens in bucket hats. KXT turns five with Brandi Carlile, Tennis and Somebody’s Darling at the Verizon Theatre. Ms. Lauryn…
Grammys, shmammys. If any of us were still looking to hold the much-maligned Grammys in high esteem, the case got considerably weakened earlier this year when Macklemore no fewer than four awards, including beating out Kendrick Lamar’s excellent good kid, M.a.a.d city for three of those. The whole thing is…
If there’s one thing we can say about Three Links, it’s that they’ll book just about anything and everything — and, more often than not, what they book is pretty great. Especially at the times when you might least suspect it. Case in point? The recent visit from bizarro (and…
And then there was one. The debate over which of Dallas’ two new classic hip-hop stations is the best has already reached its (perhaps inevitable) conclusion, just a lot sooner than most of us would’ve expected. HOT 93.3 FM, which suddenly started playing old-school hip hop early last month at…
This weekend we’re doing our Dallas Observer Music Awards showcase and you should definitely do that. Otherwise there are a slew of great things to catch. Ryan Adams plays at SMU, which makes tons of sense. Caspa does the dubstep at Trees. Blackalicious does it for real hip-hop at the…
Fort Worth experimental metal band Pinkish Black has signed with Relapse Records. This is a monumental achievement for the band, consisting of the Daron Beck and Jon Teague, as Relapse is a respected player in the metal world. (It also happens to have some local ties through True Widow and…
So apparently the suburban dream isn’t dead. It’s just that it’s moved from Plano to Irving. Last week, fans of the Suburbia Music Festival, which enjoyed a respectable and generally promising first year at Oak Point Park and Nature Preserve in Plano, were dealt a blow when it was announced…
It’s the most wonderful time of the year, isn’t it? No, we’re not talking about the holidays, although those are OK too. We’re talking about the 26th annual Dallas Observer Music Awards, which kick off with a showcase this Saturday in Deep Ellum followed by the award ceremony and concert…
‘Tis the season for locally crafted holiday compilation records. That’s how it goes, right? Er, never mind. Dallas label Hand Drawn Records just put out a holiday-themed compilation album, The Holiday Record, that’s been getting more clicks than a Cyber Monday flash sale. Hand Drawn Creative Director Dustin Blocker organized…
Austin has an embarrassment of riches when it comes to music festivals. In the past two months alone, the capitol city has hosted Austin City Limits and Fun Fun Fun Fest, and lest we forget, they also boast SXSW. But the festival that shouldn’t be overlooked (and which arguably has…
Oh, Dallas. You give us all the feels. Sometimes we love you, sometimes we get tripped up on your oversized ego. But mostly we just love you, and in particular, we dig your music. We’re not the only ones, either: Artists from around the world have been inspired to write…
This week’s mixtape brings the focus onto scene vet Josh Kynd. As a DJ, producer, promoter, label owner and vinyl retailer, he has been a cornerstone of the Dallas scene for two decades. Along with his partners Jason Ramirez and Johnny Leake, he runs the Our House Collective, which has…
