Multi-instrumentalist Nico Turner sees herself as less a singer/songwriter and more a creator of soundscapes. When she was the central figure in Los Angeles’ Voices Voices, Turner led that outfit in all sorts of ambient and unconventional directions. Since going solo, Turner most high-profile gig has been as a member…
Update, 12/10: Last night, Guynes’ Crowdtilt campaign for “Jared’s Epic Party” surpassed its fundraising goal of $35,897.44 with just six days left to go, meaning the party will happen and he won’t have to sell one of his beloved pinball machines. Guynes wrote to his followers on his Facebook page…
Maybe you remember Mayta from their standout performance at this year’s Dallas Observer Music Awards showcase. Or, perhaps you caught vocalist Renato Rimach on the cover of our issue celebrating that most recent awards season. Well, if those things weren’t enough to grab your attention, fresh off the heels of…
Spillover Music Festival, Parade of Flesh’s annual festival featuring of some of the best bands at SXSW with 1000% less nonsense to deal with, has just announced the first portion of its 2014 lineup. Featured bands include pop shit-starter Ty Segall, Sup Pop’s Dum Dum Girls, Minneapolis rapper Astronautalis and…
The past twelve months have been unusually good ones for North Texas music. Major-label bands like Midlake, The Polyphonic Spree and The Baptist Generals produced new records. Debut efforts put the likes of Lord Byron and Sam Lao squarely on the radar, and plenty of bands somewhere in between made…
A foreboding, shadowy and sinister figure lurks at the edge of an enormous white mountain top. Buzzing synths permeate the arena, and the masked man of the hour saunters below. “Hold My Liquor,” one of the standout tracks of Kanye West’s most recent album, stirs over the ravenous crowd. He…
On the heels of For You, one of the best rock records from a local band in 2013, Dallas’ Dead Flowers (Idol Records) offer up a gift to fans that have provided them with their best year as a band. It wasn’t long ago the group released the well-made, rambunctious…
The holiday season is upon us in North Texas, and there is no better time of year to give back. Every December, Dallas promoters and musicians come together to organize all kinds of charity benefit live music events. What could possibly be a more fun way to do a good…
Update, 9:00 a.m. OK, fair enough — seems pretty bad out there. Not that I would know, since my plan for today includes extra pairs of socks and not a whole lot else. At this point, just assume whatever show you were going to tonight is cancelled, except Kanye West…
It was on a Saturday in Deep Ellum, and the night seemed unnaturally dark. Outside, the first breezes of fall chilled the air, but inside Reno’s Chop Shop the air was humid and thick, like a warm locker room. As the bar buzzed with the aimless movement of incoming patrons,…
Every week more and more shows are added to the Dallas Observer live music calendar –here’s how to make sure your show is included. And you can always peruse every upcoming concert on our calendar. Below are the best of last month’s additions. The newest are in bold…
From day one, despite achieving mammoth levels of success during the grunge and alternative explosion of the 1990s, Stone Temple Pilots have been damned if they do and damned if they don’t. Scott Weiland’s throaty growl and bug-like sunglasses? How very Layne Staley of him. The band’s riff-heavy sound on…
The last year or so has seen Dallas’ country-folker Ronnie Fauss gather musch-deserved praise from across the country for his 2012 full-length debut I am the Man You Know I’m Not. With 2014 fast approaching, Fauss and the folks at Normaltown Records, an imprint of Americana giant New West Records,…
Whether you love him or hate him, you can’t deny his influence or relevance. If you do, you’re probably growing slightly out of touch with what is influential or relevant in American pop culture. Kanye West is an incredibly divisive figure- and becomes more and more so the further he…
Kanye West brings his circus to Dallas on Saturday, bringing with him arguably the biggest persona in all of pop music right now. Plus, possibly the best rapper working, Kendrick Lamar, is opening. Elsewhere, Austin’s great Alejandro Escovedo plays the Granada and the Christmas tours continue with Yo Gabba Gabba!…
To many, Connecticut’s Fates Warning is the first progressive metal act. Started in 1983, the band has gone through a dizzying array of member changes including replacing original lead singer John Arch with San Antonio native Ray Alder in 1985. Through it all, however, Fates Warning remained true to its…
This morning, Livenation has announced that Lady Gaga is coming to Dallas. July 17, 2014, Mother Monster herself will hit the American Airlines Center for artRave: The ARTPOP Ball. The tour will begin in the Spring, immediately after Gaga finishes her sold-out seven night residency at New York City’s Roseland…
Kiss FM (106.1 on your dial) help its annual Jingle Ball last night at the American Airlines Center, and all the names were there: The singer of the year’s biggest hit in Robin Thicke, one of the planet’s fastest-rising pop stars in Pitbull and Selena Gomez, who played her own…
Even though he was a star by the time he was five years old, Donny Osmond was always considered too clean and wholesome for many rock critics. Yet along with his brothers and sister Marie, Osmond has managed to stay relevant in pop culture for nearly five decades. Donny and…
After a few days too full with family, hot stuffing, dry meat, sugary cranberries, and sticky pecan pie, folks rolled out to It’ll Do dance club thirsty for a calorie-burning, head-clearing workout. James Murphy, late of LCD Soundsystem, was on the scene to lead us through the cleanse. DJ Redeye,…
In 2005, country music hit singer and songwriter Chris Young was fronting the house band at Cowboy’s Dancehall in Arlington. But by the spring of 2006, it seemed as though the No. 1 smash hits would be just around the corner for the Tennessee-born and raised crooner after he easily…
The Prophet Bar was packed this Saturday for one of hip-hop’s most perplexing and fascinating characters, Riff Raff. With his over-the-top personality falling somewhere between flamboyant carwash pimp and Jay sans Silent Bob, it’s hard not to ask ourselves if we’re actually supposed to be taking this seriously. The man’s…
