Those of us who aren’t distracted by novelties like “significant others” on Valentine’s Day like to think up odd rituals to pass a lonesome day decorated with buttocks-shaped stationary, candles and boxes of chocolate. My odd Valentine’s Day tradition is having a nice, home-cooked, candle-lit dinner with a human-sized inflatable…
The myth of Saint Valentine marrying young kids in the face of Claudius’ imminent draft are nothing if not romantic. Yet Valentine’s Day just isn’t a real holiday. It’s as tedious to loathe it as to love it. Those bemoaning their lack of roses or boasting of their pre-fixe dinner…
Michigan’s Breathe Owl Breathe knows how to make young parents rather happy. Their latest offering is an imaginative and heartwarming 7-inch/children’s book combo, The Listeners/ These Train Tracks. (Personal aside: I’m a father of a 4 year old, and I’ve put in way too much time singing to Wonder Pets…
Once again, I have Old School 94.5 to thank for reminding me this song exists. Houston’s own Oran “Juice” Jones apparently put out four albums from 1986-1997, but this song remains his crowning achievement, four and a half minutes of pure emotion. The I-caught-ya vibe of the song reaches its…
Although Laura Gibson’s engaging and challenging music owes as much to jazz as it does to any notion of folk. La Grande, her recently released sophomore effort, is a collection that laces those sounds with a bit of atmospheric rock. Just waking up before the long drive from Marfa to…
Following up their holiday podcast, local hip-hop duo A.Dd+ once again nails it with this Valentine’s Day edition with DJ Sober. They really need to do one of these for every holiday: Arbor Day, Earth Day, Flag Day, etc. However, I realize they’re sort of busy taking over the Texas…
Intense barely scratches the surface when talking about Suicide Silence. The California extreme metal outfit has been around for just over a decade, and in that time, they’ve created three of the severest slabs of deathcore to be found. Speaking from a Houston restaurant in anticipation of tonight’s show at…
Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra, The Angelus Sons of Hermann Hall Sunday, February 12 As snow flurries turned to rain Sunday night, Canadian five-piece Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra performed in Dallas for the first time. And they played for almost two hypnotic hours. Frontman Efrim Menuck was…
Five Best Performances 1. Jennifer Hudson Grammy host L.L. Cool J had a hard enough job presiding over a celebration undercut by tragic circumstances, and he achieved a perfect, almost pastor-like tone from the get-go. But Miss Hudson’s musical tribute to Whitney Houston – a subtly searing but still reverential…
Thurston Moore The Texas Theatre Friday, February 10 After re-listening to last year’s Demolished Thoughts a few weeks ago, there was an added psychic layer to the experience. When I heard Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon had divorced a few months ago after close to three decades of marriage, I…
Mind Spiders, Low Culture, Brain Attack, Occult Detective Club Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studios Friday, February 10 With two drummers, two guitarists, one bassist and one keyboardist, Mind Spiders didn’t sound lopsided Friday night at Rubber Gloves.Throwing in some new material from their sophomore effort, Meltdown, along with songs from their…
One of the most anticipated shows of the last few months has definitely been Thurston Moore at the Texas Theatre tonight. The Sonic Youth guitarist has been carving out a nice little solo career with last year’s Demolished Thoughts and 2007’s Trees Outside the Academy (I always sort of thought…
Man, people are really excited about Edge Fest. The line-up for 102.1 The Edge’s 22nd annual all-day fest began its steady trickle into the Internet today, with Evanescence, Garbage, Switchfoot, Blue October, Civil Twilight and Neon Trees already announced. They’ll be releasing one band name per hour, so keep up…
I’d never heard of Dallas musician Brandon Hilton, but according to the email I got yesterday, he’s released “over 40 tracks, two full-length albums, eight singles and seven music videos, accumulated over 4.5 million YouTube views, 150,000+ MySpace fans, and 30,000+ Twitter followers.” Hmm, alright. What else? “His hit single…
Cover songs can be many things: an inside joke, a knowing nod, a crowd-pleaser, a name drop, a respectful homage or a desperate cry for attention. They’re what the early days of rock and roll were built on, and live on today with blogs dedicated to them, albums full of…
In the early ’90s, Matt Hillyer and his band, Lone Star Trio, were packing venues with a rootsy sound about the same time that Rhett Miller and Murry Hammond were forming the Old 97’s. Since 1998, Hillyer’s fronted Eleven Hundred Springs, an old-school honky-tonk band that’s released several top-notch albums,…
This Saturday at the Granada Theater, one of the best Texas oddball pop shows of the year takes place, featuring Austin’s The Octopus Project, Houston’s Wild Moccasins and locals Mystery Skulls. Recent New West Records signees Wild Moccasins are nearing the re-release of their shimmering, catchy-as-all-get-out LP, Skin Collision Past…
Looking for love in all the wrong places? Looking for 35 Denton wristbands? If you find yourself clumsily walking behind pretty girls (or chasing a choice piece of man-tail) like the video above, then come out to the Mellow Mushroom on Monday, February 13. 35 Denton and The Indie-Verse have…
In 2008, influential Canadian heavy metal forerunners Anvil finally tasted the fame that had eluded them for decades, thanks to the documentary Anvil! The Story of Anvil. Instead of becoming novelty stars who had a heart-warming yet heart-wrenching movie to their name (like the stars of The King of Kong),…
The second installment of the Observer and KXT’s monthly Triple Play series goes down next Thursday, February 16. You know the drill, right? Three emerging acts from Dallas, Fort Worth and Denton converge at the Kessler to spin some golden tunes and get on your radar. We posted about Fort…
In honor of Evan Dando and his band The Lemonheads being at the Prophet Bar tonight, I thought I might share with the readers of DC9 some of the pitfalls of being a music writer. Sure, there are tons of positives: free shows and CDs and access to cool people…
Among the colorful palette of artists in pop music today, I’ve noticed parallels between M.I.A. and Kanye West. Both have taken their wealth and branched out into other artistic media, both rarely watch their words, and both apparently like making videos set in the desert with cars. The difference between…
