You know what sucks about waking up late in the morning? Pretty often, the only thing that’s on TV is The View. As a dude, this is a bit shameful to admit, but I actually keep the TV on ABC to watch the show. The View, as you know, supposedly offers insight into…
In the late ’80s D.O.C. was recruited to Southern California by Dr. Dre from his childhood home of Dallas. Shortly thereafter, the Texas-bred wunderkind helped bring gangsta rap to the mainstream, ghostwriting large portions of the biggest West Coast classics, starting with Straight Outta Compton. He gave voice to the…
The A-Train began its Denton-Carrollton service on June 18, much to the delight of many North Texas commuters. In a boon for the Denton economy, business has already picked up in the shops, restaurants and bars in and around the city’s downtown square. An increase in foot traffic is obvious…
Admit it: The first time you heard Ke$ha’s breakout hit “Tik Tok,” you were interested. You might’ve found it repulsive, catchy, stupid, annoying, bewildering, dazzling or offensive to your otherwise refined ear. But “Tik Tok” most definitely made you sit up and listen. First, there’s the pulsating, strobe-light beat that…
There’s a sweetness and innocence to Avi Buffalo that’s as indebted to leader Avigdor Zahner-Isenberg’s tender age as it is the lilting indie pop he makes. The 20-year-old Long Beach, California, native started the band with schoolmates while in high school and connected with producer Aaron Embry (Elliott Smith, Jane’s…
Sia Furler, known simply as Sia, is a force of nature that seems to have somehow magically popped up in several of the more interesting cultural phenomena of the past decade. It was Sia you heard singing on Zero 7’s landmark album, Simple Things, which pretty much defined the down-tempo…
How does a talented songwriter cope with the death of his father? If you are Nate Eiesland, you write a suite of cathartic songs. Then you pull together the old friends whom you played with for years as the band Scattered Trees, despite the fact that the members have scattered…
They’re the odd couple of indie dance, two Germans with disparate gifts that unite to create a balance of throbbing beats and glimmering melodies. Fair-haired Jens Moelle, who’s a little more techno, and swarthy Ismail Tüfekçi, who’s a little more rock ‘n’ roll, formed Digitalism in 2004 and became an…
Friend of the Program Mike Brooks was out and about in Deep Ellum on Friday night, toting his trusty camera along as he bounced around from venue to venue, snapping up shots of all things visually interesting and arresting. In particular, he found himself holed up at Trees for a…
A few weeks ago, we asked you to help us (help you) on the subject of the Best of Dallas Readers’ Picks Categories. Your suggestions were as supremely helpful. After throwing your additions in the hopper and giving them a test run, we now have a chemically tested, FDA-approved poll…
Alan Palomo is nothing if not creative. The mastermind behind Neon Indian (and VEGA and Ghosthustler before it) always seems up to something to push boundaries, be it in Neon Indian’s helping blaze the chillwave genre trail or in the visual aspect of its live shows and music videos.Today, Palomo’s…
Opinionated, but still down-to-earth, Austin’s Ryan Turner is the epitome of an old-school country singer. He prefers Merle Haggard to Kenny Chesney any day, and believes most popular country singers have simply lost their way. Turner has just released a new EP called Sweet Time, a five-song affair that showcases…
Not too much more to report on the Kings of Rip Off Leon front today; we already know that the band has canceled all remaining dates on their U.S. tour and that the rest of the band may or may not be encouraging lead singer Caleb Followill to enter rehab…
Canadian indie songstress Feist is in the process of building buzz for her forthcoming album Metals. The starlet’s record is set to come out on October 4, and she’s planning a tour to support the record. Interestingly enough, though, she’s only playing nine dates in the U.S., and since Dallas often…
I’m guessing most people who read my “The Problem With…” column think that I loathe all pop music as processed drivel that appeals to the unwashed masses. Well, believe it or not, I actually like a lot of that drivel. Hence this new column, “In Defense of…,” which will highlight some of…
Here’s the thing about musicians: Many of them are loud, messy, and opinionated. Social media has given them yet another outlet for their rantings and ravings, and we, as fans, eat it up whenever our favorite musicians go on Twitter and mouth off. Thing is, tweets are deletable. Always have…
The fallout from the Kings Of Leon disaster at Gexa Energy Pavilion over the weekend hasn’t settled yet. In a not-so-shocking revelation today, US Weekly reports that the rest of the band are “trying to get Caleb [Followill] to go to rehab,” according to a source who also says that…
Arctic MonkeysPalladium BallroomAugust 1, 2011Better than: watching a trainwreck the Kings of Leon It’s hard to believe British garage rockers Arctic Monkeys have been kicking around for nearly a decade. It makes us feel a tad bit old to think of ourselves barely at drinking age, watching the raw youngsters perform…
Hailing from Alaska, singer-songwriter Marian Call is one odd duck. With songs that feature themes prevalent to geek culture (technology, science fiction, etc.), Call has cultivated a dedicated worldwide fan base. Her soon to be released double album Something Fierce was completed funded by donations from her devoted following. Call…
Welcome to My First Show, where we give bands a chance to talk about the first shows they ever attended — no matter how uncool and embarrassing those tales may be. Chance Morgan and Matt Mooty, friends since childhood, are the masterminds behind one of Fort Worth’s finest acts, The…
As you’ve no doubt figured out by now, MTV turned 30 years old today. Indeed, that’s a formidable amount of time — enough, for sure, for almost any entity to leave a mark.And, for sure, MTV has made plenty of marks. But beyond its groundbreaking debut as a music-centric cable…
At the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards, Justin Timberlake got on the mic and pleaded with MTV to “play more videos!” Timberlake’s sentiment was hardly a new one. The station switched from heavily playing music videos to being a reality TV-based network in the early 2000s — shortly after the…
