Music

If any of you out there are awake and recovering from tryptophan-fueled post-pig-out regrets or the early-morning Black Friday brouhaha, take a look at this week’s serene selection. Brought to you by Kennon Talley of This Old House (and Western Giants), this poster might be the very necessary calm after…

If you’re not too busy on this Black Friday weekend–collecting everything you’re owed and striking all the big red words from your little black book–you ought to go catch some live music. First, the shows we’ve already mentioned. Tonight, Cursive plays at Hailey’s in Denton and Ryan Bingham and Telegraph…

It was the summer of 1984 and the city of Dallas was in the midst of a serious makeover. The Republican National Convention was coming to town and Big D was trying to put a conservative foot forward as the media spotlight fixated on our JFK Bermuda Triangle. Our local…

J. (Joshua) Tillman is probably best known for being one of the Fleet Foxes, despite having toured extensively with the likes of Damien Jurado and Jesse Sykes. Hired as an arranger and drummer for live performances just before the release of 2008’s Fleet Foxes, Tillman somehow escaped implication in the…

Over the past two decades or so, the term “indie rock” has been so abused it no longer stands for a way of being; we now use it to describe a particular sound or genre more than anything. But Metric, a Canadian synth-pop band that’s carved a niche out of…

One of the most tragicomic moments in the 2004 Metallica documentary, Some Kind of Monster, features not the band but rather Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine. In a touchy-feely on-camera counseling session, Mustaine reveals some major inferiority issues with Metallica’s drummer, Lars Ulrich. He even seems to come uncomfortably close to…

Real Estate is from New Jersey—Ridgewood, to be exact, a not-quite-unposh suburban enclave 10 miles from the New York State border. “Everybody’s dad works on Wall Street,” explains singer/guitarist Martin Courtney. “Not really, but that’s the vibe—moms driving Escalades, 14-year-old kids going to Starbucks.” This isn’t exactly Springsteen territory: no…

The folk and country revival has sparked heated ballyhoo about what exactly makes you country enough to play country music. For some, it seems, if you weren’t conceived by George Jones and born on the banks of the Mississippi, you should just stick to rock ‘n’ roll. Which is kinda…

With each successive release, Cursive seems to further cement itself as an increasingly important band while quietly moving away from the emo label it had been saddled with early on in its career—a label that’s often as meaningless as it is damaging. On Mama, I’m Swollen, the band’s sixth album,…

Balancing a full-time job and releasing an album would be enough to run most musicians ragged. But if you think managing one CD release is demanding, imagine handling three in three weeks. Not only is Ryan Thomas Becker holding down his 8-to-5 job as a library assistant at Texas Woman’s…

The new album by Cleveland duo mr. Gnome, Heave Yer Skeleton, is a surreal rock listen. Largely recorded at the Los Angeles studio of Queens of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme, the band’s sophomore full-length contains layers of echoey, keening vocals and effects-slathered guitar courtesy of Nicole Barille. She’s…

Just because an artist evolves doesn’t mean his fans will. So, while Chris Palko, aka Cage, may have experienced a personal epiphany that’s taken his music in a new direction, he doesn’t blame his fans for not wanting to come along for the ride. See, the rapper’s latest, Depart From…

What’s crazy about Thanksgiving is that it’s like the third hit of your snooze button in the morning—time is running out, and the holiday reminds you of how close we are to sending another year off into the sunset. So, on that note, allow us some cheese to go with…

Lately, some of the shows popping up on Dan’s Silverleaf’s concert calendar have seemed a little out-of-step and more lo-fi, ambient and/or indie-trendy than the typical folk, roots and Americana fare the venue usually books. So far, it’s a welcome refinement of Dan’s docket—and there’s a perfectly good explanation for…

And if it’s the YouTube you want, well, look no further. We’ll close out our pre-Thanksgiving day with a feast for the eyes and ears, straight from our kitchen to yours: episode one of our new weekly video series, DC9 Live at El Sibil. Two weeks ago Pete mentioned that…

Joe Ely, Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Butch Hancock christened the Wyly Theatre’s concert stage Tuesday night (they’re the first non-Shakespearean act to play the new theater, at least), wrapping up the Flatlanders’ latest tour with Ryan Bingham and a slate of other friends helping out. “Dallas,” of course, was the…