Peace Queer, Todd Snider’s eight-song EP released in October, basically encapsulates everything good and bad about the alt-country singer-songwriter. Well-written, -sung, -performed and -produced, the EP is also funny as hell. But like most of Snider’s recorded history, it’s a bit smug. Snider has always incorporated wit and a leftist…
It seems like Texas has more singer-songwriters than the other 49 states combined—but it also produces some damn talented ones. Houston-born Hayes Carll is a rising star following in the tradition of such sharp-tongued storytellers as Townes Van Zandt, Steve Earle, Robert Earl Keen and Guy Clark. Carll populates his…
Editor’s Note: Over the next 10 days, I’ll be presenting my favorite local records of the year, counting down from No. 10 to No. 1, one album a day. Keep checking back to see how the list pans out, and, in the meantime, click after the jump to see albums…
For whatever reason, we were feeling like a real team last week–so much so that we gathered up most of the music writing crew here at the Observer and packed everyone into my spacious fake college dorm room office to talk about our favorite local releases of the year (and…
Might as well jump, I guess, eh fellas? (Evil M)So maybe you read Darryl Smyer’s piece on area punkabilly act Spector 45 last week and you thought to yourself, “Hey, that sounds pretty cool. I’d like to see that live!”Well, my friend, assuming you do, indeed, boast such a boring…
Today, over at MadeLoud.com–a site that claims to “serve the bands”, but probably not in a sexual way, I’m guessing–someone’s decided that, sure, the bands in DFWd could use a little help in trying to figure out where to play around town.OK. We’re fine with that. And the fact that…
In all these year-end, best-of lists, I’m seeing little respect given to the over 50 crowd. So, since I’m heading that direction myself, I thought I would be the one to share some AARP Holiday Cheer. 1. Lindsey Buckingham – Gift of Screws The Fleetwood Mac guitarist/singer finally incorporates some…
Hip-hop A-listers including Rick Ross, Akon and Plies were caught grossly exaggerating their gangster credentials this year. (Turns out they were painfully law-abiding. The horror!) But even if your favorite rapper wasn’t caught in a lie, you can bet he or she put out a hilariously absurd record or two…
Your top national music stories for Wednesday, December 24, 2008: Remember back in ’89 when no one knew we were in the midst of Hip-Hop’s “golden age” and KRS-One schooled us on why non-violence is good with the ditty “Self Destruction?” Well, now the young pups of today can have their…
Editor’s Note: Over the next 10 days, I’ll be presenting my favorite local records of the year, counting down from No. 10 to No. 1, one album a day. Keep checking back to see how the list pans out, and, in the meantime, click after the jump to see albums…
Ah, the joys of an unfinished basement. (Kevin Reynolds Diomampo)What could be a better pre-Christmas gift than hearing a little Christian/hardcore/death metal? Hailing from Lewisville, the five chipper young fellows who ply their craft under the moniker Blessed by a Curse will bring their brand of holiday cheer to Club…
Photo by Michael Alan GoldbergTwo young blondes with toothy smiles and hard-core work ethics, Taylor Swift and Carrie Underwood, helped country expand its fan base in these years of shrinking music sales. Meanwhile, Kenny Chesney, Rascal Flatts, Alan Jackson, Toby Keith, Tim McGraw, Brad Paisley and George Strait kept filling…
Americans who still think of Latin music as mariachi bands and gyrating Ricky Martins and Shakiras might want to lend a closer ear to the genre. This country’s Hispanic population isn’t just growing, it’s growing more diverse. More and more unique musical styles are being gobbled up, and that should…
Your top national music stories for Tuesday, December 23, 2008: Jeff Tweedy’s 13- year-old son Spencer has a blog. There, you can read a 13-year-old tell you about the newest technology, politics and music. Because, if 13 year old’s know anything, it’s politics. Kelly Clarkson and her tiny nose ring…
Editor’s Note: Over the next 10 days, I’ll be presenting my favorite local records of the year, counting down from No. 10 to No. 1, one album a day. Keep checking back to see how the list pans out, and, in the meantime, click after the jump to see albums…
Local alt-country rocker Darryl Lee Rush’s latest album, Live from the River Road Icehouse, is one of the top 100 Americana CDs of the year as determined by the Americana Music Association.Rush’s CD was spun enough times by Americana stations to warrant this honor–glad to know that there are radio…
Fact: The Polyphonic Spree has more members than your band. And, as such, it has more siblings of band members than your band does. And, as such, the Spree is much more likely to have a band member whose sibling is a writer. And, as such, the Spree is far…
Any knucklehead with DSL and a laptop can now make an electronic track. With a half hour of clicking and fiddling, you can sample enough cheesy beats and mashups to clog arteries from here to Berlin. Simple dropdown mouse maneuvers can transform electro tracks into progressive house tracks (from dry…
Now that you’ve had, oh, about three hours to settle back into the work week, I guess it’s time to fondly look back on the weekend that was, eh? Let’s get right into it.Lil Wayne and T-Pain at American Airlines CenterLooking back on it now, my glorious prose doesn’t really…
In a year worthy of your rage, metal delivered in spades. What with the economy circling the drain and Sarah Palin coming down from the tundra and then refusing to go back, 2008’s been the kind of year that really makes you want to smash your head into walls or…
Your top national music stories for Monday, December 22, 2008: It’s never too early to start talking about the ’09 festival season: It looks like a reunited Phish may headline two nights at Bonnarroo this year. So you’d better start letting that beard grow out now. But, you still have…
This gem by Brian Harkin may still be fresh in your memory (it’s from the Spree’s evening show earlier this month), but we’ve got 35 more shots, reaching all the way back to early January, to recap a year of the Observer’s concert photography online.You can check out the slideshow…
