Remember Ms. Erykah Badu? We didn’t forget her soulful vocals and enchanting beats. Well, we’re in luck, because the Dallas native just released her first single, “Honey,” from her forthcoming album — tentative title Kahba — which will hit stores on her birthday, Feb. 26. The new track, featuring beats…
Those in Dallas who are digging Foo Fighters’ new disc Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace are getting first crack at seeing the band perform the tunes live in the U.S. The band just announced its first North American tour in support of the disc, which came out in September, and…
Wow. You guys are on top of stuff. I’ve been getting emails this morning wanting to know when I was going to blog about Jonanna Widner leaving the Observer. I was waiting until everyone at the office was in the loop, but, hey, the cat’s out of the bag. Things…
The Hold Steady with Art Brut and 1990s Nov. 14, 2007 The Palladium Ballroom Better than: Watching the Project Runway premiere. Big time. Download: Watch our video of The Hold Steady from last night’s show at the end of the review. Or just check out the slideshow. Review: As a…
Many of us take our birthday as an opportunity to see how many Tuaca shots we can force down and still be able to walk. And while trying to prove alcoholic wherewithal is a legitimate birthday practice, perhaps it’s not the most worthy endeavor we can undertake. The most we’ll…
Soulja Boy is not weird for the sake of being weird. He’s weird for the sake of being lucrative. Which actually might make him post-postmodern, or maybe just post-post-Diddy. Either way, he’s harnessed the power of the post-MySpace, post–Lonely Girl, Web 3.0 world better than anyone else in music. Of…
I was 16 years old when my older cousin started dating the guy who would turn me on to “punk rock.” This was in a very backward Pennsylvania town during one of my transitional teenage years. By this time (1996-’97) most of the cool kids in my school were in…
You might think the use of the theremin would be a mark of distinction, but plenty of bands have employed the sci-fi sound machine. Led Zeppelin built a bridge out of it for “Whole Lotta Love,” the Pixies knitted “Velouria” with it and for Phish it was a segue out…
The most-viewed YouTube clip starring Puscifer, Tool leader Maynard James Keenan’s twisted side project, is “Cuntry Boner,” which features MJK, his drawers distended by a massive faux erection, twanging out lines such as “I’ve fucked Minnie Pearl” over a stomping hoedown beat. “V” Is for Vagina’s title promises more of…
Dallas band Lovie’s indie debut Harshmellow doesn’t evoke a girl-band aesthetic just because they are…um…girls; rather, it borrows heavily from the alternative pop that hit and flourished in the past 20 years from the (girl band) Go-Go’s to (girly-lead-singer band) The Lemonheads to (boyish-girl-lead-singer band) The Cranberries. Lovie has developed…
Sondre Lerche. Club Dada: To call it a coup would be like calling the Trinity toll road a country lane. After all, the Norwegian wunderkind began his career with raves rarely doled upon a high-schooler. “He’s such a prodigy!” the critics said. “Such a grasp of songwriting at 18!” they…
Otep Shamaya says, “Art is war.” The singer for her namesake L.A.-based metal-fusion band, Otep, considers herself a revolutionary and makes art catharsis via visceral screams and songs that sear the ears like hot grease. Her lyrics are laden with apocryphal poetics about religion, politics, love and loathing; she’s a…
Just a few years ago, the idea of a Meat Puppets reunion seemed out of the question. Although their legacy held up well, buoyed greatly by a generation of listeners who grew up on Kurt Cobain, the band’s founding brothers hadn’t played together on record since 1995. Cris Kirkwood was,…
Put a dainty slab of Oregon out-of-towner in between two whole-grain slices of local music and what do you get? Hands down, the worst lead-in to a Critic’s Pick ever conceived, that’s what. Portland’s one-woman reverb fest Fall of Snow swoops into town to unfurl her ghostly resonance; think Boards…
About 100 people sat in the gallery of the city council chambers last Thursday at the city plan commission meeting—an oddly high number, considering the commission usually discusses such scintillating subjects as 1-to-1 slope gradations or some shit like that. The audience sat patiently, some clad in lawyerly chinos, others…
Local hip-hop/R&B artist Ulises let word out his songs can be downloaded for free via his MySpace page. There’s something kind of Prince about this guy. He’s completely rough around the edges, but he has drive and with his audacious pics and assertive self-campaigning, I wouldn’t be surprised if he…
The Red Blood Club has suffered quite a bit in a short amount of time lately. With the SUP stress and last weekend’s stabbing, it is under a major black cloud. It doesn’t help that its liquor license has been suspended while the incident is under investigation. Manager Justin Powers…
Our buddy Jesse Hughey gave DC-9 the heads up that Picnic from Dallas’ P.P.T. co-produced Houston’s Coughee Brothaz new disc Waitin Our Turn. The Brothaz are Devin the Dude’s group project these days. While the disc hit bins in September, it just got a nod on Pitchfork. We haven’t had…
If the success of locals-hitting-it-big Fair to Midland means anything, it’s that constant touring and publicity bombardments can sometimes work. Of course, so can dense, smart proggy guitar work. In this case, the combination of all these elements has shoved FTM to the top of the list of what the…
Cheer up, Big Tuck — you’re in Vibe!The latest issue of Vibe, which isn’t online, has a regional round-up of hip-hop’s most happenin’ scenes — and Dallas is included. But it’s good news-bad news stuff — isn’t it always when Vanilla Ice crops up in the second freakin’ graf of…
If you’re into heartbreak and Swedes (and who isn’t?) Jens Lekman headlines the Granada Theatre tonight. Local lovely songstress Sarah Jaffe opens. Do try and make it out. I’ve already plugged the show in our print version but, as somebody once said, “Writing about music is like dancing about architecture.”…
Found this footage of the Lizard Lounge on YouTube a minute ago (many people have asked why we started this music blog–it’s because it’s a good excuse to surf for goofy videos instead of reading copy on deadline day), and it cracks me up. The whole thing is so dark,…
