Exotic Diseases: The disquieting social phenomenon wherein you think you see the Hold Steady’s Craig Finn everywhere you go. Like Being John Malkovich with a louder soundtrack. Bizarre Resurgence: Ladies and gentlemen, America—yes, that America, “Horse With No Name” America—now have a MySpace page. Something should be done about this,…
The cover shot of Sloan’s 650th album echoes that of Television’s Marquee Moon—four gaunt, haggard dudes stare down the camera—except these Canadian power-pop lifers have more gray hair and opted for a bright pink background, a solid wall of bubblegum with silver streaks. Sonically, Never Hear the End of It…
In Beat Kings: The History of Hip Hop, Wu-Tang Clan’s Mathematics has assembled a revealing documentary from the point of view of the genre’s architects. The DVD is an entertaining crash course in the nitty-gritty of hip-hop’s evolution beyond the platinum records and glitzy videos—from turntables to 808s to ProTools…
For more than his pinchable cheeks, Ron Sexsmith has always been the kid at the adult-alternative cocktail party: He put together his first band at 14 and soon found Elvis Costello clutching his solo debut on the cover of Mojo like a life raft of youthful relevance. Occasionally, talented pups…
The members of Liverpool’s Clinic are up to their surgical masks in Nuggets-worthy psychedelic splendor here, from the bass-driven pulse of an opening track whose instrumental section could practically pass for The Yardbirds paying tribute to the Far East, to the dark narcotic haze that hovers over “Gideon.” On “Animal/Human,”…
When talking about Under the Skin, his first solo effort in 14 years, Lindsey Buckingham sounds like a man discussing a memoir. “There is a circular tension involved, an optimistic melancholy,” says Buckingham from his home in Los Angeles, a few days before beginning a national tour. “Being in the…
The earth is not a cold, dead place, at least not in Texas, which has produced some of the finest and most carefully crafted instrumental post-rock in recent years, courtesy of artists such as Explosions in the Sky, Cue and My Education. Out of nowhere—San Marcos to be exact—This Will…
Hailing from Longview, Sunny Sweeney is exactly the kind of old-school country singer that gives Texas its good reputation. Possessing a booming voice with just the right amount of drawl, Sweeney delivers backwoods passion in spades on Heartbreaker’s Hall of Fame, her sturdy debut. Besides clever and poignant original tunes…
Oh, sure, it’s not like you haven’t seen these artists before; we all know Salim Nourallah’s consistent and benevolent influence on Dallas’ music scene, Johnny Lloyd Rollins’ updated take on classic songwriting a la Buddy Holly or the Beatles, Airline’s upstart youth tunes, etc. But just think about it: These…
Back when B.B. King first began banging his guitar in front of a Memphis microphone, he was doing it alongside the likes of Howlin’ Wolf, Little Junior Parker, Rosco Gordon and…you know what, baby? Those cats are all, like, long gone, and the mighty Mr. King (alongside the unstoppable Bobby…
Well, of course country music is bound to spring up in Lubbock. The town enjoys three factors that make it so: a legacy of music, a desolate Western environment and the desparation of sheer boredom, all three of which imbue the population with a latent impulse to create music by…
Two new venues, one rainy night. Saturday marked the inaugural evenings of ellum:ONSTAGE (check And Another Thing, page 59 for an update on that) and the Palladium Ballroom, aka What Happened to Gilley’s. What happened is that Gilley’s is now split into the traditional country venue (relegated to the much…
New Life: In addition to the Palladium Ballroom’s grand unveiling, Deep Ellum saw a new venue opening. Who knew the Life in Deep Ellum complex was gonna be such a refined and spacious spot? Entering the complex, one is immediately greeted with polished concrete floors, decent art on the spotless…
Ed Anderson leads this alt-country trio from Illinois, and it’s on their fourth full-length release that he moves beyond the standard blue-collar sentimentalism that dogs many in the Americana genre. Anderson still takes his cues from Neil Young, Slobberbone and Whiskeytown, but now he’s come to appreciate the finer points…
The guys in White Demons may occasionally wear eyeliner and tight jeans, but there is not a single song about a chick on this CD and not one stinky whiff of shitty emo. What we’ve got here instead is explosive, trashy, borderline-glam punk ‘n’ roll with shouted choruses and crisp,…
The fact that the Earlies made a second album is pretty remarkable; having band members scattered on both sides of the Atlantic must make songwriting rather difficult, yet they make it look easy. As in, bands that do get to practice and do get to write in the same room…
Born in Dallas but now an Austin resident, Vanessa Peters is the best kind of singer-songwriter: astute enough to explore the deeper recesses of relationships but tough enough to avoid the pitfalls of sentimentality. Little Films, produced by Peters along with Salim Nourallah, is folk-pop of a rare quality. Encompassing…
“For a rock show, you’re gonna kinda try to get yourself pumped up and stuff. For this kind of show, you drink a nice, warm glass of milk and put your slippers on.” So says Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy in his new solo DVD, Sunken Treasure: Live in the Pacific Northwest,…
Erykah Badu’s accomplishments as a local community activist and charitable giver are almost as well-known as her incomparable grace and style as a musical artist. And we’re not talking about your everyday celebrity tax write-off kind of “charity.” Badu continuously immerses herself in giving, knowing full well it’s simply not…
Access to behind-the-scenes band life has become increasingly banal. Between “reality” television and coverage of performers hoping to lower the bar on self-destruction (dudes, anything you’d dream of trashing, Led Zeppelin has already destroyed twice as monumentally), it’s tough to even cock an eyebrow at backstage behavior anymore. The entertainment…
Nothing like an Armageddon-like onslaught of frozen precipitation and arctic temperatures—and here we thought the apocalypse was supposed to be fire and brimstone, not sleet and black ice—to shut down hopes of weekend musical endeavors. For me, the cabin fever-inducing shut-in weather, combined with a searingly raw throat that evoked…
The death of Deep Ellum is now more of a simple catchphrase than an actual event, nothing more than a selling point for folks reopening closed venues and then climbing on the cross as the resuscitator of the old girl. How many times will people say “Deep Ellum is dead”?…
