Riverboat Gamblers, Mind Spiders, the Phuss at LaGrange

It’s the record release party for The Wolf You Feed, Riverboat Gamblers’ latest effort, and it’s a Friday at LaGrange, one of the best venues to hear punk rock and take in the Elk Lodge atmosphere. The Gamblers always bring a good time with their high energy rock and roll,…

Miguel Migs and Lisa Shaw at It’ll Do Club

House music fans will be converging upon the grand reopening of this historic east Elm venue not only because renowned DJ Miguel Migs and singer Lisa Shaw will be performing, but also because it’s one of Brooke Humphries’ new clubs. The local entrepreneur, who also owns Barcadia and Beauty Bar,…

Beat Connection at LaGrange

It’s been two years since Seattle synth-pop duo Beat Connection released their debut EP, Surf Noir. The album, steeped in post-beach rock, pre-sea punk ocean imagery, boasted themed tracks like “In the Water,” complete with ocean sounds and steel drums, and provided the perfect soundtrack for the summer. Two years…

H20 Music Festival – Cotton Bowl – 6/9/12

H20 Music Festival Cotton Bowl Saturday, June 9 See also: Scenes from the H20 Music Festival I stood at the entrance of the “House That Doak Built,” watching Dallas Fire and Rescue workers help a middle-age Hispanic lady onto a stretcher, and I couldn’t help but think about how much…

Gillian Welch – Majestic Theatre – 6/9/12

Gillian Welch Majestic Theatre Saturday, June 9 In this week’s paper, Gillian Welch let us know what the live show might be like, when she described her recording process to us. “My favorite sound on Earth is the sound of voices and instruments combining in the air. We let it…

EDC Vegas Pulls Plug on Music Due to High Winds

Christopher VictorioEDC ravers[Update at 2:48 a.m]: Also see: – Slide show: Electric Daisy Carnival 2012: Day One – Slide show: Electric Daisy Carnival: More From Day One – Slide show: Electric Daisy Carnival 2012: Day Two EDC is over for the night. Organizers are waiting for crowds to thin out…

EDC 2012: Calvin Harris Plays CDs of Himself Singing

Calivn Harris.Dance music is fighting for its soul. The charts are filled with tracks (Rihanna, Flo Rida) that borrow from the ecstatic trance and pulsing grooves of electronic dance music. The last time pop was so infatuated with the dance floor was 1979, the year disco died. This time around…

EDC 2012: Coachella or Electric Daisy Carnival: Which One is Better?

Kaskade.See also: Our Complete Coachella Coverage Dance music is coming to an arena near you: Kaskade will be the first DJ ever to play Staples Center (July 27). And mainstream concert promoters such as Live Nation are diving into the electronic dance explosion. Electric Daisy Carnival, which is being held…

Santigold – House of Blues – 6/6/12

Santigold House of Blues Wednesday, June 6 Santi White is a charmer, and she had the audience under her spell from the first notes of “Go,” which opened last night’s show at House of Blues. Her stew of dancehall (queue the reverb), electronica, rap and dub begs the body to…

Yacht at Dada

YACHT’s 2011 release, Shangri La, pieces together a summer synth album perfect for poolside lounging, even if it’s in contrast with their existential themes. The duo takes its acronym–Young Americans Challenging High Technology — seriously as they go about creating some of the most memorable electro-pop in the last year…

Blacktone Rangers EP Release at Bryan Street Tavern

Locals Blackstone Rangers have gone from a duo to a quartet to a trio in the span of a couple years, but despite the fluctuation, they’ve managed to fine-tune their distorto-pop sound and put out a new EP. Into the Sea will be released via local label/promo venture Dallas Distortion…

H2O Music Festival at the Cotton Bowl

Ozomatli’s style-hopping, multicultural blend of hip-hop, rock, funk and Latin is the perfect example of cross-pollination for Univision’s inaugural H20 Festival. While the L.A. group’s elements may be a mélange, and their five albums a series of costume changes, it comes together in a singular idiosyncratic character, which anyone who’s…

DeSoto SolJazz Festival at DeSoto Eagle Stadium

I can’t say I’ve ever been to DeSoto, save for stopping at a Starbucks, but the lineup for their annual SolJazz Festival is enough to make me bust hump and head south. Featuring jazz singer Rachelle Ferrell, rapper MC Lyte, human beatbox Doug E. Fresh, Cameo (ya know, “Word Up!”),…

The Temper Trap at House of Blues

Relocating from their Melbourne, Australia home to London before the release of 2009 debut Conditions, The Temper Trap blended like lemon and iced tea. The quintet’s sweeping pop melancholia follows on the heels of moody post-millennial U.K. rockers like the Editors and Keane, but with a stronger strain of U2,…

Chaos in Tejas Brings Out the Tribes

The scar ran from behind his right ear to the center of his cheek, pink and waxy in contrast with his dyed black hair. His skinny arms were covered with crude tattoos, and he was wearing a black t-shirt inside out, black jeans and black boots. He stood about 6-feet-1,…

KXT’s Summer Cut – Gexa Energy Pavilion – 6/1/12

KXT’s Summer Cut Gexa Energy Pavilion Friday, June 1 See also: The fans of Summer Cut. “What the [expletive] is that?” – Gexa’s finest usher, on the stylistic motivations of its patrons. When the Flaming Lips come to town, people tend to shed their inhibitions. For the guy in the…

Preview: Mark Sultan at City Tavern

As the seated half of the King Khan & BBQ Show, guitarist Mark Sultan (“BBQ”) provided the rhythmic gut for the duo’s food- and sex-propelled rock and roll. Solo, not much has changed aesthetically. His latest studio albums, Whatever I Want and Whenever I Want, as well as a limited…

Preview: KXT Summer Cut at Gexa Energy Pavilion

Local station KKXT-FM 91.7 is dipping its collective toes in the fest pool, and gathers The Flaming Lips, St. Vincent, Fitz & the Tantrums, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Smile Smile, Air Review, Telegraph Canyon, Quiet Corral, Walk Off The Earth and more for one big cannonball into said pool…