For years, Deep Ellum sat vacant. By the late ’70s, the neighborhood that had once served as the playground for blues icons of the early 20th century — Blind Lemon Jefferson, Lead Belly, T-Bone Walker and even Robert Johnson — was a collection of vacant warehouses and storefronts. The only…
From the Raymond Pettibon album art, which invokes his classic album covers for his brother Greg Ginn’s band, Black Flag, to the thundering downstrokes, rubbery machine gun rhythms and brash spirit, Off! is a time machine to the early days of West Coast punk. And the band boasts two illustrious alumni…
Although originally conceived as a pop-punk outfit, Chicago’s Plain White T’s have evolved into a more mainstream, alternative rock band. Having a number one hit will do that to you. 2007’s “Hey There Delilah” was the single that exposed the band to the world. Light, sentimental and catchy, the song…
What can we say about the practically-impossible-to-dislike Dawes that we haven’t said here on DC9 or in the paper version before? No, the band’s not exactly new to us around the metroplex. Hell, they were just here last month, playing the Fort Worth Music Festival.Ah, well, here’s fun and new-ish…
Musicians are undoubtedly influenced by the music they listen to. An artist’s musical selection can sometimes even foretell what a next album might sound like. So if you’ve ever wondered what the artists who grace your stereo are getting funky to, here’s your chance to find out. Every week, I’ll…
Sure, most people wait until Thanksgiving to pull out the Christmas tree. But not The Polyphonic Spree. Tim DeLaughter’s giant band has announced its ninth Holiday Extravaganza show. The show, which will feature The Spree along with a few other acts (including We’re Not Dudes and Syncopated Ladies), will return…
Welcome to our 2011 Dallas Observer Music Awards breakdown, wherein we’ll use the weeks leading up to the DOMA showcases on Saturday, October 15 (which is also when voting ends), to explain the nominees in each category Today, we look at the nominees in the Best Folk Act, Best Venue, and Best…
It’s easy to get distracted by LMFAO’s visual flash and catchy, meat-and-potatoes tracks. At first glance, they’re no big deal. Just some Grade A morons with too much time on their hands. But don’t let LMFAO’s sophomoric humor and garish clothes fool you: These two dudes have a knack for…
Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter Kevin Devine is such an avid fan of the New York Mets that he named his first band Miracle of 86 in honor of that baseball club’s surprising victory overthe Boston Red Sox in that year’s World Series.But Devine is far more than a fan of The Great…
You might have seen Maria Taylor play with Azure Ray or Now It’s Overhead. You might have heard her on a Bright Eyes recording. Hell, you might have heard her on an episode of Grey’s Anatomy. Regardless of where you heard her before, know this: Maria and her sweet voice…
…as promised, and with a few more special guests than expected. It was adorable. Watch it after the jump…
Erykah Badu seems like a pretty awesome mom. I got a solid glimpse of as much first-hand about a week back when interviewing the famed Queen of Neo-Soul and proud Dallasite as part of a Dallas Observer Music Awards preview story that’s going to run as the cover in this…
Minnesota’s Dark Dark Dark is a chamber-folk collective that fills any stage they’re on with their varied and engrossing sounds — much as they do with their eight band members. Employing instrumentation ranging from cello to clarinet to the gorgeous, slightly dusky vocals of the intricately inked-up Nona Marie Ivie,…
For a few years now, venerable Denton venue Dan’s Silverleaf has adopted a policy of not allowing cigarette smoking inside its venues during shows. Later this month, the venue plans on making its no-smoking policy a permanent fixture of the room.According to a press release announcing the change, “Dan’s will…
Welcome to our 2011 Dallas Observer Music Awards breakdown, wherein we’ll use the weeks leading up to the DOMA showcases on Saturday, October 15 (which is also when voting ends), to explain the nominees in each category Today, we look at the nominees in the Best Solo, Best Country, and Best Alt-Country/Roots…
Not all open-mic rap competitions are as friendly as the ones down in Deep Ellum these days, apparently: Multiple guns were reportedly fired and eight different people were injured by gunfire late on Friday night during a “Rap-Off Contest” taking place at Rolls Royce Club in North Dallas, near the…
There comes a time in the life of just about every upper-tier local band that headlining Trees on a weekend night just isn’t good enough anymore. About a decade ago, it almost always involved scoring a major label record deal.For Baboon, that crux occurred this week in 2000, when they…
Taylor Swift, Needtobreathe, James Wesley and Charlie Worsham Cowboys Stadium October 8, 2011 Better than: Watching a Broadway Musical Surrounded by just under 50,000 adoring fans, Taylor Swift put on a performance Saturday night at Cowboys Stadium that was so big, it nearly dwarfed the sizeable venue itself. It was…
Toro y Moi, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Bass Drum of DeathDadaOctober 7, 2011Better than: heading out to any of the Red River Rivalry-related events taking place around town this weekend. Well before Toro y Moi took to the patio stage at Dada to perform a headlining set and before, even, Unknown…
Unless you’ve got a teenage daughter — or maybe if you are someone’s teenage daughter — you probably haven’t paid much attention to Taylor Swift, the headlining performer in this weekend’s biggest show. The young country superstar will be at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington on Saturday night along with Christian…
A couple of months ago I ran across some information on a relatively new biopic about iconic French singer Serge Gainsbourg. At the time, I thought I would have to wait for Premiere Video on Mockingbird to pick it up before I could see it. Instead, I’m happy to report,…
With their second album, Peter Wolf Crier has established themselves as a legit indie-band and not the mere side-project they seemed to be when they released last year’s well-done Inter-Be. The new album, Garden of Arms, isn’t just another stellar release from Jagjaguwar this year, but it’s a major step…
