Music

[Editor’s Note: Over the next couple of weeks, I’ll be presenting my favorite local songs of the year, counting down from No. 25 to No. 1, one track a day. Today we take an in-depth look at song No. 5 on the list–and, please, feel free to click after the…

[Editor’s Note: Over the next couple of weeks, I’ll be presenting my favorite local songs of the year, counting down from No. 25 to No. 1, one track a day. Today we take an in-depth look at song No. 6 on the list–and, please, feel free to click after the…

So your Christmas festivities are coming to a close. For hours, you’ve been sitting around with family for hours, eating and hearing about Uncle Harold’s increasingly aggravating bunion problems. You’re getting anxious. Antsy. You need to get out.Well, friend, you’ve come to the right place. Our weekly Good Friday tradition…

[Editor’s Note: Over the next couple of weeks, I’ll be presenting my favorite local songs of the year, counting down from No. 25 to No. 1, one track a day. Today we take an in-depth look at song No. 7 on the list–and, please, feel free to click after the…

[Editor’s Note: Over the next couple of weeks, I’ll be presenting my favorite local songs of the year, counting down from No. 25 to No. 1, one track a day. Today we take an in-depth look at song No. 8 on the list–and, please, feel free to click after the…

If you’re looking for some yuletide music to play at your Christmas parties this year, you still have time to run out to your local CD store and search out some of the real holiday-themed gems that came out this year.Before we get into our recommendations on how to add…

Observer art director Alex Flores, who’s kind of a big deal, is taking some well-deserved time off. So I’ll be at the helm of Poster of the Week until his return, which means you can expect critiques that are less verbose (and yeah, I’ll admit, less authoritative) for the next…

2008 saw The Toadies triumphantly return to the music world with the release of its surprisingly still-in-form No Deliverance. 2009, meanwhile, saw even more successes from the band as it continued to tour the country, playing on both the club and festival circuits. The latter seemed to prove especially fruitful…

A proud local product, The Old 97’s always makes certain to bring its high-energy twang-rock back through town with respectable regularity. But, this week, the band is offering up something truly special: a four-night residency of “evening with” performances at Sons of Hermann Hall. The evenings’ festivities will largely follow…

More bands should study the elegant, almost neoclassically refined career arc of Slobberbone. The flight path goes like this: Drink beer, play for your friends, take your name from a porch dog’s chew toy, tour, rock, tour and, above all else, rock. The Denton, Texas, foursome of songwriter and singer…

Not to get all nostalgic, but 2009 really was a fantastic year in Dallas-Fort Worth music. There are various reasons why and, last week, we handled the news-side of it all. But this week’s a little closer to the heart. This week really matters. Because, well, the music mattered around…

Listing one’s favorite albums of the year indeed proves a cathartic and enjoyable task—there’s no question about that. But questions arise in the process—big-picture questions, real head-scratchers. Like, say, this one: Was 2009 a really good year for music? Or just a really deep year for above-average music? I’m inclined…

Mapping out a universe of spongy synth leads and canned beats, Dallas-bred knob-tinkerer Alan Palomo has managed an offbeat triumph in Psychic Chasms, the debut of Neon Indian, his mostly one-man bedroom project. The rising Sacramento label Lefse recently released the album, which features such casually sung gems as “Terminally…

For the first time in forever, it seems, Breathe Carolina bandmates Kyle Evans and David Schmitt have a day off. And they’re determined to enjoy it, so they’ve headed to Delaware’s Dewey Beach for an afternoon of Jet Skiing, little knowing that their joyful excursion is about to go terribly…

The posters and online invites promoting Hailey’s Club’s upcoming “New Wave New Year’s Eve” event each tell the story concisely enough: The party will serve as “DJ G’s Last ’80s Dance Night.” And, as advertised, after ringing in the New Year with what will undoubtedly be a memorable final set,…

[Editor’s Note: Over the next couple of weeks, I’ll be presenting my favorite local songs of the year, counting down from No. 25 to No. 1, one track a day. Today we take an in-depth look at song No. 9 on the list–and, please, feel free to click after the…

On Sunday, from the afternoon and into the late evening, Third String Productions will present its third annual holiday-themed affair called Unsilent Night (not to be confused with this Unsilent Night). And as always, it’s quite the mall punk affair: This year’s headliners include A Day to Remember, Sense Fail,…

[Editor’s Note: In this week’s paper, you’ll see my picks for the best DFW albums of 2009. Unfortunately, because of space concerns in print, some of the column was cut. So I’ve decided to print the whole thing here in full. Check it out. Argue away. Do your thing. And…

Christmas Week is not normally the busiest of times as far as concerts go but, tonight, the Lakewood Bar & Grill is hosting a nice trio of singer/songwriters.Headlining is Heather Morgan, a transplanted Dallasite who now hails out of Nashville. Morgan’s brand of down to earth country certainly belies her…