Looking For More Insight Into Midlake’s The Courage of Others?

If so, Midlake’s Tim Smith has got you covered. The Denton-based band’s frontman just-releaed this Lala playlist of songs that the band says inspired its upcoming album’s “obscure” and “British folk” influence. And, uh, it’s obscure alright. Can’t say we here at DC9 are all that familiar with the names…

Giveaway: A Pair Of Tickets to Tonight’s Colourmusic Show at The Cavern

Michael Roberts doesn’t take long to explain the backstory of Colourmusic in his write-up in this week’s Observer. In fact, it just takes him one sentence:.The first concept that sounded equally interesting to both [of the band’s founders] involved writing songs inspired by colors–a notion reflected in the name of…

Neon Indian Gets Its Very Own Daytrotter Session

It was bound to happen sooner or later, I guess. So don’t act too surprised by this news: This morning saw the release of Neon Indian’s Daytrotter Session. These sessions, you’ll recall, are live performances at the Rock Island production studio of the same name–and they’re available as free downloads…

FADER Catches Up With Play-N-Skillz

Credit where it’s due, FADER: Your D-Town Boogie coverage? It’s really been phenomenal. Seriously! You lack the benefit of being in the thick of it all–like, say, us, for better or worse—watching these artists on a day-to-day basis. And yet, unlike so many other national media outlets, you’re not ignoring…

Picture Show: Megadeth at the Palladium Ballroom

Megadeth made its triumphant return to Dallas last night at the Palladium, joined by Machine Head and others around the midway point of its Endgame tour.Plenty more photos from the show are up here in our slideshow from photographer Roger Caldwell…

Gig Alert: Malcolm Holcombe and Andrew Hardin at AllGood Café

Last year, I had the opportunity to talk with singer/songwriter/guitarist Malcolm Holcombe–and his rags to rags story was one of the most interesting things I’ve heard in some time. And, tonight, Holcombe brings his beautifully ragged brand of folk to the intimate confines of AllGood Café. Hailing from North Carolina,…

Good (Records) News And Bad News About Holiday Extravaganza

With Polyphonic Spree ringleader Tim DeLaughter holed up to work on new music, Good Records manager Chris Penn says, the Dallas symphonic indie-pop band will not be doing its Holiday Extravaganza this season. But that doesn’t mean the record store is being completely Scrooge-like this year. From 3 p.m. to…

Fizzy Dino Pop’s Japanese Progression

Given the drastic stylistic break from his band’s convoluted, eight-bit screamo-thrash roots, Avery Williamson struggled with the question of whether to change the name of his music project. After all, everything is different. The arrangements have become more sophisticated. The melodies have taken a J-pop-influenced turn. Most dramatically of all,…

Bill Callahan, Lights, Neil Morgan

The artist formerly known as Smog, Bill Callahan used to churn out lo-fi four-track cassettes mostly about sitting alone in his room, mumbling in a distracted croak over amp noise and loops, sour guitars, and freeform song structures—great, morbid stuff, and he had a sly sense of humor about it…

AFI, 30 Seconds to Mars, The Bravery, Cage the Elephant

Approaching two decades as a functioning band (with a few admittedly sketchy years in the beginning), AFI is effectively in punk rock for the long haul. The band ushered a million or so people into its cult through 2003’s certified platinum Sing the Sorrow with the help of some catchy…

Denton Deluxe is a Showcase in More Ways Than One

This week, denton Deluxe officially released the fifth volume in its ongoing series of compilation CDs featuring local music. And, like the previous four editions, Volume 5 delivers a few selections from every nook and cranny of Denton’s diverse tableau of musical genres. Take the first three cuts, for example,…

Colourmusic is Exactly What it Sounds Like

Ryan Hendrix and Nick Turner, the founding partners of Colourmusic, aren’t cut from the same cloth. Hendrix is an Oklahoma native who worships at U2’s altar, while Turner is a Brit by birth who much prefers My Bloody Valentine’s oeuvre to anything by Bono and company. No wonder that, when…

The Question of “The Dallas Sound.”

It’s right there on the packaging sticker—the only thing on Rachel Bazooka’s head-spinning, 97-minute, double-disc debut release, Colorbl nd, that features any words at all—and it reads quite clearly: This CD, unlike any before it, boasts the so-called “Dallas sound.” Wait. The what? Never heard of it. It’s not exactly…