Back in the spring, the latest single from Norwegian electronica duo, Röyksopp, “This Must Be It” started making rounds within the dance blog circuit, thanks in part to the plenty-adored act’s clout, but also to the song’s heavy, danceable sound.Well, today comes news that the single still won’t see its…
Got an excited call last night from one Danny Balis. Mostly, Balis–he of The King Bucks and formerly of Sorta–was flabbergasted by what he was looking at on his computer, and he pass along to share some good news on a day in which he needed some.Checking in on how…
As promised, St. Vincent stopped by Jimmy Kimmel Live last night, again offering up a phenomenal take on “Marrow” for the cameras. Among those joinging her in this performance, Kimmel’s house band leader, Cleto Escobedo III. In other news, Annie Clark is still the coolest. Clearly…
Elvis CostelloNokia Theatre, Grand PrairieSeptember 2, 2009 Better than: just about anything else on my plate on a Wednesday evening Pretty close to 8:15, the lights inside the Nokia Theatre went down and onto the stage strode legendary singer/songwriter Elvis Costello, along with his current collaboration of sidemen, the unit…
Your daily dose of national music news for Thursday, September 3, 2009… Charlie Watts is leaving The Rolling Stones?! Oh, wait… no he’s not. Music producer Matthew Herbert is making an album comprised of pig noises. Top that Radiohead! Muse’s PR company might want to look up what “secret show” really…
With the exception of a collaboration with Akon, Whitney Houston’s new album, I Look to You—her first studio album in seven years—is almost absurdly gimmick-free. In an era when female pop singers are increasingly self-referential (Britney Spears conceived an entire album, Circus, on this concept) Whitney absolutely refuses to play…
There’s a staccato rhythm surging throughout Intuit, the debut release by Ramona Falls. Which makes sense: The electro-indie project is a solo record by Brent Knopf, the multi-instrumentalist best known as one-third of Portland experimental darlings Menomena. And while there are plenty of comparisons to be made here—both bands feature…
Of the artists on Chicago-based “insurgent country” label Bloodshot Records—an indie that has nurtured modern Americana faves such as Ryan Adams, Neko Case and Split Lip Rayfield—veteran road dog Wayne “the Train” Hancock is probably the truest to the mythos of classic country music. While he’s got the middle-finger-toward-Nashville attitude…
Fans of Los Straitjackets might have first come for the novelty, but they’ve stayed for the sound—a furious instrumental assault of twangy surf, hard rockabilly and psychedelic garage. Oh, the Nashville band still sports the Mexican wrestler masks and Chuck Taylors, and it still knows a marketing angle (can you…
Far as I can tell, there’s no real rhyme or reason behind Cross Canadian Ragweed’s hosting a festival in Fort Worth’s Stockyards. And if there is, well, I’ll be damned if it explains how the Oklahoma-based band has been able to host this ordeal now for four years in a…
Twenty-two-year-old singer-songwriter Paolo Nutini confounds most expectations, from his name on up. Despite his moniker’s Mediterranean sound, Nutini hails from Paisley, Scotland (though his father’s side of the family is Italian, a few generations back). And despite his early shaggy, long-haired image, Nutini is not another dour rocker from his…
The welcome thread of a newish trend runs through the biggest show for each of the next two weeks—and, apologies to Neon Indian, headlining act for the farther off of these shows, that trend isn’t GorillaVsBearcore. (That’s the half-joking term some used to describe the synth-heavy, lo-fi, retro dance-pop that…
One of the most bizarre and far-flung repercussions of Michael Jackson’s death has to be the recently issued cover of The Beatles’ “Blackbird” as performed by The Dandy Warhols. Actually, it kinda had to happen: On the song “Welcome to The Monkey House” (from the psychedelic rock band’s 2003 effort…
Comparisons to post-rock bands like Mogwai and Explosions in the Sky are easy to make when listening to This Will Destroy You’s music, but don’t let those comparisons fool you into thinking that this band is anything like, say, Ozma aping Weezer, for example. “In the tour bus with us,…
Last Monday morning, SuperMusicman42 uploaded a video of a performance by The Bizarro Kids to YouTube titled: “Nick Jonas SIDE PROJECT BIZARRO KIDS SPECIAL GUEST NICK JONAS!” According to SuperMusicman42 the video, which was tagged with “Jonas Brothers” and “Nick Jonas,” was of a show that had taken place the…
…and as for the YouTube, well, there’s that link now too.At last week’s DC9 in SPACE taping, the only five-month-old Richardson-based folk act The Fox and The Bird stopped by the studio, and showcased a level of performance well beyond what one would expect from such a new act. In…
Fort Worth’s The Burning Hotels are on a serious roll of late, what with their Bandslam performance and their song appearing on the movie soundtrack and all that. And now come the perks. As the song “Stuck in the Middle” appears on the soundtrack, in the movie, and on the…
Philadelphia experimental sax man and poet Elliott Levin had to cancel his Annex House show last month, but the brothers Gonzalez aren’t going to leave fans hanging. Tonight, the Elliott Levin Trio–consisting of Levin with Stefan Gonzalez on drums and Aaron Gonzalez on bass–will make up the canceled gig and…
Indeed, Dallas native Annie Clark will be on Jimmy Kimmel Live tonight performing, one would guess per the protocol of these things, to close out the show. Were I a betting man, I’d say the song we’re going to hear tonight is “Marrow,” the rousing song track Clark stunningly performed…
In honor of his appearance Wednesday night at Nokia, here are my oddball choices for the best five efforts from Declan Patrick MacManus, better known as Elvis Costello.1. King of AmericaThis countrified effort from 1986 still doesn’t get the kudos it so richly deserves. Songs like “American Without Tears,” “Indoor…
Fruit Bats, Death VesselThe LoftSeptember 1, 2009 Better than: Staying at home watching the Rangers sweep a double-header from the Blue Jays. With temperatures hanging blissfully in the upper 70s, the deck of The Loft was certainly a nice place to spend a Tuesday evening. The view was amazing,…
