Brooklyn duo Matt and Kim’s self-titled 2006 debut album didn’t make much of an impact, but the group’s latest, Grand, has made critics swoon, won the band an endorsement deal with Bacardi and hit iTunes’ top 30. So what are they doing differently this time around? Just four things, says…
Last weekend, Denton’s Teenage Cool Kids seemed in markedly high spirits for the band’s record release show at Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studios. Album release shows always seem to carry some certain palpable, celebratory electricity, but after jumping numerous hurdles (including a legal battle to retain the band’s name that garnered…
Like 2005’s Wu-Tang Meets the Indie Culture, Wu-Tang Chamber Music is not an official Wu album. An “official compilation,” rather, it doesn’t feature folks like Masta Killa and GZA, instead hosting NYC old-school all-stars including Masta Ace, Sadat X and Kool G Rap. But it feels like vintage Clan; in…
Regina Spektor combines a whimsical, Björk-like sensibility with singing chops and genuine compassion, and she’s usually able to effectively combine the silly and the sweet. While her previous album, Begin to Hope, featured some jaunty numbers and plenty of nonsensical musings, Far feels more serious. Sure, this is an album…
Wilco (The Album) is the name of the latest from the heroes of the alt-country set, although the band’s detractors will surely argue that the title almost is as disquietingly bland as the band itself. Not quite: It’s a tame, pleasant, weird little album—but it’s more like the sigh after…
Low has seemingly taken a backseat to Retribution Gospel Choir in the last couple of years, as Duluth, Minnesota, mainstay Alan Sparhawk indulges his rock muse with feedback-laden guitar jams and more cathartic crescendos. But Low, by contrast, is the anti-crescendo, with most of its compositions putting along at glacial…
Between the haphazard hooks, ramshackle rhythm section, mumbled vocals and lo-fi lust for vintage psych, Black Lips comparisons are unavoidable for the former Dallas four-piece The Strange Boys. That doesn’t mean there’s not room for a few bands who plunder the 13th Floor Elevators with the kindergarten abandon of early…
Fewer than four months after recording and mixing their latest album, Mandala (out July 21), the progressive rock alchemists in Rx Bandits are touring in support of the mature, slightly Latin-infused followup to 2006’s …And the Battle Begun. And the new sound? It’s one stained by life experiences, dusty hitchhiking…
…and for the more Youtube-inclined, here’s your link.Last week, a real treat for those who’ve been making the weekly trek to SPACE Studio for our DC9 in SPACE tapings: Indie hip-hop and freestyle mindblower, Astronautalis dropped by for, well, what turned out to be quite the paean to all things…
Yup: On Saturday, July 18, we’ll be taking over Lowest Greenville yet again–for the third year in a row, I believe–to offer up a lineup of 39 Dallas Observer Music Award-nominated acts performing six different venues, all for the low, low cost of five dollars. Check the entire DOMA Showcase…
As part of Live Nation’s continuing No Service Fee Wednesday (now going by the initials NSFW, which caused me to open the press release quite a bit quicker than I might have otherwise, I’ll have to admit), Live Nation is once again offering tickets for select shows at an “all-in”…
Myspace has been running a free concert series called The List–a pretty interesting deal in that, if you befriend The List’s Myspace page on the networking site, you can get into certain free performances when the company decides to put them on in your city. And it’s not just slouches…
Drove by Trees this morning on the way into the office–and, gotta say, the place looks pretty great. The building’s been painted a dark gray color and the outdoor trim on the windows and garage door now boast a bright green. Needless to say, it catches the eye. But owner…
Another coup for that spaceship out in Arlington: It’s the Beatle’s first Dallas show since 2005, and his sole Texas stop on his current North American tour. Perhaps most impresively, though, the press release announcing the show indicates that the concert should last a solid 2.5 hours. Tickets go on…
Your daily dose of national music news for Wednesday, July 8, 2009… Black Keys drummer Patrick Carney has started a band with four other drummers. The act is called… wait for it… Drummer. Trent Reznor has already gone back on his word regarding his claims that NIN’s last show was Bonnaroo…
Anyone remember Mazzy Star? Or, before that, Opal? The late ’80s and early ’90s seemed like a good time for purveyors of dreamy, psychedelic pop. One could do much worse than checking into Opal’s 1985 Northern Line EP–hell, the Old 97’s covered the title song on an early b-side.Dallas’ own…
We’ve had the date of August 14 circled on our calendars for some time now–and with good reason; that’s when the revered Deep Ellum rock club Trees is set to re-open its doors after after a three-and-a-half year hiatus. And while we’ve heard rumors of what’s to come from Clint…
Granted, this is hardly a local story–but it’s kinda interesting, and it’s happening tomorrow night at the Meyeson Symphony Center so cha-ching!Anyway: At tomorrow night’s Brian McKnight show at the Meyerson, McKnight will present his tour support, Matt Cusson, with the Maxell Song of the Year prize from the 12th…
Patriotism swept across Dallas DJs’ playlists last weekend like Michael Jackson tunes the week before–and on Friday night, Barcadia was no exception.Out nightlife photo team caught up with the crowd there as Redeye spun patriotic songs (like the Team America: World Police anthem “America Fuck Yeah”) over the crashing sounds…
If Eric’s review and Darryl’s list of Top 10 lessons learned at the Warped Tour didn’t quite get you there, we direct you this afternoon to our photo set from Sunday afternoon’s show, which confirms our suspicions: it was indeed a tight-packed, sweaty scrum of the half-dressed, bandanna’d future of…
Neon Indian’s Psychic Chasms isn’t the only record anticipated from the Alan Palomo camp. July 1 came and went without the promised release of the now-still-forthcoming VEGA EP, Well Known Pleasures. But it’s not without good reason: Palomo let us know that, while he isn’t ready to publicly divulge the…
Your daily dose of national music news for Tuesday, July 6, 2009… Is the idea of getting a t-shirt, a 7″ single and a 12″ LP enough for you to spend $60 for a three-month subscription? Jack White certainly hopes so–his label Third Man launched a subscription service. Apparently teenage…
