Cat Power kicks off her January-released CD, Jukebox, with a remake of John Kander and Fred Ebb’s standard “Theme from New York, New York,” but given the track’s sultry, Stax-y R&B makeover and coolly rumbling keyboards, perhaps she should call her version “Memphis, Memphis.” She recorded her previous album, 2006’s…
Pops Carter looks every bit the part of a funk god in his crushed velvet purple suit, dark sunglasses and wide fedora, but don’t let the outfit fool you: Carter’s a bluesman at heart, and when he takes the stage with his band the Funkmonsters, his searing vocals and overall…
Various incarnations of The Cardinals have backed alt-country icon Ryan Adams since 2004, but the soon-to-be-released Cardinology marks the first time that the singer has refused top billing over his collaborators. Don’t take that move as any indication of what to expect at this performance, though: Adams is a famously…
Nimble-tongued Nikka Costa’s new Stax release, Pebble to a Pearl, due on October 14, elaborates on Costa’s previous excursions, making promises—funky, soulful promises—about love and sex and music. But it’s Costa’s giant voice, all out of proportion to her diminutive stature, that’s led to the cruising altitude of her career—which,…
If you expected Robert Pollard to ride quietly into the sunset after the dissolution of Guided By Voices in 2004, you were sorely mistaken. After approximately 4,791 GBV albums and roughly half that amount in solo releases, Pollard, with his new band—which includes former GBVer Chris Slusarenko and The Decemberists’…
Concocting outré underground pop for more than a decade doesn’t necessarily shield you from being unjustly mistaken for easily digestible by the mainstream press. Following the reception of the last Magnetic Fields album—2004’s i, a non-electro, less sonically bizarre outing than 1999’s 69 Love Songs—insanely prolific, Eeyore-voiced bard Stephin Merritt…
Somber, dark, sinister and gloomy are just a few of the adjectives most commonly used to describe the music of The Walkmen, one of New York City’s most interesting indie rock bands. Problem is, the group’s frontman, Hamilton Leithauser, can’t stand the gothic trappings that seem to pop up in…
If there’s one thing music journalists have learned over time, it’s that whenever a breakthrough, buzz-laden artist from across the pond shows up in your town for a debut performance, you pay attention. It’s simple, really: We music journos tend to be impressed by music sung with an accent—as if…
Cupping his microphone in his hands, Aaron Mollet’s hushed moans wash over the audience as the experimental lap-pop duo Florene starts its set at Dan’s Silverleaf. The pair stands on either side of a folding table strewn with cables, sequencers, pedals and microphones. Suddenly, Mollet throws his body forward and…
Being named Best Jazz Act at this year’s Dallas Observer Music Awards was just another addition to Snarky Puppy’s already impressive résumé. Led by bassist/composer Michael League, this eclectic collective has successfully transcended the highbrow, elitist tag that dogs some jazz combos. And the act manages to do so without…
Late last year, Boyz II Men released a respectable Motown-remake album with a lousy title that only could’ve been worse if they’d added an exclamation point to it (Motown: A Journey Through Hitsville USA). This year, Raphael Saadiq sees that tribute and raises the game. On The Way I See…
In a match made in piano-rock heaven, Dresden Dolls vamp Amanda Palmer teamed with fellow ivory-tickler Ben Folds to produce this strings-and-spinet stunner. Originally, the singer had planned a low-budget project, showcasing some songs she felt sounded better without Dolls collaborator Brian Viglione’s distinctive drumming. And, yes, Palmer’s vocal acrobatics,…
There’s no one here. Just Bill Wisener sitting in his normal spot behind the front counter of his South Lamar Street store, a DVD stuck on opening-screen repeat, a cigarette in his hand, and dozens of butts littering the floor he ashes upon. Bill’s Records might as well be closed…
Patrick Michels Better than: Any act that ever wailed at a microphone, strummed a little on the guitar, and called that a show. In retrospect, it began all too neatly: a fine stream of lighter fluid splashed across the cymbals as the drummer undressed in the corner. There were other…
I can’t believe it’s not punk rock? Steve Dirkx, one-time member of Dallas’ legendary new wave/punk combo The Telefones, sent me an email this morning containing some sad news about one of my heroes. Seems John Lydon, aka Johnny Rotten, of punk godfathers the Sex Pistols, is in a commercial,…
It’s been over a year now since former Observer music editor, one-time mayoral candidate and current D Magazine writer Zac Crain last found himself being lambasted in the very dark, very murky waters of metal web site Blabbermouth.com’s comment section. But, hey, news like this–that Crain’s publisher, De Capo Press,…
In this week’s not-yet-online Night & Day section, I wrote up a quick blurb about Laurie Anderson’s Homeland, which features Anderson, Tuvan throat singers, violin players and more, all colliding over an electro foundation, to take on the political and social topics of modern day America. It employs different themes…
If you’re nostalgic for the warehouse parties of your youth, you’ve got the chance to relive those bygone days. Even better, you probably won’t have to worry about the police busting up the party. The fourth annual Art Conspiracy, set for Saturday, December 6, will take place in a 40,000-square-foot…
The Theater Fire, just one of a dozen performers who will perform at The Fairmount this Saturday. (Brian Harkin) Beginning at 7 p.m. Saturday, you can help Fairmount bartender Ryan Kerr celebrate his 40th birthday and help hungry and homeless Texans, all while enjoying some of Fort Worth’s best Americana,…
That first McCain/Obama debate was pretty much a snoozefest of the highest order. The second go around tonight should offer a bit more interest, seeing that’s it has a town hall format. In any case, you can always TiVo the debate and head out to The Loft tonight and catch…
Assuming you’ve got an extra $275,000 to spare, this is a no-brainer. Dallas-based Neiman Marcus is offering a collection of 18,400 or so 45s of every single that ever appeared on the Billboard Top 100 rock or pop charts from 1955 to 1990. And many of the records are autographed…
Allow myself to quote myself: Back in March, when I caught Tel Aviv garage punk trio Monotonix at South by Southwest, I called the band’s performance “one of the best live shows I’ve ever been to” and suggested everyone “elevate this band to must-see status in your notebooks.” Lofty praise…
