Portland’s Nurses sound as odd as their moniker. Dracula, the band’s 2011 effort and second Dead Oceans LP, upped the ante considerably over former releases with its focus and poise. In anticipation of tonight’s opening slot for Steven Malkmus & the Jicks at the Granada Theater, keyboardist and vocalist John…
There have been some notable record deals inked among North Texas artists in recent years — Jonathan Tyler & the Northern Lights on Atlantic and Midlake on Bella Union pop to mind — and as of February 10, Dallas-based singer-songwriter Ronnie Fauss joined the ranks of regional artists with serious…
A little over five months ago, John Carbone of Gilded Splinters decided to move from Boston to Austin. Seems the trio felt the scene in New England was restricting the band’s chances of breaking out nationally, so they loaded up everything and headed South. Speaking from his new abode in…
In keeping with their goal of booking Texas-wide this year, the Homegrown Music & Art Festival has announced Austin’s The Octopus Project and Ume, San Antonio’s Girl in a Coma and Dallas’ Mystery Skulls as their first round of bands. I seriously miss getting to see Ume on a regular…
Dallas emcee and producer -topic definitely perked my ears with his latest 12-song project, Songs About P___y (no relation to Big Black’s Songs About Fucking), explained on his Bandcamp page as “a collection of the personal, emotion-related struggles of men, my perception and thoughts on the man/woman relations.” It’s a…
As the leader of Soul Coughing, Mike Doughty made a name for himself as a songwriter with a penchant for jazz grooves and stream-of-consciousness poetry. Too bad feuding amongst Doughty and the rest of the band over songwriting credit and other issues brought an end to Soul Coughing after just…
With Brandon Blue currently making some of the most innovative beats in Dallas hip-hop, it’s no wonder Slim Gravy (A.Dd+), Dave (The Mohicans), Dustin Cavazos and -topic joined fellow Brain Gangbanger JT in reworking “Party On,” the lead single from the Numb EP. Not only is this beat a dramatic…
Although Laura Gibson’s engaging and challenging music owes as much to jazz as it does to any notion of folk. La Grande, her recently released sophomore effort, is a collection that laces those sounds with a bit of atmospheric rock. Just waking up before the long drive from Marfa to…
Intense barely scratches the surface when talking about Suicide Silence. The California extreme metal outfit has been around for just over a decade, and in that time, they’ve created three of the severest slabs of deathcore to be found. Speaking from a Houston restaurant in anticipation of tonight’s show at…
In the early ’90s, Matt Hillyer and his band, Lone Star Trio, were packing venues with a rootsy sound about the same time that Rhett Miller and Murry Hammond were forming the Old 97’s. Since 1998, Hillyer’s fronted Eleven Hundred Springs, an old-school honky-tonk band that’s released several top-notch albums,…
In 2008, influential Canadian heavy metal forerunners Anvil finally tasted the fame that had eluded them for decades, thanks to the documentary Anvil! The Story of Anvil. Instead of becoming novelty stars who had a heart-warming yet heart-wrenching movie to their name (like the stars of The King of Kong),…
Sunday afternoon at the Webb Gallery promises to be quite the feat of synergy, which seems to be a keyword on the blog this week. The Waxahachie gallery and Good Records are combining forces to bring you Groove, a fusion of Texas music and art. The art part comes via…
Since You Me at Six is already a major success in their home country of England, Josh Franceschi and crew have now set their sights on conquering America. To that end, the pop-punk five-piece recently released Sinners Never Sleep, their most mature effort to date. Featuring intense numbers like “Bite…
Judging by Jillian Edwards’ recently released sophomore effort, Head First, the Richardson-bred singer-songwriter shouldn’t have much trouble making it in Nashville. Tunes such as “No Other Plans” and “Mind Made Up” show Edwards wiser than her 23 years might indicate. Speaking from her parents’ home in Richardson and in anticipation…
This morning our inbox had a note about yet another North Texas act given the Daytrotter treatment. Fort Worth’s Whiskey Folk Ramblers recorded a four-song-session for the website, including tracks “Pies of Old Kylene” and “Leavin’ Here.” The session highlights the band’s sinister gypsy — and, at times, klezmer — folk…
Denton’s Boxcar Bandits have been playing their warped version of Americana for just over half a decade. In that time, they’ve played countless shows and produced two albums: 2008’s Smells Like Grass and the recently released Live at Dan’s Silverleaf. And while live efforts are often perfunctory product issued to…
Mat Kearney is a crossover human. He’s had one foot in pop music (see 2006 pop hit “Nothing Left To Lose”), and another in hip-hop. His most recent album, Young Love, sees him incorporating more of a hip-hop/spoken word element than ever before. And so far, it’s been his biggest…
If you know the name Ryan Bingham, it might be because he was partially responsible for “The Weary Kind,” from the soundtrack to 2009’s Crazy Heart, which won him an Golden Globe in 2010 and released many tears from eye jail. Bingham and his band the Dead Horses have that…
Electro house musician Steve Aoki is much more than your run-of-the-mill remixer. Besides running the influential Dim Mak record label, Aoki also owns two restaurants, works with artists as diverse as Duran Duran and Drake, has a clothing line, invented his own brand of headphones and plays more than 250…
The new Doc’s Records & Vintage in Fort Worth has been open for a couple months now, but they’ve no doubt been letting all that vinyl smell settle in. Good news for record nerds and fans of that smell: They’ve finally set a date for their grand opening. On February…
Bravo, Max! has been through a tumultuous few months. After releasing Dog’s Light, the band’s fantastic debut full-length, they suddenly lost two members. Johnny Beauford, Ben Gastright and Jonathan Jackson decided to charge ahead as a three-piece and, judging by recent songs such as “Sleepy Simon,” the move is already…
Matt Pryor’s main gig is fronting The Get Up Kids, but every year or so, he decides to go the sensitive singer/songwriter route and bring a few friends along, including Bayside’s Anthony Raneri and Chris Conley from Saves the Day. They all play under the banner of Where’s the Band?…
