Critic's Notebook

Long before the pandemic had us all becoming just a bit more health conscious, the members of Dallas metalcore band Slit were concerned with another national health crisis. “The plan from the beginning was for the EP to center around a lot of mental struggles and the idea of giving…

Instead of her usual promotion with big box stores such as Target and Wal-Mart, musician Taylor Swift has partnered with indie record stores all over the country to sell signed copies of her folklore CD. For Dallas, that record store was Josey Records. Waric Cameron, owner of Josey Records, wrote…

As one of the first industries to shut down and likely one of the last to reopen, live music venues are fighting for their lives to remain standing once the COVID-19 dust settles. Insufficient government assistance has left business owners high and dry and a predicted 90% of venues face…

The Travis Scott meal at McDonald’s inflicted the worst bodily harm I’ve ever experienced in the performance of my journalistic duties, and I say this as a reporter who has gotten tear-gassed while covering a riot. In case you haven’t had the displeasure: The fast-food giant announced a limited partnership…

Many artists have used pandemic time to get creative and crank out an album within the course of a few months. Some have used this time to revisit projects that they have previously abandoned. In the case of doublepluspop, the four-piece revisited the project that was supposed to be their…

Most venues are trying their best, and some are even doing it right. Still, the words “COVID safety and precautions” have become the new “thoughts and prayers”; they may be filled with good intentions, but the practical results amount to a placebo effect at best. Any weekend drive-by glance around…

J. Rhodes wants white and non-Black people to listen. In It’s a Wonderful Plight, the new film from the Oak Cliff native, the story of Black America demands to be heard. Writing a hip-hop musical, Rhodes says, is one of the many creative ways he’s found to grab others’ attention…

A new and used record store, Growl, is blossoming in downtown Arlington along Abrams Street. This retail space has cycled through different phases over the last few years, trying to figure out what it wants to really be when it grows up. With low ceilings, a cement floor, bars on…

Iconic pop trailblazer Madonna is co-writing and directing an upcoming biopic on her life and music career, Universal Pictures confirmed in a statement on Tuesday. Joining the Queen of Pop on this endeavor is famed  writer Diablo Cody, whose most notable works include films such as Juno and Jennifer’s Body…

The Kessler announced a new music series that will take place on the lawn behind the theater. The Kessler Green will offer live music, drinks, food trucks and pop-up favorites. Catch Thomas Csorba and Jacob Metcalf later next week. Chilldren of Indigo premiered a new music video this week directed…

If all of this world is a stage and men and women merely players, as Shakespeare suggested, then Will Schutze is a director. While most of us remain unaware of our various stages and roles, Schutze builds his and dreams up the beings to populate them in puppet form, whether they…

In a battle of political slogans, critics of the Black Lives Matter movement often come back with their own version: Blue Lives Matter. But blue lives don’t matter, Dallas punk band Sub-Sahara wants to make clear with its song “13-12,” which was released in late July. “1312” is derived from…

Sure, he’ll admit it: Did rapper Lou CharLe$ imagine one day owning a gleaming Lamborghini? Yes. Was there an ocean view involved? Of course. Supermodels and tequila? You bet. All of that was on his vision board, he jokes, but alas, there’s no extravagant whip in his garage, nor an…

There are few things trendier than embracing styles and sounds of the past. Sampled choruses from classic songs and tracks from artists of a different era are nothing new; this year has seen a heavy increase in appreciation for the early years of the new millennium. What is it that…

We’re not going to mince words here: We’re all in hell right now, and 2020 is a year that seems never-ending. No amount of tragedy fatigue will ever make the deaths of local musicians such as Riley Gale and Trini Lopez less devastating. No matter how turbulent this election cycle…

Danni James and Kris Williams grew up in the same Fort Worth neighborhood and never knew it. When the musicians finally met 10 years ago in their 20s, they had a lot of play time to make up for. Like most meaningful modern relationships whether romantic or professional, the pair…

In case you missed it: Indie darling Sarah Jaffe and multi-instrumentalist/producer Roberto Sanchez teamed up earlier this year in support of Jaffe’s latest EP Smut. Since then, they formed Golden Aquarians and released the debut single “High Enough” on Sept. 4. A gem in local music, multi-instrumentalist, vocalist and educator…

“My name is Liv.e, and you’re under quarantine with me,” the artist says from a tweed armchair in a living room before starting her livestream. Praise be. If there’s anything we all need right now, it’s Liv.e (pronounced “Liv”… the E is silent). The 22-year-old Dallas-born, Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter is…

During the Age of Enlightenment, philosophers such as Thomas Hobbes, John Locke and Georg Wilhelm Hegel laid the ideological foundation for the Declaration of Independence’s bold creed that “all men are … endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights.” To put that expression in laymen’s terms: Human beings have…

When Oak Cliff rapper C. Struggs died of esophageal cancer two years ago, he left behind a wealth of music to be released posthumously. One of those mixtapes was finally released last month and offers a side of Struggs many had not seen musically. “He really wasn’t in a good…

On her upcoming album Holy Wars, LO creates a dark and dreamy pop landscape, evoking a whirlwind of  emotions, not unlike what the year 2020 has felt like. The work will be a two-part album expressing the 25-year-old singer-songwriter’s duality. Holy Wars was preceded by the lead single “Lost in Translation,”…