When I first heard Autolux's Future Perfect, I checked the CD for a copyright date. 2004? No way. This album sounds trapped in Matador Records' golden years, when FP's slow semi-grunge would've fit somewhere between Pavement and Helium. Then again, Autolux has encountered many delays en route to this album,...
Dr. Susan Diamond is delicate as a wren, with large dark eyes and hair swept back in a no-nonsense shoulder-length bob. She's an expert on treating HIV/AIDS, with a thriving practice near Presbyterian Hospital, and her patients describe her as warm and compassionate, a rare doctor who makes house calls...
Everyone knows all of Usher's Confessions by now; everyone went to see Prince play "1999 for the very last time. Everyone knows all about Lil Jon and his penchant for hollering "Yayy-uuhhh! With everyone paying attention to these superstars, a lot of other talented folks got drowned out, and not...
At least we have a choice: Is the mess at Dallas City Hall the fault of a stupid goofy do-nothing city council? Or does the blame belong to a power-mad political dominatrix mayor in Cole Haan heels? Ready to vote yet? On May 7 Dallas voters go to the polls...
High on Death A Texas professor searches for the human soul "I think death is an illusion. I think death is a really nasty bad lie. I don't see any truth in the word death at all." This is the conclusion of Pam Reynolds, a singer-songwriter. She spits out her...
Those Are the Rules Gay TCA student no victim: Inasmuch as I am a devout Libertarian, I find all this uproar over the Trinity Christian Academy's dismissal of senior Neal Stephenson just as disturbing as the action itself ("Truth Hurts," by Claiborne Smith, December 23). I am neither endorsing nor...
From the outside, Jimmy Eat World's studio in Tempe, Arizona, looks like another sterile office space in a quiet business complex. But walk through the entrance, and it becomes a surprisingly cozy rock-and-roll den. There's enough cushy seating for a decent-sized party, and instruments are strewn everywhere--a drum kit in...
You'll find the Dallas Observer staff's year-end list a few pages over, but enough about us. What albums in 2004 did local musicians pick as their favorites? We asked 10 for their take on the year in music. Eric Michener, Fishboy Brian Wilson, Smile (Nonesuch): Mr. Wilson started his greatest...
Michael Moore timed the release of his Fahrenheit 9/11 DVD to hit stores in the weeks leading up to the November 2 election so he could theoretically make a difference in the result. Though the impact of Shake the Sheets, Ted Leo + The Pharmacists' follow-up to 2003's Hearts of...
By now, if you were at all interested in "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott--either as a fan of Pantera and/or Damageplan, or simply from a newshound's perspective--you've no doubt read something about the guitar hero's public memorial at the Arlington Convention Center on December 14. I've read some of those stories, too...
Love him or hate him--there rarely is a middle ground--Pat Green is the biggest thing to come out of Texas since, well, George W. Bush. And now that Green is entering his second term as a major-label artist with his Lucky Ones CD, it appears that quite a few of...
Union Suit A lawsuit targets a Dallas Police Association leader According to people close to the lawsuit, the cover-up goes straight to the top: to the police chief's office and then the mayor's. The alleged cover-up involves an influential cop--Eddie Crawford, vice president of the Dallas Police Association, the largest...
Where's My Toronto? Ding-ding forever: I read with much amusement Jim Schutze's account of his DART light rail encounter ("Slow Ride," December 9). I agree with most of his observations about the "buses on railroad tracks." I'm a single mother of a teenager in West Plano, and we live without...
It looks like the end of the world in here. Technological debris is scattered all around--stacks of computer cases, cables that would stretch for miles if hooked end-to-end, hundreds of adapters, chips and motherboards--and Paul Slocum digs through the middle of it to find a keyboard controller for his second...
The Missing People's Agenda Proving it really is a nonprofit, KERA slashes staff and programming All things considered, these are not great days for North Texas Broadcasting Company Inc., the parent organization of KERA-FM (90.1) and KERA-Channel 13. For the third time in the last two years, substantial layoffs hit...
The critic who takes notes during The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou will ultimately fill a notepad only with scribbled details: "All the crewmen wear red stocking caps with their tuxedos," "some names of Zissou's movies: The Battling Eels of Antibes, Shadow Creatures of the Lurisia Archipelago, Island Cats!," "one...
In 2004, the line between indie and mainstream rock disintegrated even faster than Britney Spears's quickie Vegas marriage. Vinyl obsessives mingled with white-hat-wearing fratheads at Modest Mouse shows, Taking Back Sunday debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard charts, and Death Cab for Cutie earned O.C.-sanctioned buzz and a major-label...
"Random lost souls have asked me what's the future of rock and roll," sings front man Conrad Keely on "Worlds Apart." "I don't know, does it matter?" Maybe not to some, but ...Trail of Dead knows what the future of rock and roll shouldn't be. For inspiration, Keely turned to...
You read it here first. The flood of American liberals sneaking across the border into Canada has intensified in the past few weeks, sparking calls for increased patrols to stop the illegal immigration. The re-election of President Bush has prompted the exodus among left-leaning citizens who fear they'll soon be...
12/2 Quick decision time: Clay Aiken or Johnny Thunders? Jerry Bruckheimer or Jim Jarmusch? Peter Max or Jean-Michel Basquiat? The latter of each pair operates on the artistic fringe; the former is known for his glossy vanilla output. One makes you feel; one makes you forget. Opening Thursday with a...
A man shrieks at the top of his lungs: "Please 911 PLEASE I need an ambulance!" Clutching a cell phone and pacing through his house, the man roars with primal anger and pain. "Please help me--hurry--I'm right down the street from the fire station...My wife, I don't know what the...
A Very Long Engagement, the new film by French director Jean-Pierre Jeunet (most famously of Amélie), will have its fans. For one thing, there's no denying its beauty, an onslaught of gorgeous tableaux, painstakingly arranged and shot through filters to exclude colors that don't suit (i.e., anything other than sepia...
