Late start to the weekend, I know — big, big apologies to News on the March & Grandfather Child for not ranting & raving about their show last night…sigh. Day/evening just got away from me, I’m afraid… Sat., July 11: Buxton (7″ release)/Ghost Mountain/The Wild Moccasins @ Mango’s See here, eh? Nava’s Birthday Bash, featuring […]
Written on July 11, 2009 | Posted in
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Got some cool new reviews up, some just in time for the weekned-ness. There’s a review of the really new 7″ from countrified indie-popsters Buxton, which’ll be released at a cool-ass show tonight at Mango’s — I’ve been digging the hell out of A-side “Feathers”, in particular, but both sides are darn good. Full review […]
Written on July 11, 2009 | Posted in
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It heartens me to see more and more of H-town’s best and brightest flying the coop (temporarily, mind you) to travel the country and spread their musical magic far & wide. It used to be that a touring Houston band was more of an anomaly than anything else, but in recent days lots of talented-ass […]
Written on July 9, 2009 | Posted in
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I didn’t know Dave Rask personally, unfortunately, but even before his untimely death I’d heard some amazing things about the Seabrook-dweller’s music, both solo and with bands Death By Texas & Barstool Forest. The bits & pieces I’d heard made him sound like an impressively good songwriter, somebody with the potential to do some really […]
Written on July 8, 2009 | Posted in
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Ouch. I’ll admit it — I didn’t make it out this past weekend to the Texas Heat Music Festival. I know, I know; I suck. What can I say? Just the thought of standing on hot white concrete all afternoon beneath the blistering sun on one of the hottest days of the scorching-est summer in […]
Written on July 8, 2009 | Posted in
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Yep, it’s that most patriotic of weekends, July 4th, when even supposedly un-American punks like me feel compelled to smile at our fellow citizens & fly flags & attend parades & whatnot. Oh, and listen to music — you can pretty much pick your poison in terms of kickass shows this weekend: Sat., July 4: […]
Written on July 4, 2009 | Posted in
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Mentioned it a while back, but just wanted to drop a quick reminder — today marks the start of the two-day Texas Heat Music Festival downtown at Jones Plaza, a festival that really, truly, looks to be living up to its name, considering how it’s hot as fuck outside right now. The too-apt name notwithstanding, […]
Written on July 3, 2009 | Posted in
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I utterly, completely love the head-on collision that’s been going on lately between snarling, four-chords-and-distortion punk and raw-throated, hard-drinking roots-rock. It’s probably been going on for longer than I’m aware of, sure, but these days it seems to be boiling right beneath the surface, and I’m psyched as hell about it. The combination of ragged […]
Written on July 1, 2009 | Posted in
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Just a little fyi — for those who’ve been watching & waiting anxiously for more details on this year’s installment of the ever-entertaining Houston Press Music Awards Showcase, well, you’re in luck, because today (I think?) the HP crew went live with the updated version of the HPMA site, including online voting & the full […]
Written on July 1, 2009 | Posted in
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What, you thought that was it for the weekend? Nah, not quite. Here’s some more of what sounds good to me for the next two days/nights: Sat., June 27: Indian Jewelry/How I Quit Crack/Wicked Poseur/Flowers to Hide @ The Mink (9PM) Glad to see Indian Jewelry out & about again. It may be my imagination, […]
Written on June 27, 2009 | Posted in
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Friend Conor has been singing the praises of SF-dwellers Cryptacize for a while now, but I’ve been slow to come around, I’m afraid. It’s mostly a matter of expectations, I think — I went into it knowing guitarist Chris Cohen from his work with Deerhoof & The Curtains and singer/guitarist Nedelle Torrisi from her solo, […]
Written on June 27, 2009 | Posted in
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Yeah, I’ve already blathered a bit about this, but I really, truly want folks to get out & see these guys — The Phlegmatics are absolutely one of the coolest, most intriguing rock bands in town, grabbing hold of the Weezer geekcore torch and holding it high above their Marshall stacks. They play nerdy, angst-y […]
Written on June 27, 2009 | Posted in
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Believe it or not, tonight’s a bit of a slow one ’round these parts, at least for my tastes — not that there’s not good stuff going on, but there’s, well, less of it. Here’s what I may be dragging our out-of-town guests (back in town after 5 yrs. from the pathetically music-less wilds of […]
Written on June 26, 2009 | Posted in
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We’re veering rapidly towards the end of the week and all the work-dodging that entails (not that I’m doing it myself, but y’know), so it seemed appropriate to post some YouTube clips I’ve seen recently of and/or by local H-town folks… First is a bit of an afternoon show last weekend at Cactus Music, with […]
Written on June 25, 2009 | Posted in
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Yeah, it’s been a while, and the MP3s have been piling, piling, piling up; some are just kinda “eh” to me, but once I get a chance to sift through things, there’s always some good stuff to download, like the tracks linked below. I honestly wish I could post more of the stuff we get […]
Written on June 23, 2009 | Posted in
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A bit over the line, I know — got some new stuff up this AM, just in time for tonight… As I raved about earlier on, both Paris Falls and The Small Sounds are playing here in town tonight, and so we’ve got reviews up of both the brand-new Paris Falls disc, Volume III (which […]
Written on June 20, 2009 | Posted in
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Another weekend, more badass music to hear/see. I’ll skip the blather this time out & get right to it; here’s what I think sounds cool, complete with insane amounts of flyeration: Fri., June 19: Papermoons/ Buxton/ Airon Paul Dugas & The Religion @ The Mink Yep, those gentle-voiced folk-pop boys in Papermoons are indeed back […]
Written on June 19, 2009 | Posted in
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In spite of having released their latest EP, Thoughts Like Bombs, just a week or two ago, it appears that The Watermarks are still down a couple of members. Frontman/guitarist Cesar Inserny, bassist Jason Petzold, & drummer Nick Dudek have been looking for a keyboardist for a while now, I believe, but they expanded their […]
Written on June 19, 2009 | Posted in
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Another one (er, two) I can’t believe I let sneak up on me; I still have yet to see The Paper Chase live, although I’ve been a fan of John Congleton and his dark, creepy-ass indie-noise-rock for a few years now. They’re playing tonight, thankfully, up at Walter’s on Washington, along with cool (although more […]
Written on June 18, 2009 | Posted in
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Can’t believe I let this one creep up on me like this — one of my absolute favorite, most intrigued-by music-makers going, and I nearly freaking forgot she was playing here this week. Gah… Anyway, Santigold will be playing tonight, Wed., June 17th up at the House of Blues, and while I’ve been burned by […]
Written on June 17, 2009 | Posted in
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Mentioned this briefly earlier on, but the next installment of the BandCamp series up at the Caroline Collective is set for today (again, Sun., June 14th). I haven’t seen a lot in the way of details, unfortunately, but here’s what I’ve got from co-organizer Matthew Wettergreen: Next Bandcamp: Booking Party Bring your press kit, a […]
Written on June 14, 2009 | Posted in
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This afternoon’s a good one for heading over to Midtown, because today (Sun., June 14th), from noon-6PM, is the rejuvenated & resurrected Swap N Bop fair/festival at The Continental Club. There’ll apparently be lots of folks there selling and/or trading stuff, Mr. Adam the BBQ Man will be cooking away, and there’re some darn good […]
Written on June 14, 2009 | Posted in
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And on it goes… Saturday & Sunday night’re looking just as busy as last night did; plenty of good stuff to choose from: Sat., June 13: Something Fierce/Be My Doppelganger/Fat Tony/American Sharks @ The Mink It’s seriously been too damn long since I saw Something Fierce play last, and that’s a damn shame, because I […]
Written on June 13, 2009 | Posted in
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It’s been a hell of a week for good news, I have to say. 2009’s already been a good year for H-town music, but with some recent little bits of news, things are looking upwards even more. Springfield Riots Release an EP: Firstly, pseudo-newbie band Springfield Riots is officially releasing their debut EP, Say When, […]
Written on June 13, 2009 | Posted in
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There’s a ton of stuff to check out this weekend, as often seems to be the case these days — so much so that I almost dunno where to start. [deep breath] Okay, here it goes… First off, I’m sad to report that the awesome-sounding (if, yeah, kitschy as hell) Yo! MTV RapFest that was […]
Written on June 12, 2009 | Posted in
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I desperately need to talk about what all’s going down this weekend, but I’ve got to first mention, though, that we’ve got a bunch of new reviews up, most notably for the recent full-length from Deleted Scenes, who’ll be playing up at Mango’s with Young Mammals, News on the March, & Flowers to Hide tonight. […]
Written on June 12, 2009 | Posted in
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Apologies to anybody else who’s playing a show this evening, but if you’re in town tonight, there’s only one place you really, truly need to be: The Wild Moccasins‘ tour kickoff party at Mango’s, on Westheimer next to the Avant Garden/Helios. In honor of the event, I hit the band up with some (fairly lame) […]
Written on June 11, 2009 | Posted in
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= UPDATE: FYI, since the initial post I’ve heard from The Golden Ghost himself, and apparently not only has he recovered from last year’s injuries, but he will be competing again this year. Go support, y’all! I know, it’s a little hard to fathom, even for somebody like me who’s spent countless hours air-guitar-ing (okay, […]
Written on June 10, 2009 | Posted in
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SCR blogger Lance Higdon is currently out and about in this grand country of ours, criss-crossing the land in a borrowed minivan to bring the space-y, atmospheric noise-rock expanses of his band Golden Cities to folks outside of the Houston metro area for the first time (I think?). They’re in Richmond, VA, as I type […]
Written on June 8, 2009 | Posted in
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I saw some mysterious promo stuff about this a while back & didn’t know what to make of it, but now the full lineup’s been released, so… Apparently H-town’s in for not one but two awesome-sounding summertime music fests this year (and hopefully the next, if all goes well?); along with the Free Press Summerfest, […]
Written on June 7, 2009 | Posted in
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Tonight (Sunday, June 7th) there’re a few less things going on than in the past few nights, but you’ve still got some good, good options. First off, Thrill Jockey Recs signees Pontiak are up at The Mink tonight, doing their heavy-ass, head-twisting variety of psych-rock, intermeshing clouds of messy noise with thick stoner-metal to make […]
Written on June 7, 2009 | Posted in
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Yep, it’s Saturday, and there’s still a crapload of stuff going on; here’s a too-brief rundown on my personal picks for this evening… And yes, I’m well aware that the folks I’m most psyched about all happen to live/play here. They’re that good, y’all. Bachelorette/Springfield Riots/Benjamin Wesley @ Walter’s on Washington Top pick of the […]
Written on June 6, 2009 | Posted in
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Dammit, dammit, dammit. Crapload of excellent stuff going on tonight (and the rest of this weekend), but I’ve been running so fast these past few days I haven’t been able to write it up. Here’s what I’m liking for tonight, with more to come later on, hopefully… Glasnost (CD release)/Motel Aviv/The Watermarks (CD release) @ […]
Written on June 5, 2009 | Posted in
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It’s like those non-sleeping folks over at the Free Press Houston are psychic, I swear. Just the other night I happened to be skimming through a recent issue of Outside, where they list out all the “big”/”cool” music festival scattered ’round the country this summer, and it was getting me down. “Why the fuck don’t […]
Written on June 3, 2009 | Posted in
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Okay, so that’s stretching it a bit — the show tonight at the Mucky Duck isn’t technically a Trout Fishing In America show. What is is, though, involves the TFIA guys and happens to be pretty cool. See, TFIA are originally from right here in H-town; bassist Keith Grimwood went to school at U of […]
Written on June 2, 2009 | Posted in
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Two excellent-sounding shows going on tonight, plus one a few days out, and while all three (er, four, technically) are of the “one guy and a guitar” variety, they really couldn’t be more different… The first is a little further afield than usual — it’s a house show at the i.am.we. house down in Richmond […]
Written on May 31, 2009 | Posted in
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Missed yesterday, unfortunately, other than the Ditchwater 7″/Zine Release Party, and seeing as I’ve spent most of today either working like a dog out in the yard or lazing around the neighborhood pool a block from our house, yeah, this one’s going to have to be quick-fast, too. And believe me, there’s a ton of […]
Written on May 30, 2009 | Posted in
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Tonight, tonight, tonight…punker-than-you H-town label/print conglomerate Ditchwater Records is staging its second-ever (I think?) record release show extravaganza tonight, Friday, May 29th, up at Rudyard’s. It’s a joint 7″ release thing, celebrating new releases from both sneering, knife-wielding glam-rockers The Wrong Ones (not to be confused with the Glaswegians of the same name) and crazed […]
Written on May 29, 2009 | Posted in
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Busy, busy, busy-ass Thursday night, so I wanted to post a bit about what all’s going on. First things first: just got a few new things up on the site, like two surprisingly-timely live reviews by hardworking writers Quinn & Teri Sue, who ably covered the recent shows here in town by Nico Vega & […]
Written on May 28, 2009 | Posted in
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Yeah, yeah — I know I’ve griped in this very space about the House of Blues, but hell… Past antipathy/ disillusionment aside, I have to say that next Thursday’s (June 4th, that is) New York Dolls show is pretty awe-inducing. I mean, c’mon — it’s the fucking New York Dolls, for crying out loud. And […]
Written on May 27, 2009 | Posted in
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