Another last-minuter — I’d been trying to write up the new RX Bandits album for the better part of a week, without much success, but I finally, at the last freaking second, managed to get it up there. Check out the review up here, if you feel like it. Basically, I found myself enjoying the […]
If you’ve been paying attention, you’ve been seeing/hearing me talk quite a bit lately about folks going out on tour — I think it’s a freaking awesome development, and the fact that nearly half of the coolest-ass bands in town right now seem to be either currently touring or planning to tour is one of […]
It was hot. I was hot. Really, really, really fucking hot, the level of hot at which sane adults begin to wonder what the fuck they were thinking in the first place. At least, that’s what was going through my head as the two teenaged members of Ghost Mountain ambled onto the stage to start […]
I’d hoped to wedge this into the pile of reviews that went up late last week, but alas, it was not to be. Part of it, I’ll confess, was due to my reluctance to bother even listening to Pete Yorn‘s latest album, Back and Fourth; fair or not, I tend to lump him into a […]
Alright, so it’s not really “Take Two,” but the last attempt at doing a BandCamp booking thing ended up being somewhat scuttled by the asshole-ish theft of Caroline Collective/BandCamp honcho Matthew Wettergren‘s laptop & all its contents. That said, the aim this time out is a little different — the next installment of BandCamp, BandCamp: […]
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 […]
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 […]
Not a music-related deal, really, but given the circumstances, I think it’s well worth mentioning. Jason Nodler, the founder of the much-celebrated, ultra-indie local theater troupe Infernal Bridegroom Productions and current Artistic Director for (and also founding member of) the relatively-new Catastrophic Theatre, was apparently hit by a taxicab over in Amsterdam right at the […]
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 […]
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 […]
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: […]
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, […]
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 […]
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 […]
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, […]
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, […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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, […]
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 […]
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. […]
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) […]
= 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, […]
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 […]
This is a cool one; I’d missed it last time out, but apparently the folks at Houstonist are doing a followup photography show to 2007’s 600 sq mi: Photos from Houston exhibit, and the idea this time is to get local photogs here in our fair city to come up with pictures of the “hidden […]
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, […]
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 […]
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 […]
Hard to believe, but today marks the one-year anniversary of coworking space the Caroline Collective. So, to celebrate, the CCers are throwing a party, complete with music by You(genious) & the Don’t Fight It crew, drinks/snacks from St. Arnold’s & Sweet Leaf Tea, and a cool-sounding photography show featuring the works of a bunch of […]
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) @ […]
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 […]
