Damn, damn, damn. Way, way late on tonight’s little rundown, sorry; it’s Friday, September 7th, and there’s definitely good shows going on. Here we go…
I know this’ll sound weird, but go with me on it, okay? There’s this great, great feeling of downtrodden world-weariness to David Ramirez’s Apologies, one that infuses every track, even the more upbeat, more overtly roots-rock-y songs like “Stick Around” or “Mighty Fine.” Ramirez sings like a man who’s been broken down by the very life he’s chosen, roaming from place to place to place, never really finding a place of his own to hold onto…
Wanted to get a mention in relatively early on this one (although not earlier than the {Houston Press} it would seem), because it sounds like it’s going to be damn good…
The title track of Keith Sewell’s album The Way of a Wanderer can be seen as a declaration of purpose for this singer, songwriter, and musician. In creating the album, he chose to play most of the instruments himself, infusing bluegrass melodies…
And here we are at Sat., September 1st, the start of yours truly’s very own birth month, and there are a crap-ton of good shows happening, almost all of ’em stellar H-town lineups. Here’s what sounds/looks good to me…
If you listen closely enough to Actual Magic, the debut full-length from Houston-based psych-pop band Featherface, you realize suddenly that the whole thing’s going in about eight different directions all at once. And yet, they’re subtle about it…
Damn; it’s looking like a good weekend, folks. Admittedly, tonight — Fri., August 31st — isn’t looking as jam-packed as tomorrow night, but it’s still pretty great. Here we go…
Yeah, I know I’ve skipped more than a few “Pt. 3″s lately; sorry about that, but in most of those cases, it just felt like there I didn’t have much to say about even the good shows that were going on those past Sundays… Not the same deal for today, mind you…
On to the next one… It’s Saturday, August 25th, and yep, there’s still a ton of great stuff happening, seriously. Get off your lazy ass and out of the house, eh? Here goes…
It’s funny, but I honestly figured it’d be the other way around. I figured I’d like the first album more than this little tossed-out EP. But I apparently had things backwards. I’d liked what I’d heard of Tyagaraja’s music in the past, and I was amazed a few years before…
Holy shit. That is one hell of a jam-packed evening, y’all; tonight (Friday, August 24th) is literally over-freaking-flowing with great, great shows, so many that I’m going to have to leave a few out, I’m afraid. Here we go…
Some old, some new, and the hell with what went before — that’s what I walk away with after listening to Weird Party’s “debut” full-length, “Hussy”. See, there’re several songs on here that have been floating around a while now…
A month or two back, avid readers might recall that we mentioned that expat Houstonian and psych-rock hero Tom Carter had been hospitalized in Berlin for pneumonia and had to be put into a medical coma to recover…
Many moons ago, a mischievous gang of ninjas ravaged a young boy’s town, killing his parents and leaving the boy a homeless orphan. As the dawn broke and the smoke cleared, another, kinder gang of ninjas came to the aid of the boy, taking him in…
If your “music” absolutely must have melodies and sweetly-sung vocals and nice, clean production, well, you’re going to want to stay far, far the fuck away from P.L.X.T.X’s debut EP, TIME. If, on the other hand, you’re willing to listen to music that’s rough…
Whenever I hear the title MTV Unplugged, my first thought is always of the epic performance that Nirvana gave, which would go down as one of their greatest albums. While I may have at one point in time owned Eric Clapton Unplugged on cassette, I also had bootleg cassettes I taped…
phew. So far, this weekend’s not turning out quite like I’d thought it would — spent a stressful morning making an offer on a new place to live, for one thing, which I hadn’t figured we’d be doing just yet…
I went in without a plan. It was stupid, in retrospect, but that’s how it happened. After meticulously plotting out who I was going to see and when for the past three installments of Free Press Summerfest, this year…
Whoo, yeah. It’s Friday, August 17th, and tonight’s looking like a good one. Here we go…
Yeah, I’ll admit it — those New York City Queens kids have charmed me, thoroughly and completely. I was skeptical of the band at first, and hell, I couldn’t even tell you why, but when they popped up, seemingly out of nowhere, and nonchalantly tossed their debut…
If you’re not familiar with the guys over at PODiMOUTH, they have been working tirelessly over the last four years promoting our local music scene through their podcast…
Um. Whoa. I just finished listening to Guardian Alien’s new full-length, See the World Given to a One Love Entity, and I’m feeling a little overwhelmed, to the point where my head’s still spinning somewhat. Give me a second…
We’re onto Saturday, August 11th, now, and while it’s a little bit quieter than it’s been recently, there’s still some good stuff going on. Here we go…
Alright, y’all — stuck at the house dealing with a feverish munchkin this evening (a fever of 103.8’s never a good thing), Friday, August 10th, but there’s plenty for you non-homebodies out there to be doing/hearing. Here goes…
Oh, man. Steven Garcia, frontman/guitarist of the always-always-awesome pop-punk throwback outfit {Something Fierce}, had leaked a snippet of this our way a short while back but had sworn me to secrecy about it ’til the full thing came out…
Along with the HPMAs, tonight (Sun., August 5th) at Warehouse Live is noteworthy also for being the end-of-camp showcase for this year’s Girls Rock Camp Houston…
Day Two of the weekend, Saturday, August 4th, and there’s a ton going on, naturally. I’ve gotta keep it somewhat brief tonight, so let’s just get into it, eh?…
Just in case you thought the HPMAs were the only music festival-type thing going on in Downtown this weekend… Got word earlier in the week about a new(?) deal…
Yes, folks, it’s happening this very weekend — this coming Sunday, August 5th, to be exact. I’ve been sadly, sadly remiss in mentioning it, but the 2012 Houston Press Music Awards is indeed looming close…
Oof. Heading into a freaking great weekend, and one that’s managed to creep up on me somewhat, I have to admit; I’ve been so wrapped up in other things this week (read: work + hanging w/family from London) that some of the biggest, most awesome things…
It took me a few listens, I’ll admit it, to get Year Of The Witch, California band RACES’ debut full-length. The first time I threw it on, I mostly shrugged and said, “Next!,” putting something else on after barely a song and a half…
Damn, damn, damn. Universe, why are you screwing with me like this? Did I cut a wizard off in traffic or something on my way home from work last night? I know I shouldn’t be taking it so personally, but dammit, when the bad news rolls in like this…
It may just be me, but it seems like it’s been awful quiet lately over in the {Grandfather Child} camp. For a year or two there, Lucas Gorham, Ryan Chavez, Robert Ellis, and Geoffrey Muller seemed to be freaking everywhere…
I don’t care if you call it “melodic punk,” “post-hardcore,” or “emo,” whatever; the music San Bernadino band Forever Came Calling makes on its debut full-length is flat-out great, great, great, awesomely melodic, beautiful-yet-fiery rock that doesn’t stroll…
Oh, wow. It’s looking like one hell of a Saturday (July 28th, to be precise) today/tonight, I’ve gotta say. Before I get into the list, though, I just wanted to mention a couple of things…
Damn. It sure feels like this has been happening a lot lately, and it really, truly sucks — by my count, that’s three young, cool people gone in the past 12 months, with Chris Bean the latest. I didn’t know the guy, but I’ve heard good, good things about him…
Some bittersweet news for tomorrow night (Saturday, July 28th), I’m afraid, from the folks behind The Caroline Sessions series of low-key acoustic shows that’ve unfolded…
sigh. Totally blew most of last weekend — being on the road between here & San Antonio sometimes makes the show-rundown thing problematic, as does being exhausted from dealing with two munchkins who are less like children & more like perpetual-motion machines…
I usually do these interviews by email, but when Craig Kinsey of the Sideshow Tramps invited me over to talk in person, it was a hard assignment to resist. For several years now, I’ve been wondering how Craig Kinsey and his Sideshow Tramps…
My first introduction to St. Vincent (aka Annie Clark) was her album Actor, which I admittedly enjoyed a bit too much. I only can say now that I enjoyed it a bit too much, mind you, because after hearing Strange Mercy…
