At this point the history of music, cross-pollination between the U.S. and the U.K. is nothing new; hell, it’s been going on pretty much since that first baker’s dozen of colonies split off from The Old Country way, way back when…
Man. I’ve been meaning to post something about this for a while now, but I’m having a hard time even thinking about this; every time I do, this wave of horrified disbelief just hits me and stops me in my tracks. I remember hearing about it at the time, but it was just a quick news blurb about yet another godawful thing some freaking monster of a parent did…
Damn. Blew it completely last night, sorry; I’m currently in the midst of handling some family-related things, and while I’d planned to post something for Friday, it sadly just didn’t work out. sigh. So here it is now Saturday, June 9th…
Perhaps what makes Houston such a unique hip-hop destination is its almost exact-center proximity to the coastal hubs that first created her. Like a dank hoagie from Geno’s in Philly, the meat of the H-town sound is slathered, lathered, and drenched…
And here we are, y’all, back yet again with the final pile of previews/whatever-you-wanna-call-’ems for the right-around-the-corner Free Press Summerfest this coming Saturday & Sunday — which, by the by, is where yours truly will be tomorrow & the next day…
It’s Friday, June 1st, y’all, and while we’re teeting on the edge of Summerfest madness ’round these parts, there’s still other good stuff going on. Before I get to the “official” shows, though, I wanted to mention that I’ve heard rumors about at least two “secret” shows going on tonight, so keep your eyes peeled for those…
In recent weeks the kindly folks in {Omotai} and {Peloton} (okay, “folk,” in the form of bassist Melissa (Lonchambon) Ryan, who plays in both bands) sent me some of their latest music, and seeing as I freaking love Omotai and am heartily impressed by Peloton…
Free Press Summerfest 2012 is here! You can already smell the sweet, aromatic mix of beer, B.O., sun block, and swamp ass so unique to outdoor festivals in Houston. But before you plan on skipping out on the daytime acts (you know you thought about it), think about what this festival is really about…
Okay, so I know the “big” news of this week is Summerfest, but what the hell, it’s not like the musical world’s stopped turning completely in anticipation of that, the same way it doesn’t for SXSW. Shows still happen, and some of them, yes, are badass…
On to the next one, y’all. Here’s the third installment of our little writeups/rundowns/previews of Free Press Summerfest 2012, aka The Best Music Festival in H-Town, Period…
I used to be able to complete an entire thought. That is, until a coworker gave me a copy of Lick Lick’s Good Touch/Bad Touch to write about. The second effort by Matt Kelly (Sprawl, Middlefinger) and Eric Roach (Baby Got Bacteria) has the ability to…
And here we are again, with the second installment of preview-type writeups for the looming-on-the-horizon Free Press Summerfest, which will explode into physical being this coming Sat.-Sun., June 2nd-3rd. It occurred to me this weekend, btw, that while I’ve talked about FPSF 2012 a few times now, I haven’t really recommended the damn thing as a whole…
And here we are, heading into Sunday, May 27th; it’s a wee bit quieter than the past two days, but there is still some great stuff going on…
Whoa. Tonight, Saturday, May 26th, is a full, full night of cool stuff, so much so that I’m having a hard time picking a favorite show. Damn. Here’s what I’m liking…
Hey, folks — on to the Memorial Day weekend, and there’s plenty happening for those of us not heading out on beach trips or campouts or visits to relatives or wherever the hell else people go when it’s a holiday. The fun starts tonight, Friday, May 25th…
Got an email from the folks in {The Manichean} late last week, about a very cool show they’ve got coming up. In an astoundingly appropriate twist, the band, who tend to meld their music-making with a very sincere, intense kind of stagecraft and poetic drama…
And now here we are at Sunday, May 20th, and it’s a little slower than previous nights this weekend; there’re only a couple of things going on that sound good to me, really. Here’s what I’m liking…
And on we go, to Saturday, May 19th, when there’s still plenty going on across our fair city; some of it’s earlier in the day than the rest, so get out there early. Here’s what looks/sounds good to me…
Looking like a crazy, crazy evening tonight, Friday, May 18th, and a damn good one, besides. In the interest of getting this online quickly, though, I’ll skip the chitchat and get right to it…
Got word about two different little bits of good news today, and since both hit that same general nostalgia-fueled ’90s indie-rock region of my black little heart, I figured I’d lump ’em in together. First off, I’m psyched as hell to hear that the reunited Guided By Voices will be coming back through Houston…
A bit of a quieter day today (Sunday, May 13th, that is), which makes a little sense, both in that it’s a Sunday and Mother’s Day, and hell, musicians have mothers, too. Well, most of them, at least. There’re a few that I’m pretty sure were hatched in a lab somewhere…
On to Saturday, May 12th, and if anything, it looks like there’s more going on today than there was yesterday. Before I get to that, though, I wanted to mention a couple of things. First, in case you didn’t see the very nice {Rocks Off} post about it…
I’ll freely admit that I’m addicted to music; it’s the truth, and hell, I could definitely be addicted to worse. It’s not all music that gets me, though, but those certain special moments, those songs or albums where it all just clicks somehow…
And yes, we’re back. Okay, I am, at any rate — sorry there weren’t any of these “Yr. Weekend” things for the past couple of weeks, but I’ve been way, way out of town, hiking the Grand Canyon with my dad & little brothers…
Okay, so I’ll admit that a little chunk of my soul crumbled and died when I heard that Roky Moon & BOLT! were soon to be no more, splintered off to different cities and future projects and whatnot; I really, truly love/loved that damn band…
My first and only question for this album is whether or not the title is said in an offhand manner to someone at random or if it’s a direct question to the son of God. In either case, The Illegal Wiretaps are back with a vengeance. Of these ten songs, the band explores through three different styles…
The last time I listened to a nine-minute song, someone had left their Tool CD in my car by mistake. I take my music in delectable bite-sized chunks, and if I so happen to want to hear them in a long-form format, I press “Repeat.” Taking that into consideration, I was directed to the first official release…
Moving on to Saturday, April 21st, and there’s still plenty going on; got a crapload of stuff I need to get done this afternoon, so I’ll get right to it…
And now for some more good news… A few years back I got sent a CD, Why Do We Even Try?, by a scrappy little trio I’d never heard of before called Deathbed Repentance, and I was immediately blown away…
Okay, so it wasn’t ever truly “off,” but yeah, I was a little worried when the previously-scheduled show with The Eastern Sea, Quiet Company, & {The Literary Greats} was in limbo…
Dunno where you are, but outside our doors the weather is full-on crappy, alternating between torrential downpours and hail; nevertheless, there’s a ton of cool-sounding stuff to do tonight, Friday, April 20th. I’m stuck at the casa, unfortunately, fighting off a nasty case of strep…
“You can make a masterpiece but that don’t mean you make a living” – Kyle Hubbard. I will be the first to admit that I stopped listening to hip-hop when Tupac died. Back in the day, when I thought I was cooler, I was blasting Tupac, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, Public Enemy, and others from my stereo speakers. I also blasted them out of my car speakers, which I thought was cool because growing up in Connecticut, everyone is white…
Moving somewhat slower than I’d initially planned to, with this one… There’s a very cool-sounding show going on tomorrow night (Sunday, April 15th), up at veteran Montrose haunt Rudyard’s — it’s called MS Understood : music for a cure for multiple sclerosis…
Utterly ridiculous. I’ll freely admit I haven’t been able to follow this like I’d have liked, but even the basic facts of this seem ludicrous. Under a new law, if you want to freely give food to the homeless, you have to get permission from the property owner…
On to Saturday, now, April 14th, and if my goddamn HTML editor (thanks so fucking much, HyperEdit) will quit freaking crashing on me every 20 minutes, this’ll hopefully be an actual timely little mid-weekend writeup-type thing…
Got plenty going on this weekend, y’all, starting with tonight, Friday, April 13th — and holy crap, I just realized what today is — but before I get into that, there’s some show-related news to impart to those who’re into this sort of thing…
Wow. The two guys who make up Andrew Jackson Jihad, Sean Bonnette and Ben Gallaty, are quite possibly the angriest, orneriest, bitterest guys I’ve ever heard; after listening to the duo rampage their way through most recent album Knife Man…
Hey, all — sorry it’s been a little quiet; been hit with other things lately and am attempting to catch up somewhat. And hey, what better way to do that than with a little giveaway? As I mentioned a handful of days ago, H-town’s own heavy-lidded, psych-pop troubadour {Benjamin Wesley} is about to release his brand-new, much-anticipated full-length…
Animals as Leaders has really created something here that is hard to write about. The first thing that you need to know, perhaps, is that these songs are instrumental. Great, you think, this will be very easy to write about, since you don’t have a vocalist to love or hate…
Spent the day out & about with the fam, so I’m running late again, I’m afraid. But hey, this is Houston, where things (generally, anyway) start late and go later, so what the hell; between writing up shows & hanging with the munchkins, the kids win out…
