Holy freaking crap, y’all. I’d thought last night was busy, but today (Saturday, April 30th) has turned out to be downright insane. There’s so much going on today & tonight that I’m not entirely sure where to start; I definitely can’t talk about all of it, I’m afraid…
Talk about a transformation. Back when I reviewed The Sour Notes’ Hot Pink Flares 7″, I noted that the band I was listening to was a far cry from the band I’d heard the first time I saw the Notes live, not even a full year before. They’d shifted directions…
Right from the faux-crowd noise intro of “Live in Ruin,” The Energy seem determined to live up to their name, in a big way — they literally barely stop for a breath throughout the rest of second full-length Get Split. The band operates less like an actual band…
Gotta do this quick, y’all, but there’s plenty going on tonight, Friday, April 29th, even if I can’t give a detailed rundown on all of it… First up, there’s a cool show tonight at Walter’s, with the excellent {Art Institute} & {Satin Hooks}…
Not sure what the heck it is about tonight, but not only is {The Literary Greats}‘ CD release happening, but so is a celebration with longstanding rock dudes {Pale}, who are gearing up to release their second full-length, In the Time of Dangerous Men…
I’ll be brutally honest on this one: I am not a fan of the Moody Blues. Sorry, but I’m just not; they were one of those bands I got sonically bludgeoned with as a kid, every time I got in the car with my dad to go to Boy Scout meetings or soccer practice…
The improvisational duo Blackfish comes to Houston Saturday night to play their mindbending drone in the DiverseWorks Artspace. I’ve been listening to samples of their previous improvisational compositions…
I’ve been waiting in eager anticipation for this one, folks, seriously. I mean, I’ve been lucky enough to have my hands on Black Blizzard, the latest full-length from awesomely tight, smart, tuneful indie-country-rockers {The Literary Greats}, for a little while now…
SCR writer Robin Babb has been working hard lately to cover the very cool Caroline Sessions shows (mostly) over at the Caroline Collective…
Tonight was a special “homecoming” deal up at {KTRU}, the student-created, student-funded, student-run radio station that’s called Rice University home for the past three(?) decades — the current student leadership invited all former DJs and staff back home…
Yep, those talented, quirky, dramatic folks in baroque-ish indie-rock band {The Manichean} are at it again. Specifically, this time around, it’s frontman Cory Sinclair and guitarist Justice Tirapelli-Jamail who are the culprits…
Dammit, dammit, dammit. I’d thought I was going to get the drop on Saturday, April 23rd, and get this thing posted last night, but then the Gods of the Internet intervened and took me completely offline for the rest of the evening. Argh…
Another weekend, another big-ass pile of shows to (potentially, at least) check out… I’ll keep it short & sweet for the moment, if I can, for tonight, Friday, April 22nd. First off, The Mink‘s got the winner tonight, at least for yours truly…
New York City synth-pop, New Wave band Cold Cave returned this month with Cherish the Light Years, the follow-up to the band’s debut release Love Comes Close, both out on Matador Records…
And for the way, way, way out-of-towners… Ran across a bit of news that Houston’s own {H.I.S.D.} rap crew have been invited northeastward, all the way up to NYC, to play Hot 97‘s Who’s Next Showcase tomorrow…
Got an email a little while back from H-town rapper t.h.e. MisFit Crazy8 about his official release party for brand-new album State of Emergency…
More than anything else, Shilpa Ray And Her Happy Hookers’ Teenage and Torture makes me think of a dimly-lit, half-remembered night spent trawling through the seamy, sordid underbelly of some grimy, unnamed Big City, full of pain and lust and exploitation…
Well, shit. When I posted last night about {KTRU} losing its FCC challenge to stop the sale of the station, I’d figured there was still a little time left. As it turns out, there’s a week…
Got an email earlier this week from one of the most intriguing, strange-yet-familiar bands floating around town in recent years, garage-blues-popsters {Giant Princess}, to say that they’re going to be playing their valiant hearts out at a big-name battle of the bands…
Ah, fuck. I’d feared it would happen, but part of me had been holding out hope that the FCC, which at least kinda-sorta pays lip service to ideas like “localism” from time to time, would take a stand on this one…
I swear, I’m always amazed (and somewhat impressed, as well) at the quirky levels to which bands will go to promote themselves… The latest example is self-described “riot-folk” band Days N Daze…
Coming up on Saturday, April 16th, and I’m attempting to get at least a little bit of a jump on things, for once. And hell, if anything, there’s more cool stuff going on tomorrow than there was today. At the top of my list is the long-awaited return of {The Small Sounds}…
Yeah, yeah — rushed again to get my little list of things-you-should-not-miss up on the site… Seemingly as always, I’ve got to keep this brief, y’all. Which is out-and-out painful, considering how damn much is going on tonight (Friday, April 15th, to be precise)…
Alright, so I’m not generally the biggest fan of ambient/experimental music — I truly love M83 and My Bloody Valentine, and I like Ulrich Schnauss, but honestly, a lot of music like that just feels un-anchored to me, drifting around like airy sound that doesn’t mean or signify a damn thing…
I could be completely off the mark, but when it come to live music, it’s always felt like Houston has been starved for choice. Maybe it’s the numerous venues that have been torn down to be replaced by generic bars, or maybe it’s the fallout from the Walter’s on Washington incident…
What the hell is it with this time of year, y’all? I mean, I know we’re headed into the hot months, and people get desperate when jobs are scarce, but damn… I’d meant to post a while back about Major Miller (of {Western Standards} getting stuff stolen) & missed it…
It’s funny what a little gender-flipping can do. I remember being bowled over when I first listened to Damone’s classic debut From the Attic, and then hitting the floor a second time when I learned that the songs were originally written by the band’s guitarist…
Pigeons, the sophomore album from Brooklyn-based indie-rock band Here We Go Magic, is a collection of experimental, sometimes trippy songs with unique, interesting sounds similar to a very toned-down Animal Collective…
I couldn’t remember the last time I’d gone to the HOB, and on this night, I remembered why. I hate the fact that there is nowhere to sit unless you are buying a drink at the bar, for one thing; also, the crowd doesn’t get as wild as it does at other venues…
It may be Sunday (April 10th, to be precise), but that doesn’t mean you’re out of luck in terms of bands to see, shows to check out, etc. — there’s still a handful of cool things going on, even as the weekend winds down…
Short, short notice, I know, but we got sent a note earlier this week about a cool-sounding Battle of the Bands deal that’ll be taking place at this year’s Texas Music Festival & Village Fair…
Saturday, April 9th, and I’m trying to get this little rundown up on the site early, because at least one of the biggest things going on today starts early, as in, um, right about now… First, though, a bit of bad news — I’d thought {Born Liars} were supposed to be headlining a show…
Damn. It’s been an insanely busy-busy-busy week, to the point where this weekend has seriously crept up behind and mugged me. Gah… Got to keep this relatively short, but there is a lot going on this weekend, starting tonight, Fri., April 8th, and you really, truly should not miss out…
Ran across a bit of news late today, namely that the much-contested, often-revived local venue formerly known as The Meridian has — yes, indeedy — risen from the grave once more….
I have to say that I think this place was, at least, the most comfortable mid-size venue I’d been to around here. It never looked like much from the outside — it was on the second floor of what used to be a Chinese fish wholesaler…
Okay, so I thought the reason I was looking unshaven and scruffy when I rolled into The Mink on a Saturday night about a month ago was because I’d gotten rushed that week and just didn’t have time to mess with the beard…
Compared to the rest of this weekend, Sunday, April 3rd, is actually kinda-sorta slow, I’m afraid. There’s the John Mellencamp show at Jones Hall, South African reggae dudes…
Saturday, April 2nd, and even though there was plenty of cool stuff going on last night, it kinda feels like the weekend’s just getting started, honestly… Lots and lots going on this evening, y’all. First & possibly foremost to a lot of folks is the continuing Big Dance Concert Series thing…
I’m about to fall down flat, I’m so freaking tired — it’s been a rough, rough week — but I didn’t want to skip past this one without at least a quick mention… Tomorrow (Saturday, April 2nd) is the return of the excellent-sounding Menil Community Arts Festival…
Man. It’s looking to be a crazy, crazy weekend, so I didn’t want to miss giving at least a brief rundown of what all’s going on, starting with tonight, Fri., April 1st…
