The Loop Scoop
“Contact” at “TheLoopScoop dot com”
Written on May 19, 2011 | Posted in Zines | Leave a comment
THEHIPHOPEFFECT
“thehiphopeffect” at “gmail dot com”
Written on May 19, 2011 | Posted in Zines | Leave a comment
Zine Fest Houston 2011, This Saturday
We recently re-did the back room of our house, ripping up the ancient, ancient carpet and slapping down fake wood flooring, and in the process of doing that, I basically had to disassemble and reassemble our entire home office. Which was no mean feat…
Written on May 18, 2011 | Posted in Posts | 2 Comments
Keep an Eye Out: Crazed Psych-Folkies Roving About Town
A little late on this, as always, but I just wanted to give folks a heads-up that quirky, somewhat strange psychedelic/hypnotic outfit {A Thousand Cranes} is reportedly out roaming the city right now, acoustic instruments in hand…
Written on May 18, 2011 | Posted in Posts | Leave a comment
David Mayfield, The David Mayfield Parade
The realization that “The David Mayfield Parade” band was just David Mayfield hit me harder than when I found out that Soylent Green was people. I first saw David when he was playing bass for his amazing little sister Jessica Lea Mayfield at Walter’s on Washington…
Sporadic MP3age: Mogwai (Tonight!) + Bird of Youth + Smoke Fairies + Moonlight Towers + More
Gah. Y’know, I love this age of digital music we live in, I truly do — I’m no analog-only hero, personally, but would rather be able to listen to whatever music I want whenever I want, and nothing enables that like digital players and formats and whatnot…
Written on May 17, 2011 | Posted in Posts | Leave a comment
San Benave Concert Series
TAD AKERS Event Facility 218 Clear Creek Ave. League City, TX. 77573 (281) 338-9090 “dave” at “sanbenaveconcerts dot com”
Written on May 17, 2011 | Posted in Venues | Leave a comment
The Flamingo Room
9906 Gulf Freeway Houston, TX. 77034 (713) 987-7300
Written on May 17, 2011 | Posted in Venues | Leave a comment
Live: Roky Moon & BOLT!/Springfield Riots/Jim and The Toms/Poor Pilate
It was freaking genius. The thought didn’t actually hit me ’til the band was underway, honestly, but then it all made beautiful, perfect sense. In the run-up to their official tour kickoff show, Roky Moon & BOLT! let potential show-goers know…
Mogwai, Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will
It’s been 14 years since Young Team was released, announcing the debut of post-rock’s then-newest practitioners, Mogwai. Since 1997, the genre has garnered quite a bit of attention in the film and television industry…
Rind Stars, The Not So Great Depression
When I heard Rind Stars’ 2007 electro-folk debut, Sounds of Fire and Light, I couldn’t wait for the follow up. And when the bass player had a breakdown and left the band, city, and state, I still thought they’d record soon…
Yr. Weekend, Pt. 3: Mustard Plug + Caroline Sessions + Haute Wheels + Ivan & Alyosha (MP3!) + Ragged Hearts + More
Last day of the weekend nearly upon us, y’all — Sunday, May 15th, and it’s looking pretty good, even if it’s not quite as jam-packed as today was… Tonight’s biggie, at least to me, is up at Warehouse Live; there’s a full-on ska-punk throwback night…
Written on May 15, 2011 | Posted in Posts | Leave a comment
Yr. Weekend, Pt. 2: Haute Wheels + Smoking Popes + Art Institute + Middlefinger(!) + Crawfish Fest + Venomous Maximus + More
It’s a busy, busy Saturday (May 14th, to be exact) upon us, y’all, and there’s a ton of stuff going on… Since it’s a freaking gorgeous day outside, it’s the daytime-type things that are the most appealing to me, I’d say…
Houston Peace Festival, Today
I’m woefully behind on my quasi-daily list of stuff to this weekend, I know, but I wanted to briefly mention a particular neat-sounding show during the daylight hours; today (Saturday, May 14th), the Live Oaks Friends Meeting…
There’s a Point to Everything: The Smoking Popes Are Back, Older & Wiser
Believe it or not, I can remember the first time I heard The Smoking Popes. I was in college, and one afternoon I ran into a friend who was DJing at the college radio station, a friend who happened to be completely freaking out, ecstatic over this awesome, incredible song he’d just heard…
Caroline Sessions Interview #4: Andrew Karnavas
The fourth in my ongoing series of Caroline Sessions interviews; this one features Runaway Sun and Tim Qualls, along with the standard free BBQ and beer. It’s sure to be a great show with these two…
Yr. Weekend, Pt. 1: Balaclavas + American Fangs + Featherface + RIVERS + Robbie Fulks + Cancellations + More
Coming into Day 1 of the weekend, Friday, May 13th, and there’s a decent-sized pile of good stuff going on, I have to say. Of course, it may also be that I’m just cheery today after finally getting to visit Bernie’s Burger Bus…
Written on May 13, 2011 | Posted in Posts | Leave a comment
Houston Palestine Film Festival Starts Tonight
Dangit, how does it always do that to me? I’ve meant to check out the Houston Palestinian Film Festival literally for years now — this its fifth year of existence, I’m told — but every time, it sneaks up on me…
Written on May 13, 2011 | Posted in Posts | Leave a comment
Art Institute, Second Audio Demon
There’s an oddly back-of-the-bar vibe to Art Institute’s Second Audio Demon; by that I mean that it comes off like it’s music that’s meant for the crowd of twenty or so afficionados gathered in the dimly-lit space rather than the partiers up front…
Helping Out a Family in Need (with Jealous Creatures), This Weekend
Got word a few days ago from the folks in {Jealous Creatures} about a worthwhile-sounding benefit this coming weekend, and I wanted to mention it here to help spread the word a little bit further than it might otherwise go, at least…
Written on May 12, 2011 | Posted in Posts | 2 Comments
Pomplamoose Covers “Angry Birds”
Okay, so I’ve never-ever played Angry Birds. It’s true — apparently most of my coworkers are addicted (to the point where one recently got himself inadvertently busted playing the game during a meeting), but I’ve so far managed…
Written on May 12, 2011 | Posted in Posts | Leave a comment
Houston’s Own Otenki Plays Billboard Music Awards?
Found out some cool news today that Houston’s own Otenki is one step away from playing the 2011 Billboard Music Awards with the likes of Rihanna, Black Eyed Peas, Lady Antebellum and more. As part of Billboard’s Battle of the Bands they beat out bands from all over the country to be one of six […]
Twenty Eleven, Renewable Energy
I know I can tend to be overly effusive when it comes to reviewing music, especially from local musicians, so I’ve made a vow to be more exacting, more harsh — less Fresh Prince and more Samuel L. Jackson. And that’s going to happen right after this review…
Free Press Summerfest Schedule Up Online, Right Damn Now
Awesome, awesome, awesome. Got an email earlier today from the folks behind the Free Press Summerfest, promising that they’d have the official schedule for the deal up shortly…
RIVERS, Mind Your Mind
There’s a nicely sludgy, grungy (or rather, grunge-y) feel to Mind Your Mind, the debut full-length from RIVERS; like a lot of bands from a decade or two ago, the band rides the line between bluesy rock and bass-heavy, Sabbath-y metal…
Thor
One of the problems with being a critic is watching the same stories over and over and over again, and however well told they might be, the lack of freshness can’t help but be a strike against them. This is especially true of light summer entertainment…
Yr. Weekend, Pt. 3: IFest (Last Day!) + Omotai + Lions of Tsavo + The 71’s + More
Not quite as much going on today (that is, Sunday, May 8th), but there’s still some good stuff happening that’s worth checking out… For one thing, it’s the final day of this year’s Houston International Festival…
Written on May 8, 2011 | Posted in Posts | Leave a comment
Yr. (Late) Weekend, Pt. 2: Young Girls (Revd!) + IFest + Dengue Fever + Bright Men + T.S.O.L. + More
Argh. Late, late, late, sorry — spent the day dealing with sick kids & family members, and it just plain got away from me, I’m afraid. Which sucks, because there’s a lot of very awesome stuff going on tonight, Saturday, May 7th…
Written on May 7, 2011 | Posted in Posts | Leave a comment
Young Girls, Young Girls
Those Tijerina boys just don’t quit, do they? They never seem to stop moving, always making music with one band or another — Charlie was in The Factory Party before this, while Pete was in Program, and Springfield Riots after that…
Lupe Fiasco, Lasers
2006’s Food and Liquor prophetically announced the arrival of “the hip-hop generation’s next great vanguard”: Lupe Fiasco. While the rest of the world drenched themselves in the intoxicating and trite gibberish noisily spat of the mouths of Dem Franchize Boyz and Chamillionaire…
Yr. Weekend, Pt. 1: Farewell to KTRU + Phosphorescent (Revd!) + Yppah + Venomous Maximus (Revd!) + Wilco + More
Yep, yep, yep — it’s a Friday (May 6th, to be precise), and here we are again, with a full slate of shows staring us (er, me) right in the face all damn weekend. I’ll try to hit some highlights, or at least what seem to me like highlights…
Venomous Maximus, “Give Up The Witch”/”The Living Dead”
Yeah, I know I’m way, way behind on this one… For some reason, the debut 7″ from metal dudes Venomous Maximus has just taken a little while to grow on me. I’m not entirely sure why — this stuff is really and truly up my alley, especially lately…
Phosphorescent, Here’s to Taking It Easy
I know I really should be fairly used to it by now, but for some reason, it still makes me scratch my head a little to hear sounds like this coming out of ultra-urban Brooklyn — sounds that are warm and rootsy and homespun, the kind that’d sound more at home heard through the swinging door of some rural honky-tonky outside of Huntsville…
Rubber
The main plot of Rubber follows an old, used truck tire rolling down Route 66 encountering typical road-movie types: motel workers, a bored local kid, a local sheriff, and a sultry female in a vintage convertible…
This Friday: Say Farewell to 40 Years of KTRU on the Air
I’ve always felt that grieving the dead by being all somber and quiet and melancholy is generally a bad thing; you shouldn’t celebrate the dead by acting like you’re dead, but rather by celebrating life and survival and all the other good things that continue on…
Not So Excited: Rebecca Black Won’t Be at The Galleria Tomorrow After All
I was a little torn on this one; the evil, mean-spirited side of me wanted to just leave the damn show listing up there & not say anything about it, in the snarky hope that hordes of tweens will mob The Galleria tomorrow afternoon to see Rebecca Black…
Written on May 3, 2011 | Posted in Posts | Leave a comment
Celebrate With Do713, This Thursday (For Free, If You’re Lucky!)
It’s hard to believe it’s already been a year, but damn, there it is — as of this week, local entertainment/arts/whatever clearinghouse {Do713} is officially one year old, and it’s been quite a year for ’em. They’ve quickly risen to the top of the small pile of places I go to see…
Written on May 3, 2011 | Posted in Posts | Leave a comment
Help Fight Cancer, This Evening in Pearland with The Gold Sounds
Short notice, I know, but this is a cool deal, so I wanted to mention it at least briefly… There’s a benefit show going on down south in Pearland this evening (at the Pearland Chick-fil-A, to be specific), for a guy named John Tyson…
Written on May 2, 2011 | Posted in Posts | Leave a comment
