I’ve often suspected that there’s some kind of quasi-Newtonian Law of Houston Scene Coolness Equilibrium at work here, y’all. Every time something genuinely good and cool happens, bad shit follows. sigh. Naturally, right after posting about Something Fierce gearing up to put out stuff on Dirtnap Recs, I get word that another one of my […]
UPDATE: After long and careful consideration, I’ve added my own little recommendations to the graphic over there on the right (click it for the larger, easier-to-read version, btw). Bands/musicians with a red star next to ’em are folks I’m going to frantically attempt to see, either because I know they’re badass (i.e., The Western Civilization, […]
It’s been a rough week for the out-of-towners — Kevin Seconds & Kepi Ghoulie were no-shows at their scheduled date, The Queers didn’t end up getting paid for their recent show, and San Antonioans (and SCR faves) Girl In A Coma got in a fight with the H-town police and ended up in jail on […]
For a while now, I’ve been passing around mix CDs of music made by Houston-based bands & musicians, forcing the CDs on friends & family with the manic, “why don’t you all understand?” zeal of a fresh-faced missionary kid knocking on apartment complex doors at 9AM on a Saturday so he can spread The Good […]
Er, forests. I spent the day frantically trying to meet a biggie work deadline and gather/pack all kinds of camping gear for the midget’s first-ever family camping trip the starts tomorrow, up in the Sam Houston National Forest (where they let you have actual campfires — woo-hoo!), and I have flat run out of time. […]
Just a quick, quick mention of where you should probably be this evening — 7PM! free! — and that’s up at Sound Exchange on Richmond, (gently) rocking out to the quirky, ridiculously clever (yet not pretentious) nerd-pop of The Mathletes. Imagine the sweetest, friendliest bunch of people you know, throw in large heaping helpings of […]
The site-watchers out there (yeah, I know there’re a few of you) may’ve already noticed, but just in case, we’ve got a new batch of reviews up on this here site, and we’re pretty darn proud of ’em… First and foremost, yours truly reviewed the debut self-titled full-length from Canadians Women, who happen to be […]
Well, we’re just about there — the lucky, non-work-having bastards among us, that is. Yours truly blew all his time off flying to London & back earlier this month, so he’s once again going to have to miss the SXSW shenanigans once again…I’m gonna make it there one year, I swear (still working on the […]
Whoa…almost completely forgot to mention all the insanity going on tonight, which is a ridiculously bad thing, considering how good this stuff is. Before I lose my mind again, here’s the pile of good things with which to while away your Happy Irishy Day evening: Beach House/Jana Hunter @ The Orange Show (7PM; $10) At […]
Despite feeling all week/weekend like a truck’s run over me repeatedly (I’m blaming the heavy doses of antibiotics I’m on thanks to an infected tooth I had to get root-canaled on Wed.), I ventured out last night (Sat., March 14th) to check out Adele at Warehouse Live, in the pseudo-scuzzy converted warehouses of Old Chinatown. […]
Crap. This one sounded like a very cool deal, and I was getting all ready to enthuse-enthuse-enthuse about it (no, really). The Heartworn Highways show was supposed to take place tomorrow (Sat., March 14th) over at The Orange Show, but due to the nonstop rain we’ve had these past 48 hrs. or so in various […]
Plenty to do this weekend, folks, so much that I’m having (again) to split it up somewhat… Here’s the best & brightest hopes for this here Friday, March 13th evening, for all those inclined to brave the abruptly chilly weather: Forests (album release)/Co-Pilot/Robert Ellis/Golden Cities @ The Mink ($5; 9PM) I’m not real familiar with […]
Yes, it’s that long-awaited moment: H-town prodigals (now dwelling in Austin, apparently) Papermoons have returned, albeit temporarily, to grace us with their amazingly cool presence. Last year the duo put out their debut full-length, blowing away folks here and elsewhere with their gentle, comfy-blanket, folk-fringed indie-pop masterpiece New Tales (and since I’m all about the […]
Yeah, I’m so dang behind I hadn’t even listed it yet (sorry; dead tooth = much pain + infection + vomiting + etc., etc.), but just in case you read about it elsewheres & were planning to run on over to the U of H Satellite this afternoon from 11AM-2PM, the inaugural Indiehouston.org UH showcase […]
Whoo, boy. Late night last night, so I’m damn behind (again) on the ridiculously huge pile of shows going on tonight; trying to make up for lost time now, so here goes: Pajama Kegger Party, featuring The Tontons, Heptic Skeptic, Female Demand, B L A C K I E, Babel Fishh, Evak1, & Nosaprise @ Analog Warehouse (2010 Commerce; $8 in […]
Yep, yep, yep — Friday night, and so here I am again posting this last-minute little note to mention that we’ve got a pile of brand-new reviews up (along with the excellent MI Ami interview I blathered about a few days ago). The reason for the hurried posting? Well, because this latest batch includes a […]
First we got local indie/punk supergroup Guitars, then the buzzy, trippy, extremely loose confederation calling itself Time Machine Veterans (any hope of an actual release, y’all?), and now we have brand-spankin’-new local crew Bolt, comprised of Jeoaf of The Monocles, Chad of Black Black Gold, Aaron of Pirate Bones, & Mike of American Sharks — […]
I know there’ve been a few false starts, but this time all the paperwork’s supposedly in order, so hopefully this is the real deal. First got the word from Omar over at Free Press Houston, and the place’s Website seems to confirm it: artspace/venue/random cool/quirky place Super Happy Fun Land has lurched back to life […]
Well, it’s better than that, really — tonight’s looking pretty damn good to my homebound ass. If you have yet to decide your evening, well, it’s not too late; enjoy those chilly evenings while you can, y’all… No Idea Festival, featuring Mario de Vega, Jawwaad Taylor, Annette Krebs, Jason Kahn, Bonnie Jones, David Dove, & […]
I’m all for helping folks out when you can, and when it comes to local art institution The Orange Show, that help is well-deserved & beyond. It’s a cool place, one of the most unique of H-town’s many (no, really) unique things, and on top of that, the upcoming bands they’ve got scheduled are pretty […]
Attention all band folk — want to play South By Southwest this year, but you didn’t get the coveted nod from the festival organizers? Well, don’t get too down on yourself, ’cause relatively few (23 in total, I’m told; see the full list here) of your H-town compatriots are; not sure if that means fewer […]
The last 24 hours have been somewhat of an up-and-down experience. The clutch on the car died last night, leaving us dead in the water on Chimney Rock and requiring two new parts that I can’t get put in ’til Monday night; gah. At the same time, though, my faith in humanity was somewhat restored […]
Okay, so there’s a crap-ass-load of good things going on this weekend (tonight being no exception), but I’m still staggering back to my feet, so I’m going to have to give the quick-fast, mile-high overview. I am behind, behind, behind, folks, and it’s a sad thing. sigh… At any rate, here’s my picks for the […]
A bit of administrative-type news first — I’m heading out shortly for a much-needed vacation to the wife’s sister’s place in London (well, Ealing, actually, but it’s technically London, although that’s a bit like saying Surfside is technically Houston), so things’re likely to be a bit quiet on the blogging/reviewing/etc. front for next week-and-a-half or […]
I know, I know — spent the last two days running around like a chicken with my head cut off, for reasons I’ll hopefully enumerate soon in another post, and so I’ve been slacking big-time on writing up the good shit going on this weekend. And yeah, there’s a ton of it (hell, that almost […]
Got two updates for the week, although if I get my shit together, there’ll hopefully be a few more reviews going up soon… First of all, I owe a big thank-you to new writer Michelle, who tracked down Scottish free-improvisation vocalist Maggie Nicols for what turned out to be an intriguing interview (check it out […]
[UPDATE: Okay, so I apparently jumped the gun; sadly, the Dead Roses crew had to cancel tonight’s festivities due to weather & Bronwyn being sick. Dang. They’re now pushing it back to after SXSW & the Rodeo are both over…] Got an email warning that tonight, in honor of the anniversary of the band’s founding, […]
This illness thing has me way, way behind — I’m still pissed that I missed this Tuesday’s reportedly-excellent Loney, Dear/News on the March/Alkari show, not to mention the fact that I totally blanked on awesome post-hardcore guys A Wilhelm Scream coming to the Javajazz. Argh. But dammit, I am determined — I won’t be in […]
Damn. Just when I thought being sick as a dog would have to be the worst part of today (for me, at least), things get even worse… I just found out in a roundabout way (i.e., Facebook and Jeoaf Monocles’ post on the Hands Up board) that ADR (aka Ryan Clark) has taken down his […]
I’ve dodged the Twitter bullet so far, and I have to say, I’m fairly glad of that. Heck, ’til the recent dive into Facebook hell and not counting the Myspace “mirror” for this wee blog, I’ve mostly avoided the whole social-networking thing completely. Yeah, I’m a cyber-Luddite on some levels, it’s true; it just feels […]
Yeah, I’m a fantasy nerd; I’m not going to deny it. I spent my formative years devouring every sci-fi and fantasy book, TV show, movie, and comic book imaginable, pretty much starting with a family trip across Europe when we lived in Germany — I read The Hobbit traveling past ancient castles and snow-capped mountains, […]
Well, this is some good news — I’d all but given up hope this last year or so of ever getting a chance to check out murky, bleak, indie-folk songstress Teresa M., aka georgia’s Horse. live & in full color & all that. She plays really sporadically, even here in town, which is a shame […]
Dammit, this cold-from-hell thing is getting really annoying. If I the fam weren’t still wiped out by this thing, I’d be seriously considering getting my ass up to the Warehouse Live tonight (Mon., February 9th) to catch Devotchka and Crooked Fingers… I’m not super-familiar with Devotchka, admittedly, but I like what I’ve heard so far […]
Already posted about the review of the eponymous Golden Cities album, but I didn’t want to skip over the other excellent reviews up this week, as well, esp. since some of ’em are coming to town in the next week or so. Next up on the list, in fact, is Loney, Dear, who’ll be here […]
Got a bit of bad news tonight from the On Your Feet Foundation crew down in Alvin — apparently Sunken Teeth had to drop off tomorrow night’s (Sun., February 8th) show up at Walter’s on Washington, due in part, at least, to some asshole swiping a band member’s car from their driveway. Damn, y’all… At […]
Yet another crazy, spoiled-for-choice Saturday night, it looks like (Saturday, February 7th, that is). Missed Friday, for the most part (spent several late hours wrestling with the future direction/design of this here site, but that’s a subject for another two or three posts; suffice it to say that my brain still feels singed), but tonight […]
Ready to get the jump on the weekend before it comes up and blindsides you with the bazillion or so good shows that’re going to be going on? Well, you’re in luck — to get started on your Weekend o’ Good Shit one day early, you can head yourself on up to either The Mink […]
No time to write right now, sadly — off to The Munchkin’s b-day party — but there’s a ton of cool shows tonight, both local & (well, one) non-. Here’s a pile of flyers; if there’s a show flyer here, though, that means I think the show’s damn good (I couldn’t dig up a flyer […]
If you happen to be in a band that includes at least one person from Rice University, you & your band could be in luck — KTRU is holding a real-live Battle of the Bands at 7PM on February 20th, at the Lovett Undergrounds. Win, and you and your band could find yourselves playing the […]
All band folk who want to get noticed & play to bigger crowds & get reviewed & whatnot: a half-assed Myspace page is not enough. As somebody who writes about this stuff quasi-professionally, I can’t even count the number of times I’ve heard/heard of a band, then tried to check out their site — on […]
