Crowe’s Songs This week’s Elizabethtown is only the latest to reveal a director’s love affair with soundtracks By Robert Wilonsky Cameron Crowe recalls how, in 1982, he had to fight with Universal Studios execs over the soundtrack to this little movie he had written called Fast Times at Ridgemont High…
You’re a winner: The best local concert this week, without question, is Saturday’s Rock Lottery 7 at Dan’s Silverleaf. You may as well put this newspaper down right now and head to Denton to get in line, because this concert will undoubtedly sell out. The Lottery, a relic from Denton’s…
The Constantines’ first two albums cast a very long shadow. Combining post-punk instrumental smarts with dark, Springsteen-style anthems, their self-titled debut and Shine a Light are two of the best rock records of the aughts, so it’s not surprising that the Ontario band’s third album, Tournament of Hearts, arrives with…
Calla’s brooding front man, Aurelio Valle, possesses a deliciously menacing tone; part resignation, part betrayal. His melodramatic persona dominates Collisions, an appealing collection of dour post-punk with obvious nods to gloomy godfathers such as The Cure and Joy Division. Valle’s skill is in making the dynamic sound unhurried as his…
You have to concede a certain amount of praise automatically for the massive imaginative output in Princess Superstar’s My Machine. At the very least, you’ll be thoroughly bewildered by this dystopic sci-fi hip-hop concept album about a future celebrity who takes over the world with the help of a cloning…
“I know you built something last night/Is it a cage? Is it a bridge?” With this question, sung on Blind Spot’s title track, Nashville’s Mack Starks doesn’t waste any time making his emotions known on this touching and attentive album. Straddling a line between classic singer-songwriters of the ’70s (Jackson…
Sounds Eclctico isnt the first compilation to try to translate the Latin alternative spirit for a wider English-speaking audience, but rarely has the case been made as clearly or as forcefully as it has here. Featuring an all-star lineup and recorded at Santa Monicas KCRW, Sounds Eclctico juxtaposes the electric…
Is there a hidden swampland in Denton from which country-loving musicians sprout out of the murky water with banjo already in hand to rock out under the moonlight? Doubtful, but Spitfire Tumbleweeds make a case for such a Weekly World News-worthy scenario with their impressive debut record, King James Version…
Bay area DJ Lorin Bassnectar appreciates the subtle dynamics inherent in the best trip-hop. Unafraid to stray from the incessant disco thud that characterizes many purveyors of late night, ecstasy-driven cyber-boogie, Bassnectar’s grooves vary from conventional, melodic pop to hip-hop, reggae and classic, bass-filled beats. Wisely taking cues from the…
When fans and critics alike prepare their year-end best-of lists, they often overlook the music that made ears swoon earlier in the year. Good thing South San Gabriel is putting on a show to remind us how good April’s The Carlton Chronicles was. The cast of Centro-matic, boosted with additional…
This five-piece ensemble has its roots in Austin, but the local scene is no stranger to their brand of off-kilter, almost ambient country. After releasing two well-received but poorly distributed albums, the band came of age with this year’s The Blacklight Trap. Approaching country in the same way as Neil…
You already know plenty about the headliners, and those bands’ energy-packed live shows live up to their chart-topping reputations. But don’t be a simp and show up late, because Toronto duo Death From Above 1979 delivers a bigger blast with only a bass guitar and drum kit than most full…
It has been argued that without the Silos, there wouldn’t be an alt-country movement. So great is the admiration for their 1987 masterwork Cuba that many have forgotten that founder Walter Salas-Humera has kept some form of the band going for almost two decades. Sadly relegated to cult status, the…
If respect was platinum and creativity diamonds, San Francisco’s Lyrics Born would be iced out like a Master P video shoot. Instead, the underground rapper continues to hustle just as hard as he did more than a decade ago when he formed hip-hop collective Solesides (later to be known as…
To the uninitiated, Lower Greenville’s The Cavern would have looked like a comic book convention or a World of Warcraft guild meeting early Sunday evening. About two dozen men (and a few girlfriends) were milling around dressed in slacker attire (jeans and nerdy T-shirts, some covered with videogame logos, others…
In 2002, Broken Social Scene didn’t have much to prove. Most members of the Toronto collective were already playing in other Canadian indie bands (Stars, Metric, Do Make Say Think), and because they were a ragtag group of relative musical unknowns, their second album was likely to be as forgotten…
If 2003’s It Still Moves was the album that showed why My Morning Jacket was ready to play stadiums, Z is the one that proves they deserve lasers and smoke machines. While the band’s music has always walked a fine line between twang and space-rock, Z sees them stretching out…
As much an art school collective as a proper group, the five New Yorkers who make up The Occasion create some of the quietest racket imaginable. Obvious connections with the more restrained efforts of the Velvet Underground and Ummagumma-era Pink Floyd are made clear on tracks such as the subtly…
On the second day of the North Texas New Music Festival, the Burden Brothers got off to an early start–in fact, the sun was still out during their outdoor performance at the fest’s marquee stage. Presumably, the headliners’ opening gig was meant to lure crowds with someone they’ve heard and…
Wolf Eyes is the sound of mangled electronics past the point of repair: crackling, rumbling and smoking wires spewing noxious odes to decay, repressed emotions and the inhuman condition. No wonder Sub Pop was so eager to snatch them up! Last year’s Burned Mind was probably the most adventurous release…
When Conway Twitty sang, “Don’t call him a cowboy till you’ve seen him ride,” we took it to heart. So it is with some reluctance that we recommend a Cowboy Troy performance. The rapping hick-hop artist dresses the part, for sure. (On tour with Tim McGraw last year, the two…
If you’re looking for proof that electronica can result in more than sterile, repetitive loops, then consider driving to Denton to see British producer Kieran Hedben in concert. When he’s not playing as part of post-rock band Fridge, the Brit earns critical praise with ambitious solo albums as alter ego…
