Apostle of Hustle’s sophomore release doesn’t have the folkloric feel of its 2004 predecessor, Folkloric Feel. Heh, heh. Frontman Andrew Whiteman’s affinity for Caribbean drums and Cuban guitar flourish is still thoroughly present, though it’s decidedly less predominant. Any one of the resulting 12 fuzzy, often spacey, indie-rock folk songs…
Last Saturday night, the death knell of Deep Ellum reached all the way to Lower Greenville. The stomach-churning news that another legendary door was closing—Gypsy Tea Room—was being digested, even as dozens of people milled around the lobby of the Granada Theater, waiting for the likes of Smile Smile, Faux…
Last week, intangible rumors solidified into cold, hard fact: On March 31, the Gypsy Tea Room in Deep Ellum will close its doors for good. The casual observer cannot say he or she did not see this coming. The Tea Room’s parent company, the Entertainment Collaborative, filed for Chapter 11…
Lemonheads’ founder and pop/punk pretty boy Evan Dando couldn’t care less about his upcoming birthday or about reaching an age that is often considered a dividing marker between young and old, between the hipsters and the geezers. “Turning 40 means about as much to me as turning 10,” says Dando…
This Valentine’s Day playlist comes straight from the heart. It’s also pressed on limited-edition vinyl, which is why there are only 10 songs. “Light My Fire,” Al Green Whether you like the music of the Doors or you think they sound like somebody’s fat, drunken uncle howling alongside a mildly…
I once tried to write while listening to Lady Sovereign and wound up hospitalized for two weeks. Last month former Pitchfork-er Chris Ott admitted playing wallpaper-y fare such as Aphex Twin, Stars of the Lid and Brian Eno for his newborn daughter because “the long-form nature of ambient music and…
You have to admire an ambitious rock band, even if you don’t really want to listen to its music. Cougar is such a band. Titling its sound “emergency rock,” Cougar gives listeners a synthesis of aural and visual (through album photographs) experience, experimenting with all manner of traditional and nontraditional…
At 60, Bob Seger should be enjoying his later years riding his Harley across Michigan, content to live on his reputation as one of the best rock singers and songwriters of the ’70s and ’80s. Despite the automobile industry’s incessant use of his music, there is no denying Seger’s notable…
Established in 1996 by producer Chris “Peanut Butter Wolf” Manak, Stones Throw serves as a benchmark for innovative hip-hop music. This compilation, originally released last year as an in-store exclusive through Guitar Center, arrives at the height of the Los Angeles-based imprint’s popularity. It collects underground hits (Lootpack’s “Whenimondamic” and…
You sad, miserable bastard. Look at you. I wish you could see yourself right now. Pick yourself up off the floor, put on some pants and look at yourself in the mirror. No! Put some pants on first. There, that’s better. Now look at yourself, you sad, sad bastard. You…
It’s been four long years since the Baptist Generals released the mope-folk masterpiece No Silver/No Gold, but if singer-songwriter Chris Flemmons is to be believed—and if the new songs we’ve heard are any indication, we really want to believe—the wait for a follow-up might soon be over. “We’re rallying to…
John Stirratt and Patrick Sansone could be the next Simon and Garfunkel. Though based in Chicago, the two men who constitute the Autumn Defense create acoustic guitar-based soft ballads with gorgeous harmonies that elicit the gentle warmth of the California sun. As with the Summer Hymns, one can almost feel…
Dylan was wrong; the times aren’t changing, only repeating. Austin sextet the Black Angels descend from the thirteenth-floor elevators with an alarming “Call to Arms” that links the past to the present through an arsenal of neo-psychedelic sounds. The group’s debut full-length, Passover, connects the current War on Terror to…
A duo of Denton bands will make the arduous trip to, uh, Denton to rock the room at Secret Headquarters. The Grass Fight is a good time for those who like Joy Division but wish they rocked a little harder. Not too much harder, just, ya know, maybe a short-hair…
Hope springs eternal: Yes, the Gypsy Tea Room is closing. No, things don’t look good for Deep Ellum; one problem is most of the poor souls who run clubs—or who have tried to run clubs, or who have tried to open clubs, or who have tried to re-open clubs—don’t own…
The first time I met Amanda Newman was about four months ago, when I attended my first Dallas show in eight years. It was the inaugural event of my Dallas Observer music editorship, which at that point was about two days old. The show was at Club Dada, a FineLine…
Contrary to popular belief, Dick Dale’s sound ranges beyond surf, metal and ’60s hot-rod music. Before he revolutionized electric guitar at the Rendezvous Ballroom in Balboa, California, in the ’50s and ’60s, he discovered how to apply “accentuation of rhythms on guitar” by listening to big-band era jazz drummer Gene…
Believe it or not, here at the Observer we try to research as much as we can about upcoming touring acts, even if that act happens to involve the haggard semi-mook/nu-metal/post-grunge rock of Saliva, who will be performing in Dallas this week. And, as proof that even the most barren…
Stoned Ranger and Defensive Listening made it through another mostly great We Shot JR showcase with their anonymity intact. But the notoriously picky DFW music bloggers revealed themselves to be suckers for a gimmick. War Wizards—something of an underground supergroup with Wanz Dover, Lars Larsen and Shawn Mauck—were compelling yet…
“I ask myself every day if depression is necessary for creativity,” says Mark Linkous, sounding characteristically withdrawn, speaking from his home atop the Smoky Mountains in North Carolina. The founder and driving force behind Sparklehorse, Linkous is a well-known loner with a history of substance abuse who has managed to…
The sound of Jesse Sykes & the Sweet Hereafter hits like a cold front on the first day of winter. As guitarist Phil Wandscher’s blustery leads swirl through the desolate streets, echoing off the brick and stinging your cheeks, Sykes’ weary voice hangs heavy in the air, each syllable dissipating…
The “queen of MySpace” has finally landed stateside, giving hope to every bedroom MC this side of Lubbock. But what really drives Allen’s success—and it seems to be overlooked—is not her number of “friends” but her partners in production, Futurecut and Mark Ronson. Allen’s lyrics are no doubt “cheeky”; her…
