Crooks

Austin’s never been short on stellar roots bands or hardcore honky-tonkers, thanks in part to some young acts that perform way beyond their years. Mike and the Moonpies, Whiskey Shivers and Shakey Graves are but a few of the promising names to reveal themselves recently. Add Crooks to that list…

Unconscious Collective Album Release

The new self-titled LP from Dallas’ Unconscious Collective, yet another group that counts members of Akkolyte and Black Dotz as members, gets released tonight. The seven-track album’s shortest song is six-and-a-half minutes, and its longest is nearly 15, but in those swaths of time, the metal improv trio pummels and…

Dallas Observer Music Awards Showcase

Flip on over to this week’s feature for a rundown of all the acts playing our big-ass showcase Saturday. Eight clubs, more than 60 bands. A snapshot of Dallas music in one night. Allt for $10…

Deftones

The list of bands that broke big in 2000 and are still on a major label producing high-quality tunes is as short as the life spans of most of the bands that had hits that same year (Stroke 9, anyone?). Sacramento’s Deftones are near the top of that select list…

Title Fight’s Shane Moran Totally Played Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!!

Pennsylvania’s Title Fight come to Dada on Tuesday, November 13, with Pianos Become the Teeth, Power Trip and Single Mothers, in support of latest album Floral Green. Guitarist Shane Moran took time out to share the band’s musical influences, his first show, and remind us Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!! existed. A…

Converge

One of the best shows this fall will be on a weeknight, when Converge and Torche, two of the finest, loudest metal bands out there, tackle Dada. Both bands put out fantastic records this year, Converge with All We Love We Leave Behind and Torche with Harmonicraft, and will most…

Carnival of Souls with Pinkish Black and Mind Spiders

While Halloween is over, we can always count on the Day of the Dead to give us one more reason to put on the corpse paint and slink around in the shadows. Friday at Texas Theatre, enjoy a screening of the ghoulish 1962 horror classic Carnival of Souls, which features…

A$AP Rocky

To see A$AP Rocky live has been a bit of a chase for North Texans, but the wait is finally over. The self-described “pretty motherfucker” is bringing that Harlem hustle, plus Detroit’s Danny Brown and Cali’s Schoolboy Q, to Dallas for quite a night at House of Blues. Rocky and…

Sharon Van Etten

In a few weeks, most music blogs — including ours — will begin the samurai-like process of forging year-end and best of 2012 lists. And no sword-maker should exclude Sharon Van Etten’s sharp third album, Tramp. Neither should they overlook the always-great Damien Jurado, whose latest LP, Maraqopa, has great…

Terminator 2, Big Fiction, Eccotone

Last weekend, Fort Worth’s 1919 Hemphill celebrated its 10th anniversary with three nights of punk and hardcore revelry. Not much different from what they do every weekend, though. Case in point: This heavy Sunday show, brought to you by Dallas Distortion Music, features performances from Denton’s metal machine Terminator 2…

Playdough, J. Rhodes

Last week, we put the spotlight on Playdough and J. Rhodes, two Dallas emcees with new albums out. Playdough’s Writer Dye: Deux or Die is a sample-heavy celebration of popular music and rap’s interpretative nature, whereas J. Rhodes’ Oak Cliff Huxtable reps the local scene a bit. Opener Ty City…

Good Records’ Halloween Party

Yes, the Halloween weekend is upon us, and with it comes myriad choices of where to go and who to see (and be). Because we care about your well-being, we always like to point you in the direction of free beer, so head to Good Records Saturday, between 7 and…

Shovels & Rope

Carrie Ann Heart and Michael Trent’s savory Southern stew of folk, rock and blues makes the buzz they’ve received for their debut album as Shovels & Rope, O’ Be Joyful, highly warranted. In concert, their loving chemistry is apparent, as each takes a seamless turn on a single snare, guitar…

Nas and Lauryn Hill at Palladium Ballroom

This pairing is an inspired one, and especially notable for fans of Lauryn Hill, who have been wondering where the follow-up to 1998’s The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill has been hiding. That (hopefully) comes with the release of her new album, Black Rage. And with that title, we can definitely…

The Sword

How metal is a band that markets its own hot sauce? When the band in question is Austin’s kings of metal, The Sword, the answer is: Insanely. Along with showing off their culinary contributions on a recent episode of Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations, the quartet, led by J.D. Cronise, recently…

Necro Tonz

KNON-FM 89.3’s Blue Lisa is getting ready celebrate her 13th anniversary on the air, but she’s not making it strictly a blues affair. She talked the Necro Tonz into reuniting for the perfect Halloween night topper as a celebration of music, Blue Lisa’s career on the air, and a benefit…

Rodriguez – House of Blues – 10/22/12

Rodriguez House of Blues Monday, October 22 Last night, the Cambridge Room at the House of Blues was witness to a first, as Detroit singer-songwriter and current documentary subject Rodriguez took the stage in front of a sold-out crowd. After asking if anyone was from Detroit and offering his condolences,…

My Education

Austin’s instrumental cabal My Education were here back in June, stirring the waters for the live score to Sunrise at Texas Theatre. They return to town on the Sound Mass Tour, an improvised collaborative effort with like-minded Salt Lake City group Theta Naught. That mash-up was caught on tape and…

Arturo Sandoval

If you consider the trumpet a side dish, the stuffing to some needlessly bespectacled frontman’s turkey, you’ve been procuring too many of your meals via Pitchfork. That shiny, spitty contraption is a star, and there was an era that made it such, when horn players required only one name: Louis,…

1919 Hemphill’s 10th Anniversary

Fort Worth’s DIY punk and hardcore venue 1919 Hemphill is celebrating 10 years standing this weekend. How many volunteer-run spaces can you say have done the same while strengthening the local music community in the process? Earlier this year, venue booker Rick Vandeveerdonk even stood in front of a gun…