Incredibly, Japan’s Melt-Banana has been making a hell of a noise since 1992. The band’s experimental take on punk rock is made even more bizarre by the vocal antics of Yasuko Onuki. Shrieking in a maniacal sing-song manner, Onuki yelps out her English lyrics like a banshee randomly choosing words…
As we have every year for the last quarter-century, we present the Dallas Observer Music Awards. This year, our panel of music experts and industry veterans nominated 200 artists, venues and organizations. Over 4,000 people voted on those nominees, and their selections are the 40 winners listed here. They’re a…
There is no better music snob than the DJ. I have said it before: Keep your lead singers and your emotional bass players, stick me at a table with the DJs and I am in eavesdropping heaven. That’s where I was a few days ago, when some of our Best…
For anyone paying attention, the term “prodigy” has been linked to Sarah Jarosz for years now. Such easy labeling is perhaps fair when you’re an insanely talented teen or a college student with a fantastic album under your belt. But Jarosz, who grew up in Wimberley, Texas and now makes…
“Daniel Folmer is playing to a packed rooftop at Reno’s.” There’s always something going on in Dallas, so we thought it’d be fun to live vicariously through your adventures. Each week look for our #Dallas Instagram recap of people, places, events, food, and more. Usually, this post can be found…
The 2013 Dallas Observer Music Showcase came and went this weekend in eight hours of North Texas’ most interesting music. The unique thrill of this thing is walking from a delicate show by a singer-songwriter to the thrash of a punk band to the beats of an electronic act, on…
The good folks over at Dream Work Conquer Films have dropped a little hotness on your Monday morning with this behind the scenes look into the making of Eminem’s new The Dividends-produced track, “Bad Guy”. The Jeff Adair-directed clip gives us a look into the creative process of newly formed…
It’s the 25th Anniversary of the DOMA. And while it’s true that bands and venues come and go, many of the people behind them have been here all along. We asked a few of these long standing music veterans — now behind the scenes at DOMA nominated venues The Kessler,…
For 25 years we here at the Dallas Observer have celebrated local music by offering an award that not only highlights are awesome local talent but also allows you, our readers, to decide the winners. It’s a nerve-racking month as we prepare for the award show, write the articles and…
The Dallas Observer Music Showcase is Saturday, November 2 (tomorrow). It’s our annual celebration of North Texas music, some version of which we’ve been doing for 25 years now. Here’s what you should know before you head into Deep Ellum:…
Editor: This year, we’re celebrating the 25th Dallas Observer Music Awards. Our coverage will include recollections from last quarter century of North Texas music. Here, our clubs editor remembers the radio show that’s won more DOMAs than any other. When I was growing up, radio had so much power. I…
IN BLOOM by Greg Schroeder Directed by Josh David Jordan from TWO CANS & A STRING on Vimeo. Since 2008, with his ever-present beard and hat, Greg Schroeder has been one of the great country-folk singer songwriters in the area. Schroeder’s tunes are the kinds that can make the simple…
Thoughtful and meticulous, the songs of singer/songwriter David Wilcox belie their simple presentation. For the better part of three decades, Wilcox has been touring the States playing just about any coffee house that would have him. Wilcox hit his commercial peak with 1989’s How Did You Find Me Here, but…
This Saturday, Deep Ellum will become a North Texas music family reunion for the Dallas Observer Music Showcase, with 58 bands on eight stages. The lineup ranges from experimental noise bands to hypnotic singer-songwriters. There are rappers playing damn near their first gigs and rock bands returning from cross-country tours…
It all comes down to this. We came up with 200 nominees for the 2013 Dallas Observer Music Awards. Over 2,000 of you have voted so far (though the polls are still open!), and this coming Tuesday, November 5, we’ll announce the winners at House of Blues. The DOMA Ceremony…
The cypher is one of hip-hop’s most sacred mediums. It’s a place where emcees come together to spit freestyle verse, hone their craft, and showcase their skill. This year, we decided to put our Dallas Observer Music Award nominees for Best Hip-Hop Act to the test (vote here!). Over a…
Editor: This year, we’re celebrating the 25th Dallas Observer Music Awards. Our coverage will include recollections from last quarter century of North Texas music. Paul Slavens was one of the only musicians to be nominated for the first DOMA, in 1988, and also this year. Here, the musician, radio host…
More sad news for the Kidd Kraddick in the Morning show. Just a few months after Kidd Kraddick passed away, fellow show personality “Psycho” Shanon Murphy revealed on the air and her blog on Monday that she has a tumor on her brain stem. Though the tumor is benign, surgery…
The “Before I Die” project allows communities all over the world to share some of their deepest, dearest and even darkest fears, thoughts and goals about their own mortality and the things they are doing before life catches up with them. University of North Texas music composition master’s student Robert…
The importance, cultural relevance, and influential impact of Dallas’ Latin music scene can not be stressed enough. Though often written off as a niche in the local market, tejano, cumbia, rock en espanol, and other Latin-centric genres are alive and thriving in Dallas. Which isn’t all that surprising, considering that…
Over the course of six years, Seattle’s The Lonely Forest have released five full length albums, each of the better than the previous and each one filled with solid, emotionally-driven indie rock. 2011’s Arrows featured the wonderfully dry “Turn Off This Song and Go Outside” and garnered the band a…
This year, we’re celebrating the 25th year of the Dallas Observer Music Awards. It’s a project we started in 1988, in the words of then-music-editor Clay McNear, to, “heighten awareness of local music and to commend those that are recognized by our readers as the best in their respective fields.”…
