Critic's Notebook

This year, the Old Settler’s Music Festival takes place, as it always does, at Salt Lick Pavilion & Camp Ben McCulloch, just south of Austin, from Thursday, April 15, through Sunday, April 18. It’s an event that’s always heavily tilted towards acts that land securely in the alt-country and/or Americana…

Your daily dose of national music news for Friday, April 2, 2010…Can’t wait for the new Band of Horses album? Check out their first offering “Compliments.”Ruben Studdard and Clay Aiken join forces in the ultimate “Hey, Remember Us?!” tour…

Your daily dose of national music news for Thursday, April 1, 2010…The 8-Bit revolution has now it your parent’s classic albums…Jeff Lynne rules out a Travelling Wilbury’s reunion…  which is good since two of the members are dead. Jazz guitarist Ray Brown passes away…

Last time Erykah Badu stopped by Good Records for a public appearance, the cops showed. If that’s the case on Saturday afternoon, when Badu offers local fans a chance to get a signed copy of her new album, New Amerykah, Pt. 2: Return of the Ankh, the end result might…

Your daily dose of national music news for Wednesday, March 31, 2010…Since Jane’s Addiction can’t keep Eric Avery around, I guess Duff is the next best thing.  Plus he can give the boys some sound financial advice.Liam Gallagher best British frontman ever?  Ever? Ludacris: U.S. Census taker…

If Ms. Badu’s Twitter account is to be believed–and, really, when isn’t it?–then she’s gonna be on your television screens today even earlier than her scheduled appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! tonight, stopping by B.E.T.’s 106 & Park to discuss (what else?) New Amerykah Pt. 2: Return of the Ankh…

It looks like hosting shows and giving away mp3s is no longer enough for two highly influential Dallas-based music blogs, as Gorilla Vs. Bear and Weekly Tape Deck have joined forces to create Forest Family Records. But while both blogs are Dallas-based, and will have Dallas’s A&R Record Manufacturing press…

Yesterday, Bucks Burnett was this close to signing a lease for a space in Deep Ellum to house his eight-track museum. But, despite an NX35 tweet Friday announcing that he was in the final stages of securing a venue, Burnett had a last-minute change of heart about the location and…

Your daily dose of national music news for Tuesday, March 30, 2010…Ricky Martin coming out of the closet is like Lost finally revealing their secrets in it’s final season:  I’m glad I finally know, but, I’m also disappointed because I already pretty much knew it.Did Cleveland police really need 50…

Your daily dose of national music news for Monday, March 29, 2010… William Bill Bailey, better known by his stage name, Axl Rose, is being sued by his manager for not paying $1.9 million in in commission.If you’ve got enough money, Mark Ronson will produce exactly one song for you. …

Your daily dose of national music news for Friday, March 26, 2010…It’s official, The Dead Weather are coming back… soon.Lady Gaga and Beyonce have gone and done it now… they’ve upset the wrong Mormon has-been pop-star.So how exactly does 50 Cent pick out his diss targets?  I’m assuming there is…

Over on the Fort Worth Star-Telegram’s site today, a real treat for fans of Calhoun, one of the finest bands from that city: Seems the band, which called it quits last May, isn’t done yet. And there’s proof: A week ago today, the band posted a few new, previously unheard…

Another month, another North Texan gets added to the kinda impressive Lilith Fair tour lineup…Yep: Today comes the news that Grand Prairie’s own Dis-kid, Selena Gomez (who our sister paper down in Houston is already pegging as past her prime at just 17 years old), has been added to the…

The trio behind Alkaline Trio? Well, that’s just Matt Skiba, Dan Adriano, and Derek Grant. And their latest, This Addiction, is their first for Epitaph Records–quite the change, after putting out records on Asian Man, Vagrant, and Epic prior. With a sound that mixes the best of The Misfits, The…

Your daily dose of national music news for Thursday, March 25, 2010…Dave Grohl’s addiction to coffee recently sent him to the hospital with chest pains.Spinner has declared the 10 musicians they think are “punk,” but are really punk.  I can get with most of their choices, but, Cher… really?Is there…

For almost two decades, Atlanta’s Sevendust has been making a righteous noise, a heady and heavy metal concoction that resulted in three consecutive gold albums, from 1997 through 2001. But after the departure of guitarist and founding member Clint Lowery, the band’s fortunes began to change. Management and label snafus,…

Well, yeah, the poster pretty much says it all. But let’s add this: Ni Taylor put out her debut mixtape about a month ago now—and it’s kind of a banger, not to mention a free download. Check “Showin’ Off” after the jump for an impressive little Kid Sister-ish jam.Surely, it’s…

Over the weekend, Erykah Badu leaked a couple more juicy bits of information pertaining to her upcoming, March 30 release, New Amerykah Pt. 2: Return of the Ankh. First and foremost is the cover art, which, yep, you can see right here to your right (my left.. no, that can’t…

Your daily dose of national music news for Wednesday, March 24, 2010…Outkast’s Big Boi will finally see his new solo album earn release.Tom Hanks either really loves musicals or he really loves Green Day. I’ll go with musicals for $200, Alex.Phil Spector lost some teeth from an altercation in prison…

Your daily dose of national music news for Tuesday, March 23, 2010…You know those times when you’re in the middle of giving life-saving CPR and you have to quit to hide your drugs? Those times suck, don’t they?Carrie Brownstein and Janet Weiss prove that there is life after Sleater-Kinney.Are you…

While most music journalists of the world were off in Austin, distracted by day parties offering free booze, news broke on Friday that Beck had enlisted the aid of Liars, Os Mutantes and Dallas native Annie Clark/St. Vincent to participate in his ever-revolving Record Company lineup, known for covering seminal…