Critic's Notebook

Morley didn’t pen the Dallas theme–that was this guy–but the transexual composer and conductor (born Wally Scott) did receive an Emmy nomination for scoring a few Dallas episodes, says this Variety obituary…

Your daily dose of national music news for Monday, January 19, 2008…We knew he might be retiring from acting to become a musician, but, in what could be the world’s most elaborate hoax, Joaquin Phoenix may now be looking to become a rapper. The whole thing is being filmed by…

A few quick items worth passing along…Over on Idolator comes word that certain videos that are using the music of Pantera are coming up mute (see the above, soundless example). Why? ‘Cause Warner Music Group never approved use of their songs in these clips, and the struggling major wants to…

Fort Worth just continues to explode: Lance Yocom of Spune Productions passes along word of two new venues set to open up in Fort Worth at the end of the month this weekend and next, both of which will be booked by Spune and owned by Lola’s Saloon owner Brian…

It’s cool if you do–the Greenville native is quite willing to join you, actually. Pre-order his new Changing Horses disc, and, in addition to getting some autographed merch just for doing so, you’ll also be entered into a competition where you could either earn more free merch or, potentially, a…

Lost among the throngs of new music that we passed along word about yesterday was news of new music from Beauxregard–something we swear we wholly meant to tell you about then, but, um, forgot to…Anyway, the new tracks, especially “So Long” and “High Noon” are for sure worth checking out…

Will Johnson says everything will be just fine. (Matt Pence)Yeah, Robert already mentioned this over on Unfair Park (you can take the man out of the music editor gig, but you can’t take the music editor gig out of the man, I guess), but it’s certainly something worth mentioning over…

John Iskander, the man behind Parade of Flesh booking (The Lounge on Elm Street, Club Dada, Pastime Tavern), has announced the lineup for his inaugural South by South Flesh show, which will take place at The Lounge on Sunday, March 22–or, y’know, the day after SXSW ends in Austin. And…

Your daily dose of national music news for Friday, January 16, 2009… In an unprecedented move, LA’s Indie 103.1 has decided to broadcast online instead continuing as a terrestrial station and playing crap they don’t want to play. Makes you yearn for the days, when we in Dallas actually had a “cutting…

The Strange Boys got a little bit of love from Rolling Stone this week, though the small blurb mentions only Austin, neglecting to point out the band’s Dallas origins. Writes Austin Scaggs in Smoking Section: “They are four kids from Texas who will blow you away with their Sixties garage-rock-revival…

Only so much news to provide on this front, other than to, pretty much, repeat the post headline and provide the links to the Myspace streams…So without, further ado, you can now hear…Two new tunes from face-melting, grindcore duo Akkolyte (from the group’s upcoming full-length release)…One new track (the reverb-heavy…

Local rock band Rescue Signals has just signed an album deal with Rock Ridge Music and plans on releasing an album in late April. The record will be the band’s debut full-length and will be called Indecisions. And Rescue Signals has already completed a video for the album’s first single,…

The answer: Move to San Diego, work in retail.Or so is the only real moral I glean from this Q&A on CNN.com today with singer-songwriter Erin McCarley (pictured right; credit: Reid Rolls), who gets the star treatment here because McCarley, a Dallas native, recently had her song “Pitter-Pat” featured on…

A few brief notes to pass along that some DC9 maybe, kinda, sorta, might, could possibly be interested in…Over on Unfair Park, Robert’s got the goods on an item that the New York Times and others are all over: George Steel, the man who was tapped to lead the Dallas…

Last season, area American Idol fans desperate for some sort of personal connection to a contestant were able to toss their hats into the ring of support for Rockwall’s Jason Castro, who went on to finish fourth in the seventh season of the reality-based talent competition. Well, thing’s ain’t all…

Your daily dose of national music news for Thursday, January 15, 2009… Run-DMC (the Kings of Rock!), Metallica and Jeff Beck are the newest inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I wonder who’s going to DJ for Run-DMC since Jam Master Jay has passed? I pray to god…

In tomorrow’s print supplement to DC9, Quia Querisma gives an enthusiastic recommendation of Dallas battle rapper Info-Red’s Kaleidescope, praising his verbal versatility and the album’s “mid-’90s East Coast Feel (a very good thing).” You can get a taste for the album by checking out a couple of its tracks on…

Greenville native done good Ben Kweller was the featured artist for Monday’s Daytrotter Session. As part of the session, the baby-faced troubadour has offered up three songs from his new album, Changing Horses, and one from 2004’s On My Way. Kweller also offers up some insight into the inspiration for…

The National Association for Music Merchants is having its winter get together in Anaheim, California this week and Arlington’s Glitter Rose (right, as photographed by Kaci Okabayashi of Industrial Envy) is playing a showcase for Moody Leather, the company that endorses her guitar strap. Ms. Rose informs me via email…

For what it’s worth, when Los Lonely Boys stop through town for a gig on Sunday, January 25, at the Granada Theater, it will be for, what their publicist calls, “a very special acoustic show.”Ah, the ol’ “special acoustic show” trick, eh? We’ve seen this one before.Should be, um, lively and…

Your daily dose of national music news for Wednesday, January 14, 2009… It looks like another legendary band could be getting back together–if a promoter can cough up enough dough. Yep, this time it could be indie legends Pavement who could be on the reunion trail. I like to see they…

Well, OK, so it’s not completely a reunion…or much of one at all, really. But, still, a real treat coming up tomorrow night at Club Dada, as part of Sunward’s month-long artist-in-residency: After opening sets from Young and Brave and Sunward, three members of Sunward (frontman Doug Kershaw, bassist Dave…