Critic's Notebook

Alright, alright, alright… Three local country acts–Dallas’ Craig Boyd, Arlington’s Maren Morris, and Carrolton’s Chris Miller Band–have made the Top 10 in the Stetson Rocks competition, which aims to highlight Texas-bred country artists while, at the same time, supporting the Texas Music Project, an organization focused on improving music education…

That’s “Life is Better” above, the latest leaked single from Q-Tip’s upcoming disc, The Renaissance. And, in case you can’t pick up the hint from listening to the track, yep, that’s North Texas’ own Norah Jones taking care of the former Tribe leader’s chorus. Nice. Seems like Ms. Jones, who’s…

Since the cat’s now officially out of the bag on Halloween songs for your listening treat today, here are a couple more recommendations: Visit the Metal Bastard blog to get your free downloads of the Misfit’s “Halloween” and the Dropkick Murphys’ cover of it. And, sure, visit Johnny Lloyd Rollins’…

Since we’re clearly not getting any real work done today at this point, let’s just keep the Halloween theme going, mmkay? Check out the above Halloween exclusive from the Boss hisself: “A Night With The Jersey Devil.” Kind sounds like the Reverend Horton Heat, says Wilonsky. Sure does. And, iff’n…

Hardly breaking news, as a certain other local publication that’s been all over this band’s junk mentioned this, oh, about a week ago… But, ah hell, since it’s Halloween and all… Sometime Denton-based electronic dance duo Roy G and the Biv also has a special Halloween release to tout today…

Sorry there hasn’t been that much action here today…been busy tweaking and putting the finishing touches on my costume (which is a tandem of sorts with our art director’s). But we’re not the only ones with Halloween on our minds early this afternoon… For instance, check out this email that…

Looking for some authentically scary music to catch after all the candy is past out? We at DC-9 feel it’s our duty to guide you through the creepy streets this Friday. We already mentioned a couple in the paper this week, but here are some more cool Halloween shows that…

Fight Bite’s Leanne Macomber at the band’s CMJ showcase at Pianos in NYC. (Stereogum) Welcome home wishes are in order today for Fight Bite, Denton’s sometimes polarizing, but definitely (ahem) buzz-worthy act. The band recently returned to North Texas after taking to New York City to perform as part of…

Chicago’s interestingly titled, progressive pop trio, Oh My God, hits Hailey’s in Denton tonight for a show that also features Denton garage rockers We Are Villains. But it’s something of a miracle that Billy O’Neill and the rest of Oh My God are even making it to Texas. The act…

Fresh off the release of their pretty stellar EP, a message in the ol’ inbox this morning let’s us know that Taylor Young and John Pedigo’s The O’s have already earned themselves a record deal. Not that any of this is that surprising given the positive buzz the band’s been…

If this show still happens, it won’t be at Ohlook Theater. Well, that was fast. It took less than two months for Ohlook Theater, Jon Curlee’s DIY punk-rock venue in downtown Grapevine, to get shut down. It seems the building owners didn’t take kindly to some vandalism and subsequently put…

Sometimes–especially after listening to “A Hard Day’s Night”, we long for the ’60s pop days of old: catchy hooks, vocal harmonies and hand clapping sequences. Locksley is the latest modern-day act to attempt to fill that musical void. The songs on their first album, Don’t Make Me Wait, reissued September…

If you were wondering what is on Matt Kadane’s iPod, you’re in luck, as he’s the current Random Ruler for The AV Club. In case you’re unfamiliar with The AV Club, The Onion’s entertainment section, Random Rules is a feature wherein a musician puts his or her iPod on Shuffle…

It’s been a couple months now since 32-year-old Dallas native and Jesuit grad Wyatt Cenac launched into The Daily Show’s cast by proclaiming that “George Bush doesn’t care about Wyatt people”–and about the same amount of time has passed since Unfair Park talked to Cenac about his new(ish) gig. But,…

The University of North Texas might well have the worst football team in the state–and that’s including high schools. Seems Coach Todd Dodge is having a bit of trouble repeating the success he had when he led Southlake Carroll to numerous state championships. Yet here it is, homecoming weekend (vs…

Robert already hipped Unfair Park readers to the South Dallas Pop documentary airing tomorrow night on KERA, but, hell, we’ll do it, too. ‘Cause, really, as this KERA video interview with festival thrower Roger Boykin shows, 1970’s The South Dallas Pop Festival was kind of a big deal. For the…

The New Frontiers, we hardly knew ye. (Gabriel Hernandez) Sad news was sent out last night when The New Frontiers pulled the ol’ “It’s not you, it’s us!” card and announced that it’d be breaking up after its upcoming string of area shows. When it comes to the local music,…

Didn’t see this coming, not after openly speculating that Janet Jackson could cancel… But, turns out, it’s LL Cool J who won’t make tomorrow night’s concert at the AAC. The press release statement is short and sweet: LL Cool J will no longer be performing on the Janet Jackson headlining…

One of the best purveyors of rootsy punk, Columbus, Ohio’s Two Cow Garage, has just released Speaking in Cursive, the band’s 4th effort. The album hit the streets yesterday, and is the first Two Cow effort not to feature founding member/drummer Dustin Harigle. Before a CD release show in its…

Really? Third-best? That seems a bit high, no? (Roger Caldwell) So the Morning News’ main music blog posted this item earlier this week, and I’ve been trying to wrap my head around it ever since. Basically, it says that the top grossing North American concert of the year so far…

Even though I nicknamed Janet Jackson and LL Cool J’s Rock Witchu Tour around the country as The Botox Tour, I still wanted to see firsthand just how good (or bad) this show actually would be when it makes its way to town next Wednesday. But now it looks like…

OK, so be a good American and watch the debate instead. For the 10 or so of you who actually bought tickets to this show, I hate to be the bearer of bad news… But, according to The Loft’s Web site the Boston Spaceships and High Strung show scheduled to…