Blessed with a commanding voice reminiscent of Chrissie Hynde, Kansas City native Michelle Anthony offers a bluesy take on alt-country, full of cynical wit and post-relationship regret. Now residing in Austin and finishing up her sophomore effort, Anthony’s mix of urban soul and rural twang should appeal to fans of…
On March 25, 2003, Scott H. Biram was severely injured in a head-on collision with an 18-wheeler, his truck run over by a careless driver talking on his phone. For a guy so enamored with trucker culture, it would have been a fitting way to go, but miraculously, he was…
Honus Honus may be on the brink of genius–if not on the brink of a first-grade temper tantrum. Either way, he’s bringing back the handlebar mustache–and the Beefheart that goes with it. As the Barnum (and maybe the Bailey, too) of the four-ring circus that is Man Man, Honus’ gravel-pit…
In our September review of Broadcast’s third album, Tender Buttons, we insisted that the British band’s recent reduction to two members has done nothing but emboldened the daydreamy, electronically fused French-bistro-in-Mars sound of the group, and the same can be said for the duo’s live shows. Live drums have been…
When one of your parents owns one of the most legendary venues in the world, breaks aren’t hard to come by. Hell, how do you think Pauly “Comedy Store” Shore even got a career? But rich genealogy doesn’t have to be a burden–just ask Tall Paul. Because his father owned…
On her new Timeless, a self-produced collection of covers of classic country tunes, Martina McBride pays tribute to the music of her (and older people’s) past without trashing the present–a real accomplishment in C&W, where somebody’s notion of authenticity is always getting in the way of a good time. (Even…
DJ Jazzy Jeff is two decades deep into a music career that has seen him produce multiplatinum records, snatch Grammies and gain fame on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, but he’ll always be a DJ at heart. He’s been on the road nonstop since the release of soulful beat opus…
The increasingly combative File-Sharing Wars have come to this: Record companies now assume you have criminal intent whether you buy CDs honestly or not. Recent releases from Foo Fighters, My Morning Jacket, Velvet Revolver and Neil Diamond have placed new, unexpected limitations on your ability to rip, store, copy and…
This week, I’ve caught myself taking more than a few bitter glances at Reunion Arena. You might think this has something to do with the political goings-on surrounding Ray Hunt and the possibility of the building crumbling to make room for a parking lot, and I could try to sound…
Rev. Run (aka Joseph Simmons) is a founding member of hip-hop legend Run-D.M.C., and his new disc, Distortion–a collection of rap-rock hybrids not unlike the vintage tracks he created with his former group–was released on October 18. Additionally, Run now stars in a “reality-based” TV series (co-produced by his brother…
My old buddy Thom–yeah, I mean Thom Yorke from Radiohead–finally wrote me again. I was getting worried. What? Yeah, we don’t hang out much, him living in England, but I e-mail him about the band’s progress on their latest album, and he posts responses on the band’s Web site. You’re…
Years ago, I had a running joke with a group of friends in a band. Whenever something stupid happened, I’d be quick to quip, “This is ‘part two’ of your VH1 Behind The Music episode.” That is to say, one guy dropping a ketchup bottle would become the reason behind…
Shine on, golden warriors: Allow us to make a few enemies right here, right now, by making a hyperbolic declaration. Dallas’ best chance at giving the world a Coldplay-level mega-success–one that can strike the perfect balance between mainstream adoration and critical acceptance–is Radiant. Sure, we ultimately think other local bands…
Of course, its the producer who gets the performer into these pages; this look like People magazine to you, hunh? Fact is, anybody other than Rick Rubin produces this thing (and Heartbreaker Mike Campbell, Tom Waits-Beck guitarist Smokey Hormel and ex-wunderkind Jonny Polonsky play on it) and its forgotten day…
I wonder what Metric (and sometimes Broken Social Scene) frontwoman Emily Haines was like in high school. Like most emerging indie rock icons, she was probably socially awkward, the only sort of pre-adult state of mind that allows for a future of musical talent (no dates = more time alone…
The members of the band formerly known only as Dios deserved to be pissed when metal singer Ronnie James Dio’s lawsuit forced them to add the parenthetical “Malos” to their name. But Dio may have done the band a favor. Dios, which translates as “Gods,” was the perfect name for…
If the name wasn’t French for “Girls Who Rock,” nobody would’ve noticed the girl-band theme at Saturday’s second installment of La Femme Qui Rock. This was no Lone Star Lilith Fair: no political sloganeering and no delicate acoustic folk built around teenage diary entries. It was just a long night…
Hard rock is the biggest cliché in the world, but really, the formula works for a reason–there’s no ignoring the rush that a low riff, a snarling singer and a loud, crashing cymbal create. So it’s heartwarming to hear one of the fresher hard rock releases of recent memory come…
When it comes to good music that’s best in small doses, the problem is one of extremes–consider They Might Be Giants (too cute), Zappa (too cerebral), Sonic Youth (too abrasive). San Francisco’s Deerhoof is all of the above, but they pull it off with one other extreme–too catchy. Since sweetening…
Rarely do genres blend and cross-pollinate as fruitfully as on We’re Already There, Mazarin’s gracefully noisy barrage of neo-electronic pop and retro-psychedelia. Four years in the making, Quentin Stolzfus and crew have leaped past the somewhat dated stoner buzz of their two previous releases to concentrate on writing full, concrete…
In a rare instance where musical guest stars contributed something more than their names to a sticker slapped on the CD, Styrofoam’s 2004 album, Nothing Lost, actually put Death Cab for Cutie’s Ben Gibbard and American Analog Set’s Andrew Kenny to productive use. But don’t worry about the lack of…
Corrine Silguero tells her story with wary optimism, maintaining hope that her musical future will finally become reliable. A local blues diva who finds solace in the music of Big Mama Thornton, Bessie Smith and Muddy Waters, the 47-year-old is about to begin a weekly residency at Tio Joe’s on…
