How to Start a Record Collection: Summer Edition

Collecting records can so frequently be about the chase or the dig. But it’s 100 degrees out there and frankly it’s about to be too hot to do anything besides drink Topo Chico over crushed ice and slurp paletas all day. So the digging, the digging will have to wait…

The Key is The Songs, Not the Production Values

Are you a musician? Is your group having issues? Ask Fan Landers! Critic Jessica Hopper has played in and managed bands, toured internationally, booked shows, produced records, worked as a publicist, and is the author of The Girls’ Guide to Rocking, a how-to for teen ladies. She is here to…

FEMA’s Rejection of More Money for West Seems Fair Enough

Let me see if I get this. FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, is already paying Texas 75 percent of its costs for cleanup in West and making $8 million in low interest loans to individuals. But because FEMA ruled recently that Texas is capable of picking up the balance…

11 Dads Who Aren’t Having a Good Time at a Ke$ha Concert

Father’s Day may have been a few weeks ago, but walking around Gexa Energy Pavilion on Sunday gave a whole new perspective on what lengths some fathers will go to support their children’s choice of music. So, presented with marginal comment, a small photo essay called “The 11 Best Dads…

Fancy Retail in South Dallas: We Built It, and They Didn’t Come

You guys are killing me. I’m a four-hyphen guy, a commie-pinko hippie-liberal nanny-state bleeding-heart libtard. I thought Dallas was supposed to be ultra-conservative. You’re supposed to have at least one hyphen. But you keep putting me on the wrong side of the hyphen. Today The Dallas Morning News has a…

Paula Deen Is Sorry For Being Racist: UPDATED (Again)

Updated update:There’s another video now, with a slightly higher production quality and a lot more apologies. Watch it while you still can… Original Update: The video has been taken down. Here’s a transcript of what you missed… I want to apologize to everybody, for the wrong that I’ve done. I…

The Official #Raptwitter Follow Friday All Stars

The twittersphere has been all a-flutter with Kanyemania. A lot of cultural dialogue on social media has been in the vein of his new album, new baby, or new interview. Though you’re probably dying to hear more opinions regarding these topics, we’ve decided to widen the focus a bit on…

Help Wanted: A Dallas City Manager Who Works for Dallas

Take two things. One, five years ago the Dallas City Council told City Manager Mary Suhm not to allow gas/oil drilling in city parks. A few days later she signed a secret deal with a gas/oil drilling company to allow drilling in parks. Two, last year the council gave Suhm…

Last Shot: The Questions I’m Tired of Answering About Cancer

Lindsey BestAndrew Youssef [Editor’s Note: Longtime concert photographer Andrew Youssef found out almost two years ago that he had Stage IV Colon Cancer. In that time, he has continued to shoot tons of music events for our sister paper OC Weekly on top of other freelance work and working a…

Happy Juneteenth from a Land Where Old Times Are Forgotten

Interesting story in The Dallas Morning News today by Selwyn Crawford about growing national popularity for Juneteenth, a holiday originally thought to be strictly a Texas thing. Juneteenth marks the official emancipation of slaves in Texas in 1865, two years after Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. My family just visited a…

I’m a 40-Year-Old White Guy. Can I Get in the Rap Game?

Are you a musician? Is your group having issues? Ask Fan Landers! Critic Jessica Hopper has played in and managed bands, toured internationally, booked shows, produced records, worked as a publicist, and is the author of The Girls’ Guide to Rocking, a how-to for teen ladies. She is here to…