I knew it was going to be cold; I mean, the forecasts all said it’d be chilly. But from when co-organizer Marcus Gausepohl (also of Esotype Records & Golden Cities) told me a couple of months back about this “Lost In Space” festival thing he wanted to put together, with a bunch of spacerock/psych-rock bands […]
Sunday now (December 13th, to be precise), and tonight’s got me fairly excited, actually, even in comparison to the last couple of nights, primarily because of the first thing on the list below, the show at Walter’s with Seattle duo The Dutchess & the Duke. I was able to chat a bit on the phone […]
Cool news — I’d worried for a while now that H-town-bred Pavement-gone-Wilco guys Bright Men of Learning had gone the way of Bring Back the Guns or the Guilloteens, fading out without so much as a final “seeya” message to their fans. Thankfully, that’s apparently not the case, and the band are back in action. […]
I mentioned a while back on this little blog how power pop heroes Teenage Kicks were no more, right? Well, drummer John Baldwin hasn’t been doing much relaxing since, apparently — not only has he been DJing as Urbane Guerrilla Sound System, but now he’s drummer for a brand-new band called Passengers, who’re playing their […]
And then, back again. I headed home Saturday night determined to plan a bit better for my foray back to the Free Press Summerfest, so I jammed a cooler full of icepacks into the bottom of my backpack, spent $4.50 on a 24-pack of water bottles at Walgreen’s by the house (the singles were $1.25, […]
Surviving Summerfest: Day Two (or, Where Am I Again, And Who Are All These People?) And then, back again. I headed home Saturday night determined to plan a bit better for my foray back to the Free Press Summerfest, so I jammed a cooler full of icepacks into the bottom of my backpack, spent $4.50 […]
I’m recovering, still. Recovering, but happy, I should say, because this past Saturday & Sunday at the Free Press Summerfest was a freaking blast, even if it smacked my aging old-dude ass to the ground. There were some glitches, to be sure — I have yet to even hear of a music festival that didn’t […]
Yep, yep, yep — in-between the ultra-short-notice posts I’ve been slapping up here lately, there’s been quite a bit of new stuff going on on the site, and I’m damned proud of the current pile, I have to say… First up, thanks to new-ish Austin-based contributor Chris G., we’ve got a cool preview-type thing for […]
I utterly, completely love the head-on collision that’s been going on lately between snarling, four-chords-and-distortion punk and raw-throated, hard-drinking roots-rock. It’s probably been going on for longer than I’m aware of, sure, but these days it seems to be boiling right beneath the surface, and I’m psyched as hell about it. The combination of ragged […]
Missed yesterday, unfortunately, other than the Ditchwater 7″/Zine Release Party, and seeing as I’ve spent most of today either working like a dog out in the yard or lazing around the neighborhood pool a block from our house, yeah, this one’s going to have to be quick-fast, too. And believe me, there’s a ton of […]
Busy, busy, busy-ass Thursday night, so I wanted to post a bit about what all’s going on. First things first: just got a few new things up on the site, like two surprisingly-timely live reviews by hardworking writers Quinn & Teri Sue, who ably covered the recent shows here in town by Nico Vega & […]
Hey, all — heading off to yet another family dinner thing for the long weekend, but before I go I wanted to mention the new stuff that’s up as of, well, just now… For one, we’ve got a brand-spanking-new interview with the mysteriously cool georgia’s Horse., purveyor of dark, sweet-yet-melancholy folk-country rock, up right here, […]
Ah, this is why I love checking the P.O. Box — if nobody’s able to get to it for a few days, stuff piles up like mad, & then when we do check, it’s like Christmas. And sometimes it’s Christmas for other folks (namely, you, good readers of this here site), which is just as […]
Yeah, like always, I’m way, way after when I originally thought I’d be. sigh. I’m gonna catch up, one of these damn days… I ended up heading out to Rudyard’s a handful of Fridays back (4/17, to be precise) to check out Springfield Riots; I didn’t know a lot about ’em at the time, except […]
I’ve been giving somewhat short shrift to the Houston International Festival this year, I’ll admit it — and that’s a little weird, given that the theme country this time is Ireland, a country that’s fairly near & dear to my heart, being that I’m a Generic Western European Mutt who’s marginally more of Irish descent […]
If you can’t make it over to Rice to catch the previously-noted KTRU Outdoor Show — since, y’know, folks do have stuff they have to do during the day, generally — you’re happily not out of luck. Plenty, plenty more going on this evening, so I figured to do a quick rundown of all of […]
Wow. Well, last weekend may’ve been light, but this weekend’s certainly making up ground quick. I’ll hit Saturday later on, but here’s what up for tonight, Friday, April 10th. Now, I’d originally intended to post separately about a few of these — notably the Mango’s grand opening show & the Psychedelic Sock Hop Travis from […]
What? I’m posting a report on the Free Press Houston Westheimer Block Party this damn late, more than a week after? Hell, yes. That’s just how I roll, yo. (Come on; it’s not like anybody out there was actually eagerly waiting for this, right? Nah…) Okay, actually, it’s just been a crazy couple of weeks, […]
Still one day to go for the weekend, and while there’s not a ton of shows, again, this is quality vs. quantity here. The two shows that do look to be good this Sunday, April 5th are relative biggies: Jandek @ Rudyard’s ($4; 2:30PM!) This will be absolutely, completely sold-out; I’d just about bet on […]
While I’ll admit this weekend isn’t as insanely jam-packed with show-going goodness as some in recent days, you’re making a big ol’ mistake if you dismiss it & decide it’s DVD-renting time. We’re talking quality here, folks, not quantity. I can’t get it all listed right now, but here’s some more of what’s up tonight, […]
[Ed. Note: And here, a few days late — sorry about that, y’all — is the last installment of SXSW coverage by SCR/Houston Calling writer David A. Cobb. As before, all photos are David’s.] I had an early start to my last day at South By Southwest, catching up on email and loading up on […]
[Ed. Note: The second installment e-mailed-in by SCR SXSW correspondent David A. Cobb; all photos by him…] Unfortunately day two didn’t get off to a great start. Smacked in the head and guts (and feet) with the fact I am not, in fact, 25 years old anymore, I was in hell for the better part […]
[Ed. Note: David Cobb‘s been running nonstop since getting up to Austin, not too surprisingly, so I’ll be posting his emailed-in updates in his stead. All photos were taken by David, too…] The first day of South By Southwest always starts with travel of some sort. This one was a cheap, early bird flight to […]
Despite feeling all week/weekend like a truck’s run over me repeatedly (I’m blaming the heavy doses of antibiotics I’m on thanks to an infected tooth I had to get root-canaled on Wed.), I ventured out last night (Sat., March 14th) to check out Adele at Warehouse Live, in the pseudo-scuzzy converted warehouses of Old Chinatown. […]
I’ll admit that I’m tempted by tonight’s show at Fitzgerald’s, because The Hudson Falcons are pretty great, but honestly, The Mink is The Place to Be this evening. Local boys Tambersauro will be opening this evening (Wed., March 4th), starting around 9PM, for Baltimoreans (Baltimories?) Thank You and San Franciscans (and ex-Black Eyes members) Mi […]
Okay, so there’s a crap-ass-load of good things going on this weekend (tonight being no exception), but I’m still staggering back to my feet, so I’m going to have to give the quick-fast, mile-high overview. I am behind, behind, behind, folks, and it’s a sad thing. sigh… At any rate, here’s my picks for the […]
This illness thing has me way, way behind — I’m still pissed that I missed this Tuesday’s reportedly-excellent Loney, Dear/News on the March/Alkari show, not to mention the fact that I totally blanked on awesome post-hardcore guys A Wilhelm Scream coming to the Javajazz. Argh. But dammit, I am determined — I won’t be in […]
Dammit, this cold-from-hell thing is getting really annoying. If I the fam weren’t still wiped out by this thing, I’d be seriously considering getting my ass up to the Warehouse Live tonight (Mon., February 9th) to catch Devotchka and Crooked Fingers… I’m not super-familiar with Devotchka, admittedly, but I like what I’ve heard so far […]
[UPDATE: Well, apparently my attempt at embedding the Far video below didn’t work as well as I’d hoped; it appears to work in some browsers (like Firefox on my home Macbook) but not in others (like Firefox on my work PC). Dang. I’ve included the actual link to the video below, for folks who can’t […]
Enjoyed posting about the last few piles of MP3s & whatnot back in December, and since we’ve got an assload of stuff flying by, I figured to take a crack at a handful of the cooler free bits o’ music that’ve flowed through the inbox lately. Funeral Party – “Carwars” (The Bootleg EP) It’s easy […]
The Wild Moccasins. Dang, that was a good one. Seriously — I haven’t seen a show as flat-out, nonstop, good as this past Friday’s Wild Moccasins CD release show with Buxton & Teenage Kicks in quite a while. There’ll hopefully be a full rundown at some point soon, but I had a blast & wanted […]
Damn, this is gonna be a good one, and it’s looking like I’m gonna miss it. Argh… Sucks to be me. Anyway, for those who don’t know, Peter and the Wolf are pretty fucking awesomely great, this kind of indie-folk-pop collective of sorts helmed by Red Hunter that plays strange, quirky, yet intensely catchy music […]
Good, good, good news. Meant to post about this last week, but eh, Thanksgiving… Anyway, now I can say it with authority, having actually heard the new Something Fierce album, There Are No Answers: you really need to get yourself a copy. Really. It’s bad-fucking-ass, honest, a fiery burst of poppy punk with irresistible melodies […]
The title says it all, really. I should probably just leave it at that, but I feel compelled to explain myself when I make big declarations like this, so here it goes… I finally got a chance to check out Austin/expat Houston band The Eastern Sea this past Saturday night — although it turned out […]
This is what I get for staying off the email/message boards so I can hang with the family & all that. Trying to be good & do stuff with my mom & little girl & all that, and lo and behold, a fairly big-time show rolls surreptitiously into town, slipping right beneath my (admittedly often […]
Never been to Boondocks, but tonight’s bill makes me want to give it a shot, in spite of my general exhaustion… I have a hard time resisting the lure of both Deer Park’s finest, The Gold Sounds, and the up-and-coming McKenzies. I’ve missed seeing the Sounds live so far, unfortunately, but their recorded stuff is […]
[UPDATE II: And then…they were gone. poof! Congrats to James for being fastest and most articulate on the email. Apologies to other would-be ticket-claimers.] [UPDATE: Per the kindly, ever knowledgeable Marisa at Four Paws Media, it appears that Flying, who was supposed to be playing with Deerhoof tomorrow night, is actually now Fertile Crescent, instead. […]
Lame-ass attempt at hip-hop lingo aside, this past week’s Recession Thursday deal at Numbers turned out to be pretty freakin’ awesome. I managed to drag along coworker and fellow music snob Jowell, forcing him to haul his ass all the way in from the Heights, and we both walked away stunned & amazed. (Some pics […]
That’s a hell of a lineup, right there, one mighty enough that yes, yours truly will attempt to drag his sorry ass off the couch this evening (although the thought of watching Dragon’s Den with the wife is sorely tempting) and rock out up at Numbers. This is part of the Free Press Recession Thursdays […]
Got a recent note from John of local power-pop/punk trio Teenage Kicks about new songs they’ve got up on their Myspace, saying that we SCR folks were apparently among a select few who really liked the band’s demo earlier this year. And frankly, that’s fucking ridiculous, because these three guys craft some of the best, […]
