Jumberjack Fest IX: No Egos and Bearded Grinding

It all began quite simply enough. As the PVC Street Gang was finishing up their set at this year’s Lumberjack Fest in Denton at Dan’s, venerable guitarist and all-around goofball, Ryan Thomas Becker, began grinding suggestively against a slim, petite brunette just near the front door. He slithered all around…

Snoop Dogg St. Patrick’s Day Tickets are On Sale Now

Snoop Dogg will headline this year’s Dallas Observer St. Patrick’s Day Concert at Energy Square on Greenville Avenue. We’ll announce the rest of the lineup soon, but you can buy your tickets right now. They’re $15 for general admission ($20 day-of), or there is a VIP option that costs $65…

Balmorhea

Since 2006, Austin’s Balmorhea have been mining the ground of minimalistic post-rock to much critical acclaim. Throughout their career the band’s music has always had a strong narrative. Each track feels as if a short story is being told. The band’s latest, Stranger, sees the group stepping away from minimalism…

Murs

The Definitive Jux crew is having a pretty good year. The latest from the collective to touch down in Dallas is underground rap king Murs. Murs’ name — “Making the Universe Recognize and Submit” or “Making Underground Raw Shit” — has changed over the years, but his lyrical prowess and…

Blowfly

Through a bizarre friend-of-a-friend scenario, Observer Arts & Culture editor Jamie Laughlin and our former music editor Audra Schroeder found themselves in a Fort Lauderdale recording studio in the early 2000s, getting stoned with rappers Afroman, Shaggy and Blowfly, and doing back-up vocals on an update of the track “Blowfly…

Loretta Lynn

While George Strait and George Jones recently garnered headlines for their announcements that they would be retiring from the road soon, Loretta Lynn keeps rolling. Last year, the 80-year-old daughter of a coal miner told the Observer that the secret to an artist’s longevity is “how hard they’re willing to…

The xx

Achingly hip Londoners the xx have a two-night stay at The Granada this week, meaning twice as many Dallasites will be swept away by songs from their now-ubiquitous debut album and the recently released Coexist. We’re kind of lucky to get two consecutive shows from one of the world’s hottest…

The Appleseed Cast at Macaroni Island, 2/4/13: Review

For those lucky enough to score a ticket to last night’s Appleseed Cast set at Macaroni Island, it was friendly reminder that this band is still around and quite relevant. Despite a shaky start with some microphone issues, the Lawrence, Kansas-based quartet really clicked when they got a few songs…

Toro Y Moi at Trees: Review

Friday night’s sold-out Toro Y Moi from Spune and presented by Gorilla vs. Bear at Trees had only built in anticipation since the release of Anything in Return last month. As the building slowly filled, Dog Bite was finishing a strong set. The new project from Washed Out’s Phil Jones…

Gojira at the Granada, 1/31/13: Review

The Granada put on a rare heavy metal show last night, meaning that their particular section of Greenville was occupied by black clothing and facial hair, a far cry from last Saturday’s show from AD.d+. It’s great that one venue can attract such totally disparate crowds, and in such large…

If the Sound City Soundtrack Rocks Half as Hard as the Movie, It Will Rule

The Dave Grohl-directed documentary Sound City, is a loving and thoroughly entertaining docu-valentine to the legendary studio just outside of L.A. where many landmark albums were recorded. Throughout the film’s first half, we’re given glimpses of behind the scenes action on the making of such classics as Fleetwood Mac’s Rumors,…

The Atlas Moth Genesis: Metallica, Talent Shows and Peter Gunn

The Atlas Moth will be in town tonight, opening for death metal proggers Gojira at the Granada. Frontman Stavros Giannopoulos took some time out to talk about the first shows he saw as a kid, The Blues Brothers, and Peter Gunn. Growing up, was there anybody that inspired you to…