Black Tooth Frown (Or: Zac Crain’s Book Woes From Hell)

It’s been over a year now since former Observer music editor, one-time mayoral candidate and current D Magazine writer Zac Crain last found himself being lambasted in the very dark, very murky waters of metal web site Blabbermouth.com’s comment section. But, hey, news like this–that Crain’s publisher, De Capo Press,…

Home Life With Laurie Anderson. Oh, And Lou Reed, Too!?!?

In this week’s not-yet-online Night & Day section, I wrote up a quick blurb about Laurie Anderson’s Homeland, which features Anderson, Tuvan throat singers, violin players and more, all colliding over an electro foundation, to take on the political and social topics of modern day America. It employs different themes…

Tonight: Skip The Debate And Catch Jonezetta At The Loft

That first McCain/Obama debate was pretty much a snoozefest of the highest order. The second go around tonight should offer a bit more interest, seeing that’s it has a town hall format. In any case, you can always TiVo the debate and head out to The Loft tonight and catch…

Hope You Remembered To Register To Vote Today (And Other News!)

So, it’s October 6. Last day in the State of Texas to register to vote for next month’s presidential election. Hope you remembered. If not, you’re a pretty detestable American. That, and you probably won’t appreciate the above video at all. It’s called “Obamarama,” and it comes from a collective…

Symbolyc One Gets The Baller Status Treatment

BallerStatus.com, which bills itself as an urban lifestyle network, just posted a lengthy Q&A feature on producer, MC, Strange Fruit Project member, Cannabinoid member and all-around hip-hop man about town Symbolyc One , talking to the Waco native about his work with Erykah Badu, his collaborations with Speech of Arrested…

Because There’s Nothing Like White Boys Singing About Jesus…

This Sunday, Superpages.com Center will host something called the Music Builds Tour, which aims to benefit local affiliates of Habitat for Humanity. Now, that’s a worthy cause and all, helping low income folks build their own homes, but one has to ask if it is worth suffering through acts as…

A Sorta-Sentimental Piece On Sorta From PopMatters

Smile, guys! You should be sorta pleased about this. (Mike Fuentes) PopMatters.com, the same people responsible for the exhaustive Salim Nourallah we linked to, um, back in April (for those of you scoring at home), bring us a much more concise take on Sorta’s upcoming self-titled fifth disc today, focusing…

Stereogum Talks Coffee, Vinyl With Midlake’s Eric Pulido

I’m not gonna say the “Quit Your Day Job” interview Stereogum posted with Midlake’s Eric Pulido today necessarily treads through any undiscovered territory–it doesn’t–but it is still a nicely packaged piece that allows fans and readers a quick entree into Pulido’s two non-band entities: Cappulido (his fair-trade, home delivery coffee…

Crystal Clear Shuts Down Distribution Department

Today, in music news that, really, comes as absolutely no surprise to anyone who’s ever bought or downloaded an mp3, Dallas-based company Crystal Clear has announced the closing of its distribution department. “At the end of last year, we deleted about 90 percent of our catalog, or 450 titles,” explains…

Father of Hip Hop to Make First Dallas Appearance

Kool Herc, the father of hip hop, will make his first-ever Dallas appearance Friday, October 31, at minc with Busy B. The booking coup was announced less than a week after Instrumental Entertainment bought the Exposition Park club. Creo Jones, marketing director for Instrumental, said the appearance will include an…

Check Out The Trailer For This Upcoming Dallas Blues Documentary

Robert Wilonsky came across the above trailer this morning for the upcoming (although I don’t know when it’s due) documentary called Dallas Electric: The Texas Blues Story, a film currently being produced by The Still Kickin’ Foundation. Yes, that’s famed area blues musician Hash Brown in the clip, but the…

The Boom Boom Box Posts First Song To Myspace

I dunno. Maybe I’m overreacting a bit. But, surely, I can’t be the only person who’s excited about the fact that various members of two GREAT (but kinda-on-hiatus) area bands, Pleasant Grove and Baboon, have teamed up to form a new band called The Boom Boom Box. And I can’t…

Kristy Kruger Out On Tour With Brian Vander Ark Of The Verve Pipe

When it rains, it pours. (Erica Fellicella) Seems Dallas’ own little alt-country diva Kristy Kruger is out on a national tour with former Verve Pipe frontman Brian Vander Ark. And, actually, Kruger isn’t only opening the shows; she and her two able sidemen (drummer Richard Hewett and guitarist Dylan Sneed)…

The Latest Chinese Democracy Release Rumor Launched In Dallas, Apparently

Let’s be honest with ourselves: The 13-year-in-the-making Guns N’ Roses maybe-masterpiece Chinese Democracy probably won’t be coming out on November 25, no matter the reports. But if–if!–the recent rumors of a Best Buy-exclusive release are, indeed, true, you can credit a Dallas-held Best Buy vendor convention for being the source…

AC/DC Changes Mind, Decides To Visit Dallas After All

We didn’t bother mentioning anything about it back when AC/DC’s current U.S. tour was first announced–we’re not really in the business of telling about the shows that aren’t coming through town–but we did find it a bit sketchy that the rock gods decided to hit up both San Antone and…

Houston’s Hayes Carll wins Americana Song of the Year

Congratulations, Hayes. Although he won’t be playing our area until November, Houston singer/songwriter Hayes Carll deserves some Texas-sized kudos for recently winning the Americana Music Award for Song of the Year with his satirical “She Left Me For Jesus.” Carll was also nominated for Artist of The Year at The…

Yo La Tengo Is Not Afraid Of MS, And They Will Beat Its Ass

It was just last spring that legendary indie rockers Yo La Tengo graced our area with a sublime acoustic concert at the Dallas Museum of Art. Fans might also recall the ear-shredding performance the band gave at the Granada Theater on Easter in 2007. Well, now Yo La Tengo frontman…