Sometimes opening acts are amazing. Sometimes they don’t immediately grab you by the ears, so you go the bar the get a drink. And, sometimes, while you’re at the bar, you hear something that you didn’t hear at first and find yourself drawn back to the front of the stage. Modern Gospel, the debut album by Joshua Dylan Balis, is like that slow-burning, unassuming opening act. Continue reading Album Review: Modern Gospel – Joshua Dylan Balis
When Austin, TX became one of the trendiest places on the planet, the city had a moral duty to relinquish its mantra of, “Keep Austin Weird.” Obviously, the weirdest place in Texas is Marfa, a desert town known for its unique art installations and unexplained light phenomena, but if there were a more accessible part of Texas that could claim heir-apparent to the “Keep Austin Weird,” mantra, it would be the East Dallas neighborhood of Lakewood. From the eclectic shops, eateries, random zoning, and fraternal organizations dedicated to the upkeep of swimming pools,, Lakewood is a social detective’s dream come true. Tucked away between Margie’s Wig Salon and The Kitchen Recording Studio, Here, the new Lakewood lounge/restaurant, is maybe the most Lakewood-y place around. Here officially opened its doors for business this past Saturday and my wife and I and a few friends stopped in to try it out. Continue reading Restaurant Review: Here
Art doesn’t always make sense. Sometimes it hovers above you, resting in some foreign astral plane that you can’t wrap your head around. Sometimes its ambition exceeds its grasp and the concept ends up merely a lost idea among the fiery wreckage. And sometimes it doesn’t make sense because it is so completely disjointed, alternating between excellence and rubbish, that the work as a whole hardly seems possible to have been created by the same artist. Continue reading Album Review: American Band – Drive-By Truckers
I used to be a reader. In home school there was little else to do. By the time I started public school in 8th grade, I had read everything I would be assigned to read through senior year AP English, with the exception of The Handmaid’s Tale. After high school, I became so engrossed in playing/listening to/seeing music that books were largely a thing of the past. I can sum up the books I have read, post-2001, in a few simple categories: music biographies, books about dragons, clever books by fashionably eccentric hit-or-miss authors (Palahniuk/Vonnegut/BEE), and books by Denver Nicks. I knew Denver from college and he introduced me to Fugazi via a decently played riff on his acoustic guitar, so any time he writes a book, I make a point to read it. Continue reading Book Review: Hot Sauce Nation by Denver Nicks
At its core, John Congleton’s, Until The Horror Goes, is a meditation on dissonance.
This record, more than most, is impossible to accurately separate into its components, words and music. Taken alone, the music is frequently off-putting. Taken alone, the melodies are incredibly catchy. Taken alone, the lyrics could read like the prose of a young writer who just discovered Nietzsche. But together, together they tear down the facade each individual part component creates and reveals the true nature of the artist. Continue reading Album Review: John Congleton and The Nighty Nites – Until The Horror Goes
***disclaimer, this is a day late due to St Patrick’s Day and a Deftones concert last night***
Today marks the 15th anniversary of The Toadies defining masterpiece, Hell Below/Stars Above. The world was a strange place back in 2001; “punk” music was basically family-friendly and rap-rock dominated the airwaves with an iron-grip not seen again until Adele popped her head up a decade later. Hell Below/Stars Above was the wrong music for the wrong time, nobody heard the album, and The Toadies never had a chance. For the few of us that did happen to hear the album though, it was a game-changer. Continue reading Milestone Albums: The Toadies – Hell Below/Stars Above
Hey Everyone! Just a quick update, we are back from the honeymoon and I have the wife all moved in now. In my absence I heard a guy named Kendrick Lamar released an album or something? Seriously though, I’ve got some reviews coming up for Kendrick Lamar, Courtney Barnett, Modest Mouse, and the shows I saw in the 24hrs I was able to pop in at SXSW on the way back home. Talk to you soon!
peace,
daniel
I listened to it so you don’t have to. Not since Larry The Cable Guy have I seen a performer so blatantly pander to a woefully simple audience as on Kid Rock’s new album First Kiss. Allow me to list some of the words that are peppered throughout the embarrassing lyric sheet – wine, whisky, beer, bourbon, Jim Beam, Jesus, Bocephus, white lines, guns, America, Johnny Cash, highway, Chevy, truck, banjo, cowboy, Tennessee, moonshine, and more that I can’t remember because I’m sure my brain shut off at some point. Continue reading Album Review: Kid Rock – First Kiss
HERE WE GO!!!
Continue reading Top 20 Albums of 2014
It’s easy to look back at high school and reminisce like it was yesterday. But then you realize it’s 2014 and it has been almost 20 years since you were a freshman. Feeling old yet? I graduated in 2001 and I made a little playlist for y’all to enjoy. Hit the link, press shuffle, and slip back into the past.
http://open.spotify.com/user/friskyswimmer84/playlist/4DnrbtmePKvktEkXfIgn6T
peace,
daniel
