AltWeeklies Wire
The Snake Charmers' 'Been Gone Too Long' Opts Out of Anything Flashynew
The muted Allman Brothers boogie of "No Mercy" and "Hoochie Mama" suggests the band is more than capable of cutting loose. Choosing not to, though, gives Been Gone Too Long a touch of class, and elevates it a step above run-of-the-mill barroom blues.
Houston Press |
Chris Gray |
02-17-2009 |
Reviews
Musicians are Hardly Immune to the Twitter Bugnew
Is the "microblog" Internet phenomenon the next leap forward for musicians or just a tweeting waste of time?
Houston Press |
Chris Gray |
02-17-2009 |
Music
What Makes Cornbreadd Runnew
If Cornbreadd didn't already exist, some MTV programming executive would have had to make him up. On record, he can be as grimy and ghetto as they come, but he delivers even his harshest rhymes with the kind of charisma that elicits a chuckle instead of a gasp.
Houston Press |
Chris Gray |
02-10-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
The Best Christmas Album of 2008 is ... Metal?new
With the ever-optimistic attitude of a kid setting out milk and cookies for Santa, we set out to find a few 2008 holiday albums that don't suck, and -- praise the Lord -- we actually found a few.
Houston Press |
Chris Gray |
12-23-2008 |
Music
Tags: holiday music, christmas albums
'Paper Trail' Shows T.I.'s Troubles with the Law Have Benefitted His Artnew
While other top MCs have had to create their own bogeymen to battle -- Kanye has his ego, Eminem had ex-wife Kim, Lil Wayne has those cough-syrup Martians -- T.I.'s got real problems.
Houston Press |
Ben Westhoff |
12-02-2008 |
Reviews
Houston Goes International with the Latin Grammysnew
What in the world is such an important event -- 49 awards in categories ranging from cumbia, ranchera and norteño to urban and alternative -- doing in Houston, of all places?
Houston Press |
Chris Gray |
11-18-2008 |
Music
Johnny Cash Gets the Remix Treatmentnew
Cash purists have every right to blanch at these mixing-board artistes slicing and dicing his songs, but the results suggest that even from beyond the grave, the old man is fully capable of busting a move.
Houston Press |
Chris Gray |
11-04-2008 |
Reviews
What's the Greatest Texas Rock Album of All Time?new
Billy Gibbons talks to us about ZZ Top's 1983's album, Eliminator, 25 years old this year and reissued by Rhino last month in the usual two-disc expanded format with extra tracks and a bonus DVD, takes the cake.
Houston Press |
Chris Gray |
10-15-2008 |
Music
Experimental-Music Journal 'Signal to Noise' Needs a Handnew
Facing rising production costs, slow-to-pay advertisers and, well, just being a print publication in our internet-mad age -- and one targeted to a small, specific audience to boot -- editor and publisher Pete Gershon urged his contributors to in turn urge their friends, colleagues and contacts to subscribe to the decade-old magazine and order back issues.
Houston Press |
Chris Gray |
09-23-2008 |
Music
Mechanical Boy Puts Its Indie-Dance Foot Forwardnew
At first blush, Houston five-piece's debut Play Along doesn't sound too far removed from indie-dance bands like the Rapture or the Bravery, but scratch the surface and there's a rock band under there -- and a potent rock band at that.
Houston Press |
Chris Gray |
09-16-2008 |
Reviews
Houston's Jazz Historynew
If you believe the internet, which you really shouldn't, Houston has no jazz history to speak of. In fact, if you Google "Houston jazz history," you get a bunch of pages about various Rockets playoff series with the Utah Jazz.
Houston Press |
Chris Gray |
09-09-2008 |
Music
Indian Jewelry Occasionally Leaves Listeners Adriftnew
There's something inherently oceanic about Free Gold, the densely layered second disc from the (mostly) Houston-based collective headed by ex-Japanic/Swarm of Angels provocateur Tex Kerschen and wife Erika Thrasher.
Houston Press |
Chris Gray |
09-02-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Free Gold!, Indian Jewelry
Who Stole the Roll?new
It's not only rock and roll anymore, it's just "rock," and the roll is missing in action.
Houston Press |
Chris Gray |
09-02-2008 |
Music
Tags: rock and roll
Scarface Opens Onlines Doors for New Artistsnew
He's the owner of and principal investor in www.heregomydemo.com, a new web site that allows musicians — of any genre, not just rappers, he stresses — to upload MP3s, videos, photos, blogs and bios for free, and sample the wares of the site's other members.
Houston Press |
Chris Gray |
08-26-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
Just How Texan are Hayes Carll and Miranda Lambert?new
Unlike the Outlaws or Lovett/Griffith/Earle cadre, this bunch doesn't socialize regularly or share a common background. They're all Texans, indisputably, but even how much that has to do with their current success is open for debate.
Houston Press |
Chris Gray |
08-12-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
