Arts, Entertainment, and Media

Jambalaya Festival at Bayou Music Center, 5/23/2013

Jambalaya Festival Bayou Music Center May 23, 2013 Ingredients: Houston, Texas A roomful of screaming, dancing teens G-Eazy, RL Grime, Big Boi, Zeds Dead, Earlwolf Instructions: 1. Open the doors of Bayou Music Center at approximately 4 p.m. Allow scores of teenage hip-hop enthusiasts t ... More >>

Lady in Red

Pop star Taylor Swift brought her sticky-n-sweet stage show to Toyota Center May 16.

Fast & Furious & Elegant: Justin Lin and the Vulgar Auteurs

RIP Ray Manzarek: Bespectacled Keyboardist of The Doors Was 74

Ray Manzarek, the Doors keyboardist who brought both a light jazz touch and some seriously heavy piano-pounding to one of the most influential American bands of the late '60s and early '70s, passed away earlier Monday, according to CBS News. He was 74. By most accounts, including the one in Oliver ... More >>

Waka Flocka Flame Needs to Stay Away From EDM

Electronic dance music genre is corrupting trap music, and this trend is driving me bonkers. It's worse than any country/rap collaboration ever made. The mix of electronic and/or dubstep and Southern rap music is not a good blend. It's gotten so bad that poor Waka Flocka Flame barely even knows he' ... More >>

Rudy's Return: Houston's Latest Ska Revival

Billy Munoz wants to reassure you would-be skankers to just get on the dance floor and do your thing. He won't judge you. "It doesn't matter what you look like as long as you're moving," he says. "The goofier the better. We feed off our audience." Andrew Garrigan agrees. "Is there really a way ... More >>

Latino Music's Many Styles Charge Austin's Pachanga Fest

Pachanga Fest Latino Music Festival Feat. Los Lobos, Celso Piña, Intocable, 3BallMTY, y más Fiesta Gardens, Austin May 10 & 11, 2013 Since 2008, the annual, family-friendly Pachanga Fest Latino Music Festival has showcased the vibrant blend of Latino-created music and art and its impact on Americ ... More >>

Cannibal Corpse and Napalm Death at Fitzgerald's, 5/10/2013

Cannibal Corpse, Napalm Death, Immolation Fitzgerald's May 10, 2013 By the time the clock struck 9 p.m. at Fitzgerald's on Friday night, it didn't appear possible to cram another black T-shirt into the place. Longhairs were already stacked up past the rafters inside the old club on White Oak, even ... More >>

Napalm Death's Barney Greenway on Thatcher, Nostalgia and the Pursuit of Happiness

Most of the people who pass Mark "Barney" Greenway in the street every day almost certainly have no idea what the man does for a living. His sensible haircut, unassuming demeanor and soft-spoken Birmingham accent betray nothing of his status as one of the most ferocious and accomplished voices in th ... More >>

Cannibal Ox Is Back, But Is Anybody Listening?

You may have missed it, but no one would blame if you did because you're not alone. In March, legendary indie hip-hop group Cannibal Ox announced they were making a comeback in a big way, launching a new album, their very own record label, and a Kickstarter campaign to fund it all. The last time Ca ... More >>

10 Other Musicians Who Should Have Said "Blow Me"

The line between rock star and cranky toddler can be a fine one; deny them their candy and you've got tears welling up and naughty words being shrieked at ear-bursting decibels. Every once in a blue moon, though, a rational thought will pipe up from said rock star, and it deserves a little bit of no ... More >>

Depeche Mode, The Cure, Kings of Leon, Phoenix, Lionel Richie Head 2013 ACL Fest Lineup

Moments ago, Depeche Mode, The Cure, MUSE, Kings of Leon, Atoms For Peace (featuring Thom Yorke and Flea), Lionel Richie, Phoenix, Wilco, Vampire Weekend, The National, and Eric Church were announced as the headliners of the 2013 Austin City Limits Music Festival, which plans to expand to identical ... More >>

Kris Kross and DJ Screw: The Lost Connection

When Chris Kelly, one-half of the teen-rap duo Kris Kross, was found dead of an apparent drug overdose last week, it was a tremendously sad day for Southern hip-hop. Not just because it provided a tragic ending to another tale of a child star struggling with post-fame adulthood, but because his pass ... More >>

Where Is Lil Wayne In the Lyrical Hot Water Hall of Fame?

Proving that it is almost never wise to compare the results of rough sex to Emmett Till's face, Lil Wayne was dropped from his Mountain Dew campaign last week. Emmett Till, for those of you who aren't familiar, was a 14-year-old boy who was beaten to death, shot, and dumped in the river for whistlin ... More >>

How to Ruin a Perfectly Good Music Festival: Actors

So Ashton Kutcher allegedly got in a fight at the Stagecoach Music Festival. I know, it's a little mind-boggling, that whole idea. Ashton Kutcher was not only at a country-music festival, but reports say he somehow managed to stay true to his douche-roots and get into a fistfight with a security gua ... More >>

Top 10 Rap-Related Items On Etsy

Rap music is forever turning out to be a fun influence on things we'd least expect. When your grandmother starts using terms like "turn up," you realize that there is no getting away from it. Even the creative and artsy folk over at Etsy.com combine their passion for crafts with their admiration of ... More >>

Less Sports, More Boobs: Guy Talk and the De-Evolution of Sports Talk Radio

I'm a native Houstonian. I grew up a fan of Houston sports teams, and I spent a lot of time as a kid listening to sports talk radio. There were no sports-only stations in the 1970s and 1980s. Multiple stations aired games (am I the only person who remembers the Astos games once being on 104 KRBE). A ... More >>

RIP Jeff Hanneman: Slayer at Verizon Theater In September 2010

Ed. Note: Slayer guitarist Jeff Hanneman, a founding member of the band, passed away Thursday in Southern California due to liver failure, according to Rolling Stone. Hanneman, 49, had contracted the flesh-eating disease necrotizing fasciitis, which doctors believed was the result of a spider bite, ... More >>

The Five Best Songs That Sample the Beatles

Pop and R&B superstar Frank Ocean has recently opened up to MTV News that he's been on a Beatles and Beach Boys binge when seeking inspiration for his upcoming second full-length record. While it's not exactly surprising to hear of a young artist gorging himself on Beatles classics for ideas, it is ... More >>

The Rocks Off 100: Jack Saunders, Dealer of Grit & Jangle

Welcome to the Rocks Off 100, our portrait gallery of the most compelling profiles and personalities in the far-flung Houston music community -- a lot more than just musicians, but of course they're in there too. See the entire Rocks Off 100 at this link. Who? Jack Saunders is one of Houston's most ... More >>

Gangsta Rap Wings and Surfers on Acid at Goro & Gun

Everyone's been talking about ramen lately -- especially the ramen at Goro & Gun. What I want to talk about are its wings. "We're gonna drive Buffalo Wild Wings out of business," chef David Kaufman joked as a bowl of ODB wings hit the bar, the chicken glazed with local honey and topped with a few s ... More >>

Randy Rogers Band Springs Surprise Trouble Release Show at Firehouse Saloon Tonight

The Randy Rogers Band has become a big enough name on the highly competitive Texas country/Red Dirt circuit that the quintet was chosen to open for George Strait and Martina McBride on Strait's Houston stop of his "The Cowboy Rides Away" tour at Reliant Stadium back in March. Reached by phone from " ... More >>

Last Night: The Black Crowes at House of Blues

The Black Crowes House of Blues April 26, 2013 Over the past nearly quarter-century, Chris Robinson's lyrics have shown no lack of religious imagery. Angels and devils exist side by side in the lines of his notebook, and various jubilees among congregations go off with fiery fervor. Not surprising, ... More >>

Last Night: Paramore at Bayou Music Center

Paramore, Kitten Bayou Music Center April 25, 2013 During what I like to call the great Zumiez boom of the 2000s, emo bands moved from depressing and mopey to more pop-punk. Like any other musical trend, this era eventually came and went. Very few of the bands that had once filled stadiums and poss ... More >>

Mr. Record Man: Willie Nelson

In the Houston of 1959 and 1960, Willie Nelson was just another unknown musician. But not for long.

Charles Mingus: A Beginner's Guide to the Late Jazz Great

True story: once, we were entertaining some people at home and my rat terrier, Mingus, got loose and began mingling with the guests. Because he's an insufferable attention-seeker and since people are nice and tend not to be threatened by terriers, a woman petted him and asked what his name was. I t ... More >>

Last Night: Carrie Underwood at Toyota Center

Carrie Underwood Toyota Center April 23, 2013 It's different at the top of the world. Because critics are the spoiled little creatures that we are, we are traditionally given seats that cost most fans quite a bit of coin. Hell, Alicia Keys' people put me on the third row. Get told Carrie Underwood ... More >>

David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest: The Soundtrack (With Endnotes)

One of Time magazine's Top 100 English-language novels of the last century, the late David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest is a gargantuan book. Its cutting, comedic views cover a broad swath of American life, but focus on family dysfunction, chemical dependency, depression, entertainment saturation ... More >>

Why Has the Strokes' Comeback Tanked?

The great hope of rock and roll critics at the start of the 21st century, the Strokes, released their newest record Comedown Machine last month. It was met with the sort of lukewarm reviews that the band has been receiving for years now; about the greatest compliment anyone can give it is that "it's ... More >>

Slip Slidin' Away: My Life as a Rock Journalist With the Houston Press

I had a hernia operation in the early summer of 2006, and had nothing to do all day but hobble around with cool cane a borrowed from Grandpa Hlavaty and play on the Internets for two months or so. I had developed the injury while working at Domino's, but it was cool because their insurance helped ... More >>

Capsule Stage Reviews: Dollhouse, Henry V, The Night of the Iguana, 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

The 10 Greatest Rock Bassists in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame: Geddy Lee Edition

I could sit here and write paragraphs about my appreciation of Geddy Lee. He was the first true influence I had as a bass player when I was in high school. For years after, I admired not just his talent as a musician, but his ability to improve and grow. He is also underrated for how great a "rock" ... More >>

Today's Musicians Have All Lost Their Damn Minds

It seems that there's something in the musician water lately, and it's causing an epidemic of WTF-inducing choices that are just begging to be written about. Headlines are popping up daily about abandoned pet monkeys, pixelated photos, and Skrillex hair, and this shit's getting weird. But rather t ... More >>

Strange Encounters: Five Great Metal Songs About Aliens

In the metal pantheon, lyrical subjects go in and out of style almost as fluidly as fashion and whether a song should have breakdowns or not. It seems almost a guarantee that every few years the entire scene will shift to a new fixation. Just a few years ago, everyone was screaming about their feeli ... More >>

Five Great Violent Hip-Hop Songs (for Lupe Fiasco)

Lupe Fiasco used to be a talented, socially conscious rapper known for putting out really good hip-hop albums. Since he hasn't done one of those in a while, he's more well known these days for criticizing President Obama and espousing conspiracy theories about 9/11. Recently he was back in the news ... More >>

Bring Your Black Flag Tattoos to Vinal Edge This Saturday

Saturday afternoon at 5 p.m., tattooed Black Flag disciples are encouraged to stop by Vinal Edge in the Heights for sweaty fellowship with their fellow "barred" brethren to celebrate the release of Stewart Dean Ebersole's Barred for Life: How Black Flag's Iconic Logo Became Punk Rock's Secret Handsh ... More >>

Yet Another Cooking Show: The American Baking Competition Heads to CBS This Summer

Over the last several years, cooking shows have popped up on a variety of networks, rather than the mother ship of all food and cooking shows, the Food Network. If Cupcake Wars and re-runs of Top Chef Just Desserts doesn't do it for you, this summer CBS will air a summer baking competition on May 29 ... More >>

Remembering Phil Ochs, the "Singing Journalist"

Phil Ochs was never Bob Dylan. Oh, he wanted to be Dylan, but ol' Zimmy booted that bastard right out of his limo. "You're not a folksinger, you're a journalist." If only Phil had accepted himself as "the singing journalist." After failing to find the commercial success he so desired, Ochs turned ... More >>

Saturday Night: Tejano Music Fest 2013 at Humble Civic Center

Tejano Music Fest 2013 feat. La Mafia, Emilio Navaira, Jay Perez, and Fito Olivares Humble Civic Center April 6, 2013 It was one of those rare, perfect, mosquito-free afternoons in the Bayou City. Little to no humidity, the temperature hovered around seventy, and the breeze blew softly through the ... More >>

Madman Across the Water

Sir Elton John piano-pounded Toyota Center March 28.

Comedy is NOT Pretty: Dismissed from 1560, Comic John Wessling's Heart Still Belongs to Radio

Chris Rock once said of the music business, "Here today, gone today." The same might be said of radio, particularly sports radio where hosts and shows change about as often as the baseball seasons. A few weeks ago, the latest change came at 1560 when Adam Clanton (now back on air at 790) and John We ... More >>

Top 10 Musicians Who Have Written Children's Books

Today is International Children's Book Day, celebrated every April 2 on the birthday of Little Mermaid author Hans Christian Andersen. It's a day to honor the joy of reading to your children (which I do with Lovecraft because, well, I'm kind of a bad person), and some wonderful musicians have gotten ... More >>

Top 20 Songs Dedicated to Drank, Part 2

Friday we brought you the first installment of songs passionately devoted to syrup. So far we've confirmed that Houston is indeed the only City of Syrup. It's also safe to say that the late Screwed Up Click legend Big Moe sang about sipping more than anyone ever could, as he dominates this list with ... More >>

Moving Sidewalks Dust Off Their '60s Brooms In NYC

This weekend the Moving Sidewalks, best known as the band Billy Gibbons was in before ZZ Top formed, were once again a living, breathing, kaleidoscoping musical being. Gibbons and the other Sidewalks - Tom Moore (organ), Dan Mitchell (drums) and Don Summers (bass), all of whom still live in Texas - ... More >>

Rex Brown's Official Truth: Pantera's Literary Autopsy

Official Truth, 101 Proof: The Inside Story of Pantera By Rex Brown Da Capo Press, 304 pp., $15.47 Back in Pantera's '90s heyday, few fans would have guessed that the first guy to write a tell-all history of the band would be Rex Brown. Though an indivisible component of Pantera's larger-than-lif ... More >>

ACL 2013 Predictions & Rumors: Is This Jimmy Buffett's Year?

2013 marks the first year that the Austin City Limits Music Festival -- Texas' other large outdoor music festival, never to be confused with Houston's own Free Press Summer Fest -- expands to two consecutive weekends with identical lineups. At this point the lineup for the festival, scheduled for Oc ... More >>

Stick to Rhymin': Five Awesomely Terrible Acting Performances by Rappers

In today's recording industry, it is essential to be multifaceted. How can you knock a person spiting ill bars over their own beat in the video they directed? Indeed, most rappers are exploring many different avenues and mediums these days. Some are actually finding additional success; while others ... More >>

Red, White, and Rehab: Country Music's 10 Douchiest Moments

It might be hard to believe, but the same musicians responsible for singing lyrics about big green tractors and diggin' up bones are also responsible for a lot of my Internet entertainment. You see, when famous people do douchey things, it makes me giggle. When those acts are committed by people t ... More >>

Five Artists Who Have Grown Up Too Soon

Most child stars go through a ton of things being in the spotlight and hitting puberty in front of America. We've all seen it from Britney to Lindsay, their going from Disney to "Daaaamn" way too fast. Although I love it -- and at 24, I grew up with some of them -- I still have a hard time hearing ... More >>

Country Divas Ashley Monroe and Kacey Musgraves Have a Need for Weed

This week -- today, in fact -- the Golden, Texas native Kacey Musgraves finally releases her eagerly-awaited debut album, Same Trailer, Different Park. Indeed, it's fitting that she's from a town named Golden, as the new album is but the most recent example of some serious Solid Country Gold that's ... More >>