Slideshow: New York Dolls in Dallas
The past: The New York Dolls, along with Iggy Pop and the Stooges and MC5, are credited as the godfathers of punk rock. The original line-up formed in 1971 and played its first show on Christmas Eve at a homeless shelter. The band broke up in 1975. In 2004, Morrissey…
You Too Can Play Catch the Illegal Immigrant
A few Sensitive Sallies at Texas Tech have voiced their outrage over a game of “Catch the Illegal Immigrant” organized by the school’s chapter of the Young Conservatives of Texas. Marshalling their collective powers of intelligence, entrepreunership and xenophobia, the kinderkonservatives made T-shirts that say “Illegal Immigrant” on the front…
New Video for Pale’s “Glowing Black”
Here’s a new video for the song “Glowing Black” from local rockers Pale. The Edge-like chime of the guitars, Stephen Morris-esque high-hat hiss and four-on-the-floor kick-drum beat and cinematography are all very 1985, but that seems to be the hip retro year right now…
Astros-Padres: Say Hello to Miguel Tejeda, Who Apparently Hits a Lot Better Than Miguel Tejada
I have to do something I don’t like to do, which is admit maybe I was wrong. The vaunted Astros offense scored 11 runs on 15 hits last night while defeating the Padres 11-7. That’s 11 runs off of the San Diego Padres who, last night, started Jake Peavy, one…
Jay Reatard Lives Up to His Name
I dunno, the kid kinda had it comin’. — JNL…
Mp3: David Schnaufer’s “Santa Anna’s Retreat”
Much like Santa Anna, we were sleeping at the switch on Monday and missed San Jacinto Day. In belated honor of that anniversary, we’ll post this free mp3 of my late buddy and LaMarque native David Schnaufer playing the mountain dulcimer and guitar instrumental “Santa Anna’s Retreat” from his album…
Aeros-IceHogs: Rockford Now Up Two-to-One
“I’ve got to be better and we’ve got to be better,” Houston Aeros goalie Barry Brust said last night. “That’s the bottom line. We didn’t get the job done tonight.” The Houston Aeros lost Game Three of the first round series to the Rockford IceHogs last night by a score…
Reverberations: Monocles, Focusyn, Dizzy Pilot, Black Black Gold, Misfires, Picture Book and Neptones
No need to wait until the weekend this time around. There are plenty of good local gigs right in the middle of the week: The Monocles bring their sublime garage-punk – and a brand new 7″ – to the Mink tonight. Also on the bill are locals Focusyn and Dizzy…
I Love “Road House,” Damn It
Okay, first up, pop culture writer and all-around genius Chuck Klosterman has already written quite eloquently about the 1989 Patrick Swayze movie “Road House,” but forgive me, I’ve got to get my turn. Because I love “Road House,” damn it. At first, as I started watching it on cable each…
Taco Truck Culture Clash in L.A.
¡Que irónico! The beloved taco truck culture of Los Angeles is under attack from an Hispanic politician. District 1 County Supervisor Gloria Molina has asked the L.A. Board of Supervisors for new rules that threaten to put the city’s taco trucks out of business. Under Supervisor Molina’s regulations, all mobile…
Polygamy in West Texas: Should the Children Be Separated from Their Mothers?
Richard Wexler has followed the FLDS case closely, especially after the news that the state plans to send the children in groups to foster facilities. “You can make a case that some of those children needed be removed from the compound, but none of them needed to be taken from…
Astros-Padres: Two in Row, Plus Robin Sparkles
I love baseball. I watch it every chance I get. I travel the country to watch baseball. I write about it all the time. But I got home last night and I saw that Robin Sparkles was making an appearance on CBS. So I just couldn’t watch the Astros. I…
Overnight Express: Simply Red Does Bobby “Blue” Bland
Another collaboration of sorts between an aging American R&B star and a (much) better-selling British acolyte is in the offing, it seems. Early this morning (when all e-mail blasts go out, apparently), the folks charged with getting the word out about Rhino Records’ upcoming releases announced that Mick Hucknall, the…
Rockets-Jazz: Of T-Mac, Time and Fate
Daniel Kramer The first rule of show business: Always leave them wanting more. Too bad this isn’t Hollywood. For if it were, Tracy McGrady would surely have the whole world at his size 16 feet today. Instead, he’s left with nothing but another round of mixed reviews and heated debate…
Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart? Beautiful. Molesting Altar Boys? Not So Much.
To celebrate Pope Benedict XVI’s historic U.S. visit, KHOU on Saturday reran its documentary on the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, “Building on Faith.” Doubling as a public relations agency, KHOU gave the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston what seminary student Juan Carlos Patino-Arango gave a few of the Archdiocese’s boys before…
So, Like, What’s Up With “Gossip Girl”?
Okay, so I totally hesitate to write this post because I fear it is a sign that I’ve turned into everything I hated as a teenager, meaning, a totally out of it adult who is trying desperately to understand what the kids are into these days and then, once she…
Q&A: Michelle Shocked Talks About God, Texas, Slavery, Mercury Records and the Lomax Family
Twenty years ago, Michelle Shocked, who plays at the Mucky Duck this Wednesday, had the music world by the tail. As attested by the quasi-bootleg album The Texas Campfire Tapes, recorded live to a Sony Walkman unbeknownst to Shocked at the 1986 Kerrville Folk Festival, the singer had the voice,…
Astros-Rockies: Say Hello to Eny Cabreja
The Astros won a game this weekend. One game. But that one was a welcome sight, especially when the Rockies were poised for a sweep. Colorado arrived at Hobby Airport at about 8:30 a.m. on Friday after having played 22 innings the night before in San Diego. They then battled…
Aeros-IceHogs: Win Some, Lose Some
Any fan of the Houston Aeros would expect them to win a playoff game on the strength of their goaltending. But if I told you the Aeros won a game because of rookie Ryan Jones, who’s only been with the team for about three weeks, you would probably go: who?…
Over the Weekend: Deadbolt, Shelby Lynne, Ministry, Rockets, Drinking and Houston International Festival
As our music editor said a few weeks back, April indeed is the coolest month. Let’s get right to it. Deadbolt at Rudyard’s Billing themselves as The Scariest Band in the World and ragging on Dallas, Jane Fonda and anyone wearing Crocs, the voodoo surf punk band Deadbolt played Rudz…
Friday Night: Ministry, with Meshuggah and Hemlock, at Verizon Wireless Theater
Ministry, with Meshuggah and Hemlock Friday, April 18 Verizon Wireless Theater Better Than: Moping at home because you’re the sort of atavistic dork who heard that they band wasn’t going to play “Jesus Built My Hotrod” or “Stigmata” Download: With Sympathy Openers Hemlock played for a very fun 27 minutes…
Friday Night: Shelby Lynne at Warehouse Live
Shelby Lynne May 18, 2008 Warehouse Live Better Than: Any show in Vegas right now Download: This, for starters I’ve been around enough to know ringers when I see them, and the four men clad in matching black who walked out at Warehouse Live to set the stage for Shelby…
This Just In: Cat Power Cancels
Cat Power, Jenny Lewis’ main rival for the fantasy attentions of besotted indie boys, injured her vocal cords last week and has canceled several upcoming shows on her current tour, including Tuesday’s performance at Warehouse Live. Pitchfork reported Friday that Cat Power, the New York-based singer-songwriter Chan Marshall, has been…
Friday Night: Deadbolt at Rudz
Be sure to check out our slideshow of Deadbolt at Rudyard’s Billing themselves as The Scariest Band in the World and ragging on Dallas, Jane Fonda and anyone wearing Crocs, the voodoo surf punk band Deadbolt played at Rudyard’s Friday night – there were no survivors. — Daniel Kramer…
Rockets-Jazz: Signs of Trouble
I have a pre-game ritual of sorts for Rockets home games: About an hour or two before tip-off, I arrive at Toyota Center, pick up my press credential and parking pass, park my car, make my way into the arena and find my spot along press row before finally settling…
New Stadium for the Dynamo? Not Just Yet…
When I first heard about the potential new stadium for the Dynamo, I favored it on the condition that the deal would be like it was reported – the city contributed the land and the team paid for the rest of it. Then the city committed to purchasing a bunch…
$13 at Candelari’s Pizzeria on Washington
Olivia Flores Alvarez Where: Candelari’s Pizzeria, 6001 Washington Avenue, 832-200-1474 What $13 gets you: We tried the lunch special which includes soup, salad, pizza, pasta, dessert and a drink for $10.50 (available seven days a week). We also tried two by-the-slice slices of pizza, salad and a drink for just…
Happy Record Store Day
Today is Record Store Day, a nationwide promotion where independent music retailers want you to forget that your house is in foreclosure and gasoline is more expensive than champagne and buy some tunes using something other than a mouse. If you’ve forgotten how, don’t bother asking your kids. It’s really…
Get Lit: Working at the Ballpark: The Fascinating Lives of Baseball People from Peanut Vendors and Broadcasters to Players and Managers, by Tom Jones
Tom Jones had a nice idea: delve into the lives of those living the dream, the dream of being paid to go to the ballpark everyday. There’s just one problem with the resulting book, Working At The Ballpark: it doesn’t really tell us anything about any of the 50 people…
Aeros-IceHogs: The Playoffs Begin…
The Aeros start their march through the playoffs tonight, traveling to Rockford to meet the IceHogs for the seventh time this season in Game One of their best of seven first round playoff series. The IceHogs finished the season just in front of the Aeros with a record of 44-26-4-6…
Weekend Music: A Speeding Motorcycle and Lots More
Despite the rash of festivals this weekend, those who prefer to confine their musical pursuits to indoors have precious little to complain about. Everyone who missed the late Infernal Bridegroom Productions’ Daniel Johnston-inspired tour de force Speeding Motorcycle gets a second chance of sorts when Motorcycle’s Austin cast, on loan…
MTV in Houston? YES
MTV will be visiting Houston’s southwest side this afternoon to film students of the universally acclaimed YES College Preparatory Schools, who will be hosting a fundraiser to battle malaria. The “Stayin’ Alive” dance, sponsored by Malaria No More, will feature local DJ Michael 5000 Watts. MTV plans to air footage…
Chris Gaffney, R.I.P.
Southern California roots-rock and alt-country singer/guitarist Chris Gaffney has died. In recent years, Gaffney had performed with former Paladin Dave Gonzalez as one half of the Hacienda Brothers and also, for the last nine years, in Dave Alvin’s backing band. Gaffney had been suffering from severe liver troubles in recent…
Astros-Rockies: It Might Be Houston’s Lucky Day
The Colorado Rockies defeated the San Diego Padres 2-1 last night. And this may have provided the Astros with a very lucky break tonight, and this weekend. Why?…
Last Night: Negativland at Rice University
Negativland Herring Hall, Rice University April 17, 2008 Better Than: Someone leaping out of a van Old School-style, kidnapping and blindfolding you, then reading Scientology for Dummies through a megaphone. I guess. Download: Negativland’s all-time classic “U2,” profane outtakes of American Top 40 host Casey Kasem introducing the Irish quartet…
Miguel Tejada, If That’s Your Real Name…
When the news about Miguel Tejada’s actual age broke yesterday, the Chron’s Jose de Jesus Ortiz spun it as Tejada voluntarily coming forward with the information because he wanted his new team to have the correct information about him, and he didn’t want the Astros to find this information out…
Boogie Chillun
Perhaps inspired by Miss Pop Rocks’s ill-fated trips through Wikipedia’s labyrinths of information, I set out this morning to round up a few of the worst tribute bands on YouTube and wound up sidetracked with this little video treatise on the boogie. So, y’all ready to boogie? I don’t mean…
Buffalo Beef: Dickey’s Barbecue vs. Longhorn Bar-B-Que & Café
H. Dean Hopkins fires up the smoker Somebody told me to check out Dickey’s Barbecue in Buffalo. There was a billboard on I-45 about halfway between Houston and Dallas that said “Dickey’s Barbecue Since 1941.” I thought it might be an old traditional barbecue joint. And I was hungry, so…
NBA Playoff Preview: Your Guess Is As Good As Mine
October 29th, 2007 found me laboring in front of my computer, trying to put the wraps on my NBA season preview. There was just one problem: No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t make heads or tails of the Western Conference. No one team stood out from the rest…
Astros-Phillies: With Pitching Like This, It Might As Well Be Lima Time
While it was Miguel Tejada who magically became 33 years old yesterday, it was the Houston Astros who appeared to have aged suddenly, losing to the Philadelphia Phillies by a 10-2 score that was nowhere near as close as the final score indicated. Brandon Backe got the start yesterday, and…
Strange Wikipedia Searches I Have Done
Like some kind of nefarious street drug, Wikipedia courses through this addict’s veins, sucking up productive time and turning it into Wikipedia Crack time. You know what I mean. You meander over to Wikipedia to innocently look up some information about, say, the woman who wrote the novel “Bridge to…
Mp3: Simpleton’s “Milo”
Here’s a little nugget from the vaults. In 2000, when punk/rappers Simpleton released this, there was more excitement about baseball here than there had been since about 1986. The Astros were moving into Enron Stadium! It was Lima time! The Killer B’s! We were gonna go to the World Series!…
New Orleans Brass Band Showdown Downtown Tonight
I finally got around to checking out the entertainment line-up at Discovery Green, and tonight’s offering really caught my eye. Basically, it’s a showdown between two New Orleans-style brass band with Houston ties. In this corner you’ve got…..
Miguel Tejada: Hey, Maybe I Should Finally Give You My Real Age
Okay, just when I think I’ve heard it all, I hear something new. Miguel Tejada told the Astros today that he’s been lying about his age, and that he’s actually 33, not 31. And he’s telling the Astros this himself because he didn’t want them to find it out from…
Astros-Phillies: Roy Oswalt Gets the Job Done
Now that’s more like it. Seven innings pitched. Four strikeouts. One run. That’s a line with which any pitcher can be proud. Especially Roy Oswalt. Especially after the start he has had to this season. And even better, not only did Roy O. pitch a fantastic game, but the Astros…
Rockets-Clippers: Ready or Not, Here Come the Jazz
The recipe for postseason success in the NBA is pretty straightforward: Start with a couple stars who can consistently deliver the goods in crunch time. Mix in some role players willing to defend and do the dirty work. Finally, add good health, good fortune, and a healthy dash of experience…
Q&A with Daryl Morey: Playoff Preview Edition
What a season. Despite missing Yao Ming for 27 games (and T-Mac for 16), the Houston Rockets somehow managed to compile 55 victories, a 22-game winning streak, and home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. Place those accomplishments within the framework of the brutally competitive Western Conference, and…
Discovery Green Don’t Come Cheap
As we mention in passing in this week’s Hair Balls column, brand-new $122-million downtown park Discovery Green comes with just about every square inch of space named after one donor or another. (Real estate blog Swamplot has the list here.) We talked to Susanne Theis about all this. Theis has…
Q&A: Juanes
Colombian singer/songwriter Juanes spoke (en español) with Houston Press Night & Day Editor Olivia Flores Alvarez about his recent Peace Without Borders concert (prompted when Colombian military forces crossed into Ecuadorian territory March 1), his addiction to the internet, and his upcoming Houston concert featuring music from his recent CD…
“John Alexander: A Retrospective”
A native son is finally getting his due at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston’s “John Alexander: A Retrospective.” Born in Beaumont, educated at Dallas’s Southern Methodist University and seasoned as a professor at the University of Houston, Alexander initially created oil paintings of the barren deserts, musky bayous and…
Brian Regan
Brian Regan doesn’t play comedy clubs too often anymore — a couple of Comedy Central specials and albums have given him big-theater status. This means he no longer deals with the distractions of the club scene, like the menu. “I was always intrigued when they served food in a comedy…
Doña Rosita’s Jalapeno Kitchen and “Perspectivas: A Window into Their World”
Doña Rosita is thinking about calling it quits. After 23 years of serving up Mexican food in her restaurant, the Jalapeño Kitchen, she’s considering selling the place to make way for a new shopping mall. But should she go? Can she stay? While she thinks about it, she invites the…
Robert Hass
The consensus of the literary establishment is that Robert Hass is, quite simply, the greatest poet alive. Whether you agree or disagree, odds are you’ll be at once charmed and disarmed by the former U.S. Poet Laureate’s verse, which he’ll recite and discuss today as part of the Inprint Margarett…
“Rise and Shine” African-American Texans 1820-21st Century
The Houston International Festival’s theme “Out of Africa: The Three Journeys” celebrates the history of African peoples and their contributions to the world. The exhibit “Rise and Shine: African American Texans 1820-21st Century” displays artifacts and artwork that show how slaves relied on their strong sense of family and spirituality…
Une Soirée Pelouse
Une Soirée Pelouse: A Garden Party, a fund-raiser for the Houston GLBT Community Center, has a strict dress-code policy. Patrons are required to sport Moulin Rouge-inspired attire. In exchange, you’re rewarded with an open bar (sweet) and musical performances by Jenna Drey, Eric Alan and DJ Mark D, with Anita…
Amadeus: Music and a Movie
What’s better than a great movie? How about a great movie with live music? Wait, wait, how about an Academy Award–winning great movie about blood, guts and revenge with live music? That’s hard to beat. Well, you can get all that at today’s Amadeus: Music and a Movie. Hollywood provides…
“Breaking Ground”
Lisa Qualls grew up in racially diverse Louisiana, so it’s no surprise that her artwork deals with issues of identity and ethnicity. The multimedia works in her current exhibit, “Breaking Ground,” explore the history of black immigrants to Houston. When a Tree Falls features book pages overlaid with transparent drawings…
Fresh Fridays
With its focus on modern dance, contemporary classical music and new media, today’s Fresh Fridays performance could be considered the future of Houston’s arts scene. The Dominic Walsh Dance Theater will give the crowd a sampling of its refined modern movement with a sneak look at a new piece. The…
Wanda Sykes
Comedian Wanda Sykes has a lot to say about the upcoming presidential election. “I’m torn — Hillary, Obama. Woman, black. I’m a black woman so I’m torn,” she says. “I had to say what has caused me the most problems — no equal pay, no pay. Rape, slavery. Get hit…
Brent Green with Jeremy Gara and Howe Gelb
All Brent Green knows about the film and visual arts world is what he has to do with it. “I never watch films and, really, I’m not interested in visual art at all,” the filmmaker says. The self-taught movie man is known for his stop-motion short films; one of them,…
Slide Jam: Ariane Roesch and Jane Eifler
It’s hard to squeeze three years’ worth of work into an hourlong talk, but artist Ariane Roesch says she’s willing to give it a try at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston during the monthly installment of Slide Jam (painter Jane Eifler will also participate). Roesch, whose work deals with the…
Mi Bandera es la Tierra
In Mi Bandera es la Tierra (My Flag Is the Earth), performance artists Nicolás Ramiro Valdez and Maria Alejandra Ibarra mix poetry, dance, music and video to show the effect of globalization on Mother Earth (bad globalization, bad!). 8 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Talento Bilingüe de Houston, 333 South…
Amy Goodman and David Goodman
There is a small army in this country whose members devote an hour a day to journalist Amy Goodman, longtime host of the public radio show Democracy Now! Even the staunchest Republican would be initially drawn in by her friendly lilt — until he hears the fightin’ words of one…
Houston Deco
Sure, art deco is usually associated with Miami, New York and Los Angeles, but Houston has a wealth of examples of the 20th-century architectural style, too. Of course, given the city’s propensity for demolition, they are disappearing. In Houston Deco, authors Jim Parsons and David Bush include photos of deco…
Kids in the Hall
The Kids in the Hall aren’t kids anymore. “I guess we’re not the young punks of comedy anymore, but we still feel like we are,” says Dave Foley, one-fifth of the influential ‘90s comedy troupe. After on-and-off hiatuses and a couple of tours performing old sketches from their popular HBO…
Texas Crawfish and Music Festival
No matter what your musical tastes, there’s a good chance the Texas Crawfish and Music Festival will satisfy them. This annual event features three stages of music all day for two weekends in a row. Today’s lineup includes hip, folksy rock band The Panderers, whose sound echoes singer Scott Wynn’s…
Ed Wood
Long before Ed Wood flopped into theaters in 1994, moviemakers had a fixation with the man both mocked and applauded as “the world’s worst director.” It’s easy for struggling creative types to feel admiration for the -— for better or worse — unstoppably prolific and daring Wood, a self-financed filmmaker…
Undead on Arrival: The House of the Dead 2&3 Return
If you don’t remember a game called The Typing of the Dead, you’re not alone. Released on the failed Sega Dreamcast system, this gory, hilariously titled arcade-style shooter was in many ways exactly like its popular counterpart, The House of the Dead. But instead of aiming a gun at the…
Houston Astros, Dengue Fever and Felix Mexican Restaurant
Batter Up Online readers respond to “Who’s on Deck?” by Richard Connelly, April 3. A fan: Your article was great. I laughed more than I have all day. Wanda Astros issues: I grew up in the Astrodome watching the Astros. I have been so disappointed for so many years. I…
Press 1 for English
Dear Mexican, I work at a Seattle-based company, and our Customer Service Department uses a phone tree system that asks all callers to press 1 for English, 2 for Spanish and a few other numbers for commonly spoken languages in our area. I handle customer complaints as part of my…
Do You Have Multiple Personality Disorder?
Sadie sits on the therapist’s couch, whimpering. She’s somewhere between two and three years old, and already the most horrible things have happened to her. That finger twisting through her hair is a tell-tale sign of sexual abuse, according to her therapist, Richard Hodgin. “Hey kiddo,” Hodgin says gently. “Need help?”…
Bayousphere
Six-year-old Grace Dreifurst, left, reacts in horror to the news given to her by seven-year-old Elizabeth Elliott, right, that some people just might think their two knight-playing dads, proud members of the Society for Creative Anachronism, are nerds. To view image larger, click here…
Mike Doughty
Fans of the now-defunct Soul Coughing are divided when it comes to former frontman Mike Doughty’s solo career. Some argue that he’s playing it too safe; others say his beat-poet delivery has matured like fine wine. On his recent solo LP, Golden Delicious, Doughty proves he’s still capable of the…
Capsule Stage Reviews: Gutenberg! The Musical!, La Bohème, Rounding Third, Underneath the Lintel, Young and Fertle
Gutenberg! The Musical! Pirate Queen, Dance of the Vampires and Kelly – these were rank bombs all, made legendary by their horridness. Billed as serious Broadway contenders, they should have been spoofs. Gutenberg! The Musical!, on the other hand, wants to be bad – and succeeds wildly. The little comic…
Cat Power & Dirty Delta Blues, with Appaloosa
Cat Power kicks off her new CD, Jukebox (Matador), with her remake of John Kander & Fred Ebb’s standard “Theme from New York, New York,” but given the track’s sultry, Stax-y R&B makeover and coolly rumbling keyboards, perhaps she should call her version “Memphis, Memphis.” She recorded her previous album,…
Pelican, with Thrice and Circa Survive
In no rock subgenre is the guitar solo more integral than in metal, and sounds unheard, you could be forgiven for thinking that “instrumental metal” would describe songs that are merely extended solos. Pelican’s music is more intricate than that, as befits a band that came up in Chicago’s experiment-friendly…
Big Sam’s Funky Nation
A dancing bear of a man, Big Sam Williams is a nose tackle-size New Orleans trombonist and veteran of an apprenticeship in the Dirty Dozen Brass Band. The Funky Nation, his eight-piece band, is far less traditional than the Double-D Double-B. Based on the evidence of his CD Peace, Love…
Jason Segel uses his balls to great effect in Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Jason Segel is responsible for two of the most cringe-inducing, hands-in-front-of-your-face moments in the recent history of television, both of which occurred during the sole season of NBC’s Freaks and Geeks, on which Segel played bright-eyed burnout Nick Andopolis. On the episode “I’m With the Band,” Nick imagined himself an…
Nine Inch Nails: Ghosts I-IV
Nine Inch Nails main man Trent Reznor makes the most of his recent hard-won freedom on the two-disc, all-instrumental Ghosts I-IV. It’s the kind of record Interscope probably wouldn’t have allowed Reznor to release when he was under contract — not only because it lacks vocals but also because it…
88 Minutes Is Too Long
Jon Avnet’s cheesy new thriller 88 Minutes is 105 minutes long, and going in, I feared that 100 of them would be eaten up by Al Pacino chewing the furniture. Alas, it’s worse than that. Pacino plays a Seattle forensic psychiatrist in symbiotic thrall to the serial killer he helped…
High on Fire Reviews the Reviews
(In which some of Wack’s favorite bands critique their critics.) Out on the road with the Gigantour, Oakland metal behemoth High on Fire — singer-guitarist Matt Pike, drummer Des Kensel and bassist Jeff Matz — continue to melt faces with songs from their latest disc, Death Is This Communion. On…
Death Threats and TAKS Tests
School officials in Houston, as elsewhere in Texas, take the TAKS basic-skills test very, very seriously. But if you want hard-core, go to New Braunfels: In that touristy German town, passing TAKS is do or die. Literally, according to one teacher. New Braunfels police are investigating a teacher’s claim that…
Byron Dean’s Matagorda Island Discs
In our second installment, Poor Dumb Bastard Byron Dean weighs in from his digs on the far northwest side: Ramones, It’s Alive. This was my “mirror star” album — I’d put it on and I’d be Joey Ramone… Buzzcocks, A Different Kind of Tension. Not a bad song on here…
Indian Jewelry, with Balaclavas, Wicked Poseur and A Thousand Cranes
Disregarding their phantasmagorical live show, Houston noise-dance collective Indian Jewelry — a garishly theatrical troupe of misfit musicians whose members and alumni go by colorful pseudonyms (or are they?) like “Erika Thrasher” and “Ken Consumer” — are perhaps best appreciated through a pair of squelchy, secondhand computer speakers that may…
Ministry’s last trip across the land of rape and honey
It’s days before the first date of what’s being billed as the last tour ever for industrial-metal pioneers Ministry, and frontman Al Jourgensen is determined to convince naysayers that the band’s days are truly numbered. “I’m not one of these comeback people that does farewell tours that are, like, three…
Fuck Buttons: Street Horrrsing
Oh, Fuck Buttons. Fucking Fuck Buttons. So hard, getting past that name. At least Fuck Wolf, amazingly, was already taken. (Fuck Wolf’s label site says they create an “aural douche that will leave [you] salivating,” a mixed metaphor so rich it had to be mentioned). So Fuck Buttons it is…
Places Like Los Dos Amigos Are Disappearing On Washington
My carnitas dinner came to the table on a sizzling comal at Los Dos Amigos, a homey old Tex-Mex joint on Washington Avenue. You see a lot of chicken and beef fajitas served with sautéed onions and peppers on a flat cast-iron skillet, but this was the first time I…
Shelby Lynne: Just a Little Lovin’
It was only a matter of time before Shelby Lynne got around to recording Just a Little Lovin’. Her 2000 tour de force, I Am Shelby Lynne — which transformed the hard-luck country singer into a blue-eyed soul siren à la Dusty Springfield — was followed by one blundered makeover…
Andrea Ristorante Italiano and Corleone Bar and Grill
Andrea Pintus left Patrenella’s about a year ago, and in the last few weeks has opened his own spot, Andrea Ristorante Italiano (12513 Westheimer), with longtime chum Luigi Campioni, on the far west side of Houston. Why that location? “This is my neighborhood,” he says. “I have lived out here for…
Loving Love Loves a Pornographer
It takes a few minutes to become acclimated to Nova Arts Project’s immaculate staging of Love Loves a Pornographer, Jeff Goode’s wicked parody of a late Victorian comedy of manners. This isn’t because the satire is odd and edgy — it’s downright classical, if truth be told — but because…
Hot Dogs at Max’s Wine Dive
Max’s monster: The huge, all-beef, kosher Texas haute dog ($14) at Max’s Wine Dive (4720 Washington, 713-880-8737), served on an artisan bun from Kraftsmen Baking, comes with a huge mound of skin-on, seasoned fries. The question is…sauerkraut or chili? It’s a difficult call — the kraut is made with St…
Bettye LaVette’s an old soul, through and through
“Hopefully when I see you, I’ll have this little Grammy thing,” Bettye LaVette says, calling from a scratchy phone line two weeks ago. (She won’t have it, however: The award for Best Contemporary Blues Album ended up going to J.J. Cale and Eric Clapton.) But the rhythm and blues and…
Last Concert Café
It’s not very often that we get to write a sentence that we know, without a doubt, has never ever been written before, but today is one of those days: Lord Allen Goodson wants his brain put inside of a robot. You see, as bartender for the past 17 years…
Capsule Art Reviews: “Design Life Now: National Design Triennial 2006,” “Ethnography, Photojournalism and Propaganda: 1934-1975.,” “FotoFest2008: Current Perspectives, 1998–2008 CHINA,” “Vivid Vernacular”
“Design Life Now: National Design Triennial 2006” For an exhibition about design, this show isn’t very well designed. Organized by the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, the original installation apparently took up three of its floors. In the exhibit’s Houston incarnation, the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston’s upstairs gallery is so…
The Houston International Festival Is Upon Us
Allow Houston International Festival education coordinator and performing arts director Rick Mitchell to channel his inner Ron Popeil. “Imagine that Pace Concerts,” he enthuses, “is doing a blues festival up in The Woodlands and their headliners are Buddy Guy, the Neville Brothers, Taj Mahal, Charlie Musselwhite, plus local bands opening…
Leaving no gimmick unturned, that Super Size Me guy goes searching for Public Enemy No. 1 in Where in the World Is Osama bin Laden?
Morgan Spurlock, the daredevil documentarian who lived on Big Macs for a month and turned this exercise in “body art” into the 2004 hit Super Size Me, returns — this time expanding his horizons rather than his girth. Paraphrasing the title of a venerable computer game, Where in the World…
T-BONE TOM’S SUNSET SHOT
It was my turn to pick up brother-in-law Bruce from Kemah. Our designated meeting point was T-Bone Tom’s (707 Hwy. 146, Kemah, 281-334-2133), a honky-tonk that’s been amusing customers since long before the pretentious boardwalk came into existence. Between the hell drive from Houston and Bruce being nowhere in sight,…
