Joe Hon

It wasn't by accident that youth figured so prominently in this year's Houston Press Music Awards. An overhaul of the nominating committee to include a younger segment of nominators slightly more on the fringe -- not to mention the addition of a Best Underground category -- ensured that almost as...

At times, we must admit, putting together the ballot for the Press Music Awards engenders a touch of deja vu. Familiar names (can you say Carolyn Wonderland? Jesse Dayton? Joe "Guitar" Hughes?) keep popping up. Not that that's necessarily bad; this would be a poorer town musically if the reliables...

Magnapop Rubbing Doesn't Help Priority If Rubbing Doesn't Help sounds looser and more scatterbrained than its much-hailed 1994 predecessor, Hot Boxing -- much like a demo -- it could be because Magnapop's second full-lengther is a demo, more or less. After subjecting themselves to the meticulous wiles of underground demigod...

Ani DiFranco has nothing to be sore about these days. Though she's often labeled a folkie malcontent because of her caustic lyrics and offbeat, aggressive performances, at this moment, the 25-year-old singer/songwriter is in a mood highly uncharacteristic of someone who's been fielding phone interviews for hours. While she admits...

Soundgarden Down on the Upside A&M Why is it that while many of Seattle's sons of grunge have dropped down a gear (Pearl Jam), dropped out (Mudhoney) or simply dropped dead (Nirvana), Soundgarden has been able to push forward on all fronts, evolving and, most important, improving? Maybe it has...