Kenny G.’s Revenge
Little did Racket expect that a bevy of Bayou City smooth-jazz fans would be so willing, ready and eager to come to the defense of smooth jazz, a genre Racket recently dismissed as “syrupy,” “pure pap for non-people,” and “waiting room/porno soundtrack music,” with fans about as sophisticated as Boomhauer…
A Tale of Two Carols
The gleeful magic of Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol is more enchanting than ever, thanks to the Alley Theatre. It’s true that this production, adapted and directed by Stephen Rayne, looks the same on the outside as last year’s rather schoolmarmishly sour show (see “So Many Christmas Shows, So Little…
Sigur Rós
It’s 2012. The Democrats have regained control of Congress, nascent life forms have been discovered on the outskirts of the Andromeda galaxy, and the pop charts are dominated by scraggly, European quartets whose ten-minute songs are the least odd thing about them. Surely, the future is only strange in our…
Nature vs. Nurture
Years ago I read a short story (or maybe it was a Twilight Zone episode) about a man who had a watch that could stop time. I always wanted a watch like that — not so I could rob jewelry stores, just so I could get everything done. I think…
Barandúa / Sisters Morales
The last 20 years have seen an explosion in Latin cooking in Houston. Where once we had only Tex-Mex, today Houstonians can choose from a score or more south-of-the-Rio styles, and several that straddle borders. And now that diversity is spilling over into local music, as these two discs attest…
The Devil You Say
Neighbors rushed through the rancid odor of fire and death to a modest brick home in north Houston and banged on the door, feeling its heat with their hands. Burglar bars shielded the front windows from easy access. Would-be rescuers finally gained entry, only to be driven back by heavy…
Hawk
After making the rounds on the underground rap scene as every MC’s favorite featured-guest-to- lend-street-cred, Hawk is finally soaring alone. He started out as a member of the Dead End Alliance (DEA), but went solo with his first album, Under Hawk’s Wings, after watching two fellow Screwed-Up Click members pass…
Tattle Tales
Controversies on the use of jailhouse snitches have flared for ages within the criminal justice system, and the advent of DNA testing only adds to the concerns about convictions chalked up to such informants. Last February, Bruce Godschalk was freed after spending 15 years in a Pennsylvania prison for rape…
Yonder Mountain String Band
Music lovers with an allergy to jam bands can be excused for assuming that they’ll have an adverse reaction to Yonder Mountain String Band’s latest, Mountain Tracks, Volume 2, a live recording cut in Colorado and Oregon. After all, the closing medley of two songs clocks in at a hefty…
(Cl)ass Warfare
This small town north of Houston apparently wasn’t really Shenandoah all those years — in the eyes of some Montgomery County citizens, it was an all-out Sodom and Gomorrah. But an artificial fig leaf now covers Michelangelo’s David in the Portofino Plaza, and two classic pictures with nudes have been…
John Prine with Iris DeMent
M.D. Anderson helped treat John Prine during his recent bout with cancer. Now the folk stalwart is thanking the cancer center by raising funds in a concert with his neo-folk friend and duet partner Iris DeMent. Prine’s wry wit and DeMent’s soulful purity make their songs top of the crop,…
Divided Road Ahead
After 15 years of a sometimes tense marriage, the Art Car Parade and the Houston International Festival are divorcing. The world-renowned parade has been a part of the festival since 1988, but next spring it will be held the weekend after the festival closes. As a result, the parade will…
That‘s Better
Robert De Niro always did love an acting challenge, but lately those challenges have been less along the lines of “Can I convincingly play a boxer?” and more like “Can I alone be good enough to make this formulaic mess worth watching?” Yes, it was impressive that he played a…
Do the City Hall Shuffle!
Fund-raising won’t start till early next year, but the holiday season is the effective kickoff for the upcoming Houston municipal election campaigns. While several councilmembers are contemplating running for other positions with time still left on their three-term-limit ticker, others are trying to lengthen their political lives by leaping in…
Off Balance
Transcribed verbatim from the DVD commentary track of Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, here’s an informative sci-fi concept from director George Lucas: “…as we go through the movie, there’s all little funny moments like Jango bumping his head because in Star Wars one of the Stormtroopers bumps…
If You See Them, Say Hello!
Former candidates and officeholders have a way of popping up in the strangest places. If you’re planning a trip to the Caribbean, keep your eye out for District 25 congressional loser Tom Reiser, who is selling his home in the Southside area and planning a long vacation. Shortly before the…
Funeral Rights
So when was the last time we heard from Olivia Newton-John? Seriously, why is it that John Travolta gets to have resurrection after pathetic resurrection, forgiven for endless sins, yet no one seems all that enthusiastic about his former female costar? She’s looking a whole lot better these days than…
Internal Distress
Memo to the Houston Chronicle: Internal memos are not supposed to be posted on your Web site. You’d think that’d be obvious, but in an embarrassing incident that has revived memories of the Chron’s bad old days of slanted journalism, just such a memo was posted publicly for a few…
A Nut for Nostalgia
Reviewing The Nutcracker is akin to critiquing Santa Claus. The ballet has a childish story, overly broad characterizations and, by today’s standards, simplistic choreographic dialogue. But to say so would be sacrilegious to an American holiday icon that’s been around since San Francisco Ballet produced the full first-length version in…
No Free Meals?
No Free Meals? Release Rodrigo: As much jack as it takes to get into Rice University, you can’t really be all over this brother because of $107.99 — or could it be this [“The Pretender,” by Jennifer Mathieu, November 14]? I’m reminded of a line by Malcolm X in Spike…
Pyrotechnically Challenged
The fire cracker salmon rolls ($8.95) at The Cheesecake Factory (5015 Westheimer, 713-840-0600) may not sparkle or light up. They do, however, explode in your mouth with many different flavors and textures. Biting through the wafer-thin, flaky pastry exterior, you quickly come upon the inner spinach-wrapped salmon fillet, the softness…
Poetic Partnership
Poet Mark Doty and his partner, novelist Paul Lisicky, both grew up in suburban neighborhoods, but neither was your typical suburban kid. Doty was a military brat and a self-described “chubby, smart, bookish sissy with glasses and a Southern accent” who also happened to be gay. Lisicky was a scrawny…
Up All Night
“They come early and they come late,” says the regular sitting next to me at Clayton’s Restaurant and Club (198 North Sam Houston Parkway East, 281-999-1500). The nightly happy-hour buffet from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. practically packs the place, even on a Monday. Then the food disappears and the…
Working It
The title 3 Guys Without Day Jobs: Having a Holiday may suggest that pianist Don Irwin, operatic vocalist Gene Roberts and gospel singer Virgil Seals are underachievers, but that’s hardly the case. The name, it turns out, is a joke. “Everyone knows,” says Irwin, the show’s creator, “that musicians don’t…
Mystery Meat
The 28-ounce T-bone at Maverick Supper + Whiskey comes with a smear of red chile-flavored butter on top. That’s it. No potatoes, no vegetables, not even a sprig of parsley. The oversize steak sits there on its large white plate looking naked and lonely. It costs $36. You want mashed…
When Nelly Met Kelly
Two minutes. One hundred and twenty seconds. That’s all you’re gonna get if you’re a reporter and you want to talk to Kelly Rowland, one-third of the Houston rap/pop supertroika Destiny’s Child. Rowland showed up one rainy Saturday afternoon at the Meyer Park Wherehouse Music store to sign autographs, schmooze…
Daniel’s Boon
It begins with an apology because it has to — before we can talk about his band’s new album, Kill the Moonlight, before we can talk about anything else. You see, I interviewed Britt Daniel once before, around the time his third album, Girls Can Tell, was released. We had…
Pick ‘Em and Flick ‘Em
Fat Wreck Chords, the punk rock empire and San Francisco record label founded by Fat Mike of NOFX, is home to Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, Lagwagon, Propagandhi and of course, Floyd. Fat’s official human mascot, Floyd works in the mailroom and can be seen on the covers of…