Welcome to Your Nightmare: The Gaslamp Killer’s Dystopian Soundscapes
The edgy dystopian soundscape of The Gaslamp Killer, the quintessentially West Coast producer and DJ known for dark psychedelic rock and hip-hop beats, seems like the coolest soundtrack possible to an incessant nightmare. Inherent moodiness, randomness and darkness create the zone for a wild mix of Argento-style horror, unforgiving, hermetically…
The Grateful Dead’s Long, Strange Trip Gets Even Longer
So Many Roads: The Life and Times of the Grateful Dead By David Browne Da Capo Press, 482 pp., $30 It was a high level of career success that most bands would get their left guitar pedal for — a hit single, massively successful video in constant rotation, high album sales, and…
First Look at Ula’s Mexican Restaurant
Following the success of its first location in Sugar Land, Ula’s Mexican Restaurant & Cantina recently opened another branch on Washington Avenue in the space that formerly housed Coppa Ristorante. Several features of Ula’s prevent it from being classified as just another Tex-Mex/Texican restaurant, the first of which is the stunning,…
Chef Chat, Part 1: Fadi Dimassi of Fadi’s Mediterranean Grill
Fadi’s Mediterranean Grill has been a Houston fixture for more than 20 years. Many of us are familiar with its buffet-style line-up of pita bread, hummus, a plethora of cold salads, kabobs and other hot roasted meat offerings. So, I was surprised to be directed to a place on Highway…
2013 Tony Award Winning Cinderella on its Way to Houston
It was opening night in Chicago on the national tour of Rodgers + Hammerstein’s 2013 Tony Award-winning Cinderella and the then- leading lady wasn’t feeling well. “She was going to try to power through,” says then- understudy Audrey Cardwell, but several minutes into the musical, realized she wasn’t going to…
Five Criticisms of Heavy Metal That Don’t Add Up
Musical appreciation is an entirely subjective experience. People either tend to like or dislike various bands or genres of music, and those feelings can be caused by any number of things. In some cases, a person might gradually warm to a particular type of music, as I did with Frank…
New England Rockers Speedy Ortiz Are Too Smart to Be Slackers
It’s hard to resist the nagging temptation to place Speedy Ortiz into a retro-’90s box. Named after Eulalio “Speedy” Ortiz, a character from the Hernandez brothers’ comic book Love and Rockets, the Northampton, Mass.-based indie-rockers once shared the stage with J Mascis of Dinosaur Jr., jammed with Stephen Malkmus and…
‘Terraplane’ Is Steve Earle’s Most Texas Album Yet
A few months ago, Steve Earle stopped by Cactus Music for a special in-store performance to promote his latest album, Terraplane. A line stretched around the building, and not everyone around me recognized the Grammy-winning singer and songwriter as he walked by. It wasn’t that surprising; toting only a student-style…
UPDATED: The Memorial Park Demonstration Project Is Open for Public Comment
If you have something to say about the Memorial Park Demonstration Project you’d best speak up during the new public comment period opened up on May 5 by the United States Army Corps of Engineers. Changes have been made to the proposed project. The Memorial Park Demonstration Project has been…
State Moves to Make Execution Drug Suppliers Secret
Prosecutors say that Derrick Dewayne Charles did what he did because he was angry that his 15-year-old girlfriend’s mother told police he was having sex with a minor. The 19-year-old from Houston would later argue that puffing on some embalming fluid-soaked pot triggered wild hallucinations that led to the murder…
Sufjan Stevens’s Songs of Healing Cast a Spell Over Jones Hall
Sufjan Stevens Jones Hall For the Performing Arts May 11, 2015 Eugene O’Neill once said that we are born broken and live by mending. Sufjan Stevens mends by relating reflective and heartfelt accounts of his troubled relationship with his recently deceased mother. Hearing his most intimate vignettes to a packed…
Harris County Sheriff Candidate Allen Fletcher Has Ties to Private Prison Companies
State Rep. Allen Fletcher wants to be the next Harris County Sheriff, but his personal finance statements have already raised some questions about what kind of sheriff the GOP candidate will be if he is elected. Fletcher announced his candidacy last week. This bid for sheriff isn’t his first rodeo…
NFL Brings the Hammer Down on Brady, Suspends Patriots QB 4 Games
Somewhere, I’m sure there’s a college course being taught on public relations and I’m guessing they have a unit or a chapter on personal crisis management, and if they do, I’m hoping that the professor is feverishly adding New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady’s handling of the Deflate-Gate scandal as…
Nestled Inside a Climbing Gym, 5.Ate Café Is Serious in Its Intentions
I used to climb. Back in high school, I spent afternoons and weekends bouldering and top-roping (I never did get that lead cert) out at the original Texas Rock Gym location in Memorial. I was in the best shape of my life back then, but I doubt it had anything to…
Houston Artists are Dominant in Texas Abstract, Modern/Contemporary
As recently as the 1990s, the thinking among art experts was that abstraction in America grew from the work of a handful of New York artists in the 1940s and 1950s. The important pioneers of abstract art in the United States, it was thought, all lived on the East Coast…
Texans 2013 Draft Class Continues to Vanish, D.J. Swearinger Waived
For a player whose bark was always a lot bigger than his on-field bite, the Texans career of strong safety D.J. Swearinger ended rather quietly on Monday, with a press release from Texans media relations in which Swearinger’s name was buried amidst about a half dozen Texans rookies who’d either…
The Aaron Hernandez Effect: NFL Teams are Getting Pickier in the Draft — or Not
As Robert Kraft sat on the witness stand, his neatly combed gray hair and immaculate blue sport coat belied his unsettled demeanor. The 73-year-old New England Patriots owner was fidgety and awkward as the prosecuting attorney in the Aaron Hernandez murder trial asked him what the then-accused, now-convicted former tight…
Sculpture Represents Relationship Between Police and Community
When the South Gessner Division Police Station first opened its doors in 2011, it made news for coming in under budget, for being LEED™ certified, and for 33 cast bronze phrases and one stained glass and steel sculpture by Houston artist Tara Conley. Commissioned by the Houston Arts Alliance in…
Out Patient: How Will a Mentally Ill Killer — and the Community — Respond Once He’s Released Back Into Society?
The phone is what first woke Shirley Harrison the morning of February 1, 1994. It was around 5 o’clock and Shirley was still groggy from sleep when she picked up and heard the voice of her family’s pastor. He asked if Shirley had recently checked on her mother. He then…
This Week In Houston Food Blogs: Have a Cupcake, Charlotte!
Kim in a New(ish) City is vegetarian and meat-happy Liberty Kitchen doesn’t sounds like the most friendly option. She makes the best of it, though, and finds the staff happy to accommodate her special diet requests. There are also high marks for the fun and flavorful Bloody Mary. The Patty…
Upcoming: Beth Hart, the Bluebonnets, Fates Warning, Nicki Minaj, Rick Springfield, World Party, etc.
57 State: Fri., May 15, 9 p.m., Free to $5. The Hideaway On Dunvale, 3122 Dunvale, Houston, 713-977-3515. 5th Annual Grace Foundation Houst on Gala: With Driver, Rolando Diaz. Sat., May 16, 7 p.m., $50. Warehouse Live, 813 St. Emanuel, Houston, 713-225-5483. Alan Haynes: Sat., May 30, 9 p.m., $5…
Doctor Who: 5 Things From the Classic Series That Need to Come Back
In general I prefer the revived Doctor Who over most classic episodes, but it’s really just a matter of having grown up with that style of pacing and storytelling. You cut your teeth on Buffy the Vampire Slayer of course you’re going to feel more at home with a 45-minute…
50 Years of ‘Satisfaction’: Hey Hey Hey!
Today marks the 50th anniversary of the recording of “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction,” arguably the Rolling Stones’ greatest song and easily rock and roll’s best parenthetical ditty. As recently as 2011, Rolling Stone magazine ranked it No. 2 on its list of the 500 greatest songs ever. It’s been…
Ohio Bluesman Patrick Sweany’s Black Keys Connection
Little-known fact, but one of the first acts Black Keys front man Dan Auerbach produced was fellow Ohioan Patrick Sweany, who plays Under the Volcano Wednesday night. Sweany grew up in Masillon, Ohio, just one county over from Auerbach, who is originally from Akron. They gravitated to each other via…
Sparse Crowds But Plenty of Potential at First-Ever TX Fest
TX Fest Hermann Square Park May 9, 2015 Kevin Fowler and Karbach and Deep Eddy Vodka, oh my! If you missed all of the Texas awesomeness over the weekend, Houston, well…you missed out. TXFest, a brand-new Lone Star-centric festival, took to the Houston streets — or Hermann Sqare, rather — to…
Venomous Maximus Walks Through the Flames to Deliver ‘Firewalker’
Venomous Maximus, Texxxas, Night Demon, Blues Funeral Fitzgerald’s May 8, 2015 Venomous Maximus has always cultivated a certain air of malevolent mystery in its music. But in the years since the release of their thick and potent debut, Beg Upon the Light, the biggest mystery swirling around the band has…
Upstaging His Headliners, Texas’s Own Leon Bridges Proves a Retro-Soul Star
Lord Huron, Leon Bridges House of Blues M ay 9, 2015 When I walked into the House of Blues balcony on Saturday evening, I had no idea what I was going to experience. Maybe from the opening act, but certainly not the headliners. Lord Huron, an interesting folk band from…
D.J. Swearinger Posts a Good-bye to Texans Fans on Instagram
It’s rare that the Texans have been involved in trades leading up to the draft, especially trades involving former high draft choices still on their rookie deals. Generally speaking, if those guys are getting playing time, they’re considered foundational players, and the Texans need a whole lot more of those…
‘Who Is Mike Jones?’ Is Ten Years Old, and We Owe Him An Apology
We owe Mike Jones an apology. A big apology. An apology so big that it wiggles out of its original form into tiny little strands to make a collage of apologies. You see, this past April 19 was the tenth anniversary of his Who Is Mike Jones? album. The album that…
UPDATED: This Week In Houston Food Events: A Big Saturday With Empty Bowls and the Houston Press BrewFest
Monday, May 11 This is a good time to go over some weekly Monday specials all at bars and restaurants by the Clumsy Butcher group: Monday Burger Special at The Hay Merchant It’s worth a reminder that two burgers and two cans of Buffalo Bayou Brewing Co.’s 1836 beer are…
Stages Delivers Mack and Mabel: A Fictionalized Version of A Silent Film Star’s Fall From Grace
Silent film actress star/writer/director and producer Mabel Normand had one of those rags to riches to terrible falls from grace stories in her epic life that ended when she was only 37 years old. She’s been represented in any number of modern movies about the silent film era– Charlie Chaplin…
Bill O’Brien Is Trying to Sell You on Texans Quarterbacks
David Carr. Tony Banks. Matt Schaub. Sage Rosenfels. Rex Grossman. Matt Leinart. T.J. Yates. Jake Delhomme. Case Keenum. Ryan Fitzpatrick. Ryan Mallett. These are just some of the mortals that have started as the quarterback for the Houston Texans during the history of the franchise. That’s a pretty mediocre bunch,…
Dish of the Week: Quiche Lorraine
From classic comfort foods to regional standouts and desserts, we’ll be sharing a new recipe with you each week. Find other dishes of the week here. This week, we’re taking a look at Quiche Lorraine. Quiche is a savory, egg-custard filled tart that is popular in French cuisine. Named for…
Two Old Black Guys Just Sitting Around Talking is a Thinly Drawn Disappointment
The set up: Henry hates Abe and Abe hates Henry. Yet the two single elderly black men meet almost daily on the same big city park bench to argue and comb through their collective past. Daily? If they truly hate each other? Really? Well, as Elie Weisel once said, “The…
What We Learned From Canelo vs. Kirkland
Before we can talk about the future, we have to talk about the recent past. There have been many, many complaints about the Mayweather vs. Pacquiao fight. One of the lesser but more interesting ones is about how they did nothing with the undercard. You may have watched them in…
100 Favorite Dishes 2015: No. 95, Combo #5 at Soto’s Cantina
It’s called Soto’s “Cantina” but it’s about the most family-friendly place you can ask for (although Mom and Dad might still appreciate the $5.75 house margaritas). It’s in far Northwest Houston at 10609 Grant, far removed from the dominance of the trendier, bigger-named places inside the 610 Loop. It’s a…
Portraits of Southern Life With a Side of History
Learn a bit of American history while enjoying some vibrant, thought-provoking artwork at Najee Dorsey’s Leaving Mississippi – Reflections on Heroes and Folklore exhibit, on display now at the Houston Museum of African American Culture. The exhibit includes a small recreation of an old bus station, complete with tattered suitcases,…
The Five Best Concerts In Houston This Week: Sufjan Stevens, Noel Gallagher, Shinyribs, Pachanga Fest Houston, etc.
Sufjan Stevens Jones Hall, May 11 It doesn’t feel like much of a stretch to say Sufjan Stevens could be the Cat Stevens of his generation; his gentle acoustic-based songs have an effortless intimacy and a tendency to linger long after the music fades out. They may lack the kind…
Houston Can’t Get Enough Lana Del Rey
It probably a smart move that Lana Del Rey (or her management team, anyway) isn’t allowing the press to cover her tour with Courtney Love, which began Thursday night at Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion. To say the Hollywood “sadcore” singer has had a touchy relationship with the media is putting…
Texans Sign Their Entire 2015 Rookie Class As Minicamp Begins
Over the next few weekends, thousands of young adults will graduate from college, many of them with new jobs lined up. Prior to their start dates, they’ll take one last vacation swing, maybe a few weeks at the beach, maybe a hike through Europe, but whatever the case, they’ll soak…
Reviews For The Easily Distracted: Hot Pursuit
Title: Hot Pursuit Describe This Movie In One Simpsons Quote: “At the risk of editorializing, these women are guilty, and must be dealt with in a harsh and brutal fashion. Otherwise, their behavior could incite other women leading to anarchy of biblical proportions … It’s in *Revelations*, people!” Rating Using Random Objects…
The Music Man at TUTS is a Fragrant Slice of Americana
The set-up: The role of con man deluxe “Professor” Harold Hill, star of Meredith Willson’s all-American musical The Music Man (1957), is one of the iconic roles in musical theater. So where was actor J. Anthony Crane? The execution: Testing his mettle against the other turn-of-the-century traveling salesmen on board…
An Upscale Take on Thai at Songkran
Songkran Thai in Uptown Park is named after the Thai festival that celebrates the new year in Thailand and other countries that go by the Buddhist calendar. I was so impressed at the bites of spicy green curry that chef Junnajet “Jett” Hurapan and his staff served at the recent…
Houston’s 5 Best Weekend Food Bets: Crabs, BBQ, & Gumbo
Texas Crab Festival @ Gregory Park Friday – Sunday, Friday noon to midnight; Saturday 10 a.m. to midnight; Sunday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. 2292 Hwy 87, Crystal Beach The Texas Crab Festival is celebrating its 30th year. Bring the entire family to enjoy a Gulf-Coast-style Mother’s Day weekend, featuring…
Urban Cowboys and Gilley’s Nightclub – Looking Back 35 Years
Texas is the kind of place that’s changed a lot over the last several decades, and the Houston area seems to be transforming at a particularly fast pace. Nowadays, the city and surrounding area is getting attention for its emergence as an international city, being home to many cultures and…
La’El Collins Saga Ends, Signs Contract WIth Dallas Cowboys
About ten days ago, La’El Collins was in Chicago, just a few days away from being selected in the first round of the NFL Draft, and receiving the life changing, guaranteed money that comes with that lofty designation — literally millions of dollars. Then came the phone call that Baton…
Fox & Cats Believe They Can Fly
Supposedly Fox & Cats’ name comes from an inside joke about actress Megan Fox and the household animals who star in a million Internet videos. You might ask the band about it, because they seem pretty darn approachable. Originally founded in 2011 as the duo of self-described “best friends” Josh…
Upcoming Events: Half-Price Oysters and a BrewFest Not to Be Missed
Starting earlier this week and on every Monday and Tuesday for the rest of the month, Holley’s Seafood Restaurant & Oyster Bar, 3201 Louisiana, will be offering all its Happy Hour and Dinner time raw and baked oysters at half the price. Hit the restaurant up for a great deal…
Houston Creatives 2015: Vonetta Berry, Body Painter
After the birth of her first child Vonetta Berry, like a lot of women, wasn’t feeling all that great about how her body looked. Kate Middleton aside, most women find themselves looking far different after a pregnancy than they did before it. In fact, some studies show that body image…
Ed Emmett’s Magical Astrodome European Mystery Tour
Ed Emmett’s quest to deny the will of the voters continued this week with a magical mystery tour of a former Nazi airfield in Germany. It’s at this airfield that Emmett, the Harris County Judge who has made it his mission to save the Astrodome despite many years of neglect…
The Five Best Things to do in Houston This Weekend: & Take Mom Along
Start your weekend with the Gus Edwards comedy Two Old Black Guys Just Sitting Around Talking at The Ensemble Theatre. Think of it as a sort of color-infused, senior citizen twist on the television sit-com Senifeld. Nothing much seems to be happening and at the same time, lots is happening…
Openings & Closings: The Deal With Dosi
There was confusion on the status of Dosi, the modern Korean restaurant started by An Vo that had chef Jordan Asher at the helm. (Asher was recently one of the subjects of a Houston Press cover story on up-and-coming chefs.) The Houston Chronicle initially reported it was closing and reopening…
Houston’s 10 Best Bars to Bring Your Mom
Mother’s Day is coming up this Sunday and it’s not too late to make plans as where to take your mom if you have not done so already. Hopefully you have not forgotten about the holiday all together, but if you have consider this a public service announcement. These are some…
Houston Beer Fest Returns With a Vow to Make It Right From Last Year
Somewhat improbably, Houston Beer Fest is hoping to make its fifth edition in downtown Houston next month its most successful to date. Its chances certainly weren’t looking good a few weeks after last year’s festival at Sam Houston Park, when a number of vendors, staff and performers began coming forward…
The 10 Best Concerts In Houston This Weekend: Another Run, TX Fest, William Clark Green, etc.
Another Run Walters Downtown, May 9 One of the real workhorse bands on the local scene, Another Run is also one of the most musically adventurous. Since forming around 2009-10, the multiple Houston Press Music Award winners – including last year for Best Modern Rock – have secured a sizable…
Parents Push for Bill That Would Make Kids’ Hearing Aids Covered Under Insurance
When nurses informed Michael and Stephanie Wachs in January 2014 that their infant daughter Iris had failed the Texas Newborn Hearing Screening Program, they told her not to worry. There was probably just fluid in her ears. They told the Wachses to take Iris to an ear, nose, and throat…
Gronk Responds To Deflate-Gate Controversy In Most Gronk Way Ever (w/ VIDEO)
I’ll be honest, the story of the New England Patriots’ allegedly deflating footballs (“more probably than not,” according to the latest news) is not really my cup of tea. I don’t think that a few PSI in a football is a reason the Patriots have won a bunch of football games…
Podcast: Stop Laughing At Old Movies, You $@%&ing Hipsters!
“I’m over people who think they’re funnier than the movie,” says LA Weekly film critic Amy Nicholson, in the wake of her recent piece, “Stop Laughing At Old Movies, You $@%&ing Hipsters.” Joining her — *in the same room, for the first time ever on the podcast* — as usual…
Gregg Allman Brings the Classics to Stafford Centre
Gregg Allman, Devon Allman Stafford Centre May 7, 2015 Without a doubt, Gregg Allman is one of the most influential musicians of his generation, and Wednesday night he delivered a string of favorites for a packed crowd at the Stafford Centre. At 67, Allman is transitioning back to a solo…
Big Changes for Two Notable Houston Bars
Outlaw Dave’s Worldwide Headquarters at 6502 Washington announced in a statement on Facebook last night that it is closed for good. The statement reads: “After 5 years working on this project and running two other businesses, putting on two of Texas’ largest motorcycle rides, coordinating a charity and my ever…
Houston Rockets Finally Punch Back, Win Game 2 Over LA Clippers
They say an NBA playoff series doesn’t really start until the road team wins a game. So if that’s the case, then the Clippers-Rockets series got an early start on Monday night this week when the Clippers won Game 1 here in Houston. And when James Harden went out with…
Hurricane Season 2015: Forecasters Calling for VERY Tame Year
As we inch closer to the start of hurricane season — we already have an invest near the Bahamas that shouldn’t amount to anything, even though the official start of the season isn’t until June 1 — predictions on what kind of year we can expect in the tropical Atlantic…
Chef Chat, Part 2: Nash D’Amico of D’Amico’s Market Café
Nash D’Amico has spend 40 years in Houston as a restaurateur. As we covered in Part 1 of our Chef Chat, his first restaurant was just outside Sam Houston State University. He has since gone on to open more than 11 restaurants. His oyster bars are no longer open, but…
Memorial Hermann is Still Suing Uninsured Patients
Lawyers for Memorial Hermann Health System are still suing patients to collect medical bills. After years of suing uninsured patients in Harris County District Court, as the Houston Press reported in July 2013, Memorial Hermann, the largest nonprofit hospital system in Texas, stopped filing these lawsuits for bill payment in…
The Other Worldly Ballet of Giselle on Tap at Miller Outdoor Theatre
A peasant girl falls in love with a nobleman and then dies of a broken heart when she discovers he’s already engaged to a member of royalty. Rising from her grave, she becomes one of a group of supernatural women called The Wilis whose hearts have been broken by men…
My Husband Doesn’t Give Me Enough Sex. Help!
Welcome to Ask Willie D, the Houston Press advice column where the Geto Boys MC answers reader questions about matters, in his own words, “funny, serious or unpredictable.” Something on your mind? Ask Willie D! MY HUSBAND DOESN’T GIVE ME ENOUGH SEX Dear Willie D: My husband and I have…
Reading Between the Lines of Scarface’s ‘Diary of a Madman’
Diary of a Madman Brad “Scarface” Jordan w/ Benjamin Meadows-Ingram Dey St./HarperCollins, 223 pp., $25.99 The strength of Brad Jordan as a rapper has always been his need to simply exude his will and presence on a track in order for it to work. He’s the mastermind behind the greatest…
Fort Bend County Miscalculates Nearly 150,000 Property Tax Notices
Thousands of Fort Bend residents flipped out this month when they opened their property appraisal notices and saw that their valuations skyrocketed over last year’s. They took to the phones, calling the Fort Bend Central Appraisal District, but had trouble getting through — a notice on the District’s website said…
Bob Dylan Stays Modern and Inscrutable at Bayou Music Center
Bob Dylan Bayou Music Center May 6, 2015 The last time Bob Dylan & His Band played Houston in 2009 at the Woodlands Pavilion, it was part of a triple bill with Willie Nelson and John Mellencamp. The show likely attracted the more casual Dylan fans, and scores walked out…
Apologizing On Twitter Is The New Growth Industry
We (okay, I) have been talking a lot about Avengers: Age of Ultron here lately. It had the second biggest box office opening ever last weekend, coming in second only to its predecessor. But rather than bask in these financial accomplishments, Joss Whedon — the writer/director of both movies — found…
The Texas Frightmare Weekend Was a Horror Film Fan’s Dream Come True
Ever since I can remember, I’ve been into horror films and scary things. I was kind of a loner as a young child, and watching old monster movies was a constant activity for me when I was a kid. As I got a little older, I was fortunate to be…
Newsies Heads for Houston, Corsets and All
One plays a burlesque house owner; the other a reporter who’s already made inroads in the business during the turn of a century that wasn’t always real open to female journalists. Both characters are played by actresses who grew up in the Houston area and are now out and about on…
Houston ISD Investigators Confirm Grades Changed at Westbury High
An investigation into grading at Westbury High School (go Huskies!) has determined that the Westbury principal (unidentified in the documents but listed on the Houston ISD website as Jason Catchings) ordered up grade changes (raising them) for 26 kids in one classroom at the school. Although a substitute teacher had…
Montage of Heck is a Stunning Audio-Visual Hodgepodge of Nirvana
A post-Wikipedia biographical documentary, Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck finds Brett Morgen constructing a feature-length collage of notebook entries, demo tapes, rehearsal footage, home movies, archival photos, and drawings and artwork by the late Nirvana front man. It’s an impressive, comprehensive assemblage, designed to impart not a point-by-point historical account…
Kristen Wiig is a Crackpot Oprah in Welcome to Me
One of Kristen Wiig’s finest moments as a movie star is a throwaway bit of shamed silent morning-after comedy: Her Bridesmaids character is skulking out of the home of a cad played by Jon Hamm. She’s playing it cool, swallowing back the humiliation of her bad choices, trying to show…
