Photos by Kiernan. More below.

The Baptist Generals' long-awaited Jackleg Devotional To The Heart is here. You can buy it on a number of media including colorful vinyl. Mine's translucent pink -- not sure if that's how they all are or not. Either way, we strongly advise you to track it down. It's really good. The band, six highly respected musicians with this and other ventures, celebrated the big day yesterday with an in-store performance at Good Records. Front man Chris Flemmons set the tone early, calling the set a practice and passing his bottle of wine back to the band.

More »

Here's what Black Flag looks like in 2013.

Seeing that a form of Black Flag is touring right now (and playing Trees on Friday), we thought it a good time to investigate American hardcore punk rock. For all practical purposes, the beginning of hardcore in the states happened in the early 80's. While many hardcore acts were inspired by the Sex Pistols, The Ramones and The Clash, bands such as Minor Threat, The Misfits and Bad Brains were far more extreme and intense.

Throughout the 80's, two highly competitive scenes emerged in American hardcore punk: one in D.C. and one in L.A. And although the styles of the bands from each coast were markedly different, the power on display was a universal constant. So much so that this list could easily be doubled or tripled without any diminished greatness.

More »

Factory Productions

Christian Chavarria is a talented jazz musician, and former UNT Jazz student, who has become so tireless in his trek to grow, produce and expose young artists he's had to backburner his own projects for now. Chavarria has been working under vocal coach Linda Septien (Jessica Simpson, Selena Gomez) at her school in North Dallas, crafting and developing young budding vocal talent, and helping them to train up for the jungle of the music world proper. Now, he's on to two new projects: Createvation, and Latin Artists of Dallas.

More »

Backstreet Boys

You know, this seldom happens, but I can say without a doubt that I have every single one of these artists in my iPod. Maybe I'll make it into a playlist. This'd be a good playlist, right?

Either way, here are your top show announcements this week, and if you're like me, you're flabbergasted by the fact that THE BACKSTREET BOYS ARE COMING!

Don't hate. Just scroll down. You'll probably find something you like.

More »

Some of the founding members of longtime local rap stalwart Poor Vida Productions, have teamed up with Media 13 for a major project: This summer, they'll screen the feature-length documentary We From Dallas. The film will tell an oral history of the Dallas hip-hop scene through a series of comprehensive, rare and intimate sit-down interviews. Covering a span of almost 20 years, artists like Mr. Pookie, Headkrack and Pikahsso narrate their firsthand experiences in building the local hip hop culture as we know it. Until now, the untold story of Dallas rap has never been compiled so extensively. From the graffiti, to the breakdancing, to the underground rap records you grew up on, it's all in this film. Today, we've got the exclusive trailer debut.

More »

Are you a musician? Is your group having issues? Ask Fan Landers! Critic Jessica Hopper has played in and managed bands, toured internationally, booked shows, produced records, worked as a publicist and is the author of The Girls' Guide to Rocking, a how-to for teen ladies. She is here to help you stop doing it wrong. Send your problems to her -- confidentiality is assured, unless you want to use your drama as a ticket to Internet microfame.

Fan,
I'm in a band of moderate renown. We're a DIY outfit, but the band covers its own operating costs, and on tour we can draw a crowd anywhere we play. We're on the cusp of releasing our second album, nailing down dates for a summer tour (including some festival gigs) and shooting a music video for the lead single.

And I am so goddamn bored I want to quit immediately.

It took us a year and a half to finish our sophomore album. During mixing, I suddenly realized that for all my avant-gardiste pretense, we're just a rock band. Just like every other bloody guitar band on the planet. How depressing. I've become disillusioned with the very ontology of being in a band. I look at audiences with contempt and disgust. I watch other bands and feel nothing. The whole endeavor seems a laughable waste of time.

Next year my wife and I are leaving the country for good. Do I grit my teeth and continue till the end, for the sake of my bandmates? Or do I say, "Fuck this, I'm out," to save what precious little sanity and soul I have left?

Signed,
S

More »

This weekend Kanye West released two new singles off his upcoming album, Yeezus, in the most grandiose possible fashion. On Friday, he announced the video for his newest single, "New Slaves," would be projected onto 66 buildings across six cities around the world in one night. Crowds gathered by the hundreds, the Wicker Park screening in Chicago shut down traffic for nearly an hour. In the video, a tight close-up shot of West's face stared blankly back at attendees, almost as if he was on the other side of the fishbowl for once. He spit vitriol at socio-economic racial double standards, the mainstream media, and the prison-industrial complex over a minimalistically sinister beat. That thousand-mile stare took over Vine and Instagram feeds all night. Saturday, he performed it on Saturday Night Live along with the previous unreleased "Blk Skn Head."

More »

Not pictured: Either of the two original members of Blue Oyster Cult still with the band.

1. When you're the rebellious band all the kids listen to so they can annoy their parents, forty years on after those kids grow up you're going to be playing family-friendly sets to them and their kids. And so it was with Blue Oyster Cult, still remarkably retaining two (almost) original members from their 1960s formation, playing to a crowd in the sunshine while beach balls bounced around and the crowd drank Merlot from their lawn chairs. Brave attempts to wheel out deep cuts were made (who remembers "Golden Age of Leather"?) but you and I both know the crowd was only there for one thing. The band could have been sulky about it but in fact Eric Bloom, pushing 70 and a man who must have played "Don't Fear The Reaper" a few thousand times at least, managed to grin and mime the cowbell that the song required more of before he tackled his guitar part with verve. The whole thing was quite enjoyable, in an afternoon in the park sort of way. It's difficult to imagine them playing Trees, put it that way.

See also:
-Wildflower Festival, Featuring Rev. Horton Heat, the Toadies and More: Review
-Whiskey Folk Ramblers Have a New Album and a New Band -- Finally

More »

Way back in 1965, keyboardist Ray Manzarek and some hippie poet named Jim Morrison formed The Doors. The Doors would go on to become one of the most popular and iconic bands of the 60's. Mazarek's keyboard playing was a large part of what distinguished The Doors in the first place.

Sadly, Mazarek passed away yesterday after a bout with cancer. He was 74.

See also:
-2011 interview: Ray Manzarek talks about what motivates him.

More »

Photos by Kiernan Maletsky. More below.

There was no better place to be Saturday night than on a hill in Fort Worth, watching the dust whip behind The Walkmen while the sun set over the skyline.

Panther Island Pavilion, the crook in the Trinity River north of the city, is new and raw. Right now the infrastructure is basically nonexistent. But the potential is there, as this year's Fort Worth Music Festival proved. They set up strings of lights in the trees and three stages spread over the grounds. There were vendors and VIP sections. Delta Spirit played recklessly and Allen Stone made us all put away our cell phones.

More »