Dallas Music Blog

Norah Jones popped up on The Colbert Report last night, as promised, and talked to Colbert about the supposed change in direction of her new album The Fall, one Robert really couldn't find too much of in his review of this disc in this week's paper. Stream ahead to the third segment--or right around 13 minutes in--to see her sit-down interview with Stephen, in which she discusses, among other things, drug use (kinda) and potentially starting a barbershop metal quartet with Colbert (maybe).

Then stick around for the final segment of the show, in which Jones performs "Young Blood," the new track that others have described as "driving." Yeah, with your grandmother, maybe, even if it's still an enjoyable ride...

I've got a few issues with KXT-FM (91.7) -- chief among 'em, the KERA offshoot boasts the smallest play list in the history of broadcasting. And what in the what is up with all the mysterious blackouts? But, I know, growing pains and patience ... got it.

For now, then, I'll forgive the Matisyahu fetish and focus on the extraordinarily positive: I just noticed that KXT has been posting to its YouTube channel all of its in-studio performances, including ones from Danny Balis, Sarah Jaffe, Andrew Tinker and The O's. A Happy Bullets performance was just added to the rotation; hence, its inclusion here. That, and the fact it's precisely what the station ought to be playing. Because I think we're good with Bryan Ferry doing Bob Dylan.

The clip was directed by History at Our Disposal frontman Jason Reimer and

Tomorrow, via its MySpace page, Waco-based hip-hop collective Strange Fruit Project, which has about a bajillion impressive collaborations to its name, not the least of which includes Erykah Badu and Little Brother, will release a new, free-to-download EP entitled M.A.S.K. (short for Making Art Sound Kool). Last week via Twitter, though, Strange Fruit producer/emcee Symbolic One leaked for download the EP's lead single, "Crash," and, with it, posted the above video.

It's well worth a watch. Not just because the song's legit, but also because the video is like a real life take on Fallout 3 (if that game took place in the backroads of Deep Ellum).

As should be expected from a nine-time Grammy-winner, Miss Jones gave a fine performance of the first single off her upcoming The Fall last night on The Late Show.

Hey, I dunno, you think Letterman's a fan?

Really can't say I'm the biggest fan of this rather bland singer-songwriter fare from local performer Tim Miller, but, man, if the above clip ain't slick. Posted to Youtube a couple months back and uploaded to Vimeo earlier today, the video for "Who I Am," which is apparently a hidden track on Miller's latest release, Adelaide, was co-directed by Josiah Williams and the man who contributed the animation to the cause, Chris Silvestre. Well done, fellas.

Because we can all use a palate cleanser now and then--and, also, because there's never a wrong time to listen to RTB2--check out the clip above, featuring Ryan Thomas Becker and Grady Sandlin performing their song "Whistle" in the still-under-reconstruction Kessler Theater in Oak Cliff.

And, since we're on that subject, yep, seem about time for a check-in with our old Echoes and Reverberations scribe, Jeff Liles, who'll be serving as the artistic director for the space.

"It's coming along," Liles says. "It's just kind of hard to know exactly when it'll be open for sure. We're still shooting for the week between Christmas and New Year's, but we're not a hundred percent on that yet."

Whether the venue will be open by 2010 or not, this much is sure: On December 27, the venue will be hosting a holiday party performance from Dallas native Emily Elbert, who'll be back in town on school vacation from the Berklee College of Music at the time. That event, Liles says, is happening for sure--whether it's as part of the room's grand opening week or just a one-off event used to showcased the progress made in the completely revamped room is still up in the air.

If the room opens in 2010 or not, though, it's clear, that, in some ways, the venue's remodel won't be complete until mid-February. Explains Liles: That's when the venue will be adorned with its new marquis marquee--one modeled specifically after the venue's old one, which hung from the building during its mid-'40s heyday.

So there's this MTV mini-show called Valemont, which I think is about vampires on college campuses or something? How unlike MTV to cash in on a trend like that...

Back on topic: According to a press release that just popped up in our inboxes, DFW's own The Bright, no strangers to being placed on MTV shows, had its song "Cut Me Loose" placed on this mini-show's 10th (and most recent) episode. It's the fifth time the band's been given the greenlight for MTV placement, which may be some sort of record even? At least for area bands, I'd think. Tough to say at which point it appears in the above embed of "show," which lasts all of two minutes and 21 seconds, but, according to the band's publicist, it's in there.

Whatever: We're burying the lead here. The real story? If you watch the clip, you'll also learn that the name of the place where the maybe-vampires live is a a dorm (?) called Panthera House, which kinda sounds like Pantera House, which may or may not be a reference to Pantera. Which would pwn if it were, yeah?

playing for the college at Oklahoma State University and, apparently, mini-Superwoman, too, as you'll see in the above, beautifully shot clip from Zach Gray of OSU's The Daily O'Collegian.

Here, as part of the student paper's "on." series you'll see JT&TNL performing an acoustic take on the band's song "Devil's Basement," a crowd favorite at shows and one of the new tracks the band's penned for its upcoming set-for-March major label debut, Pardon Me.

Well worth the watch.

Earlier this week, the artist formerly known as PlayRadioPlay! and now known as Analog Rebellion, Aledo's Daniel Hunter, released the above clip, which offers fans yet another glimpse at the direction of his upcoming record. Specifically, the above song, which is set in the video to a clip of Hunter and a friend carving jack-o-lanterns, is a re-working of an earlier PlayRadioPlay! track called "Texas." Now titled "An Onest Thank You," the track is less an ode to Texas and more of a head-scratcher about what's happening around here, music-wise. Listen to the lyrics and see what I mean.

As for me, well, although this new version boasts a certain charm as a social commentary, I still dig the orginal "Texas"--so much so that, odds are, I'll be closing the night with the song again when I head back to the Libertine on Monday night for Vol. 2 of The Local Hang with Playlister P. See you there?

​If, somehow, you managed to miss last night's KERA premier of St. Vincent and Andrew Bird's episode of Austin City Limits, the folks at PBS have done you a solid, friend: The whole thing--all 56 minutes and 46 seconds of it--is up and streaming at PBS.org, or, well, right here.

And, in hopes of cutting off the risk of coming off like an indie bro obsessed with Ms. Clark, that's all I'll say on the matter.

Just go watch it, if you like.

Dorrough.

​Well, now that the tape-delayed 2009 BET Hip-Hop Awards have aired and all, we can say with all certainty that, no, Dorrough didn't walk with any hardware at the event.

But he did make quite the showing, nonetheless, thanks to some assistance from the cast of one of his "Ice Cream Paint Job" remixes--Nipsey Hussle, Jim Jones, Soulja Boy and Snoop Dogg--joining the Dallas-based rapper and his DJ, K104's A Bay Bay, on stage for a live rendition of the mix, as promised.

Check a clip of the performance--which, OK, owes a lot to Soulja Boy who at least added some energy to it--after the jump.

Be warned, though: The clip will play as soon as you click.

Earlier today, Vh1.com premiered the new video from Dallas native Norah Jones, and, sure enough, you can watch it in the embed above (alas, after waiting through an advertisement or two). Predictably, it's paired with the new single, "Chasing Pirates," from her new album The Fall, which is due out on November 17.

It's kind of adorable, too, what with her brownstone/pirate ship floating through a downtown cityscape and all. Plus, Miss Jones ain't lookin' too bad herself, either, even if she's a little heartbroken that the subject of the song is going to sleep while her night's still ongoing.

Here's my question, though: Where the hell is she sailing off to?!?!

Tonight's a big one for Dallas' own Dorrough, as, at 7 p.m., the tape-delayed BET Hip-Hop Awards will finally be aired. And though we don't yet know if Dorrough walked away from the event with any statues, we do know this much: He'll perform "Ice Cream Paint Job" on stage and on your TV tonight with Snoop Dogg, Jim Jones, Soulja Boy and Nipsye Hustle in tow.

Oh, and it appears as if Dorrough will be watching the events tonight at 8 Lounge on Greenville Avenue--and you're welcome to join him.

Yesterday, though, Dorrough wasn't anywhere near Dallas. Rather, he was on the set of BET's 106 & Park, where he debuted the above video for the party-starting "Wired to the T," the third single from his debut album, Dorrough Music. Like his previous two videos, this one's also directed by John "Dr. Teeth" Tucker. Unlike the earlier ones, it features a cameo from Mike Epps.

Dallas native St. Vincent's been the focus of about a bajillion web features since the early May release of Actor, her phenomenal sophomore effort--and we've got to the archives to prove it, natch. So, maybe this was a bit of an inevitability: For the past couple of weeks, St. Vincent's people have been producing and posting their own videos online, including the above, beautifully shot, intimate portrait of the artist on the road.

Not to get all weather-small-talk-ish so early in the workweek, but this clip's worth a watch, especially as a means to ease your way into this rainy Monday morning...

Speaking of CMJ '09 (kinda), Neon Indian's up at the music marathon this weekend, set for a performance tomorrow night. And a hotly anticipated one at that--or so say the folks over at Spin, who've named Palomo and Pals among its 25 must-hear artists at the weekend-long festivities.

And, sure, that's a good enough excuse as any for us to post the above, brilliant Heidi Petty-created video, which sets old NASA footage of Ham the Astrochimp to Neon Indian's "Laughing Gas." (Hat tip.)

Dallas natives and brothers Juan and Oscar Salinas, who combine to form Play-N-Skillz, have won a couple Grammy awards. And, in case you forgot as much, they're happy to remind you a couple times in the above video.

Of course, that's not the sole purpose of its creation (though, certainly, it appears to be, at least in part). Rather, the above video for the duo's new song "Xxpensive" was posted yesterday to Youtube to promote the brothers' new mixtape, The Recession Proof, which will see its release on Tuesday. We've already heard a track or two, but hadn't seen the full tracklisting till now--and it's impressive, if only for the guest stars lined up to make appearances, among them Lil Wayne, Jay-Z, Talib Kweli, Lil Jon, Bun B, T-Pain and Pitbull.

Dorrough's still spending his days as a BET darling, and, as such, spent part of last week taking a crew from BET.com's The Deal on a tour of his old stomping grounds as a student at Prairie View A&M University. In the clip above, you can watch Dorrough and his crew's take on the event, as they, too, filmed the whole thing while the BET cameras were rolling. Among the highlights:

• Dorrough's sweet new chain piece--which features a picture of himself on it.
• Dorrough riding around campus in a golf cart like Van Wilder.
• A group of students singing along to every single word of "Ice Cream Paint Job."
• A performance from Prairie View A&M's marching band.
• Dorrough promising that he's going to one day return to the school to get his business marketing degree.

Not sure about the last one--but our thought process might just be a little distracted by Dorrough's new single, "Wired to the T."

​In case you missed it: Over on Unfair Park yesterday, Robert posted U2's official behind-the-scenes video about setting up the stage for Monday night's show at Cowboys Stadium. In it, the crew reveals that it tooks "months of planning" to figure out how to make the stage work in the new stadium. But, more than that, one crew member admits to a serious case of screen envy: "We might have to feel second-best here, actually" he says.

Go watch it for yourself.

Last Tuesday, Dallas-raised and L.A.-based soul singer N'dambi saw the release of her debut Stax Records-released album, Pink Elephant. And, to promote her new release,  the one-time Erykah Badu back-up singer and co-writer stopped on by the offices of the new FADER-run soul music-centric site, Suite903, to perform some intimate, toned-down renditions of a couple of her new songs. Above, check N'dambi singing "Can't Hardly Wait" (the original music video for which can be seen here). Far as I can tell, it's neither a reference to The Replacements' song nor the 1998 teen comedy, but somehow shines nonetheless. It's the repetition of the line "I keep fucking with you," that does it for me, I think.

And, after the jump, go ahead and check out another clip from the performance session, that one featuring the singer's take on her song "L.I.E." It'll warm you up real nice, promise.

In case you were still curious about how the Toadies fared at ACL this year--and our own coverage wasn't enough--well, you might wanna check out the above video. You'll get some footage of the band's Sunday afternoon performance on the festival's main stage, and a few glances at the massive crowd that gathered for the show to boot.

But perhaps most worth your while in the above clip? The fact that frontman Vaden Todd Lewis lets it spill that "more than likely" the Toadies will be working on their fourth release at some point down the line. To which lead guitarist Clark Vogeler quickly responds, "We gotta wait for that seven-year window again, though."

Which is funny, yeah--but not as funny as the disdain with which Lewis treats this poor interviewer. That's pure gold.

Wait till right around the one-minute mark in the above clip and you'll catch a familiar face backing Regina Spektor during her Saturday Night Live performance from this weekend: Denton-based Midlake and Fieros drummer McKenzie Smith. Neat-o!

Y'know what's adorable? This video, made for the second single for from Q-Tip's The Renaissance. Good timing, too, as we're just over a month away from the new release from North Texas' own Norah Jones.

(Via.)

Oh, what the hell: Just for kicks, here's a clip of Dallas's own The Secret Handshake, currently out on the road on an Alternative Press-sponsored tour, at a show, covering that Miley Cyrus song that's unavoidable at the moment.

(Via.)

Lots of news out of Smile Smile camp this morning. First and foremost, a new video (watch it above), this one for the song "Tempo Bledsoe," which, for all intents and purposes, is the first single off of the band's upcoming album Truth on Tape, the duo's sophomore release on Kirtland Records. The disc is set for a February 16, 2010 release, and, till then, the band plans on releasing a whole spate of new videos for fans to keep tuning into--or so the plan reads, as written over on the band's Web site.

As for the video: It's a pretty impressive single-shot take, complete with backing dancers and all that. Oh, and--get this--there are some pretty killer synth lines in the chorus! As for the intro, though? It's no "On Top of Old Smoky," I guess. But I've been having trouble shaking another ol' classic from my head as it plays...