Sweatshirt’s back! Well, maybe.

Yesterday, he dropped this track, “Home,” immediately fanning the speculative flames that come with anything Odd Future-related. It’s a tight track, both lengthwise and flow-wise. His two year stint in a Samoan boarding school didn’t seem to hurt.

His Twitter feed’s up and running, so he’s at least reaching out. Here’s to more, hopefully.

I’m gonna embed a knockoff YouTube clip below, but if it disappears, just click on the link in the text above; same jaun.

THURSDAY

Treasure Fingers (Rio Room): Another big Rio Room Thursday night, with Fool’s Gold recording artist Treasure Fingers, who has remixed the likes of Chromeo, Kid Sister, Empire of the Sun, and Ocelot.

When I mentioned to a friend that I feel it’s imperative to make a stop to the dry cleaners a few days in advance of attending anything at this venue, she replied, “Ha, the douche is always loose at Rio Room!” But I find that unfair. I shot back, ..read more

In a huge booking coup for 35 Denton, iconic British act, The Jesus and Mary Chain, will be closing out the festival on Sunday, March 11. This will be the first time the mercurial band from Scotland, who once referred to themselves as “so much better than everybody else,” will play in the United States since their lauded and much discussed reunion at 2007′s Coachella, which they headlined. It is the first time the band will land in Texas since ..read more

According to the fine folks on StubHub, a lot.

Drake’s March 2 show at UT-Arlington is sold out, forcing fans of the child actor-turned-rapper onto the secondary market. And those people seem to think they can snag up to $1,090 for a pair of tickets.

Tickets sales were open only to students, faculty, and staff, meaning there’s either some Ramen-starved students trying to turn a quick buck or an economics professor who’s putting the theory of supply and demand to good use. When they went on sale, tickets ranged from $50 to $80, plus $15 student discounts. Now, StubHubbers are seeking between $150 and $545 a pop.

I like Drake. I like him a lot, and I think his supporting acts (A$AP Rocky and Kendrick Lamar) make for the strongest nationally-touring rap bill to come through DFW this year. But if I was paying $150 to see them, I’d expect at least a few cups of drank.

As a general rule, I have only disparaging things to say about genre classifications. The practice has enabled lazy music-writing and turned “core” into a totally meaningless suffix. Genres have become as multivariate as religious sub-sub-denominations and just as useless. They do provide an occasional road-map kind of helpfulness, but in general I think you can divide music into two types: the coat-and-tie affairs and the ones that let me drink a beer inside.

Even with my extreme dislike of labeling, ..read more

The trend this weekend appears to be having a show in the requisite Dallas-proper market, followed by a similarly-themed night in Denton or Fort Worth. This is assuming that these cities are as far apart as every griping motorist claims they are. I don’t find it all that bad myself, and I’m willing to put on some extra miles if the location is more comfortable, and the artists more enjoyable. So in those cases, I’ll tell you which setting has ..read more

Still relatively new in the world of local dance weeklies, “Denton is Burning” has been described as an “LGBTQI-friendly” dance night at Rubber Gloves, but just about every night as this place is similarly all-inclusive. I’m assuming that the title is a reference to Paris is Burning, the acclaimed 1990 documentary on New York “drag ball” culture. If that’s the case, it should be a fun night for everyone, as promised.

The DJs usually include Oleg Belogorsky and Tiago Varjao, but there is a completely different lineup this ..read more

In yet another entry to 35 Denton’s “Cover Series,” where a known local act interprets the music of a known national act, we have the Dallas duo Leg Sweeper doing a completely rock-based job of Rice University Guest Lecturer, former UGK rapper, and wonderful Twitter read, Bun B’s tough neighborhood anthem, “My Block.” At first listen, the twosome is reminiscent of another two-man band and former 35 Denton performers, Japanther, at their most pop-punk, but is essentially a rock band ..read more

THURSDAY

U-Tern (Rio Room): LA resident U-Tern is well-known for his remix work of pop artists from both today and yesteryear, and though it’s more likely the average, casual, music fan has heard his rework of Britney Spears, let’s just say it is a little more impressive when he tackles the era of James Brown or Stevie Wonder. But of course, that’s hardly fair. To paraphrase Vonnegut—regarding comments he made regarding film industry—it’s akin to the ancient sculptors who worked with gold, since ..read more

THURSDAY

Black Gold Social Club (Zubar): Once in a lengthy discussion regarding what is the most sublime of all music combinations, I finally settled on a particular pairing. “I’ve got it,” I said. “Soul music…with a string section. Soul with strings. That’s my answer.” Thinking I had touched upon something very profound, I was instead met with an unimpressed sparring partner in this musical debate. “Well, duh” she said.

The reason I bring it up is because the great Curtis Mayfield is ..read more

The week wouldn’t be complete without a little Granada love, so this Thursday’s giveaway consists of a pair of tickets to The Kills with Jeff the Brotherhood and Hunters. Get ‘em while they’re hot! Answer the question in the form below: Tell us what fan favorite TV genre The Kills music is known to appear on. We’ll pick a winner after 3pm.

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var z7p7w7 = new ..read more

When I composed my 2012 wish list, I made eleven pretty lofty requests and one that was pure snark. Among the sincere wishes, perhaps none was more of a stretch than to see underground hip hop gain a foothold in North Texas. At least that’s why I thought it was a stretch. It turns out five Dallas emcees struggled with the same goal about a year ago and decided to direct energies toward that end. The fruit of that struggle ..read more

THURSDAY

Dowsing/Sparrowhawk/Empire Empire/Two Knights/Square Business (1919 Hemphill): For the first time in about a decade, it’s an excellent moment in history to be a post-hardcore or emo fan. Or perhaps, an ex-emo or ex-post hardcore fan who is now a DJ ready to face their past. I’m sure getting to see The Refused and At The Drive In at this year’s Coachella will be just as monumental a maturing experience as the Pixies reunion was for many a thirty-something back in ..read more

This Thursday’s giveaway needs no introduction, but then I would serve no purpose. So let me remind you why January 14th will bring together two of DFW’s favorites: Fort Worth’s Burning Hotels and Dallas’ Granada Theater. The Local Edge brings Burning Hotels to Granada along with Menkena, Air Review, and Mon Julien and we’ve got a pair of tickets to giveaway. To get your hands on them answer the question in the form below: What hotel does the band owe ..read more

By now it’s probably apparent that I’m not one for supporting something simply because it’s “local.” Perhaps naively, I assume that quality and style come first in the eyes and ears of any thinking person, as opposed to championing something simply because it’s sitting right next to you.

That being said, the two video teasers that the 35 Denton crew have assembled ahead of their March festival have aggressively (and understandably) taken the local angle and made it work for them ..read more

We took it easy over the holidays, perhaps a little too easy. I’ll be perfectly honest, I still have pure egg nog slowly pumping through my aorta. So, since it’s already Friday, and I’m still playing catch-up, here are a few items that we definitely should mention before we get to the heightened onslaught of next week. Various shakeups and transitions in local music over the last part of 2011 kept things interesting, and point to even more tumult in ..read more

THURSDAY

Last Joke/El Cento/Leatherbag (Dan’s Silver Leaf): In case you missed it earlier this week: FrontRow’s Dick Sullivan had some provocative and thoughtful musings on Last Joke’s Ryan Thomas Becker’s career trajectory, as well as his 11 other wishes for the local music scene in 2012.

New Fumes/Water Falls/Diamond Age (The Crown and Harp): New Fumes is fresh off of playing a New Year’s Day after-party show for a Yoko Ono performance in Oklahoma. And guess what. I’ll never have to type again ..read more

If one of your New Year’s resolutions was to experience something new then you’re welcome because we’ve got two tickets for you. TITAS brings Ladysmith Black Mambazo to the Winspear Opera House on January 15th. If you’re unfamiliar with the all-male South African ensemble just know they’ve made over 50 albums with 20 members and do it all in a cappella. To get your hands on these tickets just answer the question in the form below: Ladysmith sings isicathamiya harmonies, ..read more

Their first full-length album, On a Dark and Barren Land, shows Dallas’s The Angelus to be a judicious, serious group. Their sound is spare but dauntless, circumspect and solemn. It has both the order of choral elegance and indelicate force of rock and roll. Although it shuts the door to the excuse that their weighty tone is anything but ingenuous, On a Dark and Barren Land will manage to win over receptive ears.

Judging from the album’s title, you might correctly ..read more

Dick Sullivan kicks off the New Year with the twelve things he’s hoping for in 2012. 

1.  RTB2 to release their second album.

Other than an interesting, if practically exclusive, 8-track release, Ryan Thomas Becker and Grady Sandlin have not given us anything since 2009. That would be fine, because they gig with obsessive frequency, except I know they have been sitting on a complete album for several months. RTB2 is, understandably, wanting to do it right, waiting on the right distributor ..read more

I’m not one for this pillar-of-salt take on each year, but it is not only expected but somewhat required, so I did my best to offer you a variety of views on well, ourselves. I asked a couple of other writers besides, in order to get appropriately closeup views on Denton and Fort Worth. I took Dallas for obvious reasons.

What follows is a very simple setup: two perspectives for each city or town filtered through the torturous punishment and reward ..read more

We all know in Dallas that John Congleton is a bad ass, and not just because he is the front man of The Paper Chase. As Hunter mentioned this morning, Congleton has been putting together some highly-touted albums in his Oak Cliff studio from the likes of Annie Clark (aka St. Vincent), The Walkmen, and many others. But producers often dwell in the shadows of great recordings, which is why it is nice to see some national pub for Congleton and Stuart Sikes’ Elmwood Studios, via NPR music’s The Record blog:

An astonishing 20 records released this year have his fingerprints on them in one way or another. These include some of the year’s finest albums: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah‘s Hysterical, Hospital Ships‘ Lonely Twin, Mountain Goats‘ All Eternals Deck, Wye Oak‘s Civilian, and many more.

The Dallas-based producer has also served as Annie Clark’s primary collaborator and musical soulmate on St. Vincent’s last two records, 2009′s Actor and this year’s masterful Strange Mercy.

An interview with Congleton follows, which is worth checking out.

Photo: Elmwood Studios (via)

I end my two-week journey into 2011’s pop music with, yep, a friggin’ list. Here are the albums I listened to the most this year, starting with No. 1 (hey, at least I’m not a click-count whore who insists on doing a slideshow countdown). How’d I come up with the list? Pretty simple. I just looked at the play counts in my iTunes. R.I.P., Steve Jobs.

1. Jay-Z and Kanye West, ‘Watch the Throne’ – Said everything I needed to say ..read more

THURSDAY

DJ Red Eye/Wanz Dover/DJ G/Trademarx (Zubar): A deep lineup of music experts present this first annual “Mistle Toe-Jam,” and though I’m not sure about that title, the promise of “lots of soul, borderlining [sic] on ghetto” from the event invite is fine with me. Also funny were these little details:

No cover No dress code No douchebaggery No bottle service No gogo dancers No drama No kidding

There you have it. Practically sounds like a list of New Year’s resolutions from this well-worked group of artists.

Usual Suspect/Ruby Rhod ..read more

It’s all Granada giveaway greatness this week. Gah! But seriously. We’ve got a good grab bag today: two tickets to the Granada’s New Years Eve Bash featuring Jonathan Tyler and the Northern Lights, Ishi, and Kirby Brown. To get your hands on these pups just answer the question in the form below: What band member joined in 2007 that could bring a tear to your eye? We’ll pick a winner after 3pm.

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