Cory Graves
Hitchhike To Rhome Turns Twenty And One Local Band Might Be Done After A Stabbing (Really).
What a year 1994 was for North Texas music.
That's the year, of course, when the Toadies' released Rubberneck (a point that's been more than driven home already this year), but it was also the year Pantera put out Far Beyond Driven and the year when the Old 97's released its debut, Hitchhike to Rhome.
Really: Who would have thought we'd still be talking about those albums 20 years later? And yet here we are.
And while the Toadies already reissued its own seminal LP and performed that sucker from front to back at a handful of local shows this year — most notably at its Dia de los Toadies festival — the Old 97's (who also performed at Dia) just announced that will be following suit by reissuing Hitchhike on November 17 as part of a two-CD/LP packaged loaded up with outtakes and demos. The release will also coincide with a 20th anniversary concert at the Majestic Theatre on December 13, which will include a run through the album in full, followed by a second set of the band's greatest hits. Tickets to that show will go on sale here this Friday, October 31.
Another anniversary on the horizon comes courtesy of 91.7-FM KXT, which will turn five years young on November 5. We're not sure if that means they'll celebrate by playing nothing but Santana's “She's Not There” on repeat, but we do know they'll be throwing an anniversary concert featuring Brandi Carlile, Tennis and Somebody's Darling at the Verizon Theatre on December 10. Tickets to that one are currently on sale here.
Moving on, Arlington dancer and former American Idol contestant Todrick Hall will be returning to the small screen sometime next year. As the Dallas Morning News points out, MTV has decided to give Hall his own show chronicling his attempts at achieving stardom. Sounds kinda meta, if you ask us.
Sticking with the world of televised competitions: NBC's North Texan-filled seventh season of The Voice pitted locals Luke Wade and Taylor Phelan head-to-head against one another in last night's episode. After Pharrell Williams declared Wade the winner of that battle and ensured his appearance in the upcoming live rounds of the show, all three of the remaining judges attempted to use their “steals” to acquire Phelan for their own teams. In the end, the singer joined Adam Levine's team, guaranteeing that at least two of the remaining four locals will appear in the show's next rounds.
Over on the smaller screen — that's what we call internet videos, right? — Pentatonix member Avi Kaplan recently uploaded a video himself covering Meghan Trainor's “All About That Bass” to YouTube. Needless to say, as the a capella group's bass, Kaplan's version is an oh-so-much-more-about-that-bass take on the earworm. Oh, and it's racked up a million-and-a-half plays in just under a month. Check it out.
Speaking of big records, Pitchfork recently released its list of the top 100 albums of the decade. We mention this because four of the albums on the list included production from Dallas' own Symbolyc One, including No. 8 (Kanye West's Yeezus) and No. 1 (Kanye's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy). Interestingly enough, S1 recently sat down with DJ Booth to explain how his “Guilt Trip” track from Yeezus was originally intended for Watch The Throne (No. 43 on that list). Meaning? S1 reveals that, somewhere out there, there's a version of the song with a Jay-Z scratch verse on it. Of course, it's cooler to hear him tell it, and you can do that below.
More recently, S1 also made the beat for Dallas singer Torsha Lynn's new “Supa Baddd” single, which was released earlier today. Check it out.
Also on that Pitchfork list is St. Vincent, whose Strange Mercy clocked in at No. 28. And it turns out Ms. Clark's got some new releases up her sleeve as well. As part of next month's Black Friday Record Store Day, St. Vincent will release a special edition, individually numbered 10-inch vinyl featuring unreleased songs “Pieta” and “Sparrow”.
Out today, meanwhile, is the new LP from Dallas transplant Black Milk. You can purchase physical copies of that one — which features artwork by Dallas' Joonbug — here. You can also preview a couple tracks from that one in a previous edition of this column.
But wait! There's still more new music worth mentioning. For instance? An unreleased new song from soul revivalist Larry g(EE) called “Take You Home Tonight,” which he's been kind enough to let us debut in this column. The song, which Larry refers to as “a slow jam” makes nods to several classics, including both implied ones (Hall and Oates' “She's Gone”) and deliberate (Smokey Robinson's “Ooo Baby Baby”). At 12 a.m. on Friday — the same day Larry headlines a Halloween party at the Granada Theater — you can grab the track as a free download via his website. Until then, you can stream it until your heart's content below.
Also freshly released is this new video from Fort Worth's The Cush, which the band recently debuted via It's Psychedelic Baby Magazine. The video for the band's “Broken Radio” is comprised of images found in the Prelinger Archive, and comes from its forthcoming Transcendental Heatwave LP.
Then there's Mini Mansions, which aren't at all local, but did enlist the help of local studio ace John Congleton on its own forthcoming album. The band had a lot to say about that experience, in particular, last we spoke with them. We've since learned that album will be released sometime in 2015 via T Bone Burnett's Electromagnetic Recordings label, and will feature an appearance from Brian Wilson, whose own album features studio work from members of the band. Anyway, ahead of the band's show tomorrow night at Verizon Theatre, Mini Mansions has offered up a stream of album track “The Great Pretenders.” Check it out.
Speaking of shows this week: Ice Eater's opening turn for Maps & Atlases' show this Friday at Fort Worth's Shipping & Receiving will be its last of the year. And, says the band, it might turn out being its last ever.
“It's definitely our last show of the year and, without going into too much detail, maybe our last ever — at least with the current lineup,” says the band's guitarist Zach Edwards. “There's been a lot of conflict within the group, specifically from one member and things have gotten pretty fucked up over the last few months, with said member eventually getting stabbed in the leg with a nail file in New Orleans in September.”
Yeesh.
Maybe after taking some time off, they'll be able to get things all sorted out.
Hey, that worked for 35 Denton, which officially began accepting submissions via SonicBids for locals wanting to play the fest upon its return in 2015. Says the fest's organizers: “We have 80 spots open for Sonicbids submissions and we're looking for all genres including, but not limited to, indie rock, electronic, hip hop, soul, funk, jazz, country, and blues.”
And, finally, a new Wizard of Oz-themed audiology clinic opened its doors in Denton last week. The appropriately-named Colorful Hearing not only offers up custom inserts for musicians and frequent concert goers wishing to protect their ears, but tinnitus treatments and hearing aids for those that have gone far too long sans ear plugs.
Cover photo of the Old 97's by Paul Moore, courtesy of New West Records. Got a tip for White Noise? Email us!
