The double album Houston 2012 captures a two-day encounter in October 2012 between English tabletop guitarist Keith Rowe and the experimental-music community of Houston, Texas. Rowe’s visit came about thanks to the initiative of Saint Louis double bassist Damon Smith, who lived in Texas at the time. While there Smith developed a strong working relationship […]
Tag: Houston
Posted inMusic
Veteran pedal steel guitarist Susan Alcorn releases her first album as a bandleader
No one else plays the pedal steel guitar like Susan Alcorn. She combines a command of the instrument’s orchestral range with an improvisational fluency that lets her take the instrument far beyond its usual idiomatic settings. She began playing professionally in Chicago country bars in the mid-1970s, then went on to hone her chops in […]
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Nicole Mitchell and Lisa E. Harris explore soulful Afrofuturist visions on EarthSeed
A friend in Houston recently described multidisciplinary artist and space goddess Lisa E. Harris as a “force of nature” in the Texas scene and beyond. Upon investigation, I had to concur. Harris channels the Afrofuturism of Sun Ra, the transcendent devotionals of Alice Coltrane, and the deep-listening experiments of Pauline Oliveros—all while maintaining her own […]
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Khruangbin make sophisticated sounds from far-flung places on their dynamic third album
If you’ve ever wondered what Motown would sound like if it had been born not in Detroit but on the streets of Karachi or Kingston or in the surf dens of late-60s southern California, you might like Houston collective Khruangbin. On their new third album, Mordechai, bassist Laura Lee Ochoa, guitarist Mark Speer, and drummer […]
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A tribute to Big Floyd on the (fantasy) gig poster of the week
This week’s featured fantasy gig poster was created by local illustrator and designer Teshika Silver.
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Texan interdisciplinary artist and guitarist Sandy Ewen releases her first solo LP
Sandy Ewen’s music is a constant series of negotiations. She’s constantly seeing what new sounds she can get out of her guitar, using found objects such as steel-wool scrubbing pads, dowels, bolts, cat-grooming brushes, and lengths of chalk. She’s also an inveterate collaborator who relishes chances to test her compatibility with new acquaintances or to […]
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Houston pop-punk miscreants Waterparks sound like the future of rock on Fandom
If the members of infamous UK pop-rock band the 1975 had grown up in the U.S. and listened to more pop punk than emo, they’d probably sound a lot like Waterparks. The Houston three-piece have become poster boys for the sleek, sugary suburban pop-punk sound that will forever say “Warped Tour.” That style faded out […]
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Houston rapper Maxo Kream excavates his past for one of 2019’s best hip-hop releases
Few rappers sound as comfortable with introspection as Houston’s Emekwanem Ogugua Biosah Jr., aka Maxo Kream. Even the title of his recent second album, Brandon Banks (RCA/Big Persona/88 Classic), references his troubled past: his father, Emekwanem Ogugua Biosah Sr., ran scams under that name and spent much of Maxo’s childhood serving time on fraud charges. […]
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Remembering drummer, pharmacist, activist, and seeker Alvin Fielder
A charter member of the AACM and a longtime partner of saxophonist Kidd Jordan, drummer Alvin Fielder was an encyclopedia of jazz history with an eye on the future.
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Curator Adia Sykes on a voice that takes you back to the golden age of soul
Current musical obsessions of ESS codirector Olivia Junell, curator Adia Sykes, and Reader music editor Philip Montoro
Posted inNews & Politics
Stop complaining about Chicago’s weather
We get to experience the entire meteorological buffet—without the gristle of natural disasters.
Posted inBlogs
Emanuel declares Chicago a ‘Trump-free zone’ after Sessions announces plan to end DACA, and other news
Also, Latino students are on pace to become the majority at CPS in a few years.
Posted inBlogs
Houston on track to unseat Chicago as the nation’s third-largest city, and other news
Also, former U.S. House speaker Dennis Hastert to report to prison in June.
Posted inBlogs
Boogie over to the Texas Tiki Disco at Lost Lake before it’s gone
The 1970s-inspired takeover of Lost Lake by Houston’s Anvil Bar & Refuge runs through Friday.
Posted inBlogs
A Texan Lolita is all keyed up
Isa Giallorenzo’s Street View featuring a Lolita at the Menil Collection in Houston, TX.