As I effectively said when I did my local best-ofs, for this writer the best thing about 2023 was that it ended. But one of the runners-up, surely, is the collective impact of the year’s[…]
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Author: Joey
Shows: Toadies, Local H @ Emo’s
Without benefit of a time machine, the throwback materialized pretty remarkably: it was 1996, maybe ’97, all over again at Emo’s. Unfortunately, there was just a hint of Woodstock ’99 thrown in there, too — but[…]
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Ear Traffic’s best local albums and tracks of 2023
Given that Ear Traffic ATX is — with extremely limited historical exception — just one person’s thoughts on music, a little bit of disclosure and vulnerability seem appropriate here. So here it is: 2023 was an[…]
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ACL Weekend 2 Wrapup: Three days of a needed dis-disillusioning; best sets, song performances and quotes
Opinions on something like the ACL Musical Festival will never be unanimous. Every year, if you take more than about three temperatures on the lineup upon its release, you’ll find a wet blanket — no[…]
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ACL Day 3 Quick Recap: Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ fire is still intact; Yves Tumor is an eye-opening vibe; Labrinth’s badass ending
Through the entirety of ACL Weekend Two, no set I saw moved with the lightning speed of the one I anticipated more than any other. Yes, 16 years after I last saw them on a hot,[…]
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ACL Day 2 Quick Recap: Tove Lo low-key makes a mockery of Texas law; Foo Fighters, Tegan and Sara don’t disappoint
I’m sitting here with Texas’ infamous would-be ban on “sexually explicit performances” in front of me — the law so ridiculously bad that the latest judicial update is that an octogenarian, Reagan-appointed federal judge struck it down[…]
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