Playlist

In today's segmented music world, Los Angeles singer, songwriter and guitarist Keaton Simons would probably sit somewhere between John Mayer and Jack Johnson. But his artistic style, a penchant for crafting seamlessly soulful pop songs with plenty of rhythm and smooth hooks, also harks back to Van Morrison's heyday. On his full-length debut CD, the just-released Can You Hear Me on the relaunched CBS Records, Mr. Simons wrote all 11 tracks solo. His songs, from "Good Things Get Better" to "Can You Hear Me" and many points in between, will keep your foot tapping and your fingers snapping. He'll do it all without histrionics, too.

Photo: Can You Hear Me cover courtesy of cduniverse.com.

Norman Whitfield - who died Tuesday - wasn't as well known as fellow Motown songwriters Smokey Robinson or the team of Holland-Dozier-Holland. But the Motown sound would be unthinkable without Mr. Whitfield's creations, which include "Ball of Confusion" and "I Heard it through the Grapevine." Here's an interesting obit in the Los Angeles Times in which Dallas native David Ritz explains how Motown originally didn't want Marvin Gaye's version of "Grapevine" to come out.

The Eagles must have loved you DFW fans on Saturday and Sunday, because they're coming back to American Airlines Center on Nov. 15 for their third Dallas show of the year. (Read the review of Saturday night's show here).

If you missed the concerts last weekend, are you going to nab the opportunity to see them in the fall? Did you go to one of the concerts and plan to catch the November show, too?

Tickets go on sale 10 a.m. Monday, Sept. 29. Click the jump below to read the press release for more info.

(Photo: Eagles on Saturday night at AAC, by Jason Janik / Special to DMN)

Often, a performer's live persona is the antithesis of his normal one. If that's the case with Per Almqvist, he's a Swede dweeb champion.

You've gotta figure that's the case with the Hives' singer. He uses a stage name, Howlin' Pelle Almquist, to bound his public ego, as does the rest of this genius garage-punk band. Heck: the string pounders all have amps with custom cabinetry that tout each's particular performance handle (Per's guitarist brother Niklas': "Nicholaus" on the head, "Arson" on the speaker box).

For most acts, such pompous trickery would be tantamount to challenging Mike Tyson to a rules-suspended street brawl. But for the Hives, it's kitsch that clicks because the act is so endearing and convincing, as proven during its howlin' 85-minute set Wednesday at House of Blues.