Happy Primaries, Houston! Good music will always get our vote, and this week is no exception. Austin, TX funk-rock duo Ghostland Observatory releases Robotique Majestique today, a fantastic musical joyride that is as electrifying as their previous efforts. -The Dallas Morning News discusses the recent electro-funk resurgence -Check out the song, "Heavy Heart," at Stereogum -Read an album review in Austin 360 -Buy Robotique Majestique Pavement lead singer/indie All Star Stephen Malkmus enlisted former Sleater......

A number of female artists chance it for a comeback on the charts this week. Prolific soul singer/songwriter Erykah Badu returns with her first album in five years, New Amerykah. -Watch a very cool music video for album single, "Honey," on Youtube -Read an interview with Badu at MSNBC -Badu will be featured in a new Tom Ford Fragrance ad campaign -Read an album review at EW.com -Buy New Amerykah Ethereal electronic star Goldfrapp is......

Good morning, Houston. Well, uh here's something you don't hear about every day — but it being Halloween and all, we couldn't resist: In Hunt County, police pulled over an 18-wheeler Sunday morning and found about two dozen human heads in the back. True story. But it's not what you think: Turns out the heads (which were embalmed) were specimens used in medical training in Fort Worth, and they were headed back to a......

Britney and Backstreet are back alright, but we’ve got our eye on a few other notable releases this week. However, if you’re still looking for some last minute Halloween costume ideas… We’re really excited about the lovely Nicole Atkins’ latest album, Neptune City. The fact that Atkins’ dramatic low-register voice vaguely reminds us of early Stevie Nicks is merely an added bonus. -Watch the video for the album’s title track on Youtube -Stream the......

Lots of CDs are released week after week. And though we unwisely spend a bulk of our disposable income on music, Houstonist understands that you work hard for the money, honey! So every Tuesday, we'll bring you a list of CDs that we think will give you the most bang for your buck. Ryan Adams and his band the Cardinals release an EP called Follow the Lights today, just months after the acclaimed full-length Easy......

Good morning, Houston. It's no secret that Texans like fried food — so it's no wonder that the Big Tex Choice Awards, the taste-test contest at the State Fair of Texas, focuses on fried concoctions. But this year's Big Tex winner for the best-tasting new food might surprise even the most jaded connoisseur of fried delicacies: It's fried cookie dough, created by Abel Gonzales Jr. The fried cookie dough is a cookie base with......

Good morning, Houston. Seems like everyone's listening to iPods these days, eh? And even if you don't have one of the near-ubiquitous mp3 players, all might not be peace and quiet: As the AP notes, iPod-related noise pollution is a growing problem. It can happen in several ways, including people who turn their iPods up to top volume and others who sing along with the music in their heads. Bbut there are ways to......

Milk. It's one of those things we rarely give much thought to — but then we read about how rising milk prices are driving the cost of all dairy-based products up. In fact, according to an expert at the Department of Agriculture, the price of milk-based ingredients used in cheese, ice cream and pizza has gone up by as much as 60 percent in the past year, which means those products end up costing consumers......

Even as the TAKS could be on its way out, state education officials announced Monday that measures will be put in place next year to curb cheating on the standardized test. The anti-cheating measures come after allegations of cheating and concerns over students not graduating because they failed the test — and we can't help but think that those problems go hand in hand. "As the stakes surrounding testing have become higher, some have questioned......

Good morning, Houston. Did you read the Chronicle over breakfast this morning? We're sure the paper is thanking you: According to the Newspaper Association of America, the Chron lost 2 percent of its circulation in the six-month period ending in March. That's really not so bad compared with drops among some of the other biggest papers in the country: 3.5 percent for The Washington Post, 4.2 percent for the LA Times and a whopping......

The HISD board is expected to consider a resolution this week asking the state Legislature to scrap the TAKS test in favor of year-end exams in core subjects. Legislators have been discussing the testing change for weeks, and we're sure the support of the state's largest school district wouldn't exactly hurt the push for a TAKS-free state. Teachers and parents have criticized the TAKS for years, saying too much rides on the test and that......

State Sen. Dan Patrick (R-Houston) caused a bit of a stir at the Capitol yesterday when he walked out of the Senate chamber so he wouldn't have to be present as an Islamic spiritual leader delivered the opening prayer. Patrick said he didn't have a problem with Imam Yusuf Kavakci of Dallas giving the invocation, but that didn't mean that he had to stay in the room while it was going on: "It is important......

Gov. Rick Perry was expected to propose privatizing the Texas Lottery to generate money for health care and education, and he didn't disappoint: The governor projects that selling the lottery off to a private operator could net the state at least $14 billion, he said in his State of the State address this morning in Austin. The money would be used to form a $2.7 billion endowment for Texas' uninsured and a $3 billion fund......

Kids are used to the routine of bringing a note to school when they've been absent from something, right? But soon, parents might have to get into it, too — at least those who miss scheduled parent-teacher conferences, that is. Under a bill before the state Legislature, parents who skip out on teacher conferences could be charged with a misdemeanor and fined up to $500 if they don't present a "reasonable excuse" for missing......

There's a new kid on the sub sandwich block, folks: Houstonians who worship at the altar of Jimmy John's will rejoice over the grand opening of a franchise on Houston soil today. The first Jimmy John's in Houston is located on 59 N between Weslayan and Buffalo Speedway. The chain of sandwich shops is popular with college students, likely because of their late hours, and their nearly 500 locations are mostly in college towns.......

The Dallas Morning News reports today that some state legislators are taking steps to make sure abortions become illegal in Texas if the U.S. Supreme Court ever overturns Roe v. Wade. State Sen. Dan Patrick, who was sworn in as a senator Tuesday, has filed a so-called "trigger bill" that would take effect if the Supreme Court should reverse its position on abortion. It's a change Patrick said is coming: "Many of us on the......

Forget those five-pizzas-for-$5 deals the competitors are doing — Dallas-based pizza chain Pizza Patrón has launched something that's sure to get far more attention. Beginning today, customers at the chain's 59 locations will be able to pay for their pizzas in pesos. Pizza Patrón, which targets Hispanic customers, said the move will make things more convenient for people who frequently travel to and from Mexico: "We're trying to reach out to our core customer," Antonio......

Incumbent candidate Rick Perry, in a last-ditch effort to boost his already immense popularity, decreed that morality is something that should be included in legislation. The Chronicle reported that Perry announced this not to the general public, but in a closed meeting at the Houston Grand Plaza hotel on Kirby across from Reliant Park. The majority of attendees were African American ministers. From the Chronicle:Gov. Rick Perry in a closed meeting Thursday told African-American......

So there's good news and bad news for Gov. Rick Perry. The good news: According to a new poll, he should easily win re-election in November if things keep going like they are. The bad news: According to the same poll, a lot of Texans think he's kind of a sucky governor. Ah, politics. The poll, conducted by The Dallas Morning News (check out the results here), found that Perry leads the pack of five......

Looks like the end of the road for Carole Keeton Strayhorn's attempts to get herself called "Grandma" on the November gubernatorial ballot: A state district judge ruled Thursday that the nickname flap was out of her jurisdiction and Strayhorn dropped her lawsuit seeking to officially make herself "Grandma." Strayhorn, whose campaign slogan is "One Tough Grandma," started her quest for nickname fame earlier this summer, but there was doubt that she'd be allowed to use......

Texas doctors who provide abortions illegally could be subject to the death penalty because of the way the relevant legislation is put together, reports the Dallas Morning News. The state Attorney General's Office has been asked to clarify a probe that began when the Texas Legislature declared a fetus "an individual" back in 2003. Then, in 2005, it became a criminal act to perform certain abortions (for doctors without the required certification, for example). Therefore,......

Fun with Dick and Jane: Directed by Dean Parisot, starring Tea Leoni, Jim Carrey, Alec Baldwin. Open letter to Jim Carrey: Please stop making these torturing, face-contorting at weird angles, ills of suburban sprawl, silly films and return to the days of your Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Majestic brilliance. Please? Basically this 1970s remake is about a man who looses his job and fears his cushy lifestyle will disappear as well......

Remember the Segway, Dean Kamen's invention that everyone said would revolutionize society? Well, it didn't. Five years after the wonder scooter made its debut, the only Segways that Houstonist sees regularly are the ones the Galleria security guards use. But that could soon change: The first "official" Segway dealerships in Texas are expected to open this year, bringing the joys of not walking to a state where people already know the joys of not walking.......

A week after The Dallas Morning News named Houston its "Texan of the Year" for the city's treatment of hurricane evacuees, Dallasites spoke out about the choice in the DMN's letters to the editor. And they liked it! The letter writers called Houston "an inspiring example of civic leadership" and lauded the paper's editorial board for "choosing a city of worth instead of a sports or entertainment figure." Even Mayor Bill wrote in, saying "it's......

Welcome to 2006! If our first news of the new year is any indication, the apocalypse may be drawing near: Dallas is giving Houston props. In its Sunday editions, The Dallas Morning News names the city of Houston "Texan of the Year" for 2005 for the way it handled evacuees from Katrina and Rita, saying Houston showed "resilience, resourcefulness and good old Texas neighborliness on a scale that did the whole state proud." To......