Big D's Great Roar

Against Thomas' backdrop, along with bassist Blake McWhorter and keyboardist Brian McCorquodale, Watson was voted Best Male Vocalist. He eerily re-creates the almost monotone yet cogent vocal range of Depeche Mode, Echo and the Bunnymen, and Psychedelic Furs, never straying too high or low but never needing to either. "I never really wanted to be a singer. It was only till recently that I really gained a confidence in singing," he admits. Really? Because those long vocal runs on the CD and the oozing sex appeal he shows off while singing live could have fooled me, not to mention the haunting understated vox-work on "Devotion." "There's a passion that I exude when I'm singing. Passion is really the main statement that comes from my vocal styling. I know that every word I sing I'm believing it and not just singing to fill a chorus. The emotion comes first and everything kind of follows. That's what adds to making the song really powerful," he admits, lending to his star quality as the Freddie Mercury/Prince of the Dallas scene.

So after a banner year for the Dynasty, what's on the horizon? Well, the usual next album, though Watson says BTD wants to take a different avenue this time around. "We are already working on the next album and have half of the material for it already. We're changing direction with the sound," he says, "and we want to constantly evolve. This album will be a lot darker and more dynamic."

Now that's a bold statement to the dancing fans they accumulated with the energetic Movements. Tee-hee. —Rich Lopez

Granada Theater
Best Live Music Venue

A tight loose ship is the best way to describe the Granada. Tight, as in owner Mike Schoder runs things well. Bands start on time for the most part, the staff is friendly and briskly efficient, the beer cold and, with four bar areas, plentiful. Loose, because Schoder and his partner, Julie Garton, are friendly laid-back folks who truly care about music—be it local or national, jam band or experimental freak-out jazz—and their cool vibe can be felt throughout the venue's charmingly fading walls, ornate ceiling and chill-out balcony. The pair made perhaps the best move of any venue in town this year by hiring local music man Kris Youmans to book and promote shows there. Youmans' touch has raised the quality level of the acts that agree to play the venerable old theater on Lower Greenville, despite the constant struggle of battling big-name promoters of the Charles Attal variety. This year alone we've seen shows ranging from storied '60s legends to hipster faves to local heroes, all run through a top-notch sound system and stellar light effects. And, since Schoder scraped up enough dough to buy the joint, we don't have to worry: No one's gonna tear this sucker down and turn it into a bunch of condos. Not on his watch. —J.W.

Gorilla vs. Bear (gorillavsbear.blogspot.com)
Best Web site/Blog

Chris Cantalini's competitors in this category are as local as a 214 prefix—no daily Sarah Jaffe, Doug Burr, Faux Fox, Nouns Group and J.D. Whittenburg updates here, alas. Which doesn't mean Cantalini lacks a sizable local presence: He was the first to champion homegrown heroine Annie Clark (St. Vincent, natch) more than a year before she turned into an Entertainment Weekly/Spin/New York Times pick-to-click; he pimps Ghosthustler like he's got money invested in the band; and his regularly scheduled shows at the Cavern and the Loft at Palladium are must-attend shindigs amongst hipsters with indie-tuned eardrums. And he wasn't above dismissing the Dallas Observer Music Awards as "pretty much a huge joke," which ain't stopping us now.

It's a testament to Cantalini's taste and influence that we refuse to take offense at such comments. (He was, after all, the only person with whom we consulted before launching our own blog, Unfair Park.) Cantalini wisely recognizes that provincialism's a dead end for the adventurous music fan, for whom local music can serve as the gateway drug to faraway pleasures. He's a Sirius man, part of the satellite radio network's MP3 blog show, and he's given us far too much for us to bemoan the occasional beat-down: When we need to hear (and download to our iPods!) the latest from The Go! Team, M.I.A., White Denim, Madlib, Devendra Banhart or any other Pitchfork faves earlier than anyone else on the block, we dial up GvB. But most important, he's as much fan as tastemaker, seldom prone to the snark attacks that make the music blogosphere a dangerous place for the accidental tourist who wants to hear something new, like, now. —Robert Wilonsky

Idol Records
Best Record Label

"It's not financially viable running an independent label," says Erv Karwelis, founder of Idol Records. "I get by, but not very well."