The esoteric and avant-garde have always struggled for a foothold in Dallas, a land besotted by the shiny, expensive and simple. The fascinating, different or groundbreaking is often relegated to the corners, away from the glare of the mainstream, far from the brunching crowds. So, when upstarts like New Media Contemporary, an artist-run gallery, studio and research space founded by James Talambas, make their presence known, it's a case of run, don't walk for those who value art that pushes the envelope and electrifies the soul. Interdisciplinary boundary-breaking is tough to find — patronize those who prize it.

Many of this year's biggest songs by the most popular artists all have three little words in common: "featuring Post Malone." Taylor Swift and Beyoncé featured Malone on "Fortnight" and "LEVII'S JEANS," respectively. In both songs, he is cast as a love interest opposite the towering pop divas. Not bad for a guy with "always tired" tattooed on his face. He has also been collaborating with country artists, performing with the likes of Morgan Wallen and Reba McEntire to build up some cowboy cred ahead of his country album F-1 Trillion. Artists looking to craft a chart-topping single should be taking notes. A Posty collab seems to be the secret sauce.

We're not usually ones to take sides in drama, but it's hard not to when one side is an established local band and the other is a robot. In March, the Denton-based blues rock band The Infamists learned that an unauthorized album full of 45-second songs had been uploaded to their Spotify page. Between the brevity of the songs and the fact that they sounded like garbage, the band quickly deduced that the album was AI-generated. With the help of other artists who had been through the same thing and an effective social media campaign, the dubious album was taken off streaming. Though we still don't know who was behind this stunt, we're glad The Infamists found recourse to silence them.

When the influential TikTok food critic Keith Lee visited Dallas in January, all eyes were on the restaurants he chose to review. Businesses such as brunch spot Brunchaholics in DeSoto and Pakistani-TexMex ghost kitchen Halal Fusionz in Farmers Branch received praise and experienced "the Keith Lee effect," which refers to businesses receiving a boost based on Lee's recommendation. Food truck Sweetly Seasoned was not so lucky, as a viral scandal involving the owners pocketing a $4,000 tip meant to be shared by the staff resulted in its closure. We may be dealing with the aftermath of Keith Lee Week for years.

Sue Ellen's is the oldest lesbian bar in Texas and the last of its kind in Dallas. The place may have won in this category by default, but we have to shout it out on principle. For one thing, a business doesn't survive for 35 years on originality alone. Sue Ellen's has provided joy and refuge through the AIDS epidemic, a recession, COVID-19 and generations of prejudice. There are only 32 operating lesbian bars, meaning that spaces exclusively for queer women are few and far between. We're proud that Dallas is home to a great one.

"The Girl Who Works at the Box Office," as Vega is known on Instagram, goes above and beyond what you'd expect from a movie theater employee. She sells tickets, of course, but also publishes a zine, The Marquee Times, organizes creative events (such as screening The Twilight Saga: Eclipse during the solar eclipse) and works tirelessly to build upon Dallas' community of film enthusiasts. Her growing Instagram account is rife with film recommendations and dazzling photos of her extensive collection of DVDs and VHS tapes. In a world of pedantic film bros, Vega's earnest and passionate presence is a breath of fresh air.

Hadid has lived in Fort Worth since May, so we're jumping at the chance to claim her as a bona fide North Texan. While we admire her contributions to fashion and humanitarian causes, we're particularly fascinated by her status as a horse girl. She's a lifelong equestrian and recently put her modeling career on the back burner to focus on training for Western-style cutting competitions across North Texas. She's in her Bella Yeehaw-did era, if you will. While we don't know much about the sport, we think she looks cool as hell in her cowgirl gear.

Dallas was ready for its close-up last November when The Iron Claw, a film about Denton wrestling family the Von Erichs, premiered at the Texas Theatre. Stars Zac Efrom and Jeremy Allen White were present for the red-carpet event. The film went on to be considered a high point of 2023, earning rave reviews from both critics and audiences. It's nice to not only see a local story reach a wide audience, but for an iconic landmark like the Texas Theatre to be part of it. Here's hoping The Iron Claw will inspire more movies about Dallas and local premieres, because we live for the attention.

The up-and-coming Dallas alt-rock band has put out several compelling visuals this past year, but the dark and moody video for "Where Have the Angels Gone" is among their best work. The Luke Asper-directed visual has a gripping Southern Gothic aesthetic, centering on a fire-and-brimstone-preacher, his troubled congregation and the frontwoman Amethyst Michelle (the band's namesake) invoking icons like Paramore's Hayley Williams with her cutting voice and magnetic stage presence. Both the video and the band are ones to watch.

This café-bookstore-bar has been written about in the past (in last year's Best Of, we named it "Best Place for a First Date"), and it will almost certainly be written about in the future. But we would be remiss not to point out how special it is that Sir Richard Bishop, the guitarist and vocalist of Phoenix avant-garde and punk legends Sun City Girls, played the intimate setting last year. The Wild Detectives is also a great place to check out a who's who of regional talent, including Austin's own Little Mazarn and Thor & Friends and locals such as Aaron Gonzalez and Lily Taylor. The acts who often play The Wild Detectives won't be selling out Carnegie Hall any time soon, but if there were any divine justice, they would be. They are some of this state's supreme talents, and the world needs to know it.