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December 2007
Top 10 movies of 2007
Just what we all needed, one more Top 10 list for 2007. So without further ado, here are my Top 10 films of 2007, with 10 (plus or minus)-word descriptions of each.
- “There Will Be Blood” — Kubrick-esque parable of greed and corruption in America. P.T. Anderson’s masterpiece
- “No Country for Old Men” — Beautifully shot film with one of the scariest villains in recent memory
- “The Savages” — Touching and darkly humorous look at living and dying with dignity
- “King of Kong” — Very human portrayal of good vs. evil set against cartoonish backdrop
- “Michael Clayton” — Riveting thriller and moral tale with a classic feel
- “Into the Wild” — Stomach-punch of a movie about one man’s search for self
- “Knocked Up” — Runs too long but dialogue and acting makes it funniest of year
- “Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead” — Lumet returns to his brilliance of 70s. Hoffman and Linney don’t miss a beat.
- “Hot Fuzz” — Genre-bending laugh riot with equal number of laughs and thrills
- “Sicko” — Heavy-handed and obvious but still a powerful indictment
Honorable Mention
“3:10 to Yuma”
“Gone Baby Gone”
“The Ten”
“The T. V. Set”
Most Overrated
“Juno”
Permalink | Comments (3) | Categories: Movies
Your A-List: Best Place to Buy Records
Guest blogger Brandon Cobb weighs in on this week’s winner, Waterloo Records:
There is no doubt that for portability and versatility the ubiquitous iPod is king — at least for a few more years. But you so much as mention the words “sound quality” in the same breath as mp3 and your music snob, audiophile friend is likely to launch into a 20-minute diatribe about sampling rates, digital dither and “analog warmth.” When it comes to complete and accurate reproduction of sound, analog reigns. And if there is anything an LP loyalist enjoys more than extolling the virtues of analog sound, it’s shopping for vinyl.
With 68 percent of the vote in this week’s Your A-List poll, Waterloo Records was voted as Austin’s Best Place to Buy Records, no small feat in a city where people are as vehement about music as they are about politics.
Austin’s incredibly diverse musical tastes are reflected in the myriad of specialty record stores catering to everyone from the jazz lover to the working DJ. But when you’re out record shopping, you’re not always looking for something specific. Often you find yourself thumbing through the bins looking for something that catches your eye, some obscure gem with an inch of dust on it begging to be played. My friend Nick’s pride and joy is a pristine copy of Boney M’s “Love For Sale” which he bought solely on the strength of the cover art.
In this regard Waterloo does a fine job of stocking a wide variety of not only vintage, but also newly released vinyl including an impressive selection of 7-inch punk singles.
Selection along with customer service are the hallmarks of a great record store. Save for the hipster barista, there is no one quite as annoyingly pretentious as the self-important music store clerk — think Jack Black’s character in “High Fidelity.” Fortunately the staff at Waterloo is very helpful and will wait until you’ve left the store to laugh at you for buying that David Hasselhoff LP.
And what could be better than live music and free beer while you are out record shopping? Waterloo books some great bands, so check out their Web site for a list of upcoming in-stores.
Others receiving votes:
Cheapo Discs, 11 percent
End of an Ear, 6 percent
Half-Price Books, 5 percent
Antone’s, 4 percent
Austin Record Convention, 2 percent
Backspin, 2 percent
DJ Dojo, 1 percent
Sound on Sound 1 percent
Friends of Sound, < 1 percent
Permalink | | Categories: Your A-List
Your A-List: Best Post-Workout Refueling Spot
Guest blogger Brandon Cobb weighs in on this week’s winner, Whole Foods Market:
Austin is one fit city. Just ask Statesman columnist Pamela LeBlanc, who probably jogs more miles than I drive each week. As a city, we may hit up Kerbey Lane for a half-stack and hash browns on Saturday, but we’re out Sunday morning for a 5-mile run on the trails to work it off.
Afterward, we need some serious replenishment, and with 41 percent of the vote, Whole Foods is this week’s Your A-List winner for Best Post-Workout Refueling Spot.
It isn’t exactly right off the hike-and-bike trail, but it’s close enough to stop by and grab a Vitimin Water and peruse their enormous produce section after a run. Whole Foods prides itself on its selection of locally grown and organic veggies.
Whole Foods carries an impressive selection of protein bars and Odwalla products for that post-workout pick-me-up. And, if you need something more substantial, they’ve also got everything from smoothies to fresh-baked, gluten-free muffins.
If you’ve got the time, you can also stop in and visit with one of their nutrition specialists to get the answers to all those tough nutrition questions like, “What exactly is spirulina and how can something that sounds like an infectious disease be good for me?” Consultations run from a simple $5 question-and-answer session to an in-depth, private consultation for $40.
Others receiving votes:
Central Market, 14 percent
Daily Juice, 13 percent
Austin Java Company, 10 percent
Tacodeli, 7 percent
Jo’s, 5 percent
Mr. Natural, 3 percent
Wheatsville, 3 percent
People’s Pharmacy, 2 percent
Sun Harvest, 2 percent
Bouldin Creek Coffeehouse, 1 percent
Food for Fitness Cafe, 1 percent
Permalink | | Categories: Your A-List
Interview: John C. Reilly, aka Dewey Cox
Friday, that will change. The character-actor part, not the respect.
In “Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story,” Reilly steps boldly into the spotlight as the title character in the mock musical biography directed and co-written by Jake Kasdan, a frequent collaborator of the King Midas of R-rated comedies, Judd Apatow (“The 40-Year-Old Virgin,” “Knocked Up”). The movie, which follows Cox across America’s musical landscape, takes a good-natured poke at, and more than a few stylistic cues from, famous musical biographical films and their clichéd archetypes.
Reilly was in town two weeks ago for a performance as Dewey Cox at Stubb’s. We talked with the Oscar-nominated actor about making the movie, the life of an imagined rock star and a career that has taken him from supporting dramatic roles to center stage in the season’s crowning comedy.
M.O.: How did Jake and Judd come to you about the project originally, and what did you think of the concept?
John C. Reilly: Judd just called me up and said, “Oh, I got this call from Jake Kasdan, and he’s got this really funny idea to do a comedy version of a musical biopic. And we were talking about you, and it was makin’ us laugh really hard; would you be interested in something like that?” And I said, “Yea, of course.” Judd and I had just done “Talladega Nights” together. He said they hadn’t even written the script yet and they wanted to hear my ideas, and any time someone says that, that’s a great thing. It’s pretty rare when someone says, “I want to write a movie for you. Are you interested?” Then they wrote a first draft of the script, and as soon as I read it, I thought, man, this is so funny. ’Cause I’ve seen as many biopics as anybody, and seen a lot of the trademark scenes that are in almost all of them.
It was a really funny and kinda smart take on a comedy. And the movie has a lot of bang for the buck, in terms of production value and the costumes and the sets and how attentive to the period detail we were. It’s a lot more detailed and more nuanced than most comedies are, for sure. Then the whole musical aspect: We recorded like 40 original songs over six months in a recording studio before we had shot any of the film. It’s just way more entertainment than you normally get in a broad comedy.
Everybody says that actors want to be musicians and musicians want to be actors and athletes want to be musicians. … Everybody kind of has this fantasy of being some other kind of performer.
Right. The grass is always greener on the other side.
So was the film sort of a wish fulfillment for you? I know you did some singing growing up and have sung limitedly in other movies, but how was it being in a studio and belting out these songs?
It was great. Like you said, I’ve sang in movies before, and I grew up doing musicals, and I’ve had bands over the years, so music has always been a part of my life. But to be able to be part of the creative process of writing a song, that was something that was different for me. And then to be in a recording studio, to be able to throw it back and forth with musicians, and really craft every song as it went along, was not only a rock ’n’ roll fantasy come true but was also a great way to discover the character and work on who this guy was gonna be as we were writing the script.
So the songs helped inform the character?
Sure. Absolutely. ’Cause every time you chose what a lyric was gonna be in a song, you’re putting words in Dewey Cox’s mouth, cause he’s the songwriter for all these things in our world. Also, what I would sound like in the different time periods and how I would react to the different musical stages of the movie, that was also superinformative in terms of the character and the movie itself.
You have a reputation of being a modest person, so inhabiting this rock ’n’ roll persona and walking around in his skin was probably quite a departure for you.
It was really liberating to do it for that reason. I’m a pretty down-to-earth guy. I’m from Chicago; I don’t live anything like a rock-star lifestyle or even a movie-star lifestyle. I’m pretty much a family guy when I’m not working; so it was crazy fun to just be able to flirt with every woman you come in contact with and just assume that the entire world worships you. They can’t get enough Cox, that’s his point of view.
Did the role offer you insight into the way in which that kind of ego trip could cause musicians to devolve into a self-destructive and self-absorbed lifestyle?
You can see it just by living a life as an actor if you’re not careful. People just want to be giving you things and doing things for you. And that sounds really fun, and most of the time it is — to be loved and taken care of — but it can also be corrupting. You gotta be careful what you ask for or what you accept into your life and how much you start to believe the hype that surrounds the life of a performer, whether it’s an actor or musician or whatever.
The old problem of buying into your own hype…
Yea, never read your own press, good or bad.
You’ve been doing more comedy of late. Is that a conscious choice, or is it just a matter of continuing to work and take good roles, and recently they just so happen to be comedies?
It’s pretty much both. The truth is there are a lot of comedies being made right now because the studios have figured out that they’re not that expensive (to make), people love them and they make a lot of money. Also, I think, just generally, the whole country is in a little bit of a denial phase right now in terms of the war and everything, and the world is a really heavy place to deal with right now, so we’re still in a place of wanting to escape from the reality of the world. So I think that’s one of the reasons so many comedies are getting made.
“Talladega Nights” was really the first thing that kicked off this run of comedy roles, and that I did because I am friends with Will Ferrell and Adam McKay (writer-director), and I just knew those guys are some of the best guys in movies, period, comedy or otherwise. They’re just supertalented, superfunny, collaborative guys that will let you do whatever you want, so you want to work with people like that no matter what.
Was (a graphic and hilarious scene in “Dewey Cox”) your first male, full-frontal nudity scene to be a part of, and how do you keep from cracking in those situations?
Looking into another man’s genitals didn’t really make me want to laugh, for a couple of reasons. One, you don’t wanna make the guy feel bad that you’re laughing at his package; the other is that it makes you more uncomfortable than anything. But the whole joke of the scene is that I’d become so instantly debauched from life on the road, that I’m just surrounded by nude people in the middle of a post-orgy scene and it doesn’t phase me at all, I just think, “This is normal now: women and men just walking around in the nude; this is how it is.” So, in order for the joke to work, I had to keep a straight face if I could. The movie’s all about Cox. It’s all about Dewey Cox, from his early days to his old age, so if you’re afraid of Cox, you probably shouldn’t see this movie. Or, if you’re not interested in Cox, this is not the movie for you.
Photo of John C. Reilly by Matthew Odam
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Interview: Jake Kasdan, director of ‘Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story’
Jake Kasdan: This movie was a very simple idea that I had one night, and it seemed like it would be fun to do a fake music biopic about a fictional musical legend. I made a few notes to myself about what that might be: an impossible, hyperbolic rock star life as told through the language of Hollywood biopics that we’ve seen a lot of in the last several years and that it would be called “Walk Hard.” And that’s pretty much all I thought of. Then the last thing I wrote down was that I’ll probably never do this because I don’t have the energy to write this kind of movie. I don’t have the attention span for this particular kind of comedy. This probably won’t happen. This is not my strong suit.
Because of the attention to detail?
Because of the jokes style. Because of how broad it is and how you have to be funny all the time. It’s not the kind of comedy I’ve written in the past. It’s not really like what my other movies are like. But I did sort of think it was a fun idea, and a funny idea. A couple days later, I mentioned it to Judd (Apatow), who’s a good friend of mine and we’ve worked together a lot (“Freak and Geeks” and “Undeclared”). I mentioned this idea to him and he sparked to it right away. He instantly had a ton of ideas about what the movie could be. We talked about how cool it could be to do a big broad comedy that’s driven by a soundtrack and really do something with music because we’re both big rock fans. Suddenly, when it was both of us talking, it seemed like, “How can we not do this?” It was that mutual enthusiasm that made it go.
Obviously late ’70s, early ’80s rock was asking for some satirizing, and “This is Spinal Tap” fit that bill. Was there any way in which you were worried about satirizing iconic musicians like Ray Charles and Johnny Cash or the biopics that were made about them?
We love those artists so much, so it wasn’t like we were gonna do anything to make fun of them. And in truth, I think it’s very loving about the movies. You would just never do this if you didn’t have real affection for your subjects. We saw it as an opportunity to make a big music comedy, and it was just making us laugh. So we trusted our own internal compass on that. And that said, I’m sure that plenty of people will be mad at us about something. If it doesn’t make somebody mad we haven’t done our job.
How did the music and the development of the character work together?
We wrote the script first, but then we started developing the music with the songwriters and Mike Andrews, who’s the producer of all the music, and Manish Raval and Tom Wolfe, my music supervisors. We all started thinking about how that (music production) was gonna work and recruiting people to write the songs. John (C. Reilly) was already involved in the movie at that point and was kind of directing that process with me. So there was definitely a great thing that happened in that by the time we started shooting, he and I had been working on it for eight months, recording all these songs. And John tracked 40 original songs for this movie. It’s incredible what he did vocally; it’s an amazing musical achievement for a singer.
(The music) did end up being kind of how we started talking about what the movie was going to be like and what the character would be like. By the time we started actually doing it, it was sort of like we’d been working on it a long time. Part of the process was figuring out, as we started getting demos and starting recording songs with John singing, “Does this feel right coming out of his mouth? Does this feel right for the character?” And the reciprocal thing was the music started to influence the movie.
How did you come up with the idea of having John play Dewey Cox?
John was the only person we ever talked to about it or thought of for it, actually. We knew we wanted a really great actor, not just a big comedy star but somebody who could really play these scenes with full Oscar-level commitment despite the fact that the scenes are completely absurd. That was like a big part of the original joke to Judd and I: having a great actor play this part and someone who could really sing and make the music authentically in their voice. I just knew it would be a way better movie if it was actually the (actor’s) voice, and there’s no one who can do both of those things other than John, practically. It’s such an incredibly unique set of gifts. And I just love his work. I’m a huge fan of his for years. I defy anyone to find a less-than-fantastic John C. Reilly performance; it doesn’t exist. He’s great in everything.
What do you think is behind the re-emergence of the R-rated comedy, and why are studios so willing to do them?
The simplest answer is that as soon as there’s a good one and it works, and the studios think it can be a success, then they’re willing to do it.
Is it generational at all, do you think?
It may be a little bit generational, or it might just be that we’re living in a moment where people want to laugh in their movies and they want their movies to be outrageous and surprise them. And there’s something exciting about R-rated movies because you feel like you don’t know what’s gonna happen. …
Yea, you could get a full-frontal male nudity shot (as in “Walk Hard”). …
That’s exactly the kind of excitement. … You could be watching an R-rated comedy and out of the blue, a penis will drift into frame. That is possible. Thank goodness.
Photo of Jake Kasdan from The Associated Press
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Your A-List: Best French Fries
What makes a good fry? Thickness, quality ingredients, flavor and crispiness? Sure, those things are a necessity, but if you really want to stand out among the plethora of fry locales in Austin, a little bit of imagination helps, as well. And Phil’s is not afraid of shaking things up a bit, as evidenced by their unique french fries that mix both white and sweet potatoes. Mmmm… sweet potatoes. Homer Simpson would pass out. Not that he’s necessarily a fry guy, but you get the idea. Mouth-wateringly tasty.
Named after Amy and Steve’s late business partner Phil Clay, who died tragically in a motorcycle accident, the culinary homage that sits adjacent to Amy’s Ice Cream on Burnet Road was opened a year and a half ago and has been serving satisfied singles and families ever since.
Just as Amy’s has for 20 years now, Phil’s is making a name for itself thanks to a family friendly atmosphere, community spirit, personable service and quality ingredients. Time will only tell what Amy and Co. have up their sleeves next. But we imagine it will be delicious, and hopefully just as sinful.
Phil’s Ice House [site]
5620 Burnet Road [map]
524.1212
Others receiving votes:
Write-ins: Crown and Anchor, Dan’s Hamburgers, Freddie’s, Hoffbrau, McDonald’s, Lamberts, Roaring Fork and Shady Grove
Image of Phil’s burger and fries by Kelly West AMERICAN-STATESMAN
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Your A-List: Best Place to Hear Live Music on a Weeknight
The winner with 32 percent of the vote, the Saxon Pub adds this honor to its previous honor of best happy hour. And it’s that musical happy hour that makes the old Austin haunt such a draw from music and beer lovers alike. In a time where condos and ultra-clubs, or whatever those new swanky places are called, seem to be the flavor of the day, the dark, saloon-style Saxon Pub harkens back to an earlier time when Austin still had a true renegade spirit and those on the frontlines had guitars slung over their shoulders.
The regulars are friendly even if they don’t know you, and there’s really no such thing as a stranger at the Saxon. And with multiple bands playing seven days a week, you never have to worry about checking the calendar to see who’s playing. Every night you’re guaranteed to see some of the best singing and songwriting talents Austin has to offer, and who knows, show up on the right night and you just might find Bonnie Rait or some other international star on the stage, feeling just at home at the Saxon as one of the regulars sitting at the bar.
The Saxon Pub [site]
1320 S. Lamar [map]
448.2552
Others receivng votes:
Write-ins: Ginny’s Little Longhorn, Headhunters, Joe DiMaggio’s Italian Chophouse, Jovita’s and TC’s Lounge
Permalink | | Categories: Your A-List
Your A-List: Best Music Festival
Two things can certainly be said for the Heart of Texas: it has chutzpah and it knows that timing and location are everything. How else could you explain the fact that this festival runs each March right smack in the, pardon the pun, heart of SXSW?
The local fest, which proudly identifies itself as truly being the fest for independent bands, began in 2000 with only 16 bands playing in one venue and has expanded over the years to a popular festival that draws close to 200 bands to five stages in downtown Austin. Much like SXSW in its earlier years, the Heart of Texas’ mission is to offer unsigned bands an opportunity to be seen (and hopefully signed by) record labels, and what better way to get that exposure than by piggy-backing on the popularity of the behemoth that is SXSW.
With a fiercely independent spirit and tenacity to spare, the festival has carved a niche for itself in the Austin music landscape, a niche it appears happy to fill for years to come.
Heart of Texas Rock Fest [site] [MySpace]
Others receiving votes:
- Austin City Limits, 31 percent
- South by Southwest, 24 percent
- Kerrville Folk Fest, 3 percent
- Fun Fun Fun Fest, 2 percent
- Old Settler’s, 2 percent
- Extreme Texas Metal Fest, 2 percent
- Reggae Fest, 1 percent
- Urban Music Fest, < 1 percent
- Chaos in Tejas, < 1 percent
Write-in: Heart of Texas Quadruple Bypass Rockfest.
Permalink | Comments (9) | Categories: Your A-List
Your A-List: Best Sporting Goods Store
Not only does Academy offer “the right stuff, the right price,” the Texas-based superstore also has one of the most memorable advertising jingles of the past 20 years, and for them that’s probably a good thing. Any time you think, “I need a pair of sweatpants and a fishing rod, where should I go?” and an ad jingle enters your head, you know the attached company has entered the collective consciousness.
Academy indeed offers “the right stuff,” meaning virtually every sporting-related product imaginable, at low prices, and with convenient locations, friendly staff and a recognizable brand, they will probably be doing so for many years to come in Austin.
Academy Sports + Outdoors [official site]
Various locations
Others receiving votes:
- REI, 17 percent
- RunTex, 13 percent
- Cabela’s, 10 percent
- Whole Earth, 8 percent
- Ozone Bikes, 4 percent
- Sports Authority, 3 percent
- Bicycle Sports Shop, 3 percent
- Soccer World, 2 percent
- Jack and Adam’s Bicycles, 2 percent
- Austin Tri-Cyclist, 1 percent
- University Cyclery, 1 percent
Write-ins: McBride’s, Rooster Andrews, The Soccer Post and Southwest Cycle Sport.
Permalink | | Categories: Your A-List
John C. Reilly is Dewey Cox
With a large contingent of media and Austin music and film scene folks milling about the downstairs bar at Stubb’s, about 250 more folks who had seen a sneak preview of the film earlier in the evening streamed in to the club, bringing the crowd to around 350. The packed house was buzzing with anticipation as the lights came down and Cox’s band ran onto the stage for the first few bars, followed by the man of the hour.
Dressed in tight black pants and jacket, red shirt and matching silk scarf, Cox took the stage with an Elvis-like swagger and a billowing pompadour that would have made Roy Orbison blush. Cox tore through a rousing set of mostly originals from the movie’s soundtrack, backed ably by a professional group of musicians that swung and rocked with such authenticity that you could easily imagine them being the house band at the Continental Club. The rock-star-for-a-week played a high-energy set which he interspersed with ridiculously hilarious banter, full of double-entendre jokes that played off of the singer’s surname.
Introducing the song, ‘Dear Mr. President,’ Cox took aim at the former Texas governor currently residing in the White House, while acknowledging that had he been a legal resident of Texas, he would have gladly voted for that ‘Kinky Jew’ who ran for governor last time. The aspersing of Bush and the nod to Kinky Friedman brought a wild cheer from the audience, who hung on the singer’s every tawdry and ridiculous word. At one point, Cox made reference to his having escaped rehab four times, and said he’d like to see the obese David Crosby try and hop a fence. He then broke into a spot-on cover of Amy Winehouse’s ‘Rehab’ that stunned and awed the crowd. Cox introduced another song as one stolen from him by J.J. Cale who subsequently had it stolen by Eric Clapton. That white lie led to an up-tempo version of ‘Cocaine.’ The night’s performance was pure brilliance, and highlighted some of the film’s best songs, with their delicious dichotomy of quality songwriting and absurd lyrics leaving the audience stomping their feet and holding their sides. Following the hour-long set, Cox left the stage but had only taken a few steps off before rushing back on shirtless for a two-song encore.
The night was one of the most entertaining and bewildering I have ever witnessed in an Austin club, and it was probably my second-favorite music concert of the entire year. But beyond the music, the night was about watching one of America’s greatest character actors commit with all of his being to the Dewey Cox character. As Reilly mentioned to me (in an interview that will run later), it is fun getting to step into the skin of a rock star, and there was no denying that Reilly was having as much fun on stage as any performer I have seen in years. Judging by the reaction of the packed house, which included legendary ZZ Top member Billy Gibbons and screenwriter Anne Rapp, the fans had as much fun as the star they came to celebrate.
As I stood by the side of the stage chatting with the movie’s affable director Jake Kasdan, I just kept shaking my head in amazement and saying, “What a legend. What a freaking legend. This is genius!” There was only one man who could pull off this type of performance as well as the role in the movie, and I congratulated Kasdan for having the foresight to realize that man was John C. Reilly. Excuse me, Dewey Cox.
For myriad Dewey Cox links, click here.
‘Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story’ opens in Austin on Dec. 21.
Check out a YouTube clip of Cox playing his midget protest song, ‘Let Me Hold You (Little Man),’ at Stubb’s last Friday.
And the following night in Nashville covering Amy Winehouse’s ‘Rehab.’
Permalink | Comments (5) | Categories: Music
Your A-List: Best Place for a Cheap Date
Almost half of the week, the Alamo locations offers amazingly cheap options, with $2 Music Mondays and the free programming of Weird Wednesday and Terror Thursday. The money that you save on a regularly priced movie ticket can then go toward buying you and your date a bucket of beer to go with your popcorn or pizzas, and even when you are paying full price, you still get the chance to kill two entertainment birds with one stone. How’s that for efficiency? The Alamo offers first-rate entertainment in a fun environment away from the throngs of families and children at the regular cineplex, along with sandwiches, burgers, pizzas and salads that rival any mid-level restaurant in town.
When it comes to entertaining a date on a budget, the Alamo offers you the chance to look cultured and hip without breaking the bank. And, go ahead, get the real butter on your popcorn, you cheapskate; it’s free.
Others receiving votes
- Mount Bonnell, 12 percent
- Home Slice, 10 percent
- Frank and Angie’s, 10 percent
- First Thursday, 8 percent
- Baby Acapulco, 7 percent
- Zilker Botanical Garden, 7 percent
- Movies in the Park, 6 percent
- Elephant Room, 3 percent
- Crown and Anchor, percent
- Jackalope, 2 percent
- Austin Park & Pizza, 1 percent
- Nasty’s, 1 percent
- Third Base, < 1 percent
Write-ins: Dolce Vita, Freddie’s Place, Magnolia Cafe, Maudie’s, Mean-Eyed Cat, Milto’s, Poodie’s Hilltop, Roaring Fork and Shady Grove
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Your A-List: Best Magazine
Billing itself as Austin’s only full-color, glossy monthly magazine devoted strictly to covering and promoting music, Soundcheck Magazine has made quite a name for itself in a brief period of time, reaching up to 50,000 readers each month. The free magazine, launched in March 2006, offers features on local bands as well as concert reviews and listings, and can be found around town in more than 300 locations, including the Alamo Drafthouse, Antone’s and BookPeople.
Soundcheck is not a slave to the printed word, however, and also offers a strong Web presence, with online exclusives and a blog featuring reviews, interviews and suggested show listings. In a town crawling with music resources and one in which magazines come and go, Soundcheck seems to have found some staying power.
How did one of the new kids on Ausitn’s magazine block beat out so many other publications by such a wide margin? Soundcheck’s Director of Publicity Joanna Hackney points to the niche that the young magazine filled, a loyal readership and a committment by the magazine to provide quality content and always remain open to reader feedback.
“Soundcheck found a niche that was not being served. Austin is the most amazing music community of musicians and fans, and it’s the perfect city in which to base ourselves in regards to readership. We’ve recognized this from the beginning and have really strived to present a magazine that is truly based off of our readers’ wishes. We strive to really find out what the music community wants. It’s not just about printing a hip magazine, or having a cool website; we really are focused on finding innovative ways to connect the artist and the Austin audience on a daily basis,” Hackney told me via email recently.
Others receiving votes
- Texas Monthly, 17 percent
- Austin Music + Entertainment, 11 percent
- Austin Monthly, 11 percent
- Austin Woman, 6 percent
- Tribeza, 4 percent
- Austin Daze, 4 percent
- Rare, 3 percent
- Glossy, 2 percent
- Misprint, 2 percent
- Austin Fit, < 1 percent
- Whoopsy, < 1 percent
- Brilliant, < 1 percent
- Fave, < 1 percent
- A, < 1 percent
- Austin Wide Open, < 1 percent
- L Style G Style, < 1 percent
- Capital City Sports Report, < 1 percent
Write-ins: The Good Life and Texas Home & Living.
Permalink | Comments (1) | Categories: Your A-List
Quick bites: Asia Cafe
The tender, flavorful chicken was complemented by a dozen chunks of amazingly fresh mango and more than a half dozen vegetables that were crisp, crunchy and cooked to perfection. Although stymied by not being able to read some of the specials written in Chinese, Tami decided on the whole fried fish, served with bean curd. The massive fish, while predictably oily, was not greasy and the chunks of fresh fish tore off the bone with minimal effort and were as tender and spicy as you could hope for. The cafe also offers free hot tea, which is an added benefit this time of year, and is absolutely packed at lunch time (obviously the place’s reputation has been spread far and wide), with the majority of the customers speaking Chinese on the day we were there. After your meal, you can cruise the small market and shop from a wonderful assortment of imported foods that you won’t find at Central Market or Whole Foods, to be certain.
It is rare that I come across a restaurant that immediately solidifies a place in my weekly rotation of dining spots, but the crisp, clean, authentic flavors of the Asia Cafe immediately had me thinking of my second and third visits and wondering about what to sample next. The unassuming restaurant is a Szechuan-lovers’ heaven and well worth the drive (from downtown).
Asia Cafe [site]
8650 Spicewood Springs Road, No. 115 [map]
512.331.5780
Open daily 10:30 a.m.-8:30 p.m.
Image taken from AsiaMarketAustin.com
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