Home > Austin Music Source > Archives > 2008 > September > 15
Monday, September 15, 2008
R.I.P MTV’s ‘TRL’
From the Associated Press:
Time to start the countdown clock on MTV’s countdown era: “Total Request Live” will soon leave the air after 10 years.
Dave Sirulnick, executive producer of “TRL,” said Monday that the music video countdown show will conclude in a two-hour special on a Saturday afternoon in November. He stressed that the show wasn’t ending for good, but felt now was the right time to give it a break after an unprecedented run on the cable music channel.
“TRL” debuted in September 1998 and became the splashy center of the teen pop music scene with Britney Spears, the Backstreet Boys, N’Sync and other acts. From its heydey until 2008, it’s been a destination for musicians, movie stars and celebrities promoting their new music, movies and other projects.
Permalink | Comments (1) | Post your comment
Interview with Wreckless Eric and Amy Rigby
Meet Wreckless Eric and Amy Rigby, who played Emo’s Saturday night and released a new record on Monday. In the late ‘70s Eric Goulden, one of the original artists on the pioneer U.K. punk/new wave label Stiff Records, got noticed for a self-deprecating, offbeat working-class sense of humor and heart-on-sleeve vocals on singles like “Whole Wide World,” “Take the Cash” and “Walking on the Surface of the Moon.” Rigby, a native of Pittsburgh and erstwhile New Yorker, is the onetime mod housewife who’s developed a loyal following through steady touring in the U.S., U.K. and Ireland behind a series of critically raved-about albums showcasing her dry wit and hard-won wisdom in songs about the myriad aspects of relationships, the struggle to remain relevant when you’re over 30 (or 40), dead-end jobs and the occasional fashion tip. These two veterans of the indie-music wars have had their share of ups and downs, and both blend cynicism with romanticism (or, if you prefer, they’re both romantics blessed with a healthy sense of realism and an ability to laugh at the absurdity of life).
Rigby and Goulden first met at a club in northern England in 2001, connected for keeps three years later at a gig in New Jersey, moved to a small village in northwest France early last year and, last April, got married. Over about a year, they recorded and produced a self-titled album at home, by themselves, that - to complete the circle - was released Monday on a resurrected Stiff Records (under new ownership these days). You’d do well to pick up a copy of “Wreckless Eric & Amy Rigby,” because in tandem they’ve created a hybrid of their distinctive styles, plus a third dimension owing to a creative rebirth fired by both parties being fans of each other’s work, and delighting in the firing of mutual sparks and throwing random chords at the wall to see what sticks.
There are more hits and misses on the CD, whose eclectic tone includes bits suggesting everyone from the Beach Boys and Bangles to early ‘70s Britrock, Robyn Hitchcock and neo-psychedelia. And, in a first for at least Rigby, the music is as important as the lyrics; she layers harmonies to dazzling effect. That, plus Goulden’s expert hand with electronics and sampling, results in a dense yet fluid ambiance that keeps listeners engaged and guessing. It’s not far off the best work either artist has produced.
“You have to find something to get you going, or get you excited (to) keep doing this,” says Rigby, on the phone from the road somewhere in the vicinity of Modesto, Calif. “I think that working with Eric gave me that new enthusiasm, having someone to kind of pull for. I definitely felt, toward the end of my last record, that I’d just gotten a certain aspect of songwriting down and I wished I could - not start over again, but find a different way to express myself that wasn’t so focused on the lyrics, because those will come anyway.
“I definitely like to let Eric move things along. The way I’ve made records in the past has been pretty linear: setting out a period of time, getting songs, putting down basic tracks and putting things on top. He really did sound like a painter in the studio.”
Goulden needs no warm-up or prompting to get going, either on stage or on the phone with a complete stranger; he starts our conversation with hilarious, profane riffs on the questionable behavior of people he encountered in a bar the other night as well as some guy in the audience who called for a song Amy once wrote about her ex-husband (“Doesn’t he see me here, standing next to her?!”).
Do they get a sense of how many in the audience are Eric people or Amy people? “I guess there’s an overlap, maybe a lot more than you would think,” Rigby says. “Sometimes it’s like they’re meeting the new boyfriend or something and they’re kind of like, ‘huh,’ or vice versa, like I’m the new girlfriend and they might not be disposed to liking me. But they’ll come around, I think, as we play together.”
Is the double act a one-off event, or do they plan to pursue new projects, musically, as a couple?
“I feel like we’re a band,” Rigby says. “I feel like it took us a record to even get going. As we were doing it, we were figuring out how we worked together.” They’ve already started work on another album, she adds.
For these newlyweds, touring together is a license to enjoy each other’s company while making a living. “I love being with Amy,” Goulden says. “I suppose (one reason) I stopped touring with bands was economic. The other thing is, you’re hanging out with people that, apart from playing music, you’re not into the same things at all. You just get to the point where you want to obliterate yourself. I enjoyed the solo touring more, but it’s very lonely.” Now, he adds, “the touring is fun, we can do things together.”
Like a working vacation?
“My whole life’s been a working vacation, really. I always think, how much longer am I going to get away with this?”
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment
Review: John Hiatt and Joan Osborne at Austin Music Hall
With values volleying going on at the political nets again this election, an upright son of the Midwest stood tall at the Austin Music Hall Sunday night. John Hiatt, who introduced his new love songs in praise of Mrs. Hiatt and 22 years of marriage, reminded that rock ‘n’ roll can still work as good, clean fun.
Too bad Hiatt doesn’t write soaring anthems or either presidential campaign could play his music. I have no idea which candidate he’s supporting, but his “Have a Little Faith in Me” from 1987 seems appropriate in this economy with its start about “when the road gets dark.”
What Hiatt does best is take a simple emotion and wrap his considerable lung power and driving beat into a full-on assault, which he did Sunday on “Perfectly Good Guitar,” his scolding of any musician who trashes an instrument on stage. There’s no doubt, as the six-string-loving Hiatt sang on “Riding With the King,” that he’s “gonna play that thing until the day I die.” (That Hiatt blues belter gave B.B. King and Eric Clapton a title song for their Grammy-winning collaboration.)
Watching the lanky, clearly enunciating Hiatt on stage is a treat compared to more staid singer-songwriters. Grinning, mouth open wide enough to see his tongue darting in and out, kicking out a leg, he literally throws himself into songs.
Side strings work by Doug Lancio, who has long played for Patty Griffin, added more depth as Lancio switched to a new axe for almost every number. The crowd was on their feet for the solo and windup of “Slow Turning.”
Hiatt acknowledged the pain Ike has inflicted on Galveston and Houston residents, and he noted the Austin show’s move from the outdoor Backyard was a wise precaution. Then he offered “Crossing Muddy Waters,” his own tragic ballad of a family’s loss to a swollen river.
Not on this set list was the gushy “Same Old Man,” the title of his new CD. That’s just as well since Hiatt never seems the same old anything and acts like he’s still a kid with a new guitar and a lot to prove.
Nearly as many songs Sunday came from opener Joan Osborne, whose sultry stances and vocal range were worlds apart from Hiatt (or at least the distance from her New York base to his Nashville home).
“Hallelujah in the City,” the first track from her just-out “Little Wild One” album, put the audience on notice: She can be hell and heavenly. Osborne’s straightforward narrator declares herself unfaithful and returning to a relationship with redemption in mind. Then the ever-escalating hallelujahs begins with no need for a choir.
Of course the crowd wanted and got “One of Us,” Osborne’s musings about whether God might be walking around among us. But do they remember that song came on the same major-label debut that contained “Let’s Just Get Naked”?
Osborne, towering over her band members in heels and a summery black-on-white dress, can vamp it up with the best blues divas. The sly smile goes away, however, when she cranks up her pipes for a finish that’s all business.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: Reviews
CD review: Will T. Massey’s ‘Wayward Lady’
Will T. Massey
‘Wayward Lady’
(Self-released)
It’s been a year of remarkable comebacks, with Roky Erickson emerging from decades of mental illness and Alejandro Escovedo bouncing back from near death. The story of San Angelo native Will T. Massey, signed to MCA at age 21 and hailed a West Texas Bruce Springsteen, is an equally amazing tale of a musician pulling himself out of a deep and dark place. After his self-titled 1991 debut and a move to Seattle, Massey started losing his mind. An involuntary admission to a mental facility turned him to the streets when he got out. For 13 years his illness — schizophrenia — went undiagnosed. “Whatever happened to Will T. Massey?” was a question that would come up every once in awhile.
But three years ago, after a move back to Austin, he found a doctor he trusted, who prescribed the medication that helped get Massey’s mind right.
“Wayward Lady” (released last week) is an album about coming out of a long, bad dream to find a country gone wrong. “You’re a wicked woman, but I love you,” Massey sings on the title track. “You Work For Me,” is his defiant message to President Bush, who’s portrayed in brutally unkind terms throughout the album. “Peace Train,” meanwhile, tells the story of a woman saying goodbye to her baby as she’s shipped off to Iraq. Based on the experience of Massey’s stepsister, the song, quite lovely, ends on a hopeful note.
The album ends with “American Seance,” in which the deadpan Massey wonders “America, are you in the room? It’s a seance, you died too soon.”
It’s all a little heavy-handed, this album of dour protest songs by an artist who’s 10 times more songwriter than singer. But Massey’s gift as a tuneful, evocative storyteller has undoubtedly returned. Help him celebrate the release of this album Friday at Threadgill’s North.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: Reviews
CD review: Redd Volkaert’s ‘Reddhead’
Redd Volkaert
‘Reddhead’
(Telehog)
The list of Austin treasures includes Barton Springs Pool, breakfast tacos and Redd Volkaert, all of which one can experience on a Saturday afternoon, when Volkaert puts on a guitar clinic at the Continental Club. Many a budding axeman has traded in his Telecaster for a bass or keyboards after witnessing Merle Haggard’s former lead guitarist play with such dexterity, such tone, such soul. This town was truly blessed when Volkaert and his encyclopedia of hot licks moved here from Nashville in 2000.
The point of his new “Reddhead,” which hits stores Tuesday, might be to show that Volkaert is more than just a guitar player. He writes or co-writes seven of the 14 tracks and his rich, deep voice is featured in the mix, but ultimately the CD comes off as an instrumental album with vocals. Whether he’s exploring western swing on Bob Wills’ “End of the Line” or blues with “Call the Pound” or his caustic relationship ditties (co-written by Laura Durham) such as “Is Anything Alright,” “We Need to Talk” and “Just Because I Don’t Care,” the lyrics seem to serve as spacers between all the spectacular picking. In every genre he tackles, Volkaert can hold his own with anyone.
Those wary of claims that Volkaert is the best guitarist in town should listen to his cover of “The Letter” by the Boxtops. The song is about a man hungry to get home after receiving a love letter and in Volkaert’s solo of frantic percolation you can hear all the determination of movement in the protagonist’s mind. Volkaert isn’t a ripper, he’s a gripper. When he follows that cover with a jazzy country take on Buddy Emmons’ “Raisin’ the Dickens’,” there’s no denying that we’re hearing a master at work.
As a singer, Volkaert is functional, if not a little flat at times. His voice neither astonishes nor gets in the way. But when he ends this CD, his first in four years when you don’t count the recent Heybale release, with a cover of Hag’s “I’ll Break Out Tonight,” the lifelong sideman steps to the front with a flourish. After seven years backing Haggard, the vocal nuances have sunk in. There’s no substitute for seeing Volkaert live, at his Saturday afternoon gig or Sunday nights with Heybale. But if you’re looking for some music to play on the way to the gig, or at home on nights you can’t go out, “Reddhead” will serve you right.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: Reviews
Arc Angels reunion at Antone’s
An Antone’s schedule shows a reunion of Charlie, Doyle II, Tommy and Whipper for Dec. 5 & 6.
Closer to now, the club has a special all-female show Friday, with Carolyn Wonderland, Lou Ann Barton, the Bluebonnets and BettySoo.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment
Musicmania Top 10 for the week ending Sept. 14
Young Jeezy, ‘Recession’ (Def Jam)
Slim Thug, ‘Back By Blockular Demand’ (Koch)
ABN, ‘It Is What It Is’ (Rap-A-Lot)
ABN, ‘It Is What It Is Screwed & Chopped’ (Rap-A-Lot)
Game, “LAX’ (Geffen)
Big Pokey, ‘Evacuation Notice’ (Koch)
Ice Cube, ‘Raw Footage’ (Lench Mob)
Trae, ’ Against Everything’ (Oarfin)
Metallica, ‘Death Magnetic’ (Warner Bros)
Marvin Sease, ‘Who’s Got The Power’ (Malaco)
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment
Autograph signings at ACL
The Waterloo Records tent at ACL will host the following signings:
Friday:
12:00pm Vampire Weekend
1:45pm Rodney Crowell
2:00pm Christopher Denny
2:45pm What Made Milwaukee Famous
3:00pm Mates of State
3:30pm Hot Chip
4:00pm Eli Young Band
5:00pm Donovan Frankenreiter
5:00pm Delta Spirit
5:00pm Jamie Lidell
6:00pm Louis XIV
6:00pm Patty Griffin
7:30pm Ryan Bingham
Saturday:
12:00pm Daniel Johnston
1:00pm Black and White Years
1:00pm Langhorne Slim
2:00pm The Old 97s
3:00pm MGMT
3:00pm The Fratellis
3:30pm Spiritualized
4:00pm Mason Jennings
4:00pm The Drive-By Truckers
4:00pm Back Door Slam
4:45pm American Bang
5:00pm Yonder Mountain String Band
6:15pm Electric Touch
Sunday:
1:00pm AA Bondy
1:30pm Buck Howdy & BB
1:45pm Abigail Washburn
2:00pm Okkervil River
3:00pm The Heartless Bastards
3:15pm The Kills
3:30pm Blues Traveller
4:00pm Mike Farris
4:00pm Flyleaf
4:00pm Nicole Atkins
5:00pm South Austin Jug Band
5:15pm Kevin Fowler
5:30pm Colour Revolt
6:00pm Xavier Rudd
6:00pm Neko Case
6:00pm Against Me!
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: ACL Festival
