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Monday, January 5, 2009
Check out the No No No Hopes demo for free
Here is a ZIP file of Austin budget rock garage band the No No No Hopes six-song demo.
Pretty excellent no-fi garage trash, especially if you have a fondness for Supercharger, the Mummies, that sort of thing. Which you should.
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CD review: The Gourds, ‘Haymaker!’
The Gourds
‘Haymaker’
(Yep Roc!)
4 stars
The party line goes something like this: The Gourds should be, as Puffy and Mase once elegantly put it, bigger than the city lights down in Times Square. Their recombinant rocky-tonk jam-folk is equal parts Louisiana humidity and Austin wit, though they’ve never really been able to decide if their wiseacre streak is a plus or an albatross. Frankly, they’re almost a smaller-scale version of the Drive-By Truckers, rootsy lifers who find success and a seriously bonkers core audience well after many lesser acts have called it quits.
Depending how you count soundtracks, “Haymaker” is their ninth, tenth or eleventh album in 15 years, another rock-solid effort from guys who figured out long ago that as good as the CDs are, they’re still just fliers for the live show, even if family commitments keep them more off the road than on.
There’s a strong sense of place on “Haymaker!,” at least on Kevin Russell’s tunes. ‘Country Gal’ shouts out the swaying nymphs that populate the jammy, outdoor festivals the Gourds deserve to headline and “Tex-Mex Mile” puts in a good word for the South Austin of the mid-’90s when life was good and rent and weed were the only concerns (“I was Rip Van Winkle but I thought I was Apollo Creed”).
“Shreveport” misses home while “(All the Way to) Jericho” longs to hit the road. Smith’s tunes stick to girls like “Bridget” (too young for him) and the oddball “Fossil Contender” (related to the Band’s “Jemima Surrender?”). Let’s hope for their sakes “Haymaker!” is the roundhouse they were looking for.
Per usual, it will at least knock you flat.
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Musicmania Top 10 for the week ending Jan. 4
Lil’ Keke ‘Loved By Few Hated By Many’ (TF)
SPM ‘Last Chair Violinist’ (Dope House)
Trae ‘Streets Advocate’ (Oarfin)
Keyshia Cole ‘A Different Me’ (Geffen)
Plies ‘Da Realist’ (Slip-N-Slide)
Anthony Hamilton ‘Point Of It All’ (Arista)
Scarface ‘Emeritus’ (Rap-A-Lot)
Jamie Foxx ‘Intuition’ (J Records)
Z-RO ‘Crack’ (Rap-A-Lot)
Kanye West ‘808s & Heartbreak’ (Def Jam)
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Gourds, Ruthie, Kweller LPs on horizon
The new year means that a slew of local releases by nationally-recognized artists are headed for the bins. Waterloo Records list of upcoming in-store appearances kicks off 2009 tomorrow with the Gourds performing songs from “Haymaker!,” which some are calling the best Gourds LP yet.
February 3 finds Ruthie Foster at Sixth and Lamar, touting “The Truth According To Ruthie,” which could also be called “Ruthie In Memphis.” Not only does the gospel/ blues belter cover Ann Peebles and Al Green, but she’s got their keyboardist Charles Hodges, not to mention Jim Dickinson, Robben Ford, Larry Fulcher and Rock Deadrick in her band on the record.
Nouveau Austinite Ben Kweller will perform songs from his upcoming ATO release Feb. 4 at Waterloo.
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Free Week jumps off
Proving once again that Austinites will flock to pay a little as possible to support local bands Free Week all over Red River got off to a raging start Friday night. The vibe was a little like South By Southwest, but less well dressed. But there was some question as to whether Austin could sustain a handful of clubs, rather than, say, one, doing a Free Week.
While folks flocked to Emo’s for the Lemurs Friday, things seemed all the more insane Saturday night at Mohawk, as the line snaked around the club for the Riverboat Gamblers set. Overheard: “Maybe Harlem should have played in the middle instead of Alright Tonight.” Um, yes. Yes they should. But then, I could see Harlem about once a week and not get bored.
Sunday felt completely different. Around 10 p.m. Red River seemed all but abandoned. After all, toady was the first day back to work in a long time for all sorts of folks. Or maybe it was just too cold.
A small crowd gathered at Mohawk for sets from Serious Tracers, Follow That Bird!, Butcher Bear’s Rainbow Bus and more. A slightly bigger crowd showed for the Emo’s gigs. The chamber rock of J. Be featured otherwise fairly metal guitarist David DiDonato holding down the hired gun guitar slot. Elv!s canceled, which meant so did I. (Peace to Woven Bones.)
What did you folks see this weekend?
Free Week photos
- Day 3 of Free Week featuring The Always Already, Low Down Shaky Chill, Unwed Fathers, more: Photos
- Day 2 of Free Week featuring Riverboat Gamblers, The Ugly Beats, What Made Milwaukee Famous, more: Photos
- Day 1 of Free Week featuring The Alice Rose, Built by Snow, Summer of Blood, more: Photos
