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Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Sky Saxon in critical condition at St. David’s Hospital
Newly minted Austinite Sky Sunlight Saxon of garage rock legends the Seeds was hospitalized Monday at. St. David’s, according to a statement from his publicist.
Saxon, whose legal name is Richard Marsh, is in critical condition in the ICU. Doctors suspect an infection of the internal organs; further tests are pending.
Saxon fell ill last Thursday, but performed at Saturday at Antone¹s.
Sky¹s wife Sabrina Saxon encourages fans and friends worldwide to send cards and balloons of encouragement, love and support to Sky at his room in the ICU. (No flowers.)
Check out http://www.facebook.com/sabrinasaxon for updates on Saxon’s condition.
Please send cards and balloons to:
St David¹s South Austin Hospital
901 West Ben White Blvd.
ICU-10 (Richard Marsh)
Austin, Texas 78704
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Jim James of My Morning Jacket to release George Harrison tribute
The six song EP, “Tribue To,” will be available July 7 for download at the MMJ frontman’s Web site and will be in stores Aug. 4. One track from the album, “Behind That Locked Door,” is currently streaming on the site. According to a press release, James recorded the songs shortly after Harrison’s death in 2001. A portion of the proceeds will go to the Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary
In other news, James has teamed up with M. Ward, Conor Oberst and Mike Mogis to form Monsters of Folk . That album will be released on Sept. 22. The group hasn’t announced tour dates yet.
“Tribute To” Tracklist:
1.) Long Long Long
2.) Behind That Locked Door
3.) Love You To
4.) My Sweet Lord
5.) Ballad of Sir Frankie Crisp (Let It Roll)
6.) All Things Must Pass
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Pogues coming to Stubb’s Oct. 28
Holy cow.
Complete with Shane McGowan.
Oct. 28 at Stubb’s.
Pre-sale tickets on sale now through the Pogues site. No word on tickets for the rest of us.
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That soft thump you hear is your head exploding when you gaze upon….
Soviet-era Russian album covers!
(Thanks to the great Maura Johnston at Idolator for the hook-up.)
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The final days and nights of Room 710
Here are some highlights of what’s going on at Room 710 the final month. Check out http://myspace.com/room_710 and http://www.room710.net for more updates. Again, this isn’t all of them, just a few highlights.
July 4
Jazzus Lizard
Aartfystte (members Brown Whornet)
MC Terroristic (members Foot Patrol)
Baby Got Bacteria (many members, many bands)
Says 710 owner Asher Garber “It’s as close to a Brown Whornet show as this place will again get.”
July 7
Two-piece night (band members, not fried chicken)
The Vitamins (Erik Conn of Tia Carrera and bassist Jamie Mills)
Full Stride
Damage Pants
July 7 (7/10 at 710)
Scott H. Biram
Pure Luck
Woods Boss
7pm: Supersonic Uke
July 11
Cat Scientist (one-off reunion show)
Strange Attractors
Churchwood
tba
July 25
Austin extravaganza starting at 9 p.m.
The Dicks
Pocket FishRmen
Tia Carrera
the Open Casket (ex-Motards)
Make Austin Weirder Fest day show begins at 3 p.m.
Crapulence
Damage Pants
Obnosticon
Awesome Death
more
July 12, 26
Bullet Proof
Says Garber, “In house, all vinyl, all styles DJ, a.k.a. ‘The Future’”
More to come.
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103.5 BOB-FM: The home of robots.
As most Austinites know, 103.5 BOB-FM is the local “BOB” format station. It’s a variety hits format, which means a mix of ’60s, ’70s ’80s, ’90s and some ’00s here and there. (In Austin, it seems to like the 80s an awful lot.)
It’s an automated format, which means that there’s no DJ but features mildly localized station bumpers.
The shtick is you never know what you’re going to hear. Which is true, more or less, but it also means that you REALLY never know what you are going to hear, to the point that I like to think that the station is run by slowly-rusting robots who a) are still trying to figure humans out and b) need to update their bumpers.
Let’s take b) first. Heard a bumper the other day that said something along the lines of “Bob got this album at Sound Exchange” Then the station played Coldplay’s “Viva La Vida,” a song released in 2008, five years after Sound Exchange closed its doors.
Oops.
Then there’s a).
On Sunday, I heard a bumper that said something about “Happy Father’s Day!” or some such comment. OK so far.
Then the station played George Michael’s “Father Figure.”
Ew.
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CD Review: Isaac Hayes, “Hot Buttered Soul;” Big Star, “#1 Record/Radio City”
Isaac Hayes
‘Hot Buttered Soul’ (Stax)
A-
Big Star
‘#1 Record/Radio City’ (Ardent)
A
Memphis will always have something to say. It can’t help itself. It’s the birthplace of the second half of the 20th century, for Elvis’ sake.
There are times when it seems more fertile than other times, but Bluff City is still producing thrilling material even now (see also power pop genius Jay Reatard, Three Six Mafia’s recent moment in the sun or pretty much everything about underground rock label Goner Records).
But there was a time when Memphis seemed to have everything to say and couldn’t say it fast enough. From the late ’50s to the early ’70s, Memphis was king, making some of the coolest music in the world.
Two reissues arriving this month reflect Memphis’ diversity, its penchant for off-handed musical complexity, its gift for making classics.
In 1969, Isaac Hayes was better known as a top-flight Memphis songwriter and producer than a recording artist. He had already cut “Presenting Isaac Hayes,” a jazzy, mostly improvised solo album with Booker T. and Duck Dunn called to no notice (it’s aged well, however). The follow-up, “Hot Buttered Soul” made history, from its iconic cover of Hayes’ bald head to its four-long-tracks format to its mind-bending closer, the 18 minute “By the Time I Get to Phoenix,” the psychedelic properties of which are expanded on at length by My Morning Jacket songwriter Jim James in this edition’s liner notes.
“Hot Buttered Soul” all but invented progressive R&B and, from the driving, oft-sampled piano grooves on “Hyperbolicsyllabicsesquedalymistic” to the rebooting of “Walk On By” to the 10-mintue intro to “Phoenix,” it holds up brilliantly.
Three years later, Big Star were rethinking their genre as well. But as R&B was getting more progressive, Alex Chilton, who had cut some amazing blue-eyed soul with the Box Tops, was ditching his gritty croon for a much-higher register and Beatles worship with Big Star.
There’s some mighty mannered music on “#1 Record” and “Radio City,” some of the most self-conscious guitar pop ever made, but also some of the flat-out best.
“The Ballad of El Goodo” and the gorgeous “Thirteen” embody a romantic longing that’s awfully hard to capture without vanishing into your own navel, and “In the Street” and “When My Baby’s Beside Me” are parking lot anthems for the ages.
Amazingly, “Radio City” is even better — tighter, more fully realized. Chilton still can’t quite get his head around the opposite sex (From the immortal “September Gurls” “I loved you, well, never mind/ I’ve been crying all the time” — buck up, son!) but he sure knew his way around a tune. “O My Soul,” “Mod Lang” and “Back of a Car” are still inspiring lonely boys to make the most beautiful rock they can.
And these are just three tiny pieces of the universe Memphis has given us. Long may there be something in the water.
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Guest list giveaway: ‘Love, Janis’ at Zach Scott Theatre
We’re giving away tickets to see the musical “Love, Janis” chronicling the life of Janis Joplin at Zach Scott Theatre.
Email us at events@statesman.com before midnight to enter. You MUST include your full name, email address and daytime phone number in the email to win. Winners will be drawn randomly and notified tomorrow. For complete contest rules email events@statesman.com.
