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Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Buick MacKane reunion 9/26
Alejandro Escovedo’s great glam/ garage band Buick MacKane will play their old home, the Hole In the Wall Sept. 26. Buick’s shows at the venue in the ’90s are legendary.
The original lineup of Glenn Benavides, David Fairchild and Joe Eddy Hines will be on hand.
Escovedo just returned from a month of songwriting in Mexico. His regular band will do a residency at the Continental Club in November and December to woodshed the material before heading back into the studio in early 2010.
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LP Review: Mammoth Grinder, “Extinction of Humanity”
Mammoth Grinder
‘Extinction of Humanity’
(Cyclopean)
Grade: B+
Never let it be said this Austin metal trio isn’t down with truth in advertising. Titles include “Total Extinction” (we’re toast), “Societal Collapse” (before we’re toast, we tear each other apart) and the not-quite-as-upbeat-as-you-might-assume “Life Returns” (well after the toasting, humans aren’t there and everything else is probably better for it).
Mammoth Grinder’s roar operates at the nexus where thrash, grindcore (without the hyperfast blastbeats) and death metal (without the obsessive, near-classical devotion to precision) become somewhat indistinguishable to anyone not steeped in the minutiae of metal subgenres. But it does roar, six songs of large drums, feedback, bellowed vocals and a surprising number of deft solos. Available only on LP at the moment and played back at 45 rpm for maximum pounding.
Mammoth Grinder is scheduled to play Red 7 on Sunday and Emo’s on Oct. 13.
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CD Review: Pete Yorn, “Break Up”
Pete Yorn & Scarlett Johansson
‘Break Up’
(Atco)
Grade: B
According to background materials, “Break Up” (inspired by Serge Gainsbourg’s collaborations with Bridget Bardot), was recorded in 2006, after Yorn supposedly conceived of the entire album, “fully formed,” in a dream.
The singer/songwriter isn’t doing himself any favors by citing Gainsbourg or by comparing Johansson, (whose previous foray into the music business,“Anywhere I Lay My Head,” an album of Tom Waits covers, received very mixed reviews) to Bardot, but at least we know Woody Allen will buy the record. That said, it’s not the disaster that many might assume it to be after hearing such claims, but it’s probably not going to make any end-of-year lists, either.
Though it’s almost impossible not to compare the effort to Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward’s very well-received She and Him, “Break Up” is more of an actual duet, a chronicle of a relationship gone awry, with Johansson for the most part hanging back and playing a supporting role. One exception is the catchy single “Relator,” an upbeat country rock tune where she throws out semi-sultry lines such as “I don’t beg, I don’t borrow, I steal.”
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CD Review: Kid Cudi, “Man on the Moon: The End of Day”
Kid Cudi
‘Man on the Moon: The End of Day’
(Motown)
Grade: C+
Well, that was a bit of a disappointment.
First, Kid Cudi’s “Man on the Moon” embodies a couple of things that are weird about how we consume music now, especially hip-hop. The album’s big songs have been around for awhile.
“Day N Nite,” with its clever beat (electro blips alternating with hand claps and bass thumps) and proggy, spacey synths, has been floating around since December 2007, when it leaked in advance of its single debut on iTunes in February 2008 and Kid Cudi’s appearance on his patron Kanye West’s 2008 oddball album “808s and Heartbreak.”
The song also appeared on Cudi’s mixtape from later that year (aka The One With All the Autotune). And here it is again.
You might have heard the second single, “Make Her Say” leaked under the name “I Poke Her Face” complete with a sample of an acoustic version of Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face.”
Second, this makes for a whole mess of hype and in some ways, Cudi lives up to it. He has smart taste in beats and pals— “Pursuit of Happiness” features some vocals from MGMT and a thick, synthy track from Ratatat, as does “Alive,” while longtime West Coast producer Emile provides some XL thump to “CuDi Zone” and soundtrack-like string plucks on the “Solo Dolo.”
But Cudi’s rapping is surprisingly weak. Verses are delivered in a tone both flat and spacey (admittedly keeping with the theme, one supposes, but that doesn’t make it gripping listening).
From “Pursuit of Happiness”: “Crush a bit, little bit/ roll it up, take a hit/Feelin’ lit feelin’ light/ 2 am summer night.” Gotta hand it to him, he does sound stoned. West also provides a typically rock-solid beat for “Sky Might Fall,” but Cudi weds it to “grey clouds up above, man/ metaphor to my life man.” He even cops a little of West’s middle-class guilt on “CuDi Zone”: “Ballin’/ is this allowed?/ without feelin’ like Shallow Hal.”
Dude, ball or don’t ball: Either way, own it. Lord knows Kanye does. And for Pete’s sake, have some coffee.
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Jackson Browne at Bass on Nov. 30
Jackson Browne will perform a solo acoustic show right after Thanksgiving at Bass, which is part of the recently renamed Texas Performing Arts at the University of Texas at Austin. And that’s the only time we’ll call it that. (Nov. 30 is a Monday.)
Tickets for the Nov. 30 show — $29.50 to $49.50 — go on sale at noon Friday, Sept. 25, at ticket outlets including the Bass Concert Hall Box Office, most H-E-B stores and all Texas Box Office outlets, online at www.TexasPerformingArts.org, or by calling 477-6060 or (800) 982-BEVO.
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Twang Dang Doodle shows to benefit SaveKUTAustin
Former Austin mayor Lee Cooke, SIMS Foundation founding director Peyton Wimmer and former Steamboat owner Danny Crooks revealed the full lineup for “Twang Dang Doodle” concerts Oct. 11 at Threadgill’s, Antone’s and Cedar Street Courtyard.
Standing in front of the Stevie Ray Vaughan statue at Auditorium Shores (naturally), Crooks announced that participating acts include: Beto y Los Fairlanes, Vallejo, Extreme Heat, Two Nice Girls (their first show since 1992), Kalua, Carolyn Wonderland, Ian McLagan and the Bump Band, Bruce Robison, Oz Noy, Roscoe Beck, Anton Fig, Betty Soo, Monster Big Band, Greezy Wheels, Malford Milligan, Chris Layton, Riley Osbourne, Derek O’Brien, Shelly King and special guests.
In other words, as Crooks put it, “the sort of music that has been played on KUT.”
SaveKUTAustin represents the folks who object to the downsizing of airtime of longtime DJs Paul Ray and Larry Monroe. The group, and the press conference, was headed by Cooke, Crooks and Wimmer.
Cooke see it as an economic issue. “This is a development issue,” Cooke said. “KUT is a very strategic and important organization, one that has played a vital role in the music scene.”
Wimmer objected to what he called the homogenization of KUT’s airways. “This is happening to public radio all over the country,” he said. “They say that they are making these changes because of numbers, but the overall package is what we look at with KUT.
“We don’t need to import music,” he added. “We are an export.”
The show starts at 3 p.m. Oct. 11 at Threadgill’s, followed by gigs at Antone’s and Cedar Street Courtyard. Ticket prices have not yet been set.
