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Monday, October 19, 2009
KLBJ’s Hodge gets his own four hours a day
Quick-witted KLBJ-FM morning sidekick Charlie Hodge will be moving to 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. to do the “Charlie Hodge Rock N’ Roll Halftime Show,” co-hosted by comedian Matt Sadler. A mix of snark and music, the new show is an extension of the hourlong noon show Hodge has hosted the past two years.
Current mid-day host Kirsten moves to the 2pm-7pm slot.
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Amy Farris’ friends to gather for tribute at Continental
Alex Jones FOR AMERICAN-STATESMAN
Fiddler Amy Farris’ wistful fretwork effortlessly shaded Dave Alvin’s gritty narratives with clemency. No wonder they balanced naturally: Farris, a 40-year-old Austin native who was found dead of an apparent suicide Sept. 30 at her home in Los Angeles, long admired the California-based roots rocker. “Amy came up to me at one of Kelly (Willis)’s shows in L.A.,” Alvin says of their initial meeting. “She told me that she snuck into Austin’s Fast and Cool Club to see me in X when she was 15. My God! We became pals after that.” Alvin, Willis, Exene Cervenka and guests perform Wednesday at the Continental Club’s Farris memorial.
American-Statesman: When did you last play with Amy?
Dave Alvin: The last gig we did with the Guilty Women was in Houston. We did Antone’s and then Houston, and that was the end of that run. We were supposed to reunite to do Hardly Strictly Bluegrass (in San Francisco). She died in that week off.
Did you see her at all after Houston?
I didn’t, but we text messaged a couple times about car repairs because she lived in my neighborhood. That was our last communication.
How were her spirits at that last gig?
We did two shows in Houston. In the break between the shows, she was lying on the floor going, “I don’t feel too good.” But she was great onstage. She was always a pro. All the time I knew her, she never phoned it in. The whole tour had been pretty intense, and we had hit it pretty hard from June through that gig in Houston. Amy always had a sadness about her, but her greatest joys were playing music and teaching it to kids.
How did you end up producing (Farris’ 2003 solo debut) ‘Anyway’?
The budget she had kind of excluded me going to Austin to work. I said, “If you find your way to L.A., I can do it for you.” So, she packed up her bags and moved to L.A. I think she was ready for a change anyway. Before we went into the studio, we wrote three songs together, and then we picked others by Bruce Robison, Django Reinhardt, Charlie Walker. It was a pretty eclectic mix.
You eventually recruited her for the Guilty Women.
Well, when she moved out here, she played a bunch of acoustic shows with me. The whole idea behind the Guilty Women was to gather a group of musicians that maybe were known primarily as side people and make them into a band where everybody could play to their heart’s content. Amy could hit home runs onstage.
Yet you all seemed to defer the spotlight to each other at Old Settler’s in April
It’s about the best band I’ve ever been involved with. On a selfish level, one of the tragedies of Amy passing on is that this tour has been the most fun and challenging that I’ve done ever. It’s crushing to have it end with Amy’s death. But we musicians mourn and celebrate by playing music. That is my church service and how I sing my praises to the universe.
Dave Alvin, Kelly Willis, Exene Cervenka and others perform at 9 p.m. Wednesday at the Continental Club, 1315 S. Congress Ave. Suggested donation is $10 at the door. Proceeds go to the Hungry for Music foundation.
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CD Review: Sea Wolf, “White Water, White Bloom”
Sea Wolf
‘White Water, White Bloom’
(Dangerbird)
A-
One-time film student Alex Brown Church, through the vessel that is Sea Wolf, plays the role of the wayfaring protagonist seamlessly in “White Water, White Bloom.” The sophomore release is a masterpiece of cinematic imagery so crystal clear that if you listen intently to opening track “Wicked Blood,” you can make out dull light radiating from a street lamp on a cold foggy night, illuminating a mysterious stranger in pearls and an oversized fur coat. Enlisting both producer Mike Mogis (Bright Eyes, M. Ward) and the core members of Sea Wolf’s touring line-up, Church created an album with sonic complexity; an eclectic brand of indie-folk in the vein of The Decemberists. On the heels of debut full-length, “Leaves In The River,” Church picks up where he left off with feral narratives that incorporate classic characters into wildly mythological situations; no song being complete without mention of some element of nature.
Buttery-thick vocals in “The Traitor” resonate with newfound strength derived from extensive roadwork and both the organ purr in “Dew in the Grass” and layered strings in “Turn the Dirt Over” set an overall brooding tone. With Dylan-era folk musings in “The Orchard,” the animalistic, rhythmic churn of “Spirit Horse” and an overall lyrical intimacy reminiscent of Neutral Milk Hotel, Sea Wolf breathes life into characters throughout “White Water,” nurturing each with a gracefully damaged affection.
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CD Review: Neon Indian, “Psychic Chasms”
Neon Indian
‘Psychic Chasms’
(Lefse)
A-
Austin-based Alan Palomo keeps busy. Before relocating to Austin from Denton last year, he made his foray into the world of synth-pop as Ghosthustler. Earlier this year he released an EP, “Well Known Pleasures,” under the moniker VEGA. That project still exists, but now we also have Neon Indian’s “Psychic Chasms,” a raw but appealing journey into Palomo’s musical psyche, where the familiar clashes with the abstract to create moments danceable pop punctuated by considerably more experimental noise.
“Deadbeat Summer,” with Palomo singing fairly nonsensical lyrics about “seeing thoughts on repeat” atop a tinny synth line and a lagging drum track is probably the most accessible offering here; it’s also a highlight, as it represents Palomo’s ability to push pop right to the edge with out going over. While the laid back, summertime feel of the album makes for easy comparisons to other buzzy psych outfits such as Cut Copy, MGMT or Passion Pit, Neon Indian sets itself apart through the use of samples (is that Wham!?) and trippy vignettes recalling old-school radio.
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CD Review: White Denim, “Fits”
White Denim
‘Fits’
(Downtown)
B+
Well, that took forever. White Demin’s second album “Fits” has been available overseas for months, but the Austin band ,who once swore they’d never have a label, folded like a tent after a debacle involving Transmission Entertainment’s short-lived record-releasing division. Now they’re on Full Time Hobby and now America gets to hear the new one in CD-format and everything.
Not a whole lot has changed. Rhythms still skitter, riffs arrive, shimmy for a bit, then vanish, Josh Block’s drumming is still thrilling to pick apart for all its hard-swinging twitchiness. They still have one odd sense of how to put a song together. Acoustic guitars vibe and flourish on “Paint Yourself,” singer James Petralli’s distant voice could almost be a croon. Then the riff goes electric and loops before the song seems to quickly fall to pieces.
Scratch that: It’s not a collapse as much as a controlled demolition. There’s nothing here that feels unintentional — one senses they have as much command over their musicality as the Grateful Dead or Battles, the former a band that enjoyed stretching out like White Denim, the latter one that creates complicated grooves that lock together like a thousand-piece jigsaw puzzle.
“Everybody Somebody” could be R&B, complete with horn break (I think), skittering, almost microscopic percussion and Petralli’s belting like it’s showtime at the Apollo — I look forward to someone on the Internet doing a wicked remix of this thing. But then they bust out something like “Regina,” as freak-folky as it gets. They fear no music — in no way is this a bad thing.
So, when is the slot at Bonnaroo, guys
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CD Review: Lyle Lovett, “Natural Forces”
Lyle Lovett
‘Natural Forces’
(Lost Highway)
B-
For an artist whose career has been marked by class, consistency and control, “Natural Forces” is refreshingly haphazard, a scrapbook of sounds that have given up the search for a binding theme. The followup to 2007’s “It’s Not Big, It’s Large” is part “Step Inside This House,” with reverent covers of tunes by fellow Texas folkies Eric Taylor, Vince Bell, Tommy Elkses and, of course, Townes Van Zandt.
It’s got vintage poignant Lyle (“Empty Blue Shoes”), splashed on by naughty double entendres (“Pantry,” “Farmer Brown/ Chicken Reel”) and a co-write with Robert Earl Keen called “It’s Rock and Roll” that’s as trite as that sounds. The opening title track, meanwhile, sounds inspired by Bon Jovi’s “Wanted Dead or Alive.”
It’s as if Lovett, who went seven prime years (1996- 2003) without releasing an album of new material, still has writer’s block, but he’s making albums anyway. It doesn’t help that the singer’s once-pristine vocals sound thin and nasally at spots. And yet a late CD coupling of David Ball’s “Don’t You Think I Feel It Too” and Bell’s “Sun and Moon and Stars,” stirred by exquisite piano and violin, save the album and make the subsequent cover of Van Zandt’s “Loretta” sound more like the third part of a trilogy than a lazy remake.
Wrapping up this unfocussed package is an acoustic version of “Pantry” (co-written by Mrs. Lyle Lovett April Kimble) that’s sure to be a crowd-pleaser when it’s played at Bass Concert Hall Nov. 23. Putting out an album to have something to promote on tour seems low and away from Lovett’s wheelhouse, but “Natural Forces” definitely has its moments.
