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Tuesday, December 15, 2009
New Backyard venue to host Willie Nelson’s Fourth of July picnic
The red-headed stranger will bring his famed Fourth of July picnic to the new Backyard venue, he announced during Tuesday night’s show at the Austin Music Hall. Nelson was the last performer to play the Backyard’s original location, in October 2008. The 2010 picnic marks a return to Central Texas for the beloved event. Last July, Nelson was on tour with Bob Dylan and John Mellencamp.
The Backyard is currently expected to reopen in its new location, on Bee Cave Parkway near the Hill Country Galleria, in the spring. The City of Bee Cave City Council approved the site plan Dec. 8.
Correction: The post originally stated that Nelson’s Four of July picnic was in Fort Worth this year. Nelson played alongside Bob Dylan and John Mellencamp at Coveleski Stadium in South Bend, Indiana on July 4, 2009.
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Sample a cut from Amy Cook’s “Let the Light In”
Singer-songwriter Amy Cook has some high-profile fans. Specifically: Alejandro Escovedo, Patty Griffin, and the Tosca String Quartet, all of whom show up in one form or another on “Hotel Lights,” a song off her forthcoming third album “Let the Light In.”
The single was released online for free download off Cook’s Web site today and features guest vocals from Patty Griffin and a lush string arrangement performed by Tosca and written by Stephen Barber. Escovedo produced the album, which will include a song co-written by Ben Kweller.
“Let the Light In” is out on March 2.
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Metacritic selects Spoon as top artist of the decade
If the numerous mentions on countless end-of-decade wrap-ups — Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, Paste Magazine and the Onion A.V. Club, among others — didn’t convince you, Metacritic has just made it official: 2000 to 2010 might as well be known as the Decade of Spoon.
The popular Web site, which aggregates music reviews to create “metascores” — averages that reflect critical consensus across certain publications — has named Spoon the top overall artist of the decade. With four critically acclaimed albums managing an average score of 85.3 out of 100, the indie rock quartet’s one-two punch of quantity and quality helped them beat out such notables as Sigur Ros, the White Stripes, Sleater-Kinney and the Hold Steady.
The American-Statesman’s own best-of-the-decade lists will run in our Dec. 31 issue. Take a peep at the print edition of the paper or on Austin360.com New Year’s Eve to see if we’ll be showing Spoon any love. The suspense!
Also making the top 10 was folk rocker Sam Beam, better known under the moniker Iron and Wine, who resides in Dripping Springs.
The critics have spoken, but what’s your take? Drop in to the comments and let us know if you think the hometown heroes deserve the honor.
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Front Gate Tickets expands San Diego presence
Austin-based Front Gate Tickets, which is partly owned by Charles Attal of C3 Presents, has recently signed exclusive ticketing deals with San Diego’s Belly Up Tavern and Viejas Entertainment. Front Gate has been selling tickets to the Casbah in San Diego since 2004.
Front Gate was founded in 2002 when former Monsterbit Media Web site designer Mellie Price was hired by Stubb’s to handle general admission tickets. The company not only handles C3’s festivals and several Austin venues, but theaters in Houston, Chicago, Colorado and more.
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CD review: Timbaland ‘Shock Value II’
Timbaland performs with SoShy at last month’s American Music Awards. Photo by the Associated Press
Timbaland
“Shock Value II”
(Blackground)
Grade: A
Before the “Shock Value” series, Timbaland never had a signature CD as a solo artist, unlike fellow superstar producers Dr. Dre and Kanye West. Producers can showcase their talent in that setting, free to unleash their creative id without compromise and look for inspiration in unlikely places. “Shock Value II” is the CD Timbaland has been building his entire career toward, the work of a great musician at the top of his game.
After more than a decade of consistent success, he doesn’t need to justify his musical decisions. “Shock Value II” reflects that - featuring everyone from Daughtry and Chad Kroeger to Miley Cyrus, the Fray, Drake and Justin Timberlake. Timbaland tweaks the music for each artist but keeps a consistent sound - a futuristic mash-up of R&B, rock, pop and rap destined to be copied endlessly.
And with such a diverse and talented guest-list, the album feels like a compilation CD of the year’s biggest hits. Nearly every song could conceivably be released as a single; in theory he could have a big hit in four different genres - rap (“Say Something”), rock (“Marching On” or “Long Way Down”), pop (“Undertow” or “Lose Control”) and R&B (“Carry Out”).
For the most part, each song celebrates a different aspect of how great he (and his guests) are. Drake pokes fun at girls from his past (“I should wanna go back to the one I started with / But I’m addicted to this life it’s gonna be hard to quit”) while Daughtry reminisces on his meteoric ascent (“I hear it’s such a long way down / And the climb back up is something I can do without”).
Timbaland serves as a unifying force, as a DJ introducing each act while occasionally delivering a rap verse. He’s nowhere near as talented on the mic as Dre and Kanye, but he doesn’t detract from the music. He doesn’t have much to say; “If you assume my life is wonderful, then y’all right” is about as introspective as he gets on “Shock Value II.” It’s an album designed to play from start to finish at a house party, and it will many times over the next few months.
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Yeasayer to hold down two nights at the Parish
Hat tip to our friends at the Austinist for confirming that Brooklyn experimental outfit Yeasayer will swing through Austin to play a two-night stand at the Parish on April 10 and 11. Tickets will go on-sale Friday Dec. 18.
The band will be touring behind sophomore album “Odd Blood,” which drops on Secretly Canadian Feb. 9. Lead single “Ambling Amp” is available online, while the entire album leaked Dec. 10 — but beware, because, as the band said on Twitter, “Presents are always spoiled for those who open them before they are supposed to.”
In other “Brooklyn shows Austin some love” news, the Parish will also host pop duo the Fiery Furnaces on Jan. 18. Tickets for that show, $15, go on sale Saturday.
Update: The on-sale date for Yeasayer tickets has been corrected.
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Herring keeps it short, bittersweet
Dustin Downing
Collin Herring’s “Ocho” singularly sketches innocence lost. The Austin transplant’s fourth album, equal measures folk (“Trazodone,” “Little Aches”) and indie rock (“Seemed to Be,” “Passed Away”), dissects its coming-of-age theme succinctly.
“I like eight, nine songs (on an album), and then my attention span is really done,” says Herring, who relocated from Fort Worth two years ago. “I like to dig into a song when I listen.”
The 32-year-old songwriter performs Wednesday at the Mohawk.
American-Statesman: You did well overcoming some sound issues at Waterloo (Records, where Herring performed Nov. 17). Do you like doing in-stores?
Collin Herring: I do enjoy doing in-stores. You never know what you’re going to get. That time, it was a little difficult, but once the first sound issue started, it’s just, “Well, where do we take it from here?”
You played ‘Nothing’s Good’ that afternoon. It sets a pretty somber tone as the new album’s opener.
People ask me about that. You know, the song is depressing, but at the same time it’s hopeful. The average listener will think, “Whoa, what a sad, dark song to start a record with,” but I feel like it really jumpstarts the whole album. It’s where I was when we started recording: “Nothing’s wrong, nothing’s good.” What do you think?
Well, it’s interesting you say ‘hopeful’ about ‘Nothing’s Good.’ That surfaces more obviously in ‘Trazodone’: ‘I think great things will happen.’
I think a degree of hope is important. I had all these sad, quiet songs, and that line to me is just saying that life isn’t all that bad. As dark as some of these songs may sound, I do have hints and motions toward goodness in a lot. Another line is, “Don’t put my name on every mistake.” A lot of (expletive) comes, but I want to make sure I put a lot of hope in the material as well.
Does the cover art (depicting eight ghost-like figures) relate to that?
Well, I sent three songs to this indie artist in New York City named Niloufar Mozafari. She listened to the songs, and that’s what she came up with. First, I thought, “There’s no way.” Then I realized that it’s perfect, ghostly with silhouettes. It looks like women in dresses. Plus, there are eight of them and eight songs. If you listen to (“Nothing’s Good”), it goes perfectly.
Why stop at only eight songs?
Financially and time-wise, we had five days to record and two to do rough mixes. That was as much as I could get recorded in that time. I hate the idea of restarting just to get two more songs added on. I don’t like to listen to long records.
What did (producer) Will (Johnson of Centro-matic) bring to the dynamic?
He slowed me down. “Trazodone” was (sings cheerfully): “There were hassles and heartaches! Trazodone!” He was like, “Let’s go slower, Collin.” These songs took on a whole new depth. He added patience, emptiness, sparseness and a lack of overproduction. I immediately realized that this is not like any other producer I’ve worked with. This is someone who truly understands the beauty of what a record can be.
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Ryan Bingham receives a Golden Globe nomination
Gravelly-voiced folk rocker and former Austinite Ryan Bingham has received a Golden Globe nomination for best original song for “The Weary Kind,” his contribution to the Jeff Bridges-starring “Crazy Heart.”
The film, which opens in New York and Los Angeles tomorrow and Austin Jan. 8, boasts a score by T. Bone Burnett and the sadly departed Stephen Bruton. That score has recently picked up accolades from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, the New York Online Critics and the Boston Society of Film Critics. Reviewers have also praised Jeff Bridges’ performance as alcoholic country singer Bad Blake — he picked up a nomination for best actor in a drama.
With a Golden Globe nomination under his belt, it will be interesting to see if Bingham gets a nod from the Oscar committee, as well.
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Pearl Jam to headline JazzFest
Pearl Jam, Aretha Franklin, Van Morrison and more will be playing JazzFest in New Orleans this year.
