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Monday, February 1, 2010
And the biggest buzz band at SXSW2010 is…
A couple of hints:
If they were sponsored by a beer company it would be Dos Equis.
Their favorite George Strait song is “All My Exes Live In Texas.”
That’s right, mega-hot London band The xx is coming to SXSW. Despite sounding like a mixx between Jesus and Mary Chain and whoever did “I Melt With You,” this trio of 19-year-olds (the keyboardist is gone) is the nexxt big thing in pop music. And they’re coming to play an Austin venue that’s yet to be named.
Let’s hope they’re better live than Arctic Monkeys, who were a big ball of hooded nothing when they played SXSW in 2006, a week after doing “Saturday Night Live.”
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Cactus moments in time: John Hiatt 1987
A couple months before the “Bring the Family” album would usher in John Hiatt’s comeback from alcoholism and MCA, he played the Cactus Café in front of an audience of which I was about five per cent. One reason there were only 20 on hand was because Richard Thompson, who’d recently been discovered by Austin’s indie rock crowd, was playing the same night at the Back Room.
I just wanted to hear “She Loves the Jerk” and then it was off to the hip show. But I stayed for Hiatt’s entire solo acoustic set and was mesmerized by the soulful sensitivity of his new songs. He opened with “Memphis In the Meantime,” but then got dark and deep with “Stood Up,” a song about how he got to that moment. I think the set ended with “Have a Little Faith In Me,” Hiatt on the house piano, singing it like there was no one there. To this day I’ve never witnessed a more pure moment of musical soul-pleading. All 20 of us were scattered around the room, but we shot up to our feet when the song ended.
Richard Thompson was a letdown.
I’ve never been a student at the University of Texas- there was no money for college in my house- but I’m thankful to this day that UT had a venue that would take such a chance on a singer-songwriter who’d seen better times. That show didn’t change my life, but I learned something about how you can best beat adversity just by being yourself. The show was not profitable by any means, except that 20 people on a Thursday night in Austin somehow found themselves in that most glorious room of sound.
“We’re Texas,” the voice of Walter Cronkite says at halftime of football games. “We change people and they change the world.”
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Antone’s to host Tony Campise birthday benefit
Antone’s will host a birthday fundraiser Sunday, Feb. 21, to benefit saxophone great Tony Campise, kicking off at 7 p.m. and running until 11:30. Admission will be a donation at the door.
Currently slated to appear are the Monster Big Band, Baker’s Dozen, the James Polk Sextet, John Mills Times Ten, Butch Miles Jazz Express and the Tony Campise Big Band. Appearances are also promised from guest vocalists Ray Benson, Kat Edmonson, Rick Trevino, Mandy Lauderdale and Mr. Fabulous.
Campise suffered major brain damage after a fall outside a Corpus Christi hotel room in October 2009, and is currently recovering in a skilled nursing facility. His friends have created a Facebook page to post regular updates on his condition. He was a giant in the local jazz scene who backed everyone from Frank Sinatra to Sarah Vaughan and was nominated for a Grammy for 1992’s “Once In a Blue Moon.” He turned 67 Jan. 22 — the benefit was originally intended to take place in January but was rescheduled in response to the series of benefits that emerged in the wake of the earthquake in Haiti.
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CD review: Midlake, “The Courage of Others”
Midlake
‘The Courage of Others’
(Bella Union)
Grade: B
It’s helpful to consider Denton folk rock band Midlake’s third album, “The Courage of Others,” through the prism of its immediate predecessor, 2006’s “The Trials of Van Occupanther.” That album — a cult favorite that got end-of-the-decade shoutouts from Pitchfork, Rolling Stone and the Onion A.V. Club, among others — evoked endless comparison to the naturalistic ‘70s FM radio rock of America, Neil Young and, above all, Fleetwood Mac.
Though well reviewed at the time of its release, in the ensuing years “The Trials of Van Occupanther” continued to build its audience, as the slow-burning pleasures of its poetic lyricism and front man Tim Smith’s wispy vocals revealed themselves. Put simply, Midlake is a group whose strengths take time to unfold — which makes an initial judgment of “The Courage of Others” misleading, particularly since it’s an even more complex and layered album.
Which is not to say “The Courage of Others” is an inaccessible or vastly different work — but it does march away from the classic rock inspiration so prevalent on “Van Occupanther” in favor of a direction more heavily influenced by ‘60s British folk rock. If Fleetwood Mac was the go-to comparison on the last album, this time around it’s all Jethro Tull — or the Fairport Convention — with near omnipresent flutes and warm waves of harmonies. It’s a sound that’s enchanting, magical, often dour and — at least before it has time to grow on you — a bit repetitive.
Lead single and opener “Acts of Man” kicks the album off with sterling harmonies, subtle guitar and a contemplative pace. The acoustic, spare “Fortune” is at two minutes both the album’s quickest and quietest number. “Rulers, Ruling All Things” is equally stately, with building drums that give it a release that would feel underplayed on most albums, but is practically soaring here. “The Courage of Others” isn’t all flutes and meditation, though — on “Winter Dies” and “Small Mountain” there’s a touch of Neil Young-styled electric guitar that adds a welcome edge to the proceedings.
“The Courage of Others” grows more intriguing in its back half. “The Horn” is a little more rock ‘n’ roll and lays claim to some excellent drum fills, while the title track builds nicely and grows more interesting over time. And the album’s most enjoyable song, “Bring Down,” incorporates an excellent vocal turn from Stephanie Dosen.
“Now the joy has burned out,” Smith sings on the earnest, heartfelt tune. “And it’s gone but I don’t know where.”
At 42 minutes, “The Courage Of Others” comes a bit too close to overstaying its own welcome — there’s only so much winter imagery and thoughtful acoustics one can handle — but it’s a dense 42 minutes that only gets more interesting with each listen. It’s hard to follow up a success as unqualified as “The Trials of Van Occupanther,” but on this long-awaited album Midlake comes perhaps as close as could reasonably be expected.
If you want to give “The Courage of Others” a listen before you buy, WOXY and the Austinist will hold a listening party tomorrow, Tuesday Feb. 2, at the Scoot Inn at 8 p.m. The event is free.
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UT Town Hall Meeting open to the public on Tuesday
Here is the information from UT’s web site about Tuesday’s Town Hall with President Bill Powers:
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President Powers holds town hall meeting Feb. 2
by William Powers Jr.
Published: Jan. 28
Dear students, faculty and staff members:
You may have questions about the issues confronting the university today. I invite you to a university-wide town hall meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 2, from 4-6 p.m. in the Avaya Auditorium, room 2.302, in the ACES Building.
Among the important issues we are facing are:
o Budget reallocations in the colleges and units.
o The tuition increase proposal for 2010-11 and 2011-12 from the Tuition Policy Advisory Committee.
o A request from the governor for a prioritized plan for a 5 percent budget reduction in state general revenue funds for the current biennium.
If you have questions or comments about these or other issues, join me and other members of the university community at this meeting, which is open to the public. We will also broadcast streaming video of the meeting through a link on the university’s home page.
I’ll also continue to address issues such as these in Tower Talk, my blog about the life of the university.
I look forward to seeing you.
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Save the Cactus Facebook page has more than 8,000 members…
… and counting. Since the story broke Saturday afternoon, the Facebook page devoted to preserving the Cactus Cafe has been on fire, with about 300 new members an hour on Monday morning.
Go here to join. By the way, the FB-starter Wiley Koepp changed the name of the group from “Save The Cactus Cafe” to “Save The Cactus Cafe (Austin, Texas)”.
Here are the details on tomorrow’s town hall meeting, open to the public, with UT prez William Powers.
