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June 2010
Jim Ramsey 1952- 2010
In Austin in the 1980s, Jim Ramsey was THE concert promoter in town, putting Southpark Meadows on the map with a 1983 concert by the Police that drew more than 30,000 fans, and booking the first Austin shows by such acts as U2, Elvis Costello and Talking Heads.
Ramsey passed away Tuesday after a short battle with liver cancer, friends confirmed. He was 58.
Since 1998, Ramsey had worked in advertising, owning the Cactus agency.
“He was the bombastic promoter with a heart of gold,” said former Club Foot booker Brad First.
Ramsey also booked the Backroom from 1986- 1993, during its hair metal heyday. “He provided a stage for a lot of rock bands who couldn’t get booked into the punk clubs,” said First.
One of the legendary Austin shows Ramsey booked was the politically-charged Gang of Four at Club Foot on the night Ronald Reagan was elected president.
Ramsey, who grew up in McAllen, was diagnosed with stage four liver cancer in April, his longtime associate Ray Seggern said.
Ramsey is survived by his wife Tracey, daughter Alexandra and sons Evan and Theren. The funeral will be held Saturday at 11 a.m. at Weed-Corley-Fish, Lakeway
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ME Television to produce SXSW content for relaunched Soundtrack Channel
ME Television announced Wednesday that the 24-hour music channel will produce eight one-hour programs for the Soundtrack Channel spotlighting artists — including Andrew Bird, P.J. Harvey and Willie Nelson — culled from footage the channel shot during South by Southwest festivals from 2007 to 2010. The Soundtrack Channel was launched in 2002 by E! Entertainment executive Ben Lee and has focused on film and television music; following its acquisition by the Arlington-based New Sound Media on Wednesday it plans to broaden its programming. The Soundtrack Channel is currently carried on Verizon’s FiOS TV service and AT&T U-Verse; METV’s programming starts Saturday at noon and runs back-to-back until 8 p.m. Monday.
The move, says METV general manager Neil Hand, represents a welcome branding and syndication opportunity for the Austin channel, which has struggled since substantial layoffs in 2008 and the 2009 departure of Austin Music Partners CEO Connie Wodlinger. Former Dell chief technology officer Kevin Kettler took over as CEO in August 2009. The station received word in May that Time Warner Cable had chosen not to renew its contract. Hand — who worked alongside Kettler at Dell as a vice president of consumer marketing — says the channel is in contract negotiations aimed at keeping METV on the air past 2011, with plans to roll out new content over the summer.
“We’re running pretty fast right now with a lot of things to really buoy up what the channel’s been doing, because we’ve not been as new and as fresh as we’d like to have been,” Hand said. “We’ve not actually shot a new ‘ME Live’ inside the last 6 months, but we’re starting to film them again as of tomorrow.”
The first of a new round of “ME Live” episodes will be broadcast live Thursday night — tying in with South Congress’ First Thursdays — from 7:30 p.m. to 8:30, with performances by Ray Wylie Hubbard and Shannon McNally. Hand said the channel also aims to expand with programming focused on Austin’s film and “general entertainment” scenes. Though METV has added 300 videos to its rotation in the last two months, Hand acknowledged that the channel has largely been in shuffle mode throughout 2010.
“I think we sort of lost track. We kept ourselves up on the air but we didn’t keep ourselves at the forefront of keeping people aware of what’s going on. In August we’re going to talk a lot more about program changes and expansion,” Hand said. “This is going to be a very measured. We want to execute each piece of it knowing what we’re doing. I think that was one of the problems in the beginning. The channel overextended itself, did a lot of different things. That caused the compression that needed to happen, but now we’re going to try to successively expand things.”
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ACL Fest grids out July 13
In case you missed the announcement, the folks at the Austin City Limits Music Festival have released the date they’ll share the fest’s day-by-day schedules (when we’ll find out which of our favorite bands are playing against each other. Choices!): July 13.
They’re also added some bands to the lineup: Black Lips, First Aid Kit, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, Sahara Smith, Silversun Pickups and Ted Leo and the Pharmacists.
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Reckless Kelly raises $35,000 through softball jam
The hard-working and big-hearted Austin quintet held its sophomore celebrity softball jam at the Dell Diamond in April, and band members Cody and Willy Braun and Jay Nazz were on field June 23 to present the proceeds — totaling $35,000 — to four Central Texas youth baseball groups: the Miracle Leagues at Town & Country and San Antonio, Balcones Little League and Montopolis Little League.
Two ad hoc teams composed of both athletes and musicians squared off in April for the softball game and outfield concert, with Willy Braun’s Sultans of Swing taking down brother Cody’s One Hit Wonders, in a brilliant display of sibling rivalry. Members of Cross Canadian Ragweed, the Trishas, Cory Morrow and Ray Benson were among the musicians who participated.
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Cool gig alert: East End Jazz Jam takes over Victory Grill
The East End Jazz Jam, one of Austin’s best places to see the joys of improv jazz in action, goes down at the Victory Grill, 1104 E. 11th St. tonight at 8 p.m. The evening begins with a jazz workshop hosted by Carl Smith, Jonathan Horne and Matt Armistead, followed by a performance by the Paul Klemperer JazzThang at 9:15. Cover is a paltry $3, and beer is included for the first 25 patrons through the door. The weekly jam is thrown by DiverseArts, the Austin nonprofit founded by arts guru Harold McMillan.
The jam is also one of many events thrown at the Victory Grill under the tenure of interim manager Clifford Gillard, who took the reins at the historic Chitlin’ Circuit venue after longtime shepherd and Austin native Eva Lindsey — who spent more than a decade lovingly guiding and restoring the historic space — stepped down at the beginning of the year. Gillard had been serving as Lindsey’s assistant, and his involvement with the Victory Grill began in 2005, when the then-Givens Park concession salesman began using the space to showcase local MCs and DJs.
“The neighborhood is transitioning, so we have to find that mix of events that satisfies the customer base and the community while maintaining the history and legacy of this place” says Gillard, 39. “We have to be mindful of how to balance the old and the new.”
So far this year, that’s translated to Monday night blues and Tuesday night jazz jams from Diverse Arts, a healthy slate of South by Southwest shows and spirited participation in the East End IBIZ District’s Fourth Fridays, which celebrates businesses on East Eleventh Street. The Victory Grill hosted events for the arts festival Fusebox for April’s Fourth Friday and last week threw a dinner featuring a performance by funk outfit Soul Kitchen. Upcoming plans include an August 1 blues celebration thrown with the Texas Music Museum — whose board of directors Gillard sits on — featuring young Bastrop musicians the Peterson Brothers, WC Clark and Miss Lavelle White, a weekly Wednesday soul night and, Gillard says, a reopening of the Grill’s historic kitchen “in the near future.”
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Preview: Gary Nicholson at Saxon Pub Saturday
Hit Nashville songwriter Gary Nicholson is in town to record a tune with lyrics made entirely from Willie Nelson song titles, backed by Asleep at the Wheel. “Ray Benson has a plot to get Willie to play guitar on the album, so we’ll see how that works out,” says Nicholson, who hails from the Dallas area and has an association with Delbert McClinton that goes back four decades.
At any rate, Nicholson will have Willie’s wind- harmonica player Mickey Raphael - at his back when he plays the Saxon Pub Saturday night at 8 p.m.. And the Reflectables, featuring Willie’s son Micah, will also play this informal Willie’s Picnic Eve show.
Expect to hear a lot of familiar songs, as guitarist Nicholson reclaims numbers he’s written for such acts as Vince Gill (“One More Last Chance”), Patty Loveless (“A Thousand Times a Day”), NRBQ (“A Better Word For Love”) and McClinton/ Garth Brooks (“Squeeze Me In”).
Nicholson also co-wrote “Fallin’ and Flyin’” with Stephen Bruton, which ended up on the soundtrack to “Crazy Heart.” The pair wrote the song about a year before the movie with the idea that it would be right for a Bruton solo album. “One day Stephen called me up from the set and said, ‘Hey, they’re gonna use our song,’” Nicholson recalls. “They had just filmed that sequence of Jeff Bridges singing the song with Colin Farrell.”
After his friend from Fort Worth passed away from cancer and the movie came out, Nicholson realized Bruton was writing about what he was going through when he penned the lyrics, “You never see it comin’ till it’s gone/ It all happens for a reason/ Even when it’s wrong/ Especially when it’s wrong.”
Nicholson has collected many of his mailbox money makers on “Nashville Songbook - Volume One,” an album that Nicholson says was harder to make than it would seem. “A song like ‘That’s the Thing About Love’ was written with a specific singer in mind- Don Williams,” he says. “It’s not really in my style.” That 1984 song was Nicholson’s first number one, topping the charts when Nicholson was playing guitar for Bobby Bare. Bare told Nicholson that he needed to find him a new guitar player because Nicholson had to stay in Nashville and write more hits. Which he did.
But he stills considers himself a Texan and plays his home state any chance he can. On July 25, he’ll go first circle, playing the Plaza Theater in Garland where he saw an Elvis Presley movie- “Love Me Tender”- at age six and immediately went out and got a guitar.
And Nicholson will be back in Austin in March, when he’s inducted into the Texas Songwriters Hall of Fame.
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Willie Nelson gets his own iPhone app
“Willie Nelson Live,” the red-headed stranger’s iPhone app debuted last week and is currently available for free download from iTunes. The app includes tour dates, a rather exhaustive discography, videos and a truly staggering amount of Willie news, official and otherwise, culled from online stories and Tweets.
Nelson isn’t the first Austin-based or affiliated artist to get an iPhone app — social media-savvy powerpop outfit Quiet Company has one, and Daniel Johnston got his own wonderfully bizarre and fun iPhone game last year. Know any other local groups with a presence on the iPhone (or, in the interest of being nonpartisan, Droid) app store? Pop into the comments and let us know.
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SXSW makes sweet music at the register
South By Southwest organizers and participating clubs have long said that they can do two or three months worth of business at the bar during SXSW. Liquor sales figures kept by the state comptroller’s office bear this out. In May, for instance, the Mohawk did $60,889 at the bar. In March, that figure was $210,922.
That was the most dramatic case of cash register surge, but several other clubs did at least three times the biz during the fest, which has become crazier longer because of the soaring numbers of registrants at the interactive and film components. In March, Emo’s did $101,695 at the bar, compared to $30,694 in May; Red 7 rang up $99,870 in March, compared to $30,694, the exact same total as Emo’s, in May. Club Deville did $102, 851 in March, compared to $39,112 in May.
Not only official SXSW venues benefit from the influx of mid-March boozehounds. Lovejoy’s did about $37,000 more than usual during March ($79,482, to $42,675 in May.) Casino El Camino rang up $90,578 in March, with $48,387 in May. On the Eastside, the Longbranch Inn took in $46,517 at the bar in March, compared to $31,922. The ‘branch’s sister club, the Scoot Inn, did better as an official venue, with $77,747 in March, compared to $29,723 in May.
Some other notable venues:
The Continental Club did $161,828 in March; $124,250 in May.
Antone’s did $93,862 in March; $88,378 in May.
Midnight Rodeo did $74,662 in March; $67,051 in May.
Hole In the Wall rang up $116,489 in March; $101,837 in May.
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Waterloo Records top 25 for the week ending June 26
“Brothers,” the gritty, propulsive seventh album from blues rock duo the Black Keys, again snagged the number one spot at the top of Waterloo Records’ sales chart last week, as Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ “Mojo” jumped to second-place — a slot secured last week by Passion Pit’s 2009 “Manners” following a surprise in-store performance. The week’s highest charting debut is Eminem’s (generally well-reviewed, Pitchfork aside) “Recovery,” which manages to move 2 more copies than another highly-anticipated hip-hop record, the Roots’ “How I Got Over.” It’s their first record since taking the reins at “Late Night With Jimmy Fallon.”
This week also sees two charting debuts from Texas artists: Terri Hendrix’s “Cry ‘Till You Laugh” debuts at number seven, while Go-Go Kathy Valentines’ Bluebonnets’ “Boom Boom Boom Boom” debuts at number five. Both artists played in-stores last week.
1. Black Keys — 81
2. Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers — 59
3. Eminem — 51
4. The Roots — 49
5. Bluebonnets (Texas artist) — 36
6. Rolling Stones — 34
7. Terri Hendrix (Texas artist) — 32
8. Mumford & Sons — 31
9. The National — 31
10. Band of Horses — 31
11. Ratatat — 29
12. Jack Johnson — 28
13. LCD Soundsystem — 27
14. Passion Pit — 23
15. Broken Bells — 22
16. Shinyribs (Texas artist) — 21
17. Grupo Fantasma (Texas artist) — 21
18. Gaslight Anthem — 21
19. Sarah Jaffe (Texas artist) — 20
20. Robert Randolph — 19
21. Court Yard Hounds (Texas artist) — 18
22. Tokyo Police Club — 17
23. Devo — 16
24. Patty Griffin (Texas artist) — 16
25. Grace Potter — 16
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Music Monday Pick: Matt Murray of Built By Snow
Welcome to Music Monday Picks, where once a week we talk to an Austin musician and find out what’s been burning up their CD player, turntable or iPod lately. Looking for a good musical recommendation? Take some advice from someone in the local music trenches who knows their stuff. Recommendations can be local, national or international, new or old. They only need to fit two criteria: 1) the musician in question needs to have just discovered them, and 2) it has to be fantastic.
This week: We gab via e-mail with Matt Murray, guitarist for the 8-bit-descended keyboard power pop of Built By Snow, who open for Whitman at the Mohawk Friday, July 2. Guns of Navarone and On After Dark also play. Doors open at 10 p.m.; show is $6, $8 for minors. Listen to Built By Snow’s “A-Beta” below, and check out the video for “Invaders” — a delightful nostalgia trip with cameos by Space Invaders and Donkey Kong, among others — here.
Matt Murray recommends: “I Heart California”/”Ghost of Syllables,” a double single from Admiral Radley, the new soaring pop collaboration featuring Grandaddy’s Jason Lytle and Aaron Burch and Earlimart’s Aaron Espinoza and Ariana Murray.
Matt Murray says: “I just got the new double single from Admiral Radley, and it rules! They’re a new band made up from members of Earlimart and Grandaddy. I’ve been a huge Grandaddy fan for years, and am really excited to see what happens with Admiral Radley. I got to catch one of their shows during SXSW, and they were of course amazing. Also I hear they will be releasing a full length soon, so I can’t wait for that! Speaking of Earlimart … I’ve been listening to them a lot lately, too. Their first release was back in 2003, but I didn’t discover them until just recently … and they are fantastic!”
Check out a video of Admiral Radley performing “Ghost of Syllables” for NPR Music during SXSW 2010 below.
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Pixies add second show
Following a lightning-quick sellout for their September 22 gig at the Austin Music Hall, the Pixies have added a second Austin show to their “Doolittle” tour, for September 23. Pre-sale tickets are on sale now.
Update: Thanks to user Stoked for pointing out that the date of the Pixies show has been moved since its initial announcement — it’s now scheduled for September 21, the day before the original show.
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CD review: Alejandro Escovedo `Street Songs of Love’
Alejandro Escovedo
`Street Songs of Love’
(Fantasty/Concord)
Grade: A
It’s ironic that the kickoff track to Alejandro Escovedo’s new album, “Street Songs of Love,” is entitled “Anchor,” because it lifts off with the same buoyant, guitar-fueled energy that fueled the best tracks on this album’s predecessor, 2008’s “Real Animal.”
Indeed, this album is a nearly seamless segue from that earlier and justifiably acclaimed effort - same producer (Tony Visconti, who has twiddled the knobs for the likes of U2 and David Bowie), same hard-charging band (mostly) and recorded in the same out-of-the-way Kentucky studio.
But whereas “Real Animal” was a semi-autobiographical tour of Escovedo’s musical incarnations, “Street Songs of Love” is an intimate look at that most malleable of emotions; love found, lost, fought for, regained and, sometimes, sought after in vain.
“I feel like I am falling/And it feels okay,” Escovedo sings in the vintage-sounding, doomed-romantic ballad “Fall Apart With You,” and many of the tracks on the album survey a series of emotional peaks and valleys. “Undesired” (with it’s wonderful opening lines, “Fought in Paris/Fought in Rome/Beneath the lights of the Astrodome/Now, baby, didn’t we now?”) is a tale of two losers lucky enough to find each other.
“Silver Cloud,” whose shredded guitar contrasts with its erotic imagery (“Silver cloud with a black lace lining…”) finds the singer confessing “I’m a fool for your love” (“C’mon fool me!” he shouts.) The swaggering Lou Reed-styled “Street Songs,” with its pumping bass and finger-snapping cool vibe, is a hipster survey of romantic possibilities while “Faith” (with Bruce Springsteen lending vocals) is a nearly inarticulate howl of affirmation.
But the heart of the album may be “Down In the Bowery,” a song Escovedo (along with co-writer Chuck Prophet) penned for his son Paris, whom he describes in a press release as “17, angry, young and pissed off, very quiet, loves punk rock, noise, and graffiti…” An essay on perhaps the most enduring love of all, that between a parent and child, the song is impossibly tender, a collection of hopes, dreams and prayers that will resonate with any parent who sees in his child all that he himself might have been. Escovedo has a canon of great songs, but this one may rise to near the very top.
Musically, Escovedo, Visconti and Alejandro’s great band, the Sensitive Boys, keep things straightforward on “Street Songs of Love.” Perhaps that arises from having road-tested the songs during a two-month residency at the Continental Club before the band entered the studio. At any rate, there are none of the string arrangements that Escovedo is so fond of (though complex and layered background vocals, courtesy of Karla Manzur and Nakia Reynoso replicate similar effects). Mostly he’s playing that guitar like ringing a bell, as they say, while his three bandmates track along in close formation.
From the slinky, snake-handling riff of “Tula” to the ringing, anthemic chords of “Undesired” to mournful, blues-tinged lament of the album-closing instrumental “Fort Worth Blue,” guitars play in counterpoint to Escovedo’s lyrical essays on love’s permutations. The net result is two halves of one heart, beating in tandem. On Street Songs of Love, that heart is beating strong.
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Dale Watson’s ‘Carryin’ On’ out in August
In his regular residencies — at the Continental Club, the Broken Spoke and Ginny’s Little Longhorn Saloon — Dale Watson’s consistently proven himself one of Austin’s most entertaining and skilled country musicians, not to mention its hardest-working. His newest full-length album, “Carryin’ On,” hits stores August 24.
Backing Watson on “Carryin’ On” is a dream team of musicians culled from the Nashville A-Team, a group of session musicians who have backed everyone from Elvis Presley to Bob Dylan at some point. Players include Lloyd Green (Johnny Cash, Paul McCartney) on steel guitar, Pete Wade on guitar and Hargus Robbins (Merle Haggard, Conway Twitty, Loretta Lynn) on piano.
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Bright Light Social Hour anchors Keep Austin Weird Festival
Saturday night marks a big night for local music, but those looking for a rocking time for the low price of free can find it at the South First Street bridge, where the hard-driving Austin quartet the Bright Light Social Hour will headline the annual Keep Austin Weird Festival.
The raucous foursome go on at 8:30 p.m., with the White Ghost Shivers holding it down at 6:30, the Bruce James Soultet at 5, Dustin Welch at 3:30 and Paul Green’s School of Rock at 2. Admission is free and open to the public.
Bright Light Social Hour fans might also be interested to know that the band’s ongoing “Jack’s Moustache” campaign to raise funds for their debut full-length appears to be going well, if this recently-released video is any indication. Fair warning: there’s some clothed but still not-entirely-safe-for-work thrusting.
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Realities of the radius clause; “It’s all just common sense”
Spoon is technically breaking the terms of its contract with C3 Presents by playing a block party in Chicago a month before their Lollapalooza date Aug. 7 in Chicago’s Grant Park. Closer to home, Asleep at the Wheel’s agreement to play Austin City Limits Music Festival at Zilker Park October 8 should legally prevent the band from playing the Long Center just three weeks earlier.
The radius clause, put in place as a safeguard against acts from dilluting their draw by playing other shows in the vicinity for months before and after the event, is rarely enforced. But Lollapalooza’s clause, which reportedly stretches for six months before and three months after, which has some Chicago club bookers screaming “foul” and the Illinois Attorney General looking into possible antitrust issues.
Charles Attal of C3 Presents said in a 2008 interview with the Chicago Sun-Times that the radius clause is a necessary industry standard, but that he’ll work with acts on a case-by-case basis and usually give them an exception to the radius clause. But according to a post by Jim DeRogatis, who has stayed true to his word to keep bulldogging online after his exit from the Chicago Sun-Times, broke the A.G. investigation story Thursday.
“I can totally understand the need for the radius clause,” says Davis McLarty, who books Kelly Willis, the Gourds and others. “You have to have it (in the contract) or some of these agents will book their acts all over town.”
Manager Kevin Wommack, who has booked bands both big (Los Lonely Boys in 2006) and small (SPEAK this year) at ACL, says, “it all depends on how much money they’ve invested in each act. If they’re paying some band a gadzillion dollars, they don’t want them to play (in the radius) for a certain amount of time. But for the baby bands that aren’t getting much to play, they don’t care.” Wommack says he remembers the ACL radius clause for LLB “was about three months before and after.”
It’s not just major promoters that have radius clauses in their contracts. Gruene Hall binds acts to an agreement that, theoretically, prevents them from playing 60 miles in each direction (which includes Austin) for two months before and after the Gruene date. This clause is broken on a nearly daily basis by local acts. “That’s put in there so a (highly paid) act like Little Richard doesn’t play Austin the next night or the next week,” says McLarty. “It’s all just common sense.”
To my knowledge, there’s never been an instance of a Lollapalooza or ACL Fest act having to give up a show because of a radius clause violation. Two years ago, Alejandro Escovedo- one of the upper mid-level ACL acts that year - played a free show at Shady Grove, less than a quarter mile from Zilker Park, the day before his ACL set and nobody from C3 said anything.
Although the Illinois Attorney General’s office is neither confirming nor denying that an investigation into C3 has begun, Marc Geiger, whose William Morris Endeavor agency owns half of Lollapalooza (with C3 owning the other half) told DeRogatis that he’s received a subpoena. Billboard has reported that C3 has also been subpoened.
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Lilith Fair’s Dallas and Houston dates reportedly canceled
The Toronto Globe and Mail reported this morning that Lilith Fair, Sarah McLachlan’s female-fronted traveling music festival that returns this summer and kicks off with a date in Calgary Sunday, has canceled its Houston and Dallas dates, among others.
Festival co-founder Terry McBride told the Globe and Mail no further dates had been removed aside from already-announced cancellations in Phoenix and Nashville. But the paper received word from Norah Jones manager Sam Feldman that the musician’s five dates with the festival — which also included West Palm Beach and Tampa, Fla. And Birmingham, Ala. — were cut. However, the dates are still listed — and tickets are still available — on the Live Nation website.
Meanwhile, Lilith Fair’s scheduled Austin date, August 14, still does not have tickets for sale. The festival had previously announced Auditorium Shores as the venue for the concert, but the website now has the venue location back as “TBA.” Jason Maurer, events manager for the Austin Parks and Recreation Department, confirmed to the American-Statesman today that Lilith Fair does not have a permit for Auditorium Shores — on August 14 or any other date. A call to festival organizers has not been immediately returned. We’ll update with more information as it comes in.
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Report: C3 Presents subpoenaed in Lollapalooza investigation
Billboard.com has picked up a story first reported by Chicago music writer Jim Derogatis - that Austin’s C3 Presents, which also produces the Austin City Limits Music Festival, has been subpoenaed by the Illinois attorney general. AG Lisa Madigan is investigating the use of radius clauses in contacts for festival acts. The clauses generally limit an artist playing an event from performing for a specified amount of time before and after the event within a certain distance.
Read Derogatis’ blog on the story here. Lollapalooza is Aug. 6-8 in Chicago.
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Okkervil River recording next album in Dallas
Producer John Congleton (St. Vincent, Clinic, Shearwater) has confirmed that he’s producing the next album by Okkervil River, perhaps in conjunction with O.R.’s Will Sheff.
“We have been working piecemeal since January,” said Congleton. Austin’s Brian Beattie produced the past few Okerrvil albums, including the breakout hit “The Stage Names.” It was believed that, after his success producing Roky Erickson’s acclaimed “True Love Cast Out All Evil,” Sheff would handle the next project by his band himself. But apparently he’s called in another pair of ears.
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Austin clubs raise money for Gulf Coast recovery
Red 7 will join a slate of independent clubs across the country on Thursday, July 1, when it participates in a nationwide fundraiser benefiting those impacted by the Gulf Coast oil spill. Muhamedeli, Magic Jewels, Naw Dude and Air Traffic Controllers will play the show, which starts at 9 p.m. and features a cover charge of $8, all of which goes towards event beneficiary the Gulf Restoration Network. The nonprofit organization provides assistance to people adversely affected by the disaster.
The event, which features independent clubs coast to coast hosting concerts, is the brainchild of Nic Adler, owner of the Roxy Theatre in Los Angeles, Roxy talent buyer Megan Jacobs, Answer with Action founder Sloane Berrent and Casey Phillips, who works with clubs ranging from Los Angeles’ Viper Room to Tipitina’s in New Orleans. Phillips said he felt the need to jump-start an event after witnessing conditions in the Gulf Coast on a recent visit.
“You can smell it, a little bit,” said Phillips. “If you’ve spent time down there you know what the psyche of the people in Southern Louisiana is like. They’re proud people, but this is pretty rough on them. Their livelihood has been taken away. But they’re relentless. They just will not give up.”
Phillips and company reached out to independent clubs, putting a special emphasis on the trials of Gulf Coast fishermen and their families.
“It started with an e-mail we sent out to all the independent clubs I know,” said Phillips. “We tried to appeal to the venues by saying ‘Hey, these are people who live off their own hard work. They don’t get dental plans. They don’t work for corporations, they work for themselves.’ And that seems to have struck a chord.”
July 1 also sees a low-key fundraiser at Maria’s Taco Xpress from 7 to 9 p.m., where the Sin City Social Club will take donations during their happy hour. Somebody’s Darling is scheduled to play. Though not affiliated with the larger nationwide fundraiser, the Parish is throwing its own event to raise proceeds to benefit the Gulf Coast Monday, June 28. That show features Jabarvy, Clyde and Clem’s Whiskey Business, Larry, and Luis Banuelos. Doors open at 6 p.m., and donations at the door will benefit the Gulf Relief Foundation.
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Harlem rock Amsterdam and a VHS bathtub
We’re a bit late to the party on this one, but Austin garage rock trio Harlem — whose second full-length album “Hippies” ranks as one of the year’s best, most insolently enjoyable records — have released a video for album opener and first-class literal and metaphorical burn “Someday Soon.” Aping the band’s own old-fashioned style, the video spurns hi-def in favor of an endearing VHS scratch.
Equally enjoyable is the band’s appearance on the Vincent Moon-esque Amsterdam Acoustics, which showcases Harlem playing a stripped-down version of “Tila.” It’s a rare — and endearing — solemn performance.
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The Sword drop album art for “Warp Riders”
Austin heavy metal masters — and ACL Festival performers-to-be — the Sword have released the cover art for their upcoming third full-length, “Warp Riders,” due August 24 on Kemado Records. Appropriately for a “psychedelic space opera” concept record, the cover, by artist Dan McPharlin, evokes nothing so much as one of those dog-eared science fiction paperbacks you often found filling up the shelves at your middle school library.
The Sword are also planning a three-part video trilogy in August to coincide with the album’s release. They open for patron saint of heavy metal Ozzy Osbourne at the iTunes Roadhouse Festival in London on July 3.
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Weekend music picks: June 24-27
Tonight
The Ugly Beats at the Scoot Inn. Garage pop revivalists the Ugly Beats pound out old-fashioned rock that sounds like something you’d hear emanating from the grooves of your most beloved, dustiest old 45 - and they did it before Austin’s current leading vanguard of Nuggets-influenced rock blew up big. All that extra experience means they’re that much better at fanning the dance party fires. With December Boys and the Modern Don Juans. 9 p.m. $5. www.scoot-inn.com.
- Patrick Caldwell
Also recommended:
Shawn David McMillen at Trailer Space Records,
She Sir at the Spiderhouse,
Love at 20 at the Mohawk,
Tommy Shannon and David Holt at the Saxon Pub,
The Couch and the Murdocks at the Parish.
Friday
Foot Patrol presents the music of Michael Jackson at the Scoot Inn. Mark the one-year anniversary of M.J.’s death with Austin’s best foot fetish funk band. Yo, your dogs are gonna bark. There’s also a moonwalking contest. 9 p.m. 1308 E. Fourth St. www.thescootinn.com.
- Michael Corcoran
Also recommended:
Octopus Project DJ set at End of an Ear,
Ray Wylie Hubbard at the Cactus,
Devin the Dude at Lambert’s,
Pocahaunted at Emo’s,
Manikin at Beerland,
Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers at Antone’s.
Saturday
Health and Indian Jewelry at Red 7. The carefully crafted cacophony of Los Angeles’ Health hits hard with monotone vocals and abrasive noise - and, above all else, the furious pounding of drummer BJ Miller. Health sound like crushed glass on first listen, but there’s an elegant Zen quality to its electronic experimentation that should play well at Red 7. Houston’s masters of drone Indian Jewelry open. With Gold Panda, Daniel Francis Doyle and Computer Jesus Refrigerator. 9 p.m. $8. 611 E. Seventh St. www.red7austin.com.
- P.C.
Also recommended:
Damien Jurado at the Club Deville,
Del Tha Funkee Homosapien at the Mohawk,
The Tiny Tin Hearts at the Parish,
The Gourds at the Scoot Inn,
The Mother Truckers CD release and Micky and the Motorcars at Antone’s,
The Crystal Method DJ set at Republic Live,
White Rhino CD release and Eagle Claw at the ND at 501 Studios.
Sunday
My Empty Phantom at the Mohawk. The ambient/experimental project of 22-year-old Austinite Jesse Beaman, MEP puts petals to the pedals, with a lovely, looping soundscape built around the piano. 10 p.m. 912 Red River St. www.mohawkaustin.com.
- M.C.
Also recommended:
Bettysoo at Threadgill’s South,
Big Bad Voodoo Daddy at the One World Theatre,
Dan Dyer, Amy Cook at the Parish,
Heybale! at the Continental Club.
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CD review: Shawn David McMillen, “Dead Friends”
Shawn David McMillen
‘Dead Friends’
(Tompkins Square Park).
How do we memorialize those we’ve lost? We offer hugs and tears, we bring food, we sit quietly. Austinite Shawn David McMillen — known to some for his work with Rubble, Ash Castles on the Gold Coast, Iron Kite and more — made this album, a heady, mostly instrumental mix of mostly analog background clatter and acoustic mostly guitar meditations. McMillen is a psychedelic player in the truest sense of the term. We are meant to hang around in the headspace these pieces create from the vaguely Asian-sounding kalimba plinks on ‘A Morning With Dead Friends’ to the guitar and violin ramble-folk of ‘No Time Left in this Place,’ a duet with the similarly minded Ralph White. Album opener ‘Walking Home’ could be a fragment of a druggy Rolling Stones song, while out-of-focus percussion and what sounds like a very large, wooden engine turning over loops with a simple guitar melody and middle distance vocals on ‘The Moth.’ There’s no angle from which McMillen won’t approach an idea; don’t be so shocked if the next one is all-electronic or sports a brass band or is a capella.
Shawn David McMillen plays a free show with John Schooley and Followed by Static Thursday, June 24 at 7 p.m. at Trailer Space Records, 1401 Rosewood Ave.
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Cool gig alert: the New Familiars at the Hole 6/30
While Carolina Chocolate Drops are getting all the hype when it comes to North Carolina string bands, Charlotte’s the New Familiars are another great band to catch live. The quartet, which mixes Appalachian roots with Beach Boy harmonies and throws in some great covers, are driving the ol’ beardmobile all night from Lubbock to make their gig next Wednesday at the Hole In the Wall. They deserve a nice Austin welcome.
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New Alejandro Escovedo streaming on NPR
National Public Radio’s increasing role as a music tastemaker has been bolstered by an impressive series of coups for their First Listen service, which streams full albums in the week leading up to their release, with exclusive streams of summer albums from the Gaslight Anthem, LCD Soundsystem, the Black Keys, the National and the New Pornographers.
To that impressive pile add local genre-twisting troubadour Alejandro Escovedo, whose “Street Songs of Love” is now streaming through next Tuesday, June 29, the day the album hits stores.
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Iron & Wine brings Concert & Movie to Paramount
Sam Beam of Iron & Wine will present the second annual benefit concert for the Midwives Alliance of North America (MANA) Thursday, July 29, at the Paramount Theatre. A supporting act will be announced soon; last year it was Glen Hansard of the Swell Season.
The night before the show, Dripping Springs resident Beam will host a movie night at the Paramount, featuring Terrence Malick’s first film “Badlands.” You may know that Beam is a former professor of film and recently directed a video for the Swell Season’s “Low Rising.” The movie night will benefit the Paramount Theatre’s Film Series, which has shown classic movies on the big screen for 35 years.
Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday at 866-9PROTIX or http://austintheatre.org.
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Austin Music Hall, Backyard architects sue Direct Events et al
Claiming it is owed more than $84,000 for architectural work at the Austin Music Hall and $34,000 for work at the new Backyard, Sixth River Architects filed suit June 15 against Direct Events Inc. and Tim O’Connor and Doug Moyes dba Two Lawnmowers. Planet Earth LLC was added to the Backyard suit, while Silent Running Inc. is a co-defendant in the Austin Music Hall suit.
The plaintiff’s case includes an April 9, 2010, “Payment Plan Agreement for the Austin Music Hall Outstanding Debt,” in which Sixth River president Rollie Roessner agrees to lower the “actual total unpaid invoice amount” from $66,160 to $57,500. O’Connor signed the agreement April 9.
Terms call for $10,000 to be paid no later than April 12, with an additional payment of $10,000 due May 31. The final payment of $37,500 is due Oct. 31, according to the agreement. A penalty fee of $1,000 a day is to be applied upon failure to pay.
Moyes did not return an e-mail asking for comment last week. O’Connor could not be reached Monday. Direct Events CFO Will Hodgson also could not be reached via phone or e-mail Monday.
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Jimmie Vaughan returns to headline SMF
Smithville resident Jimmie Vaughan will headline the second annual Smithville Music Festival Nov. 6, it was announced last week. Other acts, as well as ticket info, will be announced soon.
Here’s the fest web site.
Shout! Factory will release Jimmie Vaughan’s first new album in nine years, “Plays Blues, Ballads & Favorites,” on July 6. The album contains wild covers of songs by Jimmy Reed, Little Richard, Willie Nelson and others. The local record release party is Aug. 6 at Antone’s.
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Music Monday Pick: Seth Osborn of the Tiny Tin Hearts
Welcome to Music Monday Picks, where once a week we talk to an Austin musician and find out what’s been burning up their CD player, turntable or iPod lately. Looking for a good musical recommendation? Take some advice from someone in the local music trenches who knows their stuff. Recommendations can be local, national or international, new or old. They only need to fit two criteria: 1) the musician in question needs to have just discovered them, and 2) it has to be fantastic.
This week: We grab a quick e-mail pick from Seth Osborn, vocalist and piano and banjo player for the Tiny Tin Hearts, the sweeping eight-piece rock collective that won the Austin Chronicle’s first Sound Wars battle of the bands and released its debut seven-song EP last year. The octet bring their classical-influenced majesty to the Parish Saturday, June 26, on a bill that also includes Salesman and Doug Burr. Doors open at 8 p.m., and the show is $10.
Seth Osborn recommends: “Treats,” the debut album from Brooklyn noise pop duo Sleigh Bells, which has received accolades from Pitchfork, Paste magazine, the Chicago Tribune and others.
Seth Osborn says: “The newest band that I’ve discovered and have been enjoying pretty well is Sleigh Bells and their album ‘Treats’ — it’s like fuzzy distorted chaotic dance-y pop music. It’s definitely a passing phase of Brooklyn hipsterdom and pretty silly but a lot of fun to listen to.”
Check out a video for Sleigh Bells’ “Infinity Guitars” below. Photo of the Tiny Tin Hearts by Valerie Fremin.
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End of an Ear celebrates five years this week
When beloved Hyde Park vinyl haunt 33 Degrees shuttered its doors early last decade, co-owner Dan Plunkett wasn’t ready to abandon his love of record stores. Teaming with friend Blake Carlisle, he began scouting locations for a new store, spending a year formulating plans for his next big venture. In 2005, the two opened End of an Ear at 2209 S. First St. in a tiny building that used to host an art gallery.
Five years later, Plunkett and Carlisle are celebrating the store’s first half-decade as a small-but-potent music source — and a hive for the community that’s boasted art shows and in-stores and a healthy section for Austin music.
“There was nothing really south of the river at the time that interested us,” recalls Plunkett. “We just wanted to create a store that we would want to shop at. And it’s getting there. It hasn’t totally blown us away yet, but it’s getting better.”
Part of End of an Ear’s success, Plunkett says, was its timely arrival — the store opened its doors just in time to crest the wave of the oft-reported vinyl resurgence. The increasing levels of interest in records has helped propel sales at End of an Ear even as CD sales have declined, and the industry’s annual Record Store Day gave the store it’s biggest day ever in 2009 — and again in 2010, doubling the previous year’s numbers and far out shadowing Christmas and South by Southwest.
“When we allotted space for the store we started with a certain vision that was like ‘This will be enough for our vinyl.’ But no, it’s not, we need more and more all the time,” says Plunkett. “If you look at the numbers, vinyl jumps so much every year. It’s still such a small percentage of the market, but for us that is our market. Our vinyl sales have jumped up about 50 percent every year.”
To celebrate its 5-year anniversary, End of an Ear will be having in-store performances Wednesday through Sunday, including Ola Podrida, Windsor for the Derby, Jonathan Meiburg and Thor Harris of Shearwater, and others. Peep after the jump for a full line-up, as well as End of an Ear’s 25 best-selling titles of the last five years.
Wednesday June 23rd
5pm - Ralph White
6pm - Jonathan & Thor (of Shearwater)
Thursday June 24th
6pm - The Viet Minh
Friday June 25th
5pm - ST 37
5:30pm - The Octopus Project DJ Set
Saturday June 26th
4pm - Horse + Donkey
5pm - Windsor for the Derby
Sunday June 27th
5pm - Ola Podrida
End of an Ear’s 25 best-selling titles of the last five years
1. Neutral Milk Hotel “In The Aeroplane Over The Sea”
2. Cat Power “The Greatest”
3. (tied) Bon Iver “For Emma, Forever Ago”
(tied) Animal Collective “Merriweather Post Pavilion”
4. Fleet Foxes “Fleet Foxes”
5. Arcade Fire “Neon Bible”
6. Sufjan Stevens “Illinois”
7. Spoon “Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga”
8. FM3 “Buddha Machine”
9. Thom Yorke “The Eraser”
10. Iron and Wine “The Shepherd’s Dog”
11. Explosions in the Sky “All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone”
12. The XX “The XX”
13. (tied) Death “For the Whole World To See”
(tied) Vampire Weekend “Vampire Weekend”
14. Band of Horses “Everything All the Time”
15. (tied) Explosions in the Sky “The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place”
(tied) Panda Bear “Person Pitch”
16. Okkervil River, “The Stage Names”
17. Black Angels “Passover”
18. Beirut “The Flying Club Cup”
19. Beirut “Gulag Orkestar”
20. Radiohead “In Rainbows”
21. Beach House “Teen Dream”
22. Spoon “Transference”
23. Vampire Weekend “Contra”
24. “Casual Victim Pile: Austin 2010”
25. Yeasayer “Odd Blood”
Update: The list of End of an Ear’s best sellers has been expanded to 25 and re-organized to reflect albums with releases with multiple covers or editions, such as Cat Power’s “The Greatest.”
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CD review: Gaslight Anthem `American Slang’
Gaslight Anthem
‘American Slang’
(Side One Dummy)
Grade: B-
There is absolutely nothing wrong with “American Slang” (released June 15). It has a surfeit of razor-sharp guitars, pounding drums and blue-collar, broken-hearted music poems penned by Gaslight Anthem lead singer/guitarist/honcho Brian Fallon.
BUT (you knew that was coming), “American Slang” also often feels like it’s the musical equivalent of hormonally enhanced beef; sure, everything’s big and juicy and an easy swallow but with a vague taint of having grown too much too fast. That’s in comparison to “The `59 Sound,” the band’s 2008 masterstroke that was a pop-punk evolution of Social Distortion’s grease-caked rock chased with Bruce Springsteen’s working-man anthems.
While the Boss’ faint presence worked as a guide before, here he’s all over the place as Fallon recounts young men and women filling bars, “mysteries of New Orleans” and getting “your name tattooed inside of my arm.” It’s a “Born To Run on the River at the Edge of a Nebraska Town” grab bag at lots of points, which makes it something of a kindred spirit to the Killers’ underrated but uneven “Sam’s Town.”
All of which means this album’s title track and maybe one or two more will pump through satellite radio channels at Applebee’s locations all over the country. Not a bad thing, certainly, but still a little dispiriting, just like this album as a whole.
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CD review: Marah ‘Life is a Problem’
Marah
`Life is a Problem’
(Valley Farm Songs)
Grade: C
Lots of changes in Marah-ville since last we checked in on brothers Dave and Serge Bielanko and their octane-burning roots rock outfit after 2008’s well-received “Angels of Destruction.” Biggest is the departure of Serge Bielanko, along with the band’s longtime rhythm section, which was bound to mess with the band’s tone and musical interplay no matter who came aboard to fill out the roster.
Rather than fight change, Dave Bielanko decided to take a creative detour and make Marah’s latest an exploration into folksy AOR territory. So “Life is a Problem” isn’t quite a stopgap, but it’s also a Marah record pretty much in name only.
Still present: Bielanko’s gift for yearning, weary choruses caked with nicotine and beer bottle sweat rings. “Valley Farm Song” and “Tramp Art,” among others, prove that Bielanko’s way with a word works in just about any musical idiom.
Sadly absent: the breakneck pace of “Point Breeze,” “Faraway You” or “The Hustle” that made Marah live shows experiences that bordered on revelatory. The benefit of this is that we get more of a glimpse into Bielanko’s lyrical chops - often very good but still a ways from great - but it’s hard to not feel like something’s missing, hearing such a white-hot rock band content to never take their tempos much past a shuffle.
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CD review: `Broken Hearts and Dirty Windows: Songs of John Prine’
Various
`Broken Hearts and Dirty Windows: Songs of John Prine’
(Oh Boy)
Grade: B+
The best tribute albums reveal new facets and strengths of their subjects, parsing the often-intimidatingly prolific catalogues of music’s titans through the prism of today’s talents. So it goes for the masterfully curated “Broken Hearts and Dirty Windows: Songs of John Prine,” which pares down the folk rock icon’s 15-plus studio albums across four decades to a stunningly cohesive 45-minute, 12-song disc that serves as a perfect Prine primer.
In hewing close to the spirit of Prine - his intimate, emotive singing and evocative, quintessentially American songwriting - while taking artistic leaps of faith when necessary, “Broken Hearts and Dirty Windows” respects without regurgitating. Justin Vernon’s ethereal opening take on “Bruised Orange (Chains of Sorrow)” pulls double duty as both an excellent cover and the best Bon Iver song not on “For Emma, Forever Ago.” Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band bring a honky-tonk energy to the Southern drama of “Wedding Day in Funeralville,” while My Morning Jacket’s take on “All the Best,” off Prine’s career-revitalizing, Grammy-winning 1991 classic “The Missing Years,” makes the most of the song’s potential for harmony. The Drive-By Truckers lively up “Daddy’s Little Pumpkin” with a Southern-fried charm. And the Avett Brothers’ knowing twang makes “Spanish Pipedream,” a high point off Prine’s classic self-titled debut album, a toe-tapping delight.
As with any tribute album, inconsistency occasionally fells the precedings - the Old Crow Medicine Show isn’t quite up to offering a fresh take on “Angel from Montgomery,” one of Prine’s most covered songs. The more straightforward acoustic interpretations of classic Prine - from singer-songwriters like Josh Ritter or Justin Townes Earle - hew a bit too closely to the source material. But taken together, “Broken Hearts and Dirty Windows” offers an almost perfect encapsulation of a singer with a winding, impressive career. For young cats looking for a Prine access point, you couldn’t ask for a much better way to jump in.
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Who wants to join the Marfia?
Musician/ Marfa city council member David Beebe is looking for a young and hungry soul who chews 60-hour work weeks like gum to run Padre’s, his nightclub/ restaurant in Marfa (the wide open town which should be nicknamed “the Big Empty.”) Bar experience is neccessary; kitchen experience is a big plus.
“This is pretty much the perfect opportunity for someone out of college to move to Marfa,” says Beebe. (That scenario didn’t work out too badly for Jake Silverstein.)
Interested parties can contact Beebe at marfagringo@yahoo.com.
Go here to find out more about Padre’s.
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Live review: Passion Pit at Stubb’s
Bands that come through Austin during South by Southwest and have a good experience often seem to continue playing shows here regularly, even if their audience grows significantly. Boston-based indie pop band Passion Pit falls into this category, having played a showcase at Emo’s during the 2009 South by Southwest Festival. At that point the band had not released their full length album—in fact, they were barely even a band at that point—lead singer Michael Angelakos had recorded an EP of catchy synth pop entirely on his own for a college girlfriend a year or so before, and it caught on, so he brought the rest of the band along on tour. A year and some packed shows at Emo’s and the Austin City Limits Festival later, and the band is selling out two consecutive nights outside at Stubb’s.
During the first of those shows on Friday, Angelakos let the audience know how excited he was to be back in town. Though the body of songs the band was able to draw from is still very limited, nothing about the set felt particularly stale, perhaps because like many other bands of their size, they’ve had plenty of opportunities to hone their skills in a live setting over the last couple of years. Opening with “I’ve Got Your Number” from the “Chunk of Change” EP, followed by “Make Light” from the full-length “Manners” album, the band set the tone for the evening with pulsating lights and big, dramatic keyboard parts (and the audience set a tone of their own by throwing glowsticks. Phish isn’t coming until October, kids).
Angelakos jumped around the stage quite a bit during a speedy version of “Drive Me Crazy” and led an audience sing-a-long during “The Reeling” and “Moth’s Wings,” two of their more popular songs. Watching him move around as much as he does on stage, it’s impressive that he can keep up his falsetto vocal style as long as he can. Also notable about the show was the level of audience engagement. Except for a slower mid-set stretch, even people in the back were paying attention, which doesn’t typically happen at Stubb’s. It probably helped that the band kept the energy level high through the latter part of the night, offering up strong versions of “Smile Upon Me” and crowd favorite “Little Secrets.” After starting the encore with “Eyes As Candles,” they covered “Dreams” by the Cranberries. It was a fun choice and one that fit well with Angelakos’ vocals, though it was unclear how many of the younger fans in the crowd were familiar with the early nineties hit. They closed the night with the infinitely catchy “Sleepyhead,” a song which, having appeared on both the EP and the full-length, epitomizes the band’s sound with its combination of dance pop and more psychedelic elements.
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Tim Neece to run new ‘ACL’ venue
Longtime Austinite Tim Neece, who’s currently the assistant director of talent buying at the Performing Arts Center at the University of Texas, is moving next month to “Austin City Limits at Moody Theater,” where he’ll be general manager. The new venue for the TV show on West Second Street, across from City Hall, is expected to be completed by the end of 2010, according to Beau Armstrong of Stratus Properties.
When the 2.750-capacity venue is not being used for TV tapings, it will be booked and managed by Neece, a former talent manager (Christopher Cross, Charlie Sexton), who ran such Direct Events venues as the Austin Music Hall and La Zona Rosa from 1997 to 2001. He starts working out of his new office July 1.
“The big thing with hiring Tim is that it allows us to maintain our independence, while working with such promoters as Live Nation, AEG and C3,” said Armstrong. It had earlier been announced that Stratus, which co-owns the development (which includes a W Hotel) with high-profile partners Magic Johnson and Willie Nelson, had reached an agreement with Live Nation to exclusively book the new theater. But Armstrong said, “it ultimately didn’t work out that way. There’s no acrimony, but our thinking just evolved to the point that we all feel it’ll work out best for everybody” by staying independent.
“I’m really excited about the potential of the new building and the impact it’ll have on the Austin music scene,” said Neece, who moved to Austin from Abilene in 1971 as the drummer in the band George (later Sundance). Booking shows at the Bass Concert Hall since 2004, Neece has worked with most major concert promoters.
“Austin City Limits” will begin taping at the new venue with next year’s season. The KLRU-owned show gets free run of the venue for 45 nights per year. Armstrong estimates that an additional 70- 100 shows a year will be booked at the theater each year.
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Bob Dylan to play the Backyard Aug. 4
C3 Presents is bringing Bob Dylan and his band to the new Backyard Aug. 4. Tickets ($45 general admission) are on sale Friday June 25 at 10 a.m. at Waterloo Records and at thebackyard.net.
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KUT posts Cactus job opening
Here’s the posting for Cactus Cafe manager.
It pays $46,000 a year, though the total is negotiable based on qualifications.
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Gourds revive Beeblefest
In Oct. ‘97, the Gourds lost a bunch of money hosting Beeblefest, named after their debut LP “Dem’s Good Beeble,” at Stubb’s. Attendance was fair, but what hurt was that the band booked a supporting cast, including the Skeletons and Tiny Town, from out of state, so traveling expenses were high.
Well, Beeblefest is back June 26 at Scoot Inn and joining the Gourds are such handpicked locals as Papa Mali, the Archibalds, Mandible, Mike Nicolai and Olde World.
Sets will alternate between indoor and outdoor. Ticket price is a reasonable $15 at the door. This looks to be a new Austin summertime tradition.
Here are the set times:
6:15 - 7:00 Olde World - OUTDOOR STAGE
7:15 - 8:00 Mike Nicolai - OUTDOOR STAGE
8:00 - 8:30 Mandible - INDOOR STAGE
8:30 - 9:30 Papa Mali - OUTDOOR STAGE
9:30 - 10:00 Archibalds - INDOOR STAGE
10:00 - 12:00 Gourds - OUTDOOR STAGE
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Cowboy Junkies’ `Nomad Series’ has a defined path
The Cowboy Junkies’ “Renmin Park: The Nomad Series, Volume 1” traces narratives both personal (“Stranger Here”) and political (“A Few Bags of Grain”). The brooding folk-rock quartet debuts its adventurous new material Friday at a favorite local venue.
“Playing (at the One World Theatre) is a very comfortable experience,” bassist Alan Anton says. “It’s unlike other places (that are) very business-oriented. It’s like being in somebody’s house, and the dinners are great!”
American-Statesman: Playing (the new album’s instrumental) ‘Intro’ over the PA would be a pretty dramatic way to open the show. Have you tried that?
Alan Anton: We tried that once, and felt like we were in “Monty Python.” It’s kind of wacky, I guess. It didn’t feel like something we should continue doing.
Fair enough. `Stranger Here’ better captures the album’s tone. Explain the story.
That comes from (songwriter Michael Timmins’) experience in China for three months with his family. It’s a story about the difficulties bringing these two cultures together, which is sort of the challenge he presented to us when he came back. He said, “You know, I’ve got an idea for this record that’s gonna combine my three months in China with what we’re doing.” At first, we thought, “Are you nuts?”
Some songs are uncharacteristically political.
You can’t avoid it, especially when you’re dealing with history so recent and well known to everybody. I think there are a couple songs with lines that are pretty overtly political. That’s not Mike’s style, but even he felt it was hard to avoid comment.
You’re planning to release three following albums in this Nomad series. Are the others finished?
We’re about halfway through the second one, which is covers of Vic Chesnutt songs. The other two are sketched out, but we haven’t tackled any of it recording-wise yet. We’ll be busy this summer.
Had you planned to record Vic’s songs before he passed away last year?
Well, we’ve known him and he’s opened for us for years. When he passed in December, it was kind of a shock because we’d just been talking to him about doing a record together - Vic and the Junkies with him writing stuff. That discussion was going on for about a year before that. It was a real kick to us (when he died).
All four sound like albums in the traditional sense. Does that concept feel outdated in this iTunes era?
We’re old school. We grew up with albums, and we think in those terms, a whole record with flow and sequencing and the whole thing. We wish there were still a Side A and Side B so you could have a break or just play one side independently of the other. That was always a great thing. I don’t think we’re ever going to stop thinking that way. It’s engrained in us.
How essential is releasing these on your own label?
We haven’t really been with a label since we left Geffen in 1997 or ‘98. We’ve gone through smaller U.S. labels for releases, but we’ve maintained the control of Latent Recordings since then. It’s been great ever since we left Geffen. They were a sinking ship anyway when we were on them, so we just got bogged down in their problems.
Cowboy Junkies
When: 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. today
Where: One World Theater, 7701 Bee Cave Road
Cost: $65, $50
Information: 330-9500; oneworldtheatre.org
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Weekend music picks: June 17-20
Tonight
New Media Art and Sound Summit at United States Art Authority. A three-day, indoor/outdoor experimental extravaganza kicks off with a full day of sounds from the likes of J.D. Emmanuel, Twigs and Yarn, Tatasuya Nakatani, Damp Heat and many more. Music goes from 3 p.m. to 2 a.m. 2906 Fruth St. $8 a day or $12 for all three. More information at www.churchofthefriendlyghost.org.
- Michael Corcoran
Also recommended:
Scott H. Biram, Darren Hoff and The Hard Times at the Continental Club,
Tthe Carrots, Jungle Rockers at the Mohawk,
A Corpse Vanishes at Red 7.
Friday
Raekwon, Question, Crew 54 and Riders Against the Storm at Emo’s.
It took chutzpah for Raekwon to release last year’s sequel to ‘Only Built 4 Cuban Linx,’ his 1995 solo debut now widely regarded as a hip-hop classic, a byzantine crime epic with a rich sound and one of the highest respectability quotients of any solo record by a Wu-Tang Clan member.
But ‘Only Built 4 Cuban Linx … Pt. II’ blew away both the Billboard charts and the critics, and marked a return to form that we hope bodes well for the live show.
With a record that good, follow-up Wu-Tang-turned-solo-album ‘Shaolin Vs. Wu-Tang’ can take as long as it needs to come out. 9 p.m. $20. 603 Red River St.
www.emosaustin.com.
- Patrick Caldwell
Also recommended:
Carolina Chocolate Drops at the Parish,
Passion Pit and Tokyo Police Club at Stubb’s,
Cowboy Junkies at One World Theatre,
Girls Rock benefit with Ume, Agent Ribbons and Candi and the Strangers at the ND at 501 Studios,
Patricia Vonne at the Continental Club.
Saturday
Tiny Vipers at the Parish.
This is the club that does ethereal right, so Seattle singer-songwriter Jesy Fortino should feel right at home. T.V. won’t be on the radio, but the haunting 2009 Sub Pop release ‘Life On Earth’ makes for a lovely sonic jaunt. Sleep Over and Lost River/Old River open. 9 p.m. $12 214 E. Sixth St. www.parishaustin.com.
- M.C.
Also recommended:
Daniel Johnston, Jason Falkner, Matt Bearden at the Mohawk,
Concrete Blonde (performing `Bloodletting’) at Emo’s,
Passion Pit, Tokyo Police Club at Stubb’s,
High Watt Crucifixers at Red Eyed Fly.
Sunday
Austin Music Foundation benefit with English Teeth and DJ Car Stereo (Wars) at the Mohawk. Forget ties, books, electronic doo-dads or a round of golf - the best possible Father’s Day gift is indisputably rock ‘n’ roll. So grab your dad (or son) and some earplugs and head out to the Mohawk for an Austin Music Foundation benefit featuring the dance-worthy mashup of DJ Car Stereo (Wars) and the good-times garage rock of English Teeth. Grab some food from hot dog purveyors Frank and get lensed in an Annie Ray photobooth while you’re at it. 5 p.m. $20. 912 Red River St.
www.mohawkaustin.com.
- P.C.
Also recommended:
Ruby Dee and the Snakehandlers at the Continental Club,
KAOS radio benefit with Horse + Donkey, Night Viking, Telepathik Friend and more at the Austin Moose Lodge,
The Bells of Joy at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church.
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Billy Joe Shaver pleads no contest to gun charge
Billy Joe Shaver will pay a $1,000 fine after pleading no contest this morning to a misdemeanor gun charge, according to the Waco Tribune-Herald.
As part of a deal worked out with prosecutors, Shaver will also forfeit the gun he used to shoot Billy Coker in the cheek during a March 31, 2007, fight outside a bar in Lorena, 90 miles north of Austin. The 70-year-old singer-songwriter claimed he was acting in self defense.
Back in April, a Waco jury acquitted Shaver of an aggravated assault charge also stemming from the incident.
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Erika Wennerstrom kicks off brief residency at Lambert’s Wednesday
Mesmerizing, gravelly voiced Heartless Bastards vocalist Erika Wennerstrom, mere weeks out from the final tour behind last year’s Mike McCarthy-produced gem “The Mountain,” will make the first of two solo appearances at Lambert’s tomorrow night.
The front woman for the propulsive quartet migrated to Austin from Cincinnati, Ohio in 2007 and re-configured the Heartless Bastards into a dynamic hard-edged outfit suited to stand alongside fellow Ohioans the Black Keys in the garage blues revival. She plays the atmospheric barbecue joint on Wednesday, June 16 and June 23 at 10 p.m. Tickets are $10.
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Alejandro Escovedo opens — sort of — for Springsteen at the Long Center
The Long Center recently added high-definition, digital cinema to their programming mix, kicking off their movie offerings with two screenings of the 2009 Bruce Springsteen concert film “London Calling: Live in Hyde Park,” at 8 p.m. on Friday, June 18 and 3 p.m. on Sunday, June 20.
Today the Long Center announced that the Friday screening will include an opening set by Austin’s own Alejandro Escovedo, a frequent Springsteen cohort in recent years whose new album, “Street Songs of Love” (out June 29), features a duet with the Boss. Tickets, $10 advance and $12.50 day of the show, are available at the Long Center’s website.
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Pavement elevates Austin Sept. 28
Rejected web headline titles: “Pavement is arranged for Austin,” “Austin makes date with Pavement,” “Pavement hits the Stubb’s down,” “In the Stubb’s a Pavement,” “Austin gets rattled by the Pavement” … we could do this all afternoon, really.
Those disappointed that the temporarily reunited indie rock icons weren’t booked for the Austin City Limits Music Festival can now rejoice in their just-announced Stubb’s date, scheduled for Sept. 28. Tickets go on sale Friday at 10 a.m.; expect a quick sell-out for the chance to see the wizards behind stone-cold 90s classics like “Slanted and Enchanted” and “Wowee Zowee.” Unfortunately, if you want the chance to see the band with original “eccentric” drummer Gary Young, you’ll have to trek to Stockton, Ca.
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SXSW Panel Picker goes live
Thanks to colleague Omar Gallaga over at Digital Savant, who has word that Panel Picker for the 2011 South by Southwest Festival is now live and taking your submissions, giving the great unwashed online masses the chance to play a role in setting the direction for next year’s panels for the film, interactive and, of course, music festivals.
Anyone can submit an idea, but only one submission each for film, interactive and music will be accepted from each participant. SXSW Interactive director Hugh Forrest penned a guest column on Panel Picker for CNN yesterday. Submissions will be accepted through July 9, so if you’ve got an idea on the order of SXSW 2010 highlight “Why hasn’t the record industry sued Girl Talk?” you should get cracking.
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Passion Pit play in-store at Waterloo Records
In what’s probably the highest profile in-store since Spoon rocked a captive parking lot back in January, Cambridge synthpop darlings Passion Pit will play Waterloo Records Friday at 6 p.m., the store announced this morning.
Originally scheduled as a signing-only event, Passion Pit have upgraded their appearance to a full-on show. Canada’s Tokyo Police Club is still slotted to perform as well. Given that Passion Pit managed the impressive feat of selling out a two-night stand at Stubb’s, those looking to sing along to “Eyes As Candles” for the low cost of free should probably get there early — crowds will no doubt be considerable.
Photo of Passion Pit at Austin City Limits 2009 by Jay Janner, American-Statesman staff.
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Music Monday Pick: Jared Paul Boulanger of the Sour Notes
Welcome to Music Monday Picks, where once a week we talk to an Austin musician and find out what’s been burning up their CD player, turntable or iPod lately. Looking for a good musical recommendation? Take some advice from someone in the local music trenches who knows their stuff. Recommendations can be local, national or international, new or old. They only need to fit two criteria: 1) the musician in question needs to have just discovered them, and 2) it has to be fantastic.
This week: We chat up Jared Paul Boulanger, the front man for winningly prolific indie pop outfit the Sour Notes, who have recently added a bevy of new members, including vocalist and keyboardist Kelly Dewitt, drummer Taylor Steinberg, bassist Amarah Ulghani and synth player Erin Mikulenka, of Austin fashionista duo Team Fabrication. The sextet (who won best local album honors from an Austin360 poll for “It’s Not Gonna Be Pretty”) opens for Austin lo-fi janglepop legend Daniel Johnston Saturday night — his only Austin show this year. Doors open at 8 p.m., and $15 gets you in.
Jared Paul Boulanger recommends: “Super Hits,” the greatest-hits collection from English New Wave rocker Adam Ant, including both solo songs and songs from his band Adam and the Ants.
Jared Paul Boulanger says: “You know how at a random gas station they’ll have a rack of CDs for four dollars? This particular gas station we found on tour had Adam Ant’s ‘Super Hits.’ I’d never listened to him before but the cover looked pretty interesting. He was all done up like a bullfighter. I’ve heard people talk about Adam Ant before and that he was a little crazy and his music was pretty creative and kind of bridged the gap between mainstream and glam-pop. So we decided to buy it and jam it on the road, and I haven’t stopped listening to it. It’s just amazing. There’s a song called ‘Stand and Deliver’ that has some Brian Eno moments and some Talking Heads kind of quirkiness. All the songs on that compilation really rock in a really cool way. The songs kind of make me think of Ariel Pink. After I heard Adam Ant, I was like ‘Ariel Pink is totally ripping off Adam Ant!’ It’s just a more produced, little more mainstream version of Ariel Pink. I think it’s really brilliant. I know he had some really weird moments in his life, and once I started listening to the music on repeat I started investigating him more as a person. He’s been arrested, and he was hospitalized in a psychiatric ward. I think he found a car alternator in a street once and threw it through a pub window and injured some people. It’s super-creative. A lot of it comes from a time when music instruments were starting to change and more electronic synthesizers and stuff were coming into play. So the people who weren’t embracing that technological change were trying to experiment with the instruments they had. So there’s a lot of cool drums and percussion. It blew my mind the first time I heard it.”
Check out the video for Adam and the Ants’ “Stand and Deliver” below. Photo of Jared Paul Boulanger by Katie G. Jones.
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CD review: Drake ‘Thank Me Later’
Drake
`Thank Me Later’
(Young Money/Cash Money/Universal Motown)
Grade: B
The debut album from Toronto hip-pop maestro Aubrey Drake Graham eschews the rags-to-riches story embraced by so many rap debuts, instead bursting out of the gate as the rare freshman treatise that also acts as the requisite post-fame record.
“Money just changed everything/I wonder how life without it would go/From the concrete who knew that a flower would grow?” reflects Drake within the first 30 seconds of “Fireworks,” a slow-simmering R&B burner built around a sleepy vocal hook courtesy of Alicia Keys. “Looking down from the top and it’s crowded below/My fifteen minutes started an hour ago.”
That first reference to Drake’s stratospheric fame isn’t the last - “Thank Me Later” boils with Drake’s pontifications on family and friendship and women (his second-favorite topic), but deals chiefly with his grapples with celebrity. There’s something refreshing about that honesty, and Drake’s conflicted verses save him from falling prey to the egotism of a Kanye West, routinely bouncing between the opposite poles of bluster and doubt, often within the same rhyme. “I’m living life right now and this is what I’m gonna do ‘til it’s over,” he boasts on lead single “Over,” a confident, aggressive track with all the bells and whistles - or strings and horns, more accurately - you expect from a ready-made radio hit. That’s a line that comes mere seconds after “I know too many people right now that I didn’t know last year.” It’s a problem most of us will never have, but Drake remains surprisingly sympathetic all the same.
Fortunately, all those ramifications on something less-than-universal are wrapped in some of the crunchiest pop production of any recent debut. Close producer 40 marries Drake’s rhymes - and frequent excursions into straight-forward singing - with a solid sense for rhythms on half of the album’s tracks. And Drake has the good sense to let his myriad guests - mentor Lil Wayne, T.I., the Dream, Jay-Z and a host of other industry cosigners - cut loose while keeping himself in the spotlight. He coasts a bit too much on vocal processing, but even with that crutch in place, it’s hard to deny that “Thank Me Later” has the highest density of perfect Top 40 songs of any album yet released this year, from the soulful West-produced croon of “Find Your Love” to the Bill Withers-smooth “Karaoke.”
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Waterloo top 25 for the week ending June 12
If the sales at Waterloo Records — probably the best general gauge for what the city’s music aficionado population is digging at any given time — are any indication, we Austinites love us some Black Keys.
The new album “Brothers” from the Akron, Ohio blues rock duo (playing the Austin City Limits Music Festival in October) holds on to the top spot this week, handily besting last week’s number two performer and highest-charting new album, Ratatat’s “LP4.” “Sweet Songs,” a Sara Hickman-produced album benefiting the Mother’s Milk Bank at Austin, makes an impressive jump back into the top 10 after not charting last week, moving 40 units. The re-issue of the Rolling Stones’ “Exile On Main St.” shows staying power by clinging to the top 10, while the English folk rock of Mumford and Sons jumps ten spots from 16th to sixth place, perhaps buoyed by last week’s sold-out show at La Zona Rosa. And Nneka’s in-store last week helps the Nigerian singer sell 28 units. No new Texas artists chart this week, but Grupo Fantasma, Court Yard Hounds, Okkervill River and Roky Erickson, Sarah Jaffe and Patty Griffin stay in the top 25.
Down the sales chart
-After weeks of Broken Social Scene’s “Forgiveness Rock Record” winning the “who’s the better expansive Canadian supergroup” honors from Waterloo’s customers, the New Pornographers’ “Together” pulls ahead this week at number 37.
-Texas artists Willie Nelson, perennial Waterloo seller Bob Schneider, Kevin “Shinyribs” Russell of the Gourds (playing an in-store today), and Black Joe Lewis all make it into the top 50; both Schneider and Lewis have charted every week since their respective albums (“Lovely Creatures” and “Tell ‘Em What Your Name Is”) were released. Spoon, Amy Cook, Will Sexton, Carrie Rodriguez and Willie Nelson and Asleep at the Wheel’s “Willie and the Wheel” fall out of the top 50, though.
-“White Crosses,” the new album from Against Me!, squeaks in at number 50, with 9 copies sold.
1. Black Keys — 94
2. Ratatat — 44
3. Jack Johnson — 42
4. VA: Sweet Songs (Texas artist) — 40
5. Band of Horses — 40
6. Mumford & Sons — 39
7. The National — 39
8. Blitzen Trapper — 33
9. Rolling Stones — 32
10. Delta Spirit — 30
11. Grupo Fantasma (Texas artist) — 30
12. Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti — 28
13. Nneka (played in-store) — 28
14. LCD Soundsystem — 25
15. Nas & Damian Marley — 24
16. Roky Erickson/Okkervil River (Texas artist) — 24
17. Court Yard Hounds (Texas artist) — 24
18. Sleigh Bells — 24
19. Dead Weather — 23
20. Deer Tick — 22
21. MGMT — 19
22. Broken Bells — 19
23. Janelle Monae — 18
24. Sarah Jaffe (Texas artist) — 17
25. Patty Griffin (Texas artist) — 16
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Bonnaroo performances now streaming on YouTube
If you couldn’t afford the ticket or travel out to Tennessee or you just want to get primed for Austin City Limits in October, you might want to tune in to Bonnaroo’s YouTube channel, which begins streaming performances, both live and on tape delay, today through Sunday.
As I write this — 1:20 p.m. CST — Neon Indian’s Thursday night performance is currently running on the service. The rest of the weekend includes a full slate of great performers, including Nas and Damian Marley, the National, Mumford and Sons, LCD Soundsystem, Jay-Z and the Dave Matthews Band. All of the music; none of the park lung.
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Toadies drop previously unreleased album this summer
Beloved alternative rock band the Toadies — whose platinum-certified 1994 album “Rubberneck” is a veritable rite of passage for an entire generation of Texans — have announced plans to drop their fourth full-length studio album, “Feeler,” this summer, according to Dallas record label Kirtland.
Well, sort of.
After the runaway success of “Rubberneck” and years of accordant touring, the Toadies returned to the studio in 1997 to record “Feeler,” a follow-up album that was flatly rejected by the band’s then-label, Interscope. Three of the songs off “Feeler” were salvaged for 2001’s “Hell Below/Stars Above,” but the album was otherwise lost to the sands of time and torrent networks, where various configurations of it have been floating around for years.
Always conscious of their fans’ desire for more vintage material, the Toadies have returned to Los Angeles to re-record songs off the “Feeler” sessions, with plans to release the album this summer before their two-night stand at the Whitewater Music Ampitheatre in New Braunfels. You can peep a highly dramatic teaser up for the new (old) album right here.
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The Go-Go’s cancel farewell tour, including Austin date
Long-running pop-rock outfit the Go-Go’s have canceled their “Happily Ever After” summer farewell tour — which was set to climax with a performance in Austin (current home of Go-Go Kathy Valentine) at the Paramount Theatre.
The culprit? Blame the active lifestyle of Go-Go’s guitarist Jane Wiedlin, who suffered a 20-foot fall while hiking near her Northern California home. Wiedlin is set to undergo ACL surgery, with “a prognosis of up to a year recovery time.” Tickets will be refunded at point of purchase. No word yet on whether the band will now simply call it quits as planned or hold off until the tour can be rescheduled.
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‘ACL’ to welcome major festival acts to the studio
OK, enough foreplay.
The confirmed fest acts taping episodes of “Austin City Limits” are as follows:
Monsters of Folk: Wednesday, October 6
Sonic Youth: Thursday, October 7
Band of Horses: Saturday, October 9
The National: October 11
No times have been announced for these tapings.
As always, information about ticket availability and the ticket giveaway will be made available on the “Austin City Limits” blog about a week before the taping. For more information on the show, and to watch entire episodes from the archives of the show that’s in its 36th year, check out austincitylimits.org.
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Weekend music picks: June 10-13
Tonight
Kinky Friedman at the Saxon Pub. The Kinkster met a sound defeat at the hands of Hank Gilbert in his quest for the Democratic nomination for Texas Agriculture Commissioner. But Texas’ loss is, um, Texas’ gain. His latest political ambition thwarted, Friedman should now be free to do what he does best: reclaim his status as the Twain of Texas, both through his writings and his gut-busting, sharply observed country-rock tunes. 9 p.m. $30. 1320 S. Lamar Blvd. www.thesaxonpub.com.
Also recommended:
Buzzcocks at the Mohawk,
Ultra8201 birthday celebration with L.A.X. and Love at 20 at the Parish,
Reverend Horton Heat at Stubb’s,
Future Clouds and Radar and the Monahans at the ND,
Alpha Rev at Shady Grove.
- Patrick Caldwell
Friday
Anne McCue at the Bugle Boy. This phenomenally talented electric guitarist from Australia shows her singer-songwriter side at the most intimate listening room in all of La Grange. It’s an hour’s drive from Austin, but well worth it for the soul recharge you’ll get from the combo of McCue and the Bugle. Tickets must be purchased in advance. Go to thebugleboy.com for information. 8 p.m. $15.
- Michael Corcoran
Also recommended:
Thao and Mirah with the Most of All at Mohawk,
Uncle Lucius, Deadman at Threadgill’s South,
Shellshag at Beerland,
Eagle Claw, Obsolete Machines at the Hole In the Wall,
Patrice Pike & Ian Moore at the Saxon Pub,
Kalu James at the Flamingo Cantina,
Strunz & Farah at One World,
Honky at Red Eyed Fly.
Saturday
Akina Adderley and the Vintage Playboys at Momo’s. There’s a whole lot of rhythm going round in Austin tonight, as vintage soul and blues man W.C. Clark holds it down at the Saxon and up-and-comer Tim Crane belts it out at the Continental Club. But if you want to peep one of Austin’s finest soul acts, look no further than Momo’s, where Adderley fronts the tight, highly listenable Vintage Playboys. With the Lou Evans Project, Lusitania, Black Coyote, Megan Carney and Jarrod Dickenson. 12:15 a.m. $10. 618 W. Sixth St. www.momosclub.com.
- P.C.
Also recommended:
GBH, Lower Class Brats and Krum Bums at Emo’s,
T-Bird and the Breaks at the Continental Club,
Eric Tessmer, Amplified Heat and Dixie Witch at Antone’s.
Sunday
Junior Brown and Tanya Rae at the Continental Club. With Heybale playing afterward, guitar geeks have the chance to compare Austin’s best guitarist of the ’90s with Redd Volkaert, the greatest since. Junior’s always a revelation, especially if you haven’t seen him in a while. 7 p.m. $15. 1315 S. Congress Ave. www.continentalclub.com.
- M.C.
Also recommended:
Gourds at Threadgill’s,
Hawthorne Heights at Emo’s,
Jon Dee Graham at Continental Gallery,
Bear and the Essentials at Mean Eyed Cat.
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Chocolate Droppin’ into the Parish June 18
Kelly West/AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
The first time the Carolina Chocolate Drops played Austin, in March at SXSW, they didn’t see much of the town. “It seemed like we were constantly being shuttled from one place to another,” the trio’s main fiddler Justin Robinson says of the five sets and countless interviews the North Carolina old-timey music enthusiasts did. “It was a big blur.”
The group, which picked up 100 decibels of buzz at SXSW, returns to a gentler Austin June 18 at the Parish.
Asked if the press has made too much of a fact that the Chocolate Drops, who met five years ago at the Black Banjo Gathering in North Carolina, are African-Americans playing a style of hillbilly music associated with whites, Robinson says, “No, that’s part of our mission. We want to let folks know that blacks have always played this kind of music” which is called Piedmont string band music after N.C.’s mid-state region.
The title of the trio’s latest album on Nonesuch, “Genuine Negro Jig” plays up the racial aspect of the music. But it’s not the band’s reels and jigs and jub band music that brings down the house every night. It’s Rhiannon Giddens’ soaring take on Blu Cantrell’s “Hit ‘Em Up Style,” with Robinson making beat box sounds with his mouth. Giddens is a classically-trained vocalist, who’s also big on folk-dancing and can stomp up a storm onstage.
The Drops are always quick to credit 91-year-old fiddler Joe Thompson with teaching them how to play the old style right. “We’re just trying to carry on the tradition,” says Robinson. But first they’re letting folks know that there is a tradition.
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Review: Miike Snow at Antone’s
Sometime between Miike Snow’s booking at Antone’s and Miike Snow’s playing Antone’s, a funny thing happened: Miike Snow got just a little too big for Antone’s.
The band’s three staple members — front man Andrew Wyatt and Swedish production duo Bloodyshy and Avant — are fond of pontificating in interviews on their devil-may-care approach; Miike Snow’s origins lay in collaborative experimentation with little intent to ever tour. But their self-titled debut had “infectious indie hit” written all over it. Wyatt’s subtle lilt laid over Bloodshy and Avant’s quivering synths hit the electropop sweet spot — the detached sentiment of a-ha blended with a sense for rhythm cribbed from Prince (it’s not hard to imagine “Black and Blue” as a “Purple Rain” b-side).
The songs off “Miike Snow” failed to chart on the order of Bloodshy and Avant’s other efforts — we are talking about the two guys who wrote “Toxic” here — but they struck a chord among the kinds of folks who routinely hit up the Hype Machine. Accordingly, Tuesday night’s performance by the trio and a note-perfect backing band sold out weeks ago, despite crosstown competition from the vaguely similar (if superior) LCD Soundsystem. And Antone’s — a club that’s wholly pleasant when half or three-quarters full but bereft of decent sightlines when sold-out, and that confounding bar/stage layout doesn’t help — proved a little less than ideal. For such a fast sell-out, bookers C3 Presents might have been wise to upgrade the venue to La Zona Rosa — as they did for Mumford and Sons tonight.
Not that any of that bogged the band down. Emerging bathed in an elaborate light show, Wyatt and company made their debut clad in white face masks, embracing the anonymity central to Miike Snow’s early days of blog buzz. Wyatt kicked things off inauspiciously, with a reasonably low-energy, quiet take on “Cult Logic.” But things loosened up with an ambitious group of three of the best, catchiest tunes on “Miike Snow” — “Burial,” the aforementioned “Black and Blue” and the sinister melancholy of “Silvia.” The masks came off, the energy picked up and “Silvia” closed with a lengthy, impressive jam session, blasts of the theremin accompanying bursts of light.
Most of those electronic elements dropped away for a straight-ahead rock take on “Plastic Jungle,” an effortless evocation of the strut of Britney Spears’ “Womanizer” — not, notably, a Bloodshy and Avant joint, though it easily could have been. And Miike Snow anthem “Animal” sounded livelier and more emotional live than on record — a sentiment apparent in the Antone’s audience, which hit its sing-along, clap-along height during the song. Even a limp, too-indulgent encore jam couldn’t harsh that buzz.
Update: This review has been corrected to display the correct opening song.
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Blues on the Green postponed
Due to today’s rainstorms, the radio station has announced it will postpone tonight’s Blues on the Green, which was to be the first of the season and the first since the series’ return to Zilker Park. According to KGSR’s website the rescheduled date will be posted soon. The Texas Tornados were scheduled to be tonight’s performer.
UPDATE: The Texas Tornados now will perform next Wednesday, June 16, the radio station has announced. The schedule then will be resume as planned with Carolyn Wonderland on June 23.
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Grammy’s retreat at Wimberley next week
Billy and Dodee Crockett’s Blue Rock studio complex in Wimberley will be hosting the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences’ Producers and Engineers Retreat. NARAS is the organization that puts on the Grammys.
Such notables as audio designer/ producer George Massenburg (Linda Ronstadt, Lyle Lovett), producer Tim Palmer (David Bowie, U2), Peter Reardon (Geto Boys, Coolio) and more will participate in the seminar, which is free and open to NARAS members. Music professionals who want to join NARAS Texas chapter can do so by paying $100.
The event’s keynote speaker Rupert Neve, generally regarded as the father of the modern recording console, doesn’t have far to travel. He and his wife Evelyn have lived in Wimberley for two decades.
Singer-songwriter Ruthie Foster will represent the recording artist at the retreat.
For more info go here.
Here’s the story of Blue Rock.
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Review: LCD Soundsystem at Stubb’s
While some insist on calling the music from James Murphy and LCD Soundsystem “dance-punk,” the most punk (as in anyone can do this) thing about Murphy is how he looks. A slightly pudgy, 40-something guy perpetually sporting a white t-shirt and two days of beard, he looks like a guy who should be behind a bar, pouring you a shot and a bigger one for himself, rather than singing and songwriting for what has become a ferocious live band. As much as anyone in popular music, you look at Murphy and think, “This guy is a rock star?”
Yes. Yes, he is. With everyday charisma and, again, a five-piece dance machine behind him, Murphy and LCD are one of the most nakedly enjoyable live bands around and their leader is a key component.
Whether he is sing-song speaking (“Pow Pow”), shouting more or less in key (“Drunk Girls”) or crooning like a drunk girl with an unlimited karaoke budget (“I Can Change”), Murphy ringleads and mumbles and yammers, his killer rhythm section of bass, two drummers and longtime live keyboard player Nancy Whang clearing the way. Guitarist David Scott Stone is an underrated ace. He’s spent more time with hip hard rock bands such as the Melvins and the Locust than dance acts and his buzzing guitar adds an edge of psychedelic funk, turning the signature hammering piano on “All My Friends” (still one of the decade’s smartest, most heartfelt songs) into a throbbing drone.
Perhaps a reflection of the band’s brilliant hipster lament “Losing My Edge,” plenty of LCD’s tunes seemingly crib from older bands. “Us V Them” sounds awfully Talking Heads, while “Drunk Girls” sounds exactly like the Velvet Underground’s “White Light/ White Heat” and “Movement” shares a title with New Order and sounds like a Suicide outtake. But nobody minds. When you can move a soldout crowd’s heart (“Someone Great”) and feet (everything else) while looking like a guy who should be moving furniture, all is forgiven.
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Reggae royalty and country (both new and old) coming to ‘ACL’ stage
On the heels of last week’s announcement that Trombone Shorty and Spoon would be taping episodes of “Austin City Limits” in June and July, respectively, word comes today that the venerable show is also readying its stage for Jimmy Cliff, Robert Earl Keen, and Hayes Carll. Jimmy Cliff will tape on a date still to be determined near the end of July, while Keen and Carll will tape on the same night, August 4th. Those looking for more “hip” bands can rest assure that “ACL” intends to release more acts in the coming days, as they are confirmed.
As always, information about ticket availability and the ticket giveaway will be made available on the “Austin City Limits” blog about a week before the taping. For more information on the show, and to watch entire episodes from the archives of the show that’s in its 36th year, check out austincitylimits.org.
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Nigerian singer brings world to Stubb’s
Nigerian soul/hip-hop/Afro-beat singer Nneka Egbuna is a breath of fresh air. With influences like Bob Marley, Nina Simone and traditional Nigerian music, her music is a call to action.
The 29-year-old, who played South by Southwest Music Festival earlier this year, talked from Germany about her take on life and touring the States with Nas and Damian Marley; the tour stops Wednesday at Stubb’s.
Seattle Times: How did you get paired up with Nas?
Nneka Egbuna: He had listened to my album and suggested that I come on tour with them, because the message of the tour … the connection of every race on this earth, or every tribe is one beginning, one destiny, one blood … and my message were similar.
How would you describe your music?
It’s just the way I am. It’s heartfelt. It’s straightforward.
What is your opinion of the representation of women in hip-hop?
If you’re grounded and founded in your identity, then you are fine. God created us all in his image, therefore we are all powerful. There is no need to stress the man-woman issue. Without woman, there is no man. At the end of the day, women are the source of life.
What do you do for fun?
I try to listen, to be more attentive to people, because I talk a lot at times. Sometimes when you talk, you like to listen to yourself talk, which is a very bad habit. … I like to paint, I like to draw, I like to run, I like to jog, I like to eat good food.
What do you want to get out of this tour?
I’m just going with an open mind and to share my music, my message. It’s an opportunity for me to get to know a different type of audience. … I want to be able to reach out to more people, make them conscious of their surroundings, of the fact that we are responsible for what is happening in this world, whether good or bad. … Me being able to represent Africa, and raise awareness between the relationship between me and Africa is a big responsibility. I want to be able to fulfill what the supreme being expects me to fulfill.
That’s a tall order.
This journey is not my own. … Everybody has his or her own gifts, his or her own talents. We’re all responsible for something. If you’re good at doing something, you cannot forget you have to use it for the benefit of other people.
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Neon Indian signs to Fader
Hot on the heels of a triumphant homecoming show at Emo’s last night, Billboard reports today that Neon Indian, the lo-fi electronica project from sometimes-Austinite Alan Palomo, has signed with Fader Label. The NYC-based label is an outlet of Cornerstone Promotions, the marketing company that also runs the Fader Magazine, where Palomo has gotten plenty of press. We’re through the looking glass here, people. Fader Label also counts Matt and Kim, Editors, Birdmonster and Saul Williams on its roster.
The first release under the deal is a digital reissue of Neon Indian’s debut album, “Psychic Chasms,” which hits the Internet … well, today, actually. The re-release is in conjunction with Palomo’s own label, Static Tongues.
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Miike Snow keeps it spontaneous
Concisely summing up the spirit of the complex, multicelled organism that is your average pop band is a generally thankless, impossible task, but for Miike Snow , it’s as simple as two words: “winging it.”
That’s the modus operandi of Miike Snow in a nutshell. The dance pop trio consists of songwriter and singer Andrew Wyatt, whose ethereal, smooth vocals are laid on top of the gyration-inducing beats of Swedish music production duo Bloodshy and Avant, née Christian Karlsson and Pontus Winnberg, respectively.
“In this process of making this band, we’ve left as much to chance as possible,” says Wyatt. “We pretty much go with whatever first comes to our minds, from the songs to the album art to the name of the band to the jackalope.”
Ah, yes, the jackalope. The mythic, folkloric icon found on shot glasses in gasoline stations across the American Midwest serves as the band’s mascot, with prominent placement on their MySpace page and on the cover of their self-titled debut album. Wyatt says the trio’s appropriation of the Americana symbol is something of a happy accident - the mascot was conceived by one of the band’s Swedish designer friends, who stuck antlers on a jackrabbit, wholly unaware that the image enjoyed widespread recognition in America.
The band’s name - pronounced “Mike Snow” despite sharing a similarity of spelling with always-controversial Japanese film director Takashi Miike - was conceived just as lackadaisically.
“We were thinking about the names of the band, and we received this e-mail from a kid named Mike Snow. Somebody suggested we name the band that, and we all laughed uproariously,” Wyatt says. “And then somebody said ‘Let’s spell it with two Is,’ and we all laughed again and accepted it immediately.”
But hey, who can blame Miike Snow for taking a freewheeling approach to music? It’s worked out pretty well for the band so far. Wyatt had his first major label record deal as a solo artist at the age of 18, but found success elusive. He recorded with legendary British producer and synthpop pioneer Stephen Hague (Pet Shop Boys, Peter Gabriel) but took a five-year break from music after struggles with drugs and mental illness. He later studied classical music at the University of Colorado and moved to New York, where he played with the A.M. and pursued music production work.
That vocation put him in contact with Karlsson and Winnberg, a successful songwriting and producing duo that had worked with Madonna, Kylie Minogue and Christina Milian, and co-wrote and produced Britney Spears’ “Toxic.” The three hit it off and began crafting Miike Snow’s songs. Wyatt says he shares a similar artistic sensibility with Karlsson and Winnberg - and a Dadaist sense of humor - that leads them to work well together in the studio.
“We all have this manga-esque aspect to us. We like musical ideas that protrude and are not obfuscated, that are kind of cartoonish,” Wyatt says. “That’s what allows the project to come together even though we all have very different sort of likes and dislikes.”
Initially, the band threw its songs up on MySpace with few expectations that anybody would care, squeezing in songwriting and recording when band members could find time. But the music press took notice, lead single “Animal” showed up on “Gossip Girl” and the band played sold-out shows across Europe and the United States. For Wyatt, who had no expectations that Miike Snow would ever be more than three blokes messing around in a studio, the band’s upward trajectory has been a surprise - not that they’ll be changing their devil-may-care attitude anytime soon.
“We really honestly did not expect to be here. No way. We thought we would put it out and it was going to get like maybe 50 or 60 MySpace visits,” Wyatt says. “We figured it was going to just exist there and be the sort of thing that our peers in the music producer community would think was cool and fun. We didn’t think there was any way it was going to be this popular kind of thing that it turned into.”
This story originally ran in the print edition of the Austin American-Statesman on March 17. Miike Snow plays a sold-out show at Antone’s Nightclub, 213 W. Fifth St., tonight.
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Riders Against the Storm makes waves in rap scene
It looks like they’re fighting. Or at least engaged in a confrontation marked by heightened passion.
Not with each other, mind you. These two couldn’t be more together.
Jonathan Mahone is on the right, microphone in his left hand while he crouches and jabs the air with his right, inches away from his wife, Ghislaine Jean-Mahone, who’s similarly crouched and antagonized while her husband asks atop a skittering drum beat, “Is it Katrina or Bush that brought waste to New Orleans? Is it we that gotta starve so the rich can overeat?”
The song is “Is It?” The scene is the rapidly filling outdoor stage area at Mohawk last Friday , where an hour later Chicago rapper Kid Sister knocked out the crowd that Austin rap newcomers Riders Against the Storm softened up with a mix of empowered and enlightened rhymes that’s getting the pair noticed all over town.
How noticed? Over Memorial Day weekend they opened for backpacker icon (and Hieroglyphics alum) Aceyalone at Chupacabra. On Wednesday they’ll headline the Stubb’s afterparty for Nas and Damian Marley. And later this month, they’ll take the stage at Emo’s ahead of Wu-Tang Clan veteran Raekwon.
All this in not quite seven months since relocating to Austin, after exhausting all creative opportunities in never-been-an-anything-hotbed Providence, R.I.
“People see us and say that we’re inspiring and refreshing, and they tell us that we’re really needed here,” says Mahone, rap name of Jbro. “They see our drive and how much we believe in what we’re putting out there and they just want to help, and we love that.”
The pair’s beginnings are rooted in community organizing and educational nonprofit work in Providence, where Pittsburgh native Mahone stayed after graduating from Brown University and Jean-Mahone (rap name Tiger Lily) settled after growing up in Brooklyn. Activism and assorted social justice projects provided the foundation for their marriage as well as their music, which blends the playfulness of Pharcyde or Digable Planets with the social awareness of Dead Prez and the Fugees.
That’s the mix all over the pair’s sophomore album “Speak the Truth,” stressing healing and upliftment without chastising and finger-pointing.
“We want to emphasize ourselves as hip-hop healers, because we look at the ceremony of being an MC as being someone who facilitates an energy with the other performers and with the crowd,” Jean-Mahone says. “You get up there and do it right and everyone is moving together as one organism regardless of culture, race, gender or whatever they’re bringing in with them.”
Though still relative newbies to Austin, the couple have quickly made themselves at home. Their first months saw them working with a slew of local nonprofits and arts organizations before the realization that making headway with their music meant scaling back at least a little bit.
“We moved here to make the most of our art, and so we had to honor that commitment to ourselves even though we still stay involved with different groups as much as we can,” Mahone says. “I want to be known as a great artist, not just a great hip-hop artist. I want to be able to play with the best artists that are coming through Austin, so if that’s Willie Nelson or whoever, I want to be able to be up on stage with them.”
Photo by Jamal Williams
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CD review: Blitzen Trapper `Destroyer of the Void’
Blitzen Trapper
`Destroyer of the Void’
(Sub Pop)
Grade: A-
On “Destroyer of the Void,” the latest from Portland, Ore.-based experimental folk rockers Blitzen Trapper, the band takes a more focused, economic approach to their sound. With the exception of the title track, which opens the album with dramatic, spacey movements, the band, led by lead vocalist/songwriter Eric Early, continues to distance themselves from the sometimes freewheeling sonic adventures of their past. Instead, they offer up a cohesive collection of well-crafted country rock songs, stamped of course with the signature sound they have developed over the course of several albums. Their penchant for blending genres remains, as evident in the discofied guitar on “Laughing Lover,” but, like their last full-length, “Furr,” they leave behind a lot of the noise of 2007’s “Wild Mountain Nation.” Early’s songwriting again shines, especially on tracks such as “The Tree,” a folky duet with Alela Diane, where each line rolls of the previous, or the bouncy-yet-restrained “Evening Star,” a tale of lost innocence where Early juxtaposes quick-hitting verses with a more melodic, drawn-out chorus. Though there isn’t anything here quite as catchy as “Wild Mountain Nation” or “Furr,” “Destroyer…” is a solid collection, one worth checking out, especially for fans of the band.
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CD review: Grace Potter and the Nocturnals
Grace Potter and the Nocturnals
`Grace Potter and the Nocturnals’
(Hollywood)
Grade: B-
Grace Potter sounds like everyone but Grace Potter. Come to think of it, how does Grace Potter sound, anyway?
The blues-belting, guitar-slinging front woman for the five-piece Vermont rock ‘n’ soul band channels a pantheon of successful influences on her third studio album. There’s a healthy dose of the down-home appeal of Sheryl Crow on the lovelorn, radio-friendly “Goodbye Kiss.” KGSR listeners might pick up on a bit of Susan Tedeschi on the soul of “That Phone.” The almost painfully hook-obsessed “Paris (Ooh La La)” isn’t all that far from a latter-day Kelly Clarkson song. You’ll hear some Stevie Nicks and some Jenny Lewis, too. And Potter’s vocals are often a dead ringer for Austin’s own master roots-rock chanteuse, Patrice Pike.
But while Potter’s dead-on imitation act means she practically has an impressive voice by proxy - emotive, loud, versatile, soulful - she never steps out on her own. “Grace Potter and the Nocturnals” careens giddily from memorable number to memorable number, especially on its harder-rocking highlights such as penultimate song “Hot Summer Night.” But as gifted as Potter and her pipes obviously are, and as well as her backing band hits their notes, the whole affair feels generic and listless. Potter has the soul and the chops. She just needs a direction.
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CD review: Delta Spirit `History from Below’
Delta Spirit
`History from Below’
(Rounder)
Grade: C+
San Diego quintet Delta Spirit’s first album - 2008’s “Ode to Sunshine” - spent its first nine minutes writing checks it couldn’t cash. The one-two-three punch of softly resonant opener “Tomorrow Goes Away,” the boisterous Americana rock of “Trashcan” and the rip-roaring shouter “People C’Mon” gave “Ode to Sunshine” one of the strongest introductions of any album that year. But all that energy evaporated with the ponderous “A House Built For Two,” and though “Ode to Sunshine” still boasted plenty of pleasures - like the Black Keys-descended blues rocker “Parade” - it never made good on Delta Spirit’s promise.
On follow-up “History From Below,” it takes only two tracks for Delta Spirit to gently amble off the rails.
Up-tempo opener “911” showcases the band at its very best, Matthew Vasquez’s howl evoking John Fogerty at the peak of his Creedence Clearwater Revival prowess. “Bushwick Blues” erupts with earnest lyricism and thundering percussion courtesy of Brandon Young.
But that momentum stalls out with plodding acoustic ballad “Salt In The Wound,” and “History From Below” never quite finds its footing again. Delta Spirit still churns out charm - witness the tailor-made-for-road-trips anthem “Golden State” or the countryjano of “St. Francis.” But by the time the overly ambitious eight-minute story song “Ballad of Vitaly” rolls out, “History From Below” has outstayed its welcome.
Delta Spirit will play July 17 at Emo’s outside.
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Music Monday Pick: Tim Crane of T-Bird and the Breaks
Welcome to Music Monday Picks, where once a week we talk to an Austin musician and find out what’s been burning up their CD player, turntable or iPod lately. Looking for a good musical recommendation? Take some advice from someone in the local music trenches who knows their stuff. Recommendations can be local, national or international, new or old. They only need to fit two criteria: 1) the musician in question needs to have just discovered them, and 2) it has to be fantastic.
This week: After a Memorial Day hiatus, Music Monday Picks returns with a chat with Tim Crane, front-man for explosive soul outfit T-Bird and the Breaks. Crane’s band plays the Continental Club Saturday night at midnight. $10 gets you in the door. D-Madness Project opens.
Tim Crane recommends: “Fornever,” the fourth collaborative album by West Coast rapper MURS and famed Little Brother producer 9th Wonder.
Crane says: “MURS and 9th Wonder have a new album out called “Fornever.” 9th Wonder makes really good beats. They have a song on “Fornever” called “Cigarettes and Liquor.” I haven’t researched it yet but I’m pretty sure the sample is from the Ohio Players, cause it’s got this really funky keyboard line in it that they kinda flip. It’s a cool track. I don’t really know MURS, but I like checking up on hip-hop producers I get into, which is how I got into this record. The whole album is solid. To me, 9th Wonder does a good job of bringing in classic sounds and also being innovative. The beats just make you want to move and drive around in your car and turn it up. I like it when people take samples and flip those because that’s finding creativity in having restrictions. It’s like, ‘I got this two-second piece of music, how can I cut that up and reverse it and put delay on it and make it move?’”
Editor’s note: “Cigarettes and Liquor” does, in fact, sample the Ohio Players’ “Funky Worm.” Surf over to MURS’ MySpace to hear “Cigarettes and Liquor.” Heads-up: the song is decidedly not safe for work and packs in multiple racial slurs.
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Live review: MGMT at Stubb’s
Sunday night at Stubb’s, psych rock band MGMT—now much more a complete band than when Ben Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden released “Oracular Spectacular” as a duo back in 2007—blended old and new material, erasing some of the rift that exists between the single-heavy “Oracular” and their more experimental recent release, “Congratulations.” Led by VanWyngarden, the band, now with a few years of touring experience behind them, brought a somewhat restrained, professional air as they worked through a set that balanced new songs such as “Flash Delirium” and “Siberian Breaks” against “Pieces of What” and “Time To Pretend.”
While the audience predictably responded more to the early, familiar material, a lot of the songs in the set off “Oracular,” including “Weekend Wars,” had a more organic feel than the canned beats and polished synthesizer of the studio recordings. This helped add some cohesiveness to a set that could have been very uneven, given the direction the band has headed with the new album. “Flash Delirium,” the most promoted of the new songs, is a rambling, layered exercise in experimental pop, something very different from the more tightly structured songs that drew people to the group in the first place. It sounded at home, however, aside the spacey “The Youth.”
Though they played the new material with confidence, it was clear that Goldwasser and VanWyngarden understand that a lot of people still are more interested in those older songs, especially when the low-budget light bulbs adorning the stage lit up with a giant “MGMT” during “Electric Feel,” one of their more upbeat tunes, and one that you might have heard playing in Urban Outfitters. If you’re bummed that you missed this, it’s probably available on YouTube, as a lot of the audience enjoyed the song through camera and phone displays.
After few more songs, including “Siberian Breaks,” “Time to Pretend” and the speedy closer “Brian Eno,” they left the stage for maybe a minute, returning for an encore of “Congratulations” and a recording of “Kids,” during which the band welcomed opening act Tame Impala on stage to dance and throw water at the crowd—which was either fun or not, depending on how badly you wanted to see them perform the crowd favorite.
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Review: Neil Young at Bass Concert Hall
Photos: Neil Young at Bass Concert Hall
Set list: Neil Young at Bass Concert Hall
Upon learning Neil Young was in Austin, a colleague texted me the following: “Wimpy Neil or Loud Neil?” (Note: wimpy is not a knock; he simply meant acoustic.)
As it turned out, both showed up at Bass Concert Hall Saturday night. In front of an occasionally entirely too enthusiastic crowd — there’s nothing louder and more entitled-sounding than let’s-call-them-longtime fans who’ve paid three figures for a ticket — Young alternated between new songs and old, guitar and keyboards, acoustic strum and electric fire.
Young’s hand-picked opener was a hero of his, a Scottish gentleman named Bert Jansch. Though well known in his own country and among guitar connoisseurs, Jasnch is a cult figure at best in the States, the co-founder of the British folk rock outfit the Pentangle and a man Young once called the Jimi Hendrix of acoustic guitar. Indeed he is - Jansch’s clawhammer-style picking creates spun-glass melodies, complicated and gorgeous, weaving together American blues and Anglo-Saxon folk. Jansch was one of the folk feast’s founders - his cult is devout for a reason.
But just as Jansch’s music was glorious in its fluid complexity, Young’s songs are extraordinary for their simplicity.
Opening with a trio of acoustic numbers, Young laid out his terms: rock music is eternal (“My My, Hey Hey (Out Of The Blue)”) as is longing (“Tell Me Why”) especially when combined with memory and beauty (“Helpless”).
He ratcheted up the sound on three new songs “You Never Call,” (Never thought we’d see the day when a Young song included the line “you send me a link,” but, well, here we are), “Peaceful Valley” and “Love and War” (his eternal topics), the bass string of his pickup-amplified acoustic bouncing around the room.
Most galvanizing were the electric numbers, classics such as “Down By the River” and the smashing “Cortez the Killer” reduced to their sapre, howling essence, raw like a fresh wound - “River” has rarely sounded sadder, “Cortez” more moving. The rarity “The Hitchhiker” stood stark and weird, a dark tale of drugs and more drugs.
“Ohio” was a crowd-pleaser, while “Sign of Love” and the encore-closing “Walk With Me” suggested Young has found next contexts and shapes for the gloriously unholy noises he can get out of his beloved guitar Old Black and it’s mate, the white Falcon, as if the feedback and fury from the “Arc/Weld” live era were shaped into rough songs. Elsewhere he moved to a pump organ for “After the Gold Rush” and to the piano for the light “Leia”.
You think you’ve seen it all from the guy and he finds another ace in the deck. Wimpy? Loud? Like the man once said, it’s all one song.
Alberto Martinez photo / AMERICAN-STATESMAN
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Waterloo Records Top 25 for week ending 6/5
The Black Keys sold 110 copies of their new album “Brothers” at Waterloo Records last week to top the list.
1. The Black Keys
2. Rolling Stones
3. Band of Horses
4. Jack Johnson
5. The National
6. LCD Soundsystem
7. Grupo Fantasma
8. Broken Bells
9. Dead Weather
10. Court Yard Hounds
11. Bettye Lavette
12. Roky Erickson/Okkervil River
13. She & Him
14. Gotan Project
15. Melvins
16. Mumford & Sons
17. Broken Social Scene
18. Sleigh Bells
19. John Prine
20. Crystal Castles
21. Local Natives
22. Sarah Jaffe
23. MGMT
24. Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings
25. Patty Griffin
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Howlin’ Wolf 100th birthday bash this Thursday
Musician and writer Jesse Sublett has put together an incredible program this Thursday at the Continental Club to honor Chester “Howlin’ Wolf” Burnett on what would’ve been his 100th birthday.
Austin-based NPR reporter John Burnett (no relation) will do a piece from the club on the legacy of the Howlin Wolf and will also perform.
Here’s the schedule:
10:15 PM CHURCHWOOD + John Burnett
10:40 Greg Izor & the BOX KICKERS + Michael Ramos
11:05 Jon Dee Graham & Jesse Sublett’s MURDER BALLAD SHOW w/ Terri Lord + Izzy Cox, Sam Kanoff, Michael Ramos, Lee Shupp
11:45 EVE & the EXILES Mike Buck, Eve Monsees, w/Jesse Sublett, Michael Ramos, David Murray, Gary C. Clark, Bevis Griffin, Sonny James, Dominique Davalos, Greg Izor
12:30 BIGFOOT CHESTER (Bill Anderson, Walter Daniels, Davy Jones, Jesse Sublett, Brad Fordham, Tom Lewis) + Claude McCann & Michael Ramos
Tickets are $10 at the door.
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Neil Young solo set list — June 5, 2010, Bass Concert Hall, Austin, TX
Photos: Neil Young at Bass Concert Hall
Review: Neil Young at Bass Concert Hall
- My My, Hey Hey (Out Of The Blue) (acoustic guitar)
- Tell Me Why (acoustic guitar)
- Helpless (acoustic guitar)
- You Never Call (acoustic guitar w/ pickup)
- Peaceful Valley (acoustic guitar w/ pickup)
- Love And War (acoustic guitar w/ pickup)
- Down By The River (electric guitar - Old Black)
- Hitchhiker (electric guitar - Old Black)
- Ohio (electric guitar - white falcon)
- Sign Of Love (electric guitar - white falcon)
- Leia (piano)
- After The Gold Rush (organ)
- I Believe In You (grand piano)
- Rumblin’ (electric guitar  white falcon)
- Cortez The Killer (electric guitar - Old Black)
- Cinnamon Girl (electric guitar - Old Black)
ENCORE - Old Man (acoustic guitar)
- Walk With Me (electric guitar - white falcon)
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Lilith Fair coming to Auditorium Shores
We finally have a venue for the Lilith Fair stop in Austin Aug. 14. The Lilith web site has just announced that Sarah McLachlan and the gang will be coming to Auditorium Shores, which has a capacity of around 10,000.
Ticket information is “coming soon” according to the web site.
The Austin segment of the tour will feature the Court Yard Hounds, Miranda Lambert, Jill Scott, Corinne Bailey Rae, Brandi Carlile, Sia, Ximena Sarinana, Melissa McClelland and SHEL, in addition to Ms. McLachlan.
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Hey, MGMT, play us some ‘Kids’
“Kids” by MGMT is the song of the past decade, with much more relevance, influence and staying power than OutKast’s “Hey Ya!,” “Crazy” by Gnarls Barkley and Amy Winehouse’s “Rehab.” All laptop rockstar Girltalk has to do to get 30,000 people to lose their minds is punch in the keyboard part of “Kids.” And hop around like a loon.
It was a little strange, then, when as Paul McCartney’s handpicked opening act at Fenway Park last summer, MGMT didn’t play their signature song. You’d think they’d want to throw the 50,000 Beatles fans a little tune they might have heard before, but MGMT (one of those annoying bands with only two official members) has obviously been sick of “Kids” for a long time. They didn’t play it at Coachella in April either. Guess they just don’t want to be defined by the song whose universal appeal is strongly tied to obtuse lyrics that everyone can identify with because we were all kids at some point.
Listen, the Rolling Stones can do a concert and leave out “Sympathy For the Devil” and nobody would notice. But when you’ve had only three hits and you’re doing a 90-minute set, how could you not play the biggest one?
The band’s newest album “Congratulations” sounds intent on making sure “Kids” doesn’t happen again. The follow-up to “Oracular Spectacular” epitomizes the dreaded sophomore stretch like no record since Terrence Trent D’Arby lashed out at “Wishing Well” with “Neither Fish Nor Flesh.” Instead of making a challenging record, MGMT made a difficult one.
But there will be others. This is a young band still exploring the possibilities of sound, when they’re not shopping for wetsuits.
Andrew VanWyngarden, Ben Goldwasser and their salary players have always killed in Austin, whether it’s an appearance at Austin City Limits Music Festival or in back of Urban Outfitters during SXSW, both in 2008.
Sunday nnight’s show sold out in a day. The crowd should be hyped. And they just might get “Kids.” Recent reports have the band playing it as an encore, though “playing it” just seems to be pushing a couple of buttons and crouching around the stage while the crowd takes over the vocals.
It’s going to be so much fun watching the band’s career get to the point that they play “Kids” every night, then repeat it as an encore.
MGMT with Tame Impala
When: Doors at 7 p.m. Sunday
Where: Stubb’s, 801 Red River St.
Cost: $32, technically sold out
Information: stubbsaustin.com
Photo of MGMT performing at the Austin City Limits Festival in 2008 by Jay Janner AMERICAN-STATESMAN
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Spoon and Trombone Shorty to tape ‘Austin City Limits’ episodes
Hometown heroes Spoon will tape a show for the 36th season of “Austin City Limits” on Wednesday, July 7. Also scheduled to his the studios on campus is New Orleans’ native Trombone Shorty. The horn man who has made appearances in David Simon’s “Treme” on HBO tapes on Monday, June 28. Both bands will appear at the Austin City Limits music festival in October, Spoon on Friday and Trombone Shorty on Sunday.
As always, information about ticket availability and the ticket giveaway will be made available on the “Austin City Limits” blog about a week before the taping.
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Pansy Division puts its pride right out there for rockers to see
Pansy Division has a knack for laying it all out on the line. “We’re homos,” reads the header on the band’s MySpace page. “And we like to rock.”
That proud, tongue-in-cheek proclamation very nearly sums up everything you need to know about the San Francisco pop-punk legends. Well, not everything, but close.
The band is (primarily) gay, and when frontman Jon Ginoli teamed up with bassist Chris Freeman and then-drummer Jay Paget in 1991, Pansy Division was the first openly all-gay rock band. The band boasts a wicked sense of humor. And it does, in fact, rock pretty hard. The cult-favorite band brings its sugarcoated, double entendre-laden punk to Red 7 Friday night, helping to kick off Austin Pride 2010 with the band’s only planned show this year.
Ginoli assembled Pansy Division, he says, for two reasons: to challenge stereotypes in the musical community about gay performers, and to challenge stereotypes about music in the gay community.
“We had an ax to grind within the gay community. We felt alienated because of what was expected of you if you identified as gay; that you’d only be into showtunes or disco, both of which I hated,” says Ginoli, speaking by phone from his San Francisco home. “But it also seemed like there was a real shame in the rock scene if you were to admit being gay. And this was right after NWA brought out ‘Straight Outta Compton.’ The casual homophobia of hip-hop was allowed to top the charts. It seemed like you could say anything in a pop song except that you were gay.”
Not that Pansy Division opted for anger in its attempt to blow open the boundaries of popular music. Instead, the band combined Ginoli’s enthusiastic vocals and mile-high guitar hooks with a playful sense of humor heavy on sexual puns and lyrics that were so graphic they bordered on pornographic.
“I’d had a band prior to Pansy Division that made a few indie albums in the ’80s, and we were very heart on our sleeve, open and honest and emotional but kind of depressing. And I wanted to be more joyful. I thought the audience would respond to that better,” Ginoli says.
The band never exploded into the popular consciousness, but it cultivated a loyal, die-hard following in the gay community. And Green Day swept Pansy Division up as the opener for the world tour behind seminal pop-punk album “Dookie,” landing the band in front of thousands of ears and eyeballs. That kicked off more than a decade of nonstop touring and recording.
With the dual pressures of work and school bearing down, Pansy Division’s members live quieter lives nowadays. They scheduled tonight’s show in Austin as the band’s only gig for the year when Red 7 offered to fly them into town for the performance. Ginoli occasionally misses the days of squeaking by on a working musician’s pay, but his voice is still rich with gratitude.
“We never really thought that we would have that many people listening to our band. We thought we were a fringe type of band,” Ginoli says. “Which didn’t bother me at all. But luck and timing are not to be discounted. We got both. And we made the most of it.”
Pansy Division
With Magnifico (Queen cover band), Butcher Bear & Charlie, Orgasm Addicts (Buzzcocks cover band)
When: Doors at 9 p.m. Friday, June 4
Where: Red 7, 611 E. Seventh St.
Cost: $12
Information: www.red7austin.com
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New Asleep at the Wheel record due in July
Any list of the primary influences on country-western collective Asleep at the Wheel would almost certainly have bandleader Bob Wills sitting proudly on top, but right behind him would be seminal Texas Playboys vocalist Leon Rausch, whose inimitable country croon has always sounded like a direct predecessor of Ray Benson’s iconic drawl.
So it’s fitting that Rausch will join the band on “It’s A Good Day,” due July 20. The album — the follow-up to last year’s excellent “Willie and the Wheel,” another collaborative record — features Rausch, 83, on vocals and a duet with Willie Nelson on “Truck Driver’s Blues.” It also features a new version of Asleep at the Wheel standard “Get Your Kicks (On Route 66)” which Rausch first suggested the band adopt in the ’70s.
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Pixies slice up eyeballs at the Austin Music Hall Sept. 22
The Pixies may or may not have that long-awaited, at-this-point-wholly-theoretical fifth studio album on the way, but in the meantime the Boston alternative rock legends appear quite happy to pay their bills as an (admittedly rocking) nostalgia act. They celebrated the 20th anniversary of the release of seminal album “Doolittle” with a 2009 tour that featured the band playing the original record in order, followed by b-sides and a few other odds and ends … a tour that skipped Austin and hit only a few U.S. cities.
That oversight will be remedied Sept. 22, when the Pixies bring their “Doolittle” tour to the Austin Music Hall. It’s one of 11 dates that kick off Sept. 7 in Philadelphia. A pre-sale goes online Monday, June 7 at 8 a.m. on the band’s newly christened website; tickets will include a live recording of the show e-mailed to fans the next morning. It will be the first time the Pixies have rocked Austin since their initial 2004 reunion tour took them through town, first for a performance at the Austin City Limits Music Festival and later for a taping of the TV show.
Photo by Jay Janner/AMERICAN-STATESMAN
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Weekend music picks: June 3-6
Tonight
Amy Cook and Leatherbag at Stubb’s (inside). Local singer-songwriter Cook is on a roll, with critical praise for her new Alejandro Escovedo-produced ‘Let the Light In’ CD and radio play for ‘All I Have.’ Thinking man rockers Leatherbag are well-placed here. A night of wall-to-wall songcraft. 9 p.m. $10. 801 Red River St. www.stubbsaustin.com.
- Michael Corcoran
Also recommended:
Buttercup and the Service Industry at Continental Club.
Follow That Bird! and Dikes of Holland at Mohawk,
Blind Willie Johnson tribute at Momo’s,
Ed Miller at the Cactus Cafe,
Lee Barber at the Hole In the Wall.
Friday
Kid Sister at the Mohawk. With Of Montreal’s psychedelic glam-rock apocalypse last month and Chicago electro-hop sensation and Kanye West protege Kid Sister on Friday night, the Mohawk’s bolstering its dance party credentials all the time. Born Melisa Young, Kid Sister melds club beats and casual hip-hop for a sweaty good time. Stick around afterward for Austin’s own astonishingly different but equally excellent Royal Forest. With Riders Against the Storm, Perseph One and Mic Skills. 9 p.m. $15. 912 Red River St. www.mohawkaustin.com.
- Patrick Caldwell
Also recommended:
Pansy Division at Red 7,
Midlake at Antone’s,
Givers at Emo’s,
Manikin at the Scoot Inn,
Quiet Company and the Steps at Threadgill’s South.
Saturday
Dwight Yoakam at Nutty Brown Cafe. This 3,000-capacity outdoor venue at the city line has been drawing some big names lately, so this booking isn’t as out of left field as it may have seemed months ago. Yoakam doesn’t have hits these days, but with an incredible body of work, he does great on the concert trail. 8 p.m. $42- $100. www.nuttybrown.com.
- M.C.
Also recommended:
Neil Young and Bert Jansch at Bass Concert Hall,
Greg Laswell at Stubb’s,
James Hand at the Continental Club,
Scott H. Biram at Red Eyed Fly,
Cro-Mags at Red 7,
Melvins at Emo’s,
El Tule at Flamingo Cantina,
Eliza Gilkyson and Sahara Smith at Threadgill’s South,
The Kids are Alright Fest at the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum.
Sunday
Night of the Bat with the Band of Heathens at the Congress Avenue Bridge. Austin fairly hops with music tonight, from an extremely sold out set from new wave synthpop duo MGMT at Stubb’s to the second day of the impressive under-21 The Kids Are Alright Fest. But the place to be Sunday night is the Congress Avenue bridge, where the city will celebrate the kick-off of bat season with a free festival (not to be confused with Batfest) featuring a set from always enjoyable Austin country-rockers Band of Heathens. But the real reason to show up? A live appearance by Adam West and the ’60s Batmobile. The Blue Lapis Light dance company perform on the Hyatt Regency building afterward. 6:30 p.m. Free. Congress Avenue Bridge. www.nightofthebat.com.
- P.C.
Also recommended:
MGMT and the Clouds are Ghosts at Stubb’s,
The Kids are Alright Fest at the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum,
Junior Brown and Tanya Rae at the Continental Club,
The Bells of Joy at Stubb’s,
`Star Wars: In Concert’ at the Frank Erwin Center.
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Spoon to open Arcade Fire shows
How do you get to Madison Square Garden? You open for the Arcade Fire. Oh, yeah, and before that you practice, practice, practice. Britt Daniel and Spoon will play the Garden August 4 with the Montreal group- one of four shows they’re opening on Arcades’s first tour in three years. The other dates with Spoon are Aug. 2 in Philadelphia, Washington D.C. Aug. 6 and Aug. 11 in Atlanta.
Arcade Fire’s new album “The Suburbs” comes out Aug. 3. The title is a subject the band’s leader Win Butler has experience with, growing up in the Woodlands.
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Hear tracks from upcoming Ryan Bingham CD
Oscar-winner Ryan Bingham has wrapped up his next album “Junky Star” with his “Crazy Heart” co-hort T-Bone Burnett producing. The CD of 12 Bingham originals comes out Sept. 7 on Lost Highway Records.
Bingham’s web site features previews of a few of the new tracks.
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Allman’s era of enlightenment
Gregg Allman speaks cheerfully. Laughs deeply. Frequently. Calling from a St. Louis Renaissance hotel last week, his demeanor shifts only once: when talk steers toward the Gulf Coast oil spill. At that point, the Allman Brothers Band lead singer chews gravel.
“I’ll never buy BP again,” Allman growls. “I used to put that (gasoline) in all three of my cars, all of my bikes. I think everybody ought to boycott that bunch of (expletive).” The 62-year-old Georgia resident performs Wednesday at Gruene Hall in New Braunfels.
American-Statesman: Your upcoming solo album (no release date set) is mostly covers. How did you choose songs?
Gregg Allman: (Producer) T-Bone Burnett had this modem with a few thousand old - like Billie Holiday old - songs on it. He showed it to me, and said, “What do you think about upgrading these to nowadays?”
Is there an album title yet?
It’s called “Low Country Blues,” because I’m from Savannah and they call that the “low country.” I had Dr. John playing piano and Doyle Bramhall playing guitar. There was no electric bass on the record. We just cut it old school, and it came out so good.
Did you feel it was important to remain true to the original songs?
It is to a certain extent. At the same time, your final goal is to create a whole new composition. If you put it up next to the old one, you’d recognize it, but it’s like building an old hot rod - you’ve gotta keep the frame, but that’s about it (laughs).
What was your approach in the studio?
We cut it all live, even the vocals. They were cut along with the music, which is something I’ve never done. We did 15 songs in 11 days, and we got a bunch of first takes. We’d do the song and then it’s like, “OK, let’s take one.” They say, “No, we already got it.” “Wait, hold it. We don’t even know this (expletive) yet!” (He laughs.)
Did any immediately stand out?
We did that song “Blind Man” that Little Milton and Bobby Bland both did. The guys stayed up two days writing the (expletive) horn charts, and I thought, “Wow, we got it in two, three takes?” T-Bone told me, “You’ve gotta realize, man, you’ve been at this awhile. You might just check to see how good you’re getting at it.” (He laughs).
How was recording this album different from working with the Allman Brothers?
I walked into the studio the first day and saw all these drums sitting there. I mean, not one of them matched (laughs). The drummer (Jay Bellerose) would use like one stick and a tambourine, but he only ever used one stick. He was the strangest drummer I’ve ever seen in my life, but he was killer.
Working with different players must help you evolve as a musician.
You take their stuff and put it with yours and come up with a whole new sandwich, you know (laughs). I really learned a lot about open-mindedness. At first, they said I couldn’t bring my band, and I thought, “What the hell?” I really balked.
What changed your mind?
After (Allman Brothers Band producer) Tommy Dowd died (in 2002), I thought, “What are we going to do?” Man, one of the first things out of (Burnett’s) mouth was, “Wasn’t Tommy Dowd killer?” I thought, “This guy shows promise!”
Gregg Allman with Shawn Pittman
When: 8 tonight
Where: Gruene Hall, 1281 Gruene Road, New Braunfels
Cost: $49.50
Information: 830-629-5077, gruenehall.com
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Bill Callahan pens a novel
Pitchfork has word this morning that Austin resident and virtuosic folk rock genius Bill Callahan will broaden his ouvre on July 20, when his debut novel “Letters to Emma Bowlcut” drops on Drag City. The Chicago record label and publisher has served as Callahan’s home since the early ’90s.
“Letters to Emma Bowlcut” should be an interesting exercise in form — as an epistolary novel, a story told through documents (“Dracula” is another famous example), Callahan is framing the central narrative through a series of letters. As one of the most literate, thoughtful songwriters in indie rock, the jump to novelist ought to be fairly smooth for Callahan.
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Friday single-day tickets for ACL sell out
The headline pretty much says it all. About a week after Saturday single-day tickets for Austin City Limits Festival sold out, Friday tickets evaporated today. According to its Twitter page, Frontgate Tickets says the only single-day tickets remaining are for Sunday, October 10, so Eagles fans are in luck. And, if you’re not into the whole brevity thing, man, three-Day VIP and travel packages are also still available.
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CD review: Acorn `No Ghost’
Acorn
`No Ghost’
(Zoom)
Grade: B
It would have been hard to predict the shift in sound between the initial EPs from Ottawa, Ontario’s Acorn and their debut album “Glory Hope Mountain.” The 2007 full-length traded the twinkly indie instrumentals and anthems of the band’s past for a full-blown concept album that tied the biography of singer Rolf Klausener’s mother to the Honduras landscape where her life took place.
The transition to Acorn’s second full-length release “No Ghost” isn’t quite so drastic, as the tribal-infused folk sounds that made “Glory Hope Mountain” feel so pure and naturalistic are still present. Sparse rim clicks and egg shakers add to the subdued feel of meditative songs like the acoustic “Misplaced.” More explosive numbers like “Restoration” rollick through galloping rhythms overlaid with melodies and harmonies that soar with a celebratory abandon akin to the vocal work on recent Animal Collective albums.
These instrumental flourishes are the perfect complement to the collage of elemental images that Klausener works into each song, from wind on sand dunes to cauterized cobwebs. And while the diversity of this imagery sometimes makes the songs feel thematically jumbled, it also adds to the spontaneity and color of the music.
Ultimately, “No Ghost” doesn’t exhibit the vision of “Mountain.” But it does find Acorn continuing to explore a sound that’s more ambitious and eclectic than that of many other bearded, folk-driven peers.
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CD review: Nas and Damian Marley `Distant Relatives’
Nas and Damian Marley
`Distant Relatives’
(Republic)
Grade: A-
“Distant Relatives,” Nas’ recently released collaboration album with the reggae singer Damian Marley, sounds like the album he always wanted to make. Rather than drumming up controversy with an eye-catching title like “Hip-Hop Is Dead” or “Untitled” (originally a racial epithet), there’s an outline of Africa on the cover and a nod to the shared roots of American and Caribbean blacks. There is little effort at chasing trends to stay relevant, with only one big-name rapper (Lil’ Wayne) and Marley handling the entirety of the production.
After first working together on “Road to Zion,” the second single from Marley’s breakthrough 2005 album “Welcome to Jamrock,” the duo share an easy musical chemistry. Both emphasize socially conscious themes, and the slower pace of Marley’s music blends well with Nas’ lyrically intensive style.
“Distant Relatives” is a smooth fusion of reggae and rap, with neither genre overwhelming the other. On songs like “Strong Will Continue,” with Nas and Marley going back and forth over slowly building drums and snares that merge into a reggae chorus, the blending of the two styles feels completely natural. Indeed, Nas seems more comfortable over Marley’s reggae-tinged guitars than the more club-influenced sound of modern rap.
He’s content with who he is, someone who “survived spiritual wars, see my welts / walking through the valley of shadow of death / New York to Cali for money, power and respect.” On one level the album is a celebration of survival in the music industry without sacrificing artistic credibility, as Nas pats himself on the back for “having more value cuz I rapped about more than just a gun.”
There’s nothing too groundbreaking about what they are saying - the economic injustice of modern society and the necessity of overcoming negative cultural messages. But as they outline on songs like the gospel-influenced “Count Your Blessings” and “In His Own Words,” both are just happy they can say it at all.
Nas and Damian Marley (with opener Nneka) are scheduled to play June 9 at Stubb’s ($35-$39.50; stubbsaustin.com).
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