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Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Passes for Butch Hancock’s “No Two Alike” on sale Thursday
In a rare exemption to the Cactus Cafe’s usual “pay at the door” rule, a limited number of five-night passes for Butch Hancock’s “No Two Alike” will go on sale tomorrow, July 22, at 10 a.m. at Texas Box Office outlets — online at www.texasboxoffice.com and at the Frank Erwin Center and participating H-E-Bs.
“No Two Alike” will feature Hancock and a series of special guests from August 10 to August 14, as the Lubbock-born country and folk mainstay plays five consecutive nights without repeating a song. The performances will both celebrate the 20th anniversary of Hancock’s original “No Two Alike” and close out the Cactus Cafe under its original management before KUT takes over booking the venue in late August.
The passes will cost $70; individual nights are $15 through August 12 and $20 on August 13 and August 14.
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Phosphorescent: On the road again, humbly
Over the phone from his Brooklyn studio, Phosphorescent frontman Matthew Houck speaks softly as he discusses his upcoming American tour. “I’m stoked to get out there again,” he says. “We’ve been on the road a lot, but I feel like we haven’t been in the states all that much.”
Given some of the comments Houck has made in other interviews, his laid-back tone is a bit of a surprise. In 2007, he told New York blog Gothamist that his well-received new release, “Pride,” was the best record released that year and “probably of the last 10 years.”
Back then, Phosphorescent was more or less Houck’s solo project; the album was recorded with the help of musicians from other bands, including indie darlings the Dirty Projectors. Although Houck’s boasting might not have fairly reflected his personality, one thing is certain - musically, he has evolved. Since the release of “Pride,” Phosphorescent has put out two excellent albums, last year’s homage to the Red Headed Stranger, “To Willie,” and “Here’s to Taking It Easy,” which was released earlier this year. In both cases, Houck left behind some of the more experimental elements of his sound for a more straightforward, country approach.
Another thing that has changed is that Phosphorescent has become more of a proper band, with a regular lineup of musicians having come together around Houck, including Scott Stapleton (piano), Jeffrey Bailey (bass), Christopher Marine (drums), Jesse Anderson Ainslie (guitar) and Ricky Ray Jackson (pedal steel). Having a band is something that has changed the way he thinks about his music.
“I’ve come across some of the best musicians alive, and it’s been a pleasure to play with them,” he says. “(The band) influenced the writing because I knew what kind of album I was going to make and knowing they were going to be playing on it influenced how the songs were written.”
Houck’s experience recording “To Willie,” a collection of Willie Nelson covers inspired by Nelson’s 1975 tribute to Lefty Frizzell, “To Lefty From Willie,” also influenced the new album. One track off “Here’s to Taking It Easy,” the midtempo country number “Heaven, Sittin’ Down,” is a direct homage to Nelson’s music (Willie is a fan of Phosphorescent, too - after the release of “To Willie,” he called Houck and arranged a meeting to tell him how much he liked the album in person).
That is not to say the new music falls exclusively into the country genre; there is a muted melancholy about the production that gives it a distinctively ’70s rock feel. Houck says that Ron Wood’s first solo release, “I’ve Got My Own Album to Do,” and Bob Dylan’s 1978 album “Street Legal” were among the albums he looked to for inspiration.
“The way those records sound, there’s a kind of magic,” he says. “It’s kind of hard to put into words, but the sounds they were getting are somehow more than what they are, more than just guitar and drums and bass.”
Though Houck says he’s excited to tour on the new material (a tour that almost didn’t happen, as Phosphorescent’s van and gear were stolen July 8 in New York after the tour’s first show, only to be recovered by the police a couple of days later), he already has his sights set on another album.
“I would love to record as soon as possible,” he says. “It’s always a struggle being on the road but I’m looking forward to getting back in the studio.”
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Cut Chemist postpones Mohawk show
Bad news for fans of the former Jurassic 5 and Ozomatli member and DJ Cut Chemist — he’s postponed his Friday, July 23 show at the Mohawk “for personal reasons beyond his control.” The show should be rescheduled for the fall, according to an e-mail from Transmission Entertainment’s Graham Williams. Tickets will be auto-refunded by Front Gate.
In lieu of Cut Chemist, the Mohawk has booked an impressive lineup of locals on the inside stage including TV Torso, the Gary and Brazos’ Martin Crane.
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Amy Adams as Janis Joplin?
It’s at least a possibility that the Academy Award nominee and “Junebug,” “Enchanted” and “Julie and Julia” star will portray the singer/songwriter icon and recent inductee to the Austin Music Memorial Janis Joplin, reports Entertainment Weekly’s Nicole Sperling. The actress’ representatives confirmed to Entertainment Weekly that Adams was signed on to star in a biopic directed by Fernando Meirelles, of “City of God” and “The Constant Gardener” fame, tentatively titled “Get It While You Can.”
Adams is yet another name in a long line to express interest in the part — and “Get It While You Can” is also vying for production with other potential Joplin projects, including “Piece Of My Heart” and “The Gospel According to Janis.” Other actresses connected to the role of Joplin include singer Pink, Zooey Deschanel and, before her death, Brittany Murphy. Bette Midler picked up an Academy Award for Best Actress In A Leading Role for her performance in “The Rose,’ a 1979 movie loosely based on Joplin.
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Local CD review: DJ Car Stereo (Wars) ‘Explains It All’
‘Explains It All’
Chris Rose, known better as DJ Car Stereo (Wars), blankets the art of sophomore album “Explain It All” — to say nothing of the Clarissa-dropping title — with references to early ‘90s Nickelodeon, and appropriately so. The mashup maven crafts music for the ADD generation, assembling a 35-minute Frankenstein’s monster of an album composed entirely of samples from decades of pop music, where track breaks are arbitrary and raps from “Who Is Mike Jones?” rest comfortably alongside the iconic guitar riff from the Toadies’ “Tyler” and the foot stomps from Queen’s “We Will Rock You.”
You can’t judge music like that by any conventional rubric. But by slice-and-dice standards “Explain It All” is a runaway success, evidencing that Rose might have finally eclipsed his contemporary — and genre pioneer — Girl Talk. “Explains It All” loads its 10 tracks with an astonishing density of samples, keeping its flow cohesive even as it wanders down unexpected back roads, like throwing Mya’s sexualized vocals against keyboards from Vampire Weekend. Its utility as a party record — put it on and watch your kegger catch fire, undergraduates of Austin — can’t be overstated. But just as importantly, it acts as a passionate love letter to popular music likely to trigger at least a few dozen nostalgic remembrances.
“Explains It All” can be downloaded for free at www.artifactworkshop.com.
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