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XL on ACL:

Sunday
• Sunday's Photos
• ACLove: Austin At Its Best
• Sunday Photos
• Capsule Reviews
• Recap
• So Long!

Saturday
• Saturday's Photos
• When Pigs Fly
• Capsule Reviews

Friday
• Friday's Photos
• Yeah, baby, yeah!
• Corcoran Reviews
• Capsule Reviews
• Jam Bands

Need-To-Know
• ACL Fest Index
• Band Schedule
• Interactive Stage Layout Map
• Critics' Picks

More XL ACL Reading
• CD Reviews
• Jam-packed
• REM: Still Shiny, Still Happy
• The Many Faces of Al Green
• Stapleton's Sweet Success
• Live music 101, v. 2
• Liz Phair
• Jeff Klein
• Raul Malo
• Rise of Southern Rock
• J.T. Van Zandt
• Beth Orton

XL on ACL: Select CDs from Bands Playing the Festival

Austin American-Statesman Staff
Sept. 18, 2003

Doyle Bramhall 'Fitchburg Street' (Yep Roc) (4 stars)
The guy who taught Stevie Ray Vaughan to sing (and swing) returns with a second solo set of soulful covers of John Lee Hooker, O.V. Wright, Jimmy Reed and Howlin' Wolf songs, as well a rendition of his own "Life By the Drop." "Fitchburg Street" is a monument to the Texas blues shuffle that will never die and a showcase for one of the Lone Star State's most soulful vocalists. -- John T. Davis
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Caf� Tacuba 'Cuatro Caminos' (MCA) (5 stars)
Staggeringly inventive, unclassifiably weird and above all very, very fun, "Cuatro Caminos" should push Mexico's most exciting band into the U.S. hipster mainstream. Frequently compared to everyone from the Beatles to Radiohead, Tacuba's furious mix-and-match rock aesthetic is just as reminiscent of legendary Brazilian psychedelicists Os Mutantes -- music that draws from its English-speaking cousins, but is clearly in a world of its own making. -- John DeFore

Corn Mo 'The Magic Is You' (Guns A Blazin) (4 stars)
Corn Mo -- who once hailed from Denton -- croons and belts like Tiny Tim, mixing vaudeville piano bounce with lyrics such as "The Vatican is mad again/but I've got Amy Madigan and 'Uncle Buck' on TV." It feels like a put-on, then like mental illness, then like a weird little marvel. -- Joe Gross

The Dandy Warhols 'Welcome to the Monkey House' (Capitol) (3 stars)
This slick collection of danceable electro-rock and swanky synth-pop is alternately crazy-catchy and too cute by half. High-gloss production makes the whole thing sound stylish yet disposable, which seems to be the point. Shrill first single "We Used to Be Friends" will stay with you to the grave. -- Jeremy Egner
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The Derailers 'Genuine' (Lucky Dog) (3 stars)
"Genuine" continues the ebullient Austin quartet's effervescent mixture of Bakersfield twang ("Take It Back," the title track), Texas dancehall honky-tonk ("Whole Other World") and retro-cool, buoyantly romantic confections ("Scratch My Itch," "Alone With You"). It ain't broke, and here's hoping they don't fix it. -- J.T.D.
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Steve Earle 'The Best of Steve Earle' (MCA) (3 stars)
'Just an American Boy -- The Audio Documentary' (Artemis/ E-squared) (4 stars)
The compilation will suffice if your interest in Earle ended with "Copperhead Road" -- the standard bearer for moonshining, drug-running, post-traumatic stress disordered, alt-Appalachian rock ballads. All of the songs were recorded before his mid-'90s prison sentence for drugs, so a lot of his best is missing. If you'd prefer a more complete accounting of his career, spend your money on "Just an American Boy" (available Tuesday), a solid live album recorded during this year's tour. It includes a fine mix of old and new and rock and bluegrass, with social diatribes (against war, the death penalty) and hitchhiking yarns between the songs. -- Tim Lott

Tim Easton 'Break Your Mother's Heart' (New West) (4 stars)
One of the strongest releases yet on Austin's New West Records, Easton's third disc looks at John Prine through roots-rock-colored glasses, gritty everywhere it should be and only occasionally getting all sensitive and sincere. The biting one-liners on "Poor, Poor L.A." alone are worth the list price, but there's plenty more beneath the wit. -- J.D.

Galactic 'Ruckus' (Sanctuary) (3 stars)
Fittingly one of the spaciest outfits on the sprawling New Orleans jazz-funk scene, Galactic brings the fusion in extra tasty doses on its atmospheric new record. Irresistible instrumentals framed by moody rhythms, crunchy guitar and hip-hop beats and squeals make the lyric-driven cuts seem pretty toothless by comparison. -- J.E.

Kaki King 'Everybody Loves You' (Velour) (3 stars)
The debut from this 23-year-old New Yorker is surprisingly rich for a solo guitar disc. With unusual tunings and a two-handed tapping technique, she makes her acoustic six-string sound exotic; by slapping out rhythms on the wood and supporting her picking with snapping bass lines, she may even be boisterous enough to compete with an outdoor festival crowd. -- J.D.

Kings Of Leon 'Youth and Young Manhood' (RCA) (3 stars)
RCA sent out an EP sampler by this Nashville-based group just before SXSW this year, and it brimmed with "new saviors of rock" possibility. Here was a band of brothers who could generate hip bohemian rhythms like the Strokes yet seemed more grounded in the '60s rock of the Rolling Stones and the Midwestern yearn of Uncle Tupelo. But the EP's strongest track, "California Waiting," was re-recorded into a generic swagger-rocker. It even kicks off with a cowbell, and the rest sounds bored and detached. Somewhere between the EP and the LP, these guys blew it. -- Michael Corcoran

Leftover Salmon/Cracker 'O Cracker, Where Art Thou?' (Pitch-A-Tent) (2 stars)
The concept: Leftover Salmon and Cracker's David Lowery and Johnny Hickman get together to rewire some old Cracker tunes in LS's jam-grass image. Unfortunately, this meeting maintains the blandness of Cracker's frat dude indie rock and the blandness of Leftover Salmon's acoustic boogie. Oddly, it still may feel "experimental" to fans of either. -- J.G.

'Los Lonely Boys' (Or Music) (4 stars)
Tex-Mex blues rock courtesy the Garza brothers of San Angelo, complete with tasteful, elegant guitar solos just like Stevie used to play, sexy polyrhythms, effortless vocal harmonies, a drummer named Ringo, and the spiritual backing of Mr. Willie Nelson: You can already see the AMA in their hands. -- J.G.

'The Mavericks' (Sanctuary) (3 stars)
From the Orbison-Meets-the-E-Street-Band call to arms that is "I Wanna Know" to the audacious cover of the Hollies' pop weeper "Air That I Breathe," the Mavericks' first album since 1998 seems intent on blowing their country-rock niche placement all to heck. Austin references include a duet vocal with Willie Nelson and "San Jose," a twangy tip of the hat to the funky-chic hostelry on South Congress. -- J.T.D.

Polyphonic Spree 'The Beginning Stages of ...' (Hollywood) (3 stars)
Two dozen choir-robed Texans, French horn and tablas in tow, making symphonic pop about the warmth of the sun? Admittedly a scary idea, this one-of-a-kind group is somehow winning; a buoyancy that cynics might call cultish radiates from them in person and on record, and after the novelty has faded the songs are surprisingly memorable. -- J.D.

Robert Randolph & the Family Band 'Unclassified' (Warner Bros) (2 stars)
This amazing pedal steel guitarist from New Jersey looks to be the latest in a long line of scintillating live performers who just can't pull it off on record. His gut-stirring leadoff track, "Going In the Right Direction," shows promise, and the Sly Stone-like "I Need More Love" shows that he's willing to travel beyond the usual jam-band scenario. By the fifth track, however, he's already fallen in the rut of writing songs that don't really have anything to say, then trying to elevate them with spectacular guitar playing. -- M.C.
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Reckless Kelly 'Under the Table & Above the Sun' (Sugar Hill) (4 stars)
Sounds like country roots, tastes like rockin' pop. Generations of throne-pretenders (hello, John Mellencamp) have been trying to make just that music, and any of 'em would be proud to have made something with as much punch, verve and warmth as "Under the Table." Reckless Kelly have gone and done it. -- J.G.

Josh Ritter 'Hello Starling' (Signature Sounds Recordings) (4 stars)
There are a lot of Joshes milling around the music industry these days, and this one's the best of them (though that Rouse guy isn't bad either). "Bright Smile" and the aching "California" prove that the sad-beyond-his-years vibe of his debut record was no fluke. "Man Burning" and "Snow Is Gone" prove he can assert himself when he wants to. -- Jeff Salamon

'Soulive' (Blue Note) (3 stars)
Soulive's engaging soul-jazz, here recorded live on tour, begs a question that Blue Note President Bruce Lundvall must ponder daily: Is jam-band crossover the future of jazz? Austinites: Their cover of Stevie Ray's "Lenny" is spacey, heartfelt and a bit sleepy, just like the rest of the album. -- J.G.

Spacetruck 'Night Rider' (Brachiator Records) (2 stars)
For much of the record, Spacetruck's agreeable, if occasionally clumsy, mix of power chord rock and moody synths is scuttled by awkward, overwrought vocals. Most interesting are the later, um, spacier tracks, in which the band stays within itself even as the songs soar into the ether. -- J.E.

Keller Williams 'Home' (Sci Fidelity Records) (3 stars)
Eclectic kitchen sink maestro's quirky compositions veer from classical instrumentals to finger-picking folk-pop to Anglo reggae to Tex-Mex and more. There's no better testament to Williams' musical prowess than the fact that, as a one-man act, he's been adopted by the jam-band crowd, which should happily embrace "Home" as well. -- J.E.

Steve Winwood 'About Time' (Windcraft Music) (3 stars)
After decades of beer-ad pop, Winwood returns to the R&B singing that brung him and self-releases the results. Spare, polyrhythmic arrange- ments and Winwood's funky organ playing undergird songs about where it all went wrong. -- J.G.

Yo La Tengo 'Summer Sun' (Matador) (4 stars)
Even for these guys this record is a little drifty, and on first listen it seems like a bit of a letdown after a run of -- what, nine better-than-good albums, including a recent run of four consecutive great ones? By the seventh listen, you realize it's their tenth. Maybe even their fifth. -- J.S.

Dwight Yoakam 'Population Me' (Audium) (4 stars)
His Dwightness, the savior of all that is pure in real country music, starts off with "The Late Great Golden State," a song with which Austinites can identify, what with its lamentation of beloved clubs being torn down and cool stuff being replaced by corporate nothingness. The title track is another great song, loneliness wearing a fresh pair of context. Much of the rest follows the Yoakam formula -- a dark barroom number here, an up-tempo banjo tune there, the requisite Pete Anderson guitar rocker on "Staying Up Late (Thinkin' About It)" -- without really sounding formulaic. -- M.C.
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