Austinist

Free Show at the Mohawk: Indian Jewelry, Caddywhompus, more

Adam S — 2009-07-03T16:46:34-06:00

Indian Jewelry, more at The Mohawk
Friday, July 3
The Mohawk (912 Red River)
Free, All Ages, Doors at 9pm
[info]

We've got a big bill tonight at the Mohawk full of bands with nada in the way of a cover charge. Hot dog!

Noise band Indian Jewelry will bring their experimental edge to the stage before embarking on a summer tour that mostly includes California dates. Urban dictionary defines "caddywhompus" as "ass-backwards" amongst other things, but the band define themselves as an "experimental noise/spazz-pop duo consisting of Sean Hart and Chris Rehm," adding, "It's more than a band, it's a duo." True. They've just released their debut EPs, which takes thrash, throws in some noise pop and lets the mixture set in.

The guttural folk of Cartright will also grace the stage, as will the inescapably Joy Division-indebted The Dead Space.

Indian Jewelry: [website] [myspace]
Caddywhompus: [website] [myspace]
Cartright: [myspace]
The Dead Space: [myspace]

Presented By:

2009-07-03T16:46:34-06:00

Pastiche: The Bus Will Get You There Yet

Adam S — 2009-07-03T15:14:17-06:00

Editor's note: Pastiche is a (mostly) bi-weekly column exploring the diversity within the Austin music community. The views expressed in Pastiche are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the outlook or beliefs of anyone else in the IST network.

With each passing day it becomes ever more doubtful that Rolling Stone magazine will pay anyone - let alone me - to fly around the country to tag along with and write about a mediocre rock band while they traverse house parties willy-nilly and take acid. But that's okay. It means less paying gigs, but also fewer glossy, in-depth profiles of hacks like Lenny Kravitz or accounts of visiting the needle exchange with Staind. What you'll get here is a more down to earth account of five bands en route to Denton and Dallas. Hopefully the quality of these groups will offset the lack of rock and roll excess contained in the following account.

If you can't view the Flash slideshow above, an alternate version appears after the jump.

Summer Slammer

This pilgrimage, entitled the "Summer Slammer," had the bands Follow That Bird!, John Wesley Coleman, the Pillow Queens and Pataphysics take a three-plus hour roadtrip from Austin to Denton (and then Dallas) in one collective blurt. The Diagonals also took part, but decided to make do with their own transportation.

We rode in a school bus, but one that had been meticulously transformed into a comfortable commercial vehicle. All but four of the seats had been pulled out, the floor was recovered in wood, and the empty space was covered with mattresses and pillows. A cabinet was constructed in the back to elevate the rear of the bus and provide extra storage room.

The Bus

"We really got to leave early, hopefully pulling away by four at the latest since the bus isn't too fast," advised organizer Will Slack of the Pillow Queens. We actually didn't get on the road until closer to five, in typical rock and roll slacker fashion. A rumor had been steadily brewing that the bus was going to be uncompromisingly hot, but the ride was just spacious and wind powerful enough that while the hull felt air tunnel-esque, we didn't have to suffer too badly. The accommodations were even charming - the names of former occupants were grafted above what were once seats, and the hull was outfitted with coolers and a trash can. We tried to listen to Guided By Voices, hard rock and more, but the whipping wind made the music (and most soft conversation) inaudible.

Final headcount on the bus was seventeen by the time of our departure: five bands, a couple tagalongs and, of course, our driver Jesse. As is the custom we immediately hit traffic upon exiting Austin. Outside the city limits the clotting eased up and we were able to relax, open beers and hang out. In its metamorphosis from school bus to pleasure bus our vehicle had actually been outfitted with the proper commercial license, making it absolutely legal to imbibe on the trip north. Bands, beers, a bus...surely craziness ensued? While fun and relaxing, the atmosphere on the bus was miles from rowdy. Eschewing name (and drinking) games, the bands more or less piled on and kept close to their own. In true long distance drive fashion, in just minutes at least two people were asleep.

Whizzing down the highway it became harder to communicate without shouting, and those not asleep began nodding off. A few boys in Pataphysics planned on smoking some hash on the road but either decided not to or were so subtle that I didn't notice (the one rule for drug use: don't leave anything on the bus). Onward we plowed through Temple and Belton (home to 2/3rds of Follow that Bird) and to a rest stop complete with piped-in bathroom music and an exercise area for the traveler on a long haul. Quite the trade-up from most highway rest stops along I-35, where the bathrooms are usually flooded by an inch of water. We made another stop closer to Dallas to pick up more junk food and take bathroom breaks. At this point most of the bus participants had consumed a beer or three, and we became more bold - drinking Jack from the bottle and whooping as we hit Ft. Worth and continued on toward Denton.

Riding to Denton

Coleman moved to the front of the bus to direct us into the square that makes up Denton's downtown, which was was as quiet as a corpse. We showed up around 9:30. The unloading got underway pretty quickly after the bus found a spot behind the venue, J & J's Pizza. These musicians are soldiers, and everyone pitched in as the amps, drums and other assorted instruments were led through a strange white hallway and into a basement dining area/performance space. With some disappointment I noted that it featured no stage to speak of and little to no air conditioning, which would have been nice after the long ride in the warm bus. The Diagonals had arrived an hour and a half early and were handily winning the war on sobriety. The rhythm section of that band cornered Coleman for a brief conference after learning that the venue was only open until midnight. Coleman not only reassured the boys that the bands could play to one, but he also later finagled a place to crash for the evening (with J & J's gracious owners, no less).

Unfortunately, Coleman's set (the first of the evening) was enough to turn some of my initial good impressions sour. After enlisting the Diagonals drummer Todd Larson to lend support, Coleman ran through an intentionally sloppy and scattered set that no doubt gave the patrons (who couldn't have numbered more than 20) a pretty iffy idea of what these bands were all about - which is to say, they're not really about lax, off-the-dome style songwriting. With improvised lyrics about seeing movies at the mall and a lengthy, set-closing guitar solo that best resembled this, Coleman's performance slid from baffling to grating. If he doesn't give a shit, why should anyone else?

Next up to bat, the Pillow Queens played a strong set with a few newer tracks thrown in. Despite having no stage, J & J's basement does have a sound guy, the same employee who also delivered eight pizzas and two packs of Schlitz gratis to the grateful bands. The bands hungrily tore apart the pizzas (which were delicious) but the alcohol-soaked bus ride made the Schlitz less appealing.

Speaking of which, maybe it was the long, bumpy drive, or the beer followed by draws of whiskey, the heat, loud music, or some combination thereof, but while Follow That Bird! began setting up yours truly was feeling increasingly icky. I decided what I really needed was a nice dark place to vomit, which I found it a few blocks over in a quiet patch of bushes near stacks of tires. Not entirely sure what was wrong with me, I still wasn't too sick to enjoy the closing numbers from Follow That Bird!. An enjoyable band who hadn't particularly resonated with me before, this noisy but evocative set really brought out a great deal of guitar texture without losing the band's clipped, riot grrl sound.

John Wesley Coleman

Pataphysics also sounded wonderful. Their recordings play up Patrick Healy's odd vocals and synthesizer lines to the point of near-parody, and even skirt close to"dinky" every now and again. But live, the guitars and bass were muscular and full. Healy's voice (with backing from Dirk Michener) and the songwriting betrayed true craft, despite Healy's near-manic goofball dance moves and exaggerated facial expressions (which were pretty damn enjoyable, regardless). [Side note: it looks as though keys player Erich Ragsdale has since left the band. Bummer.]

As it crept closer to midnight, the very inebriated Diagonals finished the evening with a condensed set with a newly condensed band - organist Wiley Wiggins and guitarist Ryan Camarillo had recently been let go. Featuring little tuning ("Who cares" kept asking drummer Larson) and more than a little self-deprecation, the trio held together as well as their inebriation would allow. Songs off their strong Valley of the Cyclops debut like "Neil Diamond's Blues" lost a bit of their menacing charm, but even fifty beers and a long night couldn't wreck a song as good as "Wizard Dome." When the smoke cleared, a few appreciative (say, five) Dentonites had stuck around till the bitter end, and were even convinced to buy a Diagonals record or two.

Our hosts lived not far from their business, and we soon retired to the home of our hosts, which was outfitted with cool and kitschy furniture, a Playboy pinball machine and both a dog and potbellied pig as animal companions. The after party raged in the living room until participants were scattered on the floor, couches, and pool table like so much pig crap. A few smart apples equipped the bus with a fan and mattresses, and everyone else found someplace inside, bathing in the cool, cool air conditioning.

The next morning, different groups of bandmates paired up and found coffee and breakfast. Follow that Bird! had spent the night at a friends (a place I was told smelt like a litter box) and sauntered up right on time to hit the road. Our hosts were strangely M.I.A. the next morning, but thanks to Follow that Bird! bassist Mitchell and the help of a few others, they awoke to a much cleaner and less trashed home. The trip to Dallas from Denton was a relatively quick one, with only a few people willing to start hitting the sauce so early in the day. The final destination was the Annex House in East Dallas. Like its Austin brethren the Natrix Natrix house, the Space Cave and more, the Annex House is an outlying residential destination that throws performances and parties. Attendance had been iffy but by nightfall the scene was starting to brew. Bar-b-que was on the grill, the Pillow Queens whaled through a set that included a cover of "Live for Today" by the Grass Roots, and John Wesley Coleman aimed for the approximation of a '50s rock and roll hootenanny by playing "Who Do You Love" for ten minutes.

The Summer Slammer combined the highs and lows of both a party barge voyage and a school field trip to the symphony. We had many disparate moments of enjoyable raucousness as well as doldrums and tired silences. If anything, the attitudes of the bands are what impressed me most of all. These ladies and fellas didn't bitch about the heat, long drive, or playing shows without much of an audience and receiving almost nothing in the way of payment. They just played their hearts out, loaded up and then played again. That's dedication.

John Wesley Coleman: [myspace]
Pillow Queens: [myspace]
Pataphysics: [myspace]
Follow That Bird!: [myspace]
Diagonals: [myspace]

Thanks to Monofonus Press (Will and Morgan especially), Jesse for driving, the bands, and J & J and their pizza. See more photos from Monofonus right here.

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Music News & Notes: Denim, Harlem, Gamblers & More

Paige Maguire — 2009-07-03T14:37:12-06:00

Courtesy Harlem’s MySpace

Built to Spill is coming to Stubb's in October
Riverboat Gamblers have a new music video for "Victory Lap".
Check out new Daytrotter Sessions from Corto Maltese and Leatherbag.
Hometown garage rockers Harlem have have signed with Matador.
Watch the video for White Denim's "I Start to Run" and weigh in on the Pitchfork review of Fits. Red Hot Chili Peppers? Really?
There are some scheduling changes (finally) during the week on KUT 90.5 FM to note. New program Music with Matt Reilly (Reilly is the Assistant Music Director, hired from WXPN in Philadelphia last year) replaces The Phil Music Program and Paul Ray's Jazz. Don't worry, Twine Time and Blue Monday will stay right where they are.

Snapshots: Second Annual Super Hero Show

Paige Maguire — 2009-07-03T14:24:37-06:00

The Second Annual Super Hero show features a smorgasbord of acclaimed local musicians: Alejandro Escovedo, James McMurtry, and Ian McLagan & The Bump Band. But the superheroes of its title may be the dedicated men and women of the multidisciplinary medical team at Austin Child Guidance Center; they provide mental health services for children and their families as well as community education.

photos by Steve Hopson, www.stevehopson.com.

If you can't view the Flash slideshow above, an alternate version appears after the jump.

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Music Preview: Little Gentlemen, Frantic Clam at Trophy's

bryan carroll — 2009-07-03T13:22:56-06:00

Little Gentlemen MySpace

The Little Gentlemen, Jim and the Toms, Frantic Clam, St. Cloud
Wednesday, July 3
Trophy's (2008 S Congress)
$5, 9pm
[info]

You, the budget-conscious local music fan considering how to while away the first evening of this most patriotic of holiday weekends, could do much worse than to spend it with the four bands who will take the stage tonight at Trophy’s. We recommend getting there early to catch the promising and dreamy sounding new band St. Cloud, who were recently and unfortunately added to the ever-growing roll of musicians who’ve had instruments pilfered from their vehicles. (Here’s a list of the hot gear.)

After St. Cloud’s set erases any lingering anxiety caused by the cornucopia of national crises currently dogging the nation, Frantic Clam will offer up their inspired update on glam rock, followed by the jangling tones of Jim & the Toms. The garage-pop combo The Little Gentlemen, who recently celebrated the release of their debut album I Quit Nothing, close out the night.

The Little Gentlemen [MySpace]
Jim and the Toms [MySpace] [Facebook]
Frantic Clam [Official] [MySpace]
St. Cloud [MySpace]

Faith/Void: Bill Callahan at the Parish, Being Great

Nick Courtright — 2009-07-03T12:00:00-06:00

photo from Callahan MySpace

Bill Callahan w/ Follow That Bird
Sunday, July 5th
The Parish Room (214 East Sixth Street)
$12/$15, doors at 8
[info] | [tickets]

Recently, during a performance by an anonymous Austin band, someone spotted Bill Callahan in the crowd, walked straight up to him and looked into his face: "Your new album," the audience member said, pausing for emphasis, "is perfect." And so it is in regards to Callahan's second release under his own name, Sometimes I Wish We Were an Eagle, which is so damn good it's receiving dark horse consideration for album of the year.

Writing songs about the songs he wrote while sleeping, and imploring his listener, and maybe himself, to put God away, Eagle is a testament to an adult musical vision: the album is 100% free of excess, and every subtlety seems to be the product of careful consideration, or at least the spontaneous intuition of someone who's been building beautiful songs for more than a decade. If anything, it proves that while the local hero’s Smog material made his reputation as one of music’s most thoughtful pessimists, his evolution the past few years has taken him towards perhaps his strongest and most luminous material yet.

For such an act, it seems there'd be no better place to hear his stripped down tunes, and pay special attention to each and every word, than the cozy haven known as the Parish, where Callahan will ply his craft this Sunday night. As added bonuses, opening up are a suiting counterpoint to Callahan, local southern crunchers Follow That Bird!, and you can fill in those boxes below for a shot at free tickets.

Bill Callahan [Label] [MySpace]
Follow That Bird [MySpace]

Interview & Preview: 'Til We're Blue Or Destroy CD Release @ Club de Ville [Friday]

adi anand — 2009-07-03T10:27:33-06:00

Image from ’Til We’re Blue Or Destroy’s MySpace

'Til We’re Blue Or Destroy CD Release
Friday, July 3
Club DeVille (900 Red River St)
9 p.m.
[info]

April 20th, 2005 is the date on the tape Erik Wofford pulls out from his archives. The head honcho at Cacophony Recorders is eager to start from the very beginning as we sit down on the comfortable green couches to discuss what went on in the four plus years since Will Rhodes, also seated beside us, first came into the spacious studio in East Austin. The tape in question contains "Graffiti The Night," a song done by Rhodes four years ago and one that can now finally be enjoyed by everyone. The ever-evolving local indie-rock outfit 'Til We're Blue Or Destroy has finally released their very long awaited self-titled debut and will celebrate by performing at Club de Ville on Friday.

"It's been a while coming," states Wofford. All Rhodes can say is, "It's kinda crazy when I think about it." They're both are quick to confirm what they have now is strong friendship rather than just a professional relationship that began in March of 2005. Rhodes was turning over a new leaf after some tough times a few years ago; Wofford helped him stay focused on creating music. What followed is an adventure that documents the trials and tribulations of Rhodes and his cohorts.

Wofford: It was SXSW 2005, there's where I met you (Rhodes) and we hit it off right away.

Rhodes: We did hit it off really well. I was still playing with The Vacation Gold maybe.

Austinist: So these sessions started over four years ago?

Wofford: We should preface that with there was at least a year where we did not work on it at all. It was after I cut you (Rhodes) off.

Rhodes: Was there? Oh yeah, you said "We're not going to record till I pay you!" Anyway, yeah, we started the record in 2005 -- basically I had a bunch of songs and I'd come into the studio with my ideas. To be honest, this is my favorite studio in town and this is why -- I really like having the light and the view in here. Because in other studios there is no light -- it's like you're in a casino in Vegas and you don't know what time it is. When it gets dark in this studio, it gets really intimate. We would track some basics during the day.

Wofford: And the Sun keeps that energy.

Rhodes: In the night, we'd do vocals and things that make records intimate -- a lot of the melodic stuff. I like it because the day gets divided here. We would do the bass outside and you can hear birds chirping.

Wofford: In the beginning of "Crazy Tigers" you can hear a little bird. This entire record is an accident.

Rhodes: Completely. It even made the band an accident.

’Til We’re Blue Or Destroy @ Cacophony Records by Felicia Graham

Wofford: It started out as demos basically. Will had some songs that didn't fit in with this projects at the time and he wanted a different perspective on recording. He wanted to try something new.

Rhodes: Kyle (Hunt / The Black Angels) was the first person I invited in and he knew you (Wofford) already. We started recording this album together.

Wofford: Kyle was instrumental to this record, during the early demos.

Rhodes: This was before he left to play with The Black Angels.

Wofford: Will would generally write the songs the night before and he would show up in the morning just with an acoustic guitar part and have Travis (Garaffa) come in and lay down a drum beat. And different friends would stop by during the day and make up a part. It was all about being in the moment. It's been one of the most creative things I've been a part of. The songs were not prearranged at all.

Rhodes: That's what made it so special. I just wanted to something different than I was used to doing. I wanted to involve different sounds and that's one of the things I really like about working with Erik -- there were no boundaries. There was no one ever saying, "Well that just ain't gonna sound good." Because half the stuff we did, if we singled out the track, we'd be like "What?" But it worked in the mix and he had the vision to see that. We just learned our record yesterday finally and played it completely through. Because we had to go back and learn what we had played. We have been working hard over the last month trying to bring parts out that are on the record. I remember when I walked in here one time and you were like "the band doesn't know the songs?" This record is weirdly a demo. We would come here, nothing was rehearsed. We didn't know what we were going to do.

Wofford: A lot of bands arrange the songs as a band in rehearsal and really nit-pick everything and perfect everything. But for these guys, all the arrangements were made up in one day.

Rhodes: The Cacophony sessions is where the band formed.

Wofford: All the friends would stop by during lunch or before going to work, and that's who ended up on the record and in the band.

Austinist: So the way it worked out, do you consider it to be a collective of sorts?

Will Rhodes @ Cacophony Records by Felicia Graham

Rhodes: At one point it was a collective, we didn't know what we were doing. It started out that way but really now we're a flat out a six person band that rehearses all the time together. We're tight because we took what we did here and we are able to represent that to an audience. We're a band now. But if Clint (Myers / Sleepercar) and Miranda (Brown / A.C. Newman) come into town, we invite them on stage. Everyone can hold their own on this record.

Wofford: And you let me jump on omnichord.

Rhodes: We did let Erik step in on omnichord -- I hope you do that with us at the CD release on Friday. We're just doing the record from start to finish. The last song, "This Train", we made it up right here. We were just sitting here one day and I had my chord progression.

Wofford: Will had this great idea for it and we said, "Everybody just show up to the studio." We worked from 7 p.m. in the evening to 4 a.m. on this track. Everyone made up their own parts. This band is a comedy of errors. It's all about rolling with the punches.

Rhodes: A lot of times, all we would do is try and make some really cool noise.

This band is a comedy of errors.
It's all about rolling with the punches.

Wofford: We'd just walk around trying to find something to bang on. I've kind of developed this studio into being able to do that sort of thing. If you look around, there are little piles of stuff and if someone needs an idea, it's all laid out. A lot of people see the toys here to be a big part of it. That was the element of my idea of really working with the artists. Most recording studios are really technical places -- you have the control room. It looks like a cockpit of an aeroplane. It looks into another room where all the musicians are and there's a disconnect between the musicians, producer, and engineer. They're doing two totally separate things. But here, since it's all one room, light, and lots of open space, there's that little comfort zone of a having a couch like it's your living room, and person who's creating the record is right here with you and it's a lot more personal. That's really the way I work, the way I learned my craft with this record. The most important thing about making a record is getting someone to let go of their creative potential.

Rhodes: As a musician, coming in here, I realized all the things I had done with bands in a studio before was out the window and I could actually ask questions -- "Can we try this? Can we do that?" And that forever will change me in the recording process, no matter whatever session I end up in. I can ask questions and talk about it. One of my favorite things about Erik is how accessible he is. It led to a good friendship and I have lot of other memories with Erik that have nothing to do with music. Erik is very much someone you want to be around all the time. And Erik was definitely a part of this as a musician too.

Erik Wofford @ Cacophony Records by Felicia Graham

Wofford: The studio was my instrument. I would use a delay pedal as an instrument or come up with sound that we could use. That was a really exciting time. I was starting to work on my own and coming up with evertying. It was largely an experiment on my part too. That's when it's most fresh.

Rhodes: I was going through a real rough time in my life and trying to get better. I would write a song and it would make me feel better. It would be lost if I didn't do it in a week or two and because Erik wasn't as busy back then, I could come in a few days after I talked to him. These experiments formed the band. This studio holds a very special place in my heart -- Erik might as well have been a therapist. I never came in and said "I'm going to start a band called Til We're Blue Or Destroy." It never happened like that.

Wofford: This record was all about having fun with friends.

Back home, as we looked through our notes, there were two things we remembered vividly about the interview. First, everything we hear on the album was recorded from 2005 to 2007. Wofford laughs, "I know I finished the mastering on it at least a year and half or two years ago." Rhodes is quick to defend this as not being just laziness, saying "I just now know what to do with a record. I just hired a publicist. I didn't know what to do back then. The record is really personal to me, it was an extremely personal time in my life and intimate time between us friends. I was scared to share something that personal with other people -- whether they'd like it or not. "This is mine. I really love it" and I didn't necessarily want to hear anything mean about it.

Second, the fact that they both attest that the band and the record are "an accident." It's somewhat reassuring that something so creative and brilliant can come out of "an accident." Even the name of the album is an accident. Meant to be called This Train, the band settled on the eponymous title after failing to turn in the proper artwork for the CD sleeve with the proposed name in time. Per Rhodes, "We got lazy and we forgot it was going to be called This Train. So now it's just self-titled." And perhaps it's fitting because every sound on the album is the contribution of a unique set of individual ingredients that now constitute 'Til We're Blue Or Destroy.

(Will Rhodes, Travis Garaffa, Hope Irish, Matt Bricker, John Pfirman, and Ben Howard currently comprise 'Til We're Blue Or Destroy; Kullen Fuchs, Erik Wofford, Clint Myers, Miranda Brown, Kyle Hunt, Jonathan Humphrey, Benjamin Howard, Cam Rogers, Amy E. Mitchell all contributed to the album as well. Erik Wofford's band Candi and The Strangers will also perform at Club de Ville on Friday.)

['Til We're Blue Or Destroy MySpace]
[Cacophony Recorders MySpace]
[Candi and The Strangers MySpace]

[New Roman Times MySpace]
[The Lost Soul Revue MySpace]
[Team Fabrication MySpace]

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Weekend Music Preview: Sky Sunlight Saxon Memorial + 4th of July events

adi anand — 2009-07-03T10:14:30-06:00

Image provided by Bleu French Laundry Rocknroll Promotions

Memorial for Sky Sunlight Saxon
Sunday, July 5
Scoot Inn (1308 E. Fourth)
6 p.m.
[info]

It’s been quite a tragic ten days or so and we’re all still coming to terms with the losses we experienced both last and this week. This Sunday, Scoot Inn is hosting a memorial for Sky Sunlight Saxon, a.k.a. Richard Marsh at 6 p.m. Sky passed away last Thursday morning at St. David’s South Austin Hospital. The cause has been identified as heart and kidney failure from an undiagnosed infection of his internal organs. Sky fronted and played bass for the garage-rock outfit The Seeds; the band had a legitimate hit with “Pushin’ Too Hard” in the 60’s. The song was named as one of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame + Museum’s “500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.” Sky performed at Psych Fest 2 this past March and at Antone’s as recently as Saturday, June 20th. He was rushed to the hospital on Monday the 22nd and remained in an ICU until his passing on the 25th.

Sky’s wife Sabrina Saxon has requested guests to bring their dogs (on leashes) to the memorial at Scoot Inn on Sunday evening. If you would like to help Sabrina fly to the Hawaiian Islands to spread Sky’s ashes, please donate via the official Sky Sunlight Saxon website.

Follow the jump for information on the Texas Heat Music & Arts Fest in Houston and some choice 4th of July events in Austin.

If you’re going to Houston this weekend, head over to Jones Plaza for the Texas Heat Music & Arts Fest -- the line-up for this two-day event includes The Rapture (DJ set) and RJD2. Check out the schedule here and buy your tickets here.

Image provided by Focus Group

Muchos Backflips, White Rhino, Focus Group, The Fever Dreams, The Ape-Shits, Squidbucket, CockVanDyke, Falcon Buddies, El Paso Heist
Saturday, July 4
The Metropolis (2200 S. Pleasant Valley Rd., Austin, TX 78741-4688)
2 p.m.
[info]

Friday:

Indian Jewelry, Daughters Of The Sun, Motel Aviv (Outside) and Caddywhompus, Shapes Have Fangs, Cartright, The Dead Space (Inside) at The Mohawk (9 p.m. / 21+ Free; Minors $5)
Bone Awl, Ashdautas, Volahn, Total Abuse (Outside / 9 p.m.) and DJ Drug Money (Inside / 10 p.m.) at Red 7
Dark Rabbit (8 p.m.); Big Balls, Broken Teeth, Blackholicus, Chlorine (10 p.m.) at Room 710
'Til We’re Blue Or Destroy (CD Release), New Roman Times (CD Release), and The Lost Soul Revue, Candi and The Strangers, Team Fabrication at Club de Ville (Inside / Outside / 9 p.m.)
Tom Rhodes (8 p.m.); The Chumps, F Bombers, Bent Gents, Scrabble Robot at Beerland (10 p.m.)
Li'l Cap'n Travis, Sally Crewe & The Sudden Moves at The Continental Club (10 p.m.)
Mice & Rifles, San Saba County, J.Be at Stubb’s (Inside / 9 p.m. / $10 Advance -- Tickets)
Crash Gallery, Always Already, Munich, Prince Klassen at Beauty Bar (9 p.m.)

Saturday:

Joey Cape, Jon Snodgrass, Cory Branan at The Mohawk (Inside / 10 p.m. / 21+ $8; Minors $10)
2009 Warped Tour Party with Henry Rollins, Gallows, Mocktigers, Born To Lose, JT HabersaatEmo’s (Outside / 9 p.m. / $18 Advance; $20 At The Door -- Tickets)
Jazzus Lizard, Aartfystte, MC Terroristic, Baby Got Bacteria at Room 710 (9:30 p.m.)
The Flametrick Subs, Shotgun Rebels at Beerland (10 p.m.)
Explosions In The Sky, The Octopus Project, The Wooden Birds at Stubb’s (Outside / 7 p.m. / Sold Out)
Indiependence Day Throwdown with Prince Klassen, Bird Peterson at Beauty Bar (9 p.m.)
4th of July Bash with Distempered, Suncopters, El Charco at Trophys (8 p.m.)
4th of July Freak On with HUG, Scorpio Rising, The Horsies, FM Campers, DJ Teenage Wolf at Club 1808
People Under the Stairs at Red 7 w/ Lowkey, Dred Skott.

Sunday:

The Calm Blue Sea, Gifts From Enola, Irepress, Hotel HotelEmo’s (Inside / 10 p.m.)
Bill Callahan, Follow That Bird! at The Parish (8 p.m. / 21+ $15.50 Advance; Minors $18.50 Advance -- Tickets)
Glafiro & Solid Ghost at The Parlor (8 p.m.)
Alternative Softball League All-Star Game Afterparty with Transmography, La Snacks, Butcher Bear & Charlie (Outside / 9 p.m.) and DJ Mark Fagan (Inside / 9 p.m.) at Red 7
Birth A.D., Disfigured, Scattered Remains at Room 710 (10 p.m.)

Check out the Austinist Weekend Music Preview Slideshow below for details on a number of events in town this weekend.

Images from MySpace / Facebook / provided by entity.

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Party Like A Superhero: For a Good Cause [2nd Annual Superhero Show Tonight at La Zona Rosa]

Rachael Sawyer — 2009-07-02T15:23:30-06:00

Mick Rock

The Second Annual Super Hero Show Benefiting the Austin Child Guidance Center with Alejandro Escovedo
Thursday July 2nd
La Zona Rosa (612 W. 4th Street)
8pm, $40 in advance, $45 at the door.
[info] | [tickets]

What’s better than good music for a great cause? The Second Annual Super Hero show features a smorgasbord of acclaimed local musicians: Alejandro Escovedo, James McMurtry, Ian McLagan & The Bump Band, and Right Or Happy (formerly The Reivers). But the superheroes of its title may be the dedicated men and women of the multidisciplinary medical team at Austin Child Guidance Center; they provide mental health services for children and their families as well as community education.

Alejandro Escovedo is an Austin institute unto himself, reflecting our city’s signature alt/country sound, a genre he had a hand in creating as a member of Rank and File in the early '80s. His solo career performances are nationally lauded, including an invitation to join Bruce Springsteen onstage last spring, followed later by a performance at the Democratic National Convention.

Ian 'Mac' McLagan can comfortably claim rock icon status, having written many Faces hits as well as touring and recording with the Rolling Stones. He has received the Ivor Novello award for his contribution to British music.

James McMurtry is a singer/songwriter in Texas’ great gritty character-sketch ballads. His literary taste derives perhaps from his novelist and screen writer father, Larry McMurtry. He appeared on the soundtrack of the film "Falling from Grace," and has worked with John Mellencamp, John Prine, Joe Ely, and Dwight Yoakam on the group project Buzzin' Cousins.

In addition to tonight’s fabulous lineup at Austin landmark bar/church, La Zona Rosa, there will be a silent auction featuring items such as two tickets to Austin City Limits Music Festival, massage gift certificates, and a weekend stay with breakfast for two at the Omni Hotel.

Review: The Comedy of Errors at The Curtain Theatre [Theatre]

kelseyk — 2009-07-02T15:00:42-06:00

For any Shakespeare geek residing in Central Texas, we can imagine no greater treat than to watch one of his plays performed on the “wooden O” that is The Curtain Theatre. Richard Garriott’s Elizabethan replica space is nestled on his property on the shores of Lake Austin and provided the backdrop for Austin Shakespeare’s inaugural Young Shakespeare production of The Comedy of Errors this past weekend. The all-teen cast delivered a solid performance that was pleasantly surprising in many ways.

Comedy is one of the earlier texts written in the classical style of Roman farce. One of those late great critics of Shakespeare (some guy named Coleridge) said, “Farce commences in a postulate which must be granted.” In Errors, we have to accept that two sets of identical male twins have been separated at birth and raised as master and servant pairs. Many years later, in search of his brother, Antipholus and Dromio of Syracuse arrive in Ephesus where the corresponding Antipholus and Dromio live. Then, as they say, comedy ensues. In order to enjoy the show, we have to concede that however improbable this scenario, it is not impossible.

There are some that tend to regard farce as one of the lowest forms of comedy, relying as it does on sight gags, crude humor, and lots of slamming doors. The reality is that farce requires immense concentration, exact timing, vocal dexterity, and creativity. Given those criteria, one might assume (or postulate if we can use that term again) that it is improbable that a young cast of actors could perform such material with the same success as a group of seasoned performers. We are happy to report that they would be wrong.

There are, of course, jokes, gags, and laughs aplenty, but the thing that impressed us most was how vocally strong the cast was. This is an open-air space, and unaided by mics, we lost very few lines of text. They also really highlighted the verse and wordplay in this text, an area where many adult actors fall short. We got to savor these lines along with the performers, and what a treat! The one area where the cast came up a bit short was exploring the deeper emotional side of this play. We so reveled in the language, this feels like a trifling remark. The characters were certainly rooted in the text, they just did not experience much growth throughout the evening. We know that farce relies on stock characters, but even this early in his career, Shakespeare reveals his great humanity, and there was just a little too much stock and not enough stuff going on. The exception to this was Savannah Finger’s Dromio of Ephesus-her turn as the heavily beaten servant was nicely nuanced. That said, there was much to be liked in the cast. Georgia McLeland (the other Dromio) could best be described as a pinball, always in motion. Ciara Flynn was a beautiful and imperious Adriana. As the Antipholus brothers, Dallas Emerson and Reide Hale anchored the show despite being constantly misapprehended.

Not to pun too much on two, but most people in the show pulled double duty. Director Matt Radford also designed the set (and played some mean maracas). The stage was, in effect, the dockside of Ephesus, complete with old tire boat bumpers, plastic seagulls, and a lot of fishnet. It was a bit campy but seemed to fit the energy of the play quite well. Costume designer Glenda Barnes, who also played clarinet in the band, gave us a great rendition of the twins, just enough alike to suggest the relationships. Assistant Director, David Boss, earned maybe the best laugh of the evening as Loose Nell. Clearly, the success of this show was achieved by group effort.

We are really glad to see this kind of immersion program happening in Austin. Particularly with access to The Curtain, Young Shakespeare provides a truly unique experience for Austin teens to delve into performance, learning from veterans but also from each other. Let us be emphatic: this is not a camp, this is theatre. Radford expected that these teens would be treated and expected to behave as professionals, and the result was clean, thoughtful, and entertaining production of one of Shakespeare’s lesser-performed plays.

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Preview: Henry V at The Off Center [Theatre]

kelseyk — 2009-07-02T12:42:50-06:00

England’s most storied and inspirational warrior king is revealed in a new, one-man adaptation of the Shakespeare history starring B. Iden Payne Award-winning actor/director and Austin Chronicle Arts Editor Robert Faires. Over the course of 75 minutes, with only a few household props, he leads the audience from Henry’s throne across the English Channel into the French court, through a fearful war and into one of the most charming wooing scenes in Shakespeare.

Henry V is directed by Catherine Weidner, Associate Professor at The Theatre School of DePaul University in Chicago and is the former Program Director of The Shakespeare Theatre Company Academy for Classical Acting. She has directed Taming of the Shrew and Titus Andronicus for the Illinois Shakespeare Festival. Lighting design is by Jason Amato and sound design by William Meadows. This show is produced by Red Then Productions in a co-production with Rude Mechs.

Henry V runs at the Off-Center, Thursdays-Saturdays at 8pm and Sundays at 5pm, July 2-July 25 with a special 4th of July performance at 5pm with complimentary champagne and sparklers.

[Tickets & Info]

Show Preview: Moonlight Towers, Service Industry at Continental Club

joshuahuck — 2009-07-02T12:20:22-06:00

Image From Myspace

Moonlight Towers, Service Industry at the Continental Club
Thursday, July 2nd
Continental Club (1315 S Congress Ave)
$7, 10pm
[info]

There's something about Moonlight Towers that begs kneejerk comparison to the OK Gos, Dexter Freebishes, and-dare we say-Ryan Adamses of this world, but there's something else, something much deeper and more subtle that turns side stage and winks in our direction, reminding us that there's a either Gram Parsons or Sugar playing on the phono back home. Suffice it to say, there's too many snooty feathers in a tussle in this scene rife with pop avoidance. Even solid, classic, guitar-based gloss-e.g. the shit we grew up on-such as MT purvey, is probably no stranger to the current browbeating milieu, both nationally and Austin-ally. Give those tongue-clucking twats a metaphorical skinny-jeans wedgie and saunter proudly to the door of The Continental Club tonight to get your Big Pop fix right in the kisser. Sweetening the deal are fellow locals The Service Industry-also a tad Mould-y-who cleave to a wholesome diversity of sound that inform their sometimes gleeful, sometimes extravagantly moody rock anthems.

[Moonlight Towers Myspace][Official]
[The Service Industry Myspace][Official]

Snapshots: Patrick Wolf @ Antone's [Last Night]

Paige Maguire — 2009-07-02T11:50:02-06:00

Nylon Magazine supports a show by British performer Patrick Wolf at Antone's, July 1, 2009. During Patrick Wolf's show, audience members gave him clothing as birthday presents which he wore. Photos by Steve Hopson, www.stevehopson.com.

If you can't view the Flash slideshow above, an alternate version appears after the jump.

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Your Dog Doesn't Know What Guilt Is [News Bits]

austinist_keb — 2009-07-02T10:45:40-06:00

Snapshots: Jimmie Vaughn @ KGSR's Blues on the Green

Paige Maguire — 2009-07-02T10:42:26-06:00

Jimmie Vaughan and the Tilt-A-Whirl Band at Blues on the Green at Waterloo Park, Austin Texas, July 1, 2009. Photos by Steve Hopson, www.stevehopson.com.

If you can't view the Flash slideshow above, an alternate version appears after the jump.

I Am So Popular: Billie Jean Is Also Not MY Lover!

spikegillespie — 2009-07-02T10:00:10-06:00

Editor’s note: The views expressed in I Am So Popular are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the outlook or beliefs of anyone else in the IST network.

I was just hanging up the new shower curtain when I noticed the tub stopper left behind by a former roommate. The tub stopper is purple and features one very small hand, protruding up, so that when it is in placed in the drain I suppose it might look like a very small person is on the other side, trying to get out. Before I tell you more about the symbolism of that little hand, let me tell you about the shower curtain.

I went to Target recently to get a few things for the house. Not to help the economy or kick the terrorists’ asses through shopping. Just because I wanted a few little inexpensive nest brighteners. I wandered the aisles in that Target Trance, visions of a new rag rug, a shower curtain, and maybe a few pairs of big girl underpants to replace the old ripped ones dancing in my head. (Note: the visions, not the torn underwear, were doing the dancing.) I found one of those shower curtains with a map of the world printed on it, made no doubt by slave labor in China who will likely never get to see the outside of a factory, let alone the world. I silently sent both my thanks and my apologies to them.

View from Spike’s Throne

I was hoping the curtain would provide some motivation for me. Warren and I have been talking about a trip around the world since nearly the day we met two years ago. Our goal departure date is 2010 and back when I had a steady job, saving enough to do a bit of traveling seemed possible. Now, with the economy in the shitter in general and journalism-as-a-career no longer an option, I’m thinking maybe I’m just going to have to sit on the toilet and look at a different country each day and that will have to suffice. I hope I’m wrong, but I’m not holding my breath.

Tub Stopper or Sign from Universe?

So it was while hanging this curtain-of-hope I noted the tub stopper. And that made me think about the frog. I had been, as recently as my stroll through the Target aisles, debating whether or not to tell you about the frog. Earlier today I thought it was a swell idea—an image so vivid and graphic you wouldn’t be able to help but see it in your mind, which would make me a powerful scribe and master of my trade, right? Then I thought, No, no, don’t do that to people. Don’t make them get that image stuck in their heads, too. It’s awful. But the sight of the tub stopper so reminded me of the frog that it tipped the scale back the other way, and I decided this was the universe insisting I tell you about the frog.

Warning: The following passage is graphic. Proceed at your own risk.

So the other day, I found myself by a pool that hadn’t been chlorinated in awhile. It was covered in a bright green film of algae. Really a very beautiful color. Upon closer inspection, I saw some lumps and, following a hunch, I looked closer and confirmed my hypothesis that, yes, those were frogs’ backs and eyes poking up, adding some texture to the velvety pond scum blanket. I should’ve stopped there but wait— do you know me people? I did not. Of course I did not. Instead, I looked closer.

Poor Frog

And that’s when I saw him, belly up and bloated. The dead frog. And this particular dead frog, no really, had one rigor mortised hand plunging upward, toward the sky. Yes, just like the tub stopper. And in the days since that visual burned itself forever into my mind, I have come to associate it with Michael Jackson. One hand. One glove. One glove. One tragic pop star gone, gone, gone.

Poor Michael Jackson. Like just about everyone else in the world, should I choose to think about him (and how can I not?) speculation is my only tool. The story I create for him is not original and surely drawn in part from bits and pieces of gossip I’ve read over the years and, especially, in the days after his death. He never had a childhood. He worked his whole life. The spotlight ruined him. Something Quincy Jones said really grabbed me—about how when people get a lot of attention they come to either think they really deserve it or that they really don’t. Both, he says, are problematic ways of dealing with fame.

So let’s see, Michael Jackson had the best selling album of all time and had recently sold out, in mere hours, fifty concert dates in London. Spike Gillespie has sold a few thousand books—that’s combination sales of several different books—and has eight hundred and thirty something Facebook friends. My father did not force me to sing at the Apollo when I was little. He did not enslave me into a life of entertainment. But I, too, had some kooky things go down as a kid, and like MJ I grew up amidst a passel of siblings which, invariably says I, leads to multiple people struggling over limited resources (financial and/or emotional and/or physical). My theory is that these factors combined often manifest as a chronic case of Pick Me Syndrome.

PIck Me!

Maybe that’s what the frog hand, flung skyward in desperation, was crying out for. Pick Me. Pick Me to be the frog you scoop out with the skimmer. Pick me to hop off into the garden. Pick Me Pick Me Pick Me. Maybe that’s what Michael’s solo glove was about—Look over here, look at me, I’m different, Pick Me!

I was thinking a lot about attention— wanting it, seeking it, courting it, getting it, shying away from it, resenting it—during the couple of weeks I recently took off. Unlike MJ, I don’t have to wear a burka to go unrecognized in public. Oh sure, inside the city limits a trip to Whole Foods can take four hours because I run into so many people I know (but then, I think this is true for most Austinites in this one degree of separation town in which we live).

But when I want to go out in peace, I just toss the dogs in the car and drive to Galveston. Other than my hosts, whom I’ve known for decades, I do not know a blessed soul on the island. Mornings I walk the pooches a few miles, then drop them off and ride my bike for several miles more. I meditate and research and write and read and watch movies. The less email I send, the less email I get. Facebook—I admit this doesn’t surprise me—seems to continue to thrive despite my absence. I enjoy the quiet and the lack of attention and the absence of constant communication very much. I fantasize about staying a little longer down there, like maybe the rest of my life. I find it is terribly refreshing to simply disappear, especially after all those years of chasing after one spotlight or another.

I contemplate the fame I thought I wanted when I started writing—around the same age that MJ was when he was when he started singing. It was a dream that waxed and waned over the years. Then, a year or so ago there was some talk that my little show, The Dick Monologues (which closes this week after a two year run) might have a place on Broadway. Or at least Off Broadway. Just as I had when my first book came out, I entertained exhilarating fantasies that this was it, I’d finally unwrapped the chocolate bar with the golden ticket. But then, through lessons learned hard and at a high cost via many meetings with potential investors and lawyers, I came to realize that yes, it did belong Off Broadway. As in off off off off off. At the little Hyde Park Theatre, presented for friends, just as it was originally intended. Which was more than fine—it was a wonderful relief.

The recent joy of respite aside, I don’t suppose my Pick Me Syndrome will ever fully fade. To a certain extent, I think nearly all of us have it. We want others to bear witness—to our triumphs, our failures, our talents, and our gaffs. To applaud, chastise, commiserate and forgive us. This is, at one end of the spectrum, the force that has imposed Britney and Miley and yes, Michael Jackson upon us. At the other end it is the fuel feeding the growing fire of endless Facebook posts, Tweets, and blogs, all vying for your hits, begging, crying, screeching, singing: This is my story, this is my story. Pick Me Pick Me Pick Me!!

Spike Gillespie blogs at www.spikeg.com and KnitBuzz. She is hosting a writing workshop September 4th - 6th. Space is very limited. Email spike@spikeg.com for details.

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Commentary- African American Book Festival

Thinman — 2009-07-02T08:15:48-06:00

thinman

At the Carver Library and Cultural Center, Austin held its other book festival on Saturday, June 27th: The Third Annual African American Book Festival. Less well-known than that book gathering held in the Capitol each fall, it still attracted some prominent authors. One, Annette Gordon-Reed, spoke of her obsession with the story of Sally Hemings, the now famous slave and mistress of Thomas Jefferson. She described a journey that began with reading Jefferson's biography as a third grader to research on his life as a college history student and the eventual publication of two books. Jefferson scholars dismissed the relationship as just "negro news," she said. In 1997, her first book, Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings: An American Controversy, examined the entire historical record. Soon after, DNA evidence confirmed the liaison. Then, using Jefferson's obsessive record keeping, the oral history, and his letters, she reconstructed the Hemings family story in, The Hemingses of Monticello, for which she received the 2008 National Book Award and 2009 Pulitzer Prize. She expressed regret at not listening more carefully as a child to her grandmother's family stories. "Slavery was a part of my life," she said; her grandmother's mother was a slave. Gordon-Reed, now a law professor, wanted to individualize Sally, describe her family context, and allow her to be known as more than just a "slave girl." It was a short hour listening to the story behind the story.

Some of the other authors who spoke were: Carla Harris, Anita Richmond Bunkley, Bernice McFadden and Angela Shelf Medearis. The festival was small and informal, like a church fair. They listed the volunteers by name on the program and sold home-made cookies and lemonade. The last questioner was Marcella Washington, an Austin resident from Gordon-Reed's class at Conroe High School. "I knew your family and your brothers," said Washington.

Presented By:

2009-07-02T08:15:48-06:00

Early Give: Night Three of Spoon @ Stubb's With Atlas Sound & the Strange Boys

Paige Maguire — 2009-07-01T16:57:12-06:00

Spoon
July 11, 2009
Stubbs (801 Red River)
6 pm, $20-28, with Atlas Sound & the Strange Boys
[info] | [tickets]

By now you've heard about the three-night-stand Spoon has at Stubb's in July. We're excited about it too; and we're presenting night three along with KVRX (that's July 11). The (somewhat) local heroes will be playing tunes from their rich catalog as well as songs from their forthcoming full-length and new EP Got Nuffin.

The third and final night will feature supporting acts Atlas Sound -- the somewhat side project of Deerhunter's Bradford James Cox -- and locals The Strange Boys, as well as indoor post-Spoon supporters The Black. The Strange Boys will pack up right after this gig to head overseas for a lengthy Europe tour. Keep reading (and checking our Facebook and Twitter pages) for more details and chances to win tickets.

There will be other chances to win, but that's no excuse for not filling out the form and rolling the dice for a night with Spoon courtesy of Austinist. Just follow the jump for details.

Spoon [Official] [MySpace]
Atlas Sound [MySpace]
The Strange Boys [MySpace]
The Black [MySpace]

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Preview: Poppets at Club 1808

Adam S — 2009-07-01T13:38:20-06:00

karlisakson.com

Poppets at Club 1808
Wednesday, July 1
Club 1808 (1808 E. 12th St.)
9pm
[info]

The Swedish garage-pop duo Poppets are playing their first American show this evening at Club 1808.

The band trade in fast-paced, punky numbers with singalong choruses and quick guitar strumming. Without a drummer, members Lina and Magnus pound through their tracks with overlapping vocals set to the beat of a drum machine. As mentioned, this is the group's first show in America, so come show them what drinking and watching bands is all about here in the States.

Attendees will also witness the confrontational punk of locals Love Collector and a set from DJ Katherine. Another possible band performing will be Cruddy and the Cassingles ("now with bass!"), who revel in lo-fi thrash.

Poppets: [myspace]
Love Collector: [myspace]
Cruddy and the Cassingles: [myspace]

JBC Swift Beef Co. E-Coli Outbreak Includes at H-E-B [Recalls]

allenychen — 2009-07-01T12:03:05-06:00

If you've purchased any beef products from H-E-B recently, check that they're not one of these following types—if they are, they may have E-coli contamination and are being recalled by the grocer as part of a nationwide effort.

Raw Beef Briskets with plant inspection #969 (EST #969) and sell-by dates between 5/12 and 6/20
Raw Beef Inside skirt steaks in a Styrofoam tray with sell-by dates between 5/4 and 6/20
Hill Country Fare Beef for fajitas with a sell-by date of 5/23
Any fresh ground beef in a Styrofoam tray with sell-by dates between 5/9 and 6/20

The meat originated from Colorado firm JBS Swift Beef Co. and are part of a national recall that's affected an estimated 380,000 pounds of meat across the country. Anyone with recalled products can return them to H-E-B for a full refund/replacement, or call Customer Relations at 800-432-3113.

Related:
Colorado Firm Expands Recall of Beef Products Due To Possible E. coli O157:H7 Contamination [U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS)]

AFS Doc Tour: Afghan Star

msfrederick — 2009-07-01T11:45:00-06:00

Still from Afghan Star

Doc Tour: AFGHAN STAR
Wednesday, 7pm
Alamo Drafthouse Downtown (320 E 6th Street)
$4 for AFS members, $6 for nonmembers
[info] | [tickets]

As the thermometer-busting heat and 9 p.m. sunsets have no doubt made you aware, summer is here. Hell, July 4th is just around the corner. What better way to celebrate the strength, courage, and indomitability of the American spirit than by...watching a bunch of singing Afghans?

No, but yeah, seriously. Stick with us on this—in the war-torn country of Afghanistan, there’s a TV show much like our own inexplicably popular American Idol (which OK, it’s more Simon Cowell’s invention than ours, but we certainly helped make it so damn big, so let’s give the stars and stripes some credit), where anyone can compete regardless of race, age, religion, or any other factor. (That’s freedom, baby!--another American export.) And people all over the country use their cell phones to vote for their favorite performer (democracy!).

Naturally, contestants face a whole new set of obstacles that we can’t really conceive of over here in our cushy air-conditioned houses, but then that’s what documentaries are for, right? This remarkable film (winner of Directing and Audience Awards at this year’s Sundance Film Festival) follows four finalists as they compete to become the next Afghan Star.

Afghan Star is part of Austin Film Society’s Documentary Tour and will be screening at the Alamo downtown at 7 p.m. tonight. Reserve tickets now and show up early. This film is sure to inform, inspire, enlighten, and entertain you. And that’s a lot more than Simon Cowell could ever do for you.

Still not convinced? Watch a preview of the film after the break.

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City of Austin's Budget Simulator Puts You in the Cockpit

allenychen — 2009-07-01T11:05:08-06:00

Think you've got the chops to solve City of Austin's budget woes? They've put up a "Budget Simulation Exercise" that lists a slew of areas, from Library and Police to Watershed Protection and Health & Human Services, where sources of increased revenue are possible. The point of the exercise is to come up with at least $9.3 million in savings or new revenue, though even this falls well shy of the estimated $30-43 million shortfall that the current 2010 budget faces.

Some options in the simulator could have a big impact—for example, cutting special pay incentives that are added to some firefighters' base salaries (for things like certifications and continuing education) would save a whopping $1.73 million. Similarly, if City of Austin scrapped next year's police cadet training and kept the current police force vacancy rate at 10% or more, it could mean savings of over $5 million. On the lower end of the scale, smaller items like cutting back on city maintenance (pest control, fence repair) or eliminating some drop-in summer programs for neighborhood youth at city parks would net savings in the region of $100k to $250k.

At last month's Budget Town Hall meetings, the general consensus among the public was that closing nine of the more underused or neglected city pools, as well as charging more for city-funded services, was preferable to cutting back existing funding for services like the library and police. Some attendees pitched the same idea of charging a modest admission fee for the annual Trail of Lights that was earlier raised in our comments section. Most also seemed to be comfortable with increasing parking fines from the current $15 "early" rate to $20, which could net the city an extra $270k.

The proposed budget is expected to be delivered by July 22. In the meantime, the budget simulator also works as a last-ditch effort to solicit feedback from the community—in addition to gauging the relative efficacy of different revenue generators, the simulator allows you to share your preferred scenarios with the City's Communication and Public Information Office, who'll lump in the results with those collected from the town hall meetings.

Giveaway: Patrick Wolf @ Antone's [Tonight]

adi anand — 2009-07-01T10:21:38-06:00

Image from Patrick Wolf’s MySpace, by Nick Thornton Jones and Warren du Preez

Patrick Wolf, Living Things, Plastiscines, Jaguar Love
Wednesday, July 1
Antones (213 W 5th St)
7 p.m. | $15
[info] | [tickets]

Somewhat of a childhood prodigy, Patrick Wolf was proficient in a number of instruments at a very early age and his versatility shines through on The Bachelor, his fourth full-length. His knack for skillfully arranging varying sounds into both soothing and exhilarating songs is showcased throughout this record; his theatrical persona and penchant for the melodramatic can be witnessed in the video for single “Hard Times.” Wolf envisioned this current crop of material as a double album titled Battles but eventually decided to release them individually. The Conqueror is expected next year.

There is something for everyone on The Bachelor -- enjoy delicate folk numbers like “Thickets,” “The Sun Is Often Out,” and “Theseus” while gazing into the vast sky on your porch, or get your morning started with glitchy electro ditties like “Oblivion” and “Vulture.” But first, check out Wolf live in concert tonight at Antone’s -- fill out the form below for a chance to win two tickets to attend the Austin stop on this year’s Nylon Summer Music Tour.

Patrick Wolf [Official] [MySpace]
Living Things [Official] [MySpace]
Plastiscines [Official] [MySpace]
Jaguar Love [Official] [MySpace]

This contest is closed - Congrats Brian!

Please Welcome Senator Al Franken [News Bits]

Jeff Beckham — 2009-07-01T10:12:41-06:00

Statesman to Begin Printing Waco Tribune-Herald

Jeff Beckham — 2009-06-30T16:34:57-06:00

cmiked/flickr

The Statesman will begin printing and packaging the Waco Tribune-Herald as part of the Austin newspaper's growing printing business.

Tribune-Herald publisher Belinda Gaudet, a former general manager at the Statesman, announced today that the paper would stop printing and packaging at its Waco shop on July 13. Forty-three positions (25 full-time, 18 part-time) will be eliminated in Waco as part of the move.

The Statesman will print and package the Waco paper at its Congress Avenue facility, where they also print The Austin Chronicle, The Daily Texan, and several other local publications. The Tribune-Herald will be written, edited, and designed in Waco with finished page layouts sent electronically to Austin. The finished product will then be trucked back to Waco.

Both the Austin and Waco papers are owned by Cox Enterprises, who put both properties up for sale last August.

Austin Restaurant Wins AIA Los Angeles Design Award

allenychen — 2009-06-30T15:06:41-06:00

La Condesa, artist rendering | Found at Eatr Austin

Local upscale Tex-Mex eatery La Condesa recently scored a People's Choice Award for best restaurant at this year's annual AIA Los Angeles Restaurant Design Awards.

The restaurant, which opened in the Second Street District in February, was designed by architect Michael Hsu and interior designer Joel Mozersky, the same team that collaborated on other easily-recognizable local hotspots like Uchi and The Belmont.

Bill and Erik: Robot Attack

MacBlake — 2009-06-30T14:14:59-06:00

mac blake

{{{Sunset}}} Shine With Harmony at Emos [Tonight]

Candace Birkelbach — 2009-06-30T12:36:10-06:00

ben sklar/artist myspace

Sunset w/Sour Notes and Wild Moccasins
Tuesday, June 30
Emos (603 Red River St)
all ages, $5/$7, doors 9, show 10
[info]

Hearty and full of camp fire-y goodness, {{{Sunset}}} will take the inside stage at Emo's tonight. The band is the brain child of Bill Baird, who has been performing and recording under the name Sunset and other variations (adding and subtracting the {{{}}} thingies) since 2006.

Laced with wholesome tunes, their live performance brings folk undertones to the forefront of their music. With harmonizing ability approaching the ether of Fleet Foxes, their song craftsmanship is top notch and wholly unmatched. Woven with lush soundscapes, the sound consists of carefully layered piano, percussive and guitar elements. Sunset will have a record out soon, and they recently peddled a wild variety of songs dubbed onto clear pink cassettes called Pink Clouds. With handmade covers and limiting sales to 100 copies, record label Autobus harped big on the hip factor—apparently cassettes are vintage enough now. Well, pink ones definitely are, right? Anyhow, folks: Sunset is promising and the show is pretty cheap: $5 or $7 for minors. That's right—bring your brother Leonard along to this all ages accommodating act.

The Wild Moccasins open with an interesting blend of string work and pop-induced melodies. The vivacious quintet of 20-somethings from Houston may be youthful, but are musically mature and confident beyond their years. Sour Notes, a dreamy pop band from Austin, will also be there.

Sunset [official] [myspace]
Wild Moccasins [myspace]
Sour Notes [myspace]

Dell Reportedly Working on Pocket-Sized Web Gadget

Jeff Beckham — 2009-06-30T11:40:08-06:00

carlos_seo/flickr

The Wall Street Journal reports that engineers at Dell are developing a mobile device that would access the Web, but doesn't have cell phone capabilities.

So what could that be? The device would more akin to the iPod Touch than the iPhone. The gadget reportedly runs on Google's Android software. Conceivably, it could make over-the-web phone calls using a program like Skype from a wireless access point.

The Journal also reports that this mobile internet device doesn't necessarily rule out a Dell-produced line of smartphones, which have reportedly been in development for many months.

And there's no guarantee this new device will ever see the light of day. The Journal reports another person who was briefed on the company's plans who said Dell may begin selling the device later this year, but the plan could be delayed or scapped entirely. (That pretty much covers it, I would say.)

Dell tried to enter the mobile music player business with its Dell Digital Jukebox, but that product was discontinued in 2006.

New Release Tuesday: Wilco (The Album) & Contest

Paige Maguire — 2009-06-30T11:26:57-06:00

Wilco Wilco (The Album) (Nonesuch)

The album opens with a love note to the fans, which is perhaps an explanation of the self-referential title. "Wilco will love you baby," croons Tweedy as the band rolls through Verlaine-esque guitars and familiar Wilco-ishness. Hatched in January of this year, Tweedy & Co. find themselves covering a lot of familiar ground on Wilco, and at times the familiarity and comfort of this fact makes us a little restless. Overal, however, this is another great release from the band (their seventh) with highlights including “Bull Black Nova,” a monstrous jam that finds guitarist Nels Cline really stretching out. A duet with Feist ("You and I") also sticks out as particularly good. This collection of undeniably solid tunes is great partnered with the Ashes of American Flags DVD, which chronicles the band's tour in 2008.

Stream the album at NPR Music

Wilco [Official] [MySpace]

Enter below for a chance to win 2 Wilco t-shirts, a DVD of Ashes of American Flags and a copy of the new CD, Wilco (The Album).

The Allman Brothers Band: Playlist: The Best of Allman Brothers
And Also the Trees: When the Rains Come
Animal Collective: Summertime Clothes (vinyl)
Billy Talent: Rusted from the Rain
Bjork: Voltaic (2-CD & 2-DVD edition) (CD & DVD edition)
The Black Crowes: Warpaint Live (dvd)
Buddy Guy: Playlist: The Very Best of Buddy Guy
Depeche Mode: Peace
Heart: Private Audition/Passionworks (reissue)
Indigo Girls: Poseidon and the Bitter Bug (vinyl)
Janis Joplin: Janis Joplin: The Woodstock Experience
Jefferson Airplane: Flight Box (3-CD box set)
Jefferson Airplane: Jefferson Airplane: The Woodstock Experience
Jimmie Rodgers: Blue Yodel: The Very Best of Jimmie Rodgers (vinyl)
Jonathan Coulton: Best. Concert. Ever.
Johnny Winter: Johnny Winter: The Woodstock Experience
Juan Maclean: The Future Will Come (vinyl)
Killswitch Engage: Killswitch Engage
Leslie Mendelson: Swan Feathers
Levon Helm: Electric Dirt (vinyl)
Lila Downs: The Very Best Of
Lillian Axe: Sad Day on Planet Earth
Los Lonely Boys: Playlist: The Very Best of Los Lonely Boys
Matt Duke: Acoustic Kingdom Underground EP
Meese: Broadcast
The Michael Schenker Group: Walk the Stage: The Official Bootleg Box Set
Moby: Wait For Me (vinyl)
Moxy Fruvous: Wood (reissue)
Pete Yorn: Back & Fourth (vinyl)
Rob Thomas: Cradlesong
Rob Thomas: Something To Be Tour - Live At Red Rocks (dvd)
Robin Guthrie: Angel Falls
Rod Stewart: Atlantic Crossing (reissue with bonus disc)
Rod Stewart: A Night on the Town (reissue with bonus disc)
Santana: Santana: The Woodstock Experience
Shad: Old Prince
Sly & The Family Stone: Playlist: The Very Best of Sly & the Family Stone
Sly & The Family Stone: Sly & The Family Stone: The Woodstock Experience
Spoon: Spoon
Tanya Tucker: My Turn
Television Personalities: And Don't the Kids Just Love It (vinyl reissue)
Television Personalities: Mummy Your Not Watching Me (vinyl reissue)
This Is Jim Jones (dvd)
UFO: Official Bootleg Box Set, 1975-1982 (6-CD box set)
Various Artists: Sick Music
Various Artists: The Woodstock Experience (Limited Edition Box Set)
Various Artists: World Is Shaking: Cubanismo from the Congo 1954-55
The Vibrators: Garage Punk (vinyl)
Wilco: Wilco (The Album) (2-LP vinyl with CD)
Wu-Tang Clan: Chamber Music
Wu-Tang Clan: Playlist: The Very Best of Wu-Tang Clan

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First H1N1-Related Death in Travis County

allenychen — 2009-06-30T11:25:26-06:00

A 49-year-old man from Pflugerville has died after contracting the H1N1 flu virus, becoming Travis County's first death from the pandemic. Statewide, Texas has at least 2,802 confirmed cases of H1N1 and 14 total fatalities, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services. Travis County has 127 confirmed cases as of the last update on June 24th. [News 8 Austin]

Presented By:

2009-06-30T11:25:26-06:00

Yeah, Why Did You? [News Bits]

rebeccaonion — 2009-06-30T10:20:37-06:00

Fun Fest '09 Update: The King Khan & BBQ Show, Red Sparowes To Perform This Year

adi anand — 2009-06-29T15:54:39-06:00

The 2009 Fun Fun Fun Fest is just a few months away and as always, we’ll be bringing you plenty of previews in the upcoming months, and a good amount of reviews as well once the dust settles. The fourth edition of this annual gathering of punk, hardcore, electro, hip-hop, indie-rock, and comedy will take place on November 7th and 8th at Waterloo Park and Transmission Entertainment has just revealed a few more names on this year’s line-up.

Atlas Sound, Broadcast, The King Khan & BBQ Show, and Red Sparowes (and of course, the previously announced Jesus Lizard) will all grace the festival with their presence this year.

What’s all this hullabaloo about? Check out our Day One Recap of last year’s Fun Fest above and follow the jump to enjoy the Day Two Recap!

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Afternoon News Bits

Barbara Strickland — 2009-06-29T14:52:22-06:00

The Domain Loses Local Shop [Bettysport]

allenychen — 2009-06-29T12:10:49-06:00

bettysport.com

Bettysport, the locally-owned women's fitness apparel store, has given up on its Domain store after two years of operation.

Store owners cite a lack of foot traffic and high rents as contributing factors for the closure, coupled with a sales decline of nearly 50% since last fall. The Domain, which was envisioned as an upscale retail, residential and commercial alternative to downtown, has been plagued by public perception problems and financial issues since opening its first stage in 2007. Most recently, developers announced that they would be delaying the second phase of the project until 2012. Oakville Grocery, a high-ends food and wine market based in Napa Valley, also pulled out of the Domain after being there for less than a year.

"Bettysport was one of a handful of local retailers that opened locations in The Domain, with the promise of being in 'Austin’s second Downtown,' said the press release announcing the closure. "Traffic there has never met expectations, and nearly all of the retailers there have suffered lower than expected sales."

The original Bettysport location at 12th and Lamar is separately owned and will remain open.

Obituary: Jon Bessent from Tonecraft Amp Repair

Adam S — 2009-06-29T11:43:44-06:00

via tonecraft.com

Jon Byron Bessent, proprietor of the northeast amp repair shop Tonecraft passed away at the age of 56 last Tuesday. Bessent had opened the store with his wife Merlyn. A biographical sketch written by Bessent on the Tonecraft website traces the store's history: "My wife Merlyn and I set up Tonecraft Amp Repair on March 16, 2001 and have been working at it 6 days a week ever since. We specialize in 'Doing It Right' and love The Obscure. We acquire top quality parts which are tested before sale. We install these parts with care and respect for the important part these amp play in our customer's lives."

His shop made a sizable impact on the lives of Austin musicians. Says local multi-instrumentalist Henna Chou: "He always impressed us with his skills, attitude, service, everything. He always had so many stories to tell about a piece of equipment it was amazing and he had obviously worked on hundreds of amps and pedals. I don't think there is anyone who can replace him!"

Make It a Michael Jackson Weekend

Paige Maguire — 2009-06-26T16:47:43-06:00

Following yesterday's shocking news, Austin prepares for a Michael Jackson tribute weekend. There's no shortage of ways to remember the Man in the Mirror -- here's a few events we'll be checking out.

Cissi's Market: In honor of the Pop King, Cissi's Market & Wine Bar will be playing Michael Jackson's tunes all weekend and week long. $5 drink specials in honor of the Jackson 5.
Beauty Bar: Rock The Casbah presents I <3 MJ: The Michael Jackson Tribute Party with DJ Mel at Beauty Bar (9 p.m. / Free /)
Alamo Ritz: Michael Jackson Tribute & Sing-Along, $5
Shuggies @ South Austin Trailer Park: Show up with a Farrah hair-do or a Michael Jackson glove. Ask for the Hollywood Special and get a free burger and fries all weekend long. Must be dressed for the occasion. Limit one per customer per day.

Let us know in the comments about other Jackson tribute activities this weekend.

Show Preview: Cryptacize at Mohawk

Adam S — 2009-06-26T16:46:27-06:00

Image from The Mohawk

Cryptacize at The Mohawk
Saturday, June 27th
The Mohawk (912 Red River)
$9 at the door, $7 in advance.
[info] | [tickets]

Once upon a time a member of Deerhoof, Chris Cohen left that band and has made a new home for his sound in the poppy Cryptacize. After releasing the lovely Mythomania on Asthmatic Kitty, the band has regrouped as a four-piece and are touring in support of the album.

Performing this Saturday evening with Cryptacize are locals Black Before Red and Belaire. The fun synth-poppers in Belaire have been recording since April, and should have a new record out in 2009. A couple of years ago Black Before Red were on the scene with a new album and sporadic shows, and have had the opportunity to play some big bills since then with White Denim and others. What they're doing now isn't entirely clear - hopefully it involves working on a followup to their last record.

Cryptacize: [website] [myspace]
Belaire: [myspace]
Black Before Red: [website] [myspace]

A Stitch in Time: Common Sense at testsite [Art Review]

emilyweerts — 2009-06-26T16:35:07-06:00

Sheila Pepe, Josephine, 2000 crocheted yarn, lights, cast shadow and wall drawing installed at Thread Waxing Space, New York

Reception: Common Sense
Sunday, June 28
testsite (502 W. 33rd Street)
noon-6pm, free
[info]

One of the houses that is tucked away in a mostly residential neighborhood a few blocks from Amy's Ice Cream and Wheatsville is home to testsite, a hidden powerhouse in the world of contemporary art. The private residence of Laurence Miller was transformed in 2003 when he opened it as an experimental art space for exhibitions, open studios, and artist residency. Home to Austin's Fluent~Collaborative and ...might be good, a non-profit and contemporary art e-journal respectively, testsite brings together one writer and one visual artist to collaborate on a quarterly project that includes a exhibition and publication.

The most recent project facilitated by testsite is Common Sense, a collaboration between venerable New York artist, Sheila Pepe, and curator of Arthouse at the Jones Center, Elizabeth Dunbar. Common Sense is an interactive installation of crocheted "networks" of yarn created by Pepe, who, throughout the show's duration, encourages visitors to deconstruct her art and incorporate her materials into their personal projects. When it was first assembled in late May, two main webs engulfed the living room and dining room of testsite in shades of green and orange. After a few open knitting sessions, the installation has no doubt changed; the exhibit's closing reception and final knitting workshop will be held this Sunday from noon-6pm. At 1pm, Jade Walker, an artist and UT Art Department Lecturer, will present "Craft Stimulus" an artist discussion focusing on local, craft based artists. At 5pm, musician Lisa Cameron will also be performing an ongoing experimental music project, Venision Whirled, as part of a collaboration between the gallery space and the Church of the Friendly Ghost.

With Common Sense, Pepe blurs the lines between craft and contemporary art. In addition to her crocheted work, the show also features pieces from Pepe's ongoing Doppleganger series which consists of small wall mounted installations assembled to cast shadows that are then interpreted into drawings. Pepe collaborated with Dunbar to determine what figures the shadows created and ultimately, what form the drawings would take. Thoughts on both works of art can be found in the brief publication, Common Sense, written by Dunbar and Pepe. In this instance, testsite's mission to bring together an artist and an writer has resulted in an intriguing but accessible exhibit that is discussed eloquently in the artists' own words.

Common Sense runs through July 5th. testsite will be open on Sunday, June 28th from noon-6pm, Sunday, July 5th from 2-5pm, and by appointment.

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Preview: Leftover Crack, The Casualties, Trash Talk at Red 7

Adam S — 2009-06-26T14:53:11-06:00

Image from Leftover Crack

Leftover Crack, more at Red 7
Friday, June 26th
Red 7 (611 E. 7th St.)
$13, Doors at 9pm
[info] | [tickets]

Crust punk is back in Austin tonight, with a threefer of aggressive, stinky bands aiming straight for the jugular.

Leftover Crack rocked the metal/punk stage at Fun Fun Fun Fest this last year, surprising us with an exciting and even funny set that was political, self-deprecating, and full of the requisite punk and ska jams. They're back in Austin tonight, bringing along The Casualties and Trash Talk.

The Casualties have been around in one incarnation or another since 1990, and, like Leftover Crack, call New York their home. They've been touring a great deal since the release of their 2006 album Under Attack, and in late August their eighth full length, We Are All We Have will see the light of day. Also performing are Trash Talk, who are pumped to play Texas. From their tour blog: "We are driving to Houston today to start the Texan portion of the tour. We are playing some cities we havnt played before. We are all siked, Texas is always a great time!"

Leftover Crack - Fun Fun Fun Fest Interviews
Video Codes at www.roxwel.com

Leftover Crack: [website] [myspace]
The Casualties: [myspace]
Trash Talk: [website] [myspace]