The latest:
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Review: Sick at Hyde Park Theater
Disasters and diseases suck. They kill people, they inspire (with the aid of fearmongers) exorbitant amounts of anxiety, and they provoke playwrights to scribe trite, mawkish, pontificating tripe. Generally. In certain cases, when their implications regarding human relations are looked at from a philosophical, conversational point of view, they've a better chance at being successful (see: Neil LaBute's The Mercy Seat).
Sick is not one of those cases.
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Weekend Art Roundup: East Austin Studio Tour Edition
The ever fantastic East Austin Studio Tour continues this weekend with open studios and more art programs and happenings. Here's a rundown of some of our suggestions for weekend art enjoyment.
Don't miss your final opportunity to check out East Austin studios this weekend. If you're feeling overwhelmed with the 150+ participating locations, review our list of survival tips and studio picks and our interviews with EAST artists. Artists participating in EAST will have their studios open from 10am until 5pm on Saturday and Sunday. Head over to the official East Austin Studio Tour site to see the full list of artists and to download a copy of the EAST map. We'll see ya on the East Side!
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Snapshots: Friendly Fires & XX @ Mohawk
Photos courtesy Pooneh Ghana.
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Preview: Black Cock @ Red 7 [Friday]
We’ve been enjoying the live videos from Fun Fun Fun Fest nightly but as enticing as it sounds, repeated viewings of this priceless performance by The Jesus Lizard or this epic Les Savy Fav clip at home shouldn’t be a part of anyone’s Friday evening agenda. Especially since Red 7 is hosting a handful of top-notch local rock acts that will surely expunge any lingering post-Fun Fest lethargy. But be warned, the sounds resonating from the venue this night are not for the weak of heart. Eagle Claw bring the thunder early on with an ample supply of sizzling guitar licks, Woodgrain’s chiming experiments continue the sonic onslaught, and the always impressive Tia Carrera bludgeon through lengthy doses of psych-metal in the penultimate slot. Black Cock’s thumping electro-rock brings down the curtain on this exceptional noise-laden bill, adding some vocals to all the racket along the way. Chock-full of resonating keys and immaculately layered vocals, the band’s debut full-length Robot Child With A God spawns ominous soundscapes that might not usher in the end of days just yet but are disconcerting enough to imply impending doom and darkness. We chatted with Black Cock’s ringleader Chico Jones earlier this week to learn more about the band’s recording process, and their hopes and dreams.
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Austinist Show Preview: Electric Tickle Machine @ Beerland Friday
You might be thinking that Electric Tickle Machine - kind of a misnomer at first - is another in a seemingly long line of garage pop / psychedelic rock groups making danceable rock and roll and going the extra mile to make their live show kinetic and engaging but failing to transition that energy into their recordings. But, such is not the case. It’s clear on Blew it Again, released earlier this year, the group didn’t simply enter the studio and bang out tracks, then hop in the van and head to the next show. They gave a damn, and it translates in recordings which toe the line between the produced and lo-fi, allowing for a fair amount of grit and fuzz to enter and join the brightness and clarity among the chorus and keys. It makes for an album with a different look and feel from their live show while channeling some of that raw, live energy, which has been known to include the occasional naked audience member dancing and jiggling their parts uncovered up on stage.
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EAST Interview: Angela Hayes of Women Printmakers of Austin
For fifteen years, the members of the Women Printmakers of Austin have dedicated themselves to exploring artistic expression and expanding the audience of fine art printmaking. Deeply rooted in historical printing traditions, these artists are now able to blend classic techniques with modern technology to create contemporary works of art. The WPA recently acquired studio space in Pump Project's newly rennovated Satellite Studio and Flex Space. The new shared space grants 24 hour access to studio subscribers who can avail themselves of etching and intaglio supplies, a large press, and other tools of the trade. The Women Printmakers of Austin are participating in this weekend's East Austin Studio Tour and can be visited at 1109 Shady Lane, just up the road from the Pump Project complex. Artist and WPA Chair Angela Hayes answered some questions for us about the future of printmaking and what it's like to work with a team of talented women.
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Review: The Cherry Orchard at The Blue Theater
it’s hard to think of much besides this production after seeing it. So here’s a word: this production is good. That adjective may seem blasé, but it’s intended to be anything but. Breaking String’s Cherry Orchard is good in that ephemeral, indefinable way—good, and to find other words would render them dull in comparison to the experience.
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Le Diamant Brut: Freelance Whales & Chief Rival
What’s the Deal: Quirky, capricious and dreamy are all adjectives you could use to describe the music of New York’s Freelance Whales. The five piece experimental folk pop outfit has experience playing in locations ranging from decent sized venues as on their current US tour with Fanfarlo to busking on sidewalks and train stations in New York City. They’ve been very busy since their start in late 2008, and this past August saw the release of their debut album, Weathervanes. It’s comprised of vast, melodic arrangements using everything from harmonium and banjo to glockenspiel and waterphone built up around bright, glittering to eerie choruses.
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Radio IST List: Dan Green of 4ms Pedals
Dan Green of 4ms Pedals builds effects boxes and synthesizers, in both finished and DIY kit incarnations, out of a second-story studio on Cesar Chavez in East Austin. I spoke with him there a couple days before the East Austin Studio Tour began. He'll be there this weekend as well.
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Longhorns Around the Web
Each Friday, we'll be offering up a sampling of Longhorn- and Big 12-related sports coverage making its way around the Web. This week: more Longhorn legal trouble, Kansas' coaching hot-seat, and recognizing the seniors.
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EAST Interview: Nick Henning at Pump Project
Attention Rio Rita patrons: When was the last time you enjoyed your foamy cappuccino (or alternatively, your jalapeno-infused vodka) inside Rio Rita's impossibly adorable environs? In between Scrabble games or knitting or recounting NPR, did you take note of your counter server? There is a good chance you were serviced by Nick Henning, pop art-inflected painter and resident artist at the Pump Project Art Complex.
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The Last Waltz Done Live At Club Deville
The universal appeal of this flick is not just in the music and musicians it showcases (Joni Mitchell, Muddy Waters, Van Morrison, Neil Young, Clapton, Dylan), but in the fact that it is a documentary of what was (and sorta still is) rumored to be the last performance of The Band.
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Austin Man Charged In Scheme To Defraud Government Program For The Deaf
An Austin man has been charged with fraud as part of a scheme to steal millions from the FCC's Video Relay Service, a government program that is intended to help deaf and hard-of-hearing Americans communicate with hearing persons.
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Whoops: Did Texas Ban All Marriages?
Conservatives can sleep soundly knowing the fight for gay marriage is not returning to Texas shores—at least not entirely. The only Democratic candidate for Texas Attorney General, Barbara Radnofsky, says Texans were so eager to ban gay marriages in 2005 that they banned marriages altogether. Don't understand how? Read on.
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Show Preview - An Evening with Daniel Johnston
Here's something special. Our much-cherished local singer-songwriter, Mr. Daniel Johnston, will be playing an intimate show at the St. David's Episcopal Church this evening at 6:00pm.
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News Kibbles!
Israel brushes off Obama criticism over Jerusalem. US urges release of citizen held in China for two years. Russia moves one step closer to death penalty abolition. Protesters take over UC Berkeley building. What if KU stuns Texas? Oprah Winfrey to End Her Program in 2011. Dirty secrets of Black Friday....
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Why We Don't Like You: Kansas Jayhawks
Each week, we'll look at some reasons to taunt, belittle, and bully the Longhorns' football opponent. This week: the Kansas Jayhawks.
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Weekend Music Preview: Fabrication 7, Car Stereo (Wars), & More!
ElfGirl and JenRea (a.k.a. Team Fabrication) present Fabrication 7, an annual rendezvous of fashion, music, and everything in between, this Saturday at The Mohawk. Besides admiring plenty of exciting new designs, you can also participate in the beloved Karaoke Underground, and enjoy live music by the likes of 'Til We’re Blue Or Destroy, Ovenbirds, The Laughing, and The Happen-Ins.
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EAST Interview: Audrey Lopata Makes Anything Possible
Taking her cues from the "anything goes" rules of children's literature, illustrator Audrey Lopata carefully pens colorful worlds inhabited with scarf-wearing-lizards, zombie pirates, and mermaids. Her black and white comic panels express slightly more grown-up emotions but still convey the sense of whimsy that is so evident through out Lopata's work. Stop by the Pump Project Art Complex this weekend during East Austin Studio Tour to see Lopata's studio space and that of many other talented artists. Audrey sat down with us to talk about what inspires her and how she goes about creating alternative worlds where elves and fairies roam.
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I Am So Popular: Open Letter To Jody Denberg
Dear Jody Denberg,
WTF? WTF? WTF? AT-WHAY E-THAY UCK-FAY?!!
Okay, so I was in the car the other day when I hear the news that you are leaving KGSR. There was irony, for Kevin Connor was the one who was doing the announcing. Now, I know Kevin has long been on KUT, but I will forever associate him with KGSR. Plus, since he was talking about you, and you’re not on KUT, I got confused and thought I’d entered some weird place of crossed signals. When he said the words, Those last songs are for my friend Jody Denberg, I actually looked to see which station I was listening to. Then, I had that dreadful thought that sometimes visits when, say, I hear four songs in one day by an artist not typically played so much-- Oh shit, is he dead?
But no. You’re not dead. And yet, I realize I’ve been writing this letter to you in my head, an epistle with the distinct feel of a eulogy to it. Not such a terrible thing. See, I went to a fancy reading recently, the star of which was my great friend Sarah Bird. Sarah just won a big fellowship, and UT threw a gala in her honor. Before she read, there was this speech about her, and a slideshow.
