Best of the Rest

There aren't enough places in our Top 10s for all worthy music in Austin, so here's some run-off of my favorite moments of 2011, beginning with my Local Honorable Mention, Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears' Scandalous .

MORE ALBUMS:

Stephen Barber, Astral Vinyl (Navona)
Black Red Black
Hayes Carll, KMAG YOYO (Lost Highway)
The Cobras, Live & Deadly (Armadillo Records)
Dark River: Songs of the Civil War Era (Blue Corn Music)
Explosions in the Sky, Take Care Take Care Take Care (Temporary Residence)
The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Early Bird Special (Benchmark Recordings)
Ruthie Foster, Live at Antone's (Blue Corn)
Ghosts Along the Brazos
Los Lonely Boys, Rockpango (Playing in Traffic)
The Monarchs, The Rise and Fall
Johnny Nicholas, Future Blues
Ocote Soul Sounds, Taurus (18th Street)
The Octanes, Roots, Rock & Romance
Revolution! Teen Time in Corpus Christi(Cicadelic)
Matt Smith’s World (New Millenium)
The Sour Notes, Last Looks
T-Bird & the Breaks, Never Get Out of This Funk Alive
This One’s for Him: A Tribute to Guy Clark’s Music(Icehouse)
The Wheeler Brothers, Portraits (Bismeaux)

FIVE FROM DOWN 35

The Outcasts, Route 1966 San Antonio (Cicadelic)
Glambilly, White BBQ Sauce (SausTex)
Girl in a Coma, Exits and All the Rest (Blackheart)
The Krayolas, Tipsy Topsy Turvey (Talking Taco)
Churchwood (SausTex)

WATCH THIS ON DVD

All I Know, a film by Holly Bronko about a 2010 project by Roar Amundsen in which songwriters from Denmark, Iceland, Norway, and the Pharoe Islands were paired with Austin songwriters in a Danish castle. “A real alchemical sort of experience,” Scrappy Jud Newcomb described the compelling results, performed at the 2010 Spot Festival. Stars Newcomb, Troy Campbell, Matt the Electrician, Danny Malone, Nathan Felix.

READ THIS ON PAPER

Bobby Whitlock: A Rock 'n' Roll Autobiography by Bobby Whitlock with Marc Roberty. One of the surviving members of Derek & the Dominoes tells a bawling, brawling, unfettered tale of growing up Southern and loving rock & roll.

WHAT’S OLD IS NEW

• 1960s psych vets Shiva's Headband saw the release of Shiva’s Headband: The Singles Collection available here.
• 1970s Dallas punkers the Nervebreakers, who quietly reconvened at Ruta Maya this past weekend, reissued We Want Everything (Get Hip) on vinyl, plus all four of their 45s on vinyl, including “Politics” b/w ”My Life is Ruined.”
• 1970s Austin hard rockers Too Smooth reissued the 2-CD Still and the Live & Kicking EP on CD, plus a DVD, Too Smooth.
• 1980s Austin punks the Reactors reissued their Stress Records 45 “Cold Eyes” b/w ”It’s Not Important” (Rerun) on vinyl. (Your turn Standing Waves!)
• 1980s country pioneers the Wagoneers put out both their LPs on one CD, The Essential Wagoneers.
• 1990s cowpunk pioneer T. Tex Edwards reissued the Swingin’ Cornflakes Killers’ 45 “Jekyll & Hyde” b/w ”Man From Mars (Honey Records).

THREE U21 GEMS

Ariel Abshire Still So New (Learning to Share)
Public Soul, Public Soul
South of Center, South of Center

FIVE U18 ACTS TO WATCH

Residual Kid, watch the future in singer Grace London
Ruby Jane, fiddler of the first order
Team Next, Austin hip-hop with attitude
Yayo Sanchez, fiery guitar rock
The Petersons, old school blues done the right way

NATIONAL HONORABLE MENTIONS

Steve Cropper, Dedicated: A Salute to the Five Royales (429)
Booker T, The Road from Memphis (Anti-)
The Bo-Keys, Got to Get Back (Redeye)
Wild Flag (Merge)
Marianne Faithfull, Horses and High Heels (Naive)