Cover Story
What’s Wrong With Cap Metro … and What’s Right
The transit agency is good at a few things – like digging itself into a public relations ditch
We Accept You, We Accept You! One of Us!
Kelly McGillis! Gay! Yay!
More Funny Numbers From Strayhorn
Carole doesn’t understand the difference between money “gone” and money “owed”
Take That, Brachiosaur Sauropod, Pleurocoelus!
Texas gets new state dinosaur
The Hustle For Mayor: Carole Keeton Strayhorn
The shocking conclusion to the Hustle’s interview series
Taking It All in Stride: Fix That Camel Toe!
Cucchini Camel Toe Work Around
and a girl singing with a flower in her hair maybe
Shooting more breeze with jazz storm Sonny Rollins in advance of his Bass Concert Hall stand on Sunday.
The Power to Change
A quick sound check with the Austin mayoral candidates
Facebook Follies
A hunky man and a logo are “inappropriate” for a Gay Pride ad on Facebook???
Asleep In My CD Player
Waiting in Asher Roth’s bread line
Hot Damn, Travis County Is Voting!
This year’s municipal turnout higher than last year’s
Save the Teachers
Dukes amends HB 3 so re-purposed schools can keep their strongest asset
To Write Love on Her Arms UPDATE
Jamie Tworkowski at UT Main Mall, April 30
MP3: Leatherbag “Wagon Wheel”
An exclusive from his latest EP, Everything I Once Knew
MP3: White Denim “Mirrored And Reverse”
Don’t look that way at it
Video: Diagonals “Clones”
Better than Michael Keaton in Multiplicity
MP3: Voxtrot “Trepanation Party”
The new rage continues
Obama on Crack
Obama says he supports eliminating the 100-to-1 crack sentencing disparity
Video: Ume “The Conductor”
Off the rails of the crazy train
MP3: Loxsly “Battalions”
Digging up Tomorrow’s Fossils
Video: The Sword with Lars Ulrich “Freya”
Riding the Lightning
MP3: Bill Callahan “Eid Ma Clack Shaw”
The Smog songsmith gets dark again
House Voter ID Language Released
Anchia not impressed by “compromise” bill
Dukes: Stop Killing Schools
Austin rep and public ed chair clash over closures and unemployed teachers
Video: Balmorhea “Remembrance”
All hail West Texas
MP3: Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears
Live on Woxy: Gritty, Groovy, and Gettin’ It
Fine Arts Frenzy
House Public Ed chair Eissler allays fears over cuts to high school enrichment courses
Dancing and Singing With Dry Cleaning
Erin Ivey’s talents are many
Showdown
Thin Lizzy, part two: “UK Tour 75” reveals itself as infinitely more ‘live and dangerous’ than the new “Still Dangerous”
Microscope Zooms in on Anti-Science SBOE
Legislators try to rein in controversial education board
Voter ID In Da House
Contentious issue could come up in committee “as early as Thursday”
The Hammer Comes Down, Then Up
Gavel-related goofiness lightens the House mood
Early Vote Totals, Day 1
Numbers slightly higher than last year
HRC Opens the Doors on De Niro
The Harry Ransom Center bulks up its movie holdings
Pot Law Reformers Take to the Capitol
Second Cannabis Crusade set for Saturday
Screenwriter Andrew Davies to talk at UT
Plan II brings in Britain’s famed adapter of classics
Homeward Bound
Tattoos and ashes and in Hawaii
Austin City Limits Music Festival 2009 Lineup
Get it while it’s hot.
The Honorable Tater Salad
House declares April 27 Ron White Day
SB 1 Conference Committee Complete
Speaker Joe Straus announces the five reps that will negotiate budget with Senate
The Hustle for Mayor: David Buttross
It’s businessman turned pol Buttross vs. the Hustle
Yummy Food = Film for Kids
Whole Foods will direct 5% of its sales on Wednesday to AFF’s Young Filmmakers Program
Merwin, Brands Get Pulitzer Nods
Local ties to the Pulitzer Prize
Old-Fashioned Love
Iris Dement puts down roots at the Cactus Café
Early Voting Begins Today
Balloting for municipal elections; GO VOTE!
A Beautiful Day in the Cul du Sac
If Knots Landing were accepting neighbors now…
Off the Record – 33 RPM
Sounding off in every direction
Hugh Jackman: Queer…
…rumors persist, despite reality
Her (Our) Time Has Come
Meet Iceland’s new boss, not quite the same as the old boss.
Flat Track Update
Dealing in with the Hustlers, and getting ready for some Dirty South derby
Bea Arthur, 1923-2009
And then there’s sadness.
Crude Therapy
Director Joe Berlinger talks about how working with Metallica lead to making Crude
Dewhurst Announces Budget Deal Makers
Lt. Gov. ignores rebels in selecting senators for conference committee
A Bearitable Bearplosion of Beartastic Bearportions
Grrrrrrr. Bears! Makin’ noise in Austin and at the California Guv’s office.
An Open Letter to All Closeted Gay and Lesbian Parents of Miley or Britney Fans
The Gospel according to Mz Cyrus and Spears. Tweet!
Midnight Boom
Three questions with the Kills’ Alison Mosshart
HB873 Gets a World Premier
Starring Robert Rodriguez, Rick Perry and Dawnna Dukes
The Lineup
Recommended music for the week of April 24-30
Easy As 1323: Texas House Takes on Bullying
HB 1323 seeks to stop the madness
Texas Times Five
Fivethirtyeight.com asks what might happen if Texas split itself up
Brother Can You Spare a Ticket?
Paramount Theater’s Summer Film Series 2009
The Hustle for Mayor: Josiah Ingalls
The long-shot candidate in a two-part interview
Event Menu
Steady yourself: This week is chock-full of liquor, wine, and beer happenings
Phases and Stages
Sweet Action: The Sweet Anthology (Shout! Factory) Minted in 1971 as bubblegum soldiers, Sweet became glam rock’s most engaging singles act. The Mike Chapman/Nicky Chinn-produced UK quartet thrived by supercharging AM radio hooks with hard rock riffs, and the early singles on this 2-CD set only hint at what’s to come. In four years, Sweet…
Arts Review
This Ellington opus may not look much like opera, but it sure swings like the Duke
Two Snapshots, One Problem
Hispanics won battles this week that they shouldn’t have had to fight
Newflower Farmers Market
Austin’s newest member of the green grocery club is one-stop shopping for the eco-conscious Southies
Phases and Stages
Erasure Total Pop! Deluxe Box – The First 40 Hits (Mute/Sire/Rhino) To most club queers, Erasure is sacrosanct: the high holy of poignant meets pop, electro meets opera, a natural bridge between ABBA and Magnetic Fields. The London duo is worthy of all the remix collections, if only for the house parties they inspire. The…
Headlines
• You’ve waited so long for this moment – early voting starts Monday, April 27, for the May 9 city election destined to deliver a new mayor and at least two new council members. See “Carole’s Greatest Hits, Vol. 2,” “Do the Hustle for Mayor,” and austinchronicle.com/elections for details. • Breaking (yet not surprising) news:…
Carole’s Greatest Hits, Vol. 2
The many faces of Carole
After a Fashion
Erotic art, kissing, flying, substation cake, and sperm on the tip of the tongue
Phases and Stages
Serge Gainsbourg Histoire de Melody Nelson (Light in the Attic) Thirty-eight years after the release of Histoire de Melody Nelson, you can still hear the heavy breathing. Collaborating with composer/arranger Jean-Claude Vannier, Serge Gainsbourg left much to the imagination on his 1971 Nabokovian song cycle, unfolding an illicit and tragic love story in just seven…
Naked City
News briefs from Austin, the region, and beyond
Do the Hustle for Mayor
This week, The Austin Chronicle debuts the Hustle for Mayor, a series of one-on-one video interviews with the city’s mayoral candidates. Over the last few weeks, Brewster McCracken, Lee Leffingwell, Josiah Ingalls, and David Buttross all sat for wide-ranging discussions with the Chronicle’s City Hall Hustler, yours truly. The results are in-depth and unhurried conversations…
Book Review
Call it anti-canon: This terrific new translation goes the distance from breathless to brutish to keening
Phases & Stages
Beth Orton Trailer Park (Legacy Edition) (Heavenly/Arista/Legacy) Beth Orton’s relatively short career and a lack of any real hit makes this unquestionably stellar collection feel light. Sony’s 2-CD package includes the English folkie’s critically adored 1996 debut, Trailer Park, and adds the standard second disc of covers, B-sides, and other rarities. Her arrival in the…
Res Publica
For more details and events, see Community Listings. Thursday23 BARBARA JORDAN CANDLELIGHT VIGIL pays tribute to the legacy of the first African-American woman to serve in the Texas Senate. 8-9pm. Main Mall, UT campus. www.utexas.edu/diversity/barbarajordan. Friday24 THE LEAST OF THESE This screening of the documentary about the T. Don Hutto immigrant detention center in Taylor…
City Counseling
It may not be loud, but it’s comprehensive
Book Review
This first full-length monograph of the local collagist’s work is pure pleasure
Phases and Stages
Isaac Hayes Black Moses (Stax) Isaac Hayes Juicy Fruit (Disco Freak) (Stax) By 1971, Stax Records’ Isaac Hayes had written and produced more than 200 soul classics for the likes of Sam & Dave and Carla Thomas, then retooled the genre with 1969’s Hot Buttered Soul and Shaft two years later. That same year, Black…
City Hall Hustle: The Hustle Gets Mohawked
Chronicle mayoral forum draws beers, voters, and rhymes
Flat-Track Snack Attack: Frito-Lay vs. Crackerjack
A Texas Rollergirl defends her name
Big Time
Gigantic director Matt Aselton’s indie Cinderella story
The Common Law
Legal Issues for Website Owners (Part 2)
Phases & Stages
Cat Stevens Tea for the Tillerman (Deluxe Edition) (A&M) Cat Stevens Teaser and the Firecat (Deluxe Edition) (A&M) Van Morrison’s “T.B. Sheets” precedes Cat Stevens’ real-life ones by a year, but when Steven Demetre Georgiou contracted tuberculosis in 1968 at the age of 19, little did anyone imagine his musical trajectory would soon go astral.…
Point Austin: Torture and History
Revelations of the Bush torture programs are only the first step
Protecting the Waterfront (Part 1)
New Waterfront Overlay draft ordinance advances the public good and pleases no one
Monk-Think
It’s Black Monk Time – again. Shave your head!
The Hightower Report
Wall Street and Washington: Here We Go Again; and J.P. Morgan Creates Jobs With Bailout Money
Phases & Stages
Buddy Holly Down the Line: Rarities (Geffen/Decca) Fifty years after Buddy Holly’s death, remnants of his genius are still being uncovered. Down the Line: Rarities, a companion piece to recent 3-CD set Memorial Collection, lacks definitive new finds, but it’s an accessible entry point full of historical significance. From the Lubbock native’s first home recording…
Protest Video
Footage from the Downtown protest against guns on university campuses
Playing Through
At only 18, UT’s Stacey-Ann Smith has everything it takes to be one of the world’s fastest track and field athletes
Record Reviews
Monks The Early Years 1964-1965 (Light in the Attic) Monks Black Monk Time (Light in the Attic) Handsomely packaged with photos, extensive liner notes, interviews with remaining band members, and a bonus track on Black Monk Time, “Monk Chant,” live from Frankfurt, these two discs mark the genesis of a proto-punk classic. While a majority…
To Be Conversant
Fusebox Festival gets Austin talking – with leading artists from all over the world
Phases and Stages
Thin Lizzy Jailbreak (Vertigo) Universal’s Back to Black 60th vinyl anniversary series reproduces the stunning die-cut record sleeve of Lizzy’s immortality maker. Unfortunately, this 180-gram vinyl skips like its 1976 counterpart, on the opening title track, side-two brand “The Boys Are Back in Town,” and even “Cowboy Song.” The strum of “Romeo and the Lonely…
Reefer Madness: Eye for an Eye, Ounce for an Ounce
Will the Lege downgrade the punishment for pot possession this session?
‘Chronicle’ Endorsements
May 9 municipal election (early voting, April 27-May 5)
DVDnds
Monks: The Transatlantic Feedback (Play Loud!) German filmmakers Dietmar Post and Lucia Palacios spent several years tracking down and lovingly elevating the Monks from cult status, reading their story like the art project it really was. Black-and-white live footage and interviews with all five members, as well as Faust’s Joachim Irmler and Throbbing Gristle’s Genesis…
Toxic Audio
This a cappella quintet blows up cabaret with jaw-dropping vocals and irreverent humor
TV Eye
Talented on the inside
Campus Gun Bill in Crosshairs
A lot of folks are fired up about a bill that would allow guns on Texas university campuses
Film News
Incentives update, Linklater’s baseball film, and what Tom Copeland’s been up to
The Barbara Jordan Statue at UT
The statue honoring the former congresswoman and UT professor is unveiled
Letters at 3AM
Homer, the epic poet of ancient Greece, invented the cinematic close-up
A Commonsense Solution to Stupidity
Lawmakers craft a scheme to force Perry to accept federal unemployment-insurance dollars
Crank: High Voltage
If Takashi Miike happened to be possessed by the spirit of Chuck Jones, the result might turn out something like this sequel.
Ashes of Time
Smoke ’em while you still got ’em at Rolling Roadshow’s The Maltese Falcon
Art City Austin
The big outdoor art fair is spreading the love, via partnerships and pink notes
Off the Record
Sounding off on the ripple effect from City Council’s changes to the Austin City Code regarding live music at restaurants, while Vega makes some noise with Crystal Castles
One Fish, Two Fish, Poison Fish
Bill calls for health warnings on certain types of fish
Earth
This nature film is derived from the Planet Earth miniseries and is edited with an eye toward the kid-friendly audience.
Mr. Smarty Pants Knows
‘Hawley’s Comet, ashy cheeses, and more
Phases & Stages
Little Walter The Complete Chess Masters (1950-1967) (Hip-O Select/Geffen) Etta James uncorked her can of whup-ass on Beyoncé after destiny’s child played the first lady of soul in Cadillac Records and then serenaded the president and his wife with James’ nuptials, “At Last,” at the Neighborhood Inaugural Ball back in January. Leave it to Little…
Day Trips
The Elm Creek Cafe serves delicious country-style comfort food, including its lauded grilled quail and dewberry pie
Family Planning Survives House Budget
Funding for family-planning centers reamins intact – for now
The Soloist
Although Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr. are terrific in the leads, this drama plays its tune with a heavy hand.
Restaurant Review
If you’re thinking Cannoli Joe’s is a typical buffet, you couldn’t be more wrong
Phases & Stages
The Vaselines Enter the Vaselines (Deluxe Edition) (Sub Pop) “Many of the bands at the time were ‘pretend’ virgins and acting up their twee side,” reminisces Eugene Kelly in the liner notes to Enter the Vaselines, a 2-CD set that couples the Scottish outfit’s complete, remastered studio output with previously unreleased demos and live recordings.…
Gay Place
This week, UT honors the life of incomparable stateswoman Barbara Jordan. And so do we.
A House United, for Once
House unanimously passes its version of a budget
Gigantic
Paul Dano and Zooey Deschanel play would-be lovers who are stymied by life and the outsized personalities of their fathers (played by Ed Asner and John Goodman).
Restaurant Review
If ever an Austinite sent up a prayer for a civilized place to get both a decent cocktail and a decent meal, the Good Knight is the answer to that prayer
Phases and Stages
Swervedriver Raise (Hi-Speed Soul/Second Motion) Swervedriver Mezcal Head (Hi-Speed Soul/Second Motion) Swervedriver’s reunion tour last year hinted at a new album, but this re-release of the UK quartet’s 1991 debut, Raise, and 1993 follow-up Mezcal Head makes a better placeholder. The repackaged/remastered Raise appends four bonus cuts from whose sessions Japanese single “Andalucia” and “Kill…
‘Killer’ Keller Digs Herself Deeper
The courthouse doors might close at 5pm, but Judge Keller’s problems won’t quit knocking
The Informers
Bret Easton Ellis’ collection of linked short stories are translated for the screen, but the result is less than zero.
Liquid Assets
The economic downturn has created an unexpected windfall for local wine lovers
Phases and Stages
Moby Grape The Place and the Time (Sundazed) Moby Grape runoff remains as ripe as its Haight-Ashbury heyday. So do the lawsuits, resulting in New York restoration indie Sundazed’s recall of its 2007 deluxe reissues of the first three Moby Grape LPs. The SF quintet’s self-titled 1967 debut still spins a missing link between East…
Arts Review
St. Ed’s gives this Fifties musical an energetic revival – in Act I, at least
LegeLines
A roundup of this week’s Capitol capers
Paris 36
This French film set in late-Thirties Paris is something of a backstage drama, but it’s marred by glossy reminiscing and melodramatic politicizing.
Food-o-File
Dining options in Austin’s far-flung suburbs are definitely improving
Phases and Stages
Pearl Jam Ten (Epic/Legacy) Released the year punk broke, 1991, Pearl Jam’s Ten proved an unabashedly classic rock LP informed by post-punk aggression and the strangled sincerity of singer Eddie Vedder, who gave voice to a generation’s disillusionment. Except for “Release,” the New Age meditation closing the album, Ten remains a near-perfect showcase for some…
Arts Review
Austin Lyric Opera meets the challenge of Poulenc’s work with economy and emotive power
Diversion Program for Vets Clears Committee
Bill proposes treatment, not jail, for vets who run afoul of the law
Valentino: The Last Emperor
The fashion designer Valentino is the subject of this intimate portrait.
Did Somebody Say: TEABAGGING?
If the rapid fire of last week’s series of Teabagging jokes wasn’t enough for you…
The Gaythering Storm
It’s raining gays… hallelujah?
Luv Doc Recommends: 12th Annual Buda Wiener Dog Races
Wiener dogs are one of those curious evolutionary oddities that contradict the notion of a loving and benevolent God. Upon further investigation, however, it turns out God didn’t have much to do with wiener dogs – at least not in a direct sense. No, wiener dogs, like sauerkraut, lederhosen, and techno, are the ingenious product…
