Cover Story
Pole Position
For some kinds of dance, you need Brass Ovaries
Johnny Manziel Blah Blah Blah
Just read this
Gregg Allman: Still No Angel
Legendary figurehead continues bottling that ol’ black magic
Indie Chef Week Almost Sold Out
Snap up the last few seats for Wednesday, Jan. 9 while you still can
What (Roy) Moore Could You Want?
The maestro of Control Images unveils his first photo exhibition
12th Night Austin Rolls Out
The official, traditional kickoff to Mardi Gras comes to town
The AggreGAYtor: January 3
Your daily dose of LGBTQIA news
Sticking It to the Hyde Park Fork
Dale Whistler celebrates the grill’s 30th anniversary
Mi Ranchito II Never Fails to Satisfy
Guacamole, Mexican burgers, or huge bowls of caldo, it’s all good here
GP Crush of the Week: Mikey’s Late Night Slice
Mikey’s Late Night Slice does the right thing
Saks Packs It Up: Arboretum Location Exits Stage Left
Saks Fifth Avenue closed its Arboretum location on Dec. 31
Goin’ Down Rockin’: The Best of 2012, Vol. 2
This year wasn’t such a wash after all
The Daily Cookie
365 cookie recipes make every day a holiday
The AggreGAYtor: January 2
Your daily dose of LGBTQIA news
Free Week!
Everyone is on the list.
Best Texas Wines of 2012
A quick guide to Texas’ finest
Not Just Some Clown from New York City
Mark Gindick brings his ‘Wing-Man’ to Austin
Ballad of Tony Romo: Goat or Accidental Shaman
Maybe Romo, who choked again Sunday, just doesn’t want to work overtime
Local Bakery Touted as One of Nation’s Best
Easy Tiger Bakeshop & Beer Garden garners national attention
State Can Ban Planned Parenthood from New Texas Women’s Health Program – For Now
Injunction hearing scheduled for January
The Q&A Hole: What Was the Worst Movie You Ever Saw?
With Lars Nilsen, Chris Cubas, Julie Gillis, Buzz Moran, and more
Young Blood & Old Ways
Devon Allman’s all-star RSB loads into the Moody
Auld Lost Cine
Here’s a sobering stat: Nearly 90% of studio films are lost or destroyed
Ash Leads Horns Comeback in Alamo Bowl
Seniors Okafor and Goodwin key in 31-27 win over Oregon State
‘The NFL Beat’: Raiders in Long Form
Al Davis is watching
What You Need to Know for New Year’s Eve
Clips and quips from APD, Cap Metro, and more
Good Luck Eats for New Year’s Day
Southern food traditions and recipes to ensure prosperity in 2013
Holy Hoops
‘The Rules of Basketball’ at the Blanton reviewed
Power Restored After Pole Fires
Drought, dirt, wind and mist are prime suspects
Officer Who Killed UT Tower Sniper Dies at 72
The Austin Police Department mourns the death of Houston McCoy
From the Vaults: Melody Maker Russell Crowe
Song man Russell Crowe from 30 Odd Foot of Grunts to ‘Les Misérables’
Two Longhorns Suspended After Sexual Assault Allegations
Sources tell 247 Sports that the players are Case McCoy and Jordan Hicks
Epicerie Cafe & Grocery Opens in Rosedale
Dine in or take out at French-inspired new neighborhood spot
The AggreGAYtor: December 28
Your daily dose of LGBTQIA news
Who the Hell Is This Kaci Beeler, Anyway?
Fact: Much more than just some woman on a pole.
Once a Believer, Always a Believer
Alejandro Escovedo reflects on a triumphant 2012
Farmers Market Report: December 29th-30th, 2012
Weekend markets are: ON
Culinary Wish List for Austin in 2013
Epicurean hopes and desires in 2013
Texas Platters Finale
Tump Jack Parker, Davie Murray, Jonah Holt, and Curtis Pierce are Tump, a big, chunky blues-rock outfit with plenty of meaty guitar hooks. Tump turns up fun music: sloppy drum fills, Parker’s desperate-sexy whine, and dusty guitar snarls on boozy stomps (“Love My Death”) and frantic, fiery, bang-it-out desperado ballads (“Creepy Liver”). That “they played…
Mr. Woods Goes to Washington
UT grad student John Woods has a few ideas about reasonable gun control
After a Fashion: Born Again
Stephen revels in rebirth – and the roll of stretch fabrics in it
Texas Platters Finale
EPs from Junior Brown, Mice & Rifles, Ben Livingston, and MaryAnn & the Revival Band
Extreme Temperature Swings
AFS Essential Cinema kicks off Asia: Hot and Cool series
Court to Texas: Follow Medicaid Rules or Lose Fed Money
State-funded WHP set to begin Jan. 1
Texas Platters Finale
Last local music round-up of 2012
Texas Platters Finale
Feral Future Come Out Swinging (Western Medical) It’s tempting to compare any femme-dominated punk band to riot grrrl propagators Bikini Kill, but Feral Future’s Come Out Swinging bears a likeness too acute to ignore. Formerly ’69 Judas, the rebranded Austin quartet’s debut EP detonates a bombastic five-song rendezvous, sopping influences plucked from Eighties’ Brits and…
The Alley Cat Project
MASS leaves artistic surprises in a dozen East Austin backyard byways
Rick Perry Death Watch: Swearingen Gets Another Date With Death
Fourth time execution has been scheduled
Texas Platters Finale
The Gorgeous Hands “Swear to Me (That You’ll Stay)”/”Generator” Formerly the Magnificent Snails, this clever pop quartet finds all the right parts on “Swear to Me.” Building a wistful indie-folk backbone with gum-smacking hooks and strategic falsettos, the Hands’ instinctive songwriting reinvigorates an overripe paradigm with pure transistor power. “Generator” boasts warm harmonies and an…
Texas Platters Finale
The Sideshow Tragedy Persona The Sideshow Tragedy’s self-titled 2010 album harkened back to more melodic tendencies, a counter to charges that the locals’ first two discs erred toward overblown. Persona finds the band hitting its stride, with production and backing from members of Austin funk outfit T-Bird & the Breaks. “The Bet” balances Nathan Singleton’s…
Studio Visit: Phil Durst
His studio is an empty nest filled with a million little pieces
Jack Reacher
Tom Cruise stars as the title character of Lee Child’s novels in this thriller directed by the writer of Valkyrie and The Usual Suspects.
Texas Platters Finale
Shortwave Party “Where to Begin”/”Hopeless” (Wave Cave) Shelby DuPerier’s voice summons the frailties of the youthful human heart. Her powerful vocal presence could resonate in any number of musical contexts, but they work particularly well against Shortwave Party’s mid-Eighties alt-pop. Inspired by the Smiths, the quintet never lets the mope grow maudlin. Credit guitarists Justin…
Texas Platters Finale
The Sour Notes Last Looks Since its 2008 debut, Austin dream poppers the Sour Notes have constantly charged forward. The band pauses to reflect with a reissue of its 2011 release Last Looks, expansive with grandiose pop like “Hot Pink Flares.” Never indulgent, the tinkling vocals of Kelly DeWitt can lull you into complacency, but…
Quote of the Week
“It’s reserved for a lucky few who win the annual Christmas clemency lottery.” – Grits for Breakfast blog writer Scott Henson on Gov. Rick Perry’s traditional holiday pardons
Django Unchained
As entertaining and subversive as Django Unchained is, Tarantino’s latest also suffers from a certain slackness.
Texas Platters Finale
The Well Seven With Tia Carrera’s Jason Morales producing, the Well crank out earthy stoner grime best suited for blacklit suburban basements. Both “Act II” and “Trespass” begin with fat-knuckle riffs that deftly set the stage for the rough and tumble extrapolation that follows. The droll dual vocals of guitarist Ian Graham and bassist Lisa…
Texas Platters Finale
Borrisokane Disaster Face Don’t let a seemingly innocuous title like “Do the Squirmy Worm” fool you. Despite bouncy keyboard lines and skittering Afro-pop guitar, the first salvo on Borrisokane’s second five-song EP comes grounded in gloom. The sextet’s darkened atmospherics allude to synth-punk pioneers Suicide, with lyrical themes to match. Of course, plying these sentiments…
Point Austin: Can This Really Be the End?
A look forward, a look back
Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away
In this 3-D spectacle, the wan drama takes a back seat to the Cirque’s acrobatics.
Texas Platters Finale
Bitter Birds “Blacklist”/”The Hawk” When not running Gallery Black Lagoon, guitarist/vocalist Singer Mayberry and her drummer/vocalist husband David Lujan crank out black-hewn indie-pop alongside the latter’s bassist brother, Marcos. Foreboding basslines serve as the fulcrum for both tracks here, providing an effective emotive counterweight to Mayberry’s resolute high-end vocals. Sparsely deployed guitar and drums finish…
Texas Platters Finale
Opposite Day Space Taste Race Part 1 (Future Banana Replacement) After delivering the definitive alternate score to Tron with 2011’s Reindeer Flotilla, Austin prog-rock trio Opposite Day turns its sci-fi eye to outer space. Co-produced by Dan Rathbun of Oakland-based avant-rock troupe Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, Space Taste Race Part 1 features three polyrhythmic epics driven…
Civics 101
Monday 31 AUSTIN’S NEW YEAR Ring in the new year with the city-sponsored Austin’s New Year. The event is alcohol-free and family-friendly, and there’s tell of a grand fireworks finale. 5-10:30pm. Auditorium Shores, 920 W. Riverside. www.austintexas.gov/any. Tuesday 01 NEW YEAR’S DAY Happy New Year! Government offices, banks, schools, and the Chronicle will be closed…
Les Misérables
This extravagant adaptation of the monster-hit musical is a little pitchy, but it’s still a potent piece of cinema.
Texas Platters Finale
Full Service “I Wanna Go Home”/”Ice Cream Cone” (Fiesta Red) For better or worse, this road-tested quartet doesn’t betray its role as opener for Sublime tribute act Badfish with this candy apple red offering. “I Wanna Go Home” spins on a pleasant-but-derivative groove, while the playful “Ice Cream Cone” comes off (thankfully) more ridiculous than…
Texas Platters Finale
Lower Class Brats Rock ‘N’ Roll Street Noize (Turkey Baster) Born of Austin’s mid-Nineties punk renaissance, the Lower Class Brats remain true to quasi-East End roots. Like their British forbears, the Brats’ approach to punk eschews semantics for bloody knuckles. “King of the Droogs” furthers the quartet’s well-chronicled fascination with A Clockwork Orange, while “Thoughts…
Gay Place
The Gay Place thanks you from the bottom of their dark little rainbow hearts
Parental Guidance
The actors deserve credit for the professionalism they bring to this family comedy stinker.
Texas Platters Finale
The League of Extraordinary G’z The Plug EP Time won’t dim the deeds of the late Esbe da 6th Street Bully. Fourteen months after the affable rapper’s death (revisit “You Can’t Bury Me,” June 28), the League he founded returns with its first collection of all new material since May 2011, an eight-song breakneck EP…
Texas Platters 2012
Every single local record we reviewed this year
Day Trips
The healing power of pie
Dabangg 2
This Bollywood action sequel the exploits of Salman Khan’s police inspector Chulbul “Robin Hood” Pandey.
Letters at 3AM: Winter Reveries
No matter the season, no matter the climate, when I write I write in winter
Texas Platters Finale
Nazi Gold A Message of Love (Super Secret) Nazi Gold hits paydirt on first strike. The Austin trio featuring prolific guitarist/bassist/singer Quin Galavis, Swans drummer Thor Harris, and Flesh Lights bassist and vocalist Jeremy Steen magnify post-punk’s dark art with teeth-rattling rhythms and hurdling melodies. From the needle drop of opener “Breaker” to the looping…
Headlines
› The return of Austin’s Trail of Lights, which ended last weekend, was an overwhelming success. Many thousands packed the Zilker Park event, and volunteer organizers led by Paul Carozza of RunTex said they would try to return the holiday celebration to two weeks next year (through New Year’s) and stagger admissions to cut down…
Sarochaaru
This new Telugu film is a romantic comedy.
En Garde and Armed With Latex and Brushes
Three Austin special effects makeup artists compete on SyFy’s ‘Face Off’
Texas Platters Finale
Beto & the Fairlanes Best o Beto (Fable) If you were active in the burgeoning Austin music scene of the late Seventies, then dancing to Beto & the Fairlanes under the stars at Liberty Lunch on Thursday nights was a weekly ritual. To celebrate its 35th anniversary, Robert “Beto” Skiles and crew compiled a career…
Exhibitionism
Zach Theatre delivers a sentimental stroll through a winter wonderland, with exceptionally strong dancing
The Luv Doc: New Year’s Eve Letdown
LuvDoc, My wife always wants to go out on New Year’s Eve, and she always ends up being disappointed. Something always goes wrong: the band/DJ sucks, the food sucks, the drinks are too expensive, the people are lame, the party’s too crowded. By time the clock strikes midnight she is usually in a bad mood.…
Making Bedfellows of Metal and Bloody Movie Mayhem
Phil Anselmo and Corey Mitchell unleash the Housecore Horror Film Festival in 2013
Texas Platters Finale
The Couch The big difference between the Couch’s sophomore release and last December’s Old & Touchin’ Blue is the immediately ensuing addition of Sara Houser, a singer and keyboardist whose change of speed adds a depth to an LP that otherwise plays out the same tricks as their first disc. Houser’s theatrical, full-bodied vocals rise…
Exhibitionism
The Georgetown Palace Theater has its flaws, but the kids in it bring the miracle of theatre
Then There’s This: Parks and Rec in Review
In a parks-centric town like Austin, it’s not easy being PARD
Playback: The State of the State of the 2012 Austin Music Scene
A look back at 2012
Texas Platters Finale
Residual Kid Faces Residual Kid isn’t just playing around. The teen trio, anchored by former Redboys Ben and Max Redman (14 and 12, respectively), with 14-year-old Deven Ivy on guitar, unloads a direct crunch and punch assault on their sophomore EP. Unlike last year’s Box, Faces demonstrates little deference to the nuance and texture that…
Exhibitionism
Ink Tank’s show stretched between an achievement of something truly artistic and an extravagantly themed party
Soccer Watch
The football world is into its holiday break
Food Events
� Holiday Baking Demonstration Cake & Spoon owner/pastry chef Melissa Brinkman will demonstrate how to make Lemon Lavender Shortbread Bars with citrus fruit from G & S Citrus and Blanco County Lavender during the market. Sat., Dec. 29, 10am. Cedar Park Farmers’ Market, 11200 Lakeline Mall Dr., Cedar Park. � Spanish-Asian Inspired Dinner Supper Friends…
Texas Platters Finale
Hello Caller Dark Twain Since 2010, local quintet Hello Caller has spit-shined dark folk into a whirling instrumental assault, finally emerging from the studio with debut LP Dark Twain. The band packs a full arsenal – strings, horns, and banjo shape a lush aural kitsch – meriting obvious comparison with acts like Beirut. Punchy percussion…
New Year’s Beer-solutions 2013
A beer enthusiast’s resolutions to be healthy, wealthy, and weiz
Hornucopia
With a lightened suspension. Kabongo set to return Feb. 13
Food-O-File
Taco originality is alive and well in Austin social media
Texas Platters Finale
Madisons Desgraciados (Paper Frog) In the wake of Mumford & Sons, youngsters are once again gathering banjos, fiddles, and acoustic guitars to make bluegrass-based music. Madisons, a local collective that can reach a dozen members onstage, includes pedal steel and trumpet on occasion, but stomping rhythms and soaring melodies fit the mold with a Texas…
Drink Better and Cheaper in 2013
We disclose the secrets of locating food friendly, relatively undiscovered, but easy to find Old World wines
The Hightower Report: Make Dinnertime Family Time
Laurie David has tips for families trying to squeeze in time together
Southern Exposure
The changing face of the venerable South Lamar Plaza
Texas Platters Finale
The South Austin Moonlighters Live at the Saxon Pub For the Mother Truckers’ Josh Zee, Deadman’s Lonnie Trevino Jr., Stonehoney’s Phil Hurley, and Monte Montgomery drummer Phil Bass, what began as a way to let loose between regular gigs has turned into something more serious. They’re still a bar band at heart, covering songs by…
Dining Out for New Year’s Eve
Here are some of our favorite destinations for the big night out. Whether you want to be back home before the ball drops, or you’re all in for dinner and dancing, there’s something here for you. Do remember to call ahead for reservations, as some of these events sell out quickly. Find info about New…
Mr. Smarty Pants Knows
Psychic Anthony Carr predicts that 2013 will bring the end of the old world order and the return to the star gods. Harold White and his team at NASA are working on a faster-than-light warp engine. Psychic Betsey Lewis says NASA will have a big announcement about Mars in March 2013. Psychic Derek Clontz predicts…
