Cover Story
Ones to Watch
A new year, a new batch of filmmakers
Don Hertzfeldt Snags Oscar Nomination
“World of Tomorrow” continues to amaze
Shake Shack Chickens Out
Daily Austin food news
Michi Ramen to Open in Hole in the Wall
Ramen shop replaces East Side King
“Unwarranted”
Tasering nets rookie cop 90-day suspension
D.A.’s Race: Reed v. Cobb, Cont.
3rd District Court of Appeals rejects Reed’s claim against TCDP
Josh Ritter’s Sermon
Songcatcher delivers Rock-solid narratives
SXSWedu Putting Education in Innovation
Education conference announces keynote from littleBits founder
David Bowie’s Auto Memorial: Blackstar
Swan song LP admits “I Can’t Give Everything Away” but almost does
DVDanger: Contracted: Phase 2
Even zombies need love
Long Center CEO Resigns
After four years, Jamie Grant leaves Austin for St. Paul
Monkey Town 6: It’s Somewhere You Definitely Want To Be
Montgomery Knott’s multimedia pop-up rewards all your senses
SXSW Music: Mega Third List
L7, the Cult, Loretta Lynn and 556 more added to the Fest
Greg Abbott, Founding Father
Texas governor wants to rewrite U.S. Constitution
SXSW Interactive Adds Featured Speakers
Doctors, scientists, athletes, and more
Sweet Spirit: Masters of Puppets
Heavy pop locals premiere “Baby When I Close My Eyes”
News Roundup: Homeless Count, TNCs, and Council Races
ECHO’s annual homeless count takes place January 23
DVDanger: Over Your Dead Body
Takashi Miike resurrects an old Japanese ghost
Anniversaries at The Hightower and Backspace
Daily Austin food news
Jester King Buys Surrounding Land
Brewery to start working farm
Alejandro Escovedo on a Wire
Leonard Cohen’s Austin equivalent fetes the master poet
The Revenant
Iñárritu’s Western loses the forest for the trees, but oh, what trees
Wazir
Bollywood thriller
The Masked Saint
A professional wrestler becomes a pastor who moonlights as a vigilante
Page Two: Stories Without Words
Over the holidays we went to Athens for a few days and then on to Tel Aviv, Israel. One of the ways writers make sense of things is by writing. When I watch a film for myself I’m emotionally and intuitively comfortable as to what I think. After a while it is not hard to…
Texas Tea
Three local purveyors search for an ethical cup
FronteraFest: The Place to Start
Hyde Park Theatre and ScriptWorks’ annual performance festival keeps giving artists a spot to launch a stage career in Austin
Free Week Live Shots
Boasting a backdrop of sparkling blue streamers straight out of a high school gymnasium prom, 611 E. Seventh welcomed back Free Week as Barracuda. Leather Girls opened with frenzied garage rock, vocals distorted and muffled by surfy guitars, all driven by the truly gnarly drumming of Dillon Fernandez, who wallops with animalistic fervor. What would…
Open Carry Proponents Run Victory Lap
Activists celebrate new rules with glocks, turkey subs
Free Week Live Shots
At a time when even Justin Bieber could fit the bill, EDM is at radio capacity. Mohawk’s Tuesday night set revisited three decades of genre roots, wavering between lush atmospheric pieces of early Aughts exploration and syncopated Eighties sixteenth notes. Local synth lord Josh Mills eschewed his threepiece Missions in favor of a solo set,…
Point Austin: “Is There Anything We Can’t Do?”
Reflections on 10-1’s rookie year accomplishments
Free Week Live Shots
Evan Wynn comes off as the love child of John Lennon and Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker. That makes Chakra Khan one of Austin’s best psychedelic bands. Even so, the local quintet played to a relatively small crowd upstairs at Lamberts on the first full night of Free Week. Employing Orange tube amps, Sixties nostalgia, and…
Quote of the Week
“And for those in Congress who so often rush to blame mental illness for mass shootings as a way of avoiding action on guns, here’s your chance to support these efforts.” – President Obama’s remarks on Jan. 5, challenging the GOP after announcing further executive action on gun control
FREE WEEK LIVE SHOTS
Smoke machines, strobe lights, and guyliner on a darkened stage initially made Aviateur seem more concerned with image than music. Fortunately, the local quintet’s tight blend of echo-laden Eighties Brit rock and Nineties alternative proved the group more than goth-tronic posers. Joined by Charlie Sexton scion Marlon on lead guitar, 19-year-old Hunter Sharpe circled the…
Stow Your Weapons
What do the Alamo Drafthouse, Regal Cinemas, Chuy’s Mexican restaurants, H-E-B grocery stores, Torchy’s Tacos, and Whataburger have in common? They are among the dozens of commercial establishments that have confirmed they will not allow “open carry” of firearms in their stores, following the January 1 effective date of the Legislature’s general permission of more…
Free Week Live Shots
Grrrl power was alive and well at Swan Dive as this Free Week showcase drew from Austin’s depository of feminist musicians, running the gambit of sound from gentle to deafening. Falcon’s sweet, sleepy acoustic set opened, featuring truly excellent whistling and vocals that would make Karen O look up from the bar. Also wielding only…
Meet the Candidate: Heather Way
Way says she’ll focus on the growing economic divide and affordability crisis if elected
Free Week Live Shots
A frigid, rainy Saturday night didn’t deter a line around the block from wanting to glimpse the original lineup of Austin hardcore powerhouses Krum Bums months after their most recent lineup morphed into Starving Wolves. Max capacity reached early meant “one in, one out,” so many of the huddled masses outside missed veteran ATX punk…
Elizabeth McCracken and Edward Carey’s Write Balance
The local literary duo discusses being a creative couple and how it affects their work and process
Public Notice: Out of Their Cold, Dead Brains
GOP refuses to be sensible about guns
Free Week Live Shots
Opening underdogs and Austin-via-Brazil quartet Vinyl Laranja came out swinging. Filtering catchy songs from latest album Rooster Illusion through a haze of pop hooks, punk energy, and hard-rock breakdowns, the transplants delivered guitar thrills, a freewheeling sense of humor, and infectious enthusiasm. The good vibes continued with foursome Knockin Bones, who trucked in standard rough…
Tap Dance
The many firsts of 4th Tap
Homeless Help
Homeless-backed trucks deliver food, clothing, and blankets to their own community
Free Week Live Shots
At last, a ticket price affordable to Leftöver Crack’s core audience – free. On the heels of their first album in 11 years, the rusty crusties loaded into Mohawk on Sunday for Free Week’s most anticipated concert. With them arrived chin-tattooed disciples and, typically, local law enforcement. An hour before anthems “One Dead Cop” and…
The Take-Out
For a while it seemed like it would last forever. Every new restaurant opening was greeted with delighted whoops. It was exciting seeing trailers blossom to full-service dining rooms and hometown heroes pop up in commercial breaks. And the food too was more lively than anything we had experienced before. There were new flavors and…
Headlines
Lethal Roads: Deaths on Austin roads hit a new high in 2015 with 102 fatalities, and show no sign of slowing down. Two drivers died on Jan. 4 after a reversing truck collided with a motorcycle on Howard Lane. Mayor Steve Adler said this week that he’s working toward a potential November transportation bond proposition…
Free Week Live Shots
Why isn’t Sideshow Tragedy bigger in his town? Drummer Jeremy Harrell pounds out a beat both Neanderthal-like and full of finesse. Nathan Singleton, meanwhile, owns what seems like 50 National Reso-Phonic guitars, and he’s determined to play every one of them at every show as he stomps his bootheels into next week. Concentrating on songs…
Gay Place: Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes
It’s Bowie’s B-day!
D.A.’s Race Heats Up With Lawsuit
Reed accuses TCDP’s Harding of failing to properly review Cobb’s application
Free Week Live Shots
“Hang in there, folks. It’s a new year,” offered Charlie Pierce as gravel-coated assurance in kicking off Sidewinder’s Monday night Free Week lineup. “We’re already broke!” countered drummer Leland Potter. Performing as a keys and drum duo, Choctaw Wildfire warmed up the chilly outside stage of the new club behind Pierce’s intensity, his piano rolling…
Day Trips: San Angelo State Park
Desert playground is home to state bison and longhorn herds
The Hightower Report
Driving America’s yellow school bus to educational hell
Hornography
The aftermath of the 2015-16 holiday season has been a mixed bag for Texas basketball. The Lady Horns stayed on Santa’s “Nice” list, maintaining their elite play. Texas Men, on the other hand, are forced to pressurize a Lone Star State-sized lump of coal – the loss of Cameron Ridley – into a diamond. Also,…
The Common Law
Nonprofit director and personal liability
Through the Past Brightly
Jonathan Demme Presents: Made in Texas DVD release party
Soccer Watch
Real Madrid on Monday fired Rafael Benitez as head coach, immediately elevating second-team coach Zinedine Zidane to be his successor for the remainder of the season. Despite the team’s recent run of success in the Champions League and prolific goal-scoring in La Liga, a 0-4 home loss in November to archrivals Barcelona may have sealed…
The Luv Doc: A Ray of Hope
Wherein the Luv Doc unveils the key to happiness
We’re Still Here
Assessing the continuing black Austin experience
Mr. Smarty Pants Knows
If you cut an onion near a gas stove with a lit burner, it’ll help prevent your eyes from tearing up. The Galápagos Islands are one of only two locales inhabited by giant tortoises, along with the Indian Ocean’s Aldabra Atoll. In Japan, Shinto shrines are rebuilt every 20 years with entirely new wood. The…
La Follia’s Start the New Year With Bach!
The baroque ensemble’s first concert of 2016 delivers life lessons along with the beautiful music
Not in My House
List of businesses opting out of open carry
Playback: Antone’s Resurrected
The return of Antone’s, Free Week, and the Austin Music Poll Ballot
“Alyssa Taylor Wendt: Compartments of Desire”
Personal strength, theatrical animism, and sexual dynamics dominate this exhibition
