Skin-Es-the-si-a
Skin-Es-the-si-a 1994, NR, 18 min. Directed by Vicky Funari, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring . Funari’s experimental film explores the cultural codification of the female body through images from performance art and pornography. For more information on the conference see www.utexas.edu/depts/wstudies.
Up Syndrome
Up Syndrome 2000, NR, 82 min. Directed by Duane Graves, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Rene Moreno. Graves’ locally produced documentary chronicles a year in the life of his charismatic childhood friend Rene Moreno, a San Antonio native with Down syndrome. The film, which takes an alternative approach toward an often over-sentimentalized subject,…
“Headcheese”
“Headcheese” 2001, NR, 22 min. Directed by Duane Graves, Justin Meeks, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Justin Meeks, Rene Moreno. Co-produced by Texas Chainsaw Massacre screenwriter Kim Henkel, this short film is a psychological thriller/horror film loosely based on a New Testament chapter. The movie tells the story of a deranged man on…
The Rookie Sneak Preview
The Rookie Sneak Preview 2002, G, 127 min. Directed by John Lee Hancock, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Dennis Quaid, Rachel Griffiths, Jay Hernandez, Brian Cox. Dennis Quaid stars in this Austin Studio-lensed story of Jim Morris, a Texas high school baseball coach and chemistry teacher who, in 1999, became the oldest rookie…
La Tarea (Homework)
La Tarea (Homework) 1990, NR, 85 min. Directed by Jaime Humberto Hermosillo, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring José Alonso, Maria Rojo. A woman making a project for her film class uses a hidden camera to record a visit with an ex-lover. The idea of using stationary, hidden cameras is one that recurs in…
Demons 2
Demons 2 1986, NR, 91 min. D: Lambert Bava; with David Edwin Knight. Co-written with Dario Argento, Demons 2 is only tangentially related to the original. It’s short on logic and technical components, but long on gore and mayhem.
Treasure of the Four Crowns
Treasure of the Four Crowns 1983, PG, 97 min. Directed by Fernando Baldi, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Tony Anthony, Ana Obregon, Gene Wuintano. From the same folks who scored a big commercial success with 1981’s 3D Comin’ at Ya!, The Treasure of Four Crowns is a badly dubbed Italian knockoff of Raiders…
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial: 20th Anniversary
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial: 20th Anniversary 2002, PG, 120 min. Directed by Steven Spielberg, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Dee Wallace Stone, Henry Thomas, Robert McNaughton, Drew Barrymore. Newly restored for its 20th anniversary re-release, this edition of the eternal classic involves few changes apart from the obvious new-technology tweaks to the sound and…
Nascendo No Brasil (Born in Brazil)
Nascendo No Brasil (Born in Brazil) 2001, NR. Directed by Cara Biasucci, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring . The Austin premiere of this documentary (in Portuguese with subtitles) about childbirth in Brazil will be introduced by Cara Biasucci and co-producer Kristine Hopkins. The screening is sponsored by the Population Research Center, Brazil Center…
A Negacao Do Brasil (Denying Brazil)
A Negacao Do Brasil (Denying Brazil) 2000, NR, 92 min. Directed by Joel Zito Araújo, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring . This documentary film (in Portuguese with English subtitles) provides a study of the taboos, stereotypes, and struggles of black actors in the Brazilian television “soaps” will be introduced by the director, who…
Queer Distortion
Queer Distortion NR. Directed by Various, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring . This “18 and over” night of punk queer cinema features Chicago filmmaker Shawn Durr’s “Meat Fucker,” a short film about a gay vegetarian’s lust for his straight carnivore roomate, and the short “Billy’s Hollywood Screen Kiss” by New Yorker Todd Downing,…
M.A.F.I.A. Super-8 Film Festival
M.A.F.I.A. Super-8 Film Festival NR. Directed by Various, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring . This season’s M.A.F.I.A. ñ or Make a Film in a Weekend ñ focuses on Austin’s Central Eastside. Filmmakers were asked to make and complete their films during the first weekend of March and use one of four Eastside locations…
SXSW Live Shots
SXSW Interview: Peter Guralnick Austin Convention Center, Friday 15 Peter Guralnick, the leading historian of American vernacular music, proved to be as fascinating and thought provoking as a speaker as he is a writer. While Texas Monthly Editor Evan Smith’s questions seemed routine, Guralnick, author of bestselling Elvis Presley biographies Last Train to Memphis and…
SXSW Live Shots
Kissinger The District Bar & Grill, Friday 15 This probably only matters because time is at a premium during SXSW, but when you’re done setting up and sound checking at quarter ’til and then you wait almost until quarter after to hit the stage, that’s bad. What’s worse, the only discernable change was frontman Chopper’s…
SXSW Live Shots
Running a Dom Perignon PR Campaign on a Miller Lite Budget Austin Convention Center, Friday 15 Young bands looking for pointers at this panel probably left disappointed, because even though they’re the most likely candidates to be on a so-called “Miller Lite budget,” this jaw session was perhaps more useful to young publicists looking for…
SXSW Live Shots
The Converters Room 710, Friday 15 The Converters will make your brain sprain, your liver quiver, your bladder splatter, and your knees freeze. Randall Stockton is the big bad boss with the red-hot sauce. Forget all the blues bands with horn sections and female backup singers, and the wannabe-Vaughans playing 32-bar solos on their Strats.…
SXSW Live Shots
Subscription Services’ Hurdles to Leap Austin Convention Center, Friday 15 How can paid online music services with limited catalogs and capabilities compete when virtually everything ever recorded can be found somewhere on the Internet for free? This is what major-label-backed subscription services such as Pressplay and Real One Music are up against. Not surprisingly, these…
SXSW Film Reviews
‘ACE’S HIGH’ D: AWOL. What’s wackier than a bunch of grown men dressing up in bat and cat suits, donning face paint, and calling themselves Kiss? A Kiss tribute band, of course. And what’s wackier than a Kiss tribute band? A Kiss tribute band where all four members pay homage to ace Kiss guitarist (“and…
SXSW Live Shots
Performance Anxiety Workshop Austin Convention Center, Friday 15 Dr. John Hipple, from the University of North Texas, asks the small, pensive crowd, “So, why’d you come?” A girl speaks out of the shyness: “We have performance anxiety?” “Yes,” replies the doctor. “Yes, that’s good. That’s good.” Such were the psychological revelations of this panel, which…
SXSW Film Reviews
ESCUELA (School) D: Hannah Weyer. Documentary Feature Competition Filmmaker Hannah Weyer’s great gift is seeing the decency of marginalized people and bringing their stories to life without condescension or casting them as salt-of-the-earth archetypes. In Escuela, Weyer follows migrant farmworker Liliana Luis during her first year of high school. Liliana is like other high-school girls,…
SXSW Live Shots
Norah Jones Starbucks, Friday 15 You couldn’t ask for someone more unpretentious than Norah Jones. Blending right in with the relaxed, sun-drenched crowd outside of the Starbucks behind Tower Records as she wandered around virtually unnoticed prior to her set, you wouldn’t suspect she’s been one of this week’s most talked-about SXSW artists. Sitting down…
SXSW Film Reviews
MONEY FOR NOTHING D: Sut Jhally. Documentary Feature Special Screenings, Regional Premiere If you’ve ever wondered why it seems musicians are always complaining about being broke, even when you, your friends, and your friends’ friends have bought all those gold and platinum albums, then Money for Nothing is for you. As part of Noam Chomsky’s…
Second Helpings: Irish Pubs
Beannachtam na Femle Padraig (Happy St. Patrick’s Day) to all. Since you may be spending St. Paddy’s day in Austin, you’ll be glad to know the state of craic (an Irish word defining great pub vibes) here in the River City is strikingly good. In alphabetical order, our favorite Irish pubs include: B.D. Riley’s 204…
SXSW Live Shots
Imperial Teen Tower Records, Friday 15 Sometime near the end of their afternoon set, Imperial Teen’s Will Schwartz looked up and noticed the huge, promotional eye-catcher for the band’s upcoming Merge album On gracing the Tower wall. All four band members beamed with delight. Then they noticed the promo was next to a display for…
SXSW Film Reviews
NARRATIVE SHORTS PROGRAM 1 D: Various. With a fortysomething, buzz-cut Marine playing the improbable role of a 14-year-old lesbian-in-training on the verge of the quintessential high school social event, director Charlie Adler’s “No Prom for Cindy” scores aces for its giggle-inducing inspection of pre-pubescent gender misidentification, and its heart-swooning, Hollywood-level score features the silky vocals…
Second Helpings: Vegetarian
Casa de Luz1701 Toomey Rd., 476-2535 Daily, 11:30am-2pm, 6-8pm Meals $9 (includes beverage, tax, and tip) except Saturday-Sunday brunches, $11 Casa de Luz is a peaceful oasis in the middle of a busy city. Follow the walkway through herbs and flowers to the inviting airy dining room for food that is organic, in season, vegan,…
SXSW Live Shots
The Moldy Peaches The Moldy Peaches look for crack at their Tower Records in-store Friday.
Screens Roundup
SEE HOW THEY RUN D: Emily Morse. Documentary First Films, World Premiere Two weeks before election day in 1999, Tom Ammiano, a stand-up comedian and gay president of San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors, decided he would run for mayor against Willie Brown, the black incumbent. Brown may be pro-gay (or at least professes to be:…
The Insider: Eddie Kramer
Friday, March 15 Who: Eddie Kramer Why He’s Important: As a producer and engineer, Kramer played a role in some of the most important albums of all time, from all four Jimi Hendrix albums and the Rolling Stones’ Beggars’ Banquet to Frampton Comes Alive! and Kiss’ Alive. Not only did he build Hendrix’s legendary Electric…
SXSW Live Shots
Petty Booka Tokyo’s Petty Booka fall to pieces on the Austin Convention Center Day Stage Friday.
SXSW Film Reviews
OWNED D: Jennifer Read. Documentary Feature First Films, World Premiere Here are some words used to describe hackers in Owned, Jennifer Read’s stylish study of computer geeks and their shenanigans: adventurer, explorer, (h)activist, visionary, a person having fun, as if on a playground. What’s left? Oh, yeah: criminal (also: white, male). Owned is compelling not…
Spotlight: T-Model Ford
The late-life blues bloom of T-Model Ford.
SXSW Live Shots
The Mooney Suzuki The Mooney Suzuki gets confrontational at their Thirty Three Degrees in-store Friday.
SXSW Film Reviews
THE SCOUNDREL’S WIFE D: Glen Pitre; with Tatum O’Neal, Julian Sands, Tim Curry, Lacey Chabert, Eion Bailey, Patrick McCullough, Rudolf Martin, Lorna Farrar. Narrative Feature Special Screenings, World Premiere Set along the 1940s Louisiana coast, The Scoundrel’s Wife follows the treacherous story of a small fishing community caught up in the sudden politics of war,…
Spotlight: The Hard Feelings
Punk blues mavens the Hard Feelings luv the music industry.
SXSW Live Shots
B-Boy City South Austin Recreation Center, Friday 15 Defying gravity with acrobatic maneuvers fit, for most, only in the kiddie pools at Schlitterbahn, the South Austin Rec Center gymnasium was transformed into an interactive breakdancing haven as the annual B-Boy City breaking competition kicked off. Training all year, against all odds, these young competitors have…
SXSW Film Reviews
Y TU MAMÁ TAMBI…N (And Your Mother Too) D: Alfonso Cuarón; with Maribel Verdú, Gael Garcia Bernal, Diego Luna. Narrative Feature Special Screenings, Regional Premiere Julio and Tenoch are killing a summer in Mexico City getting stoned, bragging about women they’re going to have sex with, and jacking off by the pool every afternoon. When…
Spotlight: Jerry Cantrell
Nu-metal master architect Jerry Cantrell returns with his second solo album.
SXSW Live Shots
Joselo/Genitallica The Vibe, Friday 15 Kudos to Austin’s Latino Rock Alliance for another fine showcase. Monterrey seems to be the current hot spot, with half of the evening’s bands hailing from that North Central Mexican city. After Monterrey’s La Verbena Popular started things off, a brightly dressed unlisted trio took stage, resplendent in bright orange…
The People’s “Party’
Hosted by actor Philip Seymour Hoffman and directed by Rebecca Chaiklin and Donovan Leitch (folksinger Donovan’s son, an occasional model, and perhaps known only to me as the ruthless killer in 1989’s Cutting Class), Last Party 2000 asks the most fundamental question about American politics: Why care? To answer that question, Hoffman and crew crash…
Spotlight: Eels
E hates the record business.
SXSW Live Shots
Yeah Yeah Yeahs La Zona Rosa, Friday 15 Brooklyn’s Yeah Yeah Yeahs blew into SXSW on a whirlwind of buzz that threatened to eclipse anything they actually did onstage. At one point, guitarist Nick Zinner jokingly announced that the YYY’s had just signed to Microsoft. If this year-and-a-half-old art-punk trio was fazed by the sudden…
Spotlight: Li’l Cap’n Travis
Slack poppers Li’l Cap’n Travis and their unassuming ways
SXSW Live Shots
Starsailor Austin Music Hall, Friday 15 Friday was Sensitive Boy night at the Austin Music Hall, with pleasantly soggy music by Starsailor, as well as fellow Brit Ed Harcourt and Antipodean superstars Neil Finn and David Bridie. The youngsters of Starsailor actually made a surprise appearance during Harcourt’s set, adding full-band accompaniment to his “She…
Spotlight: The Flatlanders
Still cut-ups after all these years
SXSW Live Shots
Paul Burch & WPA Ballclub Continental Club, Friday 15 Even though he opened this showcase of bands associated with Lost Highway Records, Paul Burch has not officially signed to the currently red-hot Nashville based label the official word being, “We’re close.” Nevertheless, Burch remains one of the most esoteric of any of Music City’s performers…
SXSW News
Three Down, Two to Go Umph. Okay, we’ve made it to the halfway point of SXSW Music 2002 (even further as you read this), and my dogs are dog-tired. It’s been the same each day: get up, hit the Convention Center for gossip, proceed to whichever party on the Secret Insider’s List looks to have…
SXSW Live Shots
Minus the Bear/the Six Parts Seven Buffalo Billiards, Friday 15 What, an extra hour ain’t enough? SXSW has always survived on punctuality and organization, and in addition to the electrical gremlins that seem to be wreaking havoc on all quarters of this year’s conference (the Waco Bros. played without amplification at Yard Dog this day,…
SXSW Live Shots
Managers as Adversaries Austin Convention Center, Friday 15 Nobody said the manager had it easy. After all, they have to ride herd on temperamental bands, deal with bottom-line record company types, mind the business aspect of things, and God knows what else. Panelist Jack Emerson, in particular, knows of what he speaks. He put in…
SXSW Live Shots
Caitlin Cary Austin Convention Center Day Stage, Friday 15 Wonder how many dozens of Emmylou Cary references and “second fiddle” puns Caitlin Cary is going to have to endure for the balance of her career … . Cary was indeed the female Harris to Ryan Adams’ Gram Parsons in the country-and-Westerberg outfit Whiskeytown. Cary just…
Best Blues
RUNNERS-UP: Guy Forsyth, Jimmie Vaughan, Toni Price, W.C. Clark, Carolyn Wonderland, Double Trouble, Blue Monday Band, Marcia Ball, Chris Duarte
Best Acoustic Guitar
RUNNERS-UP: Eric Johnson; Mark Del Castillo, Del Castillo; Rick Del Castillo, Del Castillo; T’eye; Scrappy Jud Newcomb; A.J. Vallejo; Sara Hickman; Ian Moore; Casper Rawls; Bob Schneider; Patrice Pike; Rich Brotherton; Ginger Mackenzie; Stephen Bruton
Best Concert By a Touring Artist
RUNNERS-UP: David Byrne, Backyard; Los Lobos, Stubb’s; Hank Williams III, Continental Club; Mogwai, La Zona Rosa; Tenacious D, Austin Music Hall; Incubus, Austin Music Hall; Doyle Bramhall II, Antone’s; Modest Mouse, Stubb’s; Ozomatli, Stubb’s
After a Fashion
THE YELLOW BADGE OF COURAGE Here in Austin, the accessory of the season, of course, is the omnipresent badge, a very important fashion feature of SXSW. It is clearly evident that a lot of thought goes into choosing colors for badges and lanyards to guarantee that they will clash with any outfit you choose. Needless…
SXSW Picks & Sleepers
Thursday Picks all showcases subject to change LATIN ACADEMY OF RECORDING PRESENTS: … three of the hottest regional Latino acts in veteran border pop mobsters La Mafia, newcomers Grupo Control, and chart-climbers Palomo and Costumbre. Slick sounds to go with all that “regional” cuisine you’ve been coating with salsa. (Town Lake Stage, 5-10pm) — Raoul…
Phases and Stages
Deathray DaviesThe Day of the Ray (Idol) The fidelity is so bad it sounds like an answering-machine message. Plus, the track is only a minute and 13 seconds long. So, would it be an insult to call “Don’t Point at the Stoners” the best song on the new Deathray Davies album? It shouldn’t be, because…
Phases and Stages
OffendersDied in Custody (Grand Theft Auto) Did you ever have a friend that was more punk rock than anyone else? Not a guy that dressed like a poseur, or put on the tough-guy act. A regular guy that would put on a Legionnaires Disease Band single and joyfully declare that the A-side was the greatest…
SXSW Live Shots
SXSW Interview: Hilary Rosen Austin Convention Center, Thursday 14 According to Recording Industry Association of America president Hilary Rosen, a recent RIAA-commissioned survey found that 34% of heavy music buyers were buying less because they found what they wanted online for free. Another 24% reported not being able to find what they wanted to buy.…
Sense Not So Common
On March 7, after six hours of deliberations, jurors found defendant Gregory Steen not guilty of the 1997 murder of homeless drifter Jim Dunham. Unfortunately, the verdict failed to answer the trial’s central question: Who killed Jim Dunham? As reported here last week (“Murder Most … Peculiar,” March 8), prosecutors argued that Gregory Steen lured…
Austin @ Large: Pondering the Charter
Here’s a rundown of the proposed charter amendments brought to the City Council:Confirmed for May ballot:• Austin Fair Elections Act/Clean Campaigns for Austin public-financing system. Placed on ballot by citizen initiative. • A single-member district plan for future council elections. The 8-district, 2-at-large-seats-plus-mayor (8-2-1) plan replaces the Charter Revision Committee’s recommended 10 districts-plus-mayor plan. Passed…
Best Country
RUNNERS-UP: Kevin Fowler Band, Harris & Ryden, Pat Green, The Derailers, The Weary Boys, Asleep at the Wheel, Willie Nelson, Don Walser, Shelley King Band
Best Bass Guitar
RUNNERS-UP: Lucky, Kissinger; Omar Vallejo, Vallejo; Bruce Hughes, the Scabs; Albert Bestiero, Del Castillo; Pat Fogarty, Pushmonkey; Tommy Shannon; Yoggi Musgrove; Ann Marie Harrop, Shelley King Band; Lonnie Trevino
Best Concert Poster
RUNNERS-UP: Bob Schneider by Bob Schneider, Antone’s; Girl X Girlfest by Terri Lord, Gaby & Mo’s; Pushmonkey by Howie Behrens, the Metro; Damesviolet by Richard Luckett, Antone’s; Widespread Panic by Billy Perkins, Erwin Center; Ted Roddy’s Gracelin’ Revue, Continental Club; Vallejo by Richard Luckett, Antone’s; Soap Creek Reunion by Kerry Awn, La Zona Rosa; Patrice…
After a Fashion
SCENE AND HERD Was that really Robbie Robertson yakking all the way through the Norah Jones set at the Clay Pit? (Probably finishing his keynote address from Thursday)… John Sayles’ partner, producer Maggie Renzi, is having so much fun with music that she extended her stay through Friday… What talent-free musician (who has glommed onto…
SXSW Picks & Sleepers
Thursday Sleepers BOXSTEP: The lush, orchestral pop of Pittsburgh-based Boxstep approaches grandiosity with a distinctly indie perspective. Their debut for Chicago indie Overcoat, The Faces All Look On, is a startling album, the midground between the passion of the Dirty Three and the complexity of Lambchop. (Scottish Rite Theatre, 8pm) — Christopher Hess RIVULETS: The…
SXSW News
Number One With a Bullet If you were up early enough this morning and had your television tuned to CNN’s Headline News channel, you no doubt noticed they were taking a bit of time out from the endless Afghanistan war reports and giving South by Southwest national coverage. However, since SXSW Music Fest Creative Director…
Phases and Stages
The CathetersStatic Delusions and Stone-Still Days (Sub Pop) This here album is a big ol’ loogie in the face to the whole “kids today” mentality being perpetuated by aging punks who once swore they’d never say such a thing. Singer Brian Standeford and guitarist Derek Mason formed the Seattle-based Catheters when they were only 15,…
SXSW Live Shots
Rockabilly Fillies Austin Convention Center, Thursday 14 It has been a whole generation since the original rockabilly cats shook up pop music, and the reverberations of what they did continue to this day. If anything, the seminal female rockers of the period continue to have even more effect than their male counterparts. In attendance were…
Mueller Contenders Present Plans
The major contenders for the New Mueller development make their case to the city.
The Hightower Lowdown
Dubya’s “tax rebate” was really a deceptive slight of hand; overworked doctors endanger your life; and a contest to rename Enron.
Best Cover Band
RUNNERS-UP: The Atlantics, The Recliners, Diamond Smugglers, Dysfunkshun Junkshun, Soul Masquerade, Bang, Vivid, Taboo, The Stummies
Best DJ
RUNNERS-UP: DJ Organic, That Mysterious Honey, DJ Nicknack, Govinda, DJ Damon, Rev. Kathy Russell, DJ Baby G, DJ Mel, Scorpio Rising
Best Cover Art
RUNNERS-UP: Mark Del Castillo, Brothers of the Castle Del Castillo; Stephen Austin, Mary Burges, John Erler, Eva Schmidt, KVRX Local Live, Vol. 5 Various Artists Bob Fonseca, Damn It’s Early Various Artists; Tracey Goudie, Effects of Madness, Goudie; Dana Smith, A Man Under the Influence Alejandro Escovedo; Lily Blessing, Toddler Sara Hickman; Dick Reeves, Toni…
Coach’s Corner
It’s odds & ends week as the basketball playoffs (college and pro) approach.
SXSW Picks & Sleepers
Friday Picks LOCAL H: Singer-guitarist Scott Lucas and drummer Brian St. Clair have emerged from a four-year hibernation with Here Comes the Zoo (Palm), their first release since Pack Up the Cats on Island. Their Chicago hammerhead grunge is still defined by ecstatic highs and post-grunge lows, with the energy this duo generates onstage still…
Phases and Stages
ClinicWalking With Thee (Domino) Great albums are great from the very first note, and the first 10 seconds of Walking With Thee will stop you dead in your tracks. When that familiar, naked-bulb piano melody starts beeping to the metronomic pulse of some sympathetic machine, the pricklies on the back of your neck run for…
Phases and Stages
KaitoMontigola Underground (Devil in the Woods) Kaito’s Nikki Colk may sing in her own incomprehensible goofball dialect (sample line: “mega-mega, chi-chi, something something something”), but this Norwich, UK, noise-pop combo is so ingratiatingly quirky and downright cute that the lyrical mystery serves only to make the jangly, distort-o-rama guitars and gone-round-the-bend schoolgirl vocals that much…
SXSW Live Shots
Robbie Robertson Keynote Address Austin Convention Center, Thursday 14 If the former member of the Band, record producer, film composer, Native American activist, solo recording artist, and record company talent scout Robbie Robertson wanted to get attendees’ blood moving before his monologue, he got it in the form of Dallas’ Polyphonic Spree. Led by former…
A Fiery Farewell for Pato’s
A fire started by transients brings an end to Pato’s Good Tacos
SXSW Film Reviews
HOME MOVIE D: Chris Smith. Documentary Feature Special Screenings, Regional Premiere No sophomore slump for Mr. Smith. The director who unleashed Mike Schank and Mark Borchardt on the unsuspecting psyches of the world with 1999’s genius American Movie returns with a new purely American doc that examines in detail the sometimes curious, always entertaining relationship…
Best Folk
RUNNERS-UP: Terri Hendrix, Shelley King Band, Ginger Mackenzie, Jimmy LaFave, Brobdingnagian Bards, Caroline Herring, Sara Hickman, Slaid Cleaves, Eliza Gilkyson
Best Drums/Percussion
Alien Love Child RUNNERS-UP: O3, Kissinger; Alex Vallejo, Vallejo; Darwin Keys, Pushmonkey; Yogi Maxwell, Cruiserweight; Brannen Temple, Blaze; J.J. Johnson; Perry Drake, Shelley King Band; Frosty; David Fore, the Eggmen; Chris Layton; Paul Pearcy; Mambo John Treanor; Belen Oliva; Nina Singh, Goudie, Kitty Gordon
Best Instrument/Equipment Store
RUNNERS-UP: Strait Music; South Austin Music; Guitar Center; Ray, Shane, and Steve Henning’s Heart of Texas Music; Musicmakers; Tommy’s Drum Shop; Austin Vintage Guitar; Guitar Resurrection; Things Celtic
Second Helpings: Austin Barbecue
Austin barbecue joints in today’s “Second Helpings”
SXSW Picks & Sleepers
Friday Sleepers THE AMERICAN PEOPLE: Even with former Cher UK singer Mike McCoy returning to Kansas, Austin’s American People will not be going the way of the dodo. Their cheeky brand of garage pop punk, found on last year’s critics’ fave, Because We Can, has already been followed up with a sampler from their completed…
Phases and Stages
Departure LoungeToo Late to Die Young (Nettwerk) It’s not usually considered kosher to review an artist’s work solely by comparing it to that of other acts, but when the band in question makes a point of tearing pages from the History of Pop and pinning them proudly to their sleeves, they make themselves fair game.…
Phases and Stages
The Walkmen Everyone Who Pretended to Like Me Is Gone (Startime International) It starts out a winner, theatrical vocals over a cold organ sound and train-track drums that evoke an icy Joy Division. Unfortunately, it doesn’t get any better for the Walkmen than two-minute opener “They’re Winning.” Organist Walter Martin and drummer Matt Barrick (both…
SXSW Live Shots
New West Records Day Party Club DeVille, Thursday 14 Standing in the midst of it all, I had to wonder whether the gaggles of spectators had any idea of the musical history represented by the New West roster on this day. Guitarists Stephen Bruton and Chuck Prophet have had career enough between them for at…
Kids Can Take Their Chances
In an opinion issued Feb. 13, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals held that confessions made by juveniles cannot be thrown out solely for police officers’ failure to notify parents “promptly” that their child has been arrested. In their ruling, the court determined if police follow the other provisions of the Texas Family Code regarding…
SXSW Film Reviews
JOURNEYS WITH GEORGE D: Alexandra Pelosi. Documentary First Films, World Premiere Alexandra Pelosi calls her Campaign 2000 documentary a “Rorschach Test” on George W. Bush: If you love him you’ll find him lovable, and if you hate him … well, it might be more difficult to sit through this up-close-and-personal diary of a Year in…
Resident Evil
Wild, senseless, sexy adaptation of the popular zombie shoot-’em-up video game
Best Funk
RUNNERS-UP: The Scabs, Taboo, Dahebegebees, Dysfunkshun Junkshun, The Atlantics, Funky London, Jerkuleez, Gnappy, Hot Buttered Rhythm
Best Electric Guitar
RUNNERS-UP: Jimmie Vaughan; Steve Garvey, Kissinger; Keith Clark; Scrappy Jud Newcomb; Urny Maxwell, Cruiserweight; Roger Blevins Jr., Mingo Fishtrap; Monte Montgomery; Will Hoffman, Pushmonkey; Ian Moore; Doyle Bramhall II; Wayne Sutton; Mitch Watkins; Kyle Judd; Billy Harvey; Redd Volkaert; Howie Behrens, Pushmonkey; Mike Barnes; Zak Loy, Damesviolet; Mark Del Castillo, Del Castillo
Best Live Music Venue
RUNNERS-UP: Stubb’s, Emo’s, Continental Club, The Metro, The Backyard, Saxon Pub, The Mercury, Room 710, Momo’s, La Zona Rosa, The Vibe, The Backroom, Beerland, Empanada Parlour, Cedar Street, Elephant Room, Lucy’s Retired Surfer Bar, Flamingo Cantina, Austin Music Hall
Bar None
Please don’t be offended by our assumption that you’ll be spending a fair amount of time in our local bars while you’re here for SXSW music. Here’s the lowdown on downtown watering holes.
Our Town, Our Time
Zachary Scott Theatre Center’s production of The Laramie Project retells the story of Matthew Shepard’s murder in a compelling, heartfelt way, but it also tells a town’s story and gives us the opportunity to see our town in its reflection.
Second Helpings: Regional Barbecue
Regional barbecue spots in today’s “Second Helpings”
SXSW Picks & Sleepers
Saturday Picks RED DYE #4, THE DISOWNED, THE SNOBS, FORTY SECOND SCANDAL: Over the next few years, look for the teenagers in these local bands to start grabbing headline slots and press attention. Way too young to drink, their hearts pound with Ramones-like lust and they reference Austin legends like the Big Boys and Butthole…
Phases and Stages
SchatziFifty Reasons to Explode (Mammoth) Schatzi’s debut full-length is a righteous bit of snotty pop-punk that’s almost as edgy as Green Day’s early commercial period. The adopted Austinites (via Oklahoma) released their EP Death of the Alphabet in late 2000, and saw it get heavy play on local alt-rock frequency KROX, which provided the needed…
Phases and Stages
The Six Parts SevenThings Shaped in Passing (Suicide Squeeze) Luckily, music this good does not need — indeed defies — categorization. The sublime and meandering tracks on The Six Parts Seven’s Things Shaped in Passing cannot be accurately pinned down as anything pop or rock, and they certainly aren’t jazz or classical. Repetition of melody…
SXSW Live Shots
Josh Rouse Yard Dog, Thursday 14 One thing about the Yard Dog is that simply from its configuration — basically a shoebox with the top and back side missing — everybody except the 20 or so folks directly in front of the stage are going to find out what kind of low end sound you…
Primary Election Night: A Roundup
Onward to November. Voters picked their party nominees Tuesday from a slew of contested state and county primary races, from top-ticket draws to down-ballot candidates. Locally, final ballots were still being counted as the Chronicle went to press in the wee hours Wednesday morning — a day early this week to coincide with the Austin…
SXSW Film Reviews
LOOKING FOR LEONARD D: Matt Bissonnette, Steven Clark; with Kim Huffman, Joel Bissonnette, Ben Ratner, Darcy Belsher, Justin Pierce, Molly Parker Feature Narrative Competition, World Premiere The characters in this Canadian production don’t do much but suffer from urban anomie — and one another. Jo (Huffman), a philosophical femme fatale, lives with her boyfriend Ted…
The Affair of the Necklace
The Affair of the Necklace R, 120 min. Directed by Charles Shyer, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Brian Cox, Joely Richardson, Christopher Walken, Jonathan Pryce, Adrien Brody, Simon Baker, Hilary Swank. Not reviewed at press time. Hilary Swank follows up her Oscar-winning performance as the transgendered lead in Boys Don’t Cry with a…
Little Otik
Brazenly bizarre animated feature by Czech filmmaker Svankmajer.
Best Hip Hop
RUNNERS-UP: Megatron Bomb Squad, Nook, Hip Hop Humpday, Schrödinger’s Cat, Smackola, M.C. Truth, The Scabs, Dynamite Boy, Rubberhed
Best Female Vocals
RUNNERS-UP: Lisa Tingle; Patrice Pike; Stella Maxwell, Cruiserweight; Ginger Mackenzie; Kelly Willis Shelley King; Terri Hendrix; Patty Griffin; Caroline Herring; Sara Hickman; Eliza Gilkyson; Carolyn Wonderland; Trish Murphy; Beth Richard, Quatropaw; Suzi Stern; Marcia Ball; Lucinda Williams; Beth Black; Lou Ann Barton
Best Local Music TV Show
RUNNERS-UP: Dr. Large Presents, ACAC; CapZeyeZ, ACAC; Rawtime, ACAC; Backstage Pass, News 8 Austin Fox 7 News in the Morning, KTBC; Midnight at Master Control, AMN; The Fly, AMN; What’s the Cover?, AMN; The Cowboy From Vienna, ACAC
Second Helpings: Happy Hour Buffets
Chronicle writer Greg Beets samples Austin’s happy hour buffets in this week’s Second Helpings.
Articulations
The UT symposium “From Text to Performance: Law and Other Performing Arts” proved to be a stimulating blend of scholarly thought, intellectual inquiry, thoughtful performance, amicable conversation, fiery debate, and amusing anecdotes.
Food-o-File
One of the only real drawbacks about working for a weekly newspaper is that it’s virtually impossible to cover breaking news in anything like a timely fashion, Food Editor Virginia B. Wood writes. Here’s the latest news, though, on restaurant closings and changes in Austin.
Phases and Stages
ElbowAsleep in the Back (V2) Could it possibly be time for a Manchester revival already? Elbow frontman Guy Garvey is to the Happy Mondays’ Shaun Ryder as a fine port is to raspberry ripple; this is the kinder, gentler sound of the Northwest, exemplified by melodies that sneak up on your heartache when you least…
Phases and Stages
SeaworthyThe Ride (Jetset) Seaworthy is the tag for Macha’s Josh McKay. That Athens-based group shares a penchant for Sunday-sunset moods, like their fellow Athenites R.E.M. Yet Macha are far more experimental and implied, their jangle coming from Indonesian instruments instead of Rickenbachers. The fact that this debut/side project hit the streets on Macha’s label Jetset…
SXSW Live Shots
Boxstep/Kingsbury Manx Austin Scottish Rite Theatre, Thursday 14 Late though I was, it took all of a second before I was neck deep in Boxstep’s set at the Scottish Rite Theatre. A big, insistent sound replete with dual violins and a wash of guitars played lush, urgent rock of stratospheric intensity. Overcoat Records, a spinoff…
Primary Election Night: A Roundup
Travis County: Lopsided Long before all the ballots were counted Tuesday night, incumbent Travis County Judge Sam Biscoe and two fellow County Commissioners were already delivering sound defeats of their Democratic opponents. Despite a series of political setbacks for the Commissioners Court in the last year — the most serious being the costly construction failures…
SXSW Film Reviews
THE MESMERIST Narrative Feature Special Screenings, World Premiere D: Gil Cates Jr.; with Neil Patrick Harris, Jessica Capshaw, Jason Carter. Edgar Allen Poe has never been known for the element of farce in his short tales, but director Gil Cates Jr. is out to change all that. Endearingly broad, Cates plays the brooding Baltimore scribe’s…
Ice Age
Prehistoric buddy cartoon.
The Devil’s Backbone
Set in a crumbling boys’ school/orphanage/fallout shelter during the Spanish Civil War, the lost boys of this haunting film contend with a vengeful ghost as well as the more worldly traumas of war, greed, and abandonment.
Best Jazz
RUNNERS-UP: Odd Man Out, Suzi Stern Quintet, Blue Noise Band, Golden Arm Trio, Victrola, Sarah Sharp, Gnappy, Alien Love Child, Ephraim Owens
Best Horns
RUNNERS-UP: Mingo Fishtrap Horns; Ephraim Owens, Blaze; Omar Vallejo, Vallejo; Tony Park, Pushmonkey; The Triggermen; Fabian Hernandez; Joseph Serrato, Grupo Fantasma; La Tribu Horns; Tony Campise
Best Music Writer
RUNNERS-UP: Michael Corcoran, Christopher Gray, Margaret Moser, Raoul Hernandez, Jay Trachtenberg, Ken Lieck, Jim Caligiuri, Michael Chamy, Greg Beets, Kate X Messer, John T. Davis, Michael Point, Richard Skanse, Marc Savlov
21 … 21 … 21 … 21 … 21
Pop 1. Ginger Mackenzie 2. Kissinger 3. Cruiserweight 4. Bob Schneider 5. Household Names 6. Damesviolet 7. Daffodil 8. Vallejo 9. Quatropaw 10. Sara Hickman
Penelope Lively’s Unfortunate Englishness
Booker Prize-winning author Penelope Lively visits her archives at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center.
Mini-Review
Eric Schlosser at BookPeople I considered taking a stopwatch, just for fun, to Eric Schlosser’s reading at BookPeople on February 25, when the New York Times bestselling author talked about his book Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal (HarperCollins, $13.95), which is now in paperback. I wanted to see how long…
Phases and Stages
The ScootersI Can See Your House From Here (Aeronaut) Hmmmm … tight harmonies, memorable melodies, delicious slips between major and minor chord patterns, lush, yet spritely arrangements … It’s all too confusing. This is pop, damn it, but not exactly the pop of today. There are elements of Badfinger 2002, or Squeeze Jr., here, a…
Phases and Stages
The Kingsbury ManxLet You Down (Overcoat) Like the clouds on the cover of Let You Down, Chapel Hill’s Kingsbury Manx are a complex phenomenon best enjoyed as a simple pleasure. On their second album for Chicago indie Overcoat, the quartet of middle-school buddies once again brew the rich, warm sounds of early Pink Floyd, where…
SXSW Live Shots
The Applicators Hole in the Wall, Thursday 14 Awhile back, a friend noted that latter-day punkers are like Civil War re-enactors. They put on the clothes, go through all the motions, and don’t miss a trick, with the full knowledge that it was all done before, and quite awhile back at that. Be that as…
Primary Election Night: A Roundup
Statewide: Looking to November “We won!” declared Tony Sanchez at 10pm, for the benefit of the nightly news as well as hundreds of jubilant supporters partying in the Hyatt Regency ballroom. The operative word this evening was euphoria, as Joe “King” Carrasco and his band serenaded a crowd of Sanchez Democrats juiced by early returns…
SXSW Film Reviews
NARRATIVE SHORTS PROGRAM 2 D: Various. Starring Frances McDormand as an elitist Upper West Side matriarch, director Itamar Kubovy’s “Upheaval” sets the standard for this compilation of stories centered on anarchic families on the verge of a collective breakdown. Of the pack, McDormand’s intensely narcissistic, control-freak mother on the hunt for a stolen brooch leaves…
All About the Benjamins
All About the Benjamins 2002, R, 100 min. Directed by Kevin Bray, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Ice Cube, Mike Epps, Valerie Rae Miller, Eva Mendes, Roger Guenveur Smith, Tommy Flanagan. The ESPN SportsCenterization of action cinema continues apace with All About the Benjamins. My point: Modern actioners increasingly resemble sports highlights shows…
Monsoon Wedding
The father of the bride is broke; the bride is having an affair with a married man; the caretaker uncle is just a little too familiar with the bride’s pre-adolescent sister; and the bride and the groom have never met each other. Despite what these foreboding elements might portend, Monsoon Wedding is a joyous celebration…
Best Lounge/Swing
RUNNERS-UP: Mr. Fabulous, Asleep at the Wheel, 8 1/2 Souvenirs, Lucky Strikes, Seth Walker, Victrola, Hot Club of Cowtown, El Orbits, The Scabs
Best Keyboards
RUNNERS-UP: David Boyle, the Scabs; Aeron Riordon, Mingo Fishtrap; James Spear; Byron Westbrook; Ginger Doss, Dreamtrybe; Daymon Jones; Earl Poole Ball; Marcia Ball; Cole El-Saleh
Best New Club
RUNNERS-UP: The Vibe, Ocean’s 11, Elysium, Hanover’s, Austin Cabaret Theatre, Element, Sky Lounge, Texture, The Mercury
Hall of Fame
Paul Leary Mambo John Treanor Augie Meyers Maryann Price Paul Minor Dan Del Santo
“Daily Afflictions”: You Deserve a Slap in the Face Today
Imagine standing before the mirror each day, face to face with yourself, and declaring, “It’s not whether I arrive; it’s how I lose my way,” or “I will find that special person who is wrong for me in just the right way.” Imagine calling a therapist because you feel too good about yourself. Unmanageably successful.…
Never Mind the Bollocks
Ray Benson decides to cut a solo album
Phases and Stages
The Sunshine Fix Age of the Sun (Emperor Jones/Kindercore) A few strains into the opening title track of this sprawling psychedelic pop set from Olivia Tremor Control co-founder Bill Doss, don’t be surprised if you find yourself drifting off into chlorinated memories of hot July afternoons at the swimming pool. The sounds of Top 40…
Phases and Stages
Josh RouseUnder Cold Blue Stars (Slow River/Ryko) Know this about Josh Rouse: He’s a sensitive singer-songwriter. That could be troublesome, in fact it usually is. Somehow, though, Rouse avoids the utter wimpiness that comes with the territory. Under Cold Blue Stars has the cool of Joe Henry (on Trampoline), the liquid self-assurance of Leonard Cohen,…
SXSW Live Shots
The Mendoza LineRed Room, Thursday 14 First off, sweet porn star moustache on the bass player. Second, this really can’t be déjà vu. After all of the problems that plagued the Red Room the previous night, it had to be a joke that all of the lead vocals for the Athens-born, Brooklyn-based band’s first song…
Primary Election Night: A Roundup
FreePAC Fails Despite thousands of last-minute attack mailers from the ultra-conservative Free Enterprise PAC (“FreePAC”) accusing them of promoting the “radical homosexual agenda,” most GOP moderates (known to foes as “RINOs,” for “Republicans-In-Name-Only”) made short work of their hard-right opponents: Senate District 1: Bill Ratliff (72.5%) Senate District 17: Kyle Janek (63%) Senate District 22:…
SXSW Film Reviews
YOU SEE ME LAUGHIN’ D: Mandy Stein; with R.L. Burnside, T-Model Ford, Cedell Davis, Junior Kimbrough, Matthew Johnson, Bruce Watson, David Cardwell, Johnny Farmer. Documentary Feature, Special Screening MONEY still talks, only you have to turn up the volume TO HEAR IT. So states the baseball cap framing R.L. Burnside’s weathered, Cheshire Cat face, and…
Harrison’s Flowers
Harrison’s Flowers 2002, R, 122 min. Directed by Elie Chouraqui, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Andie MacDowell, David Strathairn, Brendan Gleeson, Adrien Brody, Elian Koteas, Alun Armstrong, Scott Anton. There have been so few films done on the subject of the last decade’s conflicts in the Balkans that you’d think no one cared.…
Best Metal/Industrial
RUNNERS-UP: Gahdzilla Motor Co., Powderburn, Human, Titsworth, Stonekracker, Saucer, Waxdart, 28 MPH, Rubberhed
Best Male Vocals
RUNNERS-UP: Chopper, Kissinger; A.J. Vallejo, Vallejo; Roger Blevins Jr., Mingo Fishtrap; Eric Johnson; Jimmy LaFave; Malford Milligan; Tony Park, Pushmonkey; Monte Montgomery; Kevin Fowler; Ian Moore; Alejandro Escovedo; Beaux Loy, Damesviolet; Guy Forsyth; Jackson Blacklock, Schrödinger’s Cat; Jimmie Vaughan; Alex Ruiz, Del Castillo; Hector Vasquez; Marc Gunn, Brobdingnagian Bards; Sean Neal, Dynamite Boy
Best Radio Personality
RUNNERS-UP: Jody Denberg, KGSR; John Aielli, KUT FM; Johnny Walker, KLBJ FM; Kevin Connor, KGSR; Bob Fonseca, KLBJ FM; Charlie Hodge, KLBJ FM; Toby Ryan, 101X; Trina, 101X; Sammy Allred, KVET FM; Peg Simmons, KLBJ FM; Loris Lowe, KLBJ FM; Bob Cole, KVET FM; Larry Monroe, KUT FM; Miss Kitty, Mega 93; Jenn Garrison,KGSR; Paul…
Texas Film Hall of Fame Awards
The stars at night were big and bright at the Second Annual Texas Film Hall of Fame Awards.
Recommended
The last time Austin was featured in a book about the natural world, it was all about butterflies (Sue Halpern’s excellent Four Wings and a Prayer: Caught in the Mystery of the Monarch Butterfly, published last summer). Now there’s a new book about snow geese, whose second chapter is simply titled “Austin.” William Fiennes is…
The Insider: Hiroshi Asada
Thursday, March 14 Who: Hiroshi Asada Why He’s Important: Under the banner of South by Southwest Asia, Hirosho Asada is the festival’s Japanese connection. In the Sixties, he fronted a popular Kingston Trio-like folk outfit and followed it up with directorial work in Tokyo cinema. In 1975, he founded Tom’s Cabin Production, the first company…
Phases and Stages
Mary Lorson & Saint LowTricks for Dawn (spinART) The elaborate musical constructions of Saint Low reach far beyond the level to which most pop music, which is about as far-reaching (and often as barren) as the Mojave Desert, aspires. Especially appealing to those who have a soft spot for the likes of Burt Bacharach or…
Phases and Stages
Norah JonesCome Away With Me (Blue Note) Norah Jones is the big buzz of the moment. She’s already appeared on Jay Leno and other late-night TV shows, and this new debut album is quickly being added to radio playlists all over the country. Although she records for Blue Note, the world’s preeminent jazz label, you…
SXSW Live Shots
Car Stereo Wars Maggie Mae’s, Thursday 14 It must suck hard to cross over into another hemisphere, another season, another world altogether only to come play an abbreviated, five-song set plagued with technical problems that are no fault of your own — especially after having to forego last year’s festival due to financial constraints. Such…
Primary Election Night: A Roundup
The election has just begun for Eddie Rodriguez and Lulu Flores — after outpacing the field Tuesday night , the two State House District 51 front-runners will face off in an April runoff to succeed retiring Rep. Glen Maxey. (There’s no GOP opponent in November.) Flores finished with 38.3% of the vote, Rodriguez with 23.4%;…
But Seriously, Folks
While not exactly hilarious, the fact that Roman Coppola is fond of prefacing anecdotes with the phrase “You know, it’s funny …” is rather funny — or at least amusing — if only for the simple reason that, ever since CQ’s Cannes premiere, its 36-year-old director has been trying to convince audiences and the press…
Band of the Year
RUNNERS-UP: Kissinger, Vallejo, Damesviolet, Pushmonkey, Kevin Fowler Band, Cruiserweight, Lonelyland, Spoon, Toni Price, The Scabs, Alejandro Escovedo, Monte Montgomery, Derailers, Pong, Patrice Pike & Black Box Rebellion, Shelley King Band, Jimmy LaFave, Schrödinger’s Cat, Mingo Fishtrap
Best None of the Above
RUNNERS-UP: Shorty Long, Brobdingnagian Bards, Warrior Gospel Quartet, South Austin Jug Band, Cowgirl Sue, Strings Attached, Brown Whörnet, Li’l Cap’n Travis, Austin Lounge Lizards
Best Miscellaneous Instrument
RUNNERS-UP: Guy Forsyth, musical saw; Mambo John Treanor, washboard; Andrew McKee, recorder; Danny Young, rub board; J.P. Allen, harmonica; Lynda Millard, flute; Lloyd Maines, steel; Pops Bayless, ukulele; Ian Moore, sitar
Best Radio Program
RUNNERS-UP: Eklektikos with John Aielli; KUT; Sam & Bob KVET Morning Call-In Show, Sammy Allred, Bob Cole; KVET; J.B. & Sandy Morning Show, J.B. Hager, Sandy Rivers; The Mix; Trina & Drew on the Morning X, Drew Benett, Trina Quinn; 101X; KGSR in the Morning, Kevin Connor; KGSR; Ear Candy, Jennifer Kryska, Jennifer Lueckemeyer; KOOP;…
SXSW Film Reviews
Short reviews from the festival’s competition and non-competition lineup.
Page Two
The forest fire that is SXSW continues to blaze, fueled by the SXSW Film Awards, the Austin Music Awards show, and upcoming Chronicle daily editions.
Spotlights: Clinic
Clinic goes for the creepy-crawlies.
Phases and Stages
Dolly VardenForgiven Now (Undertow) What does it say about a band when their weakest effort is still pretty good? That could be the lot of Chicago’s Dolly Varden and their fourth full-length, which is rife with the ease that made the previous three LPs so likable, yet is lacking their addictive quality. The effort is…
Phases and Stages
Lo Fidelity Allstars Don’t Be Afraid of Love (Skint/Columbia) Oh, great, now they tell me. 1999’s How to Operate With a Blown Mind — with its churning single “Battle Flag” — was a shot to the musical solar plexus, thick and powerful, a syrupy amalgam of raw funk and bass-heavy big beat. It rocked, they…
SXSW Live Shots
Ünloco Back Room, Thursday 14 While not necessarily known for their slow ballads, Austin’s metal-dipped cinderblock unit Ünloco came out of the gates guns drawn, opening with a cracking rocker and keeping the battleship afloat through their very neat 40-minute showcase. They made the most of it with their intense, directed delivery, and the stage…
Primary Election Night: A Roundup
Numerous races in the Democratic and Republican Party primaries feature uncontested candidates. Listed here are the races (excluding precinct chairs) which include at least two candidates.Democratic Primary Ballot Contested RacesU.S. Senator Gene Kelly Ed Cunningham Victor Morales Ken Bentsen Ron Kirk U.S. Representative, District 10 Lloyd Doggett Jennifer Gale Governor Tony Sanchez Dan Morales John…
Short Cuts
It wouldn’t be a film festival without the deals, steals, and rash of black turtlenecks.
Best New Band
RUNNERS-UP: Kevin Fowler Band, South Austin Jug Band, Box Socials, Del Castillo, Los Lonely Boys, Weary Boys, Endochine, Patrice Pike & Black Box Rebellion, Grupo Fantasma, Dynamite Boy, Broken Stars, Shadowbox, Shade, Illcamino, Soul Masquerade, Dreamtrybe, Daffodil, Halloway, Sundowner
Best Pop
RUNNERS-UP: Kissinger, Cruiserweight, Bob Schneider, Household Names, Damesviolet, Daffodil, Vallejo, Quatropaw, Sara Hickman
Best Singer-Songwriter
RUNNERS-UP: Eric Johnson, Jimmy LaFave, Shelley King, Patrice Pike, Monte Montgomery, Terri Hendrix, Kevin Fowler, Sara Hickman, Slaid Cleaves, Bruce Robison, Beaver Nelson, Ginger Mackenzie, Jon Dee Graham, A.J Vallejo, Lisa Tingle, Alejandro Escovedo, Eliza Gilkyson, Jeff Klein, Caroline Herring
Best Radio Station
RUNNERS-UP: 93.7 KLBJ FM, 90.5 KUT FM, 101.5 KROX FM (101X), 91.7 KVRX FM, 91.7 KOOP FM, 98.1 KVET FM, 93.3 KXMG FM (Mega 93), 104.3 KQBT FM (Beat 104), 88.7 KAZI FM, 94.7 KAMX FM (The Mix), 101 KASE FM, 107.7 KTND FM (The End)/KAHK (The Hawk), 105.9 KFMK FM (Jammin’ Oldies), 102.3 KPEZ…
Mr. Smarty Pants
The amygdala triggers fear response.Queen Elizabeth introduced the dog breed of “dorgi” when one of her corgis mated with a dachshund belonging to her sister Princess Margaret. QE has had more than 30 corgis over the years.The World Health Organization estimates that about 450 million people suffer from mental and behavioral disorders.Marilyn Monroe wore a…
Spotlights: David Bridie
Down under comes up top.
Phases and Stages
Caitlin CaryWhile You Weren’t Looking (Yep Roc) While You Weren’t Looking proves that Ryan Adams isn’t the only talented ex-member of Whiskeytown. On her first full-length disc, Caitlin Cary, who played fiddle and Emmylou Harris to Adams’ Gram Parsons, displays a noteworthy talent for writing songs and then singing them in a way that’s distinctive…
Phases and Stages
The X-ecutionersBuilt From Scratch (Loud/Columbia) Live, the X-ecutioners set new highs in the art of turntablism. Built From Scratch does not achieve such goals. Instead, BFS takes the listener on a routine 68-minute “journey into sound,” collecting a windshield full of gunk that can later be wiped off with a quick swipe of a squeegee.…
SXSW Live Shots
Bukka Allen Ruta Maya, Thursday 14 They may have taken most of the other worldly funkiness out of the newly renovated Ruta Maya Coffee House, but for this show at least, local pianist/songwriter Bukka Allen managed to get some grit back in the place. Allen was backed by some of the best players in Austin:…
Naked City
Between setting the ballot for the city charter election (see p.18) and voting third reading on the Villas zoning (see p.23), City Council set themselves up for a contentious agenda next week, March 20-21. There’s no meeting this Thursday, the 13th. Austin Energy is currently removing fuel oil from two tanks at the Holly Power…
TV Eye
Not only does reality television keep on trucking, it’s getting better and better.
Musician of the Year
RUNNERS-UP: Eric Johnson, Monte Montgomery, Jimmie Vaughan, Jimmy LaFave, Kevin Fowler, Champ Hood, Alejandro Escovedo, Guy Forsyth, Patrice Pike, Chopper, A.J. Vallejo, Ian Moore, Sara Hickman, Davíd Garza, Toni Price, Willie Nelson, Jon Dee Graham, Pat Green, Terri Hendrix
Best Rock
RUNNERS-UP: Vallejo, Pushmonkey, Alien Love Child, Powderburn, Damesviolet, Bob Schneider, Endochine, The Box Socials, Shade
Best Songwriter
RUNNERS-UP: Eric Johnson, Jimmy LaFave, Shelley King, Bruce Robison, Terri Hendrix, Chopper, Kevin Fowler, Monte Montgomery, Vallejo, Ginger Mackenzie, Alex Ruiz, Sara Hickman, Slaid Cleaves, Patrice Pike
Best Record Producer
RUNNERS-UP: Lloyd Maines, Three Days, Pat Green; Songs We Wished We’d Written Cory Morrow, Buy One, Get Eleven Free the Groobees; Gurf Morlix, Gravitational Forces Robert Earl Keen, Eternal & Lowdown Ray Wylie Hubbard, American Breakdown Troy Campbell; Charlie Sexton: Essence, Lucinda Williams, Been a Long Time Double Trouble; Jimmie Vaughan, Do You Get the…
To Your Health
I plan to visit the Northeast this summer and I worry about Lyme disease. How can I avoid getting bitten by ticks, and are there nutrients that would help if I do get Lyme disease?
Spotlights: the Polyphonic Spree
The new rage, choir pop.
SXSW Picks & Sleepers
Saturday Sleepers SHEILA NICHOLLS: This Essex, England, singer-songwriter’s first introduction to America came while living in a commune on a school bus in an empty lot in Philly. Then she went Hollywood. Now, she records for Hollywood Records, and counts producer Glen Ballard as the ultimate Hollywood accessory. The pair collaborated on a tune for…
Phases and Stages
The DamnationsWhere It Lands (Joy-Ride) Alt.country. There. Now that’s said, this can be said, and said honestly: Austin’s Damnations have made that term meaningless with this, the long-awaited follow-up to 1999’s much-loved Half Mad Moon. As ever, country and rock & roll are the life force flowing beneath the flesh of their music. But no…
Phases and Stages
MonoUnder the Pipal Tree (Tzadik) After years of being derided as Slint and My Bloody Valentine rip-offs, Mogwai now has their own school of imitators. They’re coming from the Far East even. Listening to Mono’s debut, Under the Pipal Tree, the similarities to the Glaswegians, who put instrumental crescendo-rock on the map, are obvious. Apparently…
SXSW Live Shots
La Mafia, Grupo Control, Palomo Town Lake, Thursday 14 For those of you new to things Tejano, let me fill you in on what makes a good Tex-Mex/Tejano music event. First, if it’s free, orale, pack up the kids, your abuela, the wife, and your tio, who probably says he’s too tired from work, but…
Naked City
On March 7, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted the Hemp Industries Association’s motion for a stay of the federal Drug Enforcement Agency’s controversial “interpretive rule” banning the sale of hemp-derived food products. Adopted by the DEA in October 2001 without public notice or comment, the draconian rule claims that food products derived…
Naked City
Some 175 customers of Hill Country Water Supply Corp. went without water for at least 10 hours last week after a Longhorn Pipeline contractor broke a HCWSC water line. Customers had to boil water after repairs were made to ensure the water’s safety. Longhorn officials said the break occurred last Wednesday afternoon, near U.S. 290…
Album of the Year
RUNNERS-UP: El Bitché, Pushmonkey; Texoma, Jimmy LaFave; Do You Get the Blues?, Jimmie Vaughan; Here to Jackson, Harris & Ryden; Damesviolet, Damesviolet; Wishing Well, Monte Montgomery; Girls Can Tell, Spoon; Beer, Bait, & Ammo, Kevin Fowler; Brothers of the Castle, Del Castillo; A Man Under the Influence, Alejandro Escovedo; Damn, It’s Early, Various Artists; Flight,…
Best Roots Rock
RUNNERS-UP: Harris & Ryden, Shelley King Band, Jimmy LaFave, The Gourds, Monte Montgomery, George DeVore, The Resentments, Damnations, LeRoi Bros.
Best Strings
RUNNERS-UP: Champ Hood, fiddle; Marc Gunn, autoharp; Will Taylor, viola; Warren Hood, fiddle; Brian Standefer; Amy Farris, violin; Cody Braun; Erik Hokkanen; Roberto Riggio
Best Record Store
RUNNERS-UP: Cheapo Discs, Jupiter Records, Thirty Three Degrees, Tower Records, Sound Exchange, Wherehouse Music, ABCD’s, Antone’s Record Store, Alien Records
Day Trips
Space Center Houston turns an introduction to NASA and the space program into a maze of videos and interactive games. The official welcome center for the Johnson Space Center, Space Center Houston mixes play with learning in an unstructured, fun environment. Commonplace now, the first dozen rocket launches from Cape Canaveral and Cape Kennedy astounded…
Spotlights: Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Yeah Yeah Yeahs, yeah yeah.
SXSW Picks & Sleepers
Sunday Picks POISONED POLICY, OBSTRUCTION, THE DISTRESSED, DELECHO, CATSCRATCH: This youthful lineup represents part two of SXSW’s local teen bands showcase. These Next Wave music makers run the gamut from the well-established Distressed to upcomers Catscratch, who are as informed by Slim Harpo as the Donnas. It’s all pure rock punk-pop for now people. Kiss…
Phases and Stages
Don WalserDare to Dream: The Best of Don Walser (TMG/Lone Star) After countless nights at Threadgill’s and Jovita’s, tours, government awards, and even an appearance on the Grand Ole Opry, it’s high time a comprehensive Don Walser anthology came out. After all, Walser’s a Texas country music institution. For genre enthusiasts or just Lone Star…
Phases and Stages
TeamUSAListen to the Night (Startime International) It’s hard to imagine a band like TeamUSA hailing from NYC, so it’s no surprise that the quartet first came together in St. Louis. TeamUSA’s brand of unrequited romantic pop is far from cool, unless your idea of cool is one embarrassing, crash-and-burn lesson in love after another. High…
SXSW Live Shots
Rivulets The Drink on 6th, Thursday 14 It was just one dude with a guitar. It was a little devastating at first, because Rivulets’ debut on Low’s Chairkickers Union label is so chock-full of atmosphere, desolation, and beauty, it had to have been the work of more than just one man. Then again, it’s no…
Naked City
Sheriff Margo Frasier will be singled out Saturday night — and she’s just grateful it won’t be for overpopulated jail cells, her biggest headache of late. Instead, Frasier will be one of three honorees at the black-tie dinner of the Human Rights Campaign, an annual fundraiser that mixes posh with politics. The HRC’s local gay…
Naked City
According to the Sierra Club, gas-powered lawn and garden equipment is responsible for between 5%-10% of the total air pollution in urban areas, contributes to the formation of ground-level ozone (smog), and can adversely affect public health. To address these environmental challenges in Austin, the CLEAN AIR Force of Central Texas, with support from Austin…
Best Single
RUNNERS-UP: “Bike Vs. Truck,” Kissinger; “Call of My Heart,” Toni Price; “Tired,” Ginger Mackenzie; “Paris,” Damesviolet; “Never Is a Moment,” Jimmy LaFave; “Mine to Waste,” Pushmonkey; “In the Garden,” Double Trouble; “Beer, Bait, & Ammo,” Kevin Fowler; “Castanets,” Alejandro Escovedo; “Flat 13,” Patrice Pike & Black Box Rebellion; “Wishing Well,” Monte Montgomery; “If These Walls…
Best Tejano/Conjunto
RUNNERS-UP: Texana Dames, Aztex, Los Pinkys, Flaco Jimenez, Los Texas Wranglers, Ruben Ramos, Little Joe y la Familia, Conjunto Aztlan, Johnny Degollado
Best Acoustic Venue
RUNNERS-UP: Saxon Pub, Flipnotics, Lucky Lounge, Momo’s, Ruta Maya, Antone’s, Stubb’s, Empanada Parlour, Shady Grove
About AIDS
Could HIV Deliver Gene Therapy Into Cells? HIV is dangerous because of its devious ability to enter our cells and, once there, to insert its genetic material into our own. However, researchers at Harvard and MIT have taken advantage of that and used HIV to deliver a therapeutic gene to the bone marrow, where blood…
Spotlights: Tift Merritt
O Brother, Where Art Thou? label about to hit it again with alt.country phenom-to-be, Tift Merritt
Dancing About Architecture
Steamboat returns, SXSW looms closer.
Phases and Stages
The Pine Valley Cosmonauts The Executioner’s Last Songs (Bloodshot) The Pine Valley Cosmonauts is another bastardization by founding Mekon and Waco Brother Jon Langford. A few years back, the Welsh-born Chicago resident fashioned the PVC to produce interpretive tributes to Johnny Cash and Bob Wills, but as the title to the group’s third LP implies,…
SXSW Live Shots
How Much Does Music Matter? Austin Convention Center, Thursday 14 The unpredictability of music has been evident throughout generations, mainly due to society’s influx and handling. Has this generation really utilized the significance of music? Were we on the right path to discovering its full capabilities, or was 9/11 the key to understanding the catalyst?…
SXSW Live Shots
Holly Golightly Emo’s Jr., Thursday 14 It may have been a cool spring evening outside, but Emo’s Jr. was steamed up like August by the time Holly Golightly took the stage. Having put in four years with Billy Childish in Thee Headcoats, Golightly’s pedigree is garage rock, but her solo material owes more to postwar…
Naked City
Last week the City Council approved a zoning change on second reading for the Villas on Guadalupe student housing complex near the Drag, but stalled on the third and final reading. The Villas developers seek an ultra-dense (multifamily) MF-6 zoning designation, but Mayor Pro Tem Jackie Goodman requested additional information from city staff comparing MF-6…
Naked City
Last week, residents of the East Cesar Chavez Neighborhood Plan area held a workshop on improving pedestrian safety around Sanchez Elementary School featuring Trans Texas Alliance consultant, nationally recognized expert, and bicycle enthusiast Charlie Gandy. Residents learned practical and inexpensive ways to reduce cut-through traffic from the northbound I-35 frontage road in their neighborhood, as…
Song of the Year
RUNNERS-UP: Chopper for “Bike Vs. Truck,” Kissinger; Chris Maresh for “Rain,” Alien Love Child; Beaux Loy, Zak Loy for “Paris,” Damesviolet; Jimmy LaFave for “Never is a Moment,” Jimmy LaFave; Alejandro Escovedo for “Castanets,” Alejandro Escovedo; Kevin Fowler for “Beer, Bait, & Ammo,” Kevin Fowler Band; Howie Behrens, Pat Fogarty, Darwin Keys, Tony Park, Will…
Best Traditional Mexican/Latino
RUNNERS-UP: La Tribu, Grupo Fantasma, Tish Hinojosa, Cerronato, Los Texas Wranglers, Mariachi Estrella, Lourdes Perez, Son y No Son, Trio Los Vigilantes
Best All Ages Venue
RUNNERS-UP: Antone’s, The Metro, Stubb’s, La Zona Rosa, Flipnotics, The Backroom, Cactus Cafe, The Backyard, Broken Spoke, Central Market, Black Cat, Flamingo Cantina, The Vibe, Austin Music Hall, Jovita’s, The Mercury, Hill’s Cafe, Gruene Hall, Artz Rib House
After a Fashion
The Texas Film Hall of Fame honors the legs that launched a thousand clips — Texas legend Cyd Charisse, and your Style Avatar is off and running in the SXSW sweepstakes.
Spotlights: Masonic
Local psychedelic popsters Masonic get it together.
Ins & Outs & All-Abouts
As I write this, it’s only Monday — again, see our daily papers for the latest updates — but so far, here’s the dish on last minute music fest ch-ch-ch-changes. Freddy Fender, who as this column recently related had a kidney transplant, decided to convalesce a bit longer and is out of the SXSW showcase…
Phases and Stages
Big Jack JohnsonThe Memphis Barbecue Sessions (M.C.) What hath R.L. Burnside wrought? A much-needed appreciation for bare-bones, no-frills blues, something Big Jack Johnson knows a thing or two about. The Clarksdale, Mississippi guitarist has spent enough of his life as a truck driver to get out of the frying pan and into the studio fire,…
SXSW Live Shots
Good Singin’ Good Playin’ — Songwriter’s Panel Austin Convention Center, Thursday 14 The topic of songwriting is so multifaceted that any discussion of it could last for days. This panel did a good job of covering the basics, touching on subjects like inspiration, the nuts and bolts of publishing, and why the panelists chose songwriting…
Riding the Tech Titanic
Austin looks for recovery after the dot-com bust.
Capitol Chronicle
A right-wing mailout stirs up a firestorm among Texas’ Republican legislators.
Best Alternative/Punk
RUNNERS-UP: Pushmonkey, Dynamite Boy, Cruiserweight, Pong, Vallejo, Damesviolet, Kelvin, Isola, Rubberhed
Best World Music
RUNNERS-UP: La Tribu, Cadaques Sambaxe, Brobdingnagian Bards, Teye & Viva El Flamenco, Oliver Rajamani, Govinda, The Gypsies, Tosca
Best Band Website
RUNNERS-UP: Eric Johnson, Ericjohnson.com; Damesviolet, Damesviolet.com; Pushmonkey, Pushmonkey.com; Vallejo, Vallejomusic.com; Del Castillo, Delcastillomusic.com; Brobdingnagian Bards, Thebards.net; Schrödinger’s Cat, S-cat.com; The Eggmen, Eggmen.com; Harris & Ryden, Harrisandryden.com
After a Fashion
MUSIC, MUSIC, MUSIC It was Austin Music Awards time again — and was, as usual, a night to remember. Hostess and Producer, my beloved sister, Margaret, put on a dynamite show (once again), with the glitterati of Austin music present. Margaret, of course, looked divine, and always makes such a sweet moment of thanking me…
On Your Radio
Besides live appearances onstage, the myriad acts in town for the SXSW music fest will be doing their best to be seen and heard via whatever mediums are available. Keep your TVs tuned to the local newscasts, the Austin Music Network, and the local cable access channels, all of which will be concentrating heavily on…
Phases and Stages
Lift to ExperienceThe Texas-Jerusalem Crossroads (Bella Union) Christian space rock. Lone Star emo. Confession-booth shoegazer. There’s never been a band like Lift to Experience, no doubt about it. The album cover is goofy, and the idea sounds cracked: a 2-CD concept-album debut about Texas being the promised land, released on a British label (run by…
SXSW Live Shots
What? Avoiding and Treating Hearing Loss Austin Convention Center, Thursday 14 Joni Mitchell said it best when she sang, “You don’t know what you got when it’s gone,” and that couldn’t be more accurate in terms of the delicate mechanisms that carry sound to your brain. Once your hearing is shot, that’s it, and that…
Hightower Brings Thunder To Austin
Jim Hightower’s Rolling Thunder Down-Home Democracy Tour promises to energize activists in a carnival atmosphere .
Austin @ Large: Austin at Large
The City Council prepares to decide which charter amendments go before the voters.
Spotlights: The Kingsbury Manx
Four mysterious school buddies get down to the Pink Floyd
SXSW Live Shots
Hey! That’s My Song Austin Convention Center, Wednesday 13 With only a few scraps of commercial radio not bought and sold by high-dollar independent promoters on behalf of the five major labels, stations to the left of the dial represent the last, best hope for non-affiliated artists seeking airplay. This panel brought together a potluck…
SXSW Film Reviews
Actor’s Workshop: Jeffrey Tambor Austin Convention Center, San Jacinto Sunday, March 10, 3:30pm Hey now, so you want to be a better actor? Jeffrey Tambor has some advice for you: Be passionate. Be brave. Be yourself. Be human. Tambor came to his workshop sans agenda, choosing the Zen approach of letting the day be governed…
Spotlights: Norah Jones
Dallas-schooled AAA ingénue Norah Jones ain’t jazz; she’s a little bit country.
SXSW Live Shots
Attracting Media Attention Austin Convention Center, Wednesday 13 If a band gigs in the forest and no journalist is around to hear them, do they make a sound? Moderator Jim Fouratt offered this panel as a “nuts and bolts” information session for entry-level bands gigging in the trenches and hoping to catch the eye of…
SXSW Film Reviews
ZigZag D: David S. Goyer; with Sam Jones III, John Leguizamo, Wesley Snipes, Natasha Lyonne, Oliver Platt. Narrative Feature Competition, World Premiere David S. Goyer (screenwriter, Blade, Blade 2, The Puppet Masters) makes a wide U-turn from his earlier effects-dependent work in his directorial debut, ZigZag. Adapted by Goyer from the novel by Landon J.…
Spotlights: Acid Mothers Temple/Mono
Two Japanese noise-rock bands descend on SXSW
SXSW Live Shots
The Governor Salutes Texas Music La Zona Rosa, Wednesday 13 Just moments after giving a cigarette to a homeless person half a block away, you are greeted with nearly unctuous friendliness by the registration folks at Governor Perry’s shindig. An embarrassing array of hors d’oeuvres are available for your enjoyment as you wait for Junior…
Scenes From a Correction
Chad Biggs was crowned the Sexiest Geek Alive 2002 Tuesday, March 12, beating out 12,000 contestants, including the eight finalists who posed down in a pageant on the SXSW Interactive Trade Show floor. Last-minute addition and tech-world buzz magnet Masaki Yoshikawa (NTT DoCoMo) spoke Tuesday, March 12, about wireless data business models and the future…
Spotlights: Schatzi
Local poppers, not art-rockers Schatzi
SXSW Live Shots
NARAS Reception Driskill Hotel Ballroom, Wednesday 13 “I promise I won’t do a Grammy speech here.” That was one of the first things out of Michael Greene’s mouth Wednesday night, which was too bad from a news-mongering standpoint. The Recording Academy President and CEO really stirred the pot with his televised rail against illegal downloading…
SXSW Live Shots
South by Soup Fest Caritas of Austin, Wednesday 13 At first glance, it could’ve been any other pirate showcase or opening day party. There were singer-songwriters, media, and the irritating buzz of back-of-the-room chatter. There was also the ubiquitous free grub; not Mexican or barbecue, but soup, egg sandwiches, glazed doughnuts, and single-serving cups of…
Blog to the Future
Where P2P might be taking journalism, or not
SXSW Live Shots
Cutthroats 9 Emo’s, Wednesday 13 Yeah, it’s rock & roll, but who ever said it has to be fun? Not the Unsane. The NYC noise rawkers made a 10-year career out of plumbing the deep, dark, frightful secrets of the city that never sleeps. The results were always loud, full of life, and at times…
Learning to Play Nice
SXSW Interactive panelists discuss the future of the tech industry. A lot.
SXSW Live Shots
The Cancer Conspiracy Emo’s Jr., Wednesday 13 In order to compete with the big sound of larger outfits, trios need to have three things: compelling arrangements, aptitude, and convincing atmospherics. In one of the first sets of SXSW 02, the Cancer Conspiracy, a Burlington, Vt.-based threesome, possessed all three, albeit with some problems. “We’ve had…
State of Independents
Content and design at SXSW Interactive
SXSW Live Shots
Areola 51 Room 710, Wednesday 13 Leo Fender had a great idea with the Stratocaster guitar back in the Fifties. It combined tonal versatility with sturdy maple-and-ash construction. Its sweet clang gave its sonic signature to tunes by Buddy Holly, Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and countless others. In the hands of former…
Cyborgs, smart leotards, and the info-pocalypse
SXSW panelists discuss the potential futures of tech.
SXSW Live Shots
Turtleheads Mercury, Wednesday 13 Where do these oxymorons get off confusing the crowd with contextually cockamamie verses that would never be said literally? Beginning by stating that they’re “the worst hip-hop group in Austin,” the duo of manipulating minds made a mockery of what it means to be an MC, and they took it seriously.…
The Beauty of DIY
Josh Davis and Praystation.com
SXSW Live Shots
The Boggs Red Room, Wednesday 13 It must be heartbreaking to travel halfway across the country for a major showcase and then have a sound system not cooperate. That’s exactly what happened to the Boggs. A Brooklyn quartet that takes its name from legendary folksinger/banjo player Dock Boggs, they attempt old-time music with a youthful,…
SXSW Film Reviews
What we think about what you’re watching.
Second Helpings: Breakfast Ole!
Where to find the best huevos rancheros, migas, and other tasty Mexican breakfast items in Austin.
SXSW Live Shots
Mink Lungs Red Room, Wednesday 13 Not to be too critical, and purely for the benefit of future SXSW patrons, but if you’re the sound guy and you can’t hear any vocals, isn’t there a knob somewhere you should turn up? That’s no joke, as the person next to me expressed surprise halfway into the…
SXSW Film Reviews
Chelsea Walls D: Ethan Hawke; with Rosario Dawson, Vincent D’Onofrio, Kris Kristofferson, Tuesday Weld. Narrative Feature Special Screenings, Regional Premiere Adapted from the play by Nicole Burdette, Chelsea Walls is a breathtaker, a magnificent, stunning, remarkably human piece of filmmaking (actually shot on miniDV) that succeeds in creating the stifling, groping ambience of love and…
Second Helpings: Downtown Coffeehouses
Downhome coffeehouses in today’s “Second Helpings.”
SXSW Film Reviews
Get Well Soon D: Justin McCarthy; with Vincent Gallo, Courteney Cox, Jeffrey Tambor, Tate Donovan, Anne Meara. Narrative Feature Special Screenings, Regional Premiere The SXSW programmer introduced the film with the usual promotional spiel, calling Get Well Soon “a great film,” to which co-star Jeffrey Tambor, also in attendance, corrected with his patented dry wit:…
The Insider: Lorraine Ali
Who: Lorraine Ali Why She’s Important: Lorraine Ali covers music as an editor at Newsweek. She previously contributed to Rolling Stone and GQ, while also serving as a Los Angeles Times columnist. This is her seventh SXSW. “When I started coming here, I stayed on friends’ floors and couches,” recalls Ali. “I eventually graduated to…
SXSW Film Reviews
Master of the Game D: Jeff Stolhand; with Uygar Aktan, Garry Peters, Steven Prince, David Stokey. Narrative Feature Special Screenings, World Premiere If you can believe — or suspend your disbelief — that a bored group of Nazi officers would on a dare submit their lives and authority to a captured American Jew, this claustrophobic…
Austin Music Awards
Austin Music Hall, Wednesday 13 It was set to be the perfect show. The lineup for the 20th anniversary of the Austin Music Awards was balanced to represent the broad diversity of the Austin music scene, pulling together artists that made up its past and hope to be its future. From openers the Snobs, a…
SXSW Film Reviews
Prizewhores D: Jenn Garrison. Documentary Special Screenings You can’t get something for nothing — or can you? George and Chris Donehue, Randy Spiros, and Steve Bezdek, four quirky but likeable folks, defy that adage by constantly trolling Austin radio stations’ remote broadcasts for promotional giveaways. They’ve won everything from free movie tickets and albums to…
Spotlight: Caitlin Cary
Fiddler Caitlin Cary strikes out on her own after Whiskeytown goes into the drink.
SXSW News
Please Don’t Eat the Dailies As I sit here typing up this column for the first of the Chronicle’s SXSW 02 dailies, the Austin Music Awards are just beginning, fittingly enough, at the Austin Music Hall. There, members of the Austin music community are applauding the best, or at least most popular, Austin musical acts.…
SXSW Film Reviews
Raging Dove D: Duki Dror. Documentary Feature Competition, U.S. Premiere A man who wants to use fighting to bring peace — that’s the paradox of Johar Abu Lashin, an Israeli Arab who becomes a boxing champ in the U.S. and wants to leverage that prestige into a string of matches in his homeland that he…
Spotlights: Okkervil River
Local folk-popsters look for the doom in their Wheaties
SXSW Live Shots
Crash Course: Contracts Austin Convention Center, Wednesday 13 It wasn’t a surprise that half the crowd from the preceding “Crash Course” on management fled the room before the session on contracts began. That’s because recording contracts are boring and tedious and full of Byzantine legal terminology that kids who just wanna rock can’t be bothered…
SXSW Film Reviews
Spellbound D: Jeff Blitz. Documentary Feature Competition, World Premiere For good, old-fashioned American drama, it doesn’t get much better than Jeff Blitz’s Spellbound. You’ve got your competition — in this case, the National Spelling Bee. You’ve got your competitors — eight kids of various backgrounds, from the chichi California suburbs to the D.C. projects. And…
SXSW Film Winners
SXSW announces its 2002 Film Awards winners.
SXSW 2002 Web Awards
This year’s Earl Award winners
