VOTE NOW IN THE AUSTIN MUSIC POLL

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St. Elmo’s Fire

St. Elmo’s Fire 1985, 110 min. Directed by Joel Schumacher, Starring Emilio Estevez, Demi Moore, Rob Lowe, Andrew McCarthy, Judd Nelson. In this Brat Pack classic, seven friends, recent college graduates, search for their place in the real world, as they face issues of career and commitment. A true monument to the Eighties.

by Chronicle Staff

City Arts Funding: The Resolution

The three-act drama about city arts funding that opened Sept. 13 came to a calm close on Thursday, Oct. 4, as City Council approved the FY 19 funding recommendations that the Arts Commission and Cultural Arts Division staff heroically reformulated over an intense seven days. Pretty much everyone involved in this year’s Cultural Contracts process…

by Robert Faires

Sunday ACL Fest 2018 Record Reviews

Stirring a thrilling brew of funk, cumbia, merengue, psych-rock, Afrobeat, and hip-hop on debut Suelta, Superfónicos offers remarkable stylistic variety in six songs. The local octet peaks on “El Miedo,” painting traditional Colombian merengue with funky flourishes, frontman Jaime Ospina’s gaita flute front and center. The slinky, sax-fueled “Ethiopian Dust” nods at jazz giant Mulatu…

by Thomas Fawcett

Sunday ACL Fest 2018 Record Reviews

These four Seattle women answer prayers for a distaff Led Zeppelin tribute that plays originals. Thunderpussy wields Odin’s hammer like they were born to the task, and have received the endorsement of no less a stadium god than Pearl Jam’s Mike McCready for their troubles. Singer Molly Sides purrs far more appealing than Robert Plant’s…

by Tim Stegall

Mr. Smarty Pants Knows

Andy Warhol collected cookie jars. In 2014, 50% of 30-year-old Americans made more than their parents. In 1970, 92% of 30-year-olds made more than their parents, according to economist Raj Chetty. An endangered Polynesian bird, the megapode, lays and incubates its eggs in ground warmed by volcanic heat. It’s possible that dinosaurs did the same.…

by Mr. Smarty Pants

Sunday ACL Fest 2018 Record Reviews

Afie Jurvanen’s fourth LP notches irresistible, almost defiantly chill grooves. Although opener “Alone” floats low on a Bill Callahan vocal, the album defines behind the rhythm section for D’Angelo’s Black Messiah, Pino Palladino and James Gadson, who lend the recording a sly and cool funk ethos, laid-back but invigorating. “Opening Act (The Shooby Dooby Song)”…

by Doug Freeman

Sunday ACL Fest 2018 Record Reviews

There’s a reason Mendes’ third album is self-titled. The 20-year-old Canadian rose to fame singing covers on Vine and up until this album played catchy, somewhat mediocre pop hits. Now, with the help of producers John Mayer and Ryan Tedder (Paul McCartney, Adele), he’s graduated his diary entries into fully dimensional/confessional string ballads. Groovier tracks…

by Isabella Castro-Cota

Headlines

Dive Right In: No City Council meeting today, Oct. 11, but you can connect with favorite council members in their swimming skivvies at Barton Springs Pool, where a quorum will be participating in the annual pool tour and cleanup. Now Go Home: After recovering from ACL, Council returns to regular business Oct. 18, when the…

by Chronicle Staff

Sunday ACL Fest 2018 Record Reviews

In his expertly curated third major-label LP Astroworld, Houston-area native Travis Scott realizes the breadth of his abilities. The rapper/producer’s best attributes lie in his high-level facility to collect and reassemble voices and sonics the way a fashion designer organizes a runway show. The album’s trap-psych spaciousness blends so that most of Astroworld plays out…

by Kahron Spearman

Friday ACL Fest 2018 Record Reviews

For Bright Light Social Hour frontman Curtis Roush, sorrow sparked Cosmic Campfire Music, a solo project that feels at once intensely intimate and slightly distant. Following a breakup and the death of BLSH manager Alex O’Brien, Roush sought solace in Marfa. The results are beautiful in that West Texas way – sparse, quiet, expansive, unhurried.…

by Thomas Fawcett

Friday ACL Fest 2018 Record Reviews

Natalie Prass’ second album takes inspiration from classic pop songwriting while imagining a new future. Though grounded in the warm-bath soul of the Seventies and slick pop of the Eighties, the Cleveland native and producer/childhood pal Matthew E. White give the tracks an electronic gleam and rhythm-focused arrangements, letting her breathy soprano soar. Soulful single…

by Michael Toland

Soccer Watch

Texas-OU Weekend, Part 2. This Friday evening at 7pm, the Texas Longhorns try to get back in the win column against Oklahoma in a homecoming game, after going 1-2-1 in four straight road games over the last two weeks. They gave up two goals in a three-minute span late at West Virginia in their last…

by Nick Barbaro

A Public Defender’s Office in Travis County?

County commissioners are expected to continue deliberations on the feasibility of a public defender’s office on Tuesday, Oct. 16, after signaling in April that a change could be coming to the county’s system for providing criminal defense to those who can’t afford it on their own. Since 2014 the county has provided representation in both…

by Chase Hoffberger

Michael Galvan Wants to Go to Trial … Quickly

Michael Galvan has been in the Travis County Jail since May 24, when he was indicted for the 1979 cold case murder of 19-year-old Debra Sue Reiding – and now he’d like to get on with things. The 65-year-old has a pretrial hearing on Thursday, Oct. 25, so that District Judge Brad Urrutia can consider…

by Chase Hoffberger

Saturday ACL Fest 2018 Record Reviews

Rising to notoriety behind Tim McGraw hits, the viral self-deprecation of “Asshole,” and as Kacey Musgraves’ husband, Ruston Kelly makes a more official mark with debut LP Dying Star. The Nashville-based artist plays stylistic chameleon, from the pop swell of “Cover My Tracks,” vocoder ballad “Son of a Highway Daughter,” contemporary country hook of “Mockingbird,”…

by Doug Freeman

Does the U.S. Pastor Council Have a Right to Discriminate?

The right-wing group behind last year’s anti-transgender “bathroom bill” is now targeting Austin. The Houston-based U.S. Pastor Council filed suit in federal court on Saturday, Oct. 6, against the city of Austin, Mayor Steve Adler, and Sareta Davis, chair of the Austin Human Rights Commission, to secure what they see as their right not to…

by Mary Tuma

Saturday ACL Fest 2018 Record Reviews

Returning from a short hiatus while frontman Dave Simonett became Dead Man Winter, Trampled by Turtles’ eighth studio effort picks up without lag. Although the eclectic Duluth, Minn., string act leads with barn-burning fiddle and blazing bluegrass speed on “Kelly’s Bar,” the album rides the sextet’s harmony-touched ballads. “We All Get Lonely,” “I’m Not There…

by Doug Freeman

City Slickers

How the state’s most influential conservative think tank works to undermine our local control

by Mary Tuma

ACL Eats Vendor List 2018

Amy’s Ice Creams This local crew has been folding up handcrafted ice creams and vegan fruit ices for 34 years. See the Food Fight!www.amysicecreams.com Austin’s Pizza You can’t go wrong with some simple pepperoni or cheese slices from a hometown favorite.www.austinspizza.com Bananarchy Revolutionary Desserts Frozen bananas dipped in chocolate are practically a health food.www.bananarchy.net Blenders…

by Chronicle Staff

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