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Tower

Austin-made doc re-creates the UT Tower massacre with stunningly powerful immediacy

by Marc Savlov

Texas Platters

Local alt.country songstress Mandy Rowden ignites a pounding, mid-tempo groover called “Let Me In” at 1000 Miles’ start. Its bed of guitars set a tone ranging from “raunchy-yet-well-mannered” to “maximum twang,” manned in part by Austin’s great Alan Durham, who provides a perfect cushion for Rowden’s dusky alto and scalpel-sharp pen – aimed here at…

by Tim Stegall

Texas Platters

A list of artists who’ve released an album with a similar title runs from Alan Jackson to Mike Ness. In Dale Watson’s hands, it’s not just an opportunity to record favorite covers and pump out something to sell at the merch table. These songs have been part of his set lists for years. With his…

by Jim Caligiuri

Quote of the Week

“We’re tired of our two-party system. We’re tired of the ways politicians treat us.” – Ashely “Flashe” Gordon, Travis County Green Party co-chair, during a campaign stop with presidential candidate Jill Stein

by Chronicle Staff

F1 Pits Comrade vs. Comrade

Remember when Formula One smashed into Austin in 2012, and all the maneuvering to put the U.S. Grand Prix at the end of the season, away from the hottest months? Mid-80s and blue skies is hardly the bleak depths of winter, but it’s ideal conditions for possibly the most challenging race since the sport returned…

by Richard Whittaker

Texas Platters

Paul Cauthen walked away from Sons of Fathers just as the roots-country Austin duo began gaining broader traction. Now, his solo debut proves the move a step in the right direction. My Gospel lives on Cauthen’s low and soulful croon, opening with the declaration “Still Drivin'” in a hard-charging rhythm reminiscent of Waylon Jennings. “I’ll…

by Doug Freeman

Soccer Watch

The Texas Longhorns play their final two home games of the season this weekend, facing Texas Tech at 7pm Friday, and top-ranked West Virginia at 5pm Sunday. The Horns lost, 2-0, at Iowa State on Friday, to fall to 7-7-1, but just 0-4-1 in the Big 12; they almost surely need at least one win…

by Nick Barbaro

Texas Platters

Nubile and lacking pretense, Austin blues singer/guitarist Jackie Venson lays plain her strengths and weaknesses on her live debut, the rock/reggae-tinged Live at Strange Brew. “Show My Light” elucidates her many qualities right out of the gate, vacillating between ends. While its lyrical content lacks punch, she showcases an innate ability to keep moving, peppering…

by Kahron Spearman

Texas Platters

“They call her all-beef Patty/ She’s got her eye on my daddy.” So opens the title track of Folk Uke’s third LP, setting an irreverent tone that both exemplifies the duo of Amy Nelson and Cathy Guthrie, and belies their songwriting talents. Assembling a crack band – Mike Stinson, Randy Weeks, and the Jayhawks’ Marc…

by Doug Freeman

Mr. Smarty Pants Knows

First marketed in 1889, the 78 rpm record is closer to the Civil War than it is to today. They were phased out by 1960. Rob Zombie directed a recent Woolite commercial. When burned, selenium gives off a smell like horseradish. Selenium, the chemical element with symbol Se and atomic number 34, was discovered accidentally…

by Mr. Smarty Pants

Texas Platters

An Austin music scene fixture for over two decades, iconoclast percussionist Thor Harris counts CV highlights spanning Shearwater to Swans. A half-dozen instrumental LPs already behind him, this self-titled debut from his new ensemble joins him with fellow mallet enthusiasts Sarah “Goat” Gautier and Peggy Ghorbani. Together, they brew a stew of marimbas, vibraphones, and…

by Michael Toland

Texas Platters

Left wheelchair bound at 19, Hector Ward has proved a formidable bandleader, commanding the horn-revved ninepiece Latin big band with a throaty growl. The locals’ third album leads with its title, Evolution, the 22-track live record bottling Saxon Pub performances 2010-14 like a locomotive through the eclectic tapestry of 2009’s Freightline Funk and genre amalgam…

by Alejandra Ramirez

Texas Platters

“Wash It Away,” lead track from the provocatively titled Fuck With Sad Girls, Bonnie Whitmore’s third effort, starts low. Just her on bass. What builds from there becomes a full-fledged anthem with gospel chorus and waves of orchestral strings that match the song’s oceanic theme. Even so, the pop-inflected title track will likely get the…

by Jim Caligiuri

Texas Platters

Reckless Kelly’s ninth studio outing finds the Austin quintet confronting 20 years together and contemplating a successful career that’s never quite broken into more mainstream attention. The band acknowledges as much with the guitar roar and sarcasm of “Radio” (“You want the money and the fame and the sold-out shows/ You gotta get on the…

by Doug Freeman

Early Voting

Nov. 8 General Elections: Early Voting Oct. 24 – Nov. 4 Travis County voters may vote at any precinct polling place in Travis County. Voter ID: Texas law requires registered voters to show one of seven valid, current photo IDs issued by either the Texas Dept. of Public Safety or U.S. government. No photo ID…

by Chronicle Staff

Texas Platters

Citing John & Yoko’s 1969 Wedding Album, Casual Strangers’ third disc pays tribute to both its principals’ recent marriage and the LP that inspired it, beginning with its carefully duplicated cover. Unlike its precursor, however, this Wedding Album contains actual music. Written and recorded at home – and tweaked by Frenchie Smith at the Bubble…

by Michael Toland

All Endorsements

Read why we’re endorsing these candidates. And don’t forget – you can’t use your cell phone in the voting booth, so print this page ahead of time or pick up the latest issue of the The Austin Chronicle on newsstands now City of Austin Austin City Council District 2: Delia Garza District 4: Greg Casar District…

by Chronicle Staff

Texas Platters

Acoustic albums usually eschew excessive ornamentation to reveal songs and instrumentation at their most bare. Worshipped for his Stratocaster work, Eric Johnson’s proven himself in this alternate arena with naked instrumentals popping up on his LPs since 1990’s major label breakthrough Ah Via Musicom. In his first album dedicated to unplugging, the titular EJ strips…

by Michael Toland

Texas Platters

New Mexico native Dickie Lee Erwin has been kicking around Austin for 38 years, since arriving here, reportedly, with “a guitar, a banjo, a dog, and a girlfriend.” He insists he still owns the guitar and banjo, the latter plucking out the intro to the Beatles’ “Strawberry Fields Forever” at the start of “Given Up,”…

by Tim Stegall

The Hightower Report: A Political Party Worth Joining

The best political party in America is not the Dems or the Repubs, but a real party named “Fighting Bob Fest.” It’s a daylong outdoor political festival run by a coalition of Wisconsin progressives who believe in “putting the party back in politics.” Held in Madison every September, Bob Fest not only features give-’em-hell speechifying…

by Jim Hightower

Texas Platters

The jewel case promises “songs of mass destruction” and “political musical mayhem since 1984,” but these stark political times are only made grimmer by Rockin’ the Republicans. Neither of the two parties are capable of offering a candidate worth a good goddamn, no third party will ever have a chance in hell of winning a…

by Tim Stegall

Headlines

In the Grove: City Council met Wednesday evening with the CodeNEXT Advisory Group working on the land-use ordinance rewrite, and meets today (Oct. 20) for a relatively brief agenda that might be dominated by a preliminary review of, and first reading vote on the Grove at Shoal Creek planned unit development. Hold that PUD: Multiple…

by Chronicle Staff

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