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ACL Music Fest 2013 Friday Reviews

Wild Nothing Empty Estate (Captured Tracks) Jack Tatum’s Wild Nothing project has been on a notable winning streak. Since debuting in 2010 with Gemini, a winsome, guitar-pop glide programmed entirely on Garage Band in the college town of Blacksburg, Va., his amber voice and deft songwriting have kept him defiantly in the spotlight. Last year’s…

by Luke Winkie

ACL Music Fest 2013 Sunday Reviews

Band of Heathens Sunday Morning Record (BOH) Band of Heathens’ fourth studio effort shouts change! Since releasing last year’s 2-CD set The Double Down: Live From Denver, there’s been a shuffle in personnel, with the only remaining original members being bandleaders Gordy Quist and Ed Jurdi, who are now joined by a new drummer, Richard…

by Jim Caligiuri

ACL Aftershows, October 11-13

Friday 11 Junip, Valerie June, Antone’s STRFKR, Bear Mountain, Chrome Sparks, Emo’s Mark Farina, Blockhead, Little People, DJ Mel, Haven Roadkill Ghost Choir, Lamberts Savages, Parish Wilco, Stubb’s, SOLD OUT Saturday 12 Noah & the Whale, Brazos Hall Franz Ferdinand, Smith Westerns, Frankie Rose, Emo’s Twin Forks, Matrimony, Holy Mountain Typhoon, Lamberts, SOLD OUT The…

by Chronicle Staff

ACL Music Fest 2013 Friday Reviews

Thao & the Get Down Stay Down We the Common (Ribbon MUsIC) After spending the lion’s share of her 20s pumping out and promoting albums, Thao Nguyen tethered herself to San Francisco for four years. We the Common, her third release with the Get Down Stay Down, finally reflects that sense of place, stretching nuance…

by Abby Johnston

ACL Music Fest 2013 Saturday Reviews

Autre Ne Veut Anxiety (Mexican Summer) Arthur Ashin, the New Yorker behind the moniker Autre Ne Veut, might be the anti-pop Prince. Delivered with the same raw sexuality as the Purple One but without Mr. Nelson’s radio-friendly hits, Anxiety has a healthy appetite for evasiveness, an intimately layered R&B disc that never lets the listener…

by Abby Johnston

Pulling Strings

This bilingual romantic comedy hopes to follow in the footsteps of the U.S. box-office sensation Instructions Not Included.

by Louis Black

ACL Aftershows, Oct. 3-10

THURSDAY 3 The Bright Light Social Hour, Reignwolf, Walker Lukens, Emo’s Luminox, Loudpvck, Haven Aaron Behrens & the Midnight Stroll, BattleMe, Nic Armstrong, Stubb’s inside FRIDAY 4 Haim, Ms Mr, Antone’s, SOLD OUT Grouplove, the Mowgli’s, Emo’s Fidlar, the Orwells, Not in the Face, Holy Mountain SOLD OUT Wild Belle, Lamberts, SOLD OUT Wild Nothing,…

by Chronicle Staff

Sunday Local Limits

Not in the Face (11:20am, Austin Ventures stage) East Texan Jonathan Terrell & Co. play heavy, heartfelt rock & roll like their lives depend on it. Band of Heathens (12:20pm, Austin Ventures stage) And then there were two in this electric Americana staple: Gordy Quist and Ed Jurdi. Divine Fits (4:30pm, Honda stage) Spoon frontman…

by Kevin Curtin

ACL Music Fest 2013 Sunday Reviews

Atoms for Peace Amok (XL) Thom Yorke broke from Radiohead for 2006’s The Eraser, a haunting solo album of fractured beats, glitchy ballads, and unsettling paranoia. Named after a Dwight Eisenhower speech, Atoms for Peace – Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea, studio drummer Joey Waronker, Brazilian percussionist Mauro Refosco, and Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich…

by Austin Powell

ACL Interview: Parquet Courts

Like most addictive rock albums, Light Up Gold by Parquet Courts succeeds on ample-but-equal amounts of finger-popping familiarity and just-baked freshness. The quartet’s second album ably conjures the canvas-slashing spirit of vintage Lower East Side art-punk, but their stream-of-consciousness lyrics seethe with the nervous energy of modern day post-adolescence. “Lyric writing starts just as indiscriminate…

by Greg Beets

ACL Interview: Fidlar, Part Two

Fidlar, the L.A. skate-punk quartet whose eponymous debut took the party-boy world by storm this winter, made it quite clear that their first order of business is getting twisted beyond belief on whatever they can find. We talked to Brandon Schwartzel about what it’s like to get faded on tour. Austin Chronicle: You’ve been on…

by Chase Hoffberger

ACL Music Fest 2013 Friday Reviews

Holly Williams The Highway (Georgiana) The daughter of Hank Williams Jr., and thus the granddaughter of Hank Sr., Holly Williams lives in the shadow of a powerful legacy. Never shying away from that fact, the Nashville singer makes music to fit her own existence, and her third LP The Highway contains some of Williams’ most…

by Jim Caligiuri

Bad Milo!

In this gross but smart comedy from Jacob Vaughan, a man’s stress grows into a monster that explodes from his rectum.

by Marc Savlov

ACL Music Fest 2013 Sunday Reviews

Shuggie Otis Inspiration Information/Wings Of Love (Epic/Legacy) Best known for writing “Strawberry Letter 23,” a hit for the Brothers Johnson in 1977, the reclusive Shuggie Otis surprised everyone with this 2-CD set: his final studio album, 1974’s Inspiration Information expanded with four bonus tracks, plus Wings of Love, a planned follow-up featuring 14 tracks recorded…

by Jim Caligiuri

Oops!

In the ACL supplement’s Food feature, “Feeding the Beast,” the Chronicle incorrectly reported that vendors at the HOPE Farmers Market were given free booth space; in fact, HOPE vendors paid for their booth space. The Chronicle regrets the error.

by Chronicle Staff

ACL Interview: Sons of Fathers

Six months ago, Sons of Fathers were running the South by Southwest marathon, promoting sophomore effort Burning Days – released on their own Blanco River Music – through a combination of juggernaut live shows and tidy plots to get the discs into listeners’ hands. They gave away copies at shows, then enacted a social media…

by Melanie Haupt

ACL Music Fest 2013 Friday Reviews

Smith Westerns Soft Will (Mom + Pop) The rough, joyous garage pop of Smith Westerns’ 2009 debut matured into glam-soaked hooks on the Chicago quartet’s sophomore LP, Dye It Blonde, and now Soft Will rises even higher into the hazy cosmos. Aptly titled, the album lulls with gentle transitions and such a smooth ebb and…

by Doug Freeman

Saturday Local Limits

Bobby Jealousy (11:15am, Austin Ventures stage) Fusing baroque-pop flamboyance, Nineties rock infectiousness, and old-school Austin weirdness, Bobby Jealousy’s songs of love and death will drive you wild. Max Frost (Noon, Austin Ventures stage) 21-year-old multi-instrumentalist croons on rap tracks and writes soul pop reminiscent of Cee Lo Green. True Believers (4pm, Zilker Tent stage) The…

by Kevin Curtin

Sunday Local Limits

Aaron Behrens & the Midnight Stroll (11:15am, Honda stage) The new rock & roll project from Ghostland Observatory’s bombastic frontman. Band of Heathens (12:20pm, Austin Ventures stage) And then there were two in this electric Americana staple: Gordy Quist and Ed Jurdi. Peterson Brothers Band (4pm, BMI stage) Kinfolk chemistry reigns in the heavy blues…

by Kevin Curtin

ACL Music Fest 2013 Sunday Reviews

Typhoon White Lighter (Roll Call Records) Imagine if Conor Oberst was raised in Arcade Fire’s Suburbs and backed by Polyphonic Spree’s Fragile Army. That’s a starting point for Portland, Ore.’s Typhoon, a sprawling 12-piece indie-rock ensemble led by songwriter Kyle Morton. To grasp the scope of the band’s third LP, however, late HBO drama Six…

by Austin Powell

ACL Music Fest 2013 Saturday Reviews

Kings of Leon Mechanical Bull (RCA) Now rolling into their second musical decade, the Followill clan has perfected its brand of Southern rock to the point of hook-laden arena anthems. Yet as 2010’s Come Around Sundown demonstrated, they also revel in unraveling radio expectations even as they exploit them. The Nashville quartet’s sixth LP finds…

by Doug Freeman

ACL Interview: Haim

The Haim siblings went from five-year perma-locals to festival circuit veterans in a year. After a spring and summer playing the usual suspects – Glastonbury, Reading, Leeds, Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo – the Southern California natives opened for Rihanna in France, then headed their own European tour. When I spoke with Alana Haim, she still had 17…

by Abby Johnston

ACL Music Fest 2013 Sunday Reviews

Neko Case The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight, The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You (Anti) Not that long ago, Neko Case was hypercritical of her songwriting. On The Worse Things Get …, it’s obvious she’s moved beyond that into a place of her own, where comparison to other songwriters proves…

by Jim Caligiuri

Kid Rock

Lemme guess. You haaaaaate it when people bring their kids to ACL. The nerve! In my short time as a father, I’ve learned there are two basic kinds of kids’ music – that which recognizes adults also have to listen, and that which makes you want to shove Legos in your ears. Thankfully, there’s plenty…

by Thomas Fawcett

ACL Music Fest 2013 Friday Reviews

Blind Boys of Alabama I’ll Find a Way (Sony Masterworks) Formed at the Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind the same year Germany invaded Poland, the Blind Boys of Alabama are nothing short of an American institution. The gospel legends spent four days holed up in a snow-covered Wisconsin cabin with Justin Vernon of Bon…

by Thomas Fawcett

ACL Interview: Parquet Courts, Part Two

With Light Up Gold, New York’s Parquet Courts started with a crateload of post-punk touchstones and emerged with a treatise in sync with the anxieties of our time. Exiled Texan guitarist/vocalist Andrew Savage spoke to us from England about the quartet’s creative process. Austin Chronicle: When did the theme of Light Up Gold begin to…

by Greg Beets

Blue Caprice

Blue Caprice 2013, R, 93 min. Directed by Alexandre Moors, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Isaiah Washington, Tequan Richmond, Tim Blake Nelson, Joey Lauren Adams, Cassandra Freeman, Leo Fitzpatrick. The acts of random violence in Blue Caprice tap into a collective fear of the unfathomable. Over a three-week period in October 2002, 10…

by Steve Davis

ACL Music Fest 2013 Sunday Reviews

Phoenix Bankrupt! (Glassnote) “1901” was released as a single on Feb. 23, 2009. On Dec. 19, it entered the Billboard Hot 100 at a modest No. 90. It’s been a slow climb, but nothing halts Phoenix. The French quartet’s fifth album, Bankrupt! will inevitably be judged in the shadow of Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix’s underdog glory,…

by Luke Winkie

The Gospel Truth

If you have a gap in your must-see schedule this weekend, take a stroll to the gospel tent. With shade, seating, and relatively small crowds early in the day, it rarely disappoints. This year’s stable of praise singers arrive headlined by the mighty Blind Boys of Alabama, who’ve been spreading the good word since Franklin…

by Thomas Fawcett

ACL Interview: Lionel Richie

Born in 1949, Lionel Richie grew up in Tuskegee, Ala., at the height of racial tension in the Deep South. “It was the best of the best of the best,” replies the voice that launched a long string of million-sellers, a surprising answer even from the perpetually sunny pop star. The velvet-voiced 64-year-old lived on…

by Thomas Fawcett

ACL Music Fest 2013 Friday Reviews

Vampire Weekend Modern Vampires of the City (XL) Vampire Weekend has referred to Modern Vampires of the City as the final installment in a trilogy of LPs. You can trace the progression in “Everlasting Arms” and “Finger Back,” which introduce a few wrinkles to the band’s steam-pressed Afro-pop. Yet the New Yorkers’ third album also…

by Austin Powell

ACL Interview: HAIM, Part Two

Despite the recent release of debut full-length Days Are Gone and whirlwind touring slated through mid-December, San Fernando Valley’s Haim still takes time to geek out for Lionel Richie. The three sisters bring Nineties-soaked rock to a second weekend at Zilker. We caught up with the “baby,” Alana Haim. Austin Chronicle: How’s it going? Alana…

by Abby Johnston

Foraging Near Zilker

1) Chuy’s With hubcaps, colored lights, and a velvet Elvis, this is Austin-style Tex-Mex at its tacky, funky best. It’s almost always busy, but the chips and creamy queso are worth the wait. 1728 Barton Springs Rd. 2) Baby Acapulco South Great enchiladas and multi­flavored margaritas that should come with warning stickers: “Muy bueno!” 1628…

by Chronicle Staff

Options for Allan: What & When?

Lease it, teach in it, or give it to admin. On Sept. 23, AISD Superintendent Meria Car­star­phen laid out three groups of options for the former Allan Elementary campus. Each comes with potential costs and savings, but the biggest difference is in the timeline. Trustees want to find a use before the new school year…

by Richard Whittaker

ACL Interview: Jimmy Eat World

You may not have realized it, but Jimmy Eat World are veterans. Releasing albums since 1994, they’ve built a legacy out of Arizona’s secluded Mesa and cemented their artistic cred early in the new millennium with the classic one-two punch of Clarity and Bleed American. This year’s Damage arrived bitter, clean, and freshly wounded. They’ve…

by Luke Winkie

ACL Music Fest 2013 Friday Reviews

Arctic Monkeys AM (Domino) The Arctic Monkeys’ creative tailspin of the past five years has validated the proclamation made by the band’s 2006 breakthrough: Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not. The identity crisis reaches a boiling point on AM, with Prince song titles (“R U Mine?”), Black Sabbath scale (“Arabella”), and the…

by Austin Powell

ACL Interview: True Believers, Part Two

True Believers, Austin’s legendary guitar army from the Eighties, finds themselves in reunion mode, playing some of their best shows ever and even writing new tunes. Here’s some conversation with Troob Alejandro Escovedo. Austin Chronicle: I know you’ve performed at ACL as a solo artist. How do you feel about playing big festivals? Alejandro Escovedo:…

by Jim Caligiuri

Parkland

The events surrounding the assasination of JFK are witnessed through the eyes of those who were there in this made-in-Austin film.

by Marjorie Baumgarten

ACL Music Fest 2013 Sunday Reviews

Toro y Moi Anything in Return (Carpark) Three albums in, Chaz Bundick’s solo project Toro y Moi has leapfrogged blissy, computer-fog peers, and now sounds less and less like a hypothetical band. January’s Anything in Return feeds an audio dopamine drip – synchronized, compartmentalized, and gorgeously sequenced chilled-out funk. Lead single “Say That” drops roots…

by Luke Winkie

Quote of the Week

“Lemmings with suicide vests.” – Rep. Devin Nunes, R-California, describes his fellow Republicans forcing the government shutdown

by Chronicle Staff

ACL Interview: Shinyribs

Nothing screams “Austin” more than migas with Kevin Russell at Cisco’s. Best known as co-frontman of iconic Austin jokesters the Gourds, Russell blends right in at the Liars’ Club table in the legendary Austin Tex-Mex breakfast joint, sitting beneath a sign that reads “Seat of Worship” while serious men in old photographs look on. Instead…

by Chronicle Staff

ACL Music Fest 2013 Friday Reviews

Depeche Mode Delta Machine (Columbia) In algebra you learned that delta stands for change, but 33 years into their career, Depeche Mode’s done with the next step. Rather, this Delta Machine refers to the Mississippi variety, throwing back to the kind of electronic blues the UK threepiece perfected with Alan Wilder on 1990’s Violator. David…

by Abby Johnston

ACL Interview: JD McPherson, Part Two

One recently recorded surprise, Signs & Signifiers, introduces former grade school art teacher JD McPherson. Steeped in rockabilly, guitarist/vocalist/songwriter McPherson, bassist/producer Jimmy Sutton, and drummer/keyboardist Alex Hall didn’t attempt to re-create Sun Records. Instead, they so accurately re-created the sound of Chess Records’ R&B that you’d swear it was mono! McPherson took time from recording…

by Tim Stegall

ACL Music Fest 2013 Sunday Reviews

JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound Howl (Bloodshot) Howl, the third album from Chicago’s JC Brooks, is a deliberate departure from the throwback R&B of previous efforts, a raw, heart-on-the-sleeve breakup album every bit as indie rock and punk as it is soul, which turns out to be as much a detriment as the album’s…

by Thomas Fawcett

Exhibitionism

Tina Howe’s satirical study of the people viewing a contemporary art exhibit becomes a fast, over-the-top romp at St. Ed’s

by Adam Roberts

Texas Platters

Plenty of musicians boast weighty degrees, but for 22-year-old Sarah Jarosz, the intent went deeper. Despite fears that academia might stomp out her fiery bluegrass style, the Austin-born/Wimberley-woodshedded mandolin prodigy enrolled in Boston’s New England Conservatory of Music and never looked back. Build Me Up From Bones calls on the same whimsical picking that earned…

by Abby Johnston

ACL Interview: The National

At their 2010 taping for the Austin City Limits television show, the National subverted the dramatic, melancholy pall of their music with a determinedly joking and irreverent set. It revealed not only a keen self-awareness of their reputation and ethos, but also how the Brooklyn quintet has successfully matured within the expectations of their brooding…

by Doug Freeman

ACL Interview: Dawes, Part Two

Southern California’s Dawes released third album Stories Don’t End in April. Their Seventies melodies and shimmering harmonies have led some to compare the quartet to Crosby, Stills & Nash. Lead singer/songwriter Taylor Goldsmith responded by email. Austin Chronicle: You’ve been touring heavily since the new album came out. Must be nice to be young. Or…

by Jim Caligiuri

Exhibitionism

At its best, this program of five choreographers riffing on ‘Heart’ pulled me in and provoked me to deeper exploration

by Jonelle Seitz

ACL Interview: JD McPherson

“We wanted to make an album that sounded exactly as if it had been recorded at [New Orleans legend Cosimo Matassa’s studio] J&M or Chess Records or someplace.” So explains JD McPherson of Broken Arrow, Okla., about how a former punk rocker made a period-perfect 1956 R&B disc, Signs and Signifiers. The album was reissued…

by Tim Stegall

ACL Music Fest 2013 Saturday Reviews

The Joy Formidable Wolf’s Law (Atlantic) Reviving the massive echoes of 2011 debut full-length The Big Roar, this Welsh trio’s second LP won’t work if heard at anything less than the farthest notch right on the volume knob. That said, while Wolf’s Law will undoubtedly shame you off of Spotify, it lacks the full weight…

by Abby Johnston

ACL Interview: Divine Fits, Part Two

Last year, Britt Daniel made waves around Austin when he announced that he was taking a break from longtime local heroes Spoon to start a new band called Divine Fits – which promptly released A Thing Called Divine Fits and toured the country. On the eve of their own hiatus – Daniel’s currently recording Spoon’s…

by Chase Hoffberger

ACL Music Fest 2013 Sunday Reviews

Franz Ferdinand Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action (Domino) “We will soon be rotten,” sings Alex Kapranos in a telling lyric from “Fresh Strawberries,” the fifth track into Franz Ferdinand’s fourth LP. “We will all be forgotten/half remembered rumors of the old.” Nine years back, this Scottish quartet was bright and young and rightly celebrated…

by Tim Stegall

Texas Platters

For a style built on eardrum-blasting guitars, thundering rhythms, and teenage male fantasies of cars, swords, and sex bombs, metal has lost its sense of fun. Not that art can’t fit amongst power chords, but it wouldn’t emasculate the practitioners of head-banging to crack a smile. Happily, Austin’s American Sharks provide the antidote to a…

by Michael Toland

Headlines

› City Council meets today (Thursday) with an agenda that includes vexed questions like extending rental registration regs to more neighborhoods. See “Council: Still Biking After Midnight.” › APD Chief Art Acevedo on Sept. 27 fired Officer Justin Boehm for his use of deadly force during a routine traffic stop this spring. Boehm fired at…

by Chronicle Staff

ACL Interview: Divine Fits

Red River flipped on end last August when Spoon frontman Britt Daniel, who’d headlined festivals and played venues as large as Madison Square Garden, pulled into town and plugged into the soundboard at Beerland. Capped at 150, the show doubled as the smallest public (and Austin) crowd to assemble in Daniel’s presence this millennium. And…

by Chase Hoffberger

Friday Local Limits

Dana Falconberry (12:20pm, Austin Ventures stage) Earthy, deep, orchestral folk-pop from a detail-oriented optimist. Asleep at the Wheel (Noon, AMD stage) The charismatic kings of Western swing have been the first main stage band at every ACL. Grace London (2:30pm, Austin Kiddie Limits) An eccentric mix of Regina Spektor and Jack White, by a 13-year-old.…

by Kevin Curtin

ACL Interview: The National, Part Two

The National frontman and lyricist Matt Berninger reveals the truth behind the Brooklyn quintet’s melancholic sound and playing with those expectations on their sixth LP, Trouble Will Find Me. Austin Chronicle: You guys seem to have a very keen self-awareness of the perception of the band’s musical moodiness and thus play with that on the…

by Doug Freeman

ACL Music Fest 2013 Sunday Reviews

The Lone Bellow The Lone Bellow (Descendant) This Brooklyn trio traffics in polished acoustic country, but not the glitzy, corporate Nashville kind. The self-titled debut from Zach Williams (guitar/vox), Kanene Donehey Pipkin (mandolin/vox), and Brian Elmquist (guitar/vox) explores the tensions inherent to love and its unpredictable swings from high to low, sublime to greasy. The…

by Melanie Haupt

Texas Platters

Over the course of decades as a solo act, Bill Kirchen has recorded for a variety of labels, most of which are out of business. Many of his previous recordings are therefore unavailable. To remedy this comes Seeds and Stems, a collection of his best known songs re-recorded with his current band. Kirchen certainly hasn’t…

by Jim Caligiuri

Hornography

While Texas used their latest bye week to mend the rash of injuries that have hamstrung the Longhorns since opening week, the cacophony questioning the program’s viability cranked up – with subversive helpings from several iconic Longhorns. Head coach Mack Brown appeared on The Dan Patrick Show on Sept. 27 to orchestrate some coast-to-coast damage…

by Russ Espinoza

ACL Music Fest 2013 Friday Reviews

Latasha Lee & the BlackTies With this eponymous 10-track digital release, Latasha Lee & the BlackTies instantly vaunt into the upper echelon of local R&B acts. Lee demonstrates a penchant for sweet throwback soul while carrying herself with B-girl swagger, and that balance of old and new feels just right. Sure, the Gulf Coast import…

by Thomas Fawcett

ACL Music Fest 2013 Saturday Reviews

Portugal the Man Evil Friends (Atlantic) For their last few years of ubiquity, Portugal the Man still managed to sneak up on me. The Portland, Ore., quintet built a reputation in the most organic of ways, releasing a lot of music over a long period of time. Never breathlessly reviewed, and only recently owning any…

by Luke Winkie

ACL Interview: The Dynamites feat. Charles Walker

The spirit of Sixties soul runs deep on Love Is Only Everything, the third album from the Dynamites featuring Charles Walker. We spoke with veteran soul singer Walker and Dynamites guitarist/bandleader Bill Elder from their Nashville base. Austin Chronicle: How did you come up with a direction for the new album? Bill Elder: The first…

by Greg Beets

Brit Face Off: Depeche Mode vs. the Cure

Depeche Mode Fri., 8pm, AMD stage Years active: 33 Hometown: Basildon, Essex Current members: Dave Gahan, Andy Fletcher, Martin Gore Height of the lead singer: 5 feet 11 inches Number of albums: 13 Career high point: The World Violation Tour Number of Grammy nominations: Five Musical weapon of choice: Virus TI keyboard Notable ex-members: Alan…

by Abby Johnston

ACL Interview: Jon Spencer Blues Explosion

“It was only about three years where we didn’t play at all,” says Jon Spencer, explaining his Blues Explosion’s recently broken absence. “But it’s been eight years since a studio album. Meat & Bone came out last year. “At least for me, I wanted to do different kinds of music.” Namely rockabilly, with fellow New…

by Tim Stegall

Texas Platters

Four years after her last LP, this fiery-haired former Dallasite returns with a snap, crackle, and romp that breathes new life into the familiar tropes of roots revivalism. Fronting cover art that doesn’t recall a Fifties pulp novel, Follow Me expands on Lenz’s previous work with a mix of maturity, depth, and zing, beginning with…

by Greg Beets

Soccer Watch

The UT Longhorns (8-3-1) got off to a great start in Big 12 play last weekend, beating TCU, 2-0, and Iowa State, 3-1. They face a tough road trip this weekend, though, playing at West Virginia Friday night, then heading to Lawrence, Kansas, for a 1pm Sunday match with the Kansas Jayhawks. And then (how…

by Nick Barbaro

ACL Music Fest 2013 Friday Reviews

Savages Silence Yourself (Matador) Like its British brethren, Savages draws strength from Seventies post-punk in all its angular, dissonant, melodic glory. On the London quartet’s debut Silence Yourself, the group whips up a storm of aggressive rhythms, strident vocalizing, and six-string sheen as if the succeeding pop trends never happened and Gang of Four and…

by Michael Toland

ACL Music Fest 2013 Saturday Reviews

Lissie Back to Forever (Fat Possum) Although Lissie’s initial EPs pigeonholed her as a singer-songwriter, the dusky, soulful pop of her full-length debut, 2010’s Catching a Tiger, pushed her sound well beyond folk roots without sacrificing the effectiveness of her powerful vocals. Sophomore album Back to Forever pushes that trajectory even further afield, the Illinois…

by Doug Freeman

ACL Interview: Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Part Two

It seemed to happen out of nowhere, Meat & Bone, the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion’s first disc in eight years. Their ACL tent revival of blues and punk remains invigorating as hell. Having taken time off from JSBX to explore rockabilly in Heavy Trash with Matt Verta-Ray, Spencer was eager to talk punk rock blues…

by Tim Stegall

What About This Two Weekend Deal?

Good morning, Punxsutawney. Rise and shine, campers. It’s 6am and that was Sonny & Cher with “I Got You Babe.” Don’t forget your sunscreen, ’cause it’s waaarm out there today. It’s warm out there every day! And you know, you can expect travel delays today with that, you know, that ACL thing. And you know,…

by Raoul Hernandez

ACL Interview: Fidlar

A rough life you live when you’re lamenting the ways in which touring’s obstructing your ability to hang out. “That’s kind of the bummer, and the thing that most people don’t understand about touring bands,” says Fidlar bassist Brandon Schwartzel. “We actually have to get to other places and do it all over again every…

by Chase Hoffberger

Texas Platters

Although he’s originally from Lubbock, not a hint of Texas twang comes from JoDee Purkeypile. The former Alice Rose frontman’s second solo effort continues his fascination with power pop. That Messenger does so with a jolt of originality makes him among the leaders in a genre that thankfully refuses to die. While decidedly rooted in…

by Jim Caligiuri

Mr. Smarty Pants Knows

Gene Pitney was one of the first American musicians to play on a Rolling Stones record. He played piano on “Little by Little” from their debut album. It’s not uncommon for all gas stations in the same town in Ontario to charge the same amount of money per gallon of gasoline. Same in some towns…

by Mr. Smarty Pants

Friday Local Limits

The Preservation (11:20am, Austin Ventures stage) Sunny pop harmonies, folk-y depth, and gorgeous rock led by former Weary Boys’ singer Mario Matteoli. Asleep at the Wheel (Noon, Lady Bird stage) The charismatic kings of Western swing have been the first main stage band at every ACL. Sons of Fathers (12:20pm, Austin Ventures stage) Timeless roots…

by Kevin Curtin

ACL Interview: True Believers

True Believers 4pm, Zilker Tent stage They’ve performed the occasional reunion show over the decades, but when the True Believers got together last year to play the memorial for South By Southwest Creative Director Brent Grulke something felt different. “It’s really different,” explains Alejandro Escovedo, perhaps the best-known member of the band. “Not only are…

by Jim Caligiuri

ACL Music Fest 2013 Saturday Reviews

Junip Junip (City Slang) This Swedish folktronic band has long been back-burnered to guitarist José González’s solo career, yet this year’s self-titled follow-up to 2010’s Fields provides solid evidence that the six-stringer’s most interesting work takes place under the Junip umbrella. “Line of Fire,” a slow-burning bit of mood building, sets the tone for the…

by Melanie Haupt

The Luv Doc: Faking It

Dear Luv Doc, Last night, I asked my boyfriend if he wanted to watch Mad Men on Netflix (I know, we just started watching it September) and he said he “needed to do some stuff on the computer.” He NEVER needs to do stuff on the computer and watching Mad Men has been one of…

by The Luv Doc

Barton Springs Pool Info

Beastly heat? Torrential rain? Or, dare we tempt fate, nothing but blue skies? You never know what kind of weather will greet ACL Fest, but this much is a given: In any and every kind of weather, Barton Springs is a good place to be. Fed by underground springs and chillin’ at a constant 70…

by Chronicle Staff

ACL Music Fest 2013 Sunday Reviews

MS MR Secondhand Rapture (Columbia) Lizzy Plapinger and Max Hershenow did what countless Brooklynites have done: They started a Tumblr. They steadily released what would eventually become debut Secondhand Rapture without revealing their identity. Now that the secret and their full-length is out, Ms Mr may not have the occult-like mystique they initially created, but…

by Abby Johnston

Abortion Rights Lawsuit Filed Against State of Texas

On Friday, Sept. 27, reproductive rights advocates filed a federal lawsuit against the state of Texas on behalf of abortion providers across the state. The suit challenges two significant provisions of House Bill 2, the omnibus anti-abortion law enacted this summer during the second special legislative session. The lawsuit was filed against Attorney General Greg…

by Jordan Smith

Saturday Local Limits

Whiskey Shivers (11:15am, Austin Ventures stage) Barefoot quintet raises hell, glasses, and your spirits with their good-natured thrashgrass. My Jerusalem (Noon, Austin Ventures stage) Big Easy transplants, fronted by the belligerently entertaining local Jeff Klein. “Postmodern Southern Gothic soul.” Mother Falcon (12:30pm, Austin Kiddie Limits stage) Austin’s indie orchestra teams up with children’s entertainer Tim…

by Kevin Curtin

ACL Interview: Dawes

When California band Dawes taped an episode of Austin City Limits a few weeks ago, singer Taylor Goldsmith pulled one of the gutsiest moves ever recorded for television. In the middle of “When My Time Comes,” he stopped singing and turned the microphone on the audience. The response was a full-throated sing-along that was electrifying.…

by Jim Caligiuri

ACL Music Fest 2013 Saturday Reviews

Valerie June Pushin’ Against a Stone (Concord) Valerie June’s official debut manages a tour de force. Born in rural Tennessee between Memphis and Nashville, her music inhabits an extraordinary blend of the country, blues, and soul between the two music scenes and still remains thoroughly modern thanks to co-production from Dan Auerbach. “Workin’ Woman Blues”…

by Doug Freeman

Gravity

Sandra Bullock is lost in space – alone with the beauty, terror, and the laws of gravity.

by Marc Savlov

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