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Dante’s Inferno

Dante’s Inferno 1911, NR, 68 min. Directed by Giuseppe de Liguoro, Francesco Bertolini, Adolfo Padovan, Starring Salvatore Papa, Arturo Pirovano, Giuseppe de Liguoro. Early Italian silent film.

by Chronicle Staff

Drácula

Drácula 1931, NR, 104 min. Directed by George Melford, Enrique Tovar Ávalos, Starring Carlos Villarías, Lupita Tovar, Barry Norton. This version of Bram Stoker’s enduring vampire story was shot at the same time and on the same sets as Tod Browning’s more famous Dracula starring Bela Lugosi, but at night and with a different cast…

by Chronicle Staff

Sunday ACL Fest 2019 Record Reviews

The soulful debut from Kaina Castillo plays out like a sigh – of exhaustion, of comfort, of knowing. Her warm voice guides the R&B elegance of Next to the Sun, delving into everything from its author’s experiences as a first generation Chicagoan to simple childhood crushes. Lullaby-esque “House” opens with a plain-spoken assertion of immigrant…

by Libby Webster

Friday ACL Fest 2019 Record Reviews

First Raconteurs LP since 2008, Help Us Stranger moves garage-punk polymath Jack White from the Sixties to the Seventies. And from the sounds of things, he, Brendan Benson, Jack Lawrence, and Patrick Keeler did it in Z/28 with an 8-track player and a hash pipe. Opening the Detroiters’ third LP, “Bored and Razed” echoes Cheap…

by Tim Stegall

Sunday ACL Fest 2019 Record Reviews

Moving on from the brokenhearted pop promise of 2016’s Nothing’s Real, Alexandra Denton finds a lush, long-distance love connection on her sophomore collection. The British songwriter eases up on synth-pop urgency for spirited disco and cinematic instrumental moments. Single “Religion (U Can Lay Your Hands on Me)” worships at the altar of lust for a…

by Rachel Rascoe

Friday ACL Fest 2019 Record Reviews

Indebted to impassioned rockers Tom Petty and Bruce Springsteen, English northerner Sam Fender muscles out anthemic blazers underpinned with New Wave urgency and guitar rock grit on full-length September bow Hypersonic Missiles. In true Boss homage, the album brims with elegy in tapping Brexit ennui (“White Privilege”), grim acceptance (“Dead Boys”), and explosive sensuality (“You’re…

by Alejandra Ramirez

Sunday ACL Fest 2019 Record Reviews

Rosalía Vila Tobella’s potent and arresting second album marries the Spanish artist’s decade-plus of flamenco music study with contemporary forms. Pop and hip-hop, her favorite cars and motorcycles, arresting vocal runs, hypnotic Andalusian guitars, and cinematic strings with vocoders; El Mal Querer delivers the deep history of marginalized groups like the Romani to the world…

by Christina Garcia

Friday ACL Fest 2019 Record Reviews

On third LP Almost Free, L.A. grunge punks Fidlar transition from reverb-heavy riff jolts of yore like “Alcohol” to a dance groove such as “By Myself.” Taking a page from the Beastie Boys and inspiration from both SoCal gentrification and homogenization of his hometown neighborhood in Hawaii, lightning rod Zac Carper loosens a colonizer call-out…

by Alyssa Quiles

Sunday ACL Fest 2019 Record Reviews

Melissa Jefferson’s near three-year wait for a debut album on Atlantic proved worthwhile. Third LP Cuz I Love You collects anthems that makes its intent crisply clear from the onset with a naked Lizzo sat on its cover. The 31-year-old bares herself and parlays stereotypical insecurities into liberating strengths, hurling bombs of empowerment. Kick drums,…

by Derek Udensi

Friday ACL Fest 2019 Record Reviews

Following 2017 breakout Purgatory, Childers’ third LP feels like a proper introduction. The Kentucky songwriter scours his hometown hollers as setting for his characteristic hardscrabble ballads (“Creeker”), tender memories (“Bus Route”), and sly humor (“Ever Lovin’ Hand”). Sturgill Simpson returns for adventurous and at times psych-tinged production, but Childers feels noticeably more comfortable in his…

by Doug Freeman

Headlines

Dark Casa: City Council’s 100-Item agenda (for today, Thu., Oct. 3) looks onerous but is contract- and zoning-heavy. There might be fuss over Visit Austin’s budget proposal (a potential target for anti-Convention Center rhetoric), a couple of eminent domain cases, and an appeal of occupancy and fire permit denials for Casa de Luz concerning code…

by Chronicle Staff

Friday ACL Fest 2019 Record Reviews

Fourth album by ex-Rilo Kiley frontwoman Jenny Lewis, On the Line opens with a stanza that summarizes the entire album: “Even though we were just friends/ I think of us as bookends/ And I’m gonna love you ’til I die.” Those three lines set the tone for her most ambitious album yet. While personal, it…

by Isa Jones

Quote of the Week

“[Gov. Abbott] hates trees because one fell on him.” – Travis County Judge Sarah Eckhardt at the Texas Tribune Festival, explaining why state GOP leaders might look askance at a local Austin tree ordinance. While the crowd laughed, Eckhardt later apologized for the tasteless reference to Abbott’s disability, saying, “While the Governor and I disagree…

by Chronicle Staff

Mr. Smarty Pants Knows

Due to the lack of humidity, clothes almost always dry faster indoors. But if it’s windy, hot, and sunny, clothes may dry faster outside. However, almost nothing damages clothing’s color as much as UV rays. Cats use the tips of their tongues to pull water upward. They close their jaws before gravity pulls the water…

by Mr. Smarty Pants

A Timeline of Collegiate E-Sports in Texas

2017 Fall semester: University of North Texas invests $200,000 in its e-sports program, including a practice facility housed in UNT’s media library. 2018 Fall semester: UT-Dallas opens its varsity e-sports program after receiving a $100,000 donation to convert two rooms into the 24-seat Sector 7 Energy E-Sports Gaming Arena. 2019 January: Concordia University Texas announces…

by Derek Udensi

Saturday ACL Fest 2019 Record Reviews

The Alabama Shakes mainspring’s first solo release showcases R&B borne of a dark, introspective place, grooving like a 35-minute scream into a pillow. Most striking is the secular gospel of “He Loves Me,” which maintains God’s love despite Brittany Howard’s drinkin’/smokin’ ways. The ambient funk of “Goat Head” muses on growing up mixed race: “Who…

by Tim Stegall

Saturday ACL Fest 2019 Record Reviews

“This whole album might be a quarterlife crisis,” bursts Judah Akers at the outset of Judah & the Lions’ third LP. The Nashville trio blasts toward anthemic folk-pop, but as with 2016’s Folk Hop N’ Roll, they combine the worst elements from various genres. Pep Talks is all catharsis, with a barrage of racing lyrics…

by Doug Freeman

35 of the City’s Best Food Vendors Are Ready to Take Your Order at ACL Music Festival

Amy’s Ice Creams This local crew has been folding up handcrafted ice creams and vegan fruit ices for 35 years. 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

Saturday ACL Fest 2019 Record Reviews

Like a comet, Billie Eilish’s hype with viral single “Ocean Eyes” seemed fleeting, burning white-hot into the stratosphere. Yet this meteoric and confident debut crash lands into pop’s landscape and renders its bubblegum topography a hellish teenage wasteland. Under a white-hood glare and manic grin, the Los Angeles singer lurches into a sleep paralysis haunt…

by Alejandra Ramirez

Saturday ACL Fest 2019 Record Reviews

Love can be a study of contrasts, sweet yet overwhelming. Buoyed by intimacy and sincerity, Assume Form channels Blake at his happiest as each song plays out like a sentimental billet-doux. Unlike the suffocating Overgrown (2013) or self-indulgent epic The Colour in Anything (2016), the London crooner’s fourth album navigates the doldrums of depression (“Don’t…

by Alejandra Ramirez

Sunday ACL Fest 2019 Record Reviews

Nilüfer Yanya’s riveting debut yields a deftly tangled labyrinth of pop. The London guitarist explores her own inner universe amidst barbed-wire fuzz guitar and on “In Your Head” asserts, “I can think what I want, I can feel what I feel.” “Baby Blu” ascends to scintillating dance beats and a breakup, while “Heat Rises” traces…

by Libby Webster

Soccer Watch

The Texas Longhorns start a three-game home stand at 7pm this Thu., Oct. 3, against TCU, with a food drive: Donate canned foods at the gate and get a coupon for a free Whataburger. The Horns took a big step forward last weekend, notching consecutive 1-0 road wins at No. 17 Kansas and Kansas State…

by Nick Barbaro

7 Local Acts to See at ACL’s First Weekend

Barton Hills Choir Fri., 12:30pm, Austin Kiddie Limits Kiddos from Barton Hills Elementary harmonize on Muse, the Flaming Lips, and Grateful Dead. Asleep at the Wheel Fri., 12:45pm, Honda stage A 49-year-running stampede of Western swing herds loads of charm behind towering founder Ray Benson and singer Katie Shore. School of Rock Fri., 2:30pm, Austin…

by Kevin Curtin

Sunday ACL Fest 2019 Record Reviews

The bright harmonies of Portland, Oregon’s Closner sisters expands into explosive pop territory with their third LP. From the outset with “Fighter,” the percussive bombast and racing rhythms signal a break from previous folk-tuned predictability. The result is dramatic and impressive. Good Luck, Kid bursts between determined defiance (“In My Head”) and surrendering ecstasy (“Without…

by Doug Freeman

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