Beets: The Makers, Emo’s/Neil Diamond, Erwin Center
Cohen: Ben Folds Five, Electric Lounge
Gray: Joan Jett, Electric Lounge
Hernandez: Bruce Springsteen, Austin Music Hall/Sponge, Liberty Lunch
Langer: Ben Harper, Liberty Lunch
Messer: Evil Stig, Liberty Lunch
Moser: Cowboy Junkies, Paramount Theatre
Nichols: El Vez, Continental Club
Stegall: D Generation, Liberty Lunch
Trachtenberg: Terence Blanchard, Elephant Room/Bunny Wailer, One World
Festival
Best Local Show
Beets: The Primadonnas, Comet, The American Analog Set, Furry Things, LibertyLunch
Cohen: Craig Ross, Electric Lounge
Gray: Phantom Creeps, Emo’s
Hernandez: Butthole Surfers, Liberty Lunch
Langer: The Bon Bons, Electric Lounge
Messer: Jon Langford w/ Big Foot Chester, Hole in the Wall
Moser: Butthole Surfers, Liberty Lunch
Nichols: Derailers, Don Walser, Rod Moag, Cornell Hurd, KOOP Benefit,
Continental Club
Stegall: The Soulbenders’ set at the Ramones Hoot Night, Hole In The Wall
Trachtenberg: Root 1, Liberty Lunch
Local Act You Saw the Most
Beets: StretfordCohen: Texas Instruments
Gray: Superego/81/2 Souvenirs/Ted Roddy’s Tearjoint Troubadors
Hernandez: Alejandro Escovedo
Langer: Fastball/Shat Records
Messer: Horsies
Moser: Butthole Surfers
Stegall: Tallboy
Trachtenberg: Creative Opportunity Orchestra
Venue Visited the Most
Beets: Hole in the WallCohen: Electric Lounge/Hole in the Wall
Gray: Hole in the Wall
Hernandez: Liberty Lunch/Electric Lounge/Emo’s
Langer: Antone’s
Messer: Electric Lounge/Hole in the Wall
Moser: Liberty Lunch
Nichols: Continental Club
Stegall: Hole in Wall
Trachtenberg: Continental Club/Liberty Lunch
Local Bummer
Beets: No place to park; Police harassment of bands loading in/out downtownGray: Ed Hall broke up
Hernandez: 101X
Langer: Clubs close, musicians are poor, and I again have to spend 5,000 words
on the relative failure of Austin’s major-label contingency.
Messer: Gretchen Phillips gone, no Kathy McCarty, no Meg Hentges, and where’s
Biscuit?
Moser: Roadshows eclipsed local bands
Nichols: Dejadisc moving to Nashville
Stegall: Shitty crowd reaction to D Generation
Trachtenberg: Still no ongoing venue for touring jazz
National Bummer
Beets: Election year pin-the-blame-on-youth-culture posturing. Cohen: The lack of success of Austin bands nationally — though that’s nothing
new.
Gray: Tupac/David Lee Roth
Hernandez: Sex Pistols/KISS reunions/Canonization of Cheap Trick.
Langer: Michael Jackson is going to be a father before there’s a new Guns `N’
Roses album.
Messer: Ambivalence toward Austin music.
Moser: It was a good year for music.
Nichols: Faron Young’s suicide.
Stegall: The Ramones’ career ended with Eddie Vedder and Chris Cornell pushing
their way onstage.
Trachtenberg: Jerry Garcia is still dead.
Best Thing to Happen Locally
Beets: Plethora of solid local releases; Development of Red River corridorCohen: We don’t have to put up with that cheeky Mindy LaBernz person anymore.
Gray: Butthole-mania
Hernandez: Stubb’s
Langer: Howard Stern
Messer: PeACh, SXIP, and Terri Lord’s posters
Moser: The Butthole Surfers got hot.
Nichols: Gospel brunch with the Asylum Street Spankers at La Zona Rosa
Trachtenberg: 9am-4pm Fridays on KOOP
Best Thing to Happen Nationally
Beets: The continuing proliferation of enlightening, minutiae-riddled fan pageson the World Wide Web
Cohen: On his new album, Prince covers one song written by a member of the
Hooters and one song written by a former Penn State defensive linemen. This
amuses me.
Gray: Houston, Atlanta, and Chicago emerge as hip-hop capitals while New York
and L.A. succumb to the East Coast-West Coast foolishness.
Hernandez: Sixteen Deluxe gets signed to Warner Bros.
Langer: The Web finally lives up to its promise as an accessible home for band
bios, labels, clubs, radio stations, live events, and daily news.
Messer: The blessed chaos of the World Wide Web
Moser: The Butthole Surfers got hot.
Nichols: “Alternative Country” finally hit its stride.
Stegall: Resurgence of interest in Cheap Trick
Best Reissue
Beets: The Romantics, Recorded Live in San Antonio, Texas, October 30,1983 (King Biscuit Flower Hour)
Cohen: Mary Margaret O’Hara, Miss America
Gray: Emmylou Harris, Portraits/The Drifters box set
Hernandez: Miles Davis & Gil Evans: The Complete Columbia Studio
Recordings
Langer: People Get Ready, The Curtis Mayfield Story
Messer: Scamp’s Sound Gallery BBC soundtrack series/Makers of Smooth
Music (MSR Madness)
Moser: The Patti Smith catalogue.
Nichols: Ronnie Dawson, Rockin’ Bones: The Legendary Masters/ Alphonse
“Bois Sec” Ardoin with Canray Fontenot, La Musique Creole
Stegall: Cheap Trick, Sex, America, Cheap Trick box set
Trachtenberg: Amos Milburn, Blues, Barrelhouse & Boogie Woogie —
1946-55
Music in 1996 Was…
Beets: …complacent enough to be in dire need of a messenger bearing the edict“Let’s Get Stupid!”
Gray: … not nearly as bad as 1995, especially if you’re that strange kind of
person who likes both kinds of dance music: Euro-electronica and Western
Swing.
Hernandez: …very strong musically thanks to major and indie labels signing
any musician/band with an instrument. No one heard these albums, mind you, but
they were good anyway.
Langer: …the same year I found less to do at night, gave greatest thought to
leaving town, and also wound up loving my 10 local records more than my 10
national records.
Messer: Nationally, any year that sees new Raincoats and Patti Smith albums is
going to be better than most. Locally, greed could kill Austin music.
Moser: …was way better locally than the glut of roadshows and concerts would
have you believe.
Stegall: …whatever you got out of it. Figure it out for yourself, as
any rock critic’s thoughts on this subject are irrelevant, at best.
This article appears in January 10 • 1997 and January 10 • 1997 (Cover).