There’s just no rest for the weird in Austin, let me tell ya. I took a little
trip out to the Survival Research Labs “compound” at Longhorn Speedway on
Monday in anticipation of Friday’s big show, and found a scene that resembled
what Star Wars might have looked like if it were made in a trailer park.
Giant, shrouded, walking machines stood everywhere, and talk among the busy-bee
workers generally centered on worry about gathering enough wood for the planned
fires and pride over the dead cow they’d found which was to be posthumously
mutilated for the crowd’s glee. I didn’t stay long, as one of the more
sonically hyperactive machines was about to be tested and my companion, who had
had a bad experience in her Army training when she forgot her earplugs at the
firing range, had managed to do so there as well. The last thing I saw and
heard as we drove away was an enormous blast and a lot of people running real
fast. It may not be music as such, but screw electronica — spectacles like
this are the future of rock & roll. (See the “Screens” section for
more on SRL.)
Another set of loud, frightening creatures, the Uranium Savages, are holding
their Eddy Awards this Friday as well. I was nominated for the “Writer of the
Year” award, but thanks to the SRL show, I don’t think I have much of a chance
of beating the competition, since the invite clearly states that “often times
the winner is determined by who shows up.” With competition like L.M. Boyd and
Diane Holloway, I’m not sure what to think anyway; isn’t at least one of those
two a fictional character? In any case, the Savages’ show is at the Roadhouse
Cafe, with appearances by the Time Travellers, Kerry Awn, and Freddy Fender
impersonator Robert Stanton.
All Smiles at Antone’s
So far, the new Antone’s location at Fifth & Lavaca seems to be all thatits owners hoped it would be. “I absolutely love it,” gushes Clifford Antone,
“but that doesn’t mean I don’t miss my old place.” Antone, in fact, thinks it’s
a shame that the city doesn’t buy the old place, move the Stevie Ray Vaughan
statue there, and let him run a music club for art’s sake, focusing on
traditional music like hard-core blues, conjunto, zydeco, and the like. He
doesn’t expect that to happen though, and the real estate company in charge of
the building formerly known as Antone’s hints that it may be sold soon but
declines further comment on the deal. (Oddly enough, one source close to the
matter says the building may serve art in a way — as an art supply store.)
Antone’s main focus right now is on moving forward with the new club, which he
says he hopes to shape by focusing on the old Sixties soul revue shows seen in
Austin then in places like Charlie’s Playhouse, presenting the sort of classic
danceable music that was heard in such places. The club’s one step backwards is
on the clock; starting on the April 3, Antone’s will begin opening for happy
hour, in addition to their already early (8pm) show schedule. “For years people
have been calling for early shows,” he says. “Now we need the people who’ve
been asking for it to come support us.” With the new, roomy, and convenient
location, Antone may finally get his wish.
Wasn’t It a Party
The Wallflowers’ “Rock for the Roses” show last Sunday boasted its share ofcelebs, both onstage and off. Gary Louris of the Jayhawks joined the band for
their rendition of “Raspberry Beret,” while Joe Ely and John Doe both hopped
onstage to aid in their performance of “Not Fade Away” and an attempt at “Bring
It on Home to Me.” Also spotted at the show was Mark Sandman from Morphine, who
later showed up at Stubb’s along with Jakob Dylan, those darn Sexton brothers,
and Hunt Sales of Iggy Pop/Tin Machine fame. Pretty much all of the above
jammed together there, much to the surprise of attendee Miles Zuniga. “Usually
the place is packed out and none of the stars show up,” he grinned, but this
time the opposite occurred. “Where were all the usual freeloaders?” he asks. At
least one was there, as Andy Langer found himself in a mild confrontation with
the abovementioned Jayhawk, who accused the Chronicle of ignoring his
band’s SXSW showcase this year (um, look at p.34 of our SXSW guide, Gary), and
of calling him, via last year’s Golden Smog “Live Shot,” a “pussy” (er, have I
ever mentioned what an admirable memory you have, Gary?). Since Louris came
down here for SXSW, and he’s still hanging around, I have to ask one further
question: Ah, don’t you have somewhere you need to be, Gary?
Compilation Camp
For years now, some of the best-selling albums in the U.K. have beencompilations, usually of rehashed hits. (Here in America, of course, we order
such things off the TV so no one can catch us paying for them in the store.)
Lately though, the entire planet seems to be swimming in compilations, largely
of the tribute variety and new music kind. Once used mostly as promotional
items, these comps are coming out of the woodwork thanks to the shrinking
attention span and music budget of the U.S. citizen. In addition to recent ones
like the Prince tribute Do Me Baby and specific, club-oriented numbers
like the Live at Emo’s Vol. 2 7-inch series and the Hole in the Wall’s
Free for All Vol. 2 and Unplug This, the new
Loungeapalooza disc featuring Fastball is hitting stores soon. Now, add
these two latecomers:
#1) So What: A Tribute to the Replacements. Actually, it’s more
a tribute to the late Bob Stinson, featuring only songs that the ‘Mats
performed before they fired him. The disc features Pork, Fastball, the Gourds,
Prescott Curlywolf, Buick MacKane and a host of others (see “Record Reviews”).
“Just” Archie, who put the disc out on his Dis Twin label, says that among
others who’ve contacted him seeking copies of the album (e-mail at
RCHE@hotmail.com) is former ‘Mats manager Peter Jesperson.
#2) Triggerfish Records’ new L’Austin Space. It’s not a covers-only
comp, but Tallboy and the Soulbenders provide some highlights with their takes
on Devo’s “Red Eye Express” and Sir Doug’s “Is Anybody Going To San Antone?,”
respectively. Other bands on the disc include Miss Xanna Don’t, Loblolly,
Regalmatic 2000, Sir Finks, and Jesus Christ Superfly. L’Austin is also
unique in that it’s the only local comp in recent memory not featuring the
Damnations.
Mixed Notes
Amid rumors that Justice Records was closing its doors, label presidentRandall Jamail called to say no, he merely resigned his post. Due to his
workload as a producer, he found “I was doing more harm than good,” adding that
running the Houston label requires “someone to be there 365 days a year.” Gary
Moore has been chosen as that someone, with Jamail filling the position of head
of A&R. The label is currently trying to put a deal together with MCA, and
is currently in the process of reissuing Willie Nelson’s 1971 classic, Yesterday’s Wine…
After going into a brief limbo following its SXSW
debut, the Atomic Cafe should reappear in about two weeks, pending the arrival
of their liquor license…
The Butthole Surfers keep making things tougher on
completists. Now they have a second song, this time in conjunction with the
Dust Brothers, commercially available from makers of the Romeo and
Juliet movie. Look for “Tybalt’s Return” on volume two of the soundtrack…
Advance cassettes of Hamell on Trial’s The Chord Is Mightier Than the
Sword have made their way to the office. Among the treats on the album are
Hamell’s tale (now put to music, natch) of meeting John Lennon…
Touch Me
Columbus, the Horsies CD from the Benten label of Japan is available in
these parts now. The band is hoping to do a CD release show but is having
problems with members’ work schedules…
Squdge have a new 7-inch out as of
last week, and 50 Million have something new as well. I can’t remember what
‘cuz Wade Driver handed me a whole bunch of stuff (new and old) at once…
Guns
‘N’ Roses drummer Matt Sorum admitted to one local that his recent Austin
visit, in which he was supposed to be looking for bands to produce, found him
instead spending most of his time at the Yellow Rose…
Next Tuesday’s
performance by the Bill T. Jones/Artie Zane Dance Co., at the Bass Concert Hall
features the troupe’s performance of Love Re-Defined, a full-company
piece set to early recordings by Daniel Johnston. The songwriter plans to be in
attendance at the show, accompanied by another interpreter of his music,
Kathy McCarty…
Post-SXSW sagas: Word just in that Atlantic won the battle of
Kacy Crowley, beating out Island Records and the rest of the Western
Hemisphere. (This apparently after a long, private meeting with Ahmet Ertegun,
himself.) Her major-label debut, Anchorless, comes out this summer…
Meanwhile, Matt McCormick of Choker Montana has flown off to meet with Mammoth
Records, who’ve taken a shine to the group. Rykodisc, who also showed some
interest in Choker, should be happy with reports that all four Bill Hicks CDs
have already sold out their initial pressing worldwide…
There’s more Austin
music scheduled during the Fox soaps (they must know how addicted some of you
folks are). Lisa Tingle’s “Breakdown” is scheduled to run on the soundtrack of
next week’s Beverly Hills 90210…
Jean Caffeine reports receiving
praise from Blue Oyster Cult’s Sandy Pearlman following a recent gig. Pearlman
had come to see Superego (and Paul “the mouth” Minor didn’t bother to mention
this to me?), but the evening was running late, so he first got a jolt of
Caffeine, which he apparently enjoyed…
Kim Wilson has a solo album (with
Danny Kortchmar and Steve Jordan) in the mixing stages right now, and says a
new Fabulous Thunderbirds album is in the planning stages. Meanwhile, Wilson is
working on getting his new record company, Blue Collar Music, up and running,
though he says it’ll mainly be seen on the Internet until the first release
comes out. Try http://www.kimwilson.com sometime to see if the site is ready…
Ahhh, the Internet! Only in the Usenet newsgroup austin.music could the topic
of whether or not SXSW sucks turn into a fevered discussion about Louis Black,
Celis beer, “the black helicopters,” and alien rectal dissection. And that was
before world-famous net “troller” Joe Newman managed to get in on
it…
— Contributors: Raoul Hernandez, Andy Langer, Margaret Moser
This article appears in March 28 • 1997 and March 28 • 1997 (Cover).