The French Connection

Golden moments at Austin Week in Angers, France

"...That proved the scenario on Thursday night when the Mood Illusion played the James Joyce Pub, the French equivalent..."

Sept. 16, 2016 Music Post by Kevin Curtin

Thumbsucker

The plot realistically mimics a teenager’s adriftness and tendency toward hairpin-turn mood shifts as it bounds from the wonderfully affecting to the decidedly idiosyncratic to the occasionally absurd.

"...Offerle. Let me for the moment put aside the illusion of critical authority and be frank with you: I..."

Oct. 7, 2005 Movie Review by Kimberley Jones

The Residents

Twelve essential weekly hangs

"...Bob Hoffnar's Mood Illusion..."

Nov. 27, 2015 Music Feature by Kevin Curtin

Legerdemain Man Ray Anderson

The fact that magicians around the world revere the magic man of Esther’s Follies is no illusion

"...capitals, hungrily seeking out Ray Anderson, Austin's much-loved magician, illusionist, and longtime MVP of Esther's Follies? Could be both,..."

Nov. 30, 2018 Arts Feature by Jesse Sublett

Janie Cowan’s Fascinating Musical Journey Finds Her Playing Alongside Bob Dylan in Shadow Kingdom

Checking in on the one-time Austin bass standout

"...Stay Gold on Wednesday’s to bear witness to the Mood Illusion, an unconventional lounge act led by pedal steel..."

July 28, 2021 Music Post by Kevin Curtin

Raquel Bell

"...(ST 37, Suspirians), Adam Jones (Bill Callahan), Bob Hoffnar (Mood Illusion), Thor Harris (Thor & Friends, Swans), and producer..."

Aug. 24, 2018 Music Review by Michael Toland

Chris Cogburn/Ingebrigt Håker Flaten/Bob Hoffnar/Henry Kaiser

"...Ingebrigt Håker Flaten (the Thing, Young Mothers), Bob Hoffnar (Mood Illusion), and Chris Cogburn (No Idea Festival), and San..."

May 11, 2018 Music Review by Michael Toland

Kaiser, Cogburn, Hoffnar & Håker Flaten Rock Free and Lovecraftian

A track premiere from the Mountains of Excess

"...The premise behind the veteran Bay Area guitar wizard’s..."

March 26, 2018 Music Post by Kevin Curtin

Angers City Limits

Four French acts crashing our scene for Angers Week

"...In September, Austin exported Golden Dawn Arkestra, Bob Hoffnar’s Mood Illusion, Grace Park of the Deer, Jai Milano, Ethan..."

Nov. 8, 2016 Music Post by Kevin Curtin

Playback: Austin Week in Angers, France

Kevin Curtin runs into more than a handful of musical Austinites on the other side of the globe

"...performance at Le Boléro club; and every performance by Mood Illusion, an experimental lounge troupe led by pedal steel..."

Sept. 23, 2016 Music Column by Kevin Curtin

Let Them Eat BBQ

Texans levitate the French

"...and surrounded by ancient architecture. His experimental lounge force Mood Illusion hot-wired pop standards so fine that a Frenchman..."

Sept. 19, 2016 Music Post by Kevin Curtin

White Denim 2.0

Frontman James Petralli talks of the old days and a new era

"...because I can’t really remember the dates, but [James] Moody from Mohawk rented us a Mercury Mountaineer and said,..."

Feb. 4, 2016 Music Post by Kevin Curtin

Playback: Antone's Resurrected

The return of Antone's, Free Week, and the Austin Music Poll Ballot

"...Jazz: Bob Hoffnar's Mood Illusion..."

Jan. 8, 2016 Music Column by Kevin Curtin

Playback: James Petralli's Constant Bop

Has White Denim become Bop English? Which festival might relocate to the new superstage at Circuit of the Americas? Is LBJ turning over in eternity over the Beatles exhibit at his library? That and other Q&As in this week's music news.

"...It's not unusual for Bob Hoffnar's Mood Illusion to play Wednesday nights at Stay Gold, but..."

June 12, 2015 Music Column by Kevin Curtin

Wilson Marks’ Jazz Hands

Weathering the road to local minstrelsy

"...engineered and mixed it, while Janie Cowan (Bob Hoffnar’s Mood Illusion, Rey Ortega) played bass, and Aaron Parks (Ben..."

April 23, 2015 Music Post by William Harries Graham

Playback

Last chance to vote in the Austin Music Poll!

"...maintain a Wednesday residency of his experimental jazz quartet Mood Illusion at the 80-capacity bar, which will host live..."

Jan. 30, 2015 Music Column by Kevin Curtin

Fan Fest: Joan Jett

Blackheart rocker grows up

"...from Against Me!, the guitarist tapped into an introspective mood on September’s Unvarnished...."

Oct. 30, 2014 Music Post by Nina Hernandez

The Shins' James Mercer: Fond of Y-O-U

The Shins' James Mercer winces upon a star.

"...to reveal the secrets behind their work – the illusion is half the fun – but almost all are..."

March 1, 2007 Music Post by Raoul Hernandez

Dark Streets

A collection of blues originals by the likes of Aaron Neville, B.B. King, and Etta James lightens this otherwise dreary exercise in modern film noir.

"...who looks like Erich von Stroheim in The Grand Illusion … if von Stroheim’s character in Grand Illusion were..."

Dec. 12, 2008 Movie Review by Josh Rosenblatt

Lady Gaga’s Love-In

Electro-dance validation brings Austin to its knees

"...similar procedure without the yawns of routine. From “Perfect Illusion” and “John Wayne” to “Alejandro” and “Scheibe,” she barely..."

Dec. 6, 2017 Music Post by Isabella Castro-Cota

Damien Rice Frees Up

Irish bard returns after an almost decade-long hiatus

"...anything to measure,” he reasons. “I think that’s an illusion. To me, the purest form of success occurs in..."

Aug. 6, 2015 Music Post by William Harries Graham

The Grand Designs of Ia Ensterä and Jason Amato

"...The Importance of Being Earnest, Mary Moody Northen Theatre (2013): From the Chronicle review: "Ia Ensterä's..."

July 17, 2015 Photo Gallery

Romance in Rewrite

An extended conversation with Jeffrey Eugenides

"...Plot really captured the essence, in detail and in mood, of what it was like to be an undergraduate..."

Oct. 28, 2011 Books Feature by Cindy Widner

Man in the Dark

Paul Auster's 14th book provides a small window into the terrors of aging and the intricate, personal search for meaning

"...and discussing films with his granddaughter Katya – Grand Illusion, The Bicycle Thief, The World of Apu – and..."

Sept. 19, 2008 Books Review by Yvonne Georgina Puig

The Toronto International Film Festival

A first-timer's diary

"...was devastated. Yet he seems in such a great mood, more exuberant than I've seen him in years, and..."

Dec. 12, 2003 Screens Feature by Louis Black

Pedro the Lion

Record Review

"...It dwells in the miserable gap between the perfect illusion of love and the painful reality of a flawed..."

May 10, 2002 Music Review by Michael Chamy

Film Reviews

Recommended

"...CLIVE BARKER'S LORD OF ILLUSIONSD: Clive Barker; with Scott Bakula, Kevin J. O'Connor, Famke..."

Sept. 8, 1995 News Feature

Film Reviews

Recommended

"...that lends both giddy spontaneity and bizarre shifts in mood to an already thin narrative. However, one should not..."

Sept. 1, 1995 News Feature

Top 10 Awkward Tinder Date Spots

You swiped right. Now what?

"...part of online dating is that it creates the illusion of a universe of infinite possibilities. You can go..."

Dec. 30, 2016 Food Feature by Emily Beyda

One

Striking aerial dance at a site lacking the drama of other Blue Lapis Light shows

"...Terrace, I wasn't sure how they got there. The illusion of appearance and disappearance, aided by Jason Amato's lighting,..."

Oct. 8, 2010 Arts Review by Jonelle Seitz

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