Yaktoberfest 2012: Still Far Off But Already on Our Minds

We're only a month past Yaktoberfest 2011, but we don't think it's too early to start thinking of 2012.  2011 was a big success compared to 2009.  We intend to keep the momentum moving upward and are starting to think of ways to up the ante.  More brewers (and beers) and higher donations are obvious goals, but I'm confident we'll come up with a few fun twists as well.

Speaking of 2011, the Grand Yak, Steve, posted a picture of his trip out to Crowe's Nest Farm to deliver half of our collections.  Hope he doesn't mind us reposting it here.

Dave (left) of Crowe's Nest Farm collecting proceeds from Steve (right)

As for 2012, Steve's also started up a Yaktoberfest 2012 Facebook page.  We're starting to experiment with a few new recipes too, like a version of the much-lauded AHS Double Chocolate Stout, which we cooked up on Sunday.

AHS Double Chocolate Stout

Specialty malts: Crystal 40L, chocolate malt, black roasted barley, Black Patent 

Featured hops: Galena 
Other additives: malto dextrin, Belgian cocoa 

O.G. = 1.056 
F.G. = 1.012 
Approximately 5.8% ABV 
Approximately 187 Cal / 12 oz

Primary fermentation is well along and starting to wane.  This thing is a deep, dark brown.  It basically looks like something made from chocolate.  AHS says it is a bit like the Young's Double Chocolate Stout, which is excellent (they usually have it on tap at the Draught House Pub).  The many comments are very positive.  I'm excited to taste it, but it apparently will benefit from a month or so of bottle aging, which I'm willing to give it.  If it's a winner, you'll likely find out because it will probably be at Yaktoberfest 2012.

Black Friday, Weird Austin Style: Austin Holiday Shopping Guide

Thanksgiving has passed and Black Friday is upon us.  Not sure what makes it "black," but I do know one thing:  There's nothing I can think of that would make me go within 200 yards of any shopping mall, outlet center or big box store today.  Not even a discounted television set that will still be on sale tomorrow.

Then again, it isn't really my style to shop at the big box stores anyway.  The vibrant independent retail scene here in Austin makes that easy to do.  So go ahead and keep your Black Friday, and keep your Best Buy, Wal-Mart and Target.  I'm gonna go shop at the places below.  If you don't like it, well, watch some Steely Dan.  That's about all the "Black Friday" I can stand this weekend.

Austin Independent Shopping - General Help

Austin is loaded with great small shops.  If you want to wing it, just head to South Congress Ave., 2nd Street, or some of the smaller enclaves like North Loop, the UT campus area or spots on South 1st St.  If you'd rather do some research first, take a look below.  We're focusing on smaller places that are locally owned (sorry Half Price Books and Cheapo Discs).  Since there are too many good stores and products for us to list, let's start off with a few good sites and posts that provide some good, general Austin shopping help.

- FromBostonToAustin's prior posts: 

• Previously Owned But Still Wanted:  Where to buy some good used stuff.
• Vintage Austin: Focusing on the North Loop area and nearby.
• "Old Austin" Feel: Focusing on the area around 29th and Guadalupe.

- From around the web

• IBuyAustin.com: Home of the Austin Independent Business Alliance.
• Keep Austin Weird: Did you know -- Austin's popular slogan goes back to an early local effort to support independent retailers.
• Do512: Blog post from Austin scenesters on indie retailers here in town.

Books

• Book People: One of my favorite indie bookstores in the world.  Excellent selection -- not too big, not too small -- and lots of recommendations.  Also good for greeting cards, magazines, cool little gifts.
• Recycled Reads: Small selection of books and even smaller selection of CDs and LPs, but prices are cheap and money goes to the Austin Public Library.  Good stop on a lazy day to go hunting for a lucky find.
• South Congress Books: Cool, fairly new place with used books and lots of first and other special editions.

CDs/LPs

• Antone's Records: A small place near UT with some history.  Focus is on blues, R&B, etc., but there's a bit of everything.
• End of an Ear: Another small shop but lots of vinyl, used and new.  Fun place to stop in at on Record Store Day.
• Waterloo Records: Austin's most popular music store.  Great selection of new and used CDs and LPs, plus DVDs, lots of t-shirts and other doodads.  Also sells tickets to lots of shows around town for less of a fee than you'd pay on-line.

Clothes

• Allens Boots: Not just a big selection of brand-name cowboy boots, but also some cool shirts and hats, plus killer belt buckles.
• Hatbox: Deeply stocked hat store with a helpful staff.  Just took my father there and he walked away with a nice Kangol flat cap (as did I).
• Lovely Austin Boutique: Trendy duds for the ladies, near lots of other cool boutiques on South Congress.
• Parts + Labour: Great t-shirts, accessories, tchotchkes and the like.  Also on South Congress.
• Service Menswear: Another of the aforementioned boutiques on South Congress, specializing in (yes) menswear.

Edibles/Drinkables

If you're local, here are a few ideas.  Some of these will ship pretty well too.

• Antonelli's Cheese Shop: Austin's best cheese shop has a selection of the finest cheeses and cured meats from throughout the land.  Big beer bottles too.  Huzzah!
• Austin Cake Ball: Little balls of cake in a variety of delicious (and beautiful) flavors. Great to bring along to a party.
• The Austin Wine Merchant: My favorite wine shop, right downtown, specializing in wines from Burgundy but stocking a great selection of bottles from everywhere in a smallish space.  You can find almost any spirit here too, from sotol to white port.
• Big Top Candy Shop: From Abba Zaba to Zagnut, this spot has you covered.  Put together a cool, vintage candy basket for a sweet-toothed friend.
• Chameleon Cold-Brew: Local maker of smooth, cold-brewed bottled coffee ships all over.
• If you're looking for a hands-on experience and you're not too squeamish, both Dai Due and Kocurek Family Charcuterie offer classes on processing meat and using every last bit.
• Tears of Joy: Hot sauces galore, including some of their own, which are really good.  The tequila lime hot sauce is a fave.

Furniture/Home/Garden

• Aviary: Small furniture and decor boutique that doubles as a wine bar/lounge as well.  I've bought bags, wallets and place mats there in the past.
• The Khazana: Cool home furnishings with an Indian/Middle Eastern/North African bent.  Also has a warehouse that has occasional sales with some great deals.  Beautiful textiles available as well as some traditional Indian clothing.
• Miguel's Imports: Ceramics, mainly from south of the border, with lots of planters from small to huge.

Games/Toys

• Game Over Videogames: Nerd? Like Nintendo's "Duck Hunt" but don't know where to pick up a new lazer gun? Is your lucky number 2600? I think you get the point.
• Terra Toys: Not too many independent toy stores left.  This is a good one.  Not a huge selection, but the stuff they have is groovy.  My go-to place for kids' gifts.
• Toy Joy: An even smaller joint, but a good alternative to Terra.

Miscellaneous Gifts

• Tesoros Trading Company: Mexican- and Latin-inspired gifts, with Day of the Dead, Frida Kahlo and lucha libre well represented.
• Uncommon Objects: Antique thingamabobs of every variety.  Seriously, go in and you can spend an hour just looking around and laughing.
• Wanderland: Cute little gift shop not too far from the UT campus with a lot of items made from recycled material.

Other Gift Ideas

• Austin Homebrew Supply: Excellent shop for the homebrewer can hook up the beginner who wants to make his/her own beer, wine, soda or even cheese.
• Hill Country Weavers: If you know anyone who knits or crochets, this place is yarn heaven.
• Salt Lick BBQ: Send the gift a meateater will never forget.  Brisket, sausage, ribs, or for the less adventurous, a tasty, mustard-based BBQ sauce.
• Yoga Yoga: One of the biggest yoga studios in the area and our favorite.  Know a yogi?  Give someone a gift card or send him/her to a workshop.

Thanks Austin - 2011: Live Music Props

We've been blogging our Austin experiences now for about four years, but some of our traditions are new.  Last year around this time we posted a "Thanks Austin" blog post about how lucky we felt to have found a place like this to call our home.  This year, we thought we'd make it an annual Thanksgiving tradition.

One thing we're definitely grateful to Austin for is that the city truly lives up to its nickname of "Live Music Capital of the World."  Coming off a week in which we saw The Jayhawks for the first time and a week before we go see Wilco play at the new Moody Theater that the Austin City Limits television show folks built, it seems like a perfect time to shine a light on the great variety of live music experiences available here in Austin.

Our first ACL Music Festival was back in 2005 -- two years before we moved here.  Throw in ACL 2006 and 2007, on top of every show we've been to here since moving here at the end of that year, and the number of different acts we've caught live in this town is astonishing.  Acts starting with every letter of the alphabet, right on up to Z-Trip, and even !!!.  Several we've seen multiple times -- when we see Wilco next week, that will be the fifth time we've seen them here in Austin.  We've seen The Walkmen five times as well, but those two are still behind local heroes Spoon, who we've caught on half a dozen different occasions, most recently at the Fun Fun Fun Fest just a couple of weeks ago.

Thanks, Austin, for the great music venues.  We've been to a pretty wide range of places to catch a show here: Stubbs, Emo's, The Mohawk, Parish, La Zona Rosa, Antone's, Austin Music Hall, Threadgill's, The Backyard, East Side Drive-In, Paramount Theater, Moody Theater, Long Center, plus Zilker Park, Auditorium Shores, Waterloo Park, French Legation, Caesar Chavez Ave. (for Art City Austin), Lustre Pearl (Dickies party at SXSW).  Thanks to them all and any place else we've left off.

So we came up with a complete list, at least as far as we can remember, of every artist that Austin has given us the opportunity to see perform.  Some of these were opening acts, some headliners, and some were just festival sets, but we've seen them all. If we've caught them multiple times, it's noted in parentheses.  The list is long and diverse: iconic acts and no-names, bands that we saw on a reunion tour and bands that have since broken up, plenty of local acts and a few from exotic places.  As long as we live here, we're pretty confident this list will continue to grow and grow.


!!!
… And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead
Abe Vigoda (2)
Active Child
Antibalas
Arcade Fire
Arctic Monkeys
Erykah Badu
The B-52s
Devendra Banhart & the Grogs
Beau Soleil
Beck
Big Boi
Andrew Bird (2)
Bishop Allen
Björk
The Black Keys (2)
The Black and White Years
Blitzen Trapper
Bloc Party (2)
Blonde Redhead
Blues Traveler
Broken Social Scene
Budos Band
Henry Butler
David Byrne
Cali Zack
Camper van Beethoven
Car Stereo (Wars)
Neko Case (2)
Cat Power
Centro-Matic
Manu Chao
Gary Clark, Jr.
Cold War Kids
Coldplay
Common
Cracker
Sally Crewe and the Sudden Moves
The Cribs
Crowded House
Cymbals Eat Guitars
Deadmau5
Death
Death Cab for Cutie
Del the Funkee Homosapien (2)
Dengue Fever
The Depreciation Guild
The Dirty Dozen Brass Band
The Dodos
The Donkeys
Daniel Francis Doyle
Kurt Easley
Fitz & the Tantrums
Flaming Lips
Franz Ferdinand
Liam Finn
Four Tet
The Fratellis
Fuck Buttons
Ghostland Observatory
Gipsy Kings
Girls
Gnarls Barkley
Adam Green
Cee Lo Green
Grizzly Bear
Grupo Fantasma
Guided By Voices
Buddy Guy
Ben Harper
The Head and the Heart
Heartless Bastards
Here We Go Magic
Jolie Holland
Iron & Wine
Islands (3)
Wanda Jackson
The Jayhawks
Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings
The Joy Formidable
Kaiser Chiefs (2)
Keane
Kings of Leon
The Knux
Ben Kweller (2)
Joe Lally
LCD Soundsystem
Ted Leo & the Pharmacists (3)
Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears (3)
Lykke Li
The Little Ones
G. Love & Special Sauce
Lyle Lovett and his Big Band
Lucero
Magnolia Electric Company
Aimee Mann
Damian Marley
Stephen Marley
Massive Attack
Mates of State
Matisyahu
Medeski Martin & Wood
M.I.A.
Mission of Burma
The Mohahans (2)
The Morning Benders
Van Morrison
Bob Mould
The Mountain Goats
My Bloody Valentine
The National (2)
Willie Nelson
New Pornographers (2)
No Age
Peter Bjorn & John
New Pornographers
Oasis
Conor Oberst & the Mystic Valley Band
Ogre You Asshole
Oh No Oh My
Okkervil River
One Wolf
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
Pavement
Josh T. Pearson
Tom Petty
Phoenix
Phranchyze
Pixies
The Pogues
Public Enemy
Quasi
The Raconteurs (3)
Bruce Robison
Rockwell Knuckles
Raphael Saddiq
Bob Schneider
School of Seven Bells
Screaming Females
Martin Sexton (2)
The Shins
Shonen Knife
Silversun Pickups
Sonic Youth
Omar Souleyman
Regina Spektor
Spoon (6)
Steel Phantoms
Sufjan Stevens
The Strokes
Thao with the Get Down Stay Down
Telegraph Canyon
The Thermals (2)
Thievery Corporation (2)
Those Darlins
Times New Viking (3)
Tinariwen
tUnE-yArDs
The Ugly Beats
Ume
Vampire Weekend (2)
Vivan Girls
The Walkmen (5)
M. Ward (3)
Warpaint
Wavves
What Made Milwaukee Famous (2)
White Lies
Wilco (4)
Lucinda Williams
Wolf Parade (2)
Stevie Wonder
Wye Oak
The xx (2)
Yeasayer (2)
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Yo La Tengo
Z-Trip

Fun Fun Fun 2011 Wrap: Ted Leo is my (and many other persons') new hero

Fun Fun Fun 2011 was, well, fun fun fun.  We were there for portions of all three days, then high-tailed it out of town for a much needed vacation out on the West Coast. So -- apologies for the delay -- here's our wrap-up from the 2011 Fun Fun Fun Fest, in my opinion the best festival in terms of the musical experience that Austin has to offer: Excellent and diverse line-up, few breaks, good sound with little bleeding between stages and a chance to get up close without a struggle and to hear the bands rather than having to listen to chit-chat. (Yeah, ACL fanboys, I'm talking about the big group of stoner, half-assed fans that inevitably plop down next to you right at the start of a set you want to see and carry on a series of very loud conversations about important things like mustaches and Cheetos.)

2011 MVD: The Most Valuable Danzig Award

This years nominees for MVD are Glenn Danzig, Ted Leo and Flavor Flav.

Glenn Danzig

Glenn Danzig's 2011 MVD campaign goes something like this:  Come to town, whine, act wimpy in the face of a little sniffle, pout, threaten festival organizer for shits and giggles over things that no other act complained about, piss off your fans, whine a bit more, flip bird to town and fest organizers, leave, get upstaged by a hard-working, veteran, real punk-rocker from his home state.

Ted Leo

Ted plays shows.  Lots of them.  He probably rides in a van with his band and a few others.  He sets up his own gear and takes it down at the end of his show.  I've seen Ted play about a half dozen times.  He always brings it.  Even when he's sick.  Like he was at Fun Fun Fun this year.  Like Glenn Danzig purported to be.  How did Ted respond?  Playing on Sunday, after the Danzig debacle, Ted came out coughing and sounding pretty horse.  Most of Ted's songs demand that he sing with high intensity.  Ted apologized for not sounding his best, then let loose and shouted his songs the best he could, coughing between tracks.  Then he did a little something for the Danzig fans.  Taking a swig of Jameson's and donning a special wig for the occasion, Ted & co. ripped through a mini-set of Misfits tunes.  Crowd went wild.  Band nailed it.  Ted gained many new fans.

Flavor Flav

He's cold lampin' anyhow.

And the MVD goes to ... do we even need to say?

Other Highlights

Ted did put in a great performance, but he was only one of over a dozen acts we caught over the three days.  Not a single one we saw was disappointing.  That said, there were a few undeniable highlights.

• Public Enemy pissing on the concept of a "musical prime" and bringing it as strongly as they did twenty years ago.  For me, it also meant crossing a big name off my concert "bucket list."  Loved watching kids in front of my bouncing up and down who weren't even born when my friends and I wore out Yo! Bum Rush the Show in high school. I was smiling the whole time, but Chuck turned it up a notch when he broke out a verse from "Timebomb."
• Tinariwen coming out on a hot, windy and dusty day in their desert attire and looking totally unfazed as they funked out hard and won over lots of attendees who were unfamiliar with them beforehand.
• tUnE-yArDs' excellent performance of "Bizness," maybe the song of the year.

We were happy to see Okkervil River and The Thermals again, both of whom sounded great, and Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears didn't show poorly for the hometowners.  Just an excellent weekend of music.  Look out for Fun Fun Fun Fest 2012, because if the trajectory holds, it should be, um, fun.

FBtA's Fun Fun Fun Photos: [Day 1][Day 2 ]

Fun Fun Fun Fest 2011 Day 2 Photos: Joe Lally, Tinariwen, tUnE-yArDs

No time for a long post -- off to go see Ted Leo on day three of the 2011 Fun Fun Fun fest.  Meanwhile, here are a few pix of day two.  Tinariwen was incredibly tight and got people going.  tUnE-yArDs kept the dance party rolling.  Spoon (not pictured) played a powerful set of hits.  Great day.  Pix feature Joe Lally, Tinariwen and tUnE-yArDs, plus a few shots from around the fest.

Fun Fun Fun Fest 2011 Day 1 Photos: Omar Souleyman, Heartless Bastards, Thermals, Black Joe Lewis, Okkervil River, Four Tet, Public Enemy

Day one of the 2011 Fun Fun Fun Fest was a blast.  Weather was nice and cool.  New home on Auditorium Shores was unfortunately as dusty as the infamous 2005 ACL "dustbowl," but otherwise the location was spread out and roomy with no bleeding of sound between stages.  Food vendors this year are excellent -- big shout outs to the Austin Daily Press for making a mean meatball sandwich and my man Beef over at Handshakes for making the pancake shake dream come alive.

Music-wise, the day was a big success too.  Omar Souleyman got the crowd clapping early.  The Thermals were 100% energy.  Black Joe Lewis and The Honeybears made Austin proud and the made the crowd git funky.  Okkervil River sounded powerful.  Public Enemy brought the noise as strongly as they did back in 1988.

Hope to give a full rundown when I have time, but I'm off for day two.  In the meantime, enjoy the day one pictures:

Fun Fun Fun Fest 2011: Can't Make It? Tune it to Pitchfork's Webcast

Fun Fun Fun Fest starts tomorrow!  Although tickets are still on sale, chances are you've already decided if you're going or not.  If the answer is "not," you might want to check out Pitchfork's webcast of the festival.  According to the announcement on the website, "This is the first time in its six year history that the festival has been livestreamed. All four stages will be available for viewing right here on Pitchfork."  While the announcement's subtitle does list a handful of the artists playing, it sounds like they might be showing the whole fest.  Best consult the schedule for set times -- festival runs Friday, November 4 through Sunday, November 6.  In case you're wondering who Pitchfork singled out, that would be Spoon, Lykke Li, M83, Girls, Odd Future, Hot Snakes, Major Lazer, Public Enemy, tUnE-yArDs, Slayer, Flying Lotus.

We'll be there all three days, camera in tow, so check back for updates and photos.

Fun Fun Fun 2008 Wrap

Fun Fun Fun 2009 Wrap