The New York Times just came out with an article about the ongoing changes to the Texas barbecue scene, proclaiming Texas barbecue is "the best it's ever been." It is a bit oversimplified, like a lot of journalism, but no doubt things are a lot different from late 2007, when we fist moved here.
I wrote about Texas BBQ before we even moved here. At the time, the barbecue was all old-school, and most of the places in Austin proper were kind of lame. You had to haul yourself to Taylor or Lockhart or Smithville to get the good stuff. Then Aaron Franklin started smoking briskets along the I35 access road, and Texas 'cue hasn't been the same since. Now it is hard to imagine Austin without Franklin, La Barbecue, Valentina's, Stiles Switch, Interstellar, and (my personal fave) Micklethwait! Change can be a good thing. Given the changes that have taken place in the last 15 years, I'm looking forward to seeing where things are in 2037.
Went out for a run the other day and the Google Street View car drove past me a few times. The new Street View images went live the other day, and yes, I found myself! Not the most interesting picture, like the Wayne Coyne bathtub one, but that's me on the corner of Treadwell Boulevard and Shoal Creek Drive West. I don't know why it's satisfying, but it somehow is, just a little bit.
I was skimming through Austin 360 today and came across an article highlighting this cool video that just got posted to Vimeo about Austin's music scene in 1985, when there were only 713 people living in the city and "Tito" was still the chubby brother from the Jackson 5 and not some vodka czar (pun intended)!
I.R.S. records produced this show, which I don't recall at all despite being 14 in 1985 and watching MTV with a fair amount of regularity. But check out some of the names highlighted (per the 360 article):
"The hourlong show captured around a dozen acts who were all the rage in the local clubs at the time. There's footage of the True Believers, Zeitgeist (later known as the Reivers), Timbuk3, Joe King Carrasco & the Crowns, Doctors' Mob, Glass Eye, Tail Gators, Poison 13, Dharma Bums, Wild Seeds, Toshio Hirano, Dino Lee's White Trash Revue — and, making his national TV debut, Daniel Johnston."
Speaking of Daniel Johnston, apparently a new mural is going up featuring a bunch of the late "outsider music" icon's doodles. From the early pictures, it looks pretty interesting to me and definitely captures the spirit of DJ's art. Go check it out!
I just randomly heard this brilliant group on Pandora and on the first web search I did, the first video that came up is this one of the band performing the same song during SXSW 2017. I think they're playing at the same Hilton we stayed at on our second visit to Austin in 2006, a year before we moved here.
UPDATE 11/8/2022: I posted this JUST BEFORE Ukraine was invaded, just coincidentally. So definitely pause for DakhaBrakha. ☮
Went to go see the magnificent Black Pumas last Saturday night, one of five straight sold-out shows at Stubb's here in Austin, which is a pretty big place to sell out for five nights. But hey, hometown band featuring a key member (Adrian Quesada) of an iconic local music group (Grupo Fantasma) and a great underdog story (Eric Burton), a song that caught fire, and live music in person for the first time in many, many months for a lot of people was the recipe for a fun night.
We set ourselves up for the show all the way in the back. The main disadvantage is obvious: we were pretty far from the stage and despite being on high ground did not have a great view. But there were advantages to our spot. Since we were up against the deck for the VIP lounge, we could lean back when needed to give our feet a rest. Better yet, the doors between the inside of the lounge and the deck were open, so air conditioned cool air was flowing toward us on a hot night.
But best of all was the unexpected treat during the encore, when suddenly there was a lot of excitement around us in the back. We looked up, and Eric had set up a mic on the VIP deck to do a solo version of Tracy Chapman's Fast Car. He nailed it, and we had a great view for the affair. Here's a shot I got:
So this morning, I was curious if there were any videos from the show posted on Youtube and found the following. If you look closely starting at around the 1:00 mark, you'll notice a guy in a grey Low Cut Connie t-shirt and glasses with his arms folded right in the front of the crowd shot. That guy is me, with my wife in front of me and friends Jeff and Becky next to me. Look carefully at other times and you may spot a sweaty bald-headed guy down in the crowd near us. If you know Jeff and ever run into him, try to remember to ask him about that guy and the bar towel.
Well, stuck here in self-imposed isolated quarantinization as many of us have experienced throughout most of 2020, there's been plenty of time to listen to music. Here are a few songs I picked for my 2020 list--I hesitate to say "favorite songs" because my taste is pretty fluid, and sometimes I pick songs just cuz they sound interesting, rather than exceptional. I also try to stay away from big-time hits that everybody else will have on their lists. That way, my list can be more of an exploratory memoranda on the musical possibilities of 2020, rather than another "best of" list (I think we have enough of those. Anyhow--or as my father prefers to say, at any rate--here are a dozen or so picks from this past year. I stuck to songs that have videos, which eliminated some tunes I had on repeat and really wanted to include, like "I Just Want to Dance" by SAULT, "Weed in LA" by the Koreatown Oddity, and many others. But don't twist your knickers--my whole 2020 list is up on the FBtA homepage!
I just listened to the rest of NNAMDÏ's album and didn't love it, but this is a pretty and unusual song that isn't easy to pigeonhole, which is a quality I have a weakness for. Off-beat, you know?
I love the album this is from, the somewhat-lamely titled Amazones Power. Les Amazones are a collective, and (sort of like another more famous collective, Animal Collective), not every member is on each album. Featured vocalists on Amazones Power are pretty numerous and represent a breadth of talent: Amadou Démbéle, Boy-Fall, Tiguidanké Di(allo a.k.a Niariu) Jon Grace, Kandy Guira, Mamani Keïta, Rokia Koné, Nacera Ouali Mesbah, Fafa Ruffino and Ami Yerewolo.
Alt-rap collaboration on this song that would sound nice coming out of a good car audio system. As your narrator told you on Midnight Marauders: "Keep bouncing!"
Eric Copeland is described in his Wikipedia entry as "an American experimental musician based in New York City" who is "a core member of Black Dice and forms half of the duo Terrestrial Tones with Animal Collective's Avey Tare." This minimalist song is a little repetitive but sneakily catchy. The cool animated video is directed by Aaron Anderson.
Freddie throws down a great rap, and Tyler helps out with his usual unusual. The beat conjures up a mid-90s west coast number (Today Was a Good Day perhaps?).
I remember reading somewhere about Roger Ebert having said "This is all an elaborate hoax!" as he was dying, and now that I think about it, it seems like a perfect framing of a song by one of those artists who's perhaps a bit too sincere. But although the lead singer's voice isn't for everyone, I think this song is great. And Roger Ebert was pretty okay too. And Scott Avett is hunky-dory as well.
Ocean Bridges was possibly my favorite album of 2020. So many artists have tried to hit that sweet spot between jazz and hip-hop and haven't quite been able to do it, but free jazz vet Archie Shepp, the amusingly-monickered Damu the Fudgemunk, and Raw Poetic (Shepp's nephew) do as good a job as anyone I can think of since The Low End Theory came out.
I should have at least one Austin representative, so Pottery gets the nod with this instant party classic that would make even The Bright Light Social Hour jealous. Dance!
Not sure what this sounds like. Maybe early Shins? Catchy though, and I've been a sucker for mellow, chill stuff since COVID-19 forced us into solitary (or small group) confinement, at least when the isolation and anxiety isn't making me want to dance, dance, dance, which seems to be my list's other main theme this year.
Jangly guitars + simple bass and drums, minimalist production, and a mod rock/stoner punk feel make me think '90s. No, not an instant classic, but catchy.
Can I see some hands? Because LCC is schvitzing for you. There was no way I was leaving Low Cut off my 2020 list, as I have become a devoted Tough Cookie and attendee of their weekly Saturday night free live stream where Will strums his hollow body and stomps out the beat while Adam bangs his piano and croons, slowly disrobes until he's in tight briefs, a torn tank top and a fluffy bathrobe, and occasionally interviews music icons and interesting figures. I could have picked any song from the album, Private Lives--many are pretty good--but this heartfelt piano-based soul-rock number got stuck in my head while I was making this list.
