Tonight, Friday, What Made Milwaukee Famous is having their CD release party at Emo’s outdoor stage. Lemurs, Loxsly and Black Before Red open the show. Dance, move and sweat to the Latin beats/horns of Groupo Fantasma at the Parish, tickets are $15 (preshow only). Styx is out at the Star of Texas Rodeo.
Saturday night, jazz super group Blaze is early at Central Market (6:30-9). The Scabs play their dirty funk at Antone’s. The Faceless Werewolves have their CD release party at Beerland. Starting at noon and going throughout the night is Psych Fest at The Red Barn, bands include: The Black Angels, Spindrift, The Strange Boys, Acid Tomb, Ringo Deathstarr, and many others. If you are into country Miranda Lambert is at the Star of Texas Fair and Rodeo on Sunday, Neal McCoy is on Saturday. There are many bands playing on the grounds of the Travis County Expo Center throughout the rodeo. Plus, there are carnival rides and a peting zoo for the kids. For more info http://www.staroftexas.org/default.php .
At the Capcity Comedy Club this weekend, Doug Benson is back. Check out some of his jokes on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCprlfJ2Mzc .
SXSW Films are ongoing this weekend. Don’t be discouraged you can get in, you will just need to get in line early. For descriptions of the movies go to http://2008.sxsw.com/film/ . The Bank Job, The Band’s Visit, College Road Trip, Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day, Steep, and 10,000 B.C. open this weekend in local movie theatres.
So I know I am behind the times but I played Rock Band for the first time this weekend. I started on bass. My game play began at awful and rose to mediocre. I switched to lead vocals and did pretty well. Mainly because I knew most of the songs that we were playing. The songs we did best were Black Hole Sun, Creep, (Wanted) Dead or Alive and Say It Ain’t So. Is this a game for people who love rock music but never learned to play an instrument or a fun outlet people who know how to play already? That game is really fun and I can see how it can be addictive too. World Tour 08!
Here are some entertainment picks for the weekend. If you are into harder indie rock, this evening Emo’s has Young Heart Attack and Amplified Heat. As far as the big screen is concerned Semi Pro, The Other Boleyn Girl, and Penelope open this weekend. These are all getting marginal reviews. If you want to see a movie this weekend and don’t like Will Farrell, period pieces, or quirky romcoms (romantic comedies) then you might want to catch up on the movies that won Oscars. Also the Texas State Arts Festival is going on this weekend on the grounds of Bob Bullock State History Museum. The usual for any Austin festival will be available: live music, local food vendors, and around 100 artist who want to sell their paintings/sculptures/etc. to you. So go out there, support an artist and display something cool in your house. Have a good weekend ya’ll.
Buddy Miles, drummer for Jimi Hendrix Band of Gypsys, passed away of congestive heart failure last night here in Austin at the age of 60. He played with many of the greats in rock music Hendrix, Peter Frampton, Carlos Santana, and Wilson Pickett. He was also the lead singer for the California Raisins campaign in 86. They recorded 2 best selling albums of mainly R&B covers. Miles most famous song as a solo act was Them Changes. I know many blues guitar musicians have covered this great song. In fact, Steve Winwood and Eric Clapton played the song two nights ago and Buddy was able to listen thru the phone (according to buddymiles.com). He moved to Austinin 05 to get back into music and it looked like he was with several tour dates in 07. Look for a memorial concert at Threadgill’s on March 30.
There is another trend in the SXSW names that I find interesting, the double or repeating name. Here’s a list a what I’m talking about: Kiss Kiss (Milton, NY), Neon Neon (LA, CA), Man Man (Philly,PA), Tapes N Tapes (Minn, MN), Bam Bam (Monterrey, MX), Lick Lick (Austin), Tiger Tiger (Atlanta, GA), Radio Radio (Tulsa, OK), The Low Lows (Athens, GA). There are also triples Die Die Die (Dunedin, NZ) or quads Shout Out Out Out Out (Edmonton, AB). We have a couple here in Austin that have even played on the same bill, Foot Foot and Clap Clap. So if you think you are seeing double you might be. There might need to be a new band name, double double or three, three, three (yes the lower case is on purpose for an awesome logo).
Ghostland Observatory’s third album Robotique Majestic was released today. After several listenings to the 10 tracks this afternoon it seems to fall in line with their other two. Their are three instrumentals (tracks 1, 8, 10) which are great. I only like a few of the other tracks though No Place For Me, Dancing On My Grave and the title track Robotique Majestique. This latest offering doesn’t seem as danceable or fun as Paparazzi Lighting or delete.delete.i.eat.meat. Don’t get me wrong, I like it, just not as much as the their previous works. Their sold out show on Friday will be the last time you’ll be able to see them in Austin for a little while. So if you have tickets, have a great time.
Here’s the new music releases for this week and there’s something for almost everyone. BTW, I’ll be back this afternoon with another post about the new Ghostland Observatory.
Goldfrapp - Seventh Tree - High soaring dreamy female vocals from this band out of the UK. Electronic folk music.
Erica Badu - New Amerykah Part One - R&B with some funky bits sprinkled on top of Erica’s powerful and unique voice. She is a native of Dallas and has a few shows scheduled there soon.
The Afters - Never Going Back to O.K. - Clean Pop/Rock - Christian Band from Dallas.
Tift Merrit - Another Country - Indie Folk/Alternative Country. Tift voice reminds me of Emmylou Harris. She will be at the Parish first on 3/15 for SXSW and back on April 21.
Punch Brothers - Punch - Bluegrass/Folk - Chris Thile of Nickle Creek fame has started another band this one is a 5 piece. If you are into mandolin, banjo, violin, and some acoustic guitar this would be right up your ally. Chris sings on some songs too.
Pete Rock - NY’s Finest - Hip Hop/Rap - Of Pete Rock and CL Smooth fame. Rock has been one of the top producers of rap and hip hop in New York working with some of the best artist in this genre. As an expert on the decks he’s bringin some great beats and hooks. He has also plenty of guest rappers too.
Vallejo - Thicker Than Water - Rock with Latin tendencies. This Austin act has been around for many years, had various lineup changes but the core of AJ, Alejandro, and Omar are still there making solid rock music. They have several central Texas concert dates coming up if you want to see them. They typically put on guitar driven, energic performances for their loyal fans.
I didn’t get a chance to listen to Janet Jackson or Rocket from the Crypt but they have new music out today as well.
I’ll be back later this afternoon with a review of the new Ghostland Observatory, Robotique Majastique.
So I was looking through the SXSW bands last night and I started noticing some trends. There are 20 bands with the word “black” in their name. Such as: Paint It Black, Black Helicopter, Attack in Black, Black Moth Super Rainbow, The Blackout, The Black Hollies, Black Diamond Heavies, Black Angels, The Black Keys, Black Joe Lewis, The Black Ghosts, Blackholicus, The Black, Black Tide, The Black and White Years, Black Mountain, Black Top Demon, Black Tusk, Black Earth, Blacklist. In contrast there are only 4 or 5 ”white” name bands (White Mice, White Rabbits, White Rainbow, etc). BTW the 2 out of this list that I have heard, The Black Keys and Black Angels, are really good bands. I’m sure if you wanted to hear what any of these bands actually sound like you could find them on myspace. More SXSW name anomalies coming soon.
So the Oscars were last night. I kind of stumbled upon them while doing my laundry. Anyway no real big surprises most all of the people I wanted to win, won. The Coen brothers winning for No Country For Old Men was expected. The Borne Ultimatum taking the technical categories was deserved. In my mind after seeing Daniel Day Lewis in There Will Be Blood there was no doubt he would take home the best actor award. I was glad to see the duo from Once performing and winning best original song. Also that Juno was able to win best original screenplay. John Stewart was really good as the host. I hope he will be back next year. Kind of a ho-hum awards night.
