Hey everyone! Long time no see! In case you were wondering, after recovering from all of the festival madness during September and October, I have just been laying low. I’ve been doing some producing, visiting movie sets, acting etc. I have not had a real chance to see many movies as of late with my erratic schedule, but I did get wrangled into screening one at the behest of a colleague. Now, this colleague does not have the best record of movies that he chooses to drag me to at inopportune times, so I was a little skeptical the day he called me and said that he had a movie that he was screening at a private theatre and I really should come. He, of course, led by asking what I was doing, to that I answered “resting for once”. Then he lets me know that the screening was that night… like in an hour. Grrr….. So I leave my comfy recliner and go out into the dark night to see a movie called Fuel http://thefuelfilm.com. Read the rest of this entry »
Friday night found me ready to kick me heels up and release myself from a week of workin’ for a livin’. I first popped into Antone’s to check out my long time fave Junior Brown. It seemed even more crowded than usual, and perhaps that what inspired a great show. Mr. Brown seemed to be having more fun than I had seen him have onstage in quite a while, and the rhythm section of bassist Jason Rathman and drummer Justin Amaral kept things movin’ and a shakin’ which is just what I needed to forget about a week of showing up just to pay the bills. The always funny “My Wife Thinks Your Dead” was a highlight for me, as was Junior’s amazing work on the guit-steel. Looking forward to his next show in our fair city. You can bet I’ll be there and not square, honey.
I then moved to the Parish and entered a completely different world. When I arrived, DJ Pretty Lights was on stage and absolutely killing it. Irresistible grooves emulated from the turntable and the luscious sound waves made it impossible to keep your body still. My guess is that at least ninety percent of the crowd was dancing. Ninety percent! It was a crazed madhouse. While I’m a girl that has always advocated live music with real instruments, this set had even me appreciating electronica. Read the rest of this entry »
The dust kicked up forcing many fans to place a bandana over their mouth (I had my pink paisley one on), but it didn’t seem to stop anybody from having fun, fun, fun.
The biggest highlight for me on Saturday was Killdozer. Even if you’ve never heard of them before, you have certainly heard them. Trace the lineage of the music that became known to us as grunge, and you will find this band listed as direct ancestors. Their set that afternoon was pulsating and electric. Singer/bassist Michael Gerald proved that one can actually play an instrument and drink beer at the exact same moment, and guitarist Bill Hobson raced up the scaffolding, climbed on top of the loudspeakers, and used the metal structure to play slide with. The trio left stage with amplifiers feeding back, and the crowd (including members of the headlining acts) screaming for more.Read the rest of this entry »
Nepotism is alive and well in this town, as the passing of the obligatory torch (read: column) represents. Although my cousin, Miss Riprock is a city slicker type that sips on exotic martinis, calls me and everyone else she knows “darling,” demands weekly manicures, wears heels that she terms “sky high” and dons tunes that are pressed and painted all fancy, I tend to be the exact opposite. Born and raised here in Texas I like my Lone Star, steer away from restaurants who’s names I cannot pronounce, and wear boots for most of the day and often times even while asleep. On a typical Saturday night, I slip on music that’s new to me and blare it from my porch consulting my pup, Dud.
I’m a no nonsense, laid-back type that will give your album a spin and give you my honest opinion (after consulting Dud) rated by how many beers I put back if I like your tracks enough to keep them playing loud enough to annoy my neighbors. My dad calls me boy, my cousin calls me darling , strangers call me Mr. McRiprock and my friends call me Hux or something derogatory that rhymes with it.
Let’s crack one open and see where we go from here. I’ll press play.
Teresa Storch–Stream of Concrete–Sharing the stage with the likes of Entrain, Montbleau, Peter Mulvey and Rachel Sage, Storch puts out her first full-length studio album which is soulful and funky full of contemporary songwriting with a folksy vibe. The first track, “Your Story” is backed by a jazzy horn section and slips playfully into some intricate guitar work with the organ humming along the whole time. “Mr. Moon” is a quiet track that employs the piano and Storch’s voice crooning a track with a folksy twist. The album is an interesting mix fusing jazz, folk, rock and a loungey blues throughout. 4.5 McRipRock’s Read the rest of this entry »
When I first saw Jackie Bristow at the Continental Club last year, she was opening for a popular local group and nobody had heard her before. When I caught a recent show at Momo’s however, she had quite a few fans of her own.
One of my top ten albums of 2007 was Ms. Bristow’s Crazy Love. I was head over heels to learn this New Zealand born artist was moving to Austin and chatted her up after the show.
Daisy: What brings you to Austin?
Jackie Bristow: Music, my love of music. I love Austin. The very first time I came here was during SXSW, which probably happens to a lot of people. I want to be inspired and be part of the musical community here.Read the rest of this entry »
Who knew Blanche Devereaux owned property in Austin? According to Austin Star Map, my second favorite golden girl, (how can one compete with Sophia) Rue McClanahan, was spotted at an Austin title company closing on the sale of one of her local properties. It was interesting to read that Rue’s autobiography is titled ‘My First Five Husbands.’ Read the rest of this entry »
And you know what that probably means.. yet another festival! Today marked opening day of the Austin Film Festival. The Opening night film was the much anticipated W. Oliver Stone spoke at the festival last year and we got to hear about some of the ideas that he had for this film and now he has brought the finished product for us to preview. Bree will be posting a review soon, but to tide you over, here is video of the red carpet interviews that I did with James Cromwell and relative newcomer Jennifer Sipes.
WE WILL BE IN IT AGAIN. EXPECT BLOG AND VIDEO COVERAGE.
RIGHT NOW, I AM TRYING TO GET MOTIVATED AND WRAP MY BRAIN AROUND SEEING “W.” THIS IS ABOUT IS GUY THAT HAS NOT A DROP OF INTEREST TO ME. THE ONLY REDEEMING QUALITY IS THAT IT IS A FILM BY OLIVER STONE. I JUST DON’T GET WHY STONE WOULD WASTE THE TIME TO TELL THE STORY GEORGE BUSH JR. DOES ANYBODY CARE?
I WANT STONE TO TACKLE THAT BEATLES PROJECT. WELL, I WILL PROBABLY BE AT THE PARAMOUNT MANANNA……………………………………….
CAN’T COMPLAIN, LOVE IT. THIS IS WHY WE DO WHAT WE DO.
Daisy: Last time I saw Street Dogs, you were opening for Tiger Army.
Mike McColgan: At Emo’s.
DR: I think it was here at Red 7.
MM: Was it Red? We’ve been on a lot of tours, so forgive me. It becomes like a blur sometimes. That was an excellent tour. And truth be told, when we play in Texas, Austin always goes off whether we’re playing Red 7 or Emo’s. It’s always been good to us, whether we’re doing tour support or headlining. Read the rest of this entry »
Nepotism is alive and well in this town, as the passing of the obligatory torch (read: column) represents. Although my cousin, Miss Riprock is a city slicker type that sips on exotic martinis, calls me and everyone else she knows “darling,” demands weekly manicures, wears heels that she terms “sky high” and dons tunes that are pressed and painted all fancy, I tend to be the exact opposite. Born and raised here in Texas I like my Lone Star, steer away from restaurants who’s names I cannot pronounce, and wear boots for most of the day and often times even while asleep. On a typical Saturday night, I slip on music that’s new to me and blare it from my porch consulting my pup, Dud. Read the rest of this entry »
As Amber said, Bill Murray was in town for Fantastic Fest promoting City of Ember and he hung around a bit longer for ACL where he and Russ had a chance to talk. But! Until we get the full story on that, here’s my couple of minutes on camera with him.
With the Austin City Limits and Fantastic Fest taking place over the last couple of weeks there has been no shortage of celebrity sightings. Let us begin:
Silent Bob Speaks
Director, Writer, Actor, Producer, Comic-book Aficionado and all around awesome guy, Kevin Smith was in town to screen his new movie “Zack and Miri Make a Porno.” I would share with you the plot line but I think the title pretty much takes care of that job for me. I’ll fill you in that they are making a porno in order to get out of debt. When one is strapped for cash the next logical step is clear — make porn. Why didn’t I think of that?? Kevin didn’t stay that long in Austin seeing is how he is screening his movie across the country before its national release at the end of October, but he was spotted at the Driskill hotel chilling on his balcony according to www.austinstarmap.com. Read the rest of this entry »
Well, I wasn’t able to do a whole lot. But I had to find a way to see the second showing of one of the most talked about films at the festival, Let The Right One In. I had been hearing nothing but raves since the first showing on Saturday. I’ll tell you, it lived up to all of the hype. It was a relatively quiet movie about a pre-teen boy, Oskar, who has an over-abundance of bullies and an under-abundance of friends, more like none. Enter the new girl, Eli, in the apartment complex. She is stand-offish and mysterious and they become fast albeit strange friends. She has a secret. One clue is that she is never out during the day. Another is that bodies drained of blood are starting to pile up. I what I loved the most was the innocent trust and love built between them set against the violence of her secret noturnal life and the things that Oskar has to endure during the day . It really was a good movie. I will definitely be picking it up on DVD when I can. If I can make one recommendation to you, if you get a chance to see it, make sure it isn’t some crazy American version. I know you can handle the original version. Read the rest of this entry »
One of the things that I was really looking forward to yesterday was a stunt that was alluded to at the end of Nacho Vigalondo’s Shorts on Day 3. He announced that he was going to do something “dangerous” in the alley behind the theatre after the second showing of his shorts on Day 5. So after waking up very late and then doing some editing work through the afternoon, I met my partner in crime, Christine and we ran to catch the stunt. But as fate would have it, everything was running behind. We then noticed that we could catch the last part of Santos! which we missed on Day 3 because of the timing of another interview.
Now after seeing the end, I have to say that I enjoyed it alot. I am becoming more and more of a fan of comic book and/or graphic novel movies. Last year, I fell in love with the Death Note movies and immediately ran out and bought the entire manga series. This year, I have really liked Santos! and I also liked Repo! The Genetic Opera which I saw last night, but now I am getting ahead of myself. Read the rest of this entry »
I have been having all kinds of technical difficulties this week! I tried to post some video and a blog yesterday to no avail. So here is that video from the karaoke party and the blog is to come next!
I’ll post more karaoke highlights in the coming days! Matt Dentler doing Prince’s Let’s Go Crazy… hilarious!!
Eric Hisaw – Nature of the Blues: Mr. Hisaw continues to put out gritty records that epitomize Austin music. 9 shots.
Chad Tracy – Honeymoon Classics: Prolific Chad Tracy puts out another fine album that covers a lot of ground. From smooth and soulful to country swing. 9 shots
Full Service – The Dig: Some good ol’ in your face rock with loud guitars. They mix some reggae feel in too. Much coolness. 8 shots.
The Grownup Noise – Self-Titled: Imagine James Taylor playing with Elvis Costello’s band. Pretty swell, huh? Mellow, poppy sound. 8.5 shots.
Bob Simpson - Self-Titled: Great vocals plus sweet songs equals one very fine album from this West Texas artist. 9 shots.
Christine Albert – Paris, Texafrance: Beautifully crafted mix of French and Texas music. You have to hear it to believe it. The lyrics in francais make it sex-ay. 8.5 shots.
Kellye Gray Three – KG3 Live at the Bugle Boy: Some jazz singers sing. Others pour out the lyrics as naturally as breathing. Ms. Gray is definitely a natural. This is the best jazz vocal album I’ve heard all year. Easy. 9.5 shots.
Shelia Harrison - Self-Titled: This pop country 19 year old has the vocal power of a seasoned veteran. Look out if the right people hear her. 8.5 shots.
Someone very much loves winter...
