Archives for January 2019

Alex Anwandter: “Locura”

Blending ’80s style dance grooves and striking lyrical emotion, Chilean-born LA-based singer Alex Anwandter is one of the leading voices in Latin indie pop. This double Latin Grammy nominee blew us out of the water last year with the release of his latest album, Latinoamericana, featuring some of Anwandter’s most tantalizing and elegantly electronic material to date.

Today brings great news for both vinyl lovers and Anwandter fans alike; physical LPs of Latinoamericana are now available worldwide. Be on the lookout for your new favorite record and put some bounce and sunshine into your weekend right now with “Locura“!

Sunk Cost

When we invest a lot into something, be it a relationship, job, or even a used car, it can be tough to cut your losses and start anew. So why are we so prone to sticking with it rather than moving on?

In this episode of Two Guys on Your HeadDr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke discuss sunk cost.

Survivors

What’s one of the best ways of rallying the local community to a great cause? Music, of course. It’s how we roll. ATX booking outfit Howdy Gals appreciates this uniquely Austin way of taking care of business, so they were more than happy to assemble a fantastic line-up for a special event in support of Safe Place.

SURVIVORS: A Night Benefitting Safe Place will raise funds and awareness for the Austin nonprofit, which provides aid and resources for survivors of abuse. And this is a bill chock full of Austin Music Minute favorites –  Zettajoule, Van Mary, Pleasure Venom, TC Superstar, and Whit. The music kicks off at 9 p.m. tonight at Hotel Vegas, 1501 E. 6th St. Very recommended.

-Artwork courtesy of Howdy Gals for the Safe Place benefit.

Texas Standard: January 24, 2019

After school shootings nationwide, a Texas county recruits its very youngest students in an effort to be prepared for the worst. We’ll have the latest. Also, a crisis beyond our borders that could become a crisis on our border in rapid order. Political turmoil in Venezuela reaches a boiling point. We’ll explore. And Texas lawmakers keep promising to focus on education; code for a renewed push for vouchers charter schools and other alternatives? We’ll take a closer look. Plus 19 places to visit in 2019: five of em are in Texas. You may want to take notes. Those stories and so much more today on the Texas Standard:

Lula Wiles: “Shaking As It Turns”

Only a couple years since their self-titled debut, Berklee-educated Boston trio Lula Wiles has kept busy entertaining crowds worldwide and sharing stages with acts like Aoife O’Donovan and The Wood Brothers. On their upcoming album What Will We Do, Lula Wiles challenges the deep-seated norms of folk music while still using its genre structures to facilitate a dozen new, societally-conscious tunes. As such, protest and contradiction is a central theme of What Will We Do, and sonically the record captures the ambiance of an intimate living room performance with charming imperfections and edges left just rough enough.

What Will We Do is out tomorrow, and right now you can start exploring Lula Wiles with a traditional-inspired song, written after the 2017 death of a demonstrator in Charlottesville, “Shaking As It Turns”!

Distract Myself

After officially becoming a band in 2017, The Naked Tungs recorded and produced their debut EP, Hear It Calls. Your Austin Music Minute maven was hooked from the get-go.

Last summer the band released their follow-up, the equally addictive Distract Myself (killer opening track “Shut It Off” was featured on today’s AMM). And chances are pretty good you’ll hear these badass tunes at their show tonight at Beerland, 711 1/2 Red River. It’s an excellent line-up that includes a fabulous double-video premiere with garage pop outfit Sure (any band that has a sign in their video that says “MUSIC VIDEOS ARE STUPID” is doing all kinds of winning in my book, thank you very much) and lo-fi punk hoodlums Unpopular; plus, making their grand and chaotic debut this evening, Texas Don and the Toxic City Psychos.

Unleash the fury. Doors at 9:30 p.m. Awesome bands, one and all. Recommended.

-Photo of The Naked Tungs courtesy of the artist.

This Song: Shy Beast

Shy Beast front woman Mariclaire Glaeser describes how the music of the Cardigans helped her navigate a difficult childhood, bond with her older brother and find her musical way.

Shy Beast is KUTX’s Artist of the Month for January

Listen to this episode of This Song

Subscribe via the Podcasts App, iTunes or Stitcher to get the new episodes of This Song delivered to you as soon as they come out.

Watch the video for  “Leave Me/Let Me”

Listen to Shy Beast’s MyKUTX Guest DJ Set

Watch Shy Beast’s Perform “Leave Me/Let Me” in Studio 1A

Listen to Songs from this episode of This Song

Texas Standard: January 23, 2019

The Supreme Court appears to take DACA off the table in shutdown negotiations, but where does that leave thousands of DACA recipients in Texas? We’ll explore. Also in the Texas Standard newsroom, another Supreme Court order we’re assessing: the impact of the reinstatement of the Trump administration’s so-called transgender military ban. We’ll take a look at the impact of those seeking to serve. And police, veterans, cancer research, political action committees have formed around lots of worthy causes. But where’s the money going? A look at so called scam pacs and more today on the Texas Standard:

Ley Line: “The Well”

Back in 2013, two pairs of players hit it off at a Colorado bluegrass festival, then reunited a couple years later in Austin as Ley Line. The individual experiences of these four women weave together a collective outlook of human connection, across both traditional American genres and modern international influences. Ley Line’s use of acoustic instruments, multilingual lyrics, and multicultural sounds make them a standout act in the Live Music Capital and you can catch them this Friday night at the Cactus Cafe.

You won’t have to dig deep to find something recent from Ley Line; our Song of the Day features the latest single from Ley Line, written after returning from Brazil, “The Well”!

Wynton Kelly

Wynton Kelly was a piano prodigy who accompanied legendary performers across hundreds of songs but failed to make it big as a bandleader.

In this edition of Liner Notes, Rabbi and jazz Historian Neil Blumofe walks us through Kelly’s upbringing, aspirations, and why he was often viewed simply as a “first rate sideman”.

Music: “Freddie Freeloader” – Miles Davis [1959]
“Cornbread” – Hal Singer [1948]
“Come Rain or Come Shine”, “Surrey With the Fringe On Top”, “Quiet Village” – Wynton Kelly

Melba Liston

Melba Liston was a master arranger and a trombonist with an incredible but often overlooked talent.

On this episode of Liner Notes, Rabbi and jazz historian Neil Blumofe discusses life and legacy.

Music: Melba Liston – “Insomnia” [1959]
Dizzy Gillespie – “Annie’s Dance” [1957]
Randy Weston – “Caban Bamboo Highlife” [1963]
Melba Liston – “Very Syrian Bamboo” [1959]
Melba Liston – “You Don’t Say” [1959]

Never Belonged

Somewhere along the music-sphere, your Austin Music Minute host read that expectations for St. Paul-based artist deM atlaS‘ first full-length release were high. Josh Turner, the mind behind the moniker, has been making waves in the Twin Cities’ scene for some time now, so the anticipation for Bad Actress was way up there. Little did his fan base (and reviewers) know it would be an epic upheaval, mixing multiple genres and unnerving the senses with the emotions of a survivor following what he’s described as “…the hell that’s inside of you.”

Released last year, the hip-hop/rock/acoustic/gospel-tinged poetic construction of Bad Actress reflects the tumultuous ebb and flow of manic depression, as well as the healing that follows toxic relationships.

deM atlaS will be in Austin for a show tomorrow (Wednesday) night at Emo’s, 2015 E. Riverside Dr., opening for Minneapolis hip-hop duo Atmosphere, along with fellow Minneapolis hip-hop artists The Lioness and DJ Keezy. An excellent bill all around. Doors open at 7 p.m. Recommended.

-Image courtesy of the artist.

 

Texas Standard: January 22, 2019

When a suspect dies in police custody in Texas, what’s the public’s right to get answers? Critics call it the dead suspect loophole. We’ll take a closer look. Also coming up this hour, a military uprising in Venezuela. Four officials are kidnapped before troops loyal to the president put it down. A coup in the works? What might it mean for the region, and for Texas? And as some kids from Marfa get their school projects ready for a literal launchpad, a Texas researcher takes a lead position in crafting a roadmap for the next decade of space research. We’ll meet him and a whole lot more today on the Texas Standard:

Steve Power: “Pour Out My Heart”

Over decades of experience and five records total, local singer-songwriter Steve Power is responsible for hundreds of happy listeners both at home and in concert. Power’s an accomplished solo acoustic performer, but he really breaks out his namesake with his six piece backing band, consisting of some of Austin’s finest.

Late last year Power turned up the amplitude with his fourth full-length, Power Lines, and this Friday he’s releasing it physically on a national scale. These fourteen songs of absolute power carry classic country into his signature Americana sound; just check out the penultimate track off Power Lines, “Pour Out My Heart”!

Texas Standard: January 21, 2019

Tomorrow marks one month of the longest partial government shutdown in U.S. history. We’ll talk with correspondents statewide to gauge the impact on Texas. Also a new space race heating up, score one for the home team. Plus one of the deadliest tree diseases in the U.S. reaches epidemic proportions in the Lone Star State. An expert tells us what to do and what not to if we hope to save our oaks. All that and a whole lot more, today on the Texas Standard:

Monday Mojo

Let’s just say that this is a little something that’s good for your soul. Make no mistake.

The Eastside Blues Syndicate leads the way at the Blue Monday Blues Jam, happening tonight at Dozen Street, 1808 E. 12th St. Starting at 9 p.m., musicians are welcome to sign up to play at this Monday night ritual, while the Syndicate starts out the evening with a set or two to get things warmed up.

Leave your ego at the door and carry in some respect. Recommended.

-Photo courtesy of the Eastside Blues Syndicate.

-Today’s AMM music selection: Muddy Waters, “Got My Mojo Working”

Mike Krol: “Little Drama”

Like many of us, punk rock has played and continues to play a pivotal role in Mike Krol‘s life. This Los Angeles guitarist and vocalist made his distorted debut in 2011 with I Hate Jazz, an album allegedly recorded during Krol’s worst week ever. His use of music to overcome personal difficulties has become a staple of Krol’s over the years and for his upcoming LP he’s going way back to his roots.

Totaling just short of a dozen new songs, Power Chords turns the amplifier up to 11 with the same influences that kicked off his career; the spirit of The Strokes, The Ramones, Misfits and more come into play once again on Power Chords, this time with Krol’s matured discipline piercing through the fuzz. Power Chords is out on Friday and you can get plugged in right now with one of the album’s unapologetically primitive progressions, “Little Drama”!

Photo: Brian Guido

Higher Ed: Curiosity Did Not Kill The Cat

What does “curiosity” mean, exactly? Most definitions center around the desire to know something. So is curiosity just the act of asking lots of questions, or is it something deeper? In this episode of KUT’s podcast “Higher Ed,” Southwestern University President Dr. Ed Burger and KUT’s Jennifer Stayton discuss curiosity, wonderment, and if any question is ever a silly one.

What do we know already (or think we know) about curiosity? It “killed the cat,” right – implying that too much inquisitiveness about something is dangerous. Curious George stories are a more playful take on learning and exploration.

Ed defines curiosity as the “mindful act of thinking beyond whatever it is that is in front of a person…. What comes next? What led to this? Where do I go from here? It really comes down to the art of creating questions.”

But Ed puts a slight twist on that definition. He does not actually believe those questions ever have to be asked out loud.

“Curiosity is an internal thing,” Ed believes. “I talk about the art of creating questions. You don’t have to ask them to be curious. But just to be thinking about ‘why is the person doing it that way? Why does that look the way it looks? Why did the person say that and not something else? What did the person not say?’ Just having those thoughts and those questions in your own head generate the internal curiosity.”

Ed’s definition may make it sound as if we are either born with that internal instinct to create questions or we are not. Are we stuck with the level of curiosity we have at day one or can curiosity be taught?

Ed says curiosity can absolutely be taught and amplified by encouraging that internal development of questions. Listen to the full episode to hear how Ed believes curiosity can be taught and nurtured (he has specific examples from his classroom). It is also time to get into gear for a new puzzler!

This episode was recorded on Dec. 4, 2018.

Benjamin Crump (Ep. 7, 2019)

On this week’s program, In Black America producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. speaks with Benjamin Crump, an award-winning Civil Rights attorney and advocate who successfully represented the families of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, and Robbie Tolan.

“Deth” Rock

Your Austin Music Minute maven has made note of this before, but it bears repeating: Audrey Campbell is not to be trifled with.

The Pleasure Venom front woman’s powerful presence on their fantastically frenzied self-titled release pushes all the right buttons in a merciless upheaval. Feast on all those annihilating hooks that match Campbell’s vocals on each blistering round. Not fer nothin’ did Bikini Kill‘s Kathleen Hanna give this band a shoutout. The future is badass female. Deal with it.

The second track on Pleasure Venom’s EP, “Deth” (featured on today’s AMM), is a scorcher and comes with a brand new video. The band premieres it at their show tonight at Cheer Up Charlie’s, 901 Red River. The bill features sets by Pollen RX, The Oysters, and Houston band Goodgirl, making their Austin debut.

The music starts at 9:30 p.m. Solid all around. Very recommended.

-Photo of Pleasure Venom’s Audrey Campbell by Victoria Renard.