The FBI learning more about how the Permian Basin shooter sidestepped Federal background checks. Now they’re focusing on a person in Lubbock. We’ll have details and look at how Texas lawmakers are approaching the question of what two do about gun violence. Also, another retirement in the Texas GOP and what it means for 2020. Plus it’s being called the most important book on football since Friday Night Lights: the story of the man they call the Tyler Rose, Earl Campbell. Also, heart surgery without opening up the chest? A stunning new procedure that could save lives. All of that and more today on the Texas Standard:
Archives for September 2019
Paper Beat Scissors: “All It Was”
When you’re as accomplished of a multi-instrumentalist as Montreal’s Tim Crabtree, the slow burn of composition and arrangement is worth it for the final product. Crabtree’s in his tenth year of releasing under the name Paper Beat Scissors and between his proficiency arranging and performing vocals, guitar, bass, piano, woodwinds, strings and more, he’s become a master of his craft.
Crabtree’s piercing voice and haunting orchestral chamber folk hit the mark once again on PBS’ upcoming third full-length, Parallel Line. It’s a serene eleven-song meditation on what it means to be alive in the world today, conceived from Crabtree’s most enlightening experiences of the past couple years and primarily mixed by Beck/Thurston Moore engineer Dean Nelson. Parallel Line is out next Friday coinciding with a tour across Western Europe and Canada but today you can enter the placid atmosphere early with “All It Was”!
Photo: Alex Pearson
Apocalypse Soundtrack
No rest for the wicked (cool). The Austin Music Minute brings you blaring psych/metal from Australia.
King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard are touring in support of their album, Infest the Rats’ Nest, the second LP they’ve released this year, blazing eardrums with a soundtrack to the apocalypse. Don’t miss them tonight at Stubb’s Waller Creek Amphitheater, along with fellow Aussie rockers Stonefield and ORB. Doors open at 6 p.m. Following the show, head(bang) to the afterparty with ATX outfit Rival Waves at 10 p.m. on Stubb’s indoor stage.
It’s on fire. Recommended.
-Photo courtesy of the artist.
Texas Standard: September 4, 2019
How well do you think democracy is working in America? Texans weigh in and talk about about what poses the biggest threat to democracy. We’ll have details from the just released annual survey of political attitudes in the Lone Star State, the Texas Lyceum Poll. Also, what we’re learning about how the Permian Basin shooter obtained his weapon and how that’s putting Texas lawmakers in a politically precarious position. Plus is the U.S. not only the top oil and gas producer but tops in cutting emissions, too? A Politifact check and more when today on the Texas Standard:
The Modern Tall Tales Texans Tell Kids
We Texans have long had a reputation for tall tales, for stretching the truth in entertaining ways. I wondered to what extent this cultural DNA has survived. So I asked this question of Texans on Facebook: What is the most outrageous white lie you ever told your kids? I got several hundred responses and chose these as the best among them.
Cynthia told her kids: “Oh. The smoke detector is a Santa camcorder. How do ya think Santa knows if you are naughty or nice?”
Jim said that his uncle taught them that windmills were cow fans. Kept all those cows cool in the hot months.
Many wrote that they told their kids, “The ice cream truck turned on the music to signal that it was out of ice cream.” This bum steer was so popular as a submission that it no doubt rates as an urban legend for kids.
Tammy said that as she passed the cotton fields on the way to Port Arthur she would say to her northern-raised grandson: “See, we grow our snow here.”
And from Rose we have this: “To get my boys to let me trim their nails we would plant them in the window box and watch them grow.” Rose actually planted one bean for each. Very clever Rose.
Tammy P. said, “I had my kids convinced that I could see through walls because all moms had superpowers.”
Rhonda had a great one that she told her children. “Sorry kids, you can only go to Chuck E. Cheese if you’ve been invited to a birthday party.” Evidently a company rule.
David had his youngest daughter convinced he could see through walls. He told her to run to any part of the house and he’d tell her where she was. Dave just had to listen to her footsteps and never missed. His daughter was blown away by his omnipotence.
Leah told her kids she was a retired ninja. She had an impressive large necklace that looked like an award and so that was her secret ninja badge. Unfortunately her ninja suit was always at the cleaners.
Kris would tell his kids Twilight Zone stories as though they happened to him. It was part of his autobiography.
I love this from Samantha: “When you go through the drive-thru they give you car fries and house fries.” So once the kids had had a few fries, she’d say, “Sorry, that’s all the car fries they gave us. Have to wait now until we get home.”
Glynda said her kid wanted to ride the elephant at the circus and she said, “You need an elephant riding license for that. Unfortunately, we don’t have one.”
And we have this about a fish tank where all the fish died. Kristi recalls, “Well, we were cleaning the tank and its contents, and preparing the water for new fish while we waited for pay day so we could buy more. The kids were disappointed when they came home from school and there were no fish. So I convinced them that we had bought ‘crystal’ fish that are crystal clear. I told them if you watch real close you’ll see the reflection of the lights on their scales occasionally as they swim by. Entertained them for days.”
Karen M. has the tallest tale I think, if not the most devious. She said, “My youngest refused to eat meat (or any protein) as a child. From 3 to about 12, my kids believed I would take them to the doctor for a ‘meat shot’ if their protein wasn’t eaten. I showed them the meat shot injector, my turkey baster.”
So, like I said, I’m glad to see we Texans have not lost our talent for tall tales. Edward “Tex” O’Reilly, creator of Pecos Bill, would be proud of us.
Joan Shelley: “The Fading”
Kentucky’s Joan Shelley may be influenced by the traditional music of the United States and the United Kingdom, but don’t call her a folk singer. Think more of a soft country mix between Dolly Parton and Roger Miller, with an earnest temperament that’s landed her opening spots for Andrew Bird and Wilco.
Shelley’s been building up her repertoire for most of the past decade but it’s only after the release of her fourth full-length in 2015 that she’s broken out of the local scene to conquer tours across the US and Europe. Last Friday Shelley continued her naturalistic saga with Like the River Loves the Sea, twelve new tracks recorded in Reykjavík, Iceland that are still firmly rooted in Louisville. Shelley kicks off an extended national tour at the end of the month, and today you can treat yourself to an animated video for one of the album’s lead singles, “The Fading”!
Photo: Amber Estes Thieneman
Bring It On Down
The Austin Music Minute is taking a little jump ahead for a badass line-up you can catch tomorrow night at Eastside hot spot Hotel Vegas, 1502 E. 6th St.
Take a gander for a preview of all the cool stuff: Getting all “Hotwired” with garage power-pop rockers Crocodile Tears; got all the Party Favors you need with Texas country-rock outfit Loteria; and featured on today’s AMM (check out their album Most Intellectual), western rock quintet Lo Country.
Doors at 9 p.m. tomorrow. So recommended.
-Photo courtesy of Lo Country.
Texas Standard: September 3, 2019
We’re learning more about contact between the Permian Basin shooter and law enforcement before the shooting spree started. We’ll have the latest on the investigation into the second mass shooting in west Texas in a month, and a conversation with the mayor of Odessa. Also, some say we should batten down the hatches for an eventual economic downturn. How do you do that, exactly? Plus: America the gerontocracy? A provocative look at the body politic and a whole lot more today on the Texas Standard:
Ghost Funk Orchestra: “Modern Scene”
Electric Light Orchestra. Unknown Mortal Orchestra. Sun Ra Arkestra. When a band adds an orchestral element to their name, the bar is set high by its predecessors. But while other large ensembles like Polyphonic Spree and Arcade Fire keep the mood relatively upbeat, a particular paranormal-inspired eleven-piece isn’t afraid to take their music somewhere darker.
NYC psych-soul-rockers Ghost Funk Orchestra certainly measure up with their stage-filling energy and blend of jazz-fusion, Latin, surf, stoner rock, and afrobeat into their spectral aura. The reticent lyrics, spacey guitar effects, and horn and string arrangements are all the product of chief songwriter Seth Applebaum who conceived GFO’s debut album as a tribute to his late grandfather.
Song For Paul just came out last month, and to put it lightly…it’s all over the place…in the best way possible. Be sure to explore all the sounds Song For Paul has to offer, and get your ghastly groove on right now with “Modern Scene”!
Who Is This Texas ‘Ambassador’ Who Works At The Capitol Visitors Center?
No matter how jet-lagged, or sweaty, Austin tourists may find themselves when they reach the Texas Capitol Visitors Center, they’ll find a breath of fresh air waiting for them just inside its doors: Mary Jackson.
Lightning Strikes
It’s the perfect way to round out your Labor Day weekend. Release the beast. Unleash the rock. Leave your earplugs at home and pay the price, fool.
Austin-based three-piece Wild Tinderbox pushes it past eleven on their debut LP, a storm of prog-/desert-/psych-veined rock, Daughters of Lightning. Catch Wild Tinderbox tonight at the Mohawk, 912 Red River, on the inside stage, along with longtime AMM fave Obscured By Echoes and gritty raunch-blues rock fiends Secondhand Shag. It’s all the rock tonight, really. Go for it.
-Photography by Brad Whitfield.
Texas Standard: September 2, 2019
The Governor says The status quo is unacceptable in the aftermath of the second mass shooting in West Texas in a month. We’ll have more on reaction to this weekend’s mass shooting in the Midland Odessa region and the mounting sense of frustration over what to do to end what the governor calls the status quo. Also, a closer look at a possible end to America’s longest military conflict. And a Texas-sized balancing act between climate control and historic preservation. Those stories and so much more today on the Texas Standard:
Party Pupils: “Bite My Tongue”
Labor Day’s all about letting loose, so who better to pepper into your playlist than L.A. electronic duo Party Pupils?
Over the past four years multi-instrumentalist producer Suave Yung Blanc has teamed up with with solo singer MAX for some of the most infectious house remixes and originals you’ll ever hear. And true to their name, Party Pupils are well-versed in the electronic spectrum, dilating out from run-of-the-mill club bangers into an iris of future funk, UK garage and deep house.
Party Pupils hasn’t have a lot of trouble earning new listeners with their sporadically-released, inventive studio singles, which isn’t mutually exclusive to their ability to win over fest crowds one sweaty show at a time. Party Pupils recently upped the ante on their latest track of 2019, an absolute synth slammer of house music, “Bite My Tongue”!
Vernon E. Jordan, Jr. (Ep. 39, 2019)
This week on In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. presents excerpts from an address at this year’s Summit On Race In America: Liberty And Justice For All by Vernon E. Jordan, Jr., civil rights icon, former CEO of the National Urban League and former Executive Director fo the United Negro College Fund.