Archives for January 2020

Roddy Ricch vs Selena Gomez

This week on The Breaks

Hosts Confucius and Fresh discuss how Selena Gomez’s plea to fans to stream her new album so that she could beat Roddy Ricch for number one proves that hip-hop is the most popular genre in the music industry.
Both hosts discuss the fake story about Boosie Badazz fighting George Zimmerman.
Adrian Armstrong from “Brown State of Mind” joins The Breaks for an interview.
Fresh argues in his Unpopular Opinion that Gary Clark Jr. has transcended the Austin Music Scene and should not have been nominated for this year’s Austin Music Awards.
In his Confucius Says segment, Confucius encourages people to focus on being themselves and making good work in order to succeed and implores them disregard anyone who tells them otherwise.

The Austin Music Poll is open until Tuesday January 28th. The Breaks have been nominated for an Austin Music Award, along with lots of other people from KUTX. Click here to cast your vote now!

The Breaks are presenting the Love Lockdown February 13th at Stubbs indoors featuring Jake Lloyd, Eimaral Sol, Jay Wile & arya. You can get your tickets here!

Listen on The Apple Podcasts App, Spotify or Stitcher

The Breaks are on every Saturday 10pm-1am on KUTX 98.9.You can hear the latest full broadcast of The Breaks’ Saturday Night show.

Texas Standard: January 20, 2020

The star of the show or a bit player? What’s likely to be a major role for a former heard of Baylor university in the upcoming impeachment trial, we’ll have details. Also, the proliferation of so called sanctuary cities for the unborn across Texas. And temperatures plummet across Texas… are natural gas bills skyrocket? Not so much! What’s keeping the cap on heating. Plus, Texas public colleges and universities getting graded on how well they help first generation, low income students. Who makes the grade and more today on the Texas Standard:

Cam O’bi: “Grammy’s Babies”

His name may not ring a bell right off the bat, but you’ve almost certainly heard his music underlying a lyrical heavyweight at one point or another. Born in Las Vegas, Grammy winner Cam O’bi has spent the past half decade not only producing for some of Chicago’s top talents but indeed steering the city’s sound more so than any of his contemporaries. O’bi’s backed up Chance the Rapper, Vic Mensa, Noname, SZA, J Cole, Moses Sumney and more, leaning on a formula of rounded out harmonic layers, tender keys, and light percussive elements.

Recently Cam O’bi has stepped out from behind the producer’s curtain with a microphone comfortably in his hand; he’s gearing up for his debut solo LP Grown Ass Kid, featuring appearances from O’bi’s rich network of hip-hop/R&B collaborators and of course, the auteur himself front and center. Keep on the lookout for Grown Ass Kid later this year and kick back on MLK Day with the record’s second single, “Grammy’s Babies”!

Mitch Landrieu (Ep. 7, 2020)

This week on In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. speaks with Mitch Landrieu, best selling author, speaker and attorney who was Mayor of New Orleans from 2010 to 2018. He discusses a report on race and class he authored, titled Divided by Design: Findings from the American South.

Video Time

You might’ve heard your humble Austin Music Minute host spinning Midcentury‘s “Sinking State” in the afternoons. Such a jam. Just savoring the post-modern/nostalgic bliss carrying melody and rhythm influenced by funk, pop, and those new wave sounds triggering very specific memories…if you lived through the ’80s and survived. For realies and trulies.

So check this: If you go to Midcentury’s show tonight, you get to be part of a video shoot for the band’s upcoming single that’s also part of a 7-inch split they’re releasing with Mamahawk next month. It’s all going down at The Parish, 214 E. 6th St. The bill also features sets by Kalijah, DAYEATER, and Automatic Weekend. Doors at 8 p.m. Recommended.

-Photography by by Renee Dominguez.

Urusai

Time for the next adventure, fiends. Dream-pop/shoegaze trio and longtime Austin Music Minute fave Ringo Deathstarr is headed back to Japan for a few tour dates. But before they take off, don’t miss Ringo Deathstarr’s tour kickoff show tonight at Hotel Vegas, 1501 E. 6th St. Frankly, it’s an all-around badass line-up that features Denton shoegaze punks Rei Clone, and fellow ATX bands Nevil and New Strangers.

Doors at 9 p.m. Do not leave the earplugs at home, kids. Very recommended.

-Photo courtesy of the artist.

KUT Weekend – January 17, 2020

Paying for new trains and buses in Austin could involve a joint venture and new taxes. Plus, as the Caddo Mounds State Historic State reopens, tornado survivors heal together. And teens in Texas react to U.S.-Iranian tension. Those stories and more in this edition of KUT Weekend!

Subscribe at https://weekend.kut.org

Texas Standard: January 17, 2020

As the senate takes up impeachment, it takes up something else in the spirit of bipartisanship with major implications for Texas, we’ll hear all about it. Also, Texas among the states becoming magnets for people from Puerto Rico. As the territory hits population lows, who’s left? And remembering a moment that made Barbara Jordan a household name 24 years after her passing. Plus the week in Texas politics and much more today on the Texas Standard:

The Grouchy Cat That Only Likes One Person

Cats — we know — can be fickle creatures. Grouchy? That’s arguable. That was the inspiration for this Typewriter Rodeo poem.

Surf Rock is Dead: “Diabolik”

Reader discretion is respectfully advised for any hardcore Dick Dale (R.I.P.) fans, but rest assured, Surf Rock is Dead is just the name of the band.

Melbourne’s Joel Witenberg initially linked up with Chicago’s Kevin Pariso six years back, right around when they declared Brooklyn as their home base and sonically settled on a surreal ’80s reverbed-out version of post-punk and dream-pop. Following up their independently released EPs SRiD (2015) and We Have No Friends? (2017), these wave killers are planning on celebrating May Day with a fatalistic look back on loss on their debut full-length, Existential Playboy. Existential Playboy is out May 1st, and you can hang ten with these tidal reapers early with a melodic, shoegaze-influenced glimpse at how disorderly living situations can get in the Big Apple – “Diabolik”!

Photo: Shamshawan Scott

Not As Clever as You Think – Minihorse

Episode 6 of Song Confessional features the Ypsilanti, Michigan-based, DIY bedroom pop outfit, Minihorse, and the world premier of their new song, “Not A Clever as You Think”. You’ll hear a man confess to carrying on three relationships simultaneously-unbeknowst to any of the women. (Oh and he thinks he got a fourth woman pregnant.) You’ll also hear Minihorse’s lead singer, Ben Collins, and Walker discuss the creation of this send up, toxic masculinity in the music scene, and more.

Subscribe Here | Facebook | Instagram

Pinky Toe

Like the mad scientists they are, The Boleys weave together their magic while tucked away in a refurbished old barn that is now a studio and rehearsal space out in Florence, TX, about forty or so miles outside of Austin. Proof of the awesomeness that flies outta the barn: El Toro, a jagged garage/psych vibration adventure, that which maketh thy trippy goblet flow over. But for reals. This is badass, and all arrows point toward continued badassery from this sibling trio.

Next month, The Boleys premiere the unsettling new video for the track “Pinky Toe” (featured on today’s AMM), complete with a viewer discretion warning for all manner of “DRUGS – SEX – VIOLENCE” igniting the screen. Quelle nightmare!! brilliantly brought to life thanks to the direction of John P. Rosales and phenomenal camera work by Katie McDowell.

Until then, soak in the sound of The Boleys when you see them tonight at the Mohawk, 912 Red River, sharing a bill with The Mackays, Holy Death Trio, and Weaver, on the inside stage. Doors at 8 p.m.

Love them madly. So recommended.

-Photo courtesy of the artist.

How To Crush Writer’s Block (Rebroadcast)

Writer’s block! That phrase might induce panic and a recollection of a familiar experience. It’s a very common phenomenon. So what is it?

In this edition of Two Guys on Your Head, Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke explain the ins and outs of how and why we sometimes get stuck – and what we can do to help ourselves in those difficult situations.

Texas Standard: January 16, 2020

A new trade deal with China… So what’s in it for us? Could be a sizable portion of Chinese spending on sectors with a strong Texas showing. It’s not the end of the trade war, but it might make a difference to industries in the Lone Star State. Also, what sounds like a change of position on climate change from the head of the Texas oil and gas association…but is it? And is Trader Joes still the best grocery chain in America? Here’s a hint: no. What is and why and a whole lot more today on the Texas Standard:

The Saxophones: “Lamplighter”

When you first come across the name of a certain Bay Area duo, you may have some understandable misassumptions. But despite their handle, The Saxophones actually only has one woodwind player in their roster (who typically prefers guitar or synthesizer), and tends to steer towards folk, dream pop, and surf over jazz, while steering clear of other “sax-centric” genres like funk and ska.

The title came half-jokingly from Alexi Erenkov, when he was still a despondent jazz student looking for better avenues of self-expression. Erenkov’s partner in marriage, parenthood, and songwriting soon joined as a percussionist and The Saxophones then began developing a Martin Denny-meets-Dave Brubeck-meets-Le Orme sound on their shared houseboat. Mixed by Devendra Banhart engineer Noah Georgeson, the two-piece’s upcoming sophomore album, Eternity Bay, is an analog double 8-track offering steeped in drama, romance, reflection, anxiety and overall maturity. Eternity Bay is out on March 6th, and you can soak up your reed with The Saxophones surf rock style with their latest – “Lamplighter”!

Photo: Conner Sorensen

An Incident of Grand Proportions

Even within the realm of independent music, Joanna Newsom has been redefining the character – the elements – of whatever a “feminine” voice is supposed to be. The singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist was hailed by NPR Music as the “21^st Century’s Timeless Voice,” in command of a vocal style/range unrestrained by preconceived notions of feminine vocalization. There are no limitations to an artist like Newsom covering such an expansive terrain – one moment a coquettish softness and the very next a stormy screech, then everything in between.

Newsom is also an intuitive composer and performer, powered by an extraordinary musical language. Dim the lights and don those headphones as you play Newsom’s albums. This is unapologetically music to be experienced – listened to – quite closely. Soak in the details. Your world is richer for it.

Joanna Newsom is in Austin for two performances: Tonight and tomorrow night at Bates Recital Hall, 2406 Robert Dedman Dr. The music begins at 8:30 p.m. both nights.

-Photography by Annabel Mehran.

Texas Standard: January 15, 2020

The Democratic presidential debate: the last before voting begins in this years contest. We’ll explore whether anything might have made a difference to voters in the Lone Star State. Also, wage violations: a new law likely to insulate some of America’s biggest franchises. And a unique way of talking among many Texans: has Spanglish become a language all its own? All those stores plus a Politifact check and more today on the Standard:

Loose Buttons: “I Don’t Really Know” [PREMIERE]

Picture this. You’re in an indie rock band in the Big Apple. One of countless. How the heck do you make your group stand out?

Well…while we don’t actually have a definitive answer for all you wannabe Interpols, Grizzly Bears, and Big Thiefs, what we can tell you is that the four members of Loose Buttons have steadily sewn themselves into the scene after regularly performing back in their early teens. Essences of mutual support, friendship, healing, and community have continued to fasten an overwhelmingly wholesome character to Loose Buttons, whose light-hearted garage rock sound tends to wander into realms of pop and new wave.

Following 2014’s Damage Gallery and the critically-acclaimed 2017 EP Sundays, Loose Buttons have teamed up with Strokes producer Gus Oberg for their first-ever full-length, Something Better. Something Better comes February 7th, and today Loose Buttons submits to uncertainty with the premiere of “I Don’t Really Know”!

The Void and Beyond

Despite impressions perhaps indicating otherwise, your Austin Music Minute host is not prone to much sentimentality. But it’s so cool and badass to note that …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead played their very first show in 1995. And, thanks to what looked and felt like a cyclone of boundless energy, the band soon developed a reputation for these pulse-racing performances that might have resulted in a few damaged instruments. Maybe a bloody nose? Or not.

But that’s the energy that their music called for, reined in, conjured up from its expansive, guitar-laden depths. Now, Trail of Dead’s tenth album in 25 years comes out this Friday, X: The Godless Void and Other Stories – as melodic as it is atmospheric and tremendous. They’re ushering in another Trail of Dead chapter of fantastic, atmospheric adventure.

Before they head out on tour Friday, you have the chance to see Trail of Dead at their album release show tonight at The Far Out Lounge, 8504 S. Congress Ave. The night gets started right with an opening set by longtime AMM fave Think No Think. Doors at 7 p.m. This one comes very recommended.

-Photo by Michael Minasi for KUTX.

Texas Standard: January 14, 2020

Texas offers one of the biggest delegate prizes in all the U.S. Are the democrats in this years presidential contest taking Texas seriously? We’ll take a closer look at how far the candidates are going to win over Texas voters, and what’s at stake. Also, as candidates focus their energies on places like Iowa, should Texas consider taking a stand as the state with the first primary? Plus a state historic site reopens after devastating tornadoes: a return to the Caddo Mounds plus a whole lots more today on the Texas Standard: