Archives for November 2020

Respect Andre 3000

This week on The Breaks, Fresh is flying solo while Confucius is out:

  • He talks about Young Thug’s reasons for not wanting to work with Andre 3000.
  • He unpacks Kevin Hart’s conversation with his fans on the Clubhouse app about comments he made about his daughter in his latest standup special.
  • In the wake of many people’s dismay following the latest release of the Grammy nominations, Fresh states his Unpopular Opinion that Black music deserves to be represented accurately in the Grammy Awards

With Love

The subtleties make the sound of Sylvan Esso so tremendous. It’s a build.

The electronic wizardry of Nick Sanborn paired with the ultra-cool low-volume vocal powers of Amelia Meath show off this intuitive interaction in an intimate sound space that keeps the ear transfixed, from their self-titled 2014 debut to their recent, slightly more minimalist release,  Free Love. The common thread is a melodic sensuality; the sounds may be darker, disconcerting, but you can dance your ass off for days.

Sylvan Esso is concluding a three-part livestream series From the Satellite this week with the final installment, “With Love,” including music from Free Love and previous releases. The show starts at 8 p.m. (Central) tomorrow night, Tuesday December 1, at Noonchorus. Your virtual ticket gets you into the show, and the chance to get all kinds of cool merch.

-Photo courtesy of the artist.

Texas Standard: November 30, 2020

The timetable for COVID-19 vaccines in Texas? The first doses could be here within days, says the governor. We’ll have more on the state’s plans for a rollout of Pfizer’s Coronavirus vaccine in Texas, who gets it and when. Bob Garret of the Dallas Morning news with details. Also more on the incoming Biden administrations plans for fighting the pandemic. And contraband crossing the border: not drugs coming into the U.S., but arms going south to Mexico. Those stories and more today on the Texas Standard:

Nick Garza’s Get Along: “Denial” (feat. Kelsey Wilson)

Historically, singer-guitarist Nick Garza’s been known as co-founder of Austin’s premiere “stomp-folk” group, Hello Wheels. But amongst the bevy of revelations that’ve unfolded in 2020, you might’ve missed the launch of his eponymous country project, Nick Garza’s Get Along this past summer. The Get Along came out of the gate strong with a collaboration between Garza, Augie Meyers, and Los Texmaniacs, showing off the songwriter’s penchant for classic country composition, rooted even deeper by his rich baritone.

Nick Garza’s Get Along’s debut record Heartbreak and Enchiladas still needs some more time before its ready to come out of the oven, but last week we were treated to a Thanksgiving appetizer featuring Sir Woman, Glorietta, and Wild Child vocalist Kelsey Wilson. “Denial” is a pretty straightforward two-step tune, but the chemistry between Wilson and Garza as they trade bars is something that’ll make you want to revisit the single several times over, and maybe even try it out with a karaoke partner in the future.


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Maurice A. Jones (Ep. 52, 2020)

This week on In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson speaks with Maurice A. Jones, former Deputy Undersecretary of HUD and former Virginia Secretary of Commerce and current President and CEO of the Local Initiatives Support Corporation, a community development finance corporation providing a variety of financial and technical services to schools, healthcare centers and organized groups.

Burnin’ Me Up

Today’s Austin Music Minute slid you some “Gotta Get To Heaven” from Scott H. Biram‘s pentecostal pyre Sold Out To the Devil: A Collection of Gospel Cuts by the Rev. Scott H. Biram. Since the days of The Dirty Old One Man Band (2005), Graveyard Shift (2008) and beyond, it doesn’t take much to figure out that Biram’s music embodies the fury, the floor-board rattling as the demons slam-dance, the wreckage from the path behind the hurricane, and all that’s been to hell and back – several times over.

Lo and behold, a new treasure strikes lightning, the down and dirty Fever Dreams. It smokes and sears as any Biram work will do, but this one rips the soul open to expose that inner turmoil, ravaging and stinging like hell. A few familiar faces team up with Biram to wreak that havoc (Jesse Dayton, Mr. Pink Records himself Jonas Wilson, and a track penned by none other than Austin Chronicle hoodlum Kevin Curtin) that will absolutely delight your prickled ear.

You best get you some. And don your mask to attend Scott H. Biram’s socially-distanced show at 8 p.m. tonight, Saturday November 28, at Cheatham Street Warehouse, 119 Cheatham St. in San Marcos. That’s a 78666 zip code.

Six six six? Well, I’ll be damned…

-Photo courtesy of the artist.

Saturday Night at Bud’s

In case you missed it, take a gander at KUTX At Home for an interview with Erika Wennerstrom, songwriter and vocalist for Heartless Bastards, which your AMM maven hosted back in April. And speaking of Wennerstrom, don’t miss her livestream performance coming up at 7 p.m. Central tomorrow night, Saturday November 28, on Bud’s Live and Direct.

Catch the show on Bud’s YouTube channel. Thought it’s a free livestream, a portion of proceeds raised through donations will benefit the Central Texas Food Bank.

-Photo courtesy of the artist.

Texas Standard: November 26, 2020

It’s Thanksgiving Day and we’re re-broadcasting a special show for you. Overlooked No More: How Asian Texans shape the state. Today we’ll talk about How the Asian American community has changed since 1870, the first time the U.S. census counted people from China to today. Also, we’ll meet a group called the “Pershing Chinese” – a story of Chinese immigration through Mexico. Then we’ll travel to the border where a vibrant Filipino community settled. And is it time to re-evaluate the holidays we officially recognize in Texas? All of those stories and more on today’s special edition of the Texas Standard:

Texas Standard: November 27, 2020

Today we once again present our Ofrendas: our offering of sounds honoring the lives of those who have left us.This a re-broadcast of Ofrenda – A Decimation of People, A Celebration of Life. We’ll take a look at the soothing tradition of remembering the dead through food, color and music. In a year when Texas has been hit again by natural disasters, a global pandemic and an economy that is fighting to stay afloat, We’ll see Texans pulling together to feed each other. And how the mystery of the Monarch butterfly invites us to think about re-birth and the afterlife. Those stories and more today on the Texas Standard:

Pahua: “Vayayó”

As an internationally-seasoned DJ, host of her own online radio show, and eponymous frontwoman of the globetrotting Mexican group Sotomayor, singer-songwriter Paulina Sotomayor’s artistic appetite seems insatiable. Sotomayor’s latest endeavor was announced a little over a month ago, an electronic-leaning solo project Pahua whose momentum culminates early next year with her debut EP, Ofrenda.

The guiding six originals on Ofrenda offer a sense of empowerment and connections to both folklore and Earth’s natural energy. You’ll pick up on all that pretty quickly while watching Pahua’s just-premiered video for the record’s glistening and pulsating lead single, “Vayayó”!

Texas Standard: November 25, 2020

You now the saying so many books, so little time? Well if you’ve got an hour, we’ve got a page turner for you. We’ll take a trip to the library. From ideas about voting and civic duty, the untold story of a war often repeatedly revisited, an agent of change who might otherwise have been lost to history, the tale of a Texas music scene that breaks all the stereotypes and loving sports when they don’t love you back. Conversations with authors from across the Lone Star State and beyond as we hit the bookshelves for a very special edition of the Texas Standard:

Chico Mann: “Fighting”

Born to two heavily-music-inclined parents, Chico Mann was raised with a real understanding of production techniques, sound design, and making tiny tweaks to achieve the perfect mix and arrangement. Mann’s recondite knowledge of piano boleros (inherited from his radio DJ mother) gave him a springboard to multi-instrumentalism and Latin stylings, all of which have remained close to Mann’s musicianship. Fast forward to the past couple decades, where Mann made a memorable name for himself in New York’s bustling scene, eventually landing him a spot in Brooklyn Afrobeat connoisseurs (and KUTX favorites) Antibalas.

Never one to settle, Mann now calls L.A. his home and has just exposed the excellence on his latest LP Double Life, soaking in psychedelia and loyal to his Latin-leaning upbringing. Rest assured, Double Life will rile you up across its fourteen tracks, and you won’t need much more convincing after checking out its sophomore song, “Fighting”!


Photo: Anna Azarov

Texas Standard: November 24, 2020

How did an agency that oversees managing office space and procuring supplies come to play such a role in the presidential transition? Gimme a T for transition: what changes and how for Team Biden with an election acknowledgement by a key government agency? Also, who Biden’s tapping for his administration and what it could mean for Texas. Plus Mexico’s president also slow to concede the outcome of the U.S. presidential election. What that could mean for relations with our crucial neighbors to the south. And before the family gatherings begin, a north Texas family offers a warning informed by experience. Those stories and so much more today on the Texas Standard:

Stay In for the Music

If by now you still need proof (and if that’s the case, you need to pay better attention), take a gander at Jackie Venson‘s recent Austin City Limits debut to witness the awesomeness of special guest performer Tameca Jones. There’s damn good reason Venson refers to Jones as the “Empress of Austin soul.”

Set a reminder for the Stay In Black Friday livestream event, featuring Jones performing at 8 p.m. (Central) Friday night, November 27. Proceeds from the show benefit Survive2Thrive Foundation, an organization providing resources and support for displaced victims of domestic violence and abuse.

Ticket information can be found at this EventBrite link. Your virtual ticket gets you into the show.

-Photo courtesy of the artist.

Mamalarky: “Hero”

Austin-to-L.A.-to-Georgia four-piece Mamalarky is no foreigner to fuzz, instead a savant of psychedelia. Going back to 2017, Mamalarky has been trickling out a steady stream of organic-minded singles but just last week pulled back the curtain on their debut self-titled full-length.

Mamalarky is a ten-track trek through a diverse landscape of sounds, seemingly lackadaisical and mottled at times, but clearly calculated. And nearly a full two years ago, the quartet treated us with a Studio 1A performance of one of Mamarlarky‘s most infectious originals, “Hero”!


Sara Catherine

Texas Standard: November 23, 2020

Cars line up for miles outside food banks in our big cities. On this Thanksgiving week, the state of food insecurity in the state of Texas. As many Texans prepare for a big Thanksgiving dinner, others struggle with the choice of whether to leave the lights on or put food on the table. We’ll explore. Meanwhile health officials worry that holiday gatherings could become super spreader events. We’ll hear about the push for safety precautions to combat COVID-19 as case numbers rise statewide. Plus as national media focuses on the Latino vote, the case that the Tejano vote could be a better indicator. Those stories and more today on the Texas Standard:

It’s Magic (Rockers of Texas)

Ruthless. Merciless. Devious. You know – the kind of people you gravitate toward. All of it makes for an interesting tale that may or may not having anything to do with Austin hoodlum entourage Magic Rockers of Texas. In any case, their garage/rock/pop/punked-up Jules Winnfield level of (some) rage and furious (-ish) anger delivers a damn great set.

The AMM is giving you a head start with the deets about their show tomorrow night, Tuesday November 24, at The Far Out Lounge and Stage, 8504 S. Congress Ave. They share a bill with psyched-out country folksters Dinner With Matt Gilchrest. Doors at 7 p.m., and the music kicks off at 8 p.m.

This is a limited capacity show; please don’t forget your mask. Stay safe. Rock out. Tell Jim Campo his beer’s on fire and see what he does. Probably not much.

-Photo courtesy of the artist.

Hypoluxo: “Night Life”

Compared to its angsty, distortion-heavy predecessor, the genre post-punk tends to be pretty introspective and often so self-examining that its legitimately therapeutic. And for Brooklyn quartet Hypoluxo, they’ve sheared off any connection to the Florida beachside with their candid yet thoughtful take on the post-punk formula.

Hypoluxo tapped deep into undertones of despondency on their just-issued self-titled third album but that doesn’t mean the sound strays far from aggressive. Hear for yourself on Hypoluxo‘s B-side opener about trying to find your footing in the Big Apple once the sun goes down, “Night Life”!


Photo: Henry Archer

Tim Todd (Ep. 51, 2020)

This week on In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. discusses the history of African American-owned financial institutions with Tim Todd, Executive Writer and Historian with the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, and author of Let Us Put Our Money Together: The Founding Of America’s First Black Banks.