KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts

KUT and KUTX news and music podcasts for Austin, Texas and beyond

Archives for November 2020

Alan Moe Monsarrat: “Turn The Tide”

As founder of Texas’ first reggae band The Lotions and frontman of Austin’s premiere reggae outfit Mau-Mau Chaplains, it’s safe to say that  Alan Moe Monsarrat‘s lead a pretty IRIE life. And in light of all the heavy lifting Monsarrat’s been doing over the course of several decades and half a thousand shows, this Caribbean-style creator has just released his first solo album in a half century.

Last Friday Monsarrat graced us with Agriculture, an introspective ten-track paired with a delayed-out dub doppelgänger, perfect for the more psychedelic-inclined listeners. And with the excitement of election finally coming to a close you can just kick back and enjoy the growth with Agriculture, planting the seed now with “Turn The Tide”!

–Jack Anderson

KUTX supports Austin music; your support makes KUTX possible. Donate today.

Alexandra Warnier (Ep. 49, 2020)

This week on In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson speaks with Alexandra Warnier, Manager of Corporate Social Responsibility for American Honda, about the COVID-19-related challenges of managing the Honda Campus All-Star Challenge, an academic competition that celebrates NBCU academic achievement.

Roar

New York-based funk and soul power duo Lion Babe (artist/vocalist Jillian Hervey and producer/DJ Lucas Goodman) haven’t bothered with genres to define their sound, but they have described it as a sort of “futuristic nostalgia,” or a mix of vintage inspo vibing hard with the modern.

So, this is a big deal. Lion Babe is in town to perform at the Love and Lightstream Drive-In concert series tonight, Saturday November 7, at the Haute Spot in Cedar Park. Gates open at 7 p.m., and the bill features Austin artists Eimaral Sol and Ladi Earth. Face it, the line-up is on FIRE.

In addition to the artists and production team, proceeds from tonight’s show benefit the Austin Justice Coalition, the Health Alliance for Austin Musicians (HAAM), and Black Fret.

-Photo courtesy of Contraband Entertainment.

Exploded Drawing 10 Year Anniversary

We’ll begin at the beginning – but not make it too long, so this is the abridged version.

Some years ago, your AMM host heard about soundfounder (Andrew Brown) and Butcher Bear (Insect Records founder Ben Webster) through their musical projects. Always a connection through music. And even before your AMM maven was aware that Exploded Drawing was a thing, both its founders were graciously recommending a multitude of electronic artists to check out, one of which happens to be on today’s Austin Music Minute (Corduroi, with the new track, “ISO”).

Exploded Drawing was designed to elevate electronic music creators throughout Texas and beyond, placing as many badass composers, sound collectors and beat makers in the spotlight as possible. It’s also a monthly event that provides artists a platform to show their stuff – complete with a good sound system, and an environment that welcomes originality.

It’s a bit mind-blowing to realize that Exploded Drawing has been doing this work for ten years, but it’s true, and there’s a huge livestream show to mark the occasion. The Exploding Drawing crew has curated an event featuring some of the best of the best: Daedalus(Los Angeles), Deantoni Parks (Brooklyn ), VHVL (Harlem), Sir Froderick (Philadelphia), alongside their Austin colleagues Corduroi, Graham Reynolds, Out of Place, and Multi-Tracker; plus San Marcos artist Kinder, and Dallas-based artist Cygnus.

Butcher Bear and soundfounder will serve as emcees for the celebration, kicking off at 9 p.m. (Central) tonight, Friday November 6, on Exploded Drawing’s YouTube channel.

-Poster artwork by Glory Gold & Glitter (Michael Scheel).

KUT Weekend – November 6, 2020

Election results in Central Texas! Plus, the blue wave in Texas that failed to materialize. And public fridges offering free food in food insecure areas of Austin. Those stories and more in this edition of KUT Weekend!

Subscribe at https://weekend.kut.org

Texas Standard: November 6, 2020

The magic number is 270. Is this the end of the general election of 2020? Texas-based political analyst Matthew Dowd joins us for an overall look at where we stand in the presidential contest and what it means long term for Texas. Also as COVID-19 spikes once more, it’s not just El Paso and more rural hotspots that need to be concerned. We’ll have an overview of the state of the virus in the Lone Star State as we approach the holidays. And new findings about covid spread among Texas contruction workers raising danger signs nationwide, plus the week that was in Texas politcis with the texas tribune and a whole lot more when the TS gets underway right after this.

Social Distancing

The phrase is a regular part of our vocabulary by now. And though for some it is tempting to break the social distancing bubble, for others, it’s a very welcome health guidance because it fits with their personal tendencies. That was the inspiration for this Typewriter Rodeo poem.

The Channel: “Circadian Rhymes”

When you take a break from something for a long time, sometimes you just gotta come back in full force. Such is it for quarantine opportunists The Channel, who after ten years of conspicuous absence, have returned with their second full-length album of the past twelve months. Rest assured, The Channel has shaken off any static racked up in their decade away.

The behemoth that is Electronic Luck was released today, eschewing The Channel’s strain of sooth lo-fi western psych-folk across its twenty tracks. And if you were ever in need of some personal regulation against the backdrop of election coverage, treat your ticker to “Circadian Rhymes”!

–Jack Anderson

KUTX supports Austin music; your support makes KUTX possible. Donate today.

Texas Standard: November 5, 2020

According to a survey of Texans interested in the news, a majority say they now have grave questions about the usefulness of polling. We’ll try to get some questions answered. Also, is there a speaker in the house? Very soon there’ll be a new one. Ross Ramsey of the Texas Tribune on the growing line of lawmakers seeking the top job in Texas’ lower chamber. And anti-social media? The role of Twitter, Facebook and the rest in the information wars leading up to the election. And as COVID cases spike again in parts of Texas, a would-be hero emerges from the Alamo city: a virus killing robot. Those stories and so much more today on the Texas Standard:

Do Not Adjust Your Set

You experienced the magic and insanity of Sweet Spirit unleashing their brilliance on Hotel Free TV in October. This month, Lord Friday the 13th swoops in for a takeover. Release the bats in capes! (AMM host cues dramatic music, falls over amp)

It’s actually a fab Lord Friday the 13th November residency at Hotel Free TV, kicking off the music and mayhem tonight with performances by Austin-based artists Nevil and Knife Channel. The residency will include a full Lord Friday set Thursday November 12th, followed by a special call-in show (!!!) on a day most fitting, Friday November 13th. And the Thursday-night parties resume with Half Dream, November 19; and Pelvis Wrestley, November 26.

Lord Friday the 13th starts their residency at 8 p.m. (Central) tonight, Thursday November 5, on Hotel Free TV’s website. Welcome to the dollar store glam/punk rollercoaster, baby.

-Photography by Katrina Barber.

Swish Fifty: “Late Night” (feat. Sam Jet & Southside Hippie)

As one half of Austin production/recording duo Ballteam, beat-maker/vocalist Swish Fifty is always on the grind. His voluminous output of instrumentals speaks for itself, and aside from his retro video game-inspired arrangements and anime-adjacent visuals, Swish Fifty’s got a great set of chops and a real sense of soul.

Today Swish Fifty’s shared a sultry trap R&B single featuring fellow Austinites Southside Hippie and Sam Jet, for a track that’ll make you feel like you’re in a brooding futuristic space lounge and whose sensuousness will take your mind off the news at least for a couple minutes, “Late Night”!

–Jack Anderson

–Photo: Philander Edward Moore Jr.

KUTX supports Austin music; your support makes KUTX possible. Donate today.

Texas Standard: November 4, 2020

A new political landscape in Texas? Not quite. On the day after the general election, what has changed, what hasn’t, any why? The dominant narrative in the run up to election day was how an historic turnout in a state seldom considered in play in recent years might change the political map of the Lone Star State. Notably: the power of younger voters, the Latino vote, and the fight for the suburbs. Donald Trumps six point margin of victory, and republican retention of control of the Texas house raise many questions about expectations and assumptions in the run up. We’ll explore that and more today on the Texas Standard:

Exotica

Check out the track featured on today’s AMM, “Gambling Man,” by Houston-based artist Fat Tony, who recently released Exotica on DC label Carpark Records. It’s an age-old tale with modern angles, as Fat Tony captures multiple levels of frustration along the journey – how will the money be made? The hustle is eternal. Ventures blow up, but not in the narrator’s favor. Instead, the blows he’s dealt are the plans, schemes and dreams going awry…or nowhere at all.

Fat Tony describes his latest album as his ode to the art of storytelling through music, but pushes it further with the idea of storytelling as a mode of transportation. “Picture records like The Great Adventures of Slick Rick.,” he says. “Artists like Neil Young, Bob Dylan, or Bob Marley. Every lyric was carefully considered to make sure we properly conveyed each character’s narrative and motivations. I wanted to create a world of unique stories with room for each to be interpreted in distinct ways.”

You have an opportunity to see Fat Tony perform this Friday night, November 6, at The Far Out Lounge, 8504 S. Congress Ave., with a line-up featuring Deezie Brown and Nayome. Doors open at 8 p.m., and the show starts at 9 p.m. Table seating only, and masks are required.

-Photo courtesy of the artist.

The Texas Connection To Colorado’s Royal Gorge Bridge

Bridges are measured in three ways, for those who like to keep world records and such: longest, tallest and highest.  In Texas, the Fred Hartman Bridge is both the longest bridge at 2.6 miles, and the tallest, at 440 feet. But it is not the highest. That honor goes to the aptly named Pecos High Bridge, which is an astounding 322 feet above the Pecos River – a football field straight up.

The highest bridge in America, in case you’re wondering, is the Royal Gorge Bridge, which comes in just shy of 1000 feet. It’s in Colorado, and would be in Texas today had we kept our original northern lands. Nonetheless, without Texas, it might not exist at all, as you will see in the history I’m fixin’ to tell you about.

The Royal Gorge Bridge was the dream of Lon P. Piper of San Antonio. They say he stood on the edge of the Gorge in 1928 and imagined laying a bridge across it, a suspension bridge.  He had already built a bridge across the Rio Grande into Mexico.

This Royal Gorge Bridge would be different though. It would be a bridge to nowhere, one that would exist purely to give tourists the kind of heart-stopping views they couldn’t get anywhere else in the world. He knew it would be a challenge, but he was certain it could be done.  Within two years he made his dream come true. It cost him $350,000, or $5 million in today’s dollars. But when it was finished, he owned the highest bridge in the world – and it would remain so for 72 years.

Lon was quite the entrepreneur in those times. He also developed the Richland Springs Treasure Cave in San Saba as a Carlsbad Caverns-like tourist attraction in the 1920s and ’30s.  He was also an early investor in a new concept of motor hotels – or “motels.”

Lon hired bridge engineer George Cole of Houston to design the Royal Gorge Bridge and to serve as the general contractor. With 70 men they completed the project in six months without a fatality or any serious injuries. As I learned about the bridge’s history, I couldn’t help but notice its national character. It was a bridge built by Texans, in Colorado, that spanned the Arkansas River, using Oregon timber for the deck. That’s some interstate diversity in one bridge. Mr. Cole went on to design and build the narrow-gauge railroad that would take brave riders to the bottom of the gorge at a 45-degree angle.   Now there are gondolas far above the gorge for those who want to go higher still, and zip lines for those who can’t get enough tachycardia in their lives.

In 1947, Lon sold the bridge to another Texan, Clint Murchison, Sr. Murchison bought it sight unseen, as an investment, and strangely never traveled there to walk across his magnificent possession. He never stood at the precipice of the gorge to admire the highest bridge in the world that he just happened to own. Makes me think of Fitzgerald who said, “The rich are different from you and me.” No, Muchison just set up the Royal Gorge Bridge Company and based it in Dallas to manage the Colorado property from there. When he died the bridge was passed on to his sons, Clint Murchison, Jr. (you remember him – he founded and owned the Dallas Cowboys for 25 years), and his brother John. When John Murchison died his wife Lucille inherited the bridge and they say, “she just loved it;” she traveled up there to see it several times a year.

For the past 20 years the Royal Gorge Bridge’s general manager of operations has been Mike Bandera, a Texan who got his start in the amusement park business at Six Flags Over Texas where he worked for 16 years.

Today,  the Royal Gorge Bridge, after nearly 100 years, has Colorado ownership. Lucille passed it on to her grandchildren, and they sold it a few years ago to Canyon City.

So I’d like to say this to Colorado, about the world-class bridge we envisioned, financed, built and managed for you all these years: “You’re welcome.”

Math Judson: “Magic”

Well…as you might’ve been able to discern, some things take time. But often choosing the longer path lets you appreciate the everyday beauty of life’s minutia, and that’s clearly an outlook of Austin’s Math Judson.

Though the singer-guitarist has had success kicking it up to faster tempos, his crawling compositions seem to be where Judson shines best, going back to his 2014 acoustic EP Proverb-Idioms. So allow some time for self-care with one of Judson’s many sonic scenic routes, and the first step with his latest and single and music video (directed by Alex Chod), “Magic”!

Texas Standard: November 3, 2020 Election Night Coverage

From the capital city of Texas and with reporters across the Lone Star State, it’s special coverage of election night in Texas. Polls are just now closing across Texas, and in just a few minutes we’ll be hearing from reporting partners in El Paso, Houston, Dallas, Austin, San Antonio and beyond on a night that may well set election records and make history in many ways. Democrats hoping to flip control of the Texas house, congressional seats once reliably republican are battlegrounds, and the race for Texas 38 electoral votes is reported to be tigter than at any time in decades. It’s a special election night coverage of the Texas Standard:

Texas Standard: November 3, 2020

It’s the final countdown to what some fear may not be a final countdown tonight. As Texans go to the polls, we’ll tell you the latest and what to watch for. With a presidential race that appears to be more competitive in Texas than it has been for decades, and 8 million voters having already cast a ballot in Texas, and more in line as we speak, Karen Tumulty of the Washington Post and Evan Smith of the Texas Tribune join us live to talk about the issues on this election day. Also a closer look at how the vote counting process will play out across the Lone Star State, professor Steven Vladeck with the legal issues at play and much more today on the Texas Standard:

The Deer, Live & Direct

The Austin Music Minute is giving you an early heads-up on a livestream happening at the end of the week! (And yes, it’s a longtime AMM favorite…)

Last year marked the much-anticipated release of Do No Harm by Austin-based outfit The Deer. From the airy melodies of opener “Confetti To The Hurricane” through the gorgeous vibrations of final track “Walking In Space,” the entire LP is another beautiful vision brought to life by songwriter/vocalist Grace Rowland and her insanely talented band. Don’t miss a livestream performance by The Deer on Friday, November 6, at 5 p.m. (Central) on the next episode of Bud’s Live and Direct, presented by Bud’s Recording Services on their YouTube channel.

-Photo courtesy of the artist.

×