Austinist

Fugue States Lands in Familiar Territory - Review

Caitlin Greenwood — 2012-05-25T13:30:00-06:00

Fugue States opened Friday May 11th at South Austin’s grayDuck Gallery with collaborative and individual pieces from William Hundley and Hector Hernandez. Both Hundley and Hernandez hold reputations for strong, compelling work and yet the work in this exhibition feels like altogether familiar territory that did not embolden the show’s thesis. [ more › ]

Revival Festival 2012 on Saturday [Festival Preview]

Ryan Lester — 2012-05-25T12:40:19-06:00

Rockabilly is a genre as old as rock n' roll itself, and for the fifth consecutive year Austin's very own Revival Festival will pay tribute to the style that helped to change the face of music forever. The genre has seen something of a comeback over the last few years, and this year's installment of Revival Festival looks to be the biggest and best yet. [ more › ]

F. Scott Fitzgerald, X-Men, And The Situationists: An Interview With Comedian Reggie Watts

Jared Walls — 2012-05-25T10:40:09-06:00

If Reggie Watts was a comic book superhero, his origin story would call for Andy Kaufman, Michael Winslow and Timbaland to be in the same room the moment an asteroid comprised of a yet-to-be-discovered element plummets to Earth, destroying everything but their essences. The creature that emerges has the power to upend audiences from their notions of what comedy is or should be. A virtuoso of comedic and musical improvisation, Watts built his chops in the genre-blurring group Maktub. Improvised beat boxing that he records through a looping machine often pumps the primer of his performances; this seemingly novel piece of recording equipment allows Watts to build dense layers of sound. These sonic landscapes, alongside his bevy of voices and accents, give Watts a palette to parody not just genres of music, but language and meaning as well. Watts found a broad audience after opening for Conan O’Brien’s 2010 Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour. More recently, Watts has performed at the TED2012 Conference, debuted his original score to Ridley Scott’s “Legend” at this year’s SXSW, and will be Scott Aukerman’s sidekick in the upcoming IFC series “Comedy Bang! Bang!” On the heels of a tour promoting his latest release, “Reggie Watts: A Live in Central Park,” we caught up with Watts by phone to discuss personas, famous “discombobulators,” and the importance of taking naps. [ more › ]

Indie Picks: Inspirational First Position Opens at Violet Crown

Matt Shiverdecker — 2012-05-25T10:15:00-06:00

Bess Kargman's debut feature is a stunning documentary that follows six committed young dancers on their journey to the Youth America Grand Prix, which is the world's largest student ballet scholarship competition. [ more › ]

There's A Hair In My Psychedelic Psoup: Ty Segall and White Fence at the Mohawk [Show Preview]

A Levy — 2012-05-25T08:11:56-06:00

Garage rock might have been just a precursor to the hippy good-time vibes of the late ‘60s, but you’d never guess that given the current collaborative environment. Boundaries are blurring between different geographic and musical scenes in a way that wasn’t the case to a lot of these artists’ fifty-year-old influences. One of the best examples of this cross-pollination is the album Hair, the recent meeting of psychedelic minds Ty Segall and Tim Presley (a.k.a. White Fence). The pair plays tonight at the Mohawk with their respective bands, but here’s hoping we get a surprise cameo or two. [ more › ]

The Preservation, The Dalles and SuperLiteBike at Beauty Ballroom [Show Preview]

Phillip Pantuso — 2012-05-24T11:05:19-06:00

Austin's east side was recently host to a Kinks hoot night - now, tonight, skipping into our midst is a band whose name and music are oblique homages to the Kinks. The Preservation formed in 2009, when Mario Matteoli, late of country-western barhounds The Weary Boys, met his future-wife and percussionist Cayce Marsh. The two toured as a duo before hooking up with California-based friends Josh Weinholt and Ben Burdick, who became the rhythm section in the pupating band. Keyboardist Andy Bianculli was the final piece of the Preservation puzzle. The band will play tonight at Beauty Ballroom. [ more › ] ]]> The Preservation: [website] [reverb nation]
The Dalles: [website]
SuperLiteBike: [website] [soundcloud]

The Dandy Warhols at Emo's East [Show Photos]

Brandon Beasley — 2012-05-24T07:24:16-06:00

]]> The Dandy Warhols filled up the giant space of Emo's East on Tuesday night. Brandon Beasley captured some of the set for Austinist. [ more › ]

Hammonds’s Beautiful Monsters Renders Natural Disasters Majestic

Caitlin Greenwood — 2012-05-23T13:30:08-06:00

Hollis Hammonds’s Texas debut Beautiful Monsters sweeps its audience into an intricately dissected world of tornadoes, hurricanes, and other natural disasters. Hosted by Pump Project’s Flex Space, Beautiful Monsters flushes out the fear and awe felt by Hammonds during the recent deadly storms that have rocked the country while also focusing on autobiographical inspiration. By studying weather patterns and drawing from personal experiences of loss, Hammonds became mystified by the unwieldy power these natural disasters unleashed upon communities and the paths of destruction left in their wake. [ more › ]

Texas Swing: Manny's In Town!

Ryan Pollack — 2012-05-23T11:45:53-06:00

Your hometown Round Rock Express are in the news tonight and tomorrow! Why, you ask? Because they are hosting the Sacramento River Cats, who themselves are hosting one Mr. Manuel Aristides (Onelcida) Ramirez - a.k.a. Manny Ramirez - on his comeback-from-retirement-and-drug-suspension tour. Manny is eligible for major-league play on May 30th, so he's currently warming up in the minors. If you hurry you can get tickets to tonight's game or tomorrow's at roundrockexpress.com! [ more › ]

Whale: Wheelchair

Adam S — 2012-05-23T11:11:23-06:00

Joseph Devens, the author of "Whale," is a cartoonist from Austin who has continued to illustrate the adventures of Whale, Montanaface, Little Girl and all of their friends/enemies after leaving the University. We're thrilled to present these new strips for you. [ more › ]

An Interview with Paul F. Tompkins: A Very Fancy Man

Arian Brumby — 2012-05-23T10:35:53-06:00

In 1995 a very special program debuted on HBO. It was a sketch show called Mr. Show, and it was where many people were first introduced to Paul F. Tompkins, and boy was he hilarious. Since Mr. Show, Paul F. Tompkins has had numerous stand up specials, movie and TV appearances, his own podcast, and consistently delivers loads of comedy goodness in various forms on a regular basis. His latest special "Laboring Under Delusions" aired at the end of April on Comedy Central, and is now available for purchase with a variety of extra features. And if that wasn't enough, Mr. Tompkins will be bringing his latest tour to Austin for two nights of comedy called "Crying and Driving," May 26th and 27th, as part of Austin Sketchfest organized by Coldtowne Theater. We talked to Paul about his decision to start his own podcast, improv, and where he finds those amazing suits. [ more › ]

ACL Fest Update: 3 Day, Friday, and Saturday Sold Out - Sunday Passes On Sale Now

Tom Thornton — 2012-05-23T09:52:04-06:00

After selling out three-day passes in under an hour yesterday, PR reps from the Austin City Limits Festival announced this morning that both Friday and Saturday one-day passes are now sold out as well. Tickets for Sunday, which features Red Hot Chili Peppers, Iggy and the Stooges, The Weeknd, and The Avett Brothers go on sale this morning for $90 at aclfestival.com. The 2012 edition of the festival takes place October 12-14 (mild weather!) in Zilker Park. [ more › ]

It's a Hoot Night: The Kinks at Hotel Vegas [Show Preview]

Jessica Skinner — 2012-05-23T07:42:59-06:00

What's less embarrassing than karaoke, more accessible than time travel to mid-60's London, and sounds kind of like a Wes Anderson film? A Hoot Night celebrating the music of The Kinks, obviously! [ more › ]

Wait, What?! Austin Not Ranked In Top 10 Musical Cities List

JulieS — 2012-05-22T16:45:20-06:00

In a surprising twist (that is perhaps in part due to the data collection/analyzing methods), Austin ranks a mere 14th in a new list of the top musical cities of the US. [ more › ]

Burning Flipside Is Freaky Deeky This Year

Adam S — 2012-05-22T14:00:14-06:00

Writing about Flipside is peculiar. If you're already tied into the Flipside/Burning Man culture, you don't need to hear about it - how it's held on the 24th-28 of this month at the Apache Pass River Theatre and all present are participants and there's no trash cans anywhere - and if you haven't heard about it yet or are curious, you won't get to go anyway because the ticketing this year was handled by a lottery system and has already concluded. Tickets, in other words, are not just sold to this thing. [ more › ]