Results tagged “review”

In Cheever, A Life, Blake Bailey combines a biography with some literary criticism. Weighing in at 679 pages, it is an even-handed and meticulously researched picture of this fiction writer best known for short stories. Bailey’s authority comes from his knowledge of John Cheever’s writing and access to his unpublished journals. Although it pains me to say this, in general writers make boring nonfiction characters.They are of deep interest only to biographers and close family. In this case, however, the troubled man-boy who never finished high school made both a mess and magic out of his personal life, creating enough controversy to carry a story.

Tom Brosseau has been peddling his austere, upper-Midwestern folk for the better part of this decade, and listening through his catalog up to his latest and best effort Posthumous Success, it feels as though he’s been searching for a voice. Figuratively, of course: his actual voice is his most unique trait. A high, thin, occasionally plaintive tenor, it’s immediately recognizable and can be divisive: listeners seem to fall into either the love or hate camps when considering his timbre. In his continuing effort to find that figurative voice, Brosseau’s new LP was apparently conceived as an edgy, modern reaction to critics that have pegged him and his music as anachronistic, and while “edgy” may be going a bit far in describing Posthumous Success, the record is a welcome departure from his past work.

It’s interesting that White Denim, a band that’s already joined the vanguard of recent Austin attention-grabbers (Shearwater, Harlem, Black Joe Lewis, et al.), has yet to see a physical release of their music supported with even a modicum of distribution in their home state. That’s set to change on October 20th, when Downtown Music will finally release Fits, the band’s second (third if you count their UK debut Workout Holiday) and most adventurous LP domestically. Actually, adventurous is an understatement: it’s head-spinning how much they pack into the record’s economical 37 minutes. Fits is a short but dense blast of moody, psychedelic soul that careens from hard-edged funk and breezy soul, to straight up psych rock with flourishes of jazz and dub. It manages to be in nine places at once without feeling directionless or schizophrenic. The trio is incredibly tight, and the song structures and time changes are so fascinating that you have to occasionally stop and ask yourself, how the hell are they doing this? However they conjured it up, Fits is an excellent, occasionally face-melting rock album that deserves to be played loudly and often by many more people than are currently familiar with it.

At 18, Wimberley native Sarah Jarosz is already a veteran of the modern bluegrass and Americana scenes. She’s been riding the festival circuit since the age of 12, and listening to her debut album Song Up In Her Head, you get the sense that Jarosz is well on her way to developing into a serious force as a songwriter and performer. A testament to this is that, while somewhat uncommon for such a young artist, the record is comprised of 11 strong original songs that sit comfortably beside impeccably performed covers of tunes by Tom Waits and Colin Meloy.

While Dale Watson's The Truckin' Sessions Vol. 2 most immediately follows last year's Help Your Lord, the album comes more significantly as a follow up to an album over a decade old 1998's critically acclaimed The Truckin' Sessions. Like that earlier release, The Truckin' Sessions Vol. 2 spins tales of truck driving men to music so two-step ready that the album might as well come with a six-pack of longnecks. Watson's brand of Americana is further progeny of the swing-inspired regional music most readily identified with Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys, but which also gave us the redneck rockers of Austin's cosmic cowboy past. Watson has placed himself clearly in that tradition, and this most recent release owes a direct debt to the late Waylon Jennings.

The unassuming Sunshower EP from power rock trio Ume is winning hearts over left and right. And we're not here to say any different. All the hype and praise received over the past few months is completely warranted. Meet the musicians responsible for the buzz: Lauren Larson (vocals/guitar), Eric Larson (bass) and Jeff Barrera (drums).

Yeasayer's Anand Wilder produced this album, and it looks as though Suckers have taken a queue from them and a host of other NYC (well, Brooklyn) technicolor neo-psych bands upon first glance. Difficult MySpace page, glitter and masks, a song that seems to be about dancing, and an unquenchable thirst for purple throw up dozens of red flags for most. All that being said (and kicked right out the way), the songs on this EP are good, or at least quite different from what one might imagine based on the aforementioned flags.

Though they've always been prone to the 'avante-groove' set, Medeski, Martin and Wood have a deceptively earnest and traditional approach to jazz. Indulgent dissonance, legendary (entirely improvisational) live performances, and a devotion to atonal and arrhythmic music. These things are, and have always been, at the heart of their sound, though (in true jazz fashion) are most evident live. Perhaps that's why the band has enjoyed a fair amount of mainstream success: work with John Scofield and shows with Phish go a long way in that department if you're in a jazz trio with a penchant for hip hop.

Austin indie-pop outfit Golden Bear describe their sound as "galactic-forest rock," a well-fitting tag for the starry-eyed, sepia-toned EP Everest, which makes for a fantastic soundtrack to high-school nostalgia or first kiss euphoria.

As one might expect from an artist with quotes in one of a handful of his monikers, Will Oldham (aka Palace Brothers, Palace music, and Palace Songs) is a veritable peddler of musical red herrings. A good deal of Oldham’s charm is thanks to his tongue having taken up permanent residence in his cheek.

How many times have you considered how awesome a movie version of your life would be? You're hilarious, your friends are crazy, you have gut-wrenching problems, and then there was that great that thing you said that one time. Seriously—it’s not just us, is it? But would people who didn’t know you find it as great as you would? Adventureland might just answer that question.

Due April 14, Callahan's latest solo effort lives up to the gentle AM Gold vibes of the cover art. Sometimes I Wish We Were an Eagle is delicate, gruff, manly and demure all at once. Joined by Thor Harris, Jonathan Meiburg, a handful of accompanying musicians (French horn, cello, violin, etc.) and Brian Beattie at the helm, Callahan is as stately and romantic as ever.

It's vaguely comforting that the antiquated ornamentation that Meloy & Co. have made their trademark isn't hampered by selling out to Capitol. On their most recent release, a failed musical turned epic song-story, the gang finds themselves embroiled in a love tragedy worthy of Sophocles.

The Canadian supernova commonly referred to as Broken Social Scene shook the walls at the newly-renovated Bass Concert Hall Saturday night, reveling in their first performance in the "new America."

Since El Chile on Manor is a favorite spot, we thought that the opening of a new E.C. in our neck of the woods was sure to be good news. Rustling up two companions, we convened at the new location, up near where Anderson crosses Mopac, and started making comparisons.

Admittedly, we were among the cynics, and had a preconceived notion that this MTV-friendly band was going to leave a bad taste in our ears after three days of remarkable shows. To our (pleasant) surprise, Dave Grohl and his band put on an epic show worthy of the final slot at the festival.

Band of Horses have come a long way in a very short amount of time, and the enthusiastic crowd that gathered in front of the Dell stage at 7:30 was a good indicator of just how far. The group played plenty of songs from their latest record as well as a few from 2006’s Everything All the Time, and it seemed as if every track they played was a favorite of someone in the crowd and they sang along loudly.

The heat of the midday sun was a little too much to keep music fans moving around during Gillian Welch. Instead, the majority of onlookers sat and listened attentively to the sincere, story-telling country/folk of Welch and her musical partner and guitarist David Rawlings. The two of them have been playing together for a long time, and it really showed.

Tantalizing beats radiated from the AT&T stage Sunday evening as the popular, two-man group Gnarls Barkley stepped up to the challenge of pleasing a large festival crowd. The high-pitched raspiness of Cee-Lo's voice was felt throughout some of the pair's most popular hits, "Crazy" and "Gone Daddy Gone."

Returning to ACL for a second time, Swedish import José González transformed the Dell Stage into an intimate venue on Saturday afternoon. Armed with only a classical guitar, a folding chair and a microphone, he filled the air with the lush resonance of strummed guitar and his mesmerizing voice, creating a soothing sonic oasis in the middle of Zilker Park. Two others joined him on stage after a few songs, chipping in on harmonies and peppering the simple compositions with percussive accents from shakers and conga drums.

In the six years since Iron & Wine's lo-fi debut album The Creek Drank the Cradle, things have changed. Listeners have witnessed Iron & Wine transform from the recording name of songwriter Samuel Beam into a multi-piece rock band with electric guitar, xylophones, world percussion and violin accompaniment.

With harmonization unmatched by many others, the Fleet Foxes hypnotized the early crowd with their beautiful baroque soundscapes. Though there was no breeze in the blaring Texas heat, the band made throwback harmonies sound as such.

For anyone just arriving to ACL halfway through the day in time to catch the opening of Gogol Bordello’s set, there are much worse ways to start off your weekend. The Gypsy punk group fronted by the always-animated Eugene Hutz has a knack for creating colorful and spirited live shows and inciting most everyone within earshot to dance.

The reflection of the setting sun on the first day of ACL was clearly visible in David Byrne’s dark sunglasses as he broke into one of the Talking Heads’ most memorable songs, “Once in a Lifetime.”

In the shade of the AT&T Blue Room Stage, California's Louis XIV took to the stage and a medium-sized crowd got up from grassy seats anticipating some dirty, sexy rock n' roll.

G. Love & Special Sauce faded out on the Dell stage, and Manu Chao and his band took the AT&T stage opposite, one-by-one bringing the group into focus. They played plenty of dance-inducing, powerful tunes which balanced on the edge between Spanish political punk and island jam, leaning one way then the other and back again seamlessly within the same song.

The boys of Vampire Weekend gave an early start to the festival, serenading souls left and right. The New York natives kept listeners entertained and sustained throughout the hottest part of the day. Most songs were familiar memories from their self-titled debut album, but a few new tricks were released during the show.

Every once in a while a band manages to completely surpass the local initiation, breaking out into the national or international scene seemingly out of the blue. Though it's often the case that these bands -- despite well-educated marketing teams by their side -- fling themselves out into the wilds of pop fancy only to be thrown back home to local audiences who have never heard of them, it's not necessarily the rule.

They clucked their tongues and said it couldn't be done, but Haunting Oboe Music is doing it. 2008 has these Austin indie-experimental stalwarts release an EP every single month of the damned year, but before you roll your eyes and dismiss them as overambitious twats, read this: they're knocking it out of the park. The production is fantastic, the ideas are as fresh as a tipsy Italian exchange student, and the songs - while maddeningly diverse - keep you guessing.

Everything about local psych-pop outfit The Bubbles is adorable. From the drawings that adorn their debut full-length Super Psychedelic Sound Explosion, to the delightful ditties it contains, from those bubble wands (or is it bubble blowers) they utilize at concerts, to their bubbly vivacious performances, The Bubbles epitomize unending joy through music. The sugary pop of “Like A Rocket” kicks off the record; the melodic hooks, the “la-la-la’s,” and the “doo-doo-doo-doo’s” grab you instantly as you realize this is going to be one of those albums that has your head bobbing in unison all the way through.