Curblog

Girl in a Coma: The best band in Texas?

The staff at the Boston Phoenix sure seems to think so. They chose San Antonio's own all-ladyfied power trio as top "new" act in the Lone Star State in their annual Independents Day: Best New Bands in America feature. According to the article, GIAC answers the question, “What would it sound like if Lush caroused with Patsy Cline in a West Texas saloon?”

The Phoenix's taste in Texas music (not to mention their knowledge of state geography) is up for debate — they chose the 13th Floo ...

Art Capades

ART CAPADES
FIRST ONLINE EDITION

A CurBlog arts round-up column by Sarah Fisch.
Some bad photos, some okay photos, some laughs, some screeds, and some useful information for artists and art-likers.

Let’s commence.

1. Well, alright, here’s a picture of a dead animal:

What, you don’t like it?
I don’t blame you. Life can be brutal.
This particular dead animal was found by San Antonio artist Danville Chadbourne at the bottom of a vase-like sculpture he’d had in storage for close to twenty years, if memory serves. He found it while reclaiming and restoring pieces from storage for Part I of his career retrospective, held ...

Chaléwood No. 13: Ramón Rodríguez

Ramón Rodríguez - Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

By Kiko Martinez
San Antonio Current contributing writer
kiko@cinesnob.net

Standing at the base of an Egyptian pyramid, actor Ramón Rodríguez didn’t miss the opportunity to take a moment and let it all sink in. Not only was he shooting a scene for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, one of the most anticipated blockbusters of the summer, he was also living a childhood fantasy.

“I was excited because I grew up watching the cartoon and playing with the toys,” said Rodríguez, who is of Puerto Rican d ...

Worst free comedy/music show ever

But what else are you going to do on a Tuesday?
Seriously though folks, despite the self-deprecating name, the Worst of Both Worlds, featuring local comedians (and sometimes musicians) Johnny Luna and Bobby Smith looks like a bargain. Stand up comedy, musical performances, and a film screening, all for free. Judge the comedy for yourself in the videos below, but we're pretty curious as to why they're literally giving this shit away.

Smith, a San Antonio resident for a decade now, started rapping in middle school, and decided he had a knack for punch lines.
"A lot of my raps were like jokes," he said. "So I thought I might do stand up."
Here's a clip from Smith's act in which h ...

Live & Local preview: Ledaswan

Tonight (Friday, June 19) only: Join ace photog Steven Gilmore and me, cynical buzzkill Jeremy Martin, at Scout Bar where we'll be watching (and judging, always judging) Ledaswan. The four-piece features Erica Gutierrez on vocals and guitar, Delrick Colwell on drums, David Monzon on guitar, Heather Go Psycho's Jackee Flores on bass, and former Current staffer Jaime Monzon on another guitar. That's like seven guitars, I think, but the band's layered sound should play wel ...

Chaléwood No. 12: Oscar Nuñez

Oscar Nuñez - The Proposal

By Kiko Martinez
San Antonio Current contributing writer
kiko@cinesnob.net

The differences are obvious when comparing actor Oscar Nuñez’s character on the popular TV show The Office to the one he portrays in the new film The Proposal. While his accountant character Oscar Martinez on the NBC comedy is reserved and well-mannered, his role in the Sandra Bullock movie is a bit more expressive.

In the film, Nuñez plays Ramone, a resident of a small town in Alaska who is the owner of a general store and a wedding minister. Ra ...

The Heroine to release album Saturday

“What’s up y’all,” are the first words Heroine vocalist Ernest Isaac Benavidez screams on Playing for Keeps, so it’s probably unnecessary for him to add (in his best metal shriek) the band is “from San Antonio Texas!”* But it’s overkill, most often in the form of gratuitous rock ’n’rollisms — the one too many “whoos,” two guitar solos where one might suffice — that seems to best define the band, separating them from countless other big-rock revivalists who’ve studied the clichés without adopting the attitude, or mastered the sneer without developing the chops. The Heroine trade almost exclusively in rocker-as-road ...

Attention Guitarists: See somebody who's seen a Beatle

Well that's if you're one of those sheeple who believes that Paul McCartney is still alive line the man's been handing us. Still, Brian Ray — who'll be appearing 3:30 pm Saturday at Redbone Guitar Boutique — has toured as guitarist, bassist and back-up vocalist for the government-created android that replaced Paul in 1966, and that's still pretty badass. As you guys convinced me a while back the Maccabot X is the finest musician (and probably human being) who's ever lived, so I can imagine some of you will be psy ...

blog4reel announces contest winners

Local website blog4reel has announced the winners of its inaugural most filmable web journal competition. Local artist and UTSA grad Tom Trevino took home top honors for his blog chocolate mojo, beating out second-place winner Alex Pollack’s Writing the Ship, which chronicles his experiences as an English teacher in South Korea, and Connecticut resident Tina Roberts’s tina-cious.com.

Considering Roberts, a self-described [sic] “35-year-old, former Mormon, turn teenaged mom, turn lesbian,” only took home thi ...

Nia Vardalos talks My Life in Ruins

Nia Vardalos – My Life in Ruins

By Kiko Martinez
San Antonio Current contributing writer
kiko@cinesnob.net

In her new film “My Life in Ruins,” Nia Vardalos, star and Oscar-nominated screenwriter of 2002’s “My Big Fat Greek Wedding,” returns to her Greek roots as Georgia, a down-on-he ...

Chaléwood No. 11: Kristina Guerrero

Kristina Guerrero – The Daily 10 and E! News

By Kiko Martinez

San Antonio Current contribut ...