Melvins: 'Everybody Loves Sausages'
After three decades and more than 20 albums, Buzz Osborne and Co. return to melt faces with their latest effort, a collaborative album of covers that spans genres and generations. With covers from Queen to The Fugs, The Kinks to Pop-o-Pies, the album is an homage to the group’s personal memories with music, brought to…
Wild Party: 'All Nighter EP'
San Antonio quartet Wild Party’s sound may fall slightly short of their name, but on their debut EP they prove themselves to be experts at crafting a bouncy and effervescent brand of indie-pop. Reminiscent of the (sadly) disbanded Harlem Shakes, the four tracks on this well-crafted EP feature smooth and driving punk-pop percussion, lighthearted but…
Savages: 'Silence Yourself'
The dark songs come at you like a bulldozer and embrace you like a black octopus. Singer Jehnny Beth is a Patti Smith-meets-P.J. Harvey wailer; guitarist Gemma Thompson is a brutal executioner; bassist Ayse Hassan and drummer Fay Milton keep the ball rolling with often-weird time signatures, but you don’t even notice it. The English…
Introducing Ask Aliyah
“The chicken is lousy” I heard my mom say to my dad. I was in their kitchen while they were sitting down for dinner, she had tried a new recipe and before even asking my dad for feedback on his first bite, she spoke what she knew to be the truth – the chicken was…
Can ABC’s Happy Endings be Saved? And should we care?
The premise? When Dave is left at the alter by Alex, the couple’s group of friends is left to pick up the pieces while trying not to overcomplicate their own lives. This much is true, for about two episodes. The ABC comedy focusing on a group of thritysomethings in Chicago has never fit into a…
Stay Current with the Pick of the Day: Qwel & Maker
In the high-respect, low-profile realm of underground hip-hop, Chicago wordsmith Qwel has already earned his stripes. For more than 10 years, Qwel has been a prolific creator — turning out no fewer than 20 solo and collaborative albums full of his thoughtful, dizzyingly fluid rhymes. His work with the socially conscious, and freakishly good, hip-hop…
Atlanta steals a point from the Scorpions
(photo courtesy of SAScorpions.com) All the San Antonio Scorpions (0-2-2) could get was a draw against the Atlanta Silverbacks Saturday at Toyota Field, in front of 7,053 fans. Atlanta started by bringing great pressure during the first 20 minutes, which clearly unsettled the Scorpions. Once again, the home team showed poor passing and execution, with…
Netflix goes horror with 'Hemlock Grove'
A teenage girl runs through the woods, crying out in fear. She is chased by a darkened, ominous figure. Upon reaching an open playground, she takes solace in a small toy house. Unable to contain her cries, she is found and pulled from the structure, her lower body violently torn apart. The small town of…
Sunday Comic: The Adventures of Pizza & Myrtle
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Stay Current with the Pick of the Day: Diana Krall
Diana Krall has been arguably the most prominent jazz vocalist in the world for more than a decade. Between winning two Grammy Awards, eight Juno Awards (Canada’s version of the Grammys) and having five albums chart in the Top 10 of Billboard’s Top 200, no jazz artist has done more to put the genre back…
¡Ask a Mexican!
Dear Mexican: Why is it that people from Chihuahua and Monterrey are such jackasses? They come from pinches ranchitos and talk about their haciendas. They cross the border and act as if their cagada does not stink. Why do pinches chihuahuenses act as if they are better than us American citizens? They eat at all-you-can-eat…
Stay Current with the Pick of the Day: Paseo Por El Westside
The Esperanza Peace and Justice Center teams up with a number of other organizations to present a family day designed to “celebrate and help preserve and honor the places, history, and cultura of San Anto’s Westside.” Even if you don’t catch one of two enlightening walking tours (at 9 a.m. and 10:30 a.m., with stops…
Stay Current with the Pick of the Day: Starlight Movies in the Garden: Roman Holiday
Reportedly based on Princess Margaret’s adventures in Italy, William Wyler’s timeless rom-com Roman Holiday tells a Cinderella story in reverse. Shot on location in Rome, the 1953 film follows curious Princess Ann (Audrey Hepburn) out of her royal confines and into the streets as she defects from a tedious tour of European capitals. Loopy from…
Dispatch from Austin Psych Fest
Check out our slideshow of Psych Fest 2013 There are generally two schools of thought when it comes to attending music festivals in Austin: go solo, go hard, try to see everything, sleep anywhere; or go with someone, be relaxed, make a plan, get a hotel. This past weekend for the 6th Annual Austin Psych Fest (and for…
Stay Current with the Pick of the Day: Anya Gallaccio & Michael Menchaca
Flowers, chocolate, and other unusual suspects factor into the work of Scottish artist Anya Gallaccio, whom San Antonians may remember as the Artpace resident behind 1997’s “they said there was a paradise way out west.” Among the Young British Artists who emerged from the 1988 “Freeze” exhibition organized by Damien Hirst, Gallaccio creates installations likened…
Is Robert Downey Jr. sick of 'Iron Man'?
Has Robert Downey Jr. had enough? Called to duty as Tony Stark four times in five years (2015’s The Avengers 2 will make number five), the charismatic star seems a bit weary of the role. It’s not that Downey can’t toss off a terrifically timed wisecrack or twist even the most perfunctory dialog into something…
Stay Current with the Pick of the Day: Paleface
Short of being born onstage during a Townes Van Zandt concert, or giving Roky Erikson his first hit of acid, you don’t get much better Texas music cred than Paleface’s pedigree. Meeting Daniel Johnston in 1989, the revered singer-songwriter showed young Paleface the ropes and helped him cut his first homemade recordings. Nearly 25 years…
San Antonio Sports Expert on Tim Duncan, Mijo
“Hey, you know who I saw at Fiesta last weekend eating three turkey legs at all one time? Tim Duncan! That’s the one.” Not much to say about this one except that it’s really, really funny. Done by San Antonio artist Robert B Gonzales.
Lloyd Walsh's imaginative creatures leap to life
Influenced by painted menageries of mythological creatures, cabinets of curiosities from the Renaissance, outdated scientific illustrations, and paintings by the Old Masters, San Antonio painter Lloyd Walsh finds inspiration in the grotesque and arcane. Fanciful doll-faced fish, sad-eyed dogs, hearts with eyes, white roses, and a winged skull are among the surreal subjects in his…
Quarry Farmers Market Celebrates Anniversary with Cookbook
The Quarry Farmers and Ranchers Market celebrates its two-year anniversary with a cookbook. The first edition of the Quarry Farmers & Ranchers Market Community Cookbook is accepting submissions through Sunday, June 16. Recipes should help promote seasonal cooking and using fresh local ingredients, like the ones you can buy at the Market on Sundays, and…
¡Ask a Mexican!
Dear Mexican: What do we need to do to make the güeros understand that we come in peace as Mexicans and that we are from this great American continent as well? In the average close-minded English-speaking folks’ definition of “American,” it’s amusing to see they don’t understand what it really means, as in: unless you…
Urban Homestead: Salad Greens
One advantage to growing your food is that you can see and experiment with the whole process. Case in point: salad greens. Most of us grew up with a base of Iceberg lettuce, maybe with shredded carrot and purple cabbage for color; the mix is still the standard at diners, chain restaurants, salad bars, and…
Nick Mery: 'Gentlemen Streets'
The first official release by Merykid under his own name is a slick neo-R&B affair replete with electro skittishness and auto-tuned croons. And though this record is easy to listen to, it’s rarely as captivating as it could be. However, the album’s bright spots, including opener “Countdown (To the End of the World)” featuring rapper…
Mariscos El Bucanero II on the North Side
Consider this a disclaimer of sorts: as a stalwart Southside resident, I feel seduced and abandoned by the move of Mariscos El Bucanero from WW White to Blanco Road, a sector of the city known as “nosebleed territory” to some of us. But as a realist (and discounting the notion that they might someday return…
A Q&A with Marco Williams, director of 'The Undocumented'
Marco Williams is a veteran documentary filmmaker who teaches film production at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. His previous films include Banished and Two Towns of Jasper. He answered the Current’s questions via email. Why did you pick this topic? Immigration is the civil rights issue of the early 21st century. Injustice,…
Trivia Pursuit: Revenge of the nerds at a bar near you
Chalk it up to the syndicated overflow of shows like The Big Bang Theory or the around-the-clock entertainment info streaming into everyone’s iPhone, but the days of shaming the bar stool-perched know-it-all, typified by the sexually frustrated mailman Clifford Clavin on Cheers, are over. Let’s just say the geeks are now free to hold forth (at…
A teenager films himself in 'Zach Stone Is Gonna Be Famous'
Zach Stone Is Gonna Be Famous (9:30pm Thu, MTV) Viral-video star Bo Burnham is well cast as a would-be viral-video star as Zach Stone, a motormouth high school dork obsessed with his post-graduation plan: making a reality show about his life. With a two-man video crew in tow, he puzzles his family and friends by…
Alejandro Escovedo returns to the hometown his parents tricked him into leaving
Due to an act of parental deception (more on that later), Texas rock god Alejandro Escovedo got his start in one of the least Lone Star-like places in the United States. Escovedo was born in San Antonio, but his musical career really began in San Francisco, where he played with first-wave punks the Nuns, a…
Fast Foodie: The Luxury
It seems ridiculous that San Antonio had to wait so long for The Luxury, renowned chef Andrew Weissman’s (Sandbar, Il Sogno) latest effort to cater to the masses. The funky shipping container concept took about two years longer than expected to open on an asphalt patch between the San Antonio River and 1221 Broadway lofts.…
West Fertilizer Co. and the Politics of Disaster
As the cloud from the West Fertilizer Company explosion filled the Texas sky and the horrific details from the small community of West began to roll in over the news last month, many older Texans were probably reminded of the tragic Texas City explosion of 1947. On that fateful April day, a Europe-bound ship laden…
'To the Wonder,' a lesser effort by Terrence Malick
As a fan of director Terrence Malick’s work, it might seem odd to criticize his latest film for its lack of specificity. After all, anyone versed in Malick’s recent movies would be hard-pressed to describe efforts like The Thin Red Line, The New World, and The Tree Of Life as concrete in expression. But unlike…
Life in the studios at South Flores and Lone Star
Founded almost 20 years ago when artists Andy Benavides and Alberto Mijangos bought an old, dilapidated building at 1906 South Flores, just south of what we now call Southtown, the art district that has grown around the original creative outpost has ebbed and flowed over the years. But as talk of dissatisfaction over the increasing…
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Are you afraid that you lack a crucial skill or aptitude? Do you have a goal that you’re worried might be impossible to achieve because of this inadequacy? If so, now is a good time to make plans to fill in the gap. If you formulate such an intention, you will…
Bakery Lorraine makes CNN’s Top 10 new Bakeries list
Bakery Lorraine made the list of best new bakeries at CNN’s Eatocracy blog, posted by Kate Krader, restaurant editor at Food & Wine magazine. Mentioned were their seasonal macarons, “in gorgeous colors and flavors like dark-chocolate-black-currant and strawberry balsamic.” Also making the grade is Austin’s Easy Tiger Bake Shop & Beer Garden. The rest?…
Stay Current with the Pick of the Day: Jake La Botz: “Tattoo Across America Tour”
Since dropping out of high school to pursue wilder endeavors (involving drinking, drugging, car theft, punk-rock shows, and hobo camps), San Diego-born Jake La Botz has built an impressive acting resume and released six original albums. Putting into practice techniques he honed in New Orleans, Chicago, and the Mississippi Delta alongside the likes of David…
Video: Metric’s “Artificial Nocturne” at the Pearl Stable
(photo and video by Jaime Monzón)
