The Week in Music 10/10-10/17
Here’s what’s in store musically in SA this week, IN ADDITION TO all the stuff we highlighted in our print edition. Always check our calendar for comprehensive listings. Whoa nellie, it’s one of those weeks in music, meaning there’s a lot of damned decent shows. It’s highly recommended that you go and get you some.…
San Antonio Bans Texting While Driving
So it’s official… No more thumb-tapping sweet nothings to your other half at red lights any more. City Council voted last week to ban texting while driving in San Antonio, becoming the third major Texas city to do so. I don’t know of too many solid arguments against the ban — it’s clear that something…
In-box Surprise: video for Wolf Parade’s “Yulia”
Sub Pop sent over the bizarre, beautiful video for the Wolf Parade single “Yulia,” off this summer’s Expo 86 album. Russian cosmonauts, suicide pacts, and glossy visuals set to the insanely catchy song ahead: Wolf Parade – Yulia from Sub Pop Records on Vimeo.
Reknowned Xicano poet alurista blesses indigenous march w/ reading
“We do not recognize capricious borders on the bronze continent; I repeat: we do not recognize capricious borders on the bronze continent,” alurista read. About 50 of us are gathered at the poet’s feet as he reads, since the City failed to turn on the electricity at Columbus Park for this annual event that proclaims…
Come out, come out, where ever you are
There are some things in life you just can’t change. I have never been a fan of the rainbow as a gay symbol, but it’s a cultural institution. My dislike of rainbow flags will not make them go away. Rainbows are for kids, unicorn art and a freakishly happy dude named Paul “Hungry Bear” Vasquez.…
ACL Festival Day 3
Devendra Banhart and the Grogs Opening and closing with hits from his break-out album, 2005’s Cripple Crow, Devendra Banhart’s set was everything I expected, and then some. A pioneer revivalist of both freak folk and sunny California pop, without whom fellow ACL acts Local Natives, Yeasayer, and Beach House might not be playing their major…
Extra Lives: Why Video Games Matter
The most relevant thing about Tom Bissell’s Extra Lives: Why Video Games Matter is the indefinite nature of its title. In not specifying “who” video games are important to, he simultaneously asserts that his hobby should matter more to lovers/makers of other art mediums, while admitting that games shouldn’t matter as much as most gamers…
ACL Festival Day 2
Bear in Heaven I had written a blog about how interesting Bear in Heaven, the first band I saw entirely was. (The first band I saw partially was the Very Best, Afro-pop from Malawi, which is indeed the very best music to listen to first thing in the morning.)Alas, I wrote said blog on my…
RIP Greg Giraldo
October 15th was a date every local comedian eagerly awaited. It was the start of Greg Giraldo’s run at our new comedy club Laugh Out Loud and it promised to be a great show. A ‘comic’s comic’ is a phrase that is thrown around a lot any time a comedian doesn’t necessarily connect with a…
Bad Advice with Jay Whitecotton
I have no credentials. No scholarly knowledge that will help guide your needs or even point you in a positive direction. My only asset is an unquestionably awesome track record of failure that I hope will serve you some sort of mild benefit besides you always learn more from bad examples… and they are WAY…
Paul Rodriguez Faces Tough Crowd
Paul Rodriguez, a revered and well-respected Latino comedian, has spent the last few decades making light of our concerted Mexican life. I mean, without a little comic relief to see us through our struggles, we might actually realize just how fucked up some of the bullshit we deal with actually is. But there’s nothing comical about the…
Happy Birthday, Mr. Lennon
October 9, 1970 – December 8, 1980 A beautiful animation of an interview with John Lennon by a then-14 year old Josh Raskin, called “I Met the Walrus,” posted in honor of Mr. Lennon’s 70th birthday.
My Mexican Revolution obsession likely to last much longer than the actual Revolution
…as is true with many people who start reading/ hearing about it. This bit got cut from last weeks’ story due to space, but I am a big San Anto history nerd, so here it is… You say you want a Revolution? We already had one. The role of our city in the Mexican Revolution…
ACL re-cap – The Strokes
Hopefully the die-hard Strokes fans got their fix at the ACL pre-party at Stubbs on Thursday, when the band purportedly played a 45 minute set that fans waited two hours to see. On Friday, the band played most of the same songs in the exact same order, with Julian Casablancas delivering some of the exact…
ACL re-cap – Vampire Weekend
Fun fact: my mom regularly does her yoga practice to Vampire Weekend’s self-titled debut. Surveying the vast crowd around me, a lot of other people’s mothers are also into Vampire Weekend. And dads too. I saw more than a couple gray-haired dudes in Wranglers sipping Bud Lights and bobbing along to “Oxford Comma.” Then, of…
ACL semi-live blogging – Beach House
OMG! How adorable are Beach House? I’ll tell you how adorable: I had previously thought them one of the more boring bands in existence. But today’s performance totally charmed me, and the several thousand others watching the band. Starting their set with a cheering “peace,love and pizza parties” Beach House took the title of good…
ACL Semi-live blogging- black keys
Black keys can do no wrong. No matter how many times I see them live, they’re So on point. Not a lot of chatter between songs, they tend to power through song after song. Same deal with this performance although their newer songs, and accompanying bassist and keyboard player added an r&b element to their…
Planet K makes stab at San Marcos ordinance after SCOTUS snub
Sonya Harvey sonyaharveytx@gmail.com The Supreme Court is showing no love for South Texas in another case of free speech woe, this time refusing to consider the immemorial question: “Is it junk or is it art?” In February, a three-judge panel at the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans rejected Planet K owner…
ACL liveblogging: girls luv miike snow
Unfortunately, Girls, who have one of the year’s best records, ran into sound problems. Like, the sound guy couldn’t find the mic channel sound problems. That didn’t help the small crowd (oddly comprised of a lot of white-wine-drinking middle-aged women) grow. Too bad, because Girls’ brand of sweet surf rock is perfect for mid-day festivities.…
Calling the extended LGBTQ family: Solidarity Sunday
This Sunday marks the 15th Annual Solidarity Sunday, and it’s timing could not be more timely. Solidarity Sunday is a faith-based anti-violence initiative aimed at ending violence toward the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans-gendered people of our planet. Every year, people across the United States gather to remember those who have been abused, mistreated and…
ACL liveblogging- Mountain Goats
Sound and Fury made it! Only an hour late, which ain’t bad, though it would have been great to see Those Darlins. Mountain Goats onstage. They look like a band of community college math professors fronted by Steve Carrel, but that’s cool. Singer John Darnielle sounds exactly like he does on his 16 albums. He’s…
Pop Pistol Conquers The Midwest, East Coast
This week, I had the opportunity to catch up with Pop Pistol bassist George Garza about the band’s recent Midwestern/East Coast tour, which included notable stops in Chicago, Kansas City, Brooklyn, and more. One of the highlights for Garza was playing a large outdoor stage in the Kansas City Power and Light District, a vibrant,…
Interview: Nev Schulman
When New York photographer Nev Schulman met an 8-year-old girl named Abby online in 2007 he didn’t anticipate his life would change forever. Abby was an artist prodigy from rural Michigan. She began sending Nev paintings of the photographs he displayed on his Facebook account. Soon, Nev had not only befriended Abby, but also her…
Jerry Seinfeld Wants YOU…
… to argue with your spouse on national television. NBC prime-time specifically. Yes, that’s right, squabbling San Antonians, The Marriage Ref is coming to town, looking for fighting spouses to air their greivances on TV for a chance to win $25,000. Casting producer Erinn Scheibel says they’re looking for complaints about “A spouse who constantly…
Rivard beats on limp BexarMet GM at Pearl water forum
I snuck into the Pearl Stables for a bit of stall mucking yesterday and found perennial moderator Express-News Editor Bob Rivard had beat me to the punch. It was a panel talk on the future of water in the region, the dais populated by all the usual aquatic suspects: expensive ties (and one power suit)…
The Greatest Show on Earth
Idyllic weather made the fall portion of the 43rd Annual Round Top Antiques Fair the most enjoyable in recent history. One year ago, when Fayette County’s countless tented fields became muddy islands, I witnessed the havoc rain can wreak on 18th- and 19th-century antiques and the brave souls who sell them. This year (even though few…
The Antiques Freakshow
For me at least, the undisputed highlight of the Round Top Antiques Fair is the Junk Gypsies’ Junk-O-Rama Prom. Late-night treasure hunting (in tented booths with names like “Dead People’s Stuff”), flowing Champagne (courtesy of Zapp Hall’s charming Bubble Lounge), and unpredictable costumed revelry (Indian maidens and pirates were both winning looks for fall) can…
Face masks, low turnout, mark Bexar Dem committee meeting
Photos provide a wealth of documentary evidence, but one thing they do not transmit is smell. Consider yourself lucky. As we forecast in this week’s QueQue, dozens of Bexar County Democratic Party’s County Executive Committee were huddled inside in a Westside warehouse last night. And, yes, about five months after the first round of health…
TPR I love you, but you’re bringing me down
Count me among those who do not like KSTX’s new programming schedule. Front-loaded caveat: I value National Public Radio, and I’m a proud and grateful card-carrying member of TPR. What with disappearing newspapers, short attention spans, and oligarch-owned news outlets habitually engaged in dangerous bullshit tactics of outright fear-mongering and fact-free talking-point propaganda, Public Radio…
Gay Fiesta 2010
Critic’s Pick Release Date: 2010-10-06 Twenty-seven years ago, SA’s LGBT community woke up (possibly to the smell of Chanel No. 5) and realized it needed its very own Fiesta. This yearly celebration trades bedazzled concho belts for stiff leather harnesses and pastel-colored Polos (stretched tightly over tamale babies waiting to exhale) for, well, no shirts…
Artpace: Chalk It Up
Critic’s Pick Release Date: 2010-10-06 We know it’s fun for grownups, too, but Artpace’s yearly festival of chalk has kids scribbled all over it. While the little ones learn artsy new tricks from educator-led activities, lend your creative genius to a collaborative street mural, or head for the Freestyle Section to unlock your inner art-child.…
B.B. King
Critic’s Pick Release Date: 2010-10-06 Ranked No. 3 on Time’s list of the 10 best electric guitarists of all-time and Rolling Stone’s list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time, B.B. King (short for “Beale Street Blues Boy,” the nickname was given to Riley B. King in late ’40s-era Memphis) is one of blues…
Dance and Music of West Africa
Critic’s Pick Release Date: 2010-10-06 This coming Tuesday, the Trinity University’s Stieren Arts Enrichment Series brings us a performance by the world-renowned Bernard Woma, master of the gyil (pronounced JEE-lee), a xylophone-like percussion instrument from West Africa. Woma, a Ghanaian, has been lauded by fellow percussionists for “the most advanced drumming on the planet,” and…
Una Noche Del La Gloria
Critic’s Pick Release Date: 2010-10-06 The Contemporary Art and Literature Organization (CALO) and Councilman David Medina present Una Noche de La Gloria – Contemporary Art in the Cultural Zone, a multi-disciplinary exposition designed to “build bridges between our city’s artists.” La Gloria seems to have grown exponentially for this second annual celebration of art, music,…
Never Let Me Go
Critic’s Pick Never Let Me Go Director: Mark Romanek Screenwriter: Mark Romanek Cast: Carey Mulligan, Andrew Garfield Release Date: 2010-10-06 Rated: NONE Genre: Film To give away details of Never Let Me Go’s plot would be a great disservice to the film, which unveils thrilling discoveries without ever becoming a thriller. Similarly, it’s a sci-fi…
Swanlights
Swanlights Composer: Antony and the Johnsons Conductor: Antony and the Johnsons Label: Secretly Canadian Release Date: 2010-10-06 Rated: NONE Genre: Recording Antony Hegarty often comes across as one of the most self-indulgent artists in contemporary music, and Swanlights is a perfect example of Hegarty’s love-it-or-leave-it mentality. Album opener “Everything is New” encapsulates the spirit of…
The Roots of Chicha 2, Psychedelic Cumbias from Peru
The Roots of Chicha 2, Psychedelic Cumbias from Peru Composer: Various Artists Conductor: Various Artists Label: Barbes Records Release Date: 2010-10-06 Rated: NONE Genre: Recording Chicha is a corn-based alcoholic drink, and chicha, the music, is Peruvian cumbia as it came to be known in the late ’70s. But it all started in the late…
Belle and Sebastian Write About Love
Belle and Sebastian Write About Love Composer: Belle and Sebastian Conductor: Belle and Sebastian Label: Matador Records Release Date: 2010-10-06 Rated: NONE Genre: Recording Write About Love doesn’t immediately grab you in the intimate way you’d expect from Belle and Sebastian, but reflects the group’s growing rock tendencies. “I Want the World to Stop” is…
alurista Tunaluna Texas Tour 2010
Critic’s Pick Release Date: 2010-10-06 Aztlan Libre Press, a homegrown, independent publishing company dedicated to “the promotion, publication, and free expression of Xican@ literature and art,” hits the ground running with its inaugural publication, Tunaluna — poet alurista’s 10th book to date. Considered “one of the most influential voices in the history of Chicano literature,”…
La Boheme
Critic’s Pick Release Date: 2010-10-06 Giacomo Puccini takes us on a conceptual trip to Bohemia (part of the Czech Republic ever since 1993’s “Velvet Divorce”) in La Bohème — the second most frequently performed opera in the US (following Madama Butterfly), according to OPERA America. An ill-fated romance between a poet and a seamstress factors…
The Bellydance Superstars present Bombay Bellywood
Critic’s Pick Release Date: 2010-10-06 Created by Miles Axe Copeland III (founder of I.R.S. Records and former manager of brother Stewart’s band, The Police), the Bellydance Superstars offer a remixed version of what one might expect from the genre. Since their first tour (in conjunction with Lollapalooza 2003), BDSS’s fusion of tribal, modern, and traditional…
The Sound & the Fury
Starting Wednesday, the San Antonio Blues Society celebrates its 20th anniversary with several $5 shows around town. Wednesday night, guest Shawn Pittman of Austin, a “super power hitter” of regional blues guitar, sits in on the weekly jam at Sam’s Burger Joint (7:30pm, 330 E Grayson, samsburgerjoint.com). On Thursday, The Cove hosts a free show…
The Poetic Radiance of Elizabeth Alexander
When Elizabeth Alexander read her poem “Praise Song for the Day” at Barack Obama’s inauguration last year, she followed in the tradition started by Robert Frost who read at Kennedy’s 1961 inauguration. And while using verse both elevates and provides inspiration on an occasion, it can also signal a renewed commitment and appreciation of the…
Two Bros. BBQ Market
After a good meal, the memory of a perfectly sautéed fish or breathtaking dessert, for instance, can linger in my mind for days. But when I have good barbeque? That remains with me in a more sensory way. I’m talking about the smoke. A good barbeque will infuse my clothes, my hair, and even my…
High Pointe
I lingered in my car outside The Aquifer last Thursday night watching a group of girls in short black dresses and high heels make their entrance at the brand new Stone Oak hotspot. The bar is located in the Blanco Pointe shopping center, outside the 1604 Loop and across the way from neighborhood hangout Kennedy’s.…
Bottle & tap
Bringing U.S. and import craft and Texas beer into the spotlight has become a staple for several local San Antonio area establishments such as Flying Saucer, Hills & Dales, Freetail Brewing Co., The Friendly Spot, Pedicab Bar, and AJ’s Ale House in New Braunfels. But the idea of a gastropub has been hit or miss,…
¡Ask A Mexican!
Dear Mexican, Mexico is truly an amazing, beautiful country! Huge oil reserves, mineral deposits second to none, tourist potential unparalleled! God gave Mexico every possible advantage. And yet the Mexicans, in all their wisdom and intellect, have turned it into a backwater, undeveloped narco-ruled Third World cesspool of corruption and poverty. How were you able to achieve…
The Queque – October 6, 2010
Toxic Dems – Last night, the virtually irrelevant “official” Bexar County Democratic Party was scheduled to gather in a warehouse space across Highway 90 from Lackland AFB. Only many precinct chairs the QueQue spoke with on Monday and Tuesday weren’t planning on showing up for the Executive Committee meeting. They were fearful of fumes, and…
Dear Uncle Mat
Dear Uncle Mat, I’ve got a problem for you. I met my boyfriend at a bar. I picked him up and brought him home for what was some amazing sex. He’s real physical and “talented” in the bedroom. He talked dirty, which was kind of new for me, but I kind of liked it. That…
Saytown Lowdown
The world is reeling from a year that will likely go down as the hottest on record, a year in which an unprecedented heat wave followed by massive forest fires crippled Russia and floodwaters submerged a fifth of the entire country of Pakistan. It was yet another year in which world leaders failed to act…
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Much of the reader mail I receive is friendly. But now and then I’ll get a message like this: “I’ve followed your horoscopes with pleasure for years. But I must say, you’ve really lost it lately. I can’t stand the garbage you’ve been slinging. What happened to you?” My response is…
The Southwest School announces a Bachelor in Fine Arts program
Paula Owen, president of the arts-educational entity known originally as the Southwest Craft Center, then later as the Southwest School of Art and Craft, and newly, the Southwest School of Art, sat down with us to talk theory, hope, and specifics. Where does the Bachelor of Fine Art program at the Southwest School fit into…
Under suspicion
San Antonio barber Charles Williams and local minister and aspiring politician Rev. Claude Black were returning home from a meeting at an Eastside gymnasium when they noticed steady headlights trailing them. Rev. Black, who passed away last year, his legacy as a champion of civil rights cemented by decades of struggle for African-Americans in San…
Hair of the dog
I don’t usually drink Tequila. My favorite Mexican import — aside from the fiction of Roberto Bolaño and those soaps that ward off spells — is a bottle of Topo Chico (Little Mole) mineral water. It’s ridiculous, considering not only did I grow up minutes from Mexico but many of my high school friends were…
Pursuit of competence
Well, it’s been a year since we ran our now infamous column on the Alamo Theater Arts Council’s Globe Awards for Theater Excellence, a piece that criticized the Globes (and their judges) for rewarding excellence at best sporadically and at worst not at all. In particular, we singled out the AtticRep’s The Goat and the…
Side man
In March, as spiritual pop-smith Chris Taylor cruised Twitter, he stumbled upon a world-wide song-writing contest held by Dave Stewart. Stewart sought a musician to write lyrics and vocals to a piece of music he had already composed. The co-founder of the Eurythmics and producer of No Doubt, U2, and Mick Jagger, happened to be…
Four men in a tank
Israel’s border with its northern neighbor Lebanon used to be known as “The Good Fence.” Unlike Syria, Jordan, and Egypt, Lebanon did not pursue hostilities against the Jewish state — until internal strife among the Lebanese allowed Hezbollah to stage raids across their southern border. Israel’s military response, in two wars, was inconclusive and devastating…
A safe bet
Assuming that, like me, you know nearly nothing about the Grand and Hallowed American Pastime of Horse Racing, it’s still a reasonably fair shot you’ve heard, at some point, of Secretariat. Am I right? It’s roughly congruent to baseball and Babe Ruth: you may not have stats or specifics, but if you’ve heard a name,…
We’re not talking about God
Dave Bazan has never made it through an interview without being asked to dish on his love-hate relationship with God. Even I couldn’t help bringing up the spiritually schizophrenic nature of his 15-year career: the first half spent as the great white hope of the Christian indie-rock scene which his former incarnation, Pedro The Lion,…
Hills Snyder and Joe Reyes
I’d always wondered what a Hills Snyder song sounded like. About one year ago I asked Snyder, an artist, to create an altare to Doug Sahm for a Day of the Dead photography feature. Something just told me he was the man for the job. Not until we were driving out to the installation site…
Sex Questions Answered Here
There are plenty of sex columns out there. They’re boring. We like to have fun over here. Sex can get very dull very fast, so I like to encourage experimentation. Ask away. But please, let’s have a few ground rules: – You can’t change a person into someone you find more appealing. Stop trying. Stop…
The Monkey in Your Head
Last week, one of my cats, Frack, managed to sneak his way outside during a repairman visit. He was used to being outside until a few months ago, when my new landlord requested that all cats remain indoors. But he got out, and I saw no sign of him for nearly a week. During this…
Dear Rush: nonprofit workers far from ‘lazy idiots’
Nonprofit organizations are a crucial part of our San Antonio community. These nonprofits come in all shapes and sizes and are associated with ‘charitable, educational, religious, or other community beneficial purposes.’ According to Texas Association of Nonprofit Organizations (TANO), there are more than 3,600 registered nonprofits in San Antonio and Bexar County, employing more than…
San Antonio Adds Professional Soccer Team
Here’s some great news if you’re a fútbol fan: San Antonio is joining the North American Soccer League! Beginning in 2012, the expansion team will begin playing at the 14-field STAR (South Texas Area Regional) complex on the northeast side of the city. Local businessman and native San Antonian Gordon Hartman is responsible for spearheading…
Memos to the Video Game Industry: Sexism
If you haven’t played Eden Games’ Test Drive Unlimited (multi-platform), here’s a brief run down. You begin the game by selecting a cool-looking driver (I went with the understated Guamanian) and taking a plane to an unnamed island. There, you drive expensive cars in an open world, competing in various street races/challenges to buy new…
