So I scrambled for a replacement. My friends were set on checking out Fader Fort, a popular four-day showcase curated by The Fader magazine — apparently, so was everybody else in Austin. The line to get in was a quarter mile long, and I lasted about three minutes before ditching out of there in search […]
Zach Hale
Posted inMusic
RECAP: South by Southwest, day two
The Avenue on Congress — where the Buffalo Lounge was held — is several blocks from The Mohawk, where the dozens of people were injured by a drunk driver, two of them fatally. In retrospect, I remember hearing the sirens around the time everything went down, and I didn’t think for a moment that it […]
Posted inMusic
RECAP: South by Southwest, day one
Day 1 was a scorcher, at least according to the standard set by Oklahoma City’s frozen tundra. The high for the day peaked at about 83, but at times, it felt even warmer. Thankfully, The Buffalo Lounge had just the remedy. I arrived at the downtown Austin venue — this year at Avenue on Congress, […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Boot Scootchin’ boogie
Smith is a burly, bearded dude (balding, too). In many ways, he resembles a disheveled Chris Pratt (TV’s Parks & Recreation). His appearance is important, but it’s not because his unique brand of comedy is in any way physical. Rather, it’s important because Smith’s tactics are largely of a self-deprecating nature. And what’s funnier than […]
Posted inMusic
Okie music, Texas flavor
Skating Polly The state’s platform for Oklahoma artists is no exception, thanks, in large part, to Austin’s South by Southwest, the largest film, interactive and music conference in the world. If you didn’t already know, the event is a big deal. According to a SXSW fact sheet, a whopping 56 countries are represented at this […]
Posted inMusic
Web and flow
Photo: Mark Hancock There’s a lyric from Josh Sallee’s new album, Know Society, in which the 26-year-old Oklahoma City rapper confronts this very issue: “Who is he?/ Is he who he sees?/ Is he everything that he ever liked or seen?/ Is the game of fame influencing?” The song — “TLD – Technologicallogicaldreams” — serves […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Her
To a degree, Jonze (Where the Wild Things Are) presents a vintage man vs. machine conflict, primarily in Theodore’s desire for connection, which is paired with and pitted against Samantha’s ability to emote and grow internally. What distinguishes their circumstance, however, is that it exists within the fragile confines of a relationship. Jonze illustrates this […]
Posted inMusic
The Best Local Albums of 2013
10. Johnny Polygon — The Nothing 2013 belonged to the introspective rappers — the ones who found their strength in going soft and whose heads, hearts and souls lay open for listeners to poke around in. Tulsa emcee Johnny Polygon tips open his brain like a cap on The Nothing, baring weed-soaked nuggets of self-truths that are […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Inside Llewyn Davis
There are several shots in Joel and Ethan Coen’s latest that (intentionally) offer a similar imagery, only with one very significant difference: Its protagonist, Llewyn Davis (Oscar Isaac, Drive), is a lone wolf in the truest sense — aloof, misunderstood and tragically unsuccessful in his personal and professional endeavors. Set in 1961, the film opens […]
Posted inMusic
Poolboy — Soda Kids
Guitarist Michael Loveland, bassist Sean Barker and drummer John Calvin are no strangers to the local scene, nor are they, apparently, strangers to good, old-fashioned rock ’n’ roll. The band’s debut EP, Soda Kids, clocks in at less than six minutes, with four capricious and impassioned tracks that mimic a bygone golden era of punk […]