Dr. Dog: Fate

Dr. Dog is in my opinion one of the coolest and most creative bands in indie rock. If there is a band today that sounds anything like The Beatles, then it's Dr. Dog. Their light piano, catchy vocal harmonies, and imaginative lyrics makes them have one of the freshest sounds in alternative music. 

With that being said, I found their new album Fate to be fairly disappointing. Not that the album is bad, it's actually pretty decent, but the band brings nothing new to the table. 

"Breeze" starts the album and sounds like your typical Dr. Dog song. The song has a nice melodic sound but doesn't really get the album started. The album starts to move with the second track "Hang On," the song is catchy and is their respected radio hit, but again it seems like they have written this song before.

"The Old Days" is the first highlight of Fate. The piano playing arpeggios gives the song sort of a classical feel, accompanied by guitar and ragtime drums, the song has a distinctive sound. 

After a few decent but forgettable songs, the album hits again with "The Ark."  With a gloomy guitar and inventive lyrics about failure, insecurity, and "Ooh, What does it mean to be here?" this is the coolest song on the disc.

Two other worthy tracks are "From" which sounds like a modern day version of "Here, There and Everywhere." And "Uncovering The Old" which cleverly incorporates a string section, which corresponds well with Dr. Dog's always poppy sound.

B-

Entertainment Journalism

If you enjoy my blog, then you will surely enjoy the blogs of my peers. I'm currently taking a Journalism class and below are links to the blogs of my fellow classmates. Arguably the brightest minds in the history of mankind. 

Danielle Bauman

Christian Cabazos

Claire Cella

Tommy Collins

Celeste Diaz

Victoria Estrada

Mackenzie Jenkins

Marloes Lemsom

Jennifer Obenhaus

Mandy Odgers

Marc Sherman

Caroline Wallace

Geoffrey West

Allison Willis

Dylan v. Mariah

Who is a better singer? Bob Dylan or Mariah Carey. Now the answer may seem obvious to you, but please think to yourselves, what makes a great singer? It's not just about who can hit a high C, what truly makes a great singer is his or her ability to make the listener feel exactly what the song is trying to portray. To give the song character, a life of its own.

Now if I had to pick anybody in the world to hit a high C, it would be Mariah. On top of that she has eighteen #1 singles, the most for a solo artist in the U.S. and has five Grammys under her belt. But despite all of her success and talent, Mariah is not necessarily who I want standing behind the microphone. Now I admit, I have listened to her music sparingly, but when I have heard it I only hear a voice. She sounds like a producer told her to sing this way. No edge, no real distinctiveness.

Now Dylan certainly can't hit the high C, and according to some his Achilles Heel is his voice. And maybe I'm biased being somewhat of a Dylan worshiper. But I think few can bring what Dylan brings to the microphone. Whether he his howling "HOW DOES IT FEEL!!!" in "Like A Rolling Stone," or preaching in "Gotta Serve Somebody," or reflecting in "One Too Many Mornings," Dylan forces the listener to feel love, hate, hope, disappointment, and everything else that one experiences in life.

Now I don't mean to put Mariah down, she could do things with her voice that appear impossible. But I'll take Dylan everyday of the week.

Mugabe, World Class Dictator

Undoubtedly, my all-time favorite dictator is Mr. Robert Gabriel Mugabe. If you look up dictator who rules with his giant incompetent iron fist in the dictionary, Robert Mugabe's picture would be right there. For those who are not familiar with Mr. Mugabe, he is the "President" of Zimbabwe and has ruled Zimbabwe since 1980. Mugabe has worked hard to become the greatest dictator of today by creating the weakest economy in the world and scaring away any political opponents with violence. Kim Jong-il and Mahmud Ahmadinejad may get the hot press, but Mugabe is personally my favorite.

My favorite accomplishment by Mugabe is his ability to turn Zimbabwe previously respectable economy into an economy with such high inflation and such low per capita GDP that my jaw drops every time I see the statistics. How did Mugabe accomplish this, well he forced out every experienced farmer in the country and replaced them with inexperienced native farmers. Farming was the backbone to the Zimbabwe economy and when inevitably the new farmers could not grow crops they had shortages of food and little product to import to other countries. On top of this Mugabe printed hundred of trillions of dollars in Zimbabwe currency, which is just asking for ridiculously high inflation. Zimbabwe has been in a state of hyperinflation, climaxing in July of 2008 with inflation at 11,200,000%. Just to compare, the U.S.'s inflation is about 5%. I'm still not sure how this is possible, but the stats don't lie. Also Zimbabwe's GDP per capita is at $55. Which means the average person in Zimbabwe makes about $55 a year, less than half of the next closest (Burundi with $128).

So why is Mugabe still in power, in Zimbabwe they have a "democratic process". Well earlier this year Zimbabwe held a presidential election. And Mugabe lost receiving 43.2% of the vote compared to Morgan Tsvangirai with 47.9% of the vote. But we forgot Mugabe is a dictator and if he knows how to do anything, it is staying in power. So a run-off election is held. And Tsvangirai was forced to withdraw from the run-off in fear of his supporters being killed if they voted for him. So Mugabe was the only participating candidate on the ballot and won the run of with 85.5% of the vote.

So my man Mugabe is not done yet and don't think that he is past his dictatorial prime, because I figure he still has a few tricks up his sleeve.

Hurricane Ike

Today is Saturday, September 13th. I was lead to believe that Austin would be experiencing 70 mph winds and heavy rain due to Hurricane Ike. People were truly fearful of the storm locally, even the UT football game was cancelled, and it would take a true test of nature to cancel a UT football game. But today was partly cloudy in the morning and sunny in the afternoon with little wind. If you wanted to work on your tan, today wouldn't of been a bad day. I was kind of hoping for at least a little rain, but in Texas it seems like there is never a guarantee for rain.  

ACL Preview

With the seemingly thousands of bands playing at Austin City Limits, trying to find your way around Zilker Park can be confusing. So I've devised a list of the 10 must see acts.

10. Black Joe Lewis, an Austin vet who can belt out soul.

9. G. Love & Special Sauce, Fri. 7:30, a combination of blues and rap, G. Love plays a fun show with his heartwarming songwriting.

8. MGMT, Sat. 5:30, released their creative debut album Oracular Spectacular, they are my new favorite acid band.

7. Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings, Sat. 2:30, probably the best female soul vocalist today backed by one funky band.

6. Vampire Weekend, Fri. 2:30, new on the scene, Vampire takes alt-pop to a new level.

5. Conor Oberst, Sat. 6:30, arguably the best songwriter of the generation, fresh off a newly recorded album

4. The Raconteurs, Sun. 6:30, unfortunately up against Gnarls, but Jack White is reason enough to go.

3. The Black Keys, Sat. 7:30, the guitarist Dan Auerbach is unbelievable, as this duo plays the blues heavier than it has ever been played before.

2. Gnarls Barkley, Sun. 6:30, the coolest act out today, Cee-Lo's voice can knock down buildings and Danger Mouse is a musical genius. Also they put together a grovy backing band.

1. Beck, Sat. 8:30, fresh off arguably his best recording, you know Beck is going to throw a special show.

Antone's

There are a handful of places you have to experience if you live in Austin: Zilker Park, Lady Bird Lake, Magnolia Cafe, Waterloo Records, Threadgills, and so on and so forth. Antone's is definitely one of those places. In my opinion the best live music venue in Austin, which just so happens to be the Live Music Capital of the World.

When you walk into Antone's you see a timeline of blues history. All of the greats have played at Antone's: Albert Collins, B.B. King, Fats Domino, John Lee Hooker, Jimmy Reed, Muddy Waters, Delbert McClinton, Jimmy Vaughn, and of course Stevie Ray Vaughn himself. Antone's history alone is reason enough to go. 

Antone's isn't flashy, it's pretty much a bar, a empty floor, a stage, seating is scarce, and is relatively small. But when you walk in you feel the bluesy atmosphere instantaneously. And since it's small, it is easy to find a good spot.   

Antone's was founded by the late Clifford Antone over thirty years ago. Antone moved to Austin in the late sixties to go to UT. Eventually he dropped out and started up a blues club, which was one of the first music venues around 6th street. One of Antone's accomplishments was helping launch the career of Stevie Ray Vaughn. Allowing Stevie to sit in with Albert King was a major factor in Stevie getting a recording deal. 

Sadly Antone passed away in 2006. His wife is now running the club and still attracts big acts. Alejandro Escovedo, Jakob Dylan, Ben Kweller, and Bob Schneider are all playing this month.