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  • R.I.P. Stooges guitarist Ron Asheton -

    Stooges guitarist Ron Asheton was found dead in his Ann Arbor, Mich., home Tuesday, according to Detroit police. Autopsy and toxicology results are pending, but police say they do not suspect foul play. Asheton was 60.

    Officers discovered Asheton after they were called to his home around midnight by an associate who hadn’t heard from him in several days.

    Asheton was a founding member of the Stooges, the Ann Arbor-based band that gave the world Iggy Pop, not to mention a couple of the greatest rock albums of all time. Rolling Stone magazine ranked him at No. 29 on their “100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time” list.

    Asheton’s playing — meaty, simple, powerful and deceptively rhythmic — was a rock upon which the church of punk was built.

    “Ron made gut-shot rock ’n’ roll,” Jesse Sublett said Tuesday. Sublett co-founded the Skunks, one of Austin’s first punk rock bands. “The Stooges were such a gang, not just Iggy and some musicians. Garage rock wasn’t a pose for them. It was as primal as a (expletive). I recently watched a ‘Nova’ documentary on mountain gorillas, and the Stooges were just what came to mind.”

    “The first two Stooges albums are the greatest collection of guitar riffs in rock history,” Butthole Surfer drummer King Coffey said. “In some ways the music contradicts itself. It’s muscular yet hypnotic. It captures the anger and fear of the late ’60s, yet absolutely, positively rocks. At parties, I’ve beared witness to living rooms destroyed while Stooges albums have played on the stereo.”

    The first Stooges album is an obvious punk touchstone, the sound of mountain gorillas discovering tools like that early man in “2001: A Space Odyssey,” but it’s the epic second album, 1970’s “Funhouse,” that stands as one of the best rock-qua-rock records ever, the sound of the gorillas finding the keys to a Camaro.

    Everything you need to know about Asheton’s genius is in two “Funhouse” songs, “T.V. Eye” and “Dirt.”

    On “T.V. Eye,” it’s Iggy’s “LAAAWWWDD!!!” that gets you first, a scream of release unlike anything in ’60s rock. But it’s Asheton’s explosive riff that keeps you riveted.

    “Dirt” is completely different. A slow burner, Asheton’s riff after the opening solo is all controlled menace and potential energy, as menacing in its own way as the Rolling Stones’ “Gimme Shelter” or Black Sabbath’s “Into the Void.”

    In 1999, Rhino Handmade released “1970: The Complete Funhouse Sessions” a six-CD box set. For some of us, those who need 28 takes of “Loose” and a 17-minute version of “L.A. Blues” for example, it’s the most awesome box set ever made.

    By 1973’s “Raw Power,” the band was called Iggy and the Stooges, a glammier animal with James Williamson on lead guitar and Asheton relegated to bass. It’s a killer in its own right, a proto-punk touchstone, but it’s not Asheton’s record. The band was gone by 1974.

    Asheton spent most of the next couple of decades playing in Michigan cult acts such as the New Order, Destroy All Monsters and Dark Carnival, records by which were collected by the faithful.

    Asheton appeared at South by Southwest in 2001, playing with J Mascis and the Fog. This seemed miraculous enough.

    The Stooges (with Minutemen/Firehose bassist Mike Watt on bass, replacing the late Dave Alexander) reunited in 2003, then more regularly from 2005 on, their live shows generating massive critical acclaim.

    Pop culture maven and novelist Chuck Klosterman, author of “Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs” and “Downtown Owl,” saw the reunited Stooges at Voodoo Fest in New Orleans in 2003.

    “That was honestly one of the best 30 minutes of music I’ve ever experienced,” Klosterman said. “Asheton was the key. His guitar tone was unlike anything I’d ever heard during a live performance. “After the show, the Stooges were in the backstage area, where everyone else was eating this incredible buffet of inexplicably high-quality food (roast beef and whatnot). But for some reason, Asheton elected to hang out by his trailer and cook his own hotdogs on a Weber kettle. I don’t think he watched one other band on the bill. He looked like a man built to move furniture.”

    The Stooges cut one more (fairly terrible) album, “The Weirdness,” in 2007. Asheton last appeared in Austin with the Stooges at Stubb’s for SXSW that year. Simply seeing that band in action was a dream come true for virtually everyone in the crowd.

    Additional material from The Associated Press

  • Check out the No No No Hopes demo for free -

    Here is a ZIP file of Austin budget rock garage band the No No No Hopes six-song demo.

    Pretty excellent no-fi garage trash, especially if you have a fondness for Supercharger, the Mummies, that sort of thing. Which you should.

  • CD review: The Gourds, 'Haymaker!' -

    The Gourds
    ‘Haymaker’
    (Yep Roc!)
    4 stars

    The party line goes something like this: The Gourds should be, as Puffy and Mase once elegantly put it, bigger than the city lights down in Times Square. Their recombinant rocky-tonk jam-folk is equal parts Louisiana humidity and Austin wit, though they’ve never really been able to decide if their wiseacre streak is a plus or an albatross. Frankly, they’re almost a smaller-scale version of the Drive-By Truckers, rootsy lifers who find success and a seriously bonkers core audience well after many lesser acts have called it quits.

    Depending how you count soundtracks, “Haymaker” is their ninth, tenth or eleventh album in 15 years, another rock-solid effort from guys who figured out long ago that as good as the CDs are, they’re still just fliers for the live show, even if family commitments keep them more off the road than on.

    There’s a strong sense of place on “Haymaker!,” at least on Kevin Russell’s tunes. ‘Country Gal’ shouts out the swaying nymphs that populate the jammy, outdoor festivals the Gourds deserve to headline and “Tex-Mex Mile” puts in a good word for the South Austin of the mid-’90s when life was good and rent and weed were the only concerns (“I was Rip Van Winkle but I thought I was Apollo Creed”).

    “Shreveport” misses home while “(All the Way to) Jericho” longs to hit the road. Smith’s tunes stick to girls like “Bridget” (too young for him) and the oddball “Fossil Contender” (related to the Band’s “Jemima Surrender?”). Let’s hope for their sakes “Haymaker!” is the roundhouse they were looking for.

    Per usual, it will at least knock you flat.

  • Musicmania Top 10 for the week ending Jan. 4 -

    1. Lil’ Keke ‘Loved By Few Hated By Many’ (TF)

    2. SPM ‘Last Chair Violinist’ (Dope House)

    3. Trae ‘Streets Advocate’ (Oarfin)

    4. Keyshia Cole ‘A Different Me’ (Geffen)

    5. Plies ‘Da Realist’ (Slip-N-Slide)

    6. Anthony Hamilton ‘Point Of It All’ (Arista)

    7. Scarface ‘Emeritus’ (Rap-A-Lot)

    8. Jamie Foxx ‘Intuition’ (J Records)

    9. Z-RO ‘Crack’ (Rap-A-Lot)

    10. Kanye West ‘808s & Heartbreak’ (Def Jam)

  • Gourds, Ruthie, Kweller LPs on horizon -

    The new year means that a slew of local releases by nationally-recognized artists are headed for the bins. Waterloo Records list of upcoming in-store appearances kicks off 2009 tomorrow with the Gourds performing songs from “Haymaker!,” which some are calling the best Gourds LP yet.

    February 3 finds Ruthie Foster at Sixth and Lamar, touting “The Truth According To Ruthie,” which could also be called “Ruthie In Memphis.” Not only does the gospel/ blues belter cover Ann Peebles and Al Green, but she’s got their keyboardist Charles Hodges, not to mention Jim Dickinson, Robben Ford, Larry Fulcher and Rock Deadrick in her band on the record.

    Nouveau Austinite Ben Kweller will perform songs from his upcoming ATO release Feb. 4 at Waterloo.

  • Free Week jumps off -

    Proving once again that Austinites will flock to pay a little as possible to support local bands Free Week all over Red River got off to a raging start Friday night. The vibe was a little like South By Southwest, but less well dressed. But there was some question as to whether Austin could sustain a handful of clubs, rather than, say, one, doing a Free Week.

    While folks flocked to Emo’s for the Lemurs Friday, things seemed all the more insane Saturday night at Mohawk, as the line snaked around the club for the Riverboat Gamblers set. Overheard: “Maybe Harlem should have played in the middle instead of Alright Tonight.” Um, yes. Yes they should. But then, I could see Harlem about once a week and not get bored.

    Sunday felt completely different. Around 10 p.m. Red River seemed all but abandoned. After all, toady was the first day back to work in a long time for all sorts of folks. Or maybe it was just too cold.

    A small crowd gathered at Mohawk for sets from Serious Tracers, Follow That Bird!, Butcher Bear’s Rainbow Bus and more. A slightly bigger crowd showed for the Emo’s gigs. The chamber rock of J. Be featured otherwise fairly metal guitarist David DiDonato holding down the hired gun guitar slot. Elv!s canceled, which meant so did I. (Peace to Woven Bones.)

    What did you folks see this weekend?

    Free Week photos

    • Day 3 of Free Week featuring The Always Already, Low Down Shaky Chill, Unwed Fathers, more: Photos
    • Day 2 of Free Week featuring Riverboat Gamblers, The Ugly Beats, What Made Milwaukee Famous, more: Photos
    • Day 1 of Free Week featuring The Alice Rose, Built by Snow, Summer of Blood, more: Photos
  • Weekend picks for 1/2-1/4 -

    FRIDAY

    SATURDAY

    SUNDAY

  • Malford Milligan is moving to Milwaukee -

    Malford Milligan is moving to Milwaukee and Antone’s is giving him a big send-off Jan. 6.

    Expect the Blue Monday band of the past and the current Blue Tuesday Band including Derek O’Brien, Chris Layton, David Grissom, Tommy Shannon and more.

    Advance tickets are available online at www.antones.net

  • James McMurty's another Austin artist who cleans up on year-end lists. -

    Austin, Texas, ladies and gentlemen, home of the critically acclaimed and under-employed.

    James McMurtry’s “Just Us Kids” may have come in no. 2 on our own AMP Awards, but it came in at no. 1 on critic Geoffrey Himes list for the Baltimore City Paper. Here are a few more, cribbed from McMurty’s MySpace page:

    USA Today: no. 2 album of the year

    Entertainment Weekly: Stephen King’s no. 3 album of the year

    Atlanta Journal-Constitution: No. 4 album of the year

    Americana Music Chart: No. 2 album of the year

    Popmatters: no. 5 Americana album of the year

    McMurty plays a two-night stand Jan. 9 and 10 at Cactus Cafe, then heads off to Europe with Jon Dee Graham and Ian McLagan.

  • Man charged with KLBJ threat -

    Austin police have arrested a man they say walked into KLBJ studios Tuesday afternoon, displayed a gun and threatened to “go postal,” police Lt. Cedric Hudson said.

    Police have charged Rocky Perez Lopez, 51, with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

    Bail had not been set late Tuesday.

    Lopez, who Hudson said was a former Department of Public Safety officer, is accused of walking into KLBJ’s offices, at 8309 N. Interstate 35, about 2:30 p.m. and displaying a gun while speaking with a producer there, Hudson said.

    The gun was in his waistband, Hudson said.

    After threatening the producer, Lopez walked out, Hudson said. On his way out, he left his name and papers with his name on them, Hudson said.

    Hudson said police later tracked Lopez down to a home in the 9300 block of Queenswood Drive in South Austin and arrested him.

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