alex keller - after six

I mean, it's funny. Or just stupid.

The next time someone dismisses Devo as a joke band make them watch this.

A piece of mine is featured on ElektraMusic this month - follow the link to check it out as well as a lot of other good stuff.

My 3G iPod is apparently indestructible.

I bought it three years ago and it's survived numerous drops... last week it fell out of my pocket in the driveway and I ran it over with my car. It's still working, no skips or stutters.

Jennifer: "Curiosity killed the cat."
Christina: "No it didn't."

This was reminiscent of Christina at two.

Me: "Christina, we don't put crayons up our noses."
Christina: "Yes we do."

Once we were having dinner - some sort of sausage. August was apparently, secretively, having stomach trouble. He threw up half-digested chunks of meat at the table.

As I carried him to the bathroom to clean him up (and catch the aftershock, if any) he looked up at me and moaned, "Did you see my sausage?"

here's the stuff you ought not miss.

Wednesday March 15

7:30 PM
Toof, Spiro's Patio
I went to elementary school with this guy and he is still funny, and a pain in the ass, and an amazing musician. I mean he's very funny.

11 PM
The Weird Weeds, Karma Lounge
Intimate, gentle, delicate, slightly seething. And you get to watch Sandy play guitar with chalk. What more do you want?

1 AM
The Go! Team, Exodus
The Go! Team is like the upbeat funky soundtrack to an ABC afterschool special times ten.

Thursday, March 16

Table of the Elements Showcase, Central Presbyterian Church
This is the one show to see if you are only going to one show.
8 PM San Agustin
9 PM Zeena Parkins - electric harpist with teeth
10 PM Tony Conrad - seminal sound and film guy
11 PM Jonathan Kane's February
12 AM Arnold Dreyblatt Ensemble - featuring Brent Fariss, Nick Hennies and Travis Weller
1 AM Rhys Chatam Guitar Army - Deaf as a post? Yes. Egyptian? Maybe. Minimal? Yes. Incredibly loud? Yes.

If you absolutely hate all that weird stuff you could see

8 PM
Echo and the Bunymen, Town Lake Stage
Free! "This killing moon will come too soon." I bet they put on a great show.

9:30 PM
Morrisey, Austin Music Hall
People love to piss on Morrisey but you can't really deny that he is brilliant. He does grate the nerves if you think about it too much.

11:30 PM
Helios Creed/Chrome, Room 710
Chrome was what Devo threatened to be but didn't quite make it. They took enough drugs in their midwestern basements until they became an outer space thug gang. This was back in the 1970s... I saw them in 1998 or so and they were scary and incredibly old even then.

1 AM
Pong, Molotov Lounge
Sort of Devo, ex Ed Hall. Supposedly a good show.

1:15 AM
Whitehouse, Room 710
Over the top, loud, noisy, offensive, a bit stupid I think - but I will ignore them at my peril.

Friday, March 17

1 AM
Savage Republic, Room 710
Not as weird as they think they are but still pretty damn good.

Saturday, March 18

Toneburst Showcase, Ceremony Hall, 8 PM
This is the local response to Table of the Elements. Not hippy trippy psych weirdo, just good old fashioned electronic/electroacoustic sound and music.
Corey Allen, Brent Fariss, Tom Grznich, Alex Keller, Rick Reed, Josh Russell, Scott Smallwood

1 AM
Glass Eye, Copa
I saw Glass Eye at SXSW in 1990, I bet. They are one of my all-time favorite Austin bands. Don't miss it.

Zappa: The biggest threat to America today is not communism; it's moving America towards a fascist theocracy and everything that has happened during the Reagan administration. Is steering us right down that pipe...
When you have a government that prefers a certain moral code derived from a certain religion and that moral code turns into legislation to suit one certain religious point of view and if that code happens to be very, very right wing almost toward Attila the Hun.

Lofton: Well then you are an anarchist. Every form of civil government is based on some kind of morality, Frank.

Zappa: Morality in terms of behavior-not in terms of theology.