Side One Track One

Once I make my year-end album list I like to load up the iPod with all of my selections from previous years and explore what does or doesn’t still work for me.  Just recently, I revisited The Rural Alberta Advantage’s Hometowns (it’s still great, by the way), and now the band has rolled out a [...]

Pre-Screening Stance: The main thing I remember about the Boston Marathon bombing and the manhunt that ensued afterwards was that the whole thing felt like something out of a movie.  So, I suppose it makes sense that there’s now a movie based on the aforementioned events.  I will say this though, Patriot’s Day does feel [...]

There are quite a few local shows happening this week that are either free or very cheap, and that’s awesome.  You should go to as many as you can!  If, however, you’d like to see a different set of faces, then I say jump to Sidewinder on Saturday for American Wrestlers, who are out of [...]

Today I’m hopping backwards a bit to share a song I missed while the site was in holiday mode.  It’s from Why?, an act I’ve loved for a good decade or so, and it’s off of their upcoming album, Moh Llean, that’s due out on March 3 via Joyful Noise.  In classic Why? fashion, it’s [...]

So, I’ve been hosting 101X Homegrown for a while, but I’ve left the podcast posts to just the 101x page.  Figured I’d also put them here in 2017.  For those of you that don’t know, 101X Homegrown is a show I host every Sunday at 9pm CST on 101.5.  It largely covers Austin-based acts (and [...]

Hey all!  SOTO is back!  Just one particular thing to note here as the year gets going – I’m not going to be posting mp3s anymore.  After I put up my Top 50 Songs of 2016 list I received double digit DMCA takedown notices, and it was rather alarming.  So, I’m just going to stick [...]

Pre-Screening Stance: The trailer for A Monster Calls is all kinds of sad, so I’m guessing that the actual movie is really going to be a bummer.  Guess I better pack some tissues.  And a bit of whiskey.  And maybe a therapist. Post-Screening Ramble: Being a kid can be really hard, and A Monster Calls [...]

Pre-Screening Stance: Martin Scorsese has supposedly been developing Silence for somewhere around 25 years.  That’s crazy.  Here’s hoping he pulled something together that’s worth all that time and effort. Post-Screening Ramble: Silence left me in a weird spot.  I think that Martin Scorsese’s latest is a beautifully shot film with a lot of great performances [...]

Pre-Screening Stance: Jim Jarmusch has always been a hit or miss director for me, so I’m heading into Paterson with my expectations firmly in check.  I do like the homely feel of the trailer though, and Adam Driver usually pops up in good films. Post-Screening Ramble: Here’s hoping you like watching someone’s day to day [...]

Pre-Screening Stance: There are a lot of talented people attached to Lion.  This means it’s either going to be really good or just another slice of “based on a true story” style Oscar bait. Post-Screening Ramble: The first half of Lion is riveting.  A very young boy named Saroo (Sunny Pawar) gets separated from his [...]

Pre-Screening Stance: Video game adaptations are rarely good, so that makes it difficult to believe Assassin’s Creed will be a winner.  Who knows though, maybe Michael Fassbender will change the tide. Post-Screening Ramble: Assassin’s Creed is a tedious mess.  The film begins with Aguilar (Michael Fassbender) reciting the … Assassin’s Creed.  Then The Black Angels’ [...]

Pre-Screening Stance: Passengers seems to exist solely as a way to place hotties Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt onto the same the screen together, so I have no idea if it’s going to be any good at all. Post-Screening Ramble: Passengers is an odd film.  Its overall premise is fine – Jim Preston (Christ Pratt) [...]

Pre-Screening Stance: The marketing for Why Him? has pretty much clued me in on what to expect.  There will be a lot of yelling, some gross stuff, a few funny bits and at least two heartfelt moments. Post-Screening Ramble: Why Him? pretty much fell in line with what I was expecting (see my pre-screening stance).  [...]

Hey friends, as you surely know, I’m not the only one around these parts. Check out what the SOTO staff dug in 2016!  Enjoy. 2016 saw hitmakers make political statements, long rumored records finally drop, and legendary artists leave us with one last music statement before dying. From the grief-laden laments of Touche Amore’s epic [...]

Pre-Screening Stance: Even if La La Land wasn’t riding an enormous wave of positive buzz, I’d still be excited to see the film because it’s a musical directed by Damien Chazelle, who did the rather excellent Whiplash, and it stars Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling, both of whom are really pretty and charismatic. Post-Screening Ramble: [...]