They call Austin the live music capital of the world. What some folks might not realize is that we've also got an abundance of world-class DJ talent. Just about any night of the week you can head downtown and catch one of these dudes spinning the best music you've never heard. Tomorrow night you can catch six of them under one roof, as the Mohawk hosts Red Bull Locally Thrown, bringing together DJ Manny, DJ Orion, PREPMODE, DJ BigFace, Richard Gear & DJ JE to spin their own remixes of ten different bands who are local to Austin.

The fantastic sub-plot is that it's benefiting Ian McDougall of the Riverboat Gamblers, who was recently seriously injured after being struck by a car while riding his bicycle. (Read more)

The 10 bands being mixed are: The Octopus Project, Riverboat Gamblers, LIONS, The Black & White Years, White Ghost Shivers, Nelo, The Lemurs, Brothers & Sisters, Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears, and The Story Of. If you want to hear what they came up with, head to the Mohawk tomorrow night. There is a $5 suggested donation at the door. Link up at Do512 & Facebook.

Here's a little auditory taste of what's in store...

• Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears - "I'm Broke" (Orion Edit)
• The Riverboat Gamblers - DissDissDissKissKissKiss (Orion Edit)
• LIONS - "Machine" (Orion Edit)
• The Story Of - "The Flock" (Orion Edit)
• Brothers And Sisters - "The Wind" (Orion Edit)
• The Octopus Project - "Truck" (Orion Edit)
• Want more?
  

While we're on the whole Austin loves them some DJs tip... This Saturday, Knuckle Rumbler will be getting down with local turntable extraordinaires Prince Klassen and DJ Orion for a Bjork vs Outkast battle. They're calling it ICELANTA, you know, cuz one's from Iceland and the other from the ATL, plus they are bringing in their own snow machine. How cool is that? Cooler than Freddie Jackson sippin' a milkshake in a snowstorm. RSVP at Do512.com for $3 entry.

• Prince Klassen and DJ Orion - ICELANTA (Bjork vs. Outkast)
  

Next month Matador Records will be releasing ‘Casual Victim Pile', a compilation album that includes 17 bands from Austin along with another two bands out of Denton. Representing the 512 will be Dikes of Holland, The Distant Seconds, ELVIS, Follow That Bird!, Kingdom of Suicide Lovers, Flesh Lights, The Golden Boys, Harlem, Lost Controls, Love Collector, The No No No Hopes, The Persimmons, The Teeners, The Stuffies, Wild America, Woven Bones, and The Young.

Most of the album’s participants will be taking part in a 3-night stand Matador has planned for Beerland on February 4-6. The full bill will be announced soon. 'Casual Victim Pile’ is currently available for pre-orders from The Matador Store, and more info about the compilation can be found on the Matablog. They have offered up these two cuts from Love Collector and Follow That Bird for your listening pleasure, and I'm tossing in another two from the new Woven Bones 12″ available from Insound.

• Follow That Bird! - "The Ghosts That Wake You"
• Love Collector - "First 48"

• Woven Bones - "Some Call It A Grave"
• Woven Bones - "Have A Soul"
  

A couple of years back Eric San (aka Kid Koala) and Dylan J. Frombach (aka Dynomite D) were approached to soundtrack a new documentary feature film that was in production. Koala was already well known for his uncanny turntable manipulation, whilst Dylan had remixed Money Mark and collaborated with the Beastie Boys, amongst others. The duo worked for a long time on the psych rock-influenced score, only for the filming to collapse and any release to be canned.

They subsequently hooked up with the former Wolfmother rhythm section, Chris Ross and Myles Heskett, and The Slew was born. Featuring drums, bass/keys and the DJs working across a truly excessive six turntables, the set is seventy minutes of raw guitar cuts and heavy beats. They were recently giving away the full album as a free download on the Kid Koala website, but you'll have to hit up Ninja Tune for a physical copy. If you dig turntablism and rock 'n roll, this could serve as your holy grail.

• The Slew - "Wrong Side Of The Tracks"

also:

• The Whigs, The Features, A Giant Dog at Emo's
• Metric, Band of Skulls at La Zona Rosa

Here are a handful of songs I meant to post at one time or another. The first comes from the outstanding new Sunset album, Gold Dissovles to Gray, their best effort yet. Hit up the local Autobus label to get your hands on it. I tossed in another one from the new Atlas Sound album, also highly recommended, and a few random tracks that have graced my inbox recently. Follow the links if you like what you hear.

• Sunset - "Green Truck"
• autobusrecs.com/sunset

• Atlas Sound - "Washington School"
• myspace.com/atlassound

• Velvet Davenport - "Drop"
• myspace.com/velvetdavenport

• Sic Alps - "L. Mansion"
• siltbreeze.com/sicalps.htm

• Brazos - "Tell"
• autobusrecs.com/brazos

• The Fresh & Onlys - "The Delusion of Man"
• myspace.com/thefreshonlys

• The Cave Weddings - "Bring Your Love"
• myspace.com/thecaveweddings

• PVC Street Gang - "Cutlass"
• myspace.com/pvcstreetgang

In addition to waiting in line at Walmart at midnight to save ten bucks on a new television, there's plenty of stuff to see and do in Austin on this Black Friday. For one, Neon Indian are kicking off the WOXY local residency series at Stubb's with support from The Tunnels. Neon Indian recently received some love from Pitchfork by being honored with their coveted 'Best New Music' award, landed an ABC World News feature, and premiered a couple of remixes for the Grizzly Bear track "Cheerleader."

• Grizzly Bear - "Cheerleader" (Neon Indian 'Studio 6669' Remix)

The Tunnels is an Austin-based band in the vein of Spacemen 3, Velvet Underground, and the 13th Floor Elevators. Their debut record is available from Austin's Super Secret Records. Tickets for tonight's show at Stubb's are available here. If you seek to find your entertainment elsewhere, check out the rest of the schedule for tonight:

• Real Estate at the Mohawk (inside)
• Woven Bones (tour kickoff) w/ Shapes Have Fangs at Beerland
• J. Tillman (of Fleet Foxes) at Waterloo Records at 5pm
• J. Tillman (of Fleet Foxes) at the Mohawk (outside)
• House party with Zorch and free beer
• Smoke & Feathers, Tia Carrera, The Blind Pets at Emo's

Nudge is a slightly loose collective lead by Los Angeles based musician Brian Foote. When he's not busy recording bands from the Deerhunter family, namely Atlas Sound and Lotus Plaza, he gets together with a few talented friends to record beat-heavy electronic music with an unique style that ranges from dub and rocksteady to psychedelic rock and jazz. "Two Hands" comes from the latest Nudge album, As Good as Gone, released earlier this year via Kranky. This one kind of sounds like early Portishead meets psychedelic rock...

• Nudge - "Two Hands"
• myspace.com/nudgetheband

Real Estate is a fairly new quartet out of Jersey. Their name has been on everyone's lips following a handful of much-talked-about performances during CMJ in New York last month, not to mention their string of vinyl releases on the likes of Woodsist and Mexican Summer. Featuring Matt Mondanile, who creates his own brand of tropical pop under the name Ducktails, Real Estate is a focused, four-man torrent of chilled-out beach jams. Their music sounds like a sweet puff of smoke floating by on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

Chocolate Bobka says Real Estate exudes "the smokey blah of hazy suburban late nights in basements, on porches, in forests and next to ponds, friends strumming, slightly singing, getting stoned, throwing beer cans in the fire and, eventually, passing out...what bored Summer days and nights in Northern Jersey sound like."

Real Estate will be performing on Thanksgiving in Austin at The Mohawk, which might be the perfect environment for anyone caught in the grips of a turkey comatose.

• Real Estate - "Black Lake"
• Real Estate - "Let's Rock The Beach"
• myspace.com/letsrockthebeach

Thursday night Emo's is hosting a new band that I am excited to see. They're an electronic duo who go by the name of Auto Body, comprised of Felix Moreno (of the Chicago-based Future Rock) on synthesizer and bass, with Austin's own Tibaut Bowman (DJ Thibault) on vocals and samplers. These guys blew the roof off of Beauty Bar in their local debut last month, as evidenced by the footage on the band's myspace page. Their live performances are nothing short of electronic sensory overload, featuring an explosive light show that is unlike anything else Austin has to offer.

Auto Body will be opening for the indescribable Gil Mantera's Party Dream on Thursday, right around the time that Friendly Fires are wrapping up their sold-out show at the Mohawk. I hear they have added even more wattage to their blazing light show, so they will be handing out a free "necessary piece of equipment" to the first ten rows at Emo's just before they go on stage. They have also added some new, unheard, tracks to their set list, including the Dan Deacon-meets-Daft Punk vibe of "Run But Don't Hide."

• Auto Body - "Run But Don't Hide"
• myspace.com/autobodyautobody

Auto Body sent over a 4-song package of new material to check out in advance of the show, which you can download totally free at the link.

I really think these guys are onto something, so take these tracks for a spin and be on the lookout for a physical release in the near future. Doors open at 9 PM for the show tomorrow, and the inside room at Emo's holds under 400 people, so there is a very good chance it will sell out in advance. Tickets are here, and I'll be giving away a pair via Twitter tomorrow. You can also find a bit more info on Facebook.

Bassnectar is the musical handle of San Francisco-based DJ/producer Lorin Ashton. I first became familiar with him during SXSW this year when I caught him opening up for Jane's Addiction, and when ACL Fest rolled around I made sure that Bassnectar was on my schedule. I dragged some friends over to the ACL set to soak up his "smorgasboard of pummeling dubstep beats and tough-as-nails breaks" along with me, and we were all dancing in no time.

I then spent the second half of October listening to the new Bassnectar album Cozza Frenzy, his seventh release. After three years of nonstop touring Ashton had amassed an indecent amount of material, so he chose 15 distinct pieces that were all well-rounded for this CD. The album is full of heart-pounding bass and synthesized riffs, coupled with all sorts of experimental sounds and touches of hip-hop. It is party music through and through.

• Bassnectar - "Teleport Massive" feat. Zumbi
• www.bassnectar.net
  

Last month at the Austin City Limits Music Festival I fought my way through a thick crowd to get close to the stage for Them Crooked Vultures, not really knowing what to expect. I had not even heard any of the music, I just knew it was a collaboration between Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age) and John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin), with Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters, Nirvana) back on the drums where he should be. With that lineup, it was unsurprising that their set ended up being one of the best I saw at ACL all weekend.

You've got John Paul Jones, from Led fucking Zeppelin, laying down the groove while Homme shreds on guitar and Grohl pounds away mercilessly on the drums? Now that's a recipe for rock and roll. Upon hearing their self-titled debut album today I was unsurprised once again to find that it is equally as great as the live show. Them Crooked Vultures, the album, was released in stores today and is a must for any fan of rock music, much less a follower of the contributing band members. This whole project is a winner.

• Them Crooked Vultures - "Scumbag Blues"
• myspace.com/crookedvultures
  

An album featuring the Black Keys and some of the biggest names in hip-hop will be released on November 27 under the name Blakroc. The project sports contributions from Jim Jones, Mos Def, Q-Tip, RZA, Raekwon, Ludacris, Pharoahe Monch, NOE, Nicole Wray, Billy Danze and the late Ol' Dirty Bastard. Sessions got underway in early summer in Brooklyn, N.Y., with Mos Def's songs among the first put to tape.

Standout moments include the album opening blues-banger featuring ODB, both tracks with Jim Jones, and the Pharoahe Monch & RZA one-two punch on "Dollaz & Sense." There's good production throughout, and never an "oh no they didn't" moment on any of the album's 11 tracks. The Observer digs it to the tune of four stars. A video teaser featuring in-studio footage is now live at blakroc.com.

• Blakroc - "Dollaz & Sense" (feat. Pharoahe Monch & RZA)
• www.blakroc.com
  

Festival goers were greeted by by warm temperatures Saturday, the first day of the 4th annual Fun Fun Fun Fest. Something notable and worth mentioning was the layout of the Orange and Black Stages. A huge platform, divided equally into halves expedited setup time between acts.

The first act we caught was the Royal Bangs, a poppy indie orchestration permeated by electro beats. The quintet who hails from Knoxville, Tennessee recorded their full-length debut “We Breed Champions,” independently and released on Audio Eagle records May of last year. Their fun songs had hipsters bobbing their heads even before indie rockers Crystal Antlers played on the opposite side of the shared platform.

We had the opportunity to sit down with Vega and Neon Indian front man Alan Palomo and ask him a few questions, here’s what he had to say:

CC: How was Neon Indian conceived?

AP: The actual conception started with the song “I Should Have Taken Acid with You.” I had this intense dream where I had taken this potent psychedelic dream and right when it was kicking in, I woke up and actually had this very disorienting morning, so I texted Alicia about it and she was like ‘do you want to take some acid.’ So we set some time aside to do so, although I wasn't able to because I was up in Dallas mixing somebody’s records so I wasn’t able to come down and I felt really bad about it so a month later I wrote this tongue-in-cheek song but still sincere apology that was based on this similar sensibilities we shared.

CC: What is the origin of the name?

AP: It’s the only band name I can’t take credit for. It’s actually kind of an inside joke from high school. Shortly after graduating, I started the band Ghosthustler and my long time friend Alicia in mock retaliation created a band called “Neon Indian.” She made this Myspace page which sat there for years because she doesn’t know how to play any instruments. Given that much of the subject matter of Psychic Chasms hearts back to that time, it makes perfect sense to name it after the pretend band that never actually happened.

CC: And what influences your musical style of writing?

AP: Around the time I wrote the whole album, it was such a weird introspective time because I moved to Austin and I didn’t really have too many friends or as many as I thought I did and I didn’t have a car so I mainly just spent my time indoors and it threw me through this self-reflective loop. Through that stir-craziness, it served as a weird audio documentary or soundtrack to these memories that are buried in experience. I kind of wanted to translate that into music and that’s why it has these buried sensations, sounds are constantly changing in the song, but musically I would say it would be influenced by a lot of weird child-hood pop songs.

CC: So what happened to the secret show you guys were playing tonight?

AP: Aw man, the thing is we had a show commitment for the rest of the tour in Lubbock, which is an intensely long drive. So unfortunately, it was just a logistical nightmare to play the show, do that little radio thing and drive to Lubbock. It sucks because we really want to the play the show.

One of the highlights of the Saturday evening was New York post-hardcore rockband Les Savy Fav. The set began with “The Equestrian” off 2007 release Let’s Stay Friends. Front man Tim Harrington emerged in a sea monster or “Creature from the Black Lagoon”-esque metallic costume. Less than a minute of commencing, he peeled off the mask to reveal a black metal fence design painted on his face. He sang a few more lines before entering the crowd, where he was greeted enthusiastically by fans. By the third song, Harrington had rubbed fake blood on his torso and smeared brown paint on his back and lower end which could have suggested a result of an upset stomach.

His entertaining antics drew cheers, laughs and a lot of dropped jaws. At one point he tried to take the camera from a videographer, from whom he found much resistance. After the attempt, he clumsily crawled atop the crowd where he proceeded to stick his tongue down an audience-member’s throat. A rendition of the Silver Jew’s “Punks in Beerlight” followed. Towards the end of the show, Harrington brought out a 10 foot ladder which was initially placed in the crowd and somehow shifted into a flat walking plank. A member of the audience joined Harrington and licked his sweaty protruding stomach---jaws dropped and many gagged.

The evening ended with alternative rockers The Jesus Lizard on the Black Stage. Upon getting on stage lead singer David Yow greeted fans with a snarky “Hello Dallas!” before diving head first into the crowd. Louder than last week’s Dinosaur Jr.’s show, we wished we had brought earplugs and feared for our lives as a mosh pit loomed and beer cans flew every which way.