Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Austin Sound Off

Hey Austin, no one cares about Arkansas State. The game will be over in the 1st Quarter. Get yourself over to the Scoot Inn as soon as possible on Saturday for the First Annual Austin Sound Off. Here's the word:
AustinSound.net is celebrating its one year anniversary with the first annual Austin Sound Off Festival, an all-day party at the Scoot Inn with some of our favorite local bands and bloggers. On tap to peform are Golden Bear, Peel, Brazos, Black Before Red, Leatherbag, The Black, Sunset, Charles Potts Magic Windmill Band, Transmography, Benko, Virgin of the Birds, The Narrow Escapes, and Tullie.

In addition to the live music on two stages, our friends from local blogs Covert Curiosity, Party Ends, Side One: Track One, Cubik Musik, and the Austinist will be DJing between sets. We'll also be serving up some free food all day and some free beer for the early comers. Party starts at 3:00pm and cover is $5 ($3 with Do512 RSVP). Come out and join us on Saturday, Sept 1 at the Scoot Inn for a great day of Austin Music!
Well you heard the man, so come on out and join us. It will be a good opportunity to familiarize yourself with some mighty fine local music. Speaking of which, here's an 8-track sampler of artists you'll see & songs you'll hear.
Schedule:

11:00pm-12:00am: Golden Bear
10:00-11:00pm: Peel
8:45-9:30pm: Brazos
7:30-8:15pm: Black Before Red
6:15-7:00pm: The Black
5:00-5:45pm: Sunset
4:00-4:45pm: Charles Potts Magic Windmill Band

Inside Stage:
12:00-1:00am: Leatherbag
9:30-10:15pm: Transmography
8:15-9:00pm: Benko
7:00-7:45pm: Virgin of the Birds
5:45-6:30pm: The Narrow Escapes
4:30-5:15pm: Tullie
Posted by Mr. Curiosity at 6:07 PM 1 comments

Alaskan Dance Party

Alaska In Winter's Dance Party In The Balkans is an album of Eastern European folktronic sounds, led by Brandon Bethancourt and featuring musicianship from members of Beirut and A Hawk and a Hacksaw. From the label site, "Alaska In Winter came about when art student, Brandon Bethancourt spent a semester recording music in an isolated cabin on the south coast of Alaska. Upon arrival back in New Mexico, he teamed up with Zach Condon of Beirut, Heather Trost of A Hack And A Hacksaw (a Neutral Milk Hotel side-project), and Rosina Roybal (who played viola in the Kanye West symphony) and thus finished the album." Though perhaps not essential listening, their combination of electronica and world music is certainly interesting. If you're a fan of the electronic folk of bands such as Beach House, and you dig the organic instrumentation of artists like Beirut, then this one is for you. "Despite an over indulgence in vocoder usage, the twelve tracks on "Dance Party..." are infectious slabs of electro-pop, tinged with Eastern European promise." -AngryApe
Posted by Mr. Curiosity at 3:46 PM 0 comments

Bodies of Water

Bodies of Water are a quartet from LA creating 60's Pop-folk numbers, complete with four-part harmonies and buckets of choral chanting. Their new album Ears Will Pop & Eyes Will Blink was self-released through the band's own Thousand Tongues label, and has been getting good reviews all over the place. If you want to read more, there is tons of info about Bodies of Water at Pop Matters:
"As a band, Bodies of Water began in the early ‘00s, shortly after David and Meredith got married. “We kind of started out recording songs on our computer at home a few years ago,” said David. “We did that for a while and we decided to make a band so that we could play shows and actually perform the songs that we had recorded. So we asked two of our good friends to play with us.” Kyle Gladden had been one of Meredith’s best friends in high school, where the two of them had cut gym class to talk about Led Zeppelin and other classic rock giants.

They began fooling around, playing songs, developing the band’s signature, everybody-sing-at-once sound. By 2004, they had begun to play some shows. At the end of 2005, they released their first EP. It was originally intended to be a full-length CD, but the band was only happy with a few cuts. They tried again to make the CD in early 2006, but again had trouble; a producer dropped out and the band lost all the tapes from these sessions. Finally later in 2006, the third time out, they cut a full album."
Hear more songs & get the album via their official site, or check myspace and eMusic.
Posted by Mr. Curiosity at 2:55 AM 0 comments

Monday, August 27, 2007

Hands & Souls

My recent obsession with hand claps doesn't look like it has faded much, so here's another handful of songs to celebrate it. Included are brand new tracks from Beck, Bent, Black Lips and Blockhead. Kris Ellestad and Shout Out Out Out Out supply some claps all the way from Canada, while the local "one man band" Scott H. Biram brings it on home.

Here's an hour of songs that are so funky, you'll need to take a shower.
  • DJ Format & Abdominal - "Fast Food"
  • Lou Donaldson - "It's Your Thing"
  • The Meters - "Chug Chug Chug"
  • Ugly Duckling - "Fresh Mode"
  • Betty Davis - "F.U.N.K."
  • Harry J All Stars - "Liquidator"
  • DJ Shadow & Dan The Automator - "Theme From Don"
  • S.O.U.L. - "S.O.U.L."
  • Eldridge Holmes - "Hump Back"
  • Lee Morgan - "The Sidewinder"
  • Janis Joplin - "Half Moon"
  • Cliff Nobles - "The Horse"
  • Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra - "Who Is This?"
  • Lee Sykes - "Lock"
  • Archie Bell & The Drells - "Tighten Up"
  • King Curtis & Bernard Purdie - "Memphis Soul Stew"
Posted by Mr. Curiosity at 11:49 PM 3 comments

DJ Chips

This is a DJ set by Hot Chip created in July for the German radio station N-Joy. Don't expect to hear "Over and Over" or anything like that, this is just an hour-long set of electronic dance tunes mixed in with the occasional pop song, including a timely cameo from Marvin Gaye.

Enjoy!
Posted by Mr. Curiosity at 2:21 PM 1 comments

Thursday, August 23, 2007

Locals at La Zona, Stage II

This Saturday night the Locals at La Zona showcases really start to heat up. When this thing first started, the idea was to simply connect with the widespread local talent in Austin and give some deserving bands a shot at winning over a new audience. As events progressed, bands that were deemed to be the "best of the best" would be invited back for another round, signified by Stage II.

And that's where we stand right now. Three of the best bands from Round I, The Drawing Board, Tammany Hall Machine, and Pocketful of Deng, will get their shot at leaving impression on an even larger audience as they open for Sounds Under Radio at La Zona Rosa on Saturday night. You'll need $10 to get in the door for this one, but that price is cut in half with an RSVP at Do512.com. I will also be spinning some tunes between bands, so come on out and get down on some recreation. Doors at 8 pm.
Posted by Mr. Curiosity at 6:18 PM 0 comments

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Kings of Berlin

This is a live Kings of Leon broadcast from Radio Eins in Germany just last month, and it is excellent quality recording and runs for a little over an hour. Listen to "True Love Way" to hear a few minutes of the show, and if you like you can grab the whole thing via the link below.
  1. Black Thumbnail
  2. Taper Jean Girl
  3. King of the Rodeo
  4. True Love Way
  5. Soft
  6. Fans
  7. Arizona
  8. Molly's Chambers
  9. The Bucket
  10. Milk
  11. Four Kicks
  12. On Call
  13. California Waiting
  14. Spiral Staircase
  15. Trani
  16. Knocked Up
  17. Charmer
  18. McFearless
  19. Slow Night So Long
Here are a few KOL tour dates, get the full list here.
  • September, 02, 2007 - Bumbershoot Festival - Seattle, WA
  • September, 04, 2007 - Warfield Theatre - San Francisco, CA
  • September, 07, 2007 - Greek Theatre - Los Angeles, CA
  • September, 08, 2007 - SDSU Open Air Theatre - San Diego, CA
  • September, 10, 2007 - Marquee Theatre - Tempe, AZ
  • September, 11, 2007 - The Joint - Las Vegas, NV
  • September, 14, 2007 - Red Rocks - Monolith Festival
  • September, 15, 2007 - Harrah's Casino - Council Bluffs, IA
  • September, 17, 2007 - Univ. of Iowa - Iowa City, IA
  • September, 19, 2007 - Radio City Music Hall - New York, NY
  • September, 21, 2007 - Tower Theatre - Upper Darby, PA
  • September, 23, 2007 - 9:30 Club - Washington, D.C.
  • September, 24, 2007 - 9:30 Club - Washington, D.C.
  • September, 26, 2007 - Charlottesville pavillion - Charlottesville, VA
  • September, 28, 2007 - Orpheum Theatre - Boston, MA
  • September, 29, 2007 - Lupo's - Providence, RI
  • October, 01, 2007 - Toad's Place - New Haven, CT
  • October, 03, 2007 - Ram's Head - Baltimore, MD
  • October, 04, 2007 - The Filmore - Detroit, MI
  • October, 06, 2007 - Shoreline Amphitheatre - Mountain View, CA
  • October, 09, 2007 - Fox Theatre - Atlanta, GA
  • October, 10, 2007 - Alabama Theatre - Birmingham, AL
  • October, 18, 2007 - Ryman Auditorium - Nashville, TN
  • October, 19, 2007 - Ryman Auditorium - Nashville, TN
  • October, 26, 2007 - Voodoo Festival - New Orleans, LA
  • October, 28, 2007 - Tennessee Theater - Knoxville, TN
  • October, 30, 2007 - Florida Theater - Jacksonville, FL
  • October, 31, 2007 - Hard Rock - Orlando, FL
Posted by Mr. Curiosity at 6:18 PM 3 comments

Black Lips are good at music

If you're not already familiar with Black Lips, they are a self-described "flower punk" band from Atlanta who formed in 2000. They make noisy rock & roll and write attention-grabbing songs, and have been getting some well-deserved good press about their new album, Good Bad Not Evil, which will be released next month. Black Lips have a vintage sound that you seldom hear these days, perhaps taking a page from bands like 13th Floor Elevators and the Velvet Underground, except where the songriting would be more Beatles-esque and the mood more bluesy.

Here is some handy info on Good Bad Not Evil from Vice:
The album was produced by the band in their hometown of Atlanta at The Living Room studios aided by the band’s friend Ed Rawls, a bartender at the nearby Drunken Unicorn bar, just around the corner from where fellow Atlantans Outkast work. The title Good Bad, Not Evil is inspired by the Shangri-Las song “Walk Right Up To Him (Give Him A Great Big Kiss).

The Black Lips formed when as teenager after school friends Cole Alexander (guitar / vocals) and Jared Swilley (bass / vocals) signed up their friends Joe Bradley (drums / vocals) and Ben Eberbaugh (guitar).

After swiftly becoming one of the Atlanta underground’s most talked about bands, and along the way being banned from numerous venues for their wild live shows, the group released albums and seven inches on different underground garage labels like Bomp and In The Red. Tragically, Eberbaugh was killed in a freak traffic accident but the band carried on with New Orleans-born Ian St Pe. These events would go on to influence the song “How Do You Tell A Child That Someone Had Died”, a stand out track on Good Bad, Not Evil.

The album ranges from dirty psychedelic blues songs about Holy World War 3 “Veni Vidi Vicci” outright pop hits like “Katrina” (written the night the band found out that the Hurricane of the same names had devastated New Orleans) and Bad Kids (based around certain band members’ experiences with juvenile detention centres). There’s also the bruised, tender album closer “Transcendental Light”, a song written by Ian about discovering his mother’s body.

Cole Alexander told us: “On this album we were really inspired by ourselves, especially our first two albums. They really changed the way the whole game was played. I think our work really transcends all genres and continues to influences us all on a daily basis”

For us, the album’s a fresh, exciting take on the wildest records of bands like 1960s Peruvian punk bands like Los Saicos, the Stones, 13th Floor Elevators and the raw pop exuberance of Cavern-era Beatles. It’s probably the most out-there, funnest album you’re going to hear all year.
Check out a few tracks below, and for more go here, here, and here.


Black Lips - "Juvenile" (b-side version)


Posted by Mr. Curiosity at 3:02 PM 2 comments

Monday, August 20, 2007


Posted by Mr. Curiosity at 12:38 AM 0 comments

Thursday, August 16, 2007

30 years ago today

Without Elvis to open the door, would artists like Buddy Holly, who would later so influence Paul McCartney, and the Everly Brothers, who were cast in the Presley Southern mould, have got a break? And without the Everlys' harmonies, who would the early Beatles and Simon and Garfunkel have had to copy?
Posted by Mr. Curiosity at 3:26 PM 0 comments

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

In Austin this week

Tonight: Flyjack

All killer, no filler and 100% satisfaction guaranteed to put out the bonafide hump’n, thump’n '60s/'70s soul sound. Laying down a groovalicious sound that runs like a '72 Eldorado on high octane...and baby, you know that's powerful stuff! Come out to an Old Skool East Side Joint and experience some New Skool Funk. Every Wednesday this summer at 9:30 PM at TC's Lounge (1413 Webberville Road.) Beer, wine, setups available, and if you got a different flavor, just Brown Bag it. Let's make Austin Funky for real, all summer long! More on this event here. There's a few funky tracks below to get you in the mood.

Thursday: The Black and White Years

The Onion says: "True to its name, The Black And White Years treads a fine line between soulful funk and reggae (the black) and twitchy art-rock (the white), much like its obvious forebears in Talking Heads. Fitting then that the post-punk trio so impressed that band’s Jerry Harrison at this year’s SXSW that he jumped at the chance help craft the follow-up to their infectious debut Real! In Color!, due this fall. Of course, no band that gets compared to Talking Heads these days actually sounds like Talking Heads, but damned if The Black And White Years doesn’t come awfully close—wrapping reggae stabs of guitar around sinewy bass grooves and topping it off with the anxious yelps of singer Scott Butler—and there’s even a hint of Of Montreal in there for the kids." Check out a track from The Black and White Years below, and get more info about the show here.

Friday: Jennifer Gentle, Papercuts & more

From Waterloo: “A new Jennifer Gentle record (who are a band and not a girl). I’ve been wondering when this was coming cause their last album was one of my favorites of 2005. It was one of those rare times where you pick up a record you know nothing about because it looks interesting and then it turns out to be exactly what you’ve wanted to hear for awhile and you get really excited and possessive since you’re the one who discovered it so it’s more “yours” than anyone else’s. These songs are intelligent arrangments of twangy guitars, hollow vocals, sinister organ and a minimal, well placed rhythm section. Assimilating European psych, American rock n roll, Italian soundtracks and spaghetti westerns, The Midnight Room, while descriptively weird, is a well constructed mix of influences and a wholly accessible and enjoyable record." Waterloo instore at 5pm, then at Emo's w/Papercuts, Ladybug Transistor and The Dodos.
Saturday: Good times at Beauty Bar that I told you about, plus White Rabbits and The Clutters (FREE SHOW) at Emo's.

The Clutters - "Busted Dreams/Broken Heart"
White Rabbits - "The Plot"
Posted by Mr. Curiosity at 5:37 PM 2 comments

LCD Soundsystem on KCRW

"LCD mastermind James Murphy and his band rev up the beats per minute to new extremes, and it's thrilling," said the Chicago Tribune of the band's recent knock-out performance at Lollapalooza. "When the band launches into the rising tide of 'All My Friends,' it completely owns Grant Park." Their performance the following day at Washington, DC's V Festival was equally mesmerizing: "Importing ragged post-punk and no-wave elements into accessible dance-punk, the James Murphy gang turned out one of the best sets of Day One," said HarpMagazine.com. "The breakneck disco beats and Gang of Four bass lines never let up, and Murphy's groggy croon was too cool. In their recording career, LCD is batting one thousand, so the set list couldn't make a wrong turn: 'North American Scum' and 'Daft Punk is Playing at My House' sounded especially saucy."
Following a series of international dates, LCD Soundsystem will return to the U.S. for a fall tour with Arcade Fire that launches on September 17th at Denver's Red Rocks Amphitheatre. The two bands are also pairing up to produce a limited edition split 7" single featuring LCD Soundsystem's cover of Joy Division's "No Love Lost" and Arcade Fire's cover of Serge Gainsbourg's "Poupee de Cire". The single will be available exclusively on the tour dates and through the bands' websites.
North American Dates (9/17 - 10/7 with Arcade Fire)
  • 9/14 Austin, TX; Austin City Limits Festival
  • 9/17 Denver, CO; Red Rocks Amphitheatre
  • 9/20 Los Angeles, CA; Hollywood Bowl
  • 9/22 San Francisco, CA; Shoreline Amphitheatre
  • 9/24 Seattle, WA; WaMu Theater at Qwest Field
  • 9/26 Salt Lake City, UT; Waterfall Amphitheatre at Thanksgiving Pt
  • 9/28 Kansas City, MO; Starlight Theatre
  • 9/30 St.Paul, MN; Roy Wilkins Auditorium
  • 10/3 Louisville, KY; Waterfront Park
  • 10/5 Columbus, OH; LC Pavilion
  • 10/6 New York, NY; Randall's Island
Posted by Mr. Curiosity at 2:04 PM 6 comments

Monday, August 13, 2007

Car Stereo (Wars) strikes back

I just got my first listen to The Bandit, the debut LP from the local DJ Car Stereo (Wars), and I'm gonna pass along a couple of tracks from the album before they burn a hole in my CD player. That's because they're hot like lava, see?

Beauty Bar is hosting the CD release this Saturday, and CS(W) will be getting support Terry Diabolik of Finger on the Pulse, as well as locals White Denim, Single Frame, and more. You can find out all about the show right here.

Read some info from the press release below for the full story:
Car Stereo (Wars), the DJ project of Austin filmmaker Christopher Rose, recently announced the release of its debut LP, The Bandit. Often compared to Girl Talk or Hollertronix, Car Stereo (Wars) blends snippets of songs in and out with popular and homemade beats, riffs and verses in a fun, danceable and often humorous fashion.

Slated for official release on August 21, The Bandit is the first offering for new Austin boutique label Artifact Workshop Records. Artifact Workshop, founded by Erik Horn (Super!Alright!) and John Gross (PartyEnds.com), serves to make tactile artistic representations of their releases via packaging and presentation. The focus is distributing unique releases that are physically as interesting and captivating as the music inside. Branded with a Smokey and the Bandit theme, the first 500 Bandit records include a fake mustache and a one of a kind "Bandit" Polaroid inside. Taking the fandom one step further, every track name is based on different Burt Reynolds film characters.

Car Stereo (Wars) lit up the blogs in early 2006 with the Ghostface Observatory mash-up, praised by Gorilla vs. Bear, URB Magazine, VH1.com, The Austin Chronicle and many more. Since, Car Stereo (Wars) has continued to put out a string of popular mash-ups. In March 2007, Car Stereo (Wars) was labeled "Discovery of the Night" and "Best Reason for Musical A.D.D." by BLENDER Magazine after rocking a sold out South By Southwest (SXSW) showcase. This SXSW set was the basis for the creation of The Bandit.

"The philosophy of The Bandit was to make a Girl Talk-styled party record, firing out samples from anywhere and everywhere at a frantic pace but also working together in a smoother and kind of more organized fashion," said Rose. "One of the things I tried out for the first time on The Bandit was experimenting with making my own beats. There's a lot more detail to this record than anything I've done before. Even on the third or fourth listen, I'm hoping that samples will pop out that feel new and unnoticed."

The new LP is a departure from traditional mash-up fare, opting instead to sound more like a Car Stereo (Wars) live set: frantic, fast-paced snippets of various tracks blended together to create a new song and sound. It's like 15 mash-ups for the price of one. The Bandit is a novel attempt to capture the sound that Christopher Rose has been working toward ever since Ghostface Observatory. The record weaves various threads of musical history together into one, from Rose's love of 90's one hit wonders (Crash Test Dummies / Kriss Kross) and current Top 40 to random pop culture references (Lazy Sunday, Kill Bill, Doug) and critical staples (The Pixies, The Cure). The Bandit is a record that will be filled with the familiar, unusual, chaotic and hopefully refreshing.
Posted by Mr. Curiosity at 5:56 PM 2 comments

Cue, Wedding Song

Once upon a time, thanks to a recommendation from a local record store employee, I picked up an album from an instrumental quartet from Austin called Cue. While Bring Back My Love had its good moments, I felt that the band had such a good balance in their instrumentation that they could create a more consise album that would properly showcase their talents. With Cue's new album Wedding Song I think they've hit the nail squarely on the head.

Perhaps best described as a concoction of instrumental-post-chamber-rock, Cue is kind of like the pop side of Godspeed You! Black Emperor mixed with the happy-go-lucky side of Explosions in the Sky, if there is such a thing. Written and recorded in an east Austin studio over a couple of month's time, between side projects and the grind of day jobs, Wedding Song is the sound of four friends playing the music they love and striving to keep a firm footing in one of the most competitive music scenes that you're likely to find. Tracks like "Wedding Song For Living Things And Dead Things" move at a swift pace along with the help of some passionate violin work, "The Last Good Year Of My Life" cools things down after a busy eight-minutes of "Yroknrölsukkdn2002," and "Fleur De Lis" demonstrates Cue's own take on the traditional loud-quiet-loud instrumental song structure.
You can pick up Wedding Song at most local record stores, and see Cue at Lambert's on September 1st. Outside of Austin you can get a copy of the album right here, and of course you can hear more at myspace.
Posted by Mr. Curiosity at 3:47 PM 0 comments

Sunday, August 12, 2007

Unfortunate Heads

An upright bass, some banjo, a little bit of theremin, and plentiful harmonies with a touch of psychedelia. That is the sound of the sophomore album from Austin's own Unfortunate Heads. Dubbed Come Be Light, the album is a pleasant trip down similar paths that were forged by psychedelic-indie-pop bands such as Elf Power, while the Unfortunate Heads cover new ground with their introspective songwriting and layered multi-instrumentation.

From Come Be Light, "The Good Foundation" is an almost rasta-esque instrumental track that is a nice addition to the album, and "Nervous, Sorry" is a pop gem with a an unforgettable hook. The album closer "Enclaves! Enclaves!" rolls along at an unhurried pace and approaches alt-country territory, with some added effects for texture.
Locally you can get your hands on Come Be Light at Waterloo Records and End of an Ear, and catch the band en vivo at The Carousel on the 23rd of this month. Also, get friendly with Unfortunate Heads at myspace and hear/see more at unfortunateheads.com.
Posted by Mr. Curiosity at 7:33 PM 0 comments

Friday, August 10, 2007

Just like peas and carrots

On the 25th of next month Devendra Banhart will supply us with the follow-up to his 2005 freak folk bonanza Cripple Crow. The album, Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon (XL Recordings), will hold 16 tracks and Banhart will be playing a long list of dates surrounding the album's release. Two new songs from Smokey have started to circulate, including a fantastic song called "Seahorse" that clocks in at a full eight minutes. Listen to the changes in this song, specifically at 1:56, and 5:20. Masterful, that's what it is.
Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon (9/25/07)
  1. Cristobal
  2. So Long Old Bean
  3. Samba Vexillographica
  4. Seahorse
  5. Bad Girl
  6. Seaside
  7. Shabop Shalom
  8. Tonada Yanomaminista
  9. Rosa
  10. Saved
  11. Lover
  12. Carmencita
  13. The Other Woman
  14. Freely
  15. Remember
  16. My Dearest Friend
U.S. dates (via)
  • 09-02 Seattle, WA - Bumbershoot Festival
  • 09-04 Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom
  • 09-06 Santa Cruz, CA - Rio Theater
  • 09-07 Berkeley, CA - Zellerbach Hall
  • 09-10 Denver, CO - Ogden Theatre (Native American benefit)
  • 09-12 Omaha, NE - Sokol Auditorium
  • 09-13 Lawrence, KS - Liberty Hall Theater
  • 09-15 Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue
  • 09-16 Milwaukee, WI - Pabst Theater
  • 09-18 Chicago, IL - Portage Theater
  • 09-19 Detroit, MI - Majestic Theater
  • 09-21 Toronto, Ontario - Danforth Music Hall
  • 09-22 Montreal, Quebec - Le National
  • 09-23 Burlington, VT - University of Vermont
  • 09-25 Boston, MA - Roxy Ballroom
  • 09-27 New York, NY - Grand Ballroom
  • 09-29 Philadelphia, PA - Theatre of Living Arts
  • 10-01 Washington, DC - Sixth & I Historic Synagogue
  • 10-04 Nashville, TN - City Hall
  • 10-06 Dallas, TX - Granada Theater
  • 10-07 Austin, TX - La Zona Rosa
  • 10-09 Albuquerque, NM - Sunshine Theater (Native American benefit)
  • 10-10 Tucson, AZ - Rialto Theater
  • 10-12 Phoenix, AZ - Marquee Theater
  • 10-13 Los Angeles, CA - Orpheum Theatre

Artist Wiki: Six Organs of Admittance is the primary musical project of guitarist Ben Chasny. Chasny's music is largely guitar-based, however it includes eastern influences, marked by drones, chimes, and eclectic percussive elements. The band is associated with numerous current scenes, most notably the New Weird America movement. Acts ranging from folk artist Devendra Banhart to drone metal band Sunn O))) to the highly experimental Current 93 count Chasny among friends. Six Organs has always been a critical darling, and the past few years have seen their stature in the indie world substantially increase.

Via last.fm: Prinzhorn Dance School are an English band based in Brighton. The music can best be described as sparse, uncompromising and idiosyncratic, and as a result it polarizes opinion. The trio were signed to the New York label DFA Records after only a handful of gigs. They subsequently released a self recorded and self produced 7-inch single featuring the tracks "You Are The Space Invader" and "Eat, Sleep" before going on to record their debut album in isolation, in a rented barn in Sussex, having already written the songs in the disused chapel building they call home.

The album was sebsequently mixed in New York with The DFA and is due for release in the Summer, 2007. The band are also known to be reclusive, with very few interviews given, and their own official website not even featuring any pictures of their faces. Media-shy - in that they find interviews stressful, photo-shoots vain, press releases dishonest and superlatives embarrassing – they prefer the isolation of their working space, writing and recording privately in their own austere and peculiar way. It is beleived they have taken their name from Dr Hans Prinzhorn, who collected art by mentally ill patients under his care.

Via Pfork: Snatching their name from an Australian chirper (bowerbirds are most famous for the inverse relationship between a male's plumage and its ability to construct a mate-attracting nest), Bowerbirds' debut long player (released by Pitchfork writer Grayson Currin's label) will likely garner loads of comparisons to Devendra Banhart and Vetiver, but their brand of folk is more Appalachian than British (Carter Family over Bert Jansch), and less concerned with psychedelia than melody (think gypsy-influenced Sufjan Stevens). Opener "Hooves" starts small and modest, with Moore mewing about his mom over spare acoustic guitar ("Back when I was born on a full moon/ I nearly split my momma in two"), before the vocals double, drums kick up, and Tacular's accordion starts to whine: the track is somehow quiet and jarring at the same time, and invites all kinds of twee analogies (a family of deer darting through a clearing! Thunderclaps at night! Rainbows!).

"In Our Talons" is equally mesmerizing, jazzy and rich, with lyrics both gentle and barbed ("We're only human/ This at least we've learned"), while "The Marbled Godwit" is Bowerbirds' most classically freak-folk moment (and most Newsom-inspired title?), with acoustic guitar, high, meandering vocals, and cutting violin. Hymns strongest tracks-- "Slow Down", "In Our Talons", "Dark Horse"-- manage to be both hypnotically pretty and a little bit weird, characteristics of the very best kind of Americana music.

Via YepRoc: At the beginning of 2006, when we started recording this album, the words "You Can't Win" were an incredibly real feeling that I had. I was tired of being broke. I was tired of personal relationships falling apart. I was tired of feeling completely ungrounded day to day. A year has passed and none of that has changed much, but I've realized there's a power in giving up on the idea of winning. Most of my closest friends in and out of our band knew I was in a darkplace when we were working on this record. They all told me at different times to go ahead and go all the way into that feeling and try to come out on the other side. As the project wore on I eventually did, and the sentiment of "You Can't Win" changed drastically. Instead of the frustration that I was feeling early on there was a renewed appreciation of hard work, a belief in the complexity of love, and a newfound joy in creating music.
Posted by Mr. Curiosity at 2:11 PM 0 comments

Thursday, August 09, 2007

Uncle Tony's Coloring Book

Blockhead is Tony Simon, a producer and DJ who works with the Ninja Tune record label that is home to prominent electronic artists like Bonobo, Hexstatic, and Diplo, just to name a few. Other than his recent role as beatmaker for hip-hop acts such as Aesop Rock, Blockhead has been at work on solo efforts including his new album Uncle Tony's Coloring Book that will be available in stores next week.

The album is an hours-worth of soulful sampling, with chill-friendly beats that set a stress-free tone for the album while still providing more than enough energy to keep your fingers snapping. With brilliant moments like the mariachi vs classic-rock-guitar showdown on "Duke of Hazard" and the downtempo sing-along "Trailer Love," this album welcomes repeated listening. If you dig the DJ tunes then be sure to look for Uncle Tony's Coloring Book at your local record store this Tuesday, if they don't already have it.

Posted by Mr. Curiosity at 12:11 AM 2 comments

Monday, August 06, 2007

What are you doing this week?

Live Music Capital of The World or not, the annual late summer drought of cool shows happens around this time every year. This is the drop between the two spikes caused by SXSW and the coming of the ACL Fest. A lot of great bands make the trip to our neck of the woods in March, and another set of great bands are waiting to visit us in September. So every year around this time there we seem to experience a deficit of cool shit to check out. Let this week be an exception to that idea.

Wednesday night the Locals at La Zona showcase is back in action, fresh off the largest crowd to date in the series, who came to see some crunchy rock & roll from the likes of Firekills, Color and Light, and Preserve the Sound. On Wednesday the tables will turn in the favor of dancing the night away, with a high-energy performance from Clap!Clap!, the rhythyms of local hip-hop outfit Vehicular, and the electronic funk of DJ Thibault. It will be a FREE good time, as always, with a simple RSVP at Do512.com. A bunch of free personalized t-shirts were given away to some lucky patrons last week, so be sure to show up early to get yours before they all run out.

On Thursday Do512 brings you the Rock & Roll Photo Show, featuring some of the best music photos Austin has to offer. Do512 ran a music photo competition and received submissions from a long list of the top professional and amateur local music photographers, and the winning shots will be displayed at Progress Coffee on Thursday evening along with food, drinks, DJ sets from Stay Gold. Check it out.



At Stubb's Ween is playing the second of a two-night stint on Friday, and on Saturday Neko Case opens for Rufus Wainwright. While that sounds lovely, I think I'd rather go watch The Detroit Cobras play some good old-fashioned rock & roll at Emo's.
If I survive all of that and still feel like banging my head and playing air guitar hero for a while, then I'll be checking out The Sword at Emo's on Sunday night. Here is what I said about them back in September. Have a good week!
Posted by Mr. Curiosity at 3:19 PM 3 comments

Thursday, August 02, 2007

From the UK...

Oh my golly, there is some good music here. Hexstatic kicks it off with some rump-shaking jams, and DJ Format follows with a few minutes of music for the mature b-boy. Athlete comes in next with a couple of crushing grooves from their third album Beyond the Neighbourhood, which will be hitting the shelves on Sep. 3rd. Anyone remember The Coral? Well I do, and I've got a couple of tracks from their new album Roots and Echoes that comes out next week. Let's Wrestle finishes things off, with a song I first heard on the new Blog Fresh Radio show, (of which I am a part.)

Listen with both ears, and follow the links to support these artists.

Ninjatune: "The dynamic duo, Hexstatic, return to the fray with "When Robots Go Bad," their finest album yet. Taking their electro obsession to greater heights than ever before, "WRGB" finds Robin Brunson and Stuart Warren-Hill mashing up sounds and influences in search of the ultimate machine groove. "Tokyo Traffic" takes the tempo up again for an acidic, glitchy, serialist pop-locker of a tune that just about makes sense of the term "future-retro. ..."Bust", offering an object lesson in the contrasting ways in which synths and drum boxes can be used to create superb, funny, funky, driving dance music."

InTheNews: "DJ Format – Matt Ford to his mates – is one of the hottest things to come out of Southampton since maritime history was considered interesting. Along with his partner in crime, MC Abdominal, he produced Music for the Mature B-Boy back in 2003 and put the fun back into UK hip hop. Like fellow turntablist DJ Yoda, Format is into producing straight up party music, tunes that get people onto the dance floor and put a smile on their faces."
DJ Format - "Last Bongo in Brighton"
DJ Format - "Little Bit Of Soul"
www.djformat.com

Wiki: "The band plays an unusual style of music which is a mixture of old fashioned country, 1960s-style psychedelica and folk with modern rock'n'roll influences. Their music is often used in the soundtracks to many TV adverts and programmes making their music well known, though the band themselves are still yet to achieve mainstream success.The band are currnetly on tour to promote the new album. The Coral showcased Who's Gonna Find Me, Jacqueline, Remember Me, In The Rain and She's Got A Reason from their forthcoming album Roots & Echoes for a crowd pleasing set at Glastonbury on 22 June 2007."
The Coral - "In The Rain"
www.thecoral.co.uk

Wiki: "Friends since the age of fourteen, Athlete took their wide ranging influences such as Grandaddy and The Flaming Lips and started jamming and practicing in the basement of The Bear, a pub which was converted into a church and sandwich bar, on Deptford High Street in 1999. They began recording there, before sending demos out. Signing with Regal Recordings, they released their first single in February 2002. The band came to prominence in 2003 with their debut album, Vehicles and Animals, producing popular singles such as "You Got the Style" and "El Salvador". The album earned a Mercury Music Prize nomination and went on to sell over 250,000 copies."
Athlete - "The Outsiders"
Athlete - "Flying Over Bus Stops"
www.athlete.mu

BBC: "When it comes to making indie pop, it's actually perversely very difficult to sound as if you're not making much of an effort. What you're aiming for is that hey-we're-just-making-this-up as-we-go-along scruffiness that the likes of Pavement perfected back in the dishevelled mid-90s; what you all too often get is the kind of studied distractedness that made late-period Blur so unconvincing. London sleeve-wipers, Let's Wrestle, have the whole not-arsed thing down pat, however, with Song For Abba Tribute Record (Marquis Cha Cha) sounding like the accidental 4am lovechild of eight bottles of £2.99 Merlot and a wheelbarrow full of Cutter's Choice. To cement their slacker status, Let's Wrestle have been endorsed and supported by none other than crown prince of the underachievers, wunderdoodler David Shrigley."
Let's Wrestle - "Song For Abba Tribute Record"
myspace.com/letsfuckingwrestle
Posted by Mr. Curiosity at 3:07 PM 5 comments

Wednesday, August 01, 2007

Oh No! Oh My!

Last year the local indie act Oh No! Oh My! self-released their attention grabbing debut album to many a good review, and they Dim Mak is releasing their new EP that is filled with five tracks including the single "The Party Punch" that everyone was talking about a few weeks ago. Between the Devil and the Sea picks right up where their debut album left off, with an infectious fifteen minutes of upbeat melodic indie pop that shows there are more good things to come from this group.

You can put in an order to get your own copy of Between the Devil and the Sea at Dim Mak Records, and if you click over to Oh No! Oh My! on myspace you can download a couple of tracks from their debut album and have a look at their long list of tour dates.
Posted by Mr. Curiosity at 4:05 PM 0 comments
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