Tis the Season

Have a Happy Halloween everyone!

• Geto Boys - "My Mind Playin' Tricks On Me"
• KC & The Sunshine Band - "I'm Your Boogie Man"

Jib Kidder

Jib Kidder is "the unlikely combination of guitarist, samplist, beat-maker, DJ & sidewalk chalk artist." He's from San Fran, and enjoys creating off-the-cuff, sampled, spliced and mixed party music. The most revolutionary track I've heard from him so far is the computer-disco number "Windowdipper," though he's got a couple of mixtapes available for your perusal. One is here, another is here, and the Fader talks about it rightchea. Get more Jib Kidder at myspace.

• Jib Kidder - "Windowdipper"
• Jib Kidder - "Murdergong"

Ooga Boogas

The Ooga Boogas is an Australian garage rock four-piece featuring members several notable Melbourne bands. When they made a couple of stops in Austin earlier this month they were selling a garage/punk/surf concept album called Romance and Adventure, and it is pretty much the only thing I've been listening to for the past few days. You should be able to pick it up through Australia's Aarght! Records, Waterloo Records or Bomp.

This thing holds some seriously good rock 'n roll rhythms that are best experienced at high volume, and the artwork created by Per Byström is almost as cool as the music itself. Ooga Boogas sing about drugs, and sex, and boogying, and as the title suggests, lots of romance and adventure. "Kiss Your Rocks Goodbye" is probably the best thing to come out of Australia since The Bee Gees.

Side A

• "Ooga Booga II"
• "Fannie Mae"
• "Neon Sunset"
• "I Can't Clear My Name"
• "On Safari"
• "Ooga Booga I"

Side B

• "Rich'n'Me"
• "The Clock is Ticking"
• "Oogie Boogie"
• "Kiss Your Rocks Goodbye"

Keep up with The Ooga Boogas on myspace

Weekly Event Menu

Here's a somewhat belated list of musical happenings that you could wisely invest your money in for the rest of the week. Tonight, MSTRKRFT are at La Zona Rosa in all of their dance-punk glory. Tomorrow, Cold War Kids are doing a free in-store at Waterloo Records before their show at Stubb's.

One of the more interesting things is the two-day Beats 'n' Treats Music Festival. More than 15 different DJ's will compete in a beat competition called the "Gold Rush Beat Competition," in which the winner will receive a $24,000 keyboard production station wrapped in 24-karat gold. The inside stage will feature live bands and DJs throughout the event, and it will be filmed with multiple hi-definition cameras and broadcast live from openlabs.com.

On Saturday Kings of Leon are at the Music Hall, Ben Folds is at Stubb's, and Car Stereo (Wars) will be getting jiggy with The Always Already at Beauty Bar. On Sunday the Underground Railroad to Candyland, who I told you about in February, will be playing music and drinking cold beverages at Beerland. Last but not least, The Backyard is hosting its final show with Willie Nelson, Grupo Fantasma, Carolyn Wonderland and more.

Next week: TV on the Radio

Rubbed Out

Hot Chip frontman Alexis Taylor just released a solo record called Rubbed Out via the Treader label. I have a feeling that the name comes from the fact that these fifteen songs were created on-the-fly, in places like planes, hotel rooms, etc.

It isn't the type of stuff you would expect to hear from one of the Hot Chip gang. There's no beats, nor electro-whatever going on, it's just Taylor doing simplistic songs backed by minimal guitar and keyboard.

Memorable moments include the garage pop-esque "Baby," a mellow cover of Paul McCartney's "Coming Up," and the hand clap-y "Collector's Item." Unfortunately, most of the remainder of this collection leaves something to be desired.

• Alexis Taylor - "Baby"
• hotchip.co
  

New Tip

Here's a new one from Q-Tip in anticipation of his visit to Austin next month (11/20), with The Cool Kids at Stubb's. The jazzy piano-laced "Gettin' Up" comes from The Renaissance, Q's new album that will be released (finally) on November 4 and feature the likes of Common, D'Angelo, Norah Jones, Madlib, and Santogold. I haven't heard much of it yet, but I do like the feel of this track. Stay tuned for sounds from his new musical partnership with Common, The Standard.

• Q-Tip - "Gettin' Up"
• myspace.com/qtip

Death Set in Austin tonight

Our old friends The Death Set are in Austin once again, and they will doing their thing (I have developed a habit of calling it gangster punk) down at Red 7 tonight along with Best Fwends, Cry Blood Apache, and DJ Richard Henry.

These dudes always supply a good time, as you can see in these shots from their last visit to the 512. They hail from Brooklyn, and Baltimore, and Australia, but they have a love affair with Austin, so let's show 'em some hospitality. Get more info here and here. The Death Set will also be out on the road with Girl Talk for the next month, dates are here.

News Bits

Dead Confederate will be back in Austin on November 8th to kick out the jams at the Fun Fest after party along with White Denim and Apollo Sunshine. Their current tour will hit both coasts and lots of places in between, with Apollo Sunshine, Feral Children, and Manchester Orchestra lending a hand.

Last week DC performed "The Rat" on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, see it here. White Denim's new record, Exposion, is out now via their official site. You can get it in 320 kbps MP3 format plus receive a 12" copy of the album, a 7" copy of the "Let's Talk About It" EP , and a collection of unreleased digital live tracks with a subscription.

In other news, The Sword have just announced a bunch of headlining dates in addition to their current tour supporting Metallica, and a string of shows this December with Lamb of God. Their brand new video for “How Heavy this Axe,” which pays homage to the classic Black Sabbath videos “Paranoid” and “Iron Man,” will air as part of the “Headbangers Ball: 20th Anniversary” special this weekend on MTV2. More info is here.

*Here are pics from the Girl Talk show last night, and here is video of The Ting Tings show on Sunday.

Yelle at Mohawk

This is an incredibly belated addition, but here are a few photographs from the Yelle show at Mohawk earlier this month. I have no idea what they were singing about, but after watching Yelle shake it and work the crowd for an hour I left with a newfound appreciation for France. When people started jumping up on stage someone managed to break the snare drum, but other than that their performance was a hit. I'll let the pics tell the rest. Find out more at the link.

All photos by Casey James Wilson

Girl Talk at Emo's

Girl Talk is throwing another party tonight at Emo's. The last time I saw him there was at SXSW last year, or maybe it was two years ago, and it's still one of the biggest crowds I have ever seen under that roof. It's definitely the sweatiest I've ever seen.

The show tonight has been sold out forever, but you might be able to track down someone selling tickets out on the sidewalk or something. Grand Buffet and Hearts of Darknesses will get things started, and they will all be making the trip to Dallas tomorrow for a gig at the Palladium Ballroom. Here are 27 samples that you might hear:

• Girl Talk - "Like This"
  
• myspace.com/girltalkmusic
  

Bright, Shiny video

The Octopus Project's latest video for the track "I Saw The Bright Shinies" was created by Austin illustrator Divya Srinivasan, the animator behind Spoon's "Everything Hits at Once" video and and contributor to Richard Linklater's Waking Life feature film.

Peek-A-Boo says "the video depicts three sleepy ghost kids following a heterochromic fox through a snowy twilight to an impromptu critter disco in a forest clearing. The spirits and strays dance in harmony until a cranky babushka bemoans the noise and breaks up the party."

The Octopus Project will venture out on another tour this weekend, hitting up the east coast, CMJ, and Canada before returning home for the Fun Fest. See the dates at myspace.

You can dance, you can jive

This video for Ratatat's "Shempi" was one of the more memorable moments, at least visually, of their recent performance in Austin. Their remixing of Abba's face is not something that you'll soon forget. It is "at once both questionably legal yet very much mind-meltingly-rad." If anyone is viewing from Madrid or Paris, go see Ratatat while they are in your hood next month. Here's a live review + photos of their Stubb's performance.

• ratatatmusic.com

Up C Down C

Up C Down C is a brilliant post-rock band out of the UK. Their name is quite ridiculous, (properly Up-C Down-C Left-C Right-C ABC + Start,) but their sound is epic "instrumental rock to wake the devil." Think Explosions In the Sky as done by The Sword, and you're in the right ballpark.

The band reportedly spent four years working on this new album, Embers, and whatever hard work that was spent creating it wasn't done in vain. Lyrics are never missed and they don't waste too much time getting to the point. There may be millions of post-rock bands out there to choose from, but this is one I think you should pay attention to.

• Up-C Down-C - "Fireflies"
• Myspace Shop
  

Voodoo Fest '08

Voodoo Fest 2008 is coming. Nine Inch Nails, TV on The Radio, Stone Temple Pilots, Ghostland, Thievery, and a bunch of other stuff. You can take a look at the schedule right here. I am pretty stoked about the NIN performance on Saturday. And can anyone believe that STP survived a six month relationship? Scott Weiland has a new solo CD dropping very soon and STP is rumored to have something new in the waiting. . .

Voodoo Fest is awesome. Smaller crowds, a more eclectic roster and lots of local acts who provide over half of the entertainment. And who doesn't like marching bands to kick off the Fest everyday? We have a place secured across the street from the Festival for the crawl home every night. We hope to get some good footage for you guys.

Enjoy some pre-NIN glory from Trent.

• Option 30 - Der Kommissar
• Option 30 - Lies

High Places & Reefer

High Places is the Brooklyn duo of Robert Barber and Mary Pearson. Their self-titled debut, available via Thrill Jockey, is an oddly hypnotizing mixture of barely-there vocal melodies, sampled sounds, tribal percussion, and almost dance-worthy beats. These two young folks truly have a unique sound, and fans of Person Pitch should definitely take High Places for a spin. The use of headphones is highly recommended, as there is a lot of cool ambient stuff going on.

In a few days they will embark on a lengthy European tour, but tonight they will be at Emo's with Austin's own Mothfight!.

• High Places - "Vision's the First..."
• High Places - "Sandy Feat" (7" Version)
• Myspace Thrill Jockey @ Amazon @ eMusic

You may know Nick Thorburn of Islands, The Unicorns, and Human Highway fame. Now that he has teamed up with Los Angeles-based hip-hop producer/engineer Daddy Kev, you can add a new name to the list: Reefer.

After the two isolated themselves on the Hawaiian island of Maui in order to create something new, they came away with hip-hop record crossed with tropical party music. Their self-titled album is somewhat conceptual in nature, containing six tracks that are separated by three interludes, as well as two swell remixes by Flying Lotus and Dntel. Covering "Blue Moon" was a nice touch. It's fun stuff.

• Reefer - "May Baleen"
• Reefer - "Let It Go" (Flying Lotus Remix)
• myspace.com/reeferclassics

If you don't know Flying Lotus, get familiar:

"Flying Lotus is commonly identified as a hip hop producer, but his style is drawn from many genres, including jazz, electronic and Brazilian music. Because of this, he is often likened to producers such as Madlib, Jneiro Jarel and J Dilla despite the fact that all the mentioned musicians have distinctly unique styles."

• Flying Lotus - "Breathe . Something/Stellar STar "
• Myspace @ Amazon
  

New from Panda Bear

If you are unaware, Panda Bear is Noah Lennox, one of the Animal Collective quartet. Last year he released a solo album titled Person Pitch that was just about the best thing to happen in 2007. His most recent offering is a remix for The Notwist, whose album I told you about in July.

"Boneless" is the new single from that release, though Panda Bear's version sounds like a whole new song. It sports the familiar layered vocals and looped sounds that made Person Pitch such a good time. See what I did there?

In other news, I'm still waiting to hear this "10 minute techno wonder" Animal Collective remix of Ratatat's "Mirando."

• The Notwist - "Boneless" (remixed by Panda Bear)
• myspace.com/thenotwist
• myspace.com/pandabear

Wavves & Women

San Diego resident Nathan Williams creates noisy psychedelic pop under the name Wavves. His self-titled album is filled with copious amounts of noise and melody, sounding something like a cross between No Age, Times New Viking the Beach Boys. "Beach punk" seems like an accurate description. Though still relativbely unknown outside of his southern California turf, Wavves has already gotten some decent word of mouth from folks like the Fader and GvB. His new album, available via Woodsist, holds 12 memorable psychedelic pop anthems gone lo-fi. Here's two of them:

• Wavves - "Side Yr On"
• Wavves - "Vermin"

A rerelease of the album is due via De Stijl in 2009 that will include the additional single "So Bored." You can hear that one and find out more at the myspace.

I've told you about Alberta's Women twice, so far. A couple of newsworthy things have just occurred in their world, so the third time's a charm. Their self-titled debut album was just released on Jagjaguwar last week, it just received some praise from pfork this week, and they have just announced a tour that will cover both coasts and some of the midwest. Unfortunately there is no visit to the 512 on the schedule. I listened to the album again last night, and it's still good. The balance of noise, melody and rhythm result in some cool song structures.

• Women - "Cameras"
• Women - "Black Rice"

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If you want to fill up your hard drive even further, here are a couple of random songs about women.

• The Cramps - "All Women Are Bad"
• Phyllis Dillon- "Woman of the Ghetto"

Weekly Event Menu

Here is some literature on musical happenings this week that will be worth your hard-earned dollar. Tonight, local indie icons Spoon are at The Parish. Tomorrow night Emo's hosts A Place to Bury Strangers, Sian Alice Group and Ringo Deathstarr, for a shoegaze-a-palooza. I caught Sian Alice Group at SXSW, and it was beautiful stuff.

Also on Tuesday The Magnetic Fields will appear at The Paramount Theatre, with music ranging from "exuberant blasts of power-pop noise, to electro-country meditations, to euro-pop." If that's not your bag, Robert Pollard will be at the Parish with his Boston Spaceships. Guided by Voicesveteran Chris Slusarenko plays guitar, John Moen of the Decemberists plays drums, and this might turn out to be Pollard’s first true full-time band since GBV.

On Wednesday the Brooklyn duo I told you about (twice), High Places, will be at Emo's with the interesting local outfit Mothfight!. The Onion said: "Led by former Octopus Project guitarist Kevin Adickes, the Austin group combines synthesizers and found-sound samples with classical instrumentation (including violins, banjos, and musical saws) and barbershop harmonies." Sounds cool to me.

On Friday the Houston hip-hop hero Devin the Dude, who was labeled by Prefix as "Your favorite rapper's favorite rapper," will be at Emo's with his homeboys Coughee Brothaz. Otherwhere, Club de Ville will have the Reverse X-Rays cd release ("the funkiest experimental grooves in town"), with the always entertaining Transmography. For the local music conscious check out the Save Austin Music Premiere Gala, where " members of Austin’s music industry and many local celebrities are invited for an evening of music, activism, and fundraising for ongoing placement of the organization’s Public Service Announcement Campaign."

There's plenty for the weekend, too. Alaska's best, Portugal. The Man, are back with a new album (and Earl Greyhound,) Saturday at Emo's. Deer Tick is there on Sunday, who I told you all about almost exactly one year ago. Not to be overlooked, British pop darlings The Ting Tings will perform at the Parish on Sunday night. The hugely popular pop/dance duo recently signed to Columbia Records, and have been championed by NME as the "most exciting new band in the country." That's a lot of acreage, folks.

Next week: Girl Talk & Death Set

*uck

Here's a couple of newer tracks from my two favorite f-bombs. The first track comes from our Canadian experimental electronic friends Holy Fuck, who are currently playing a few shows with Foals. The two bands joined forces for a split EP that is being sold on tour, with HF covering Foals' "Balloons", who return the favor by covering Holy Fuck's "Super Inuit."

• Holy Fuck - "Balloons" (Foals)

The second track comes from our British experimental electronic friends Fuck Buttons, who I just saw open up for Mogwai at Stubb's. I saw the duo previously open for Caribou earlier this year, and the second time around was even better. A couple of the newer songs they played were really good. This Andrew Weatherall remix comes from the "Colours Move" single, which you can pick up at their myspace page.

• Fuck Buttons - "Sweet Love For Planet Earth" (Andrew Weatherall Remix)

Tussle, Cream Cuts

I became familiar with the San Fran freeform four piece Tussle when they opened for Hot Chip at Antone's in 2007. The band's third krautrock-leaning full-length record Cream Cuts was produced by Thom Monahan (Devendra Banhart, Brightblack Morning Light), and features Alexis Taylor of Hot Chip, who can be heard on the track "Titan." Tussle's original bassist was Andy Cabic, now the frontman of freak-folks Vetiver, and his bass work can also be heard throughout most of the album.

Tussle's stripped down, funky dance-rock is an acquired taste, but its creativity and execution makes it well worth your attention. Their music falls somewhere in the neighborhood of krautrock, trance and house music, except it is mingled with multiple layers of rhythmic percussion, psychedelic effects, and live instrumentation. I had tried out some of their earlier work back in the day, but none of it seemed to be nearly as complete as Cream Cuts. Hear a couple of my favorites below, and head to myspace to hear more.

• Tussle - "Abacba"
• Tussle - "Night of the Hunter"

Gang Of Four

I was at a house party a few weeks ago, and there was a big turntable system set up that people were taking turns spinning records on. I recognized most of the stuff that was playing throughout the night, but there were a couple of times that a song that sounded like punk and funk at the same time. I went up and asked the guy what he was playing, and he said Gang of Four. He also said that if I had never listened to them I should pick up their debut album and then go from there.

Well, he was right. Gang of Four's debut album, Entertainment!, is exactly that. It's like punk music you can dance to, and every song on the album, front-to-back, is a winner. I had trouble even deciding which ones I should include in this post. The album was included in Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, and the track "At Home He's a Tourist" made Q Magazine's list of the 100 greatest guitar tracks. If you haven't already, find some time to take this album for a spin. Get more info Gang of Four's official website.

• Gang Of Four - "Ether"
• Gang Of Four - "Damaged Goods"
• Gang Of Four - "Return The Gift"

One more time...

I'm bringing the event menu back to the top because there's so many things happening this weekend. I gotta keep folks in the know, ya dig? Tonight, this Bassnectar thing at La Zona sounds like it's gonna be pretty sweet. They'll be fusing elements of breakbeat, old school hip-hop and dub, utilizing samples from diverse sources, bringing three projection screens, doing special lighting with dancers and art, and playing some cool music.

Also tonight there's a Citizen Cope solo acoustic show at Hogg Auditorium, The Strange Boys at Beerland, La Snacks and Transmography at the Mohawk, and The Walkmen at the Parish

Tomorrow Cat Power is at Stubb's, Widespread Panic is at the Backyard, funny man Dave Attell is at the Paramount Theater, My Education is at Emo's Lounge, and The Rumble Strips and Birdmonster are at the Parish.

On Sunday The Roots at the Backyard is now The Roots at La Zona Rosa and the after party is at Beauty Bar with a Questlove DJ set.

Linkfest Vol. 3 complete. Now let's go do some stuff.

Mercury Miyagi

"Senses On Fire" was the first single to be taken from Mercury Rev's new album, their seventh, which released last month and marked the return of a reinvigorated Mercury Rev. They are due to release their next single from the album on November 17th, and here's where it gets good. The Rev will also release a special 12” remix package featuring two fantastic remixes by Isan and Carlos Anthony Molina, Fujiya and Miyagi and James Holden. Without further adieu, here's the Fujiya version:

• Mercury Rev - "Senses On Fire" (Fujiya & Miyagi Remix)
• myspace.com/mercuryrevmusic
  
• myspace.com/fujiyaandmiyagi

Local Links

I feel like having a link fest today. Something I should do a little more of, especially with my local compadres. Austin Sound has more Roky Erickson/Black Angels details, and some new local reviews. Sonic Itch has two seperate ACL reviews, Big Diction's got Shearwater & Jungle Rockers, Party Ends has a new look, Both Sides likes Lykke, Recycled Love picks their top 25 indie breakup songs, Ultra gets Duffy, Marching Feet has a live recording of Mogwai's show at Stubb's, Town Hall likes the Ting Tings, and Soundcheck has a live Sword review by yours truly. If that ain't enough, there's plenty more Austin music linkange on the left.

Daytrotter update

I just realized that it has been a while since I've taken a look at Daytrotter to see what kind of goodies they are offering. Here's just a handful of the most recent artists for which you can download free live jams: Titus Andronicus, Frightened Rabbit, Dawn Landes, Colour Revolt, Blitzen Trapper, The M's, Hymns, Langhorne Slim, plus locals Zookeeper, The Octopus Project, and Frank Smith. The articles are always cool to read also, so get on it.

I love Chan Marshall

This Saturday night Cat Power is finally making good on the Stubb's show that was originally scheduled for April, but postponed for whatever reason. The strength of Cat Power's live show is her voice, all dramatic and soulful, performing original songs and refashioning classic material in her own minimalistic style. What's more, she is very easy on the eyes. Like, super easy. I'm gonna go ahead and take this opportunity to ogle her for a while. You can get info on her Stubb's performance (& win tickets) at the link.

• Cat Power - "Lived in Bars"
• myspace.com/catpower
  

It's gonna be Fun

Just about one month from now, the 3rd edition of Fun Fun Fun Fest will kickoff at Waterloo Park. As with previous years, the two-day festival will feature a stage of punk rock legends (Dead Milkmen, Bad Brains), a stage filled with some of the cream of indie rock (Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, The National), another crowded with sounds of the electronic-dance-hip hop nature (Clipse, Dan Deacon, Z-Trip) and even a fourth stage this year that will present a lineup of comedians better than any local club can boast. Here's the boilerplate:

"Fun Fun Fun Fest made its first appearance on a cold Austin Friday evening at Waterloo Park in 2006. It was a unique approach to festival booking…filling stages with what is happening now, what sounds great, and what is making an impact, regardless of what Pollstar or the mainstream media said was cool. One of the many things that truly makes FFF special and unique is a focus on a collection of 3 core styles of progressive and underground music: indie rock, punk/hardcore, and hip hop/dj, spread across a park on 3 core stages that would allow fans to go from one area to another to see and appreciate different styles of music. Cross pollination at its best…put on by people who love music, who know music, and for people who love music in the same way."

There will also be plenty of good local talent this year, like Black Angels, Octopus Project, Trail of Dead, Ume, Black Joe Lewis, Brownout! and The Ugly Beats. Another few bands that I've mentioned recently, like Parts & Labor, Deerhoof, and Annuals will also be in attendance. Plenty of good times to be had.

You can check out this FFFF digital mixtape to hear some tunes from many of the performing artists, and get your two-day pass at the link. Low on funds? See if you can win a pass here. And you can of course find out more about everything at the official fun site. Here's a little Z-Trip nugget for your library, more to come...

• The Jackson 5 - "I Want You Back" (Z-Trip Remix)

Good Times

Here are a few photos from the show at Emo's on Saturday night. An Australian garage-ish rock band called the Ooga Boogas opened the show, accents and all, and put on a pretty good show. They were also selling vinyl records that had the coolest album art that I've seen in a while. Next up, Golden Triangle. Okay, this band was friggin sweet. Two hot front ladies giving 110%, a crazy drummer/lead singer wearing some sort of bag over his head the whole time, a guitarist of Asian? origin banging out classic/punk rock riffs, cool chick bassist, lots of suggestive dancing, cymbal shaking, and just all-around entertainment. It appears that they are good pals with Jay Reatard, Deerhunter & King Khan.

Golden Triangle are currently touring around with Quintron and Miss Pussycat, who took over the stage next and gave the crowd a good workout. Before the party started they warmed it up with a full-on demented comedy puppet show, powered by black light. This was a first for me. I don't remember much of the story line, but I do recall Santa Claus getting blown to pieces by a machine gun and bleeding confetti everywhere.

When the curtain closed, Quintron sat down in front of his Drum Buddy (a kind of a light bulb-charged electronic synthesizer crossed with a DJ turntable) and started pounding out dual (or triple?) organ sounds mixed with programmed beats, and all the while Miss Pussycat was jumping around all over the place, shouting, and dancing with the crowd. They were more punk than I expected, which is a good thing. Find out more at the link, and see them on tour at these dates.

all photos by Casey James Wilson

Fleet Foxes Live

Here is something for all of you Fleet Foxes fans out there. I recently became a fan after seeing them live for the first time, so I'm one of the newer members of your club. The band was at The Black Cat in DC on the 7th of July, just a few days after their highly acclaimed debut album was released, and some good person had the foresight to record the performance. There's no "Ragged Wood", but this recording is otherwise fantastic. Push the play button if you want to hear what it sounds like.

• Fleet Foxes - Live at The Black Cat, Washington DC

1. "Sun Giant"
2. "Sun It Rises"
3. "Drops in the River"
4. "English House"
5. "White Winter Hymnal"
6. "Your Protector"
7. "He Doesn’t Know Why"
8. "Crayon Angels" (Judee Sill cover) / "Oliver James"
9. "Mykonos "
10. "Blue Ridge Mountains"
11. "Tiger Mountain Peasant Song"

Click here if you want to read what people are saying about the album, otherwise point your browser to their page on Sub Pop Records.

Weekly Event Menu

After taking a look at what this week's live music schedule has to offer, here are some of the events that stand out above the rest. The selection is decent this week, with the long-delayed Cat Power show, The Roots on a big stage at the Backyard, The Walkmen, some of the usual local suspects, and a few representatives from France (Yelle), Britain (Rumble Strips), and Israel (Monotonix). As always, follow the links to find out more.

Tuesday:

• Pattern is Movement, Balmorhea at the Mohawk

Wednesday:

• Yelle, The Funeral Party, DJ Bigface at the Mohawk
• The Presidents Of The United States Of America at Stubb's

Thursday:

• Monotonix, El Paso Hot Button, at the Mohawk
  

Friday:

• The Strange Boys at Beerland with bunches more
• La Snacks and Transmography at the Mohawk
• The Walkmen and The Little Ones at the Parish

Saturday:

• My Education at Emo's Lounge
• The Rumble Strips and Birdmonster at the Parish
• Cat Power at Stubb's

Sunday:

• The Roots, Estelle, Gym Class Heroes at the Backyard

LCD en vivo

That's a picture of what's-his-name from LCD Soundsystem at the City Limits festival last year. Their performance was one of the high water marks of an entire weekend that was full of them. Along with Björk, Andrew Bird and Common, they helped ease the blow of the Stripes & Rodrigo cancelling.

The reason I created this post was to share an LCD bootleg I came across from 2007, but I'm kind of stuck on "New York I Love You" at the moment...so here's both. I've got some other live stuff that I'll probably put up here soon. Hit up DFA to find out what else is going on.

• LCD Soundsystem - "New York I Love You"
• Live at The Ancienne Belgique (3.16.07)
• lcdsoundsystem.com
  

Local..Live

Here's some live Octopus Project footage from their July 4th gig at Beauty Bar. Specifically the song "Truck," from their newest album Hello, Avalanche. I told you about it last September. A new local blog called 'Nites plans to spotlight a different Austin band each week in similar fashion, that being a concert video ranging from 10 to 15 minutes in length. If you dig it, see more at the link. If you dig the Octopus Project, check them out on tour.

• Octopus Project/Black Moth Super Rainbow - "Runite Castles"

Deerhoof Offends Maggie

San Fran indie-art-noise-rockers Deerhoof have a new album, Offend Maggie, coming next week via Kill Rock Stars. I heard the band allowed fans to download a written score of the album in advance, allowing them to interpret or simply imagine what the songs would sound like before actually hearing them. Even if it's just one song, that kind of creativity is one thing Deerhoof has never lacked, along with originality. I'm looking forward to seeing this band for the first time at Fun Fun Fun Fest in November, it should be...fun. Here's a little ditty from Offend Maggie:

• Deerhoof - "Snoopy Waves"
• myspace.com/deerhoof
  

Spoon at the Parish

Just announced: Austin hometown dudes turned international musician-types Spoon will play a rare one-off date on Monday, October 13 at the Parish with special guest Gary Clark Jr. Tickets for this one will go on sale tomorrow (October 2) at the link, with proceeds benefiting Texas Democrats and the Democratic candidate for the office of Railroad Commissioner.

This is expected to be one of the band's last few live appearances before they head into the studio to complete their next album, so get it while you can. Here's a couple of older ones, get more at spoontheband.com.

• Spoon - "Utilitarian"
• Spoon - "Plastic Mylar"
  
• myspace.com/spoon

Sword Saturday

Looking back through the archives, it looks like I told you about The Sword over two years ago. I almost feel like a hypocrite because I still haven't seen this band perform, but that will change on Saturday night when The Sword will have their big stage local debut at Stubb's with Clutch and Graveyard.

Metal music is hardly ever something I search for, but I can rock out to The Sword just about any day of the week. I've picked up both of their albums, Age of Winters and Gods of the Earth, and they really are great representations of the genre. Their style of metal is closer to Sabbath and early Metallica than anything, and these guys are really on top of their game. In fact, The Sword will be opening for Metallica on their upcoming Death Magnetic tour. Kind of a big deal. You should put the Saturday show on your list of things to do, it will be a good one.

• The Sword - "The Sundering"
• The Sword - "Maiden, Mother and Crone"

Otherwhere this week:

• Saul Williams at the Texas Union Ballroom
• Yellow Fever, Yip Yip, Daniel Francis Doyle at Emo's
• Ra Ra Riot, Walter Meego at the Parish
• Low Line Caller (Cd Release) w/ The Boxing Lesson at Mohawk
  
• Quintron and Miss Pussycat at Emo's
• The Kooks, The Whigs at Antones

Ghostland Observatory at Stubb's

I have some good news to announce today...Ghostland Observatory will be performing at Stubb's on November 14. That might seem like a long time from now, but if it's anything like the other shows they play in Austin it will sell out quickly. If you want to beat out the scalpers, tickets for the Stubb's show will go on sale at 10 AM this Saturday (10/4), online only through stubbs.frontgatetickets.com.

Throughout the rest of October these guys will also be doing House of Blues in Dallas on TX-OU Weekend, The Fillmore in San Francisco, Voodoo Fest in New Orleans, and the South Padre Music Fest on Halloween night. Right now it doesn't appear that they have any other Austin dates lined up for the rest of 2008.

I'll be giving away a pair of tickets for Ghostland's show at Stubb's, and I'm going to try something a little different this time. If you want to win the tickets, pick a letter of the alphabet, a number between 1-10, and put it in an e-mail to covertcuriosity at gmail dot com with Ghostland as the subject. Whoever gets closest to the letter & number I have in mind will be the winner, and I'll update this post when the contest is closed. Good luck!

• Ghostland Observatory - "Rich Man"
  
• myspace.com/ghostlandobservatory