Latest Do512 Lounge Sessions

Here is the latest round of footage from the recently launched Do512 Lounge Sessions, presented by Shiner. The first one features the legendary troubadour James McMurtry doing a solo acoustic version of his award-winning song "We Can't Make It Here." Bob Lefsetz is apparently a huge fan. This was my first time to see James McMurtry perform, and his set was absolutely captivating. You can catch him playing regularly at the Continental Club.

The Bright Light Social Hour follow with their epic love song "Detroit," which comes from the band's self-titled debut. Then it it's Monahans playing a new tune, and Austin newcomers Saints Of Valory performing "Show Me Your Wonder." Follow the links to find out more about the bands and their session. You can check out more Do512 Lounge Sessions on Austin Music Weekly’s Youtube page.

James McMurtry - "We Can't Make It Here"

The Bright Light Social Hour - "Detroit"

Read an interview and more here

Monahans - "A Memory Of God"

Read an interview and more here

Saints Of Valory - "Show Me Your Wonder"

Read an interview and more here

Review: Middle Brother

Middle Brother is gearing up to drop their self-titled, debut album on March 1st [pre-order here with Partisan Records], after which the trio will embark on a West Coast tour that will see them through until their SXSW appearances that include an unofficial Brooklyn Vegan day show on March 18th and their official showcase at Auditorium Shores on March 19th.

Middle Brother features the collaborative talents of John McCauley of Deer Tick, Taylor Goldsmith of Dawes and Matthew Vasquez of Delta Spirit. Each of the guitarist/vocalists represent similar, yet distinct styles reflective of their independent projects. Together their alt-country sensibilities combine for an album that harbors common complexities of the human condition -- most notably the inevitable heartache in love and loss. “Thanks For Nothing,” “Wilderness,” and “Theatre” are fairly vulnerable, country-tinged confessionals from wounded men.

The album fluctuates between contextually heavy, melodically somber tunes balanced by more upbeat, twangy, rockabilly-fused numbers like, “Blue Eyes,” “Middle Brother,” “Someday,” and the catchy, leaked single, “Me Me Me.” The finer moments of this album lay in those high-energy tracks and the earnest, striped-down, sing-a-longs on “Million Dollar Bill” & “Middle Brother” that promise to shine in live performances. This release seems like an appropriate sampler of what's in store on their subsequent tour -- a contagious example of the favorable, fun-filled aspect of today’s “super-group” phenomenon, relative to recent projects by Mister Heavenly and Monsters Of Folk.

• Middle Brother - "Middle Brother"
• http://www.middlebrother.com/

The Do512 Lounge Sessions

Do512 recently took over an office space in South Austin and turned it into a venue/recording/event/party space, where they invite bands to perform intimate recording sessions. The new venture was officially launched in January via two intimate live performances, the first coming from emerging Austin transplants Saints Of Valory, and the second featuring The Black Angels. The recording sessions are being captured by the video team behind Austin Music Weekly, with hopes of eventually broadcasting live feeds of the performances. Local sound production company Nomad Sound was also brought in to make the Do512 Lounge one of the best-sounding rooms in town. The tapings are private, invite-only events and presented by Shiner.

The purpose of the the Do512 Lounge Sessions is to showcase some of the great bands that live or pass through Austin, and create a high-quality video archive of their performances. There are lots of great shows already scheduled to take place in this space, including performances by the likes of James McMurtry, Monahans, The Bright Light Social Hour, Grupo Fantasma, and many more. There are some exciting touring bands lined up to record sessions during SXSW as well.

Check out some photos and footage from The Black Angels session below. You can also find the Saints of Valory session at the link, and read more about all of this on the Do512 Blog.

Photos courtesy of Julie Cope

From the Black Angel Exit EP:

• The Black Angels - "Paladin's Last Stand"

Video: Night Beats

The Night Beats are a Seattle-based psychedelic garage rock trio who took me by surprise with a great set at Austin Psych Fest last year. Two of the band's three members are originally from Texas, and their sound is definitely influenced by local psych legends such as the 13th Floor Elevators and Golden Dawn. The band has a 4 song EP available via Trouble In Mind, and I hear an LP is in the works for release this summer. They also have a split release scheduled for March with The UFO Club, a collaboration of Night Beats guitarist/vocalist Lee Blackwell and Christian Bland of The Black Angels. Night Beats will make a return trip to Austin next month, and will be appearing at Austin Psych Fest 4 in April.

• Night Beats - "Shadows In The Night"
• Facebook/Night-Beats

Glitch Mob vs White Stripes

• The White Stripes - "Seven Nation Army" (The Glitch Mob Remix)
• http://www.theglitchmob.com/music/

The Rumble: Austin

The February edition of The Rumble: Austin will take place at Beerland on Wednesday, February 16th, featuring a great lineup that includes Agent Ribbons, Not In The Face, and Black Books. As always, the show is absolutely FREE, and brought to you by Future Sounds, Waterloo Records, The Onion A.V. Club, The Austinist, Austin Town Hall, Sonic Itch Music and Covert Curiosity. You can find more information on Facebook.

Black Books have been getting some well-deserved pub for their debut EP titled "An Introduction To," and they will be celebrating its official release at The Rumble. Compared to the likes of Band of Horses and My Morning Jacket, this quintet was named one of the Top 10 Locals to Watch in 2011 by the Austin Chronicle, and come highly recommended by Sonic Itch and ATH. Just take one listen to their song "The Big Idea" to find out why.

• Black Books - "The Big Idea"
• http://blackbooksmusic.com/

Black Books Vinyl Assembly LineNot In The Face is another band that has been rapidly gaining recognition in Austin, recommended by Austin Sound and yours truly among others. "Way To Go Baby" is another track from the duo's album Bikini, which they plan to re-release with two new songs in the very near future. These guys are gonna be a handful live.

• Not In The Face - "Way To Go Baby"
• Facebook/Not-In-the-Face

Originally from the Bay area, Agent Ribbons dropped their sophomore release "Chateau Crone" in December to rave reviews, and landed on my list of favorite albums from 2010. They have shared stages with the likes of CAKE, Camera Obscura, Vivian Girls and Portugal The Man.

"There’s gritty garage riffs, swooning ballads, and an array of musical stylings that the female troupe manages to brush through in under 40 minutes, all wrapped in a kind of gypsy atmosphere that bobs and weaves to various degrees throughout." - Austin Sound

• Agent Ribbons - "I'm Alright"
• http://www.facebook.com/agentribbonsband

Video: Suuns

Suuns - "Pie IX" from Secretly Jag

Suuns just unleashed a new stark, dangerous, evocative, and sexy video for "Pie IX," directed by Frédérique Bérubé. The band tours Europe this month, and in March and April in addition to playing SXSW, Suuns will join both Crystal Castles and The Black Angels respectively on tour. Each of these artists represent a side of Suuns' sound: Crystal Castles, the cool electronic ferocity; The Black Angels, the swaggering psych-rock assault.

"A cunning fusion of kraut, post-punk, stoner rock, and disco funk tempered with a muted emotional disquiet"- BROOKLYN VEGAN

• SecretlyCanadian.com/Suuns
  

Abe Vigoda & Wild Nothing [Show Preview]

Abe Vigoda will hit the stage at Red 7 tonight on their first tour since last year’s release of Crush. With their 2006 debut, the Los Angeles quartet defined their style as "tropical punk", which is reflected in early efforts like "Skeleton." Their sophomore album is much more complex and demonstrates experimental growth. In particular the song "Throwing Shade", which reflects their evolution towards a synth-heavy production based around dramatic instrumentation, highly reminiscent of 80s new wave.

Wild Nothing follow suit with a more light-hearted sound full of dazzling, dreamy dance numbers. Their sentimental sounds are full of sunny, drifting beats layered with fuzzy vocals drenched in heartache. These Georgia natives seemingly came out of nowhere and have been stirring up a buzz with their new album Gemini.

Wild Nothing - "Chinatown"
Red 7 will be awash in new wave nostalgia this evening. Don’t fight it, let the haunting synthed-out sounds guide you towards the warm dance floor. It may be freezing outside, so it's probably a good time to break out those legwarmers and show off your moves. Local talents SuperLiteBike and Bali Yaaah guarantee to set the mood.

Bali Yaaah - "Shoot It"

You May Need A Murderer

A friend of mine who is well familiar with my love of music docs dropped this one off to me a few days ago. I wasn't familiar with Low at all so I had no idea what I was getting into, and had no reference point to know what to expect. What I discovered is that the film his basically an in-depth look at Low founder and front man Alan Sparhawk being crazy. For instance, at one point he comes right out and says he thinks he's the antichrist. He's also certain that the world is coming to an end right this second, and spends a good bit of time discussing his mad religious and political opinions. Maybe he just knows something we don't. Either way, "You May Need A Murderer" is an interesting portrait of a troubled soul, with moments of real beauty. It's also a decent introduction to the band's music for the truly uninitiated. Check out a review and they few songs from the film here.

• Low - "2-Step"
• http://chairkickers.com/
  

Austin Psych Fest 4 Lineup Additions

Austin Psych Fest has announced a 2nd round of bands confirmed to play the 4th annual festival, taking place April 29-May 1st. Among the additions is Roky Erickson, the legendary voice of The 13th Floor Elevators. Other notables are the all-female Aussie quintet Beaches, San Francisco's Young Prisms, and Austin's own Holy Wave. They join Black Moth Super Rainbow, Crystal Stilts, The Night Beats, and ringmasters The Black Angels on one hell of a lineup. A 3rd round of confirmations will be announced on March 1st, along with daily lineups and day tickets. Weekend passes go on sale February 13th at austinpsychfest.com.

APF4 Lineup Additions:

Roky Erickson (Austin TX) - website
Indian Jewelry (Houston TX) - website
Beaches (Melbourne, AU) - myspace
Black Hollies – (New Jersey, NJ) - myspace
Lumerians – (San Francisco, CA) - myspace
The Soft Moon – (San Francisco, CA) - myspace
Young Prisms – (San Francisco, CA) - myspace
The Quarter After – (San Francisco, CA) - website
Woodsman – (Denver, CO) - myspace
Tjutjuna - (Denver, CO) - myspace
Lower Heaven – (Silverlake, CA) - website
Quest For Fire – (Toronto, ON) myspace
The Meek – (Los Angeles, CA) - myspace
The Diamond Center – (Richmond, VA) - website
The Sky Drops – (Wilmington, DE) - website
Holy Wave – (Austin, TX) - myspace

• Young Prisms - "Sugar"

"Explain it to Me" by The Sky Drops

"Mosquito Hawk" - Tjutjuna

Colour Trip

Having formed in 2007 and channeling influences such as The Cure, The Smiths, Fugazi and The Velvet Underground, Ringo Deathstarr have thus far released a batch of singles on both sides of the Atlantic and in Japan, including a self titled EP, a couple of 7"s, and a 9-track Japanese mini-album, Sparkler. Adding to that repertoire, the band will release their debut album, Colour Trip, in two weeks time through Club AC30 Records.

Recorded at The Bubble in the spring of 2010, the 11-track album the singles "So High," mixed by Simon Barnicott (Doves, Temper Trap). The loud-as-hell live trio will tour the UK, France, Spain and Germany in support of the album, having recently gigged with the likes of the Dandy Warhols, A Place to Bury Strangers, Secret Machines and The Pains of Being Pure at Heart.


Ringo Deathstarr - So High

• Ringo Deathstarr - "Imagine Hearts"
• http://www.myspace.com/ringodeathstarr

Deerhawk - February 1st

Tuesday, February 1st

at The Mohawk

On the outside stage:

9:30 - Deerhoof
8:30 - Ben Butler and Mouse Pad
7:30 - Fingaar Bangaar
6:30 - Nervous Cop

Tickets

Then on the inside stage:

KVRX and Covert Curiosity present:

12:30 - Sunset
11:30 - Cartright
10:30 - Zorch

ALL AGES

Facebook Event Page

Do512 Event Page

• Sunset - "Rivers of Babylon"

• Cartright - "Third Time"

• Zorch - "Zut Alore!"

"The don of the modern discotheque, the man who practically invented the years 1999 - 2003 as London night TRASH (R.I.P.) set the standard for global indie dance hedonistic good times, Erol Alkan has given Tame Impala's Innerspeaker album cut "Why Won't You Make Up Your Mind?" his golden touch." -Modular

Tame Impala - Why Won't You Make Up Your Mind (Erol Alkan Rework)