Utopiafest

There are so many festivals in Austin that it can be hard to keep track of them. Well, I didn't want you to miss out on your chance to get out of the city for a music fest that's, relatively, new to the scene. Utopiafest takes place this weekend on a lovely patch of land in the, appropriately named, town of Utopia, Texas. There will be camping, food, and of course loads of great music. The vibe is mostly folky, pastoral rock but the festival is not pigeon-holed into a specific genre. Some of the most recognizable artists scheduled to perform this weekend include Blitzen Trapper and Dawes but that's only a very small taste of the full line-up.

Blitzen Trapper - Love The Way You Walk Away video via YouTube

In an effort to avoid the trappings of the large-scale music festival experience there are only 1500 tickets available for Utopiafest. In other words, if you are interested in being a part of the festivities out in Utopia you should grab yourself some tickets while they're still available. As I mentioned, you can camp on-site and they will even have hot showers available. Take that Bonnarroo! A couple of other things that set Utopiafest apart from other festivals, the beauty of the hill-country venue, free yoga in the morning and even a disc golf course. Bring your tent, bring your disc golfing discs and bring your love for music because it all goes down starting at noon on Friday.

Avi Buffalo - What's In It For? video via YouTube

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Dawes in Austin Today/Tonight

Personally, I'm not the biggest fan of the band Dawes, however I recognize that those of you who read this site might be. There is nothing specifically negative that I would say about the band and I don't DISLIKE them, they're just not my favorite. So, I wanted to make sure that those of you who ARE fans of Dawes were aware that they are playing two sets in our fair-city on this date. You can catch a brief, gratis set over at Waterloo Records at 5pm today but arrive early as I expect this will be popular. You can also catch them over at La Zona Rosa tonight with Robert Ellis playing the support slot. As far as I know, the show has not sold-out yet but you can click this link for tickets if you really want to know.


Dawes - When My Time Comes video via YouTube


In other Dawes news, it looks like the band will be passing through Texas again in October, although not making a stop in Austin, as part of a co-headlining tour with Blitzen Trapper. The tour will be hitting Dallas and I would expect there to be lots of collaboration as these two bands seem to get along musically as well as personally.


Blitzen Trapper - video via YouTube

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I Heart SubPop/Blitzen Trapper

I'm sure I've mentioned this in the past, but I love blogging about bands on the SubPop roster. They have such a blogging-friendly website. There are almost always mp3 samples to download, and video too. Not to mention easy to embed press photos. Pay attention UMG, this is how you promote your roster in an internet age.


Blitzen Trapper - Furr video via YouTube

Free mp3 ---> Blitzen Trapper - Furr <--- Thanks SubPop

I highly recommend you head on over to their list of artists. Any of the names in bold are current and you will most likely find free samples to check out. You can also peep their YouTube channel to stream 134 vids.

Here's a couple of highlights from the aforementioned channel:


Fleet Foxes - Mykonos video via YouTube

This CSS jam is the most viewed video on the channel. Go Brazil!!


CSS - Let's Make Love and Listen to Death From Above video via YouTube

I always love the chaos, noise-pop of the Go! Team, even if this isn't my favorite track of theirs:


the Go! Team - Doin' it Right video via YouTube

This track has been played to death by now, but it's still a great tune that stayed our little secret for the first year or so it was out:


The Postal Service - The District Sleeps Alone Tonight video via YouTube

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Blitzen Trapper Bring the Folk

Blitzen Trapper is one of those bands that I had heard a lot about but I hadn't actually heard their music until I saw them live at SXSW. In person their music is very textured, energetic and folk-rocky. What can I say revivalist folk rock is the order of the day for indie-rock, which is a pleasant change from the dance-rock revival of the last couple of years. What's old is new again and I think everyone has been listening to their parent's copy of The Band's, Music from Big Pink and Mountain's, classic record, Climbing.

Blitzen Trapper's latest release is called, Furr and it's already appearing on a lot of year end lists. The new record sounds intimate, like you're sitting in the same room with the band. It also has a very vintage sound, as if this record was just unearthed from a time capsule, only the textural keyboard embellishments give it away as a contemporary LP.

Portland, Oregonians, Blitzen Trapper will be playing the Mohawk on Wednesday (Thanksgiving Eve), with like-minded indie folkies, the Parson Red Heads.

Parson Red Heads are from L.A. and although their name is awkward their melodies will stick with you for days. You'll feel like you already know the songs even though it's the first time you're hearing them. If you don't believe me check out the track, Punctual as Usual below.

Blitzen Trapper - Furr
Blitzen Trapper - Gold for Bread

Parson Red Heads - Punctual as Usual
Parson Red Heads - Days of My Youth

Video after the jump...


Blitzen Trapper - Wild Mountain Nation video via YouTube


Blitzen Trapper - Furr video via YouTube


Parson Red Heads - Punctual as Usual video via YouTube

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