Digitalism at the Parish

It's been emeffin' cold in Austin this week. You know the best way to cure those cold weather blues? If you answered, dancing your ass off to German electronic music played through Austin's best sound-system over at the Parish then we are on the same wavelength. You can find me and the rest of Austin's coolest people sweating through our Threadless T-Shirts on the hardwood floors of the Parish tomorrow night. If you'd care to join us in seeing Digitalism then you should grab yourself some tickets while they're still available. Something tells me even if there are a few tickets left at the door Friday night they'll be gone early. The latest release from Digitalism is, I Love You, Dude and it's filled with big, industrial beats, edgy keyboard sounds and just the right amount of indie-minded live instrumentation. If you went to the Alamo Drafthouse this summer then you probably already heard the song Two Hearts, which was featured in one of their monthly trailers.

Digitalism - 2 Hearts video via YouTube

Taking opening band duties tomorrow night is up-and-coming electronic duo, Data Romance. They hail from Vancouver and have been compared to The XX and Bat for Lashes so you know I'm sold. Also, the fact that they are coming out of the Vancouver scene speaks very highly of them, they've been churning out some amazing electronic music in the great, white North lately. I mean, have you heard Blood Diamonds? It's tiiiiight! Anyway, if you get to the Parish around 10p you shouldn't have any problem catching all or most of Data Romance's set. I expect it will be one of those, I'm glad I was here for this moments, like when Warpaint opened for Akron/Family. Remember that?

Data Romance - The Deep video via YouTube

Damn, that Data Romance video was creepy y'all! Even though it's, mostly, unrelated I'm going to include this jam from Blood Diamonds too. Vancouver represent!

Blood Diamonds - Grins video via YouTube

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Best of 2011: Locals Only

Alright, I'm going to start this list with the usual disclaimers about how art is subjective and ranking one piece of art above another is just silly. However, as a music nerd I love lists, which is why this is my favorite time of year. You can look forward to my albums of the year list next week along with Shivvy's. For now, I thought I'd shine a light on some Austin and/or Austin-area artists who had enjoyable music releases this year. Click the name of the artist to go to their homepage, click the name of the release to go to a purchase page. I'm sure there are lots that I will leave out, that doesn't mean I don't enjoy that band, it just means I didn't include it in this list. In other words, you can save your gripes for Oprah's return 'cause I ain't even interested grrrl! In the spirit of, "oh shit I forgot about that one" I present to you the Bloggy Top 11 Austin releases of 2011:

• 11: Equals - Equals EP

  
  
  





• 10: Frank Smith - Monsters

  
  
  Frank Smith's record, Before You Were Born actually comes out in January but he released Monsters and A Decline THIS year so, I'm including it.
  
  
  Frank Smith - Monsters video via YouTube




• 9: Pure X - Pleasure

  
  
  I'm also including Pure X's You're In It Now EP, as part of this entry. Although, the video below is from the LP, Pleasure.
  
  
  Pure X - Surface video via YouTube




• 8: The Calm Blue Sea - The Calm Blue Sea

  
  
  
  The Calm Blue Sea - Literal video via YouTube




• 7: The Strange Boys - Live Music

  
  
  The album title uses the short "i" sound, as in "living the music."
  
  
  The Strange Boys - Me and You video via YouTube




• 6: Sleep ∞ Over - Forever

  
  
  




• 5: Wild Child - Pillow Talk

  
  
  




• 4: Quiet Company - We Are All Where We Belong

  
  
  
  Quiet Company - Fear and Fallacy, Sitting in a Tree video via YouTube




• 3: The Wooden Birds - Two Matchsticks

  
  
  
  The Wooden Birds - Criminals Win video via YouTube




• 2: Ume - Phantoms




Ume - Captive video via YouTube



• 1: White Denim - D

  
  
  Just like I did with the Pure X entry, I'm including White Denim's Takes Place In Your Work Space EP because it's an extension of D and features one of my favorite White Denim songs to date, Handwriting.
  
  
  White Denim - Street Joy video via YouTube

You can find most of these artists if you're a Spotify user and want to hear more. Frank Smith has his previous releases on Spotify but, the songs I posted above are from an album due out in 2012 so you won't find them there. For the other 10, I've made a little playlist for you to enjoy. So, there you have Best of Austin 2011. Feel free to leave your thoughts, concerns, etc in the comments or tweet @AustinBloggy.

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The Sea and Cake Thursday

Living in Austin, it seems that every few months a band comes along that I adored in college but never really thought I'd be seeing perform live. Well, this Thursday one such band is gracing the Mohawk's outside stage and I am very excited. The Sea and Cake are one part jazz band, one part indie-rock group and when I was in college radio I had never heard anything like it. Their latest release is called Moonlight Butterfly, it was released this year to little fanfare but I recommend you check it out. With 6 tracks it's not quite an LP and more than an EP but regardless of how it's classified it's great music and you can expect Thursday night's show at the Mohawk to be excellent. Tickets are only $15 and given that this is an outdoor show you can expect it to start and end fairly early. I really have no idea how popular The Sea and Cake are in Austin but something tells me that this show will be sold-out before the doors open at 7pm. In other words, you should probably grab some tickets while you still can.

The Sea and Cake - Weekend video via YouTube

Like I said, Thursday night's show is going to start and end early so you should arrive before 8p if you want to catch local band, My Education's, opening set. Their sound is more shoe-gaze than jazz but they don't really fit into either of those categories. I think they're a great fit for The Sea and Cake show even though they don't just like them, their music should still appeal to the same audience. You can listen to My Education's music, which is streaming over on their bandcamp page.

My Education - Sunrise video via YouTube

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Wilco in Austin

I know it's late in the day, so I'm late to the party in writing about last night's Austin City Limits taping featuring Wilco. Those other blogs had lots of fancy words and lots of fancy pictures but I was waiting tables at 6am today so, not only is my review late but I'm fucking surly y'all! Let me start by saying if you have tickets for tonight's Wilco show at ACL Live, then you are a very lucky individual because I thoroughly enjoyed last night's performance and I'm sure the dynamics are much different for performers without cameras in their faces. Last night was my first time seeing Wilco perform, I had heard many great things from many great, to moderately great, people so I had high expectations. As far as I'm concerned Wilco completely delivered, as usual my only complaints were with the crowd and not the band or the venue.



The sound was superb, not too quiet, not too loud and everything perfectly in balance. The patrons were generally well-behaved but as usual people need to shut their fucking yaps while a performance is taking place. Also, what's with people taking photos of themselves while at a show? The caption should read, "This is me disturbing people around me in a crowd." It's one thing to take the photo in a way so the artist ends up photo-bombing your self-portrait but when it's just two drunk bitches squeezing their fat faces in the frame of their iPhone it makes no sense to me whatsoever. The other thing that bothered me is, somewhat, specific to Austin City Limits TV tapings but also kind of applies to any venue charging more than $5 for poor quality beers. Must you continuously drink while watching a show? Like the whole time? Each minute of each song? You think maybe you could just get beers before and after, maybe at a neighboring bar so you don't have to keep moving past me in both directions? This would not only save me from getting annoyed by you, it would save you money. Get off my lawn!!!


Back to the performance, since last night was Wilco's fourth taping of ACL, I was expecting to hear mostly new to newish tunes and I was perfectly ok with that. I'm not one of those people (assholes) who insists that anything after a band's first 1-3 records is total crap. In fact I think Wilco's latest album is really great. Much to my surprise the set list had lots of "classics" peppered in with the new tunes so even if you are one of those assholes you still got to hear some of your favorite songs. For the full set I'm going to refer you to the handy-dandy instagram photo from the official Austin City Limits TV Twitter.



My, personal, highlight moments were Nels Cline's guitar solo during, Impossible Germany and Nick Lowe guesting with Wilco to play, Cruel to be Kind. I have been to lots of concerts from a variety of artists playing a variety of genres. Many of these shows have brought tears to my eyes but I have never been so verklempt from a guitar solo. I can't even explain to you what made it so great but when Nels' solo wound down and Impossible Germany got back into its main riff, I lept from my seat, with tears in my eyes and clapped until my hands became chapped. I wasn't the only one moved by his guitar work. During the solo itself you could see each member of the band looking at Nels like proud papas. It was the most earnest and well-deserved standing ovation I've ever participated in and when I was trying to explain the scenario to someone at work today I started crying again. It was like that. Do I even need to explain what was so cool about Nick Lowe playing Cruel to be Kind with Wilco as his backing band? I feel like my hipster cred jumped up like 10-20 points just because I was in the room for that. If you were even near the W last night your hipster cred jumped 5 points just for being in the same zip code while that happened. Did that really happen?



All in all, I would say if you ever get a chance to see Wilco anywhere, you should go. If you are lucky enough to see a taping of Austin City Limits featuring any artist (except Bob Schneider(fuck that guy)), then you should go. Oh, and if you have any influence over who gets to go to Austin City Limits tapings then you should call me, we need to hang out more.

By the way, I don't know who took the shitty cell phone photos in this post but it wasn't me, I would NEVER break the rules like that. People are so rude.

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Planning Ahead: Ticket Round-Up

Yee-haw! It's time for the ole ticket-roundup kiddos! It's that post that I do monthlyish that takes me hours but you seem to find very helpful. *insert sympathy* 2011 is coming to a closer before you know it and there are a few note-able shows that you should snag tickets for before they're all gone. I like to explain that my mention of a show in this post does not, necessarily, equal an endorsement of the show, artist, venue etc. There will be things I list here that I couldn't care less about if I tried. I, also, do not consider this to be comprehensive. Consider this your virtual highlighter. With that all said, the format is, click on the name of the artist, for the ticket page, click on the name of the venue for the venue's homepage. Oh, also, if it just says "Emo's" that implies the Red River location and "Beauty Ballroom" is the new E. Riverside location. The fun begins after the break.


Wilco - Born Alone video via YouTube

Thursday, Dec. 1st

• Wilco at ACL Live


• MiMOSA at La Zona Rosa


• The Devil Makes Three at Stubb's

Friday, Dec.2nd

• Rachel Yamagata at Parish


• DMX at The Mansion


• Alpha Rev at La Zona Rosa


• MyNameisJohnMichael at Stubb's

Saturday, Dec. 3rd

• Frank Smith at Mohawk


• Big Sean at Emo's East

Sunday, Dec. 4th

• The National / Local Natives at Austin Music Hall


• Cake at Stubb's


• Ume at Stubb's

Tuesday, Dec. 6th

• The Wailers at Antone's

Wednesday, Dec. 7th

• Not In the Face at Antone's

Thursday, Dec. 8th

• The Sea and Cake at Mohawk

Friday Dec. 9th

• Kimya Dawsom at St. David's Episcopal Church


• Digitalism at Parish


• Flosstradamus at Beauty Bar


• Yukon Blonde at Lambert's


• Politics at Frank

Digitalism - 2 Hearts video via YouTube

Saturday, Dec. 10th

• Scratch Acid at Emo's East


• Scarface at Mohawk


• Wild Child at Stubb's


• Craig Finn / Will Johnson of The Hold Steady at Frank

Tuesday, Dec. 13th

• Trampled by Turtles at Parish

Wednesday, Dec. 14th

• The Couch (CD Release) at Mohawk

Thursday, Dec. 15th

• Devin the Dude at Mohawk


• The Pons at Frank

Friday, Dec. 16th

• Man or Astroman? at Emo's


• White Ghost Shivers (CD Release) at Antone's

Saturday, Dec. 17th

• Clutch at Emo's East


• Auto Body at Mohawk

Sunday, Dec. 18th

• Clutch at Emo's

Wednesday, Dec. 21st

• Yip Deceiver at Mohawk


• Tori Amos at Bass Concert Hall

Wednesday, Dec. 28th

• Better Than Ezra / Cowboy Mouth at ACL Live

Thursday, Dec. 29th

• Quintron / Mindspiders at Emo's

Friday, Dec. 30th (My birthday)

• Willie Nelson & Friends at ACL Live


• Christopher Cross at One World Theater (2 shows, 1 night)

Saturday, Dec. 31st

• The Black Angels / Wooden Shjips / Ume at Emo's East


• White Denim / Royal Bangs at Empire Automotive


• Grupo Fantasma at Beauty Ballroom


• All My Friends at Beauty Bar


• T. Bird and the Breaks at Stubb's


• Willie Nelson & Friends at ACL Live

Saturday, Jan. 14th

• Wu-Tang Clan at Emo's East


• Cass McCombs at Stubb's


• Starfucker at Mohawk


• Reverend Horton Heat / Not in the Face at Antone's

Cass McCombs - The Same Thing video via YouTube

Tuesday, Jan. 17th

• Langhorne Slim at Stubb's

Friday, Jan. 20th

• The Toasters at Antone's

Wednesday, Jan. 25th

• The Kills at Stubb's

Friday, Jan. 27th

• Mutemath at Stubb's

Sunday, Jan. 29th

• Twin Sister at Mohawk

Twin Sister - Kimmis in a Rice Field video via YouTube

Friday, Feb. 3rd

• They Might Be Giants at La Zona Rosa


• Blood, Sweat, & Tears at One World Theater (2 shows, 1 night)

Saturday, Feb. 4th

• World/Inferno Friendship Society at Red 7


• Los Lobos at One World Theater (2 shows, 1 night)


• G Love & Special Sauce at La Zona Rosa

Saturday, Feb. 11th

• Thurston Moore at St. David's Episcopal Church


• The Lemonheads at Mohawk

Friday, Feb. 17th

• Loretta Lynn at ACL Live

Tuesday, Feb.21st

• Matthew Good at Antone's

Saturday, Feb. 25th

• Cloud Nothings at Red 7

Wednesday, Feb. 29th

• Dropkick Murphys at Emo's East


• Grimes / Born Gold

Grimes - Vanessa video via YouTube

Saturday, March 3rd

• Big Head Todd & the Monsters at Stubb's

Wednesday, March 7th

• Radiohead / Other Lives at Frank Erwin Center

Tuesday, March 13th

Band of Skulls / We Are Augustines at Antone's

Thursday, May 3rd

• Roger Waters performing The Wall at Frank Erwin Center

Friday, Mar. 23rd

• The Naked and Famous at Stubb's

Saturday, Mar. 24th

• Young the Giant at Stubb's

Sunday, Mar. 25th

• Young the Giant at Stubb's

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Giveaway: This Will Destroy You w/Tactics

I know it's only Tuesday but a lot of you will be away from the internet (gasp) in the latter part of this week so I'm giving you the early heads-up on a show going on at Emo's this Saturday night. You can catch This Will Destroy You at classic Emo's on Red River, tickets are $15-$17 depending on when you buy them but I have 3 pair to giveaway. Not only that, one of those 3 sets of tickets will come with, Tunnel Blanket, the new album from This Will Destroy You pressed on colored vinyl as well as an 11 x 17 poster. To win is simple, all you have to do is e-mail contest@austinbloggylimits.com with "TWDY" in the subject and tell me why you want to win. The winners will be chosen at random on black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving). All 3 sets of winners will get in to the show free of charge and one of the lucky winners will get the prize pack with the vinyl and the poster.


This Will Destroy You - Communal Blood video via YouTube

In what, could be, the most perfect musical pairing to date, Tactics will be playing the support slot at this Saturday's show. The latest release from instrumental rock group, Tactics is the single, Titan. If you think it sounds good on their Bandcamp wait until you hear them perform live. There really aren't very many opportunities left to see shows at Emo's Red River location but this show is the perfect sort of last hurrah. Local bands, with a big sprawling songs, cheap beer in hand that's the way I want to remember classic Emo's.




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Barbarella's 2 Year Anniversary

Well kiddies, the weekend is upon us and there are lots of fantastic things for you to occupy your time with but I'm already focused on Sunday. Our baby sister Barbarella is entering her terrible twos and she's throwing one hell of a party to celebrate. It seems fitting that Glitoris is soundtracking the night, since without Tuezgayz I might have never discovered what a bumpin' place Barbarella is to begin with. This isn't just Tuezgayz on a Sunday though, DJ Harvey will be bringing his New Noise as well.

It all kicks off at 10pm Sunday night and the first 100 people through the door will receive a commemorative T-Shirt to help you remember you were there when the sun comes up on Monday. There's no cover charge but the party is 21+, happy hour is running all night so you can get $1 Lone Stars till it's no longer legal. Grab your best girl, guy, transgendered person, roommate, co-worker, acquaintance, ex-lover, future-lover, frienemy or foe and get your booty on the dancefloor. We won't let you out until your drenched with sweat and you have glitter in unknown places from unknown places.

Blood Diamonds - Grin video via YouTube

Join myself, ATXHipsters and theGlitoris for the best birthday for a 2 year old that you have ever seen. Oh, and don't forget parking meters are free downtown on a Sunday but with happy hour going all night, you should plan for sober transportation. Draw straws to decide who stays sober. Last but not least, if you have a smartphone, Barbarella is a Tabbed Out venue and that's a great way to NOT lose your credit card at the bar.

Beyconce´ - Countdown video via YouTube

Make sure you RSVP on Facebook and you should "Like" this event on Do512 while you're at it. See you on the dancefloor!

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The Foreign Exchange at the ND

The Foreign Exchange isn't the greatest name for a hip-hop group. They never went platinum, never went jail, never been shot and you probably never heard their songs on the radio. What they do have is great music, thoughtful lyrics and an uplifting message. The story behind their name is simple, all of the beats you hear are produced by a man who goes by Nicolay. He was born and raised in the Netherlands and produced all of the beats for the first album from The Foreign Exchange overseas. He has, since, moved to South Carolina, which is much closer to where you'll find his other musical half Phonte, who is based in North Carolina. Phonte was once part of, the now defunct, hip-hop collective known as Little Brother. Now that you know the history, you should know that this Friday is my first chance to ever see The Foreign Exchange in person and I am incredibly excited. Our friends over at Knuckle Rumler are hosting Nicolay and Phonte at the ND and I think you should be there. It's a Friday night show, so (hopefully) you don't have to work the next morning. As of this moment, you can still get tickets for the discounted advance ticket price but I think today is the last day for that price so act quickly. Once you have your tickets, RSVP on F*c*book so your friends know.

The Foreign Exchange - The Last Fall video via YouTube

Sharing the bill with The Foreign Exchange at the ND Friday night, you'll find Zo!, Sy Smith and Jeanne Jolly. You can expect to hear these artists performing solo as well as with The Foreign Exchange. If, you've ever heard recordings of The Foreign Exchange then you know it's a collective sound, the whole idea of the project is to bring varying voices, styles and minds to one project. Also, did I mention they'll be performing with a live band? Because that's happening. Get your tickets now!

The Foreign Exchange - Raw Life video via YouTube

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Holy Ghost! at the Parish

It's not very often that I get to blog about two awesome shows at the Parish in one week. As you know, I love the Parish and it saddens me that it's being under-utilized. Well, this week they've got Real Estate on Wednesday night and Holy Ghost! on Thursday night. Two very different types of show but also two really great shows. This, Brooklyn-duo's, latest release is a single out on Green Label Sound for the song, I Wanted to Tell Her, which is a brand-new take on the Ministry classic. They also have a full-length, eponymous, album that came out on DFA Records this year, as well as an EP for the song, Hold My Breath. In other words, they have been very busy and they have been on the road a lot. Thursday night's show is going to be an effing party, so if you want to start your weekend early, I suggest you grab yourself some tickets. Or, will you be the lucky person who wins a pair of tickets via Austin Bloggy Limits? All you have to do to win is send an e-mail with "Holy Ghost!" in the subject and your name in the body to contest@austinbloggylimits.com. One name will be chosen at random to have their name on the list with a +1 to Thursday night's show. You will be notified by email on Wednesday afternoon if you HAVE won.

Holy Ghost! - I Wanted to Tell Her video via YouTube

Holy Ghost! - Wait & See video via YouTube

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Real Estate and Big Troubles at the Parish

Alright y'all, I really can't believe Wednesday night's Real Estate show at the Parish isn't sold-out yet. In fact, pause reading the rest of this and click this link for tickets now because by the time you're done reading they may not be available any more. It's a $13 ticket, the show is at one of the best venues in the city and Real Estate are touring in support of their best material to date. Granted, it's only their second album but Days is light-years ahead in terms of production value and the song-craft is as good as its ever been, which is to say pretty great. Don't get it twisted, I love the first album from Real Estate, their songs always sounds so classic but I think this latest release is just the perfect follow-up. The songs are more focused, the production is slicker without losing the do-it-yourself aesthetic and overall it's just very shiny and lovely. Hence my surprise that the show isn't sold-out.

Real Estate - It's Real video via YouTube

Once you have secured your tickets for Wednesday night's show at the Parish be sure you arrive early enough to catch, support act, Big Troubles. Their album Romantic Comedy is out now and features 10, beautifully written, songs that make me think of 90's-era college-rock, great brit-pop and jangly-indie-rock. There are sing along choruses, beachy guitar sounds and a youthful, disaffected love-lorn vibe permeates the album as a whole. The, limited edition, red vinyl release of the album is sold-out on the Slumberland Records site but I'm guessing they'll have it with them at the merch table Wednesday night, so bring some cash vinyl-junkies. I've taken the liberty of embedding Big Troubles's album in this post so you can get an idea of what you'll be listening to. I feel like they are the perfect support act for Real Estate. This is looking to be a really great show.

Big Troubles - Sad Girls - video via YouTube

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