Interview: Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs

I have been trying to convince my friends and co-workers to go to tonight's Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs show at the Mohawk. One of the things I've been telling them is that it could be one of the most important shows of the year. Sure, that's somewhat hyperbolic but I honestly believe it. TEED's music is completely infectious and undeniably good. In Europe he is already performing at festivals so, to have the opportunity to see him play in the tiny little room inside the Mohawk is an extremely rare opportunity. Tonight's show will be one of those experiences where you'll tell people you saw TEED and the Mohawk inside and they'll be flabbergasted. All of the elements of future fame are there. He's got blogger buzz, he's big in the U.K., he has the approval of platinum-selling superstars, and he's on the verge of releasing his debut full-length album. I didn't even mention the best part, which is that tickets are only $10. I had the chance to send some questions to TEED in anticipation of tonight's show at the Mohawk and you can find those below the break. In the meantime, you should desk-dance to this song:


Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs - Tapes & Money video via YouTube

• You've been called the hot new dance act from England in numerous publications.  Is that inspiring or does it simply inspire pressure and stress?

Errr...honestly, that's just weird. I like making music and I'm really happy people like what I make.

• What has been the most surreal moment of your music career thus far?

It's always surreal traveling around dressing up playing music.

• What has been the most encouraging thing for you so far?  Most discouraging?

It's good when people make noise and dance, it's bad when I don't get enough sleep.

• When other people remix your music does it feel like they're messing with your children or do you enjoy hearing other's interpretations of your music?

No, it's cool. The original is always finished first so I'm happy to hear what people do with it.

• I'm sure you've been asked to do lots of remixes for other people in the past year or more, which request was the most shocking to you?  Who would you like to remix but haven't yet?

Lady Gaga definitely, I didn't think that would happen. I would like to remix people with completely different sounds to me.

Lady Gaga - Marry the Night Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaur remix via YouTube

• Can Austin expect the full, dinosaur-costume, head-dress, on-stage dancer regalia at the Mohawk or did you have to scale back your stage production for the U.S. tour

Wait and see... but yeah, I had to fly.

• If money and general feasibility were no object, what sort of stage show would you create?

I don't know. I think a good show is one that makes the most out of the shitty venues and small amounts of money we have to play with. I've still got a way to go there.

• Do you still have/wear your first dino-costume that your mother helped you to sew?

I've still got it somewhere, but it's been a while since I put it on. Maybe I should get it back out.

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Psych and Moontower Fests, Respectively

Psych Fest starts tonight and Moontower Comedy Festival continues. Meanwhile, I feel like hanging out on the sofa in my underwear with Miss Paws and Mr. S. I guess I've gotten old Austin. I don't really know when it happened but for some reason it feels very official today. My joints ache and I just want to stay in, don't judge me, it could happen to you too! For those of you who aren't sad, old men like me I'll highlight some things for you to enjoy, while I'm in bed with The Hunger Games books.

Peaking Lights headline the Beauty Ballroom tonight. People fucking love that record and with Sleep Over and Ringo Deathstarr also on the bill tonight, Beauty Ballroom could be a great one-stop destination for some trippy-ass tunes. At this point in the game, you can not buy tickets to Psych Fest online but you can pay $45 at the door, which gets you access to ALL of the shows within a single day. You can find the complete line-up here. That may seem steep but it's pretty fair considering how many bands you'll have the chance to see.


Peaking Lights - Hey Sparrow video via YouTube


As far as the Moontower Comedy Festival goes, tonight and tomorrow are the last nights so at this point it would be pretty silly of you to buy a badge if you haven't already. I would suggest you commit to a venue and buy an individual ticket. Tonight, I would suggest you check out John Mulaney at the Parish or JB Smoove at the Mohawk. If you bring a friend of a different race to 29th St. Ballroom tonight for W. Kamau Bell they're doing a 2 for 1 admission.

There's tons of other elements to both of these festivals so, if you feel like hitting the town this weekend you shouldn't be want for things to choose from.


W. Kamau Bell - Two Questions That you NEVER Ask Black People About Their Hair video via YouTube

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Hospitality and Eleanor Friedberger at Frank

With all of the festival hub-bub this weekend it's easy to overlook some of the other quality events going on in Austin. Especially when said events take place in a gourmet hot dog restaurant in the warehouse district. Well Bloggy-faithful, I'm here to point you in the right direction, which isn't to say those festivals are the wrong direction, this is just another choice for you. Hospitality have released an indie-pop confection of a record that have been on repeat at Bloggy-HQ throughout most of the year. I had the chance to see them during SXSW this year and they truly delivered. Their songs have great melodies and you'll find yourself humming them for days after listening. In a live setting they sound even better than on the record. The vocals are on point and the band is a cohesive, well-rehearsed unit. As far as the venue is concerned, Frank actually has great sound, especially when you consider it's a restaurant. However, it is a cramped little space and you will have to wade through the crowd and squeeze by the stage if you need to use the bathroom so, don't drink too much. Tickets are quite reasonable at around $12 and look on the bright-side, you won't have to deal with 6th St. on a Saturday night.


Hospitality - Friends of Friends video via YouTube


The ticket site lists Eleanor Friedberger as the headliner tomorrow night, which shouldn't surprise me since she has been around a lot longer and she played after Hospitality at the Merge Records showcase during SXSW. Her set is a lot quieter and more intimate than what you will hear from Hospitality. She performs solo, just herself and a guitar. Here lyrics are intimate, clever, coy and occasionally bitter and biting. During her SXSW set she informed the audience that she was going to play quietly so that they would be quiet. I would expect she'll try the same thing at Frank tomorrow night and I hope that it works. As I mentioned, Frank is an intimate performance space and when someone is talking it is very disruptive to the performer and the audience. The performer can plainly see the audience so I wouldn't be too surprised if Friedberger called people out.


Eleanor Friedberger - I Won't Fall Apart on You Tonight video via YouTube

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Lee Fields and the Expressions at the Continental Club

With everything going on in Austin the last couple of weeks, tonight's Lee Fields & the Expressions show at the Continental Club really snuck up on me. Thankfully, I bought myself and Mr. S. some tickets as soon as the show was announced. I know a lot of you have other plans tonight but Lee Fields doesn't go on until 11:30p so you should consider working this show into your schedule. If you're a fan of Charles Bradley, Sharon Jones or soul music in general then I bet you'll be thoroughly impressed with Lee Fields. If you can't make it out to tonight's show then you should at least check out Lee's latest album Faithful Man, it's an instant classic. My particular jam is I Still Got It. In the meantime here's a live video fo the title track courtesy of Your Tru.ly.


Lee Fields - Faithful Man video via YouTube


I'm not entirely sure what the ticket situation is for tonight. I know that the buy ticket link is no longer on the Continental's page but that doesn't mean it's sold-out. They are pretty old-school so I would suspect that you can pay a cover charge to get in. The tickets were $17 so bring a $20 for sure. If it is sold-out, I would think they would list that on their site but like I said they are pretty old-school so, who knows? When I bought my ticket online I was sent to a PayPal page if that gives you any idea.


Lee Fields - You're the Kind of Girl video via YouTube

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Moontower Comedy and Oddity Fesitval

The Moontower Comedy an Oddity Festival kicks off for the first time every tomorrow evening with comedy showcases all over the city. The festival will run from Wednesday night through Saturday night with a lot of the comedians performing a few times so everyone will get a chance to see them perform. I've made a Spotify Playlist so you can preview some of the acts who will be performing but there are many who are not on Spotify. The comedians range in age, experience and exposure and their styles are just as varied. If you'd like to attend all or part of the festival, there are three different levels of entry available. If you just want to buy your way in to a specific performance there are Individual Tickets. At the mid-level, you can purchase the You Betcha I'm Somebody pass, which even included parking downtown. Lastly, you can be a baller and go for broke with the Hell Yeah I'm a VIP pass. The VIP pass will get you guaranteed first entry into ALL of the shows, including the biggest events happening at the Paramount Theater. You can find the full line-up for the festival here. In the meantime, here's one of my highlights:


Maria Bamford - Sex Hole video via YouTube

Since this is the first year for the Moontower Comedy Festival I really don't know what to expect. The venues are scattered throughout the city so be sure to plan accordingly. I know that there are nights when I will want to catch sets at Cap City Comedy Club followed by sets downtown. If you're doing the same make sure not to plan back to back sets without any gap in between.

Who are you most excited to see? Are you planning to get passes or simply buy your way in to individual events?

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Bear in Heaven with Doldrums and Blouse

Tomorrow night at the Parish is one of the most solid indie-rock triple bills I've seen in awhile. All three bands played at SXSW this year so, expect to hear some clever quips about how they have only been gone a few weeks. I saw both openers this year and personally, I might switch their time slots if it were up to me. However, I will say that Doldrums is more high-energy, which is much more akin to the headlining band. Also, what do I know?

I'm a big fan of the sounds that Blouse produces. Their record has a lot more moody effects than they do in a live setting but it all comes across as very woozy. It's slow-rock through a cough syrup haze and I'm totally into that.


Blouse - Ghost Dream video via YouTube


Of course, headlining this solid triple-bill tomorrow night is Bear in Heaven. Their latest album, I Love You, It's Cool is their best yet. Their songwriting is tighter than ever, the melodies catchier and the beats are ass-shake inducing. Also, they sound more like the Pet Shop Boys than ever before and there ain't nothin' wrong with that.

If you want to check out this great show tomorrow night you should grab some tickets now because tomorrow you'll be paying day-of-show prices.


Bear in Heaven - Reflection of You video via YouTube

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Review: Shabazz Palaces and !!!

Last evening, Mr. S. and I went down to ye olde Mohawk to enjoy the sounds of !!! and Shabazz Palaces. We arrived shortly after !!! had already taken the stage. The crowd wasn't packed but it wasn't thin either. There were 6 people on stage propelling and insistent sound from the stage causing the audience to gyrate maniacally. By the time we found our spot on the front balcony the lead-singer had managed to scale the speakers and was on the side terrace singing in people's faces and moving like one of those boys in the cages at Rain. His shorts were shockingly short and people below MAY have seen his balls but that is unconfirmed. The band tore through a wide array of songs from their career mixing up classics with unreleased songs, all of which were bursting with energy. I have never been a huge fan of !!! records and I wasn't super-interested in catching their set last night but by the time they were through I felt like a fool. They have a ridiculously fun energy and I look forward to their next show.

The energy for Shabazz Palaces' set was much more subdued but extremely entertaining nonetheless. They had two people on stage, one armed with a laptop and a drum machine. The other with bongos, a tom drum, high-hat, MPC and a couple of African percussion instruments. They took a couple of minutes getting all of their levels the way they wanted them but once they started the first song they played music wall to wall for over an hour. There was no in-between-song banter, there were no flashy lights it was simply a captivating live performance. The audience was extremely attentive with little-to-no talking. I was also incredibly impressed with how enthusiastic the crowd was. Part of me expected that a lot of people were at last night's show for !!! and that they would leave once their set was done. I was pleasantly surprised to find this was not the case. There were people in the crowd who were only marginally familiar with Shabazz Palaces but I feel like the majority knew at least some words to some songs and many people knew all the words to all of the songs.

I've been a big fan of Black Up and I have actually seen Shabazz Palaces perform at SXSW but at that point I didn't know their songs very well. Last night the songs took on a different shape, I felt an energy in them that I hadn't felt before and I know I'm not the only one. No one uses the sounds that you'll hear on Black Up and hearing those sounds reproduced live makes them sound that much more profound somehow. I am convinced that Shabazz Palaces exist on another plane, in another dimension and we are lucky to receive their transmissions.

After the show I told Mr. S. that I hope Black Up becomes a point of inspiration for the next generation of hip-hop. It is powerful and different enough to spawn a brand new movement in hip-hop and I embrace that potential whole-heartedly.

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Shabazz Palaces at the Mohawk

photo by David Belisle

It's been a little more than a year since I first saw Shabazz Palaces at SWSW and their music still sounds incredibly fresh to me. When I first saw them perform my impression was just that it sounded weird but I wanted to explore it more. In the last year, I have listened to everything they have on Spotify and I bought Black Up on vinyl. Shabazz Palaces are bending the notion of what "Hip-Hop" is and what it CAN be. They don't sound like anyone else, they aren't making club bangers they aren't making pop-radio music they are making headphone hip-hop for the present from the future. I know Sunday night shows can be tricky, what with work/school on Monday but I implore you to be at the Mohawk this Sunday night to see Shabazz Palaces. Also, tell everyone you know to check out their album Black Up. Especially your friends who won't STFU about Drake. I get it, Drake is talented and he's entertaining but Shabazz Palaces is making more challenging, interesting, futurist music than Drake could ever dream of. Grab yourself some tickets now. Let's hang out.


Shabazz Palaces - Swerve...the reeping of all that is worthwhile (Noir not withstanding) video via YouTube


So, maybe (for some reason) you're not sold on Shabazz Palaces but you like dance-punk. Well, lucky you because in what might be the oddest pairing in ages, !!! is playing the support slot for at the Mohawk Sunday night. As far as I know, their latest full-length album came out in 2010. However, they might be touring in support of their follow-up to Strange Weather, Isn't It? According to their Twitter feed they were hard at work in the studio two days ago. Not really sure what to expect from !!! on Sunday but they always put on a fun and energetic show.

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Heartless Bastards at La Zona Rosa

Photo Credit: Nathan Presley

The title of this post may lead you to believe that I am referring to the people who set the drink prices at La Zona Rosa and they ARE heartless bastards. However, coincidentally, the band Heartless Bastards play La Zona Rosa tomorrow night in support of their latest album Arrow. The album was recorded and produced right here in Austin by Jim Eno of Spoon so, if you're a Jim Eno spotter you'll probably want to be at tomorrow night's show if only for that reason. For those of us who were lucky enough to catch the Heartless Bastards' set at Fun Fun Fun Fest last year we can attest to the fact that the band is in top form. The new songs are fantastic live with loads of energy and the band has never sounded like a more cohesive unit. If this sounds like something you might be interested in, you should probably get yourself a ticket to tomorrow night's show.



Heartless Bastards - Parted Ways video via YouTube

Playing the support slot for tomorrow night's Heartless Bastards show will be David Vandervelde who you might know from his work with a little band called Wilco. Perhaps you've heard of them? Ok, that's a bit misleading. Vandervelde has actually worked with Jay Bennett who is IN Wilco, which is way closer than you've ever been to working with Wilco so back off! Vandervelde is touring in support of an upcoming album. For now, he has released More Than You Can Feel as a digital single via Secretly Canadian records. You can download that song for free right here

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Record Store Day Saturday

This Saturday is Mr. S.' favorite day of the year. It's a holiday that was invented in my home-state of Maine, that's right kiddos it's Record Store Day! That special time of year when, the usually, nocturnal record collector rises early to get into their favorite shop as the doors open in hopes of grabbing an assload of rare and exclusive vinyl. Each year there are more and more unique collectable pieces. I'm talking colored, numbered pressings, unique packaging exclusive remixes, all sorts of good stuff. I'm not going to go through EVERY cool piece that will be available but I'll highlight some cool things that you'll want to get your grubby little mitts on.

The first thing want to highlight is what you see pictured above and below these words. Rather than try to explain this beauty in my own words, here is the illustrious press release:

Smugglers Way is Domino and Ribbon's first ever limited edition zine made exclusively for Record Store Day (April 21st) featuring FIVE individual, multi-colored flexi discs of EXCLUSIVE, UNRELEASED songs from Dirty Projectors, Real Estate, Cass McCombs, John Maus, and Villagers. The zine comprises 24 pages of original art and prose from Domino and Ribbon artists. Highlights include a short story penned by James Yorkston; a long form poem by Laura Marling; short form pieces by Alex Bleeker (Real Estate), Ade Blackburn (Clinic), and Tom Fleming (Wild Beasts); illustrations from Alison Mosshart (The Kills), Andrea Estella (Twin Sister), Conor O'Brien (Villagers) and Jon Hopkins; photography from Jana Hunter (Lower Dens), and an original arranged score of music by Owen Pallett. Bjorn Copeland of Black Dice designed the cover and Rob Carmichael at SEEN is responsible for the art direction and layout.

Smugglers Way - Record Store Day Exclusive video via YouTube

For the rest of the Record Store Day highlights, I'm going to consult the list Mr. S. printed and literally highlighted using two different colors. One color is labeled as, "Must Have" the other is listed as "Possible." So, here is what Mr. S. considers a "Must Have" this Saturday:

Must Haves:

• Ryan Adams - Heartbreak a Stranger b/w Black Sheets of Rain 7" colored vinyl
• Arcade Fire - Sprawl II 12"
• Beach House - Lazuli b/w Equal Mind 7" Blue Vinyl
• Karen Elson - Milk and Honey b/w Winter's Going 7" Milk & Honey Colored
• The Flaming Lips - The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends 2x LP, Custom Jackets
• Aretha Franklin/Otis Redding - Respect 7" Gold Vinyl
• M83 - Mirror 7" Etched
• mclusky - mclusky Do Dallas 150g White Vinyl
• Shabazz Palaces - Live at KEXP 12"
• Sigur Rós - Hvarf/Heim 2x LP Colored Vinyl
• Various Artists - Empire Records Soundtrack 2x LP Orange Vinyl
• Various Artists - Pretty in Pink Soundtrack 12" Pink (duh) Vinyl
• Various Artists - The Breakfast Club Soundtrack 12" White Vinyl
• Paul Weller - That Dangerous Age 7" Red Vinyl
• Sara Watkins ft. Fiona Apple/The Everly Brothers - You're the One I Love 7" Olive Green w/Black Splatter
• The White Stripes - Hand Springs/Red Death at 6:14 7" Black and Red Swirl
• Gorillaz ft. James Murphy & Andre 3000 - Do Ya Thing 10"
• Jukebox the Ghost - I Love You Always Forever 7"
• The Mynabirds - Generals 7"
• Caitlin Rose - Piledriver Waltz 7"
• Ra Ra Riot/Delicate Steve - Valerie/The Big Ship 7" Hand-Numbered, White

Possible

• Afrika Bambaataa/MC5 - Kick Out the Jams 7" White w/Splatter
• ABBA - Voulez-Vouz Extended Dance Remix 180g 12" 45rpm translucent w/blue glitter

Clearly there is a lot more that Mr. S. "Must Have" than what he finds to be a possibility. There are only a few things that I might add to this list and I consider them all to be "Possibly":

• Brendan Benson - What Kind of World 7"
• Bowerbirds - Bend 7"
• Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. - We Almost Lost Detroit EP 12"
• The Hives - Go Right Ahead 7"
• Mastodon/The Flaming Lips - A Spoonful Weighs a Ton 7" Baby Pink
• Of Monsters and Men - Into the Woods EP 10"
• Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros - One Love to Another 7"
• St. Vincent - KROKODIL 7" Red
• Lydia Loveless - Bad Way to Go 7"
• Neon Indian - Hex Girlfriend 10" Translucent Blue
• Oberhofer - Away Frm U 7"

So, there you have it. Several months rent spent on one day but seriously, it's great to spend money on music. It's also great to spend money on small businesses in your community, this is the best of both worlds. With that in mind, don't be a total fucking dick-bag ass-hat loser-face by putting your Record Store Day purchases on eBay. That's what assholes do. REALLY BIG ASSHOLES do all of that BEFORE Record Store Day. In a similar vein, don't buy Record Store Day exclusives from ass-hats on eBay, that's lame as fuck. Happy shopping and line-up early if you expect to get any of the rare stuff. Oh, and I forgot to mention that Waterloo Records will have Garbage in-store at 3pm on Saturday to sign stuff. Their new record isn't out but they will have a white vinyl 7" of Blood for Poppies. However there are only 1000 copies of that on the planet, so good luck getting THAT signed.

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