Ume, Not in the Face, The Sour Notes, Gentlemen Rogues

Alright, I know it's Tuesday but I also know that a lot of you are down to go out tonight anyway. This is Austin, the weekend's any two days you want them to be. It's with that spirit that I encourage you to go out tonight to catch four excellent local bands for three measly dollars at Holy Mountain. Clearly, I'm a big fan of Ume's big rock sounds and their new material is better than ever but I could truly highlight any of the band's on tonight's bill.

In addition to having one of the best/worst band names in town Not in the Face could be the next Austin breakout act. They've been tapped to play SXSW this year and I don't think it's outrageous to think they could get signed to a mini-major if they're seen by the right set of eyes. Let's not get ahead of ourselves though, tonight you can see them with your own eyes.


Not in the Face - Paul video via YouTube

There are no advance tickets and since the show is only $3, you should arrive early if you expect to get in. Also, I don't know how much stock you take in Facebook Events, as far as guestimating how many people will actually be some where. But tonight's show, has a lot of people marked as "attending" on the event page. Holy Mountain isn't a big venue and it's going to be tough to get drinks once the crowd starts pouring in. Luckily, Gentlemen Rogues and The Sour Notes are both worth arriving early for. I'd expect Gentlemen Rogues to start around 9pm.


The Sour Notes - Nothing's More Contagious Than Evil video via YouTube

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Bloggy at the Movies: 30 Favorite Films of 2012

Obviously, the main focus of Austin Bloggy Limits is music but as many of you who know me in real life know, my boyfriend (Mr. S.) is a film critic. This means that I end up seeing A LOT of films each year. I don't go to all of the film festivals in town like he does, although I do go to Austin Film Fest but we go to the theater a couple of times a week to see anything new and noteworthy. I also have the opportunity to see screeners that he is sent for review.

Year-end film lists can be tricky because of the timing of films. It's not as neat and tidy as music where GENERALLY you know exactly what year an album was released. With films, they can do the festival circuit and not get released to the public until much later. In the case of the film, Klown it was actually released in 2010 but was then re-released in 2012. With Sound of My Voice it did the festival circuit in 2011 but the studio held it until 2012. Then there's all of the films that were officially released in New York and L.A. in late 2012 but didn't play here in Austin until January. Hence, why I'm not posting this until now.

I'm sure some of you will peruse this list and see some glaring omissions or you will be shocked and appalled by what I have included. So, let's remember that art is subjective. Also, just because it's critically acclaimed doesn't mean it's one of my favorites. The converse is true as well, just because I included a film amongst my favorites doesn't mean it was a critical darling. Lincoln is a film, which received a lot of critical praise and will most likely win a lot of Oscars but I didn't like it. I think Daniel Day Lewis gave an excellent performance but that's not enough to make me like the film. For that matter, I think that Joaquin Phoenix's performance in The Master was more impressive than DDL's but it isn't going to win the Oscar. The Master was another film filled with fantastic performances and beautiful cinematography and I feel lucky to have seen it projected on 70mm film here in Austin. However, it didn't breach my top 30 as one of my favorite overall films of 2012.

I suspect I'll also receive comments for including The Avengers but not The Dark Knight Rises to which I say, Joss Whedon. I'd also like to note that I actually liked Cloud Atlas but it just didn't make my top 30. Oh, one more thing, click any movie poster to jump to the trailer in a new window. Now that all of that is out of the way, let's get to the list shall we?

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Planning Ahead: Foxygen

Yesterday I did a big ticket round-up post featuring lots of upcoming shows that are worth your time money and attention but last night I realized I need to do one that specifically implores the acquisition of tickets to the Foxygen show at the Mohawk on February 20th. I don't usually like to do a specific show preview a month before the actual show but on February 20th Foxygen play the Mohawk and if you're not there, you're going to kick yourself. Their first full-length LP, We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic was released on Tuesday and it's pretty much spectacular.

I'm sure there will be people who listen to the record and feel like the hype is undeserved but I'm totally in love with what Foxygen is throwing down. It's 70's glam-rock with a contemporary twist and if you want to buy the new record on vinyl at a shop around town you can't because it's already sold-out (don't worry I already e-mailed them though.) It's even out of stock on Amazon. They were one of the most buzzed about bands at CMJ Fest in the fall and you can bet your ass they will be one of the most talked about bands at SXSW. The haters will say, I'm only writing about this because Pitchfork did but do you think it's possible that the reason so many blogs agree on some bands is because they're legit?


Foxygen - Shuggie video via YouTube


I feel like a dick structuring this post in this way because Foxygen are not headlining the Mohawk show on February 20th. That honor actually belongs to Unknown Mortal Orchestra, whom I am also a big fan of. However, I feel like UMO might be upstaged on this tour. From everything I've seen/heard/read Foxygen are going to be bringing a lot more energy to the stage than a typical Unknown Mortal Orchestra show but who knows maybe that will inspire them. Regardless, both bands write excellent music and are excellent performers. Did I mention you should REALLY get tickets to this show? BECAUSE YOU SHOULD!


Unknown Mortal Orchestra - Swim and Sleep (Like A Shark) video via YouTube

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Planning Ahead: Ticket Linkage

2013 is really starting to ramp up now. Last night Purity Ring was in town, Cat Power will be here this weekend and that's just a teensy, tiny preview of what's in store for us this year. It'll be SXSW before you know it so you better get out there and enjoy our venues before they are plastered with Cool Ranch Doritos Tacos banners. In other words, it's time for me to post a super labor-intensive but super simple looking series of links highlighting shows you should get tickets for before they're sold-out. As usual, I want to mention that there are shows I'll be mentioning/linking to that I wouldn't, necessarily, attend myself but I feel like some of you would want to know about these shows. Also, this site is not sponsored by any of these venues but I'm not opposed if they'd like to kick me some cash, call me. Let's start with this Saturday's Cat Power show at ACL Live. I can't believe this show isn't sold-out yet?!?! Her last record, Sun is SO. FUCKING. GOOD.


Cat Power - Manhattan video via YouTube

Alright, so basically the way this is going to work is I'm going to straight-up list shows coming up. If you want tickets to the show click the name of the artist and the ticket link will appear in a new window. In the past, I've also linked to the venue itself but fuck that noise, it's called Google.

Wednesday, January 23rd:

• Calexico at Emo's
• Shakey Graves / Hello Caller at Parish

Friday, January 25th:

• Ty Segall / OBN III's at Mohawk
• Quiet Company / Wild Child at Antone's
• Drive-By Truckers at Emo's

Saturday, January 26th:

• What Made Milwaukee Famous at Antone's
• Geographer / On and On at Mohawk
• Zappa Plays Zappa at Stubb's

Wednesday, January 30th:

• The Front Bottoms at Mohawk
• Diana Ross at ACL Live

Thursday, January 31st:

• Wale at Emo's

Friday, February 1st:

• Onuinu / Love Inks / Roger Sellers at Mohawk (Inside)
• Centro-matic / Frank Smith at Mohawk (outside)
• The Tontons / The Couch / Emily Bell at Stubb's

Saturday, February 2nd:

• Toro y Moi at Emo's
• God-des and She at Holy Mountain

Toro y Moi - Say That video via YouTube

Monday, February 4th:

• Mice Parade at Mohawk

Tuesday, February 3rd:

• Alejandro Escovedo at Continental Club

Thursday, February 7th

• Hello Caller at Mohawk
• Nakia at Sahara Lounge

Saturday, February 9th:

• Girl in a Coma at Mohawk

Monday, February 11th:

• The XX at ACL Live
• Local H at Mohawk

Tuesday, February 12th:

• The XX at ACL Live
• fun. at Stubb's
• Alejandro Escovedo at Continental Club

Wednesday, February 13th:

• Morrissey at Austin Music Hall
• Foreign Mothers at Beerland

Thursday, February 14th:

• Tift Merritt at Parish
• Suzanne Vega at Paramount Theater
• Nakia at Sahara Lounge

Friday, February 15th:

• Love Inks at Emo's
• Letting Up Despite Great Faults at Frank
• Lucero at Mohawk

Saturday, February 16th:

• Shearwater / Brass Bed at Parish

Sunday, February, 17th:

• The Toasters at Antone's

Wednesday, February 20th:

• Unknown Mortal Orchestra / Foxygen at Mohawk (Outside)
• Ramona Falls / Social Studies at Mohawk (Inside)
• Ra Ra Riot at Belmont
• The Hives / Flesh Lights at Emo's

Foxygen - San Francisco video via YouTube

Thursday, February 21st:

• OBN III's at Beerland
• Nakia at Sahara Lounge

Friday, February 22nd:

• He's My Brother She's My Sister at Parish
• Old 97's at Antone's

Saturday, February 23rd:

• The Maccabees at Parish
• Jukebox the Ghost / Matt Pond at Stubb's

Sunday, February 24th:

• Electric Six at Stubb's

Tuesday, February 26th:

• Tame Impala at Stubb's

Wednesday, February, 27th:

• Mary J. Blige at ACL Live
• Tristan Prettyman at Parish

Thursday, February 28th:

• Big Gigantic at Stubb's
• Nakia at Sahara Lounge

Friday, March 1st:

• Coheed and Cambria at Stubb's

Wednesday, March 6th:

• Efterklang at Mohawk

Thursday, March 7th:

• Starfucker at Mohawk
• Kishi Bashi at Belmont

Friday, March 8th:

• Pinback at Mohawk

SXSW

Friday, March 29th:

• Deftones at ACL Live

Monday, April 1st:

• Caveman at Parish

Monday, April 8th:

• Grizzly Bear at Stubb's

Grizzly Bear - Yet Again video via YouTube

Wednesday, April 10th:

• Sigur Ros at Cedar Park Center
• Two Door Cinema Club at Stubb's

Sunday, April 21st:

• Crystal Castles at Austin Music Hall

Friday, April 26th - Sunday, April 27th

• Austin Psych Fest at Carson Creek Ranch

Thursday, May 30th - Sunday, June 2nd:

• Chaos in Tejas

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Ava Luna Return to Austin

It's been several months since I last laid ears upon Ava Luna in our fair city. Their off-kilter rhythms, white-boy soul and gorgeous harmonies charmed my pants off the last time I saw them and if you haven't seen them perform live then tomorrow night is the perfect opportunity. Austin has a new non-venue, venue that's in a warehouse on the east-side. The Museum of Human Achievement is a communal artist space, rehearsal room and a great place to throw a party. In other words this event is somewhat on the low. For all intents and purposes Ava Luna is playing a warehouse-party. You can bring your own booze but don't get too cray y'all! We want to be able to enjoy this space at least through SXSW and the sooner "the man" finds out about this off-the-grid fun it's over. Since this isn't an official concert, there aren't true "tickets" however you can throw some cash down in advance to be a part of the party. I recommend you get your Eventbrite ticket now because the price goes up tomorrow.


Ava Luna - Ice Level video via YouTube

Ava Luna is based in Brooklyn and their latest LP is called, Ice Level. The title track was one of my favorite songs of 2012. Their sound is something like Dirty Projectors with more accessibility and more overt R&B influences. They are a 7-piece band that usually tours with 3+ singers who are soulful and incredibly on point.

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Free Week is Here: Part the Fifth

There are still a few days left in the longest Free Week in the history of Austin music. Yesterday I gave you recommendations for Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. In those post, I'll give you my highlights for the final three days of Free Week. I'm going to warn you right now that there are lots of great shows at lots of great venues so you could end up running all over town. On the other hand, Free Week is all about local bands so, just keep track of who you missed and catch them later in the year. Alright, so let's get down to business. My top recommendation for Thursday night is that you catch Major Major Major at Hotel Vegas. They are playing the headlining set so expect them to start late in the evening.



Other Thursday night highlights include:

• Cheap Curls, The Sour Notes and Holy Wave at Red 7
• Frank Smith, Lean Hounds and Missions at Mohawk
• The Couch and The Pons at Club DeVille
• Guns of Navarone, Wiretree and Whiskey Shivers at Holy Mountain
• Equals and My Education at Beauty Ballroom

Friday night doesn't have as many highlights as Thursday night but there is still some great music worth checking out. My top recommandation features many of the bands who were playing at different venues on Thursday night all performing in one space. Head on over to Rainey St. for Frank Smith, The Sour Notes, Grand Child, and Black Books at The Black Heart

Other Friday night highlights include:

• The Laughing at Red 7
• Zorch, The Boxing Lesson, Boyfrndz, Blackstone Rangers, Residual Kid at Holy Mountain
• Riverboat Gamblers and East Cameron Folkcore at Mohawk
• The Midgetmen and The Gary at Club DeVille

Saturday is the final day of Free Week 2013 and it also features my highest recommendation. Red 7's inside stage features some of my favorite Austin indie-pop acts all performing on one stage. Arrive early because Tiger Waves are kicking things off and they are not to be missed. Also, sharing the bill on the inside stage will be, Hundred Visions, Oh No Oh My and TV Torso.

If for some reason you're not planning to attend the inside show at Red 7 on Saturday my second pick for the night is the Mohawk's inside showcase featuring performances from The Sour Notes, The Couch, Shivery Shakes, Letting Up Despite Great Faults, The Plastic Habit

So, there it is my top picks for the end of Free Week 2013. I hope you had a chance to hear some of your favorite local artists and maybe discovered some new favorites.

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Free Week is Here: Part the Fourth

Well, Free Week is still rolling on, in spite of the fact that it's been more than a week. Are you complaining because I'm certainly not. The next few days are going to be soggy but that certainly won't stop the music and there are still lots of great shows for you to attend. My top recommendation for tonight is the showcase over at Holy Mountain featuring Gentlemen Rogues, Broken Gold, Shivery Shakes, Golden Boys and Grape St..

I must say that Holy Mountain has really been the star of Free Week thus far. They have had a solid line-up most every night of 2013. I watched Grape St. at Cheer-Up Charlie's last week and they put on a good show. I must admit that I only loved about 65% of their set but I really LOVED what I loved. They are certainly worth seeing and with Golden Boys playing right before you'll definitely want to end your evening at Holy Mountain regardless of where you start it.


Golden Boys - Dirty Fingernails video via YouTube

Wednesday Night:

Tomorrow night is all about Shakey Graves at the Parish. He's been very popular around town lately so if you want in on this event you better show up early. Shakey Graves has been on his grind for many years now but for whatever reason he has really clicked with an Austin audience within the past year or so. He hasn't changed his sound or performance style in any sort of drastic way, he just waited until the audience came around to him and it worked. The fact that he's playing a free headlining set in Austin's best sounding room should make this the most popular showcase Wednesday evening. If you can't make it out to this Free Week Shakey Graves show at the Parish, don't worry, he'll be playing every Wednesday in January.


Shakey Graves - Late July video via YouTube

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Free Week is Here: Part the Third

You didn't think I'd leave you hanging on what to do Saturday did you? Alright, I'll be honest I considered it. I changed my mind though, geez get over it already. I like the way Part the Third looked so I'm going to do a similar thing here. Rather than recommend one show or one band, I'm just going to highlight some artists and tell you when (roughly) and where (actually) they'll be performing. In my opinion Saturday isn't AS jammed with bad-ass can't miss acts but it's certainly a solid evening of music nonetheless. Listen to this jam and then find my highlights after the break.


Mirror Travel (Formerly Follow That Bird!) - The Ghosts That Wake You video via YouTube

Starting around 8:30ish - 9:30ish:

• Little Lo at Mohawk (Inside)
• Residual Kid at Red 7 (Inside)
• LZ Love at Flamingo Cantina

Starting around 9:30ish - 10:30ish:

• Mirror Travel at Holy Mountain
• The Gents at Club DeVille
• Foot Patrol at Flamingo Cantina

Starting around 10:30ish - 11:30ish

• Flesh Lights at Red 7 (Outside)
• East Cameron Folkcore at Holy Mountain
• Stereo Is a Lie at Frank
• Dikes of Holland at Beerland

Starting around Midnight or later-ish:

• The Crack Pipes at Beerland
• Left Over Crack at Beauty Ballroom
• My Education at Red 7 (Inside)
• Marmalakes at Mohawk (Inside)
• Whitman at Frank

So, there you have it. My Saturday Free Week highlights. If you're in a band playing Free Week (or anytime really) and you're reading this. SAY YOUR BANDS NAME SEVERAL TIMES DURING YOUR PERFORMANCE!!! Most people don't know who you are, they are just wandering in to free shows and wandering out at random points. Make an effort to say, your bands name and if you have purchase-able things available at least THREE times during your set. It would really help all of us.




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Free Week is Here: Part the Second

As previously discussed, Free Week is in full swing and in 2013 a week is actually 12 days! As one might expect, since tonight is a weekend evening it's heavily stacked with great acts spread throughout downtown and downtown-annex-zones (E. Riverside, E. 6th). My top choice for tonight is the Modern Outsider showcase, which features the best of what the local label/management team has to offer right now. The evening with kick-off with The Soft Swells, followed by My Jerusalem, The Black and White Years, The Calm Blue Sea with a headlining set from Ume. In other words, it's a sold line-up from start to finish and since it's at Emo's there is free on-site parking and the line for a drink will move swiftly.


Ume - Run Wild video via YouTube

There are so many great bands playing tonight that outside of the Modern Outsider showcase, I'm going to recommend you jump around. I know that's sort of a pain in the ass but think of it is a mini-SXSW for locals-only and suck it up. So, rather than highlight a specific event, I'm going to give you time guestimates and locales. I don't have specific set-time information I'm just giving you ballpark numbers based on experience. So, here we go:

Starting around 9ish - 10ish:

• The Laughing at Mohawk (Outside)
• FEATHERS at Holy Mountain

FEATHERS - Land of the Innocent video via YouTube

Starting around 10:30ish - 11ish:

• Emily Bell at Parish
• Mixed Use Media at Mohawk (Outside)

Mixed Use Media - Trap video via YouTube

Starting around 11:00 - 11:30ish:

• Orthy at Holy Mountain
• Politics at Black Heart

Orthy - Sueños video via YouTube

Starting around Midnight or later:

• Golden Boys at Red 7 (Outside)
• A Giant Dog at Hotel Vegas
• Halaska at Lustre Pearl
• The Couch at Swan Dive
• Boyfrndz at Scoot Inn

Boyfrndz - TV video via YouTube

So there are my suggestions for this evening. Shit get's a little crazy around midnight if you want to hop around. I'm most likely just going to stick to Emo's myself but I know people like options.



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Free Week is Here: Part the First

The weather is grey and chilly, the presents have all been wrapped and returned and we've watched the time-delayed ball drop from Times Square that can only mean one thing. It's Free Week!! That's right, it's that time of year when we can converge on downtown in mass and waltz into Austin's best music venues to experiences some of Austin's best bands. It's like a scaled-down locals-only SXSW. Alright, that's kind of a stretch but it's still cool and this year the week is 10 days and it includes more venues than ever before. There are lots of great shows every night with a cluster of some of the best happening on Friday. Here are some of my recommendations to help guide you in your free-spirited, Free Week meanderings. Let's go chronologically shall we?

My first recommendation for this evening is over at Cheer-Up Charlies. Regardless, Harlem spin-off band Grape St. headlines tonight and that's my top pick. They make quirky, spastic indie-rock and their album is only available on casette so you know they're legit.



My number 2 pick for this evening is a close second. Tiger Waves is headlining Holy Mountain tonight along with Holy Wave, Grandfather Child, Politics, Borrisokane. It's a very solid line-up from start to finish but I'm most excited about the indie-pop of Tiger Waves.



Let's move onto Thursday. My top pick for Thursday night involves a trip to Beerland for Foreign Mothers. They play the middle set between Ghetto Ghouls and The Dead Space so expect them to go on around 10:30 or so.



This Friday has the most heavily stacked line-up of good bands to see. In fact, I'm just going to end this post here and pick it up with Friday recommendations tomorrow. #CoitusInterruptus

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