Wednesday, February 5, 2014

2014 Austin Music Blogger Awards

Our friends at Republic of Austin and Austin Music People have been herding cats in order to get Austin's music bloggers to work together. It seems as though they've pulled it off too because in a few very short works we will be hosting the first ever Austin Music Bloggers Awards. This event will take place at Spiderhouse Ballroom on February 27th. We encourage everyone to buy tickets in advance, they are $12 and all proceeds go toward Austin Music People. If you wait until the day of the event, you risk the event being sold-out AND tickets go up to $15 on day-of.

There will be two sets of awards given out as well as live music from some of the Austin Music Bloggers' favorite local artists. Some of the awards will be voted on by YOU and some of them will not. If you want to see what awards you can (and should) vote for there's a list right here. The music blogs behind the awards that will NOT be chosen by the public are: Austin Town Hall, Austin Writes Music, OVRLD, Pop Press International, Red River Noise, Republic of Austin and Ultra8201.

For my money the awards part of the evening is mostly a way for me to hang out with my favorite bands in town. There are bands I love who didn't receive any nominations and I'm sure there are bands who will win that I don't think should win. I'm sure there are artists that you would like to have been recognized who were not but that's the way things go. Awards are subjective, taste is subjective but we're hoping that this event is a way for all of us who always see the same people out at shows to hang out. Also, who doesn't want to win an award? I want to win an award.

So first things first, these are the bands we've booked to play the event:

There is still one name that is not on the above list. Stay-tuned for that. In the meantime, here are the nominations in the categories that are NOT voted on by the public-at-large:

BEST VENUE

Cheer Up Charlies
Holy Mountain
Hotel Vegas
Mohawk
Red 7

So, there you have it. Are you enticed to go yet? If you're not, that's cool but I'm still going to be hitting your social media about this event for the next two weeks so you might as well just get on board. Ya heard?!?

Read more!

Friday, January 31, 2014

Let's Go to Everything!

Alright y'all, there are a bevy of excellent shows to see this evening. I'm going to highlight four of them here. My top highlight for this evening is the Disclosure show at Stubb's. However, I will add that that particular show is mostly sold-out. I say mostly because the only tickets available are VIP tickets, which will set you back over $140 a piece. I know that some of us ball that hard but most of us don't, which is fine because there are still three more kick-ass shows going on tonight.

For those of you unfamiliar with Disclosure they are a pair of brothers from the U.K. who, un-ironically, produce 90's house-music for a new generation. Their record, Settle was one of my favorite releases of 2013. I have yet to see them live and I will conceit that it won't be the same without all of the guest vocalists who appear on the record. However, I anticipate the stage setup will be pretty elaborate and I know that the brothers Disclosure have a very engaging way of creating their songs live, mixing live instrumentation with on-the-fly sampling and loops. In other words, it won't just look like dudes nodding at their laptops.

Disclosure ft. Mary J. Blige - F For You video via YouTube

Speaking of my favorite albums of 2013, Darkside is also performing this evening. That means the creators of two of my favorite electronic records of 2013 are both in town together. You can find Darkside at Emo's tonight, which means you could conceivably see both Disclosure and Darkside. It would be quite a Yin and Yang experience to catch their sets back-to-back. Disclosure is very light, easily palatable electronic music. Darkside is just as their name implies, dark. This is not electronic music for ravers, this is electronic music for reading a book. In other words, Darkside is some pretty serious shit.

I might also suggest that, following the Disclosure show you head over to Red 7 for Learning Secrets' 10th Anniversary party. Delorean is headlining and I honestly can't believe this show isn't sold-out yet. Those dudes came all the way here from Spain and Learning Secrets only turns 10 once so if you don't go to this show, you'll have to wait like 15 more years for the next important birthday. Can you wait 15 years?

TONIGHT'S RED 7 SET TIMES:
Doors| 9pm
Learning Secrets DJs| 9pm - 11pm
Until The Ribbon Breaks| 11pm - 11:45pm
Learning Secrets DJs| 11:45pm - 12:45am
Delorean| 12:45am - 1:45am

Hell, with those set times you could POSSIBLY catch Disclosure, Darkside and Delorean. That would be a pain in the ass and pretty expensive but it's possible?

Hey rock kids, I haven't forgotten you. My top non-electronic/dance pick for this evening is the Holy Wave show at Hotel Vegas. There aren't advance tickets for this event and the event listing doesn't really have a cover price plainly evident BUT I would guess that it's going to be somewhere in the $10 range. In case this is your first time seeing the name Holy Wave they play woozy, Nuggets-era psychedelic music that is best experienced live. If you're a fan of Austin Psych Fest then you should definitely be at Hotel Vegas tonight to celebrate the release of Holy Wave's new LP, Relax.

Holy Wave - Wet and Wild video via YouTube

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Planning Ahead: Don't Miss These Shows

In looking ahead at what artists we can expect to see in our fair city the first thing one should consider is SXSW. If you haven't been thinking about SXSW since Thanksgiving, you're clearly an amateur. If you're reading this from outside of Austin and thinking, "Maybe I should check out SXSW this year." It's already too late. If you are an Austin resident then I HIGHLY encourage you to fork out the $189 for a music wristband (On sale Feb 6th to Austin residents only.) That may seem like a lot of money since you can "...see all of the same bands for free at day-parties..." but trust me when I tell you it's a much different experience.

Day parties are great and I love free alcohol as much as the next functioning alcoholic but some of those things are an Absolut shit show. (You see what I did there?) Last year all of my SXSW highlights took place at official showcases. I still went to day-parties but I only went to ones I knew would run on time and have good sound. That narrows it down to roughly three day parties.

I started my list of upcoming event with next week. You're on your own for the rest of the week. If a listing has been struck-through it means the show is already sold-out. Sorry Vampy Weekend fans. Clicking the artist's name will bring you to their Facebook page so you can "Like" and "connect" with them. Clicking the venue name brings you to the ticketing and/or events page. These posts take me FOREVER so please share this with anyone and everyone otherwise it feels like a huge waste of time. This Beyonce video isn't even remotely related to this post. You're welcome.

Beyonce - XO video via YouTube

Monday January 27th

Pure Bathing Culture w/La Luz | Red 7 (Inside)
Prefuse 73 w/FaltyDL | Mohawk (Outside)

Tuesday, January 28th

Fucked Up | Mohawk (Outside)

Wednesday, January 29th

Cate Le Bon w/Kevin Morby & Love Inks | Mohawk
Nakia | The Belmont

Thursday, January 30th

Dam-Funk | Red 7
Shooter Jennings | Stubb's

Friday, January 31st

Wednesday, February 5t

Yuck | Red 7 (Inside)
Ash | Stubb's (Inside)

Thursday, February 6th

Superchunk w/Waxahatchee | Mohawk

Friday, February 7th

Russian Circles | Red 7

Sunday, February 9th

The Spits w/OBN III's & Flesh Lights | Red 7

Wednesday, February 12th

John Talabot | Kingdom
~~Hayes Carll | Cactus Cafe~~

Thursday, February 13th

Friday, February 14th

Monday, February 17th

Hospitality | Red 7
~~Neutral Milk Hotel | ACL-Live~~

Tuesday, February 18th

Lord Huron | Emo's
~~Neutral Milk Hotel | ACL-Live~~

Wednesday, February 19th

Cibo Matto | Mohawk (Outside)

Thursday, February 20th

Kodaline w/LP | Emo's
Quilt | Mohawk

Friday, February 21st

Dr. Dog | Stubb's (Outside)
Sea Wolf (Acoustic) | Lambert's

Saturday, February 22nd

Sunday, February 23rd

~~Hall & Oates | ACL-Live~~

Wednesday, February 26th

Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings | ACL-Lve

Saturday, March 1st

"Pixies" w/Best Coast | Austin Music Hall
Four Tet | Mohawk
Dropkick Murphys | Stubb's
Keller Williams | Emo's

Monday, March 3rd

Lorde | Austin Music Hall

Wednesday, March 5th

Com Truise | Red 7

SXSW

Friday, March 21st

Xiu Xiu | Holy Mountain
Flogging Molly | Stubb's

Satuday, March 22nd

~~Ellie Goulding | Austin Music Hall~~

Friday, March 28th

Moistboyz w/Meat Puppets | Mohawk

Saturday, April 5th

Grouplove w/MS MR & Smallpools | Stubb's

Sunday, April 6th

Grouplove w/MS MR & Smallpools | Stubb's

Monday, April 7th

Chromeo | Stubb's

Wednesday, April 9th

Local Natives | Stubb's

Thursday, April 10th

Arcade Fire | Austin360 Amphitheater

Friday, April 11th

Mobb Deep | Parish

Sunday, April 13th

Mac DeMarco | Mohawk

Wednesday, April 16th

Flume | Emo's

Wednesday, April 23rd

Future Islands | Mohawk
Haim | Stubb's

Thursday, April 24th

~~Vampire Weekend | Stubb's~~
Mogwai | Emo's

Friday, April 25th

~~Vampire Weekend | Stubb's~~
~~Bastille | Emo's~~

Friday, May 2nd - Sunday, May 4th

Austin Psych Fest | Carson Creek Ranch

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Maria Taylor at the Mohawk

Maria Taylor will play the Mohawk's inside stage tomorrow night and you should go. Tickets are only $12 and there's not a lot of space in that room so chances are this event will sell-out before tomorrow evening. Even if this post is your first time ever seeing the name Maria Taylor, chances are you're going to enjoy her set tomorrow night. Her most recent album, is out now via Saddle Creek Records. That in and of itself should tell you that this event is worth $12. It's not often you get to see a Saddle Creek artist in a space as intimate as the Mohawk's inside stage.

Maria Taylor - Up All Night video via YouTube

I know that the inside stage at the Mohawk has its detractors but most of those problems are because people don't know how to properly fill that space. The same thing happens on the bus, people don't move all the way into the space so then the entryway gets jammed up and it makes it seem as though the space is full when it's not. It's a pain the ass but I always push my way through the crowd toward the far wall and there is always space. Don't get caught in the bottlenecked doorway, it's a trick. However, I'd prefer you not take my favorite spot to stand and as always keep the talking to a minimum in the performance space. Thank you for considering your fellow patron.

Arrive early and you'll catch PJ Bond. He's just a guy from New Jersey making some honest music. From what I can tell his set will consist of him and one other fellow, he seems handsome and if his Facebook page is any indication you might be able to convince him to stay with you after the show. Just don't make it sound as creepy as I just did.

PJ Bond - I'm in a Bad Way video via YouTube

Read more!

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Tennis Return to Austin Tonight

Contemporary pop culture is a fickle bitch. A band might release a record with lots of acclaim and buzz but the follow-up goes completely unnoticed for no reason other than short attention spans. In 2012 Tennis released a highly acclaimed album that made lots of year-end lists and was generally lauded with critical acclaim. Last year they released a follow-up EP that barely made a blip on the indie radar. I say all of this to remind you that Tennis is still a great indie-pop band that is still making beautiful, twee music for you to nod along to. You can listen to their latest EP, Small Sound now on Spotify. You can also pick it up today at Waterloo Records where Tennis will be performing for free. If you're into that idea you should probably leave the house now because they're going to start at 5pm CST.

Tennis - Mean Streets video via YouTube

If you need a bit more notice, you can also catch a full set from Tennis at the Parish this evening. Unfortunately, as of the writing of this sentence tonight's show is sold-out. When I started writing this post the show wasn't sold-out so I guess now this post only serves as a reminder that Tennis is still a band. If you don't have tickets to tonight's show your only hope of seeing them is to head to Waterloo within the next 45 minutes. Good luck!

Read more!

Friday, January 3, 2014

Free Week(end)

No, Austin Bloggy Limits didn't go under I'm just lazy. Free Week started Wednesday but I haven't said a peep about it. Consider this post my peep. I'm going to get real with you for a minute and admit that I am not prepared for this week in the least. If you have never participated in Free Week, this week is your week to shine. As the name implies, there are a bunch of venues in the Red River-region that are hosting live music events with NO COVER CHARGE. The idea behind this non-festival is to showcase Austin's local music talent and to get butts in bars buying beers. In previous years I have highlighted some artists you should check out but this year I'm taking a different approach. I want to discover artists at the venues this year so, I'm not going to tell you who to see where. Instead, I suggest you commit to one or two venues a night and check out all of the artists who are playing at said venue. Take note of your favorite and support the shit out of them.

Major Major Major - Scream Queen video via YouTube

As if I'm not going to tell you what venues to go to. Do you know what a control freak I am?

Tonight you better get your ass over to Holy Mountain and stay there. The line-up is killer with ~~Mind Spiders~~ Church Shoes playing the headlining slot. Not only that, but Zlam Dunk are reuniting! Honestly though, you could hit almost any Free Week venue tonight and have fun. OBN IIIs are headlining Beerland, Residual Kid is over at the Mohawk and you can catch Hundred Visions at Hotel Vegas.

For Saturday night my top recommendations include Ringo Deathstarr at the Belmont and Ghetto Ghouls with Spray Paint at Beerland.

Sunday night is all about Grape St. at Red 7 but if you're not into messy rock 'n roll you might prefer to catch The Bread at Holy Mountain. The free shows continue into next week but that's all I'm going to talk about for now. If I can get my shit together, I'll give you some more tips early next week. For now, I'm out!

Read more!

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Bloggy's Favorite Songs of 2013

Last week I posted my Favorite Releases of 2013 now let's talk about individual songs. I do things a little differently with this list. If an artist made my favorite albums list then I don't include an individual song from that artist on this list. For instance, I love the song 24 Hours by Sky Ferreira but since Night Time, My Time was one of my favorite LPs, 24 Hours isn't on this list.

This year I did a lot more listening via Soundcloud and I wanted my songs list to reflect that. So, with the majority of the songs on this list if you click the song's title it will take you to that track on Soundcloud. If you click the artist's name it takes you to their Facebook page. The songs listed that are not available on Soundcloud will take you to Spotify.

Subscribe to the Favorite Songs of 2013 playlist on Spotify now!

Ciara - Body Party
Cloud Boat - Youthern (Ghosting Season remix)
JD Samson & MEN - Making Art
Vampire Weekend - Step
Jay-Z - Tom Ford
Isaac Delusion - Supernova
Ducktails - Honey Tiger Eyes
Blouse - No Shelter
Golden Grrrls - We've Got...
Wild Nothing - A Dancing Shell
Jagwar Ma - Come Save Me
Mariah Carey ft. Miguel - #Beautiful
Jon Hopkins ft. Purity Ring - Breathe This Air
Jessy Lanza - Kathy Lee
Hospitality - I Miss Your Bones
Neko Case - Man
Yuck - Lose My Breath
Arctic Monkeys - Do I Wanna Know?
The National - Don't Swallow the Cap
Daft Punk ft. Panda Bear - Doin' it Right
Beyonce - Haunted
Katy Perry - Roar
Justin Timberlake - Mirrors
James Blake - Retrograde
Lorde - Royals
POLIÇA - Chain My Name
Dead Gaze - Breathing Creatures
Suburban Living - Always Eyes
Vox Mod - Iridescent Asteroid Mists
North Highlands - I'll Do My Best
Thumpers - Unkinder (A Tougher Love)
Thee Oh Sees - Toe Cutter - Thumb Buster
Jessie Ware - Running
Duke Dumont - Need U (100%)
Oscar Key Sung - All I Could Do
Widowspeak - Ballad of the Golden Hour
Temples - Shelter Song
Frankie Rose - Sorrow
Bonobo - Cirrus
Drake - Hold On, We're Going Home
Minks - Painted Indian
Aluna George - Attracting Flies
Yujen - Try It Over
Still Corners - Berlin Lovers
Generationals - Put a Light On
Movement - Feel Real
Zebra Katz - Ima Read (Sister Bliss Main Mix)
Sevyn Streeter - It Won't Stop
Miley Cyrus - We Can't Stop
Mister Lies ft. Knower - Magichour

Monday, December 16, 2013

Review : Perfect Pussy

Last night I caught a very brief set from Perfect Pussy on the Mohawk's inside stage. All I really knew about this band wass that they played CMJ a few months ago and the internet had been a flutter ever since. All they have released so far is 13 minutes of fury entitled, I have lost all desire for feeling. The recording is full of noise and energy and the band's live performance is even louder and more energetic. The set started in a really interesting way. The band was setting up and appeared to be adjusting their levels. Lead singer Meredith Graves was talking with the sound man explaining that she couldn't really see the sound man and that he sounded like the teacher from Charlie Brown. She spoke into the microphone fairly meekly saying, I hope this is loud enough. People from the crowd responded by saying it should be louder to which Meredith replied, "Don't worry I've got loud in my back pocket." Next thing I knew all of the instruments swelled into a caucophonous feedback swirl out of which a beat emerged. Meredith began doing some ballet poses and then the band launched into their first song.

The lead singer of Perfect Pussy is such a live wire it's difficult to not stare at her the entire time. She flails, she poses, she smirks, she scowls, she throws her mic at the guitar while the guitarist is playing. I thought she might jump into the crowd but that didn't happen. With all of the energy Meredith exudes it's tough to not think that she is what makes this band so great and she is BUT she's not the only thing.

I like to stand at the back of a show so I can observe everything and in a moment of consciously trying to look at band members other than the singer I noticed the guy on the far left with the keyboard stand. He was staring out at the crowd, watching them, watching Meredith and he looked like he was in some sort of a trance. Then I tried to tune my ears to hear exactly what he was doing and that's when I realized that he was adding harmonic feedback waves into the songs.

Since the set just emerged out of a soundcheck there were people in the crowd who thought that the ringing feedback throughout the first song was an accident. I thought so at first as well because it seemed to be a constant ringing tone but then I realized the pitch of the tone was changing. If I hadn't been wearing earplugs I might not have been able to hear the shifts in the sound of the feedback but once I noticed I was completely intrigued.

Perfect Pussy's set was an aural assault, partly because the songs themselves are rooted in hardcore, partly because of lead-singer Meredith's scream but mostly because keyboardist Shaun is creating a sonic swirl of noise on top of everything you're hearing. The band's set wasn't even 15 minutes long but that was long enough for me to get really excited and curious about what they were doing up there. They ended the set in a similarly performance-art way. The drummer was bagging up his cymbals while the song continued to scream out of the amplifiers. The bass player and guitarist unplugged as well but Shaun and Meredith continued on. Shaun played a very simple beaet that Meredith did more ballet poses to until the noise finally subsided and the room cleared out.

I saw my friend Pooneh after the set and I asked her about the harmonic feedback loops. I was curious if anyone else heard or noticed. She wasn't wearing earplugs and said that she didn't really notice. At that point my curiosity had gotten the better of me so I walked up the side of the stage with the keyboard and asked if I could bother him for a few minutes. He said sure come on up so I jumped up on the stage and stared down at the equipment he was using then blathered on for about five minutes explaining my theory that the keyboardist is the one responsible for creating the sonic chaos. He was very nice and basically confirmed what I thought. He has effects peddles and a sampling keyboard and he just creates noise. He admitted that often times he can't really hear what he is doing because of earplugs or the sound of a room but his M.O. is adding a layer of noise. He actually performs solo "noise sets" and works with some noise duos as well.

If you missed last night's show, and chances are you did, Perfect Pussy will be back for SXSW and chances are they'll be one of the buzziest acts of the festival. If you have a chance to see them, I implore you to wear earplugs not only will it protect your hearing it was enable you to hear everything going on. This band isn't re-inventing the wheel or anything but they are much smarter and more deliberate than they appear on the surface and they are definitely artists to keep your eye on.

Read more!

Friday, December 13, 2013

Going Out This Weekend

If you're like me, you're just going to listen to the new Beyonce record until you have to go back to work on Monday, taking breaks to sleep. If you're feeling a bit more ambitious than that, there are several rock music events that could be worth leaving the couch for. Possibly.

Tonight Shivery Shakes celebrate the release of a new 7" with a show at The Owl. Arrive early enough to catch a set from Grape St.

Shivery Shakes - Stay Young video via YouTube

Saturday night you could re-watch this week's Nashville from your DVR or you could see Cat Power at Antone's but those are pretty much your only options. Also, if you don't go to this show they'll probably move Antone's again before the next show you want to see there.

Oh, you know what? Frightened Rabbit is in town Saturday night too. Both the Cat Power and Frightened Rabbit shows are solo gigs. You'll find Frightened Rabbit over at the Mohawk.

Sunday night I don't usually go out but Perfect Pussy will be at the Mohawk and I really want to check them out. All I really know about this band is that they are very buzzy, which is really all a hipster like me needs to know.

Perfect Pussy - 3 video via YouTube

Read more!

Monday, December 9, 2013

Bloggy's Favorite Releases of 2013

Here it is, my favorite releases of 2013 list. You'll notice I said releases. That's partly because I snuck a few EPs in this list and partly because I like the suggestive nature of the word, "releases". These aren't the best, nor the worst, they are my favorites. I feel like the number one record set the tone for my year. I am really excited about R&B and indie colliding and I think my favorite stuff reflects that this year.

Incidentally, it was Dan at End of an Ear who turned me on to my number 1 record this year. How do you like that? In 2013 with everything that's changed about the music industry, the owner of my neighborhood record shop introduced me to something I was totally unaware of and it became my favorite record of the year.

In this list clicking the artist's name takes you to their Facebook page, clicking the album title MOSTLY brings you to the record on Spotify so you can preview before purchasing at your favorite local record shop. Enough words, we all know you just want THE LIST!

Brazos - Charm video via YouTube