Some BIG names in the list of new releases this week. Enjoy.
- The B-52s - Funplex - The fun/pop/weird foursome is back. Their last album was released 16 years ago. The songs on this one are apparently inspired by Fellini movies. Tin roof……….rusted.
- Lindsey Buckingham - Live at the Bass Performance Hall - Longtime guitarist and singer for Fleetwood Mac releases a concert from 07 in Fort Worth. This is a CD+DVD of solo and FM hits.
- Counting Crowes - Saturday Nights and Sunday Mornings - First studio release in 5 years. This is adult alternative rock is about, “flood of sin and liquor and dissolution and insanity and it’s about trying to rebuild the life you wrecked in the wake of that flood.”
- De Novo Dahl - Move Every Muscle, Make Every Sound - Nashville 5 piece isn’t in the country genre, more like eclectic rock with musical influences from Mercury Rev, Air and Jeff Tweedy to the Beach Boys, the Supremes and Stevie Wonder.
- Gnarls Barkley - The Odd Couple - Electronic Hip-Hop Soul on 13 tracks of new material from Danger Mouse and Cee-Lo Green. Run is the first single.
- Guilty Simpson - Ode to the Ghetto - Debut album from Detroit rapper. The late/great J Dilla produced some cuts as well as Madlib and others.
- Morrissey - Greatest Hits - 19 tracks on 2 Discs with a US Exclusive and one new song.
- Tim O’Brian - Chameleon - Traditional folk artist who plays multiple instruments.
- Morgan Page - Elevate - Electro beats with guest artists singing: Lissie, Camila Grey, Tyler James, etc.
- Panic At The Disco - Pretty. Odd. - 60’s Pop inspired for their second album in which they ditched the pro-tools and went with actual instruments.
- Pennywise - Reason To Believe - California Punk/Rockers are back with (some say) their best album.
- Raconteurs - Consolers of the Lonely - This follow up to Broken Boy Soldiers was recorded before the White Stripes began the tour for their latest release. Jack White, Brenden Benson and the rest of the band kept this one on the down low with not much promotion.
- Tony Trischka - Territory - A true banjo master releases another album with 62 minutes, 21 tracks, 32-page booklet, extensive notes, photos.
If it’s the fast pace guitars and old-time rhythms you’re looking for you’ve found it!
In April of 2007, The Jeremy Steding Band formed as an idea between Born-Again Texan, Jeremy Steding (vocalist, songwriter) and native Texan Steve Stafford (lead guitar). Tired of over-analyzed monotony, the two vowed to perform country music the way that it originated – raw and real. Steding and Stafford share a common love for Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Shiner Bock Beer and a belief that the band should have the most fun of anyone in the building. Now they are joined by Venny Portalatin on drums and Travis Sutherland on bass to complete the rhythm section. The Jeremy Steding Band releases their debut album Whiskey Songs and Prison Songs April 26th. Catch them live right here in Austin!
Check them out at www.myspace.com/jeremysteding
And download their MP3s here:
Auburn
Jack Daniels
I’ve got a few recommendations for the weekend. Movies: Let me say this is a bad time of year for movies. Oscars are over and out of the theaters (for the most part). Then the studios are waiting until the next big holiday to release the next big blockbuster. Anyway I’m abstaining against recommending movies this week. Music: Blues and rock n’ roll by Black Joe Lewis and Gary Clark Jr. are at the Continental Club on Friday. BJL starts at 10ish. Blaze plays amazing jazz music and you should see them at Lambert’s on Friday night. Saturday at Mohawk is a CD release party for alterna-rockers Experimental Aircraft. This Will Destroy You opens things. Should be a good show.
Sorry, pulsenation I have been a little busy but here is the releases for the week.
- Sara Bereilles Little Voice Deluxe Edition - Female pop album with the hit Love Song gets the Deluxe treatment
- Be Your Own Pet Get Awkward - Pop/Rock/Punk - It’s a wild party with female vox & jangly guitars
- Bodeans - Still - Rock/Pop/Americana - Been around since the 80’s with their roots rock and harmonies. Played with U2 and many others.
- Sera Cahoone - Only As the Day is Long - Acoustic/Country/indie - From Seattle and on Sub Pop Records.
- Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles - Named after She-Ra’s home, 1 boy & 1 girl making smart electro tunes.
- Destroyer - Trouble in Dreams - Lyrical - Daniel Bejar from the New Pornographers on a side project
- Devotchka - A Mad and Faithful Telling - Indie Rock/Polka - Played ACL07 & SXSW08. Utilize the tuba, violin, acordian, drums, guitar and vocals. From Denver CO eventhough they sound as if they are from eastern Europe.
- Adam Green - Sixes & Sevens - Folk/Alternative
- Groove Armada - Soundboy Rock - Electronica.
- The Hush Sound - Goodbye Blues - Indie/Rock/Pop - Piano light rock with female vocals
- Jucifer - L’autrichienne - Metal/Punk/Grindcore - Male drummer female guitar and vocals
- The Kills - Midnight Boom - Rock/Electronic/Indie - Just played several places for SXSW08 Coming back to Austin on May 24 to the Parish. Their sound is Pixies-esque.
- Mindless Self Indulgence - Never Wanted to Dance - Punk/Electronica/Metal/Rap
- Yael Naim - Yael Naim - Folk/Pop/Acoustic - Female from Paris
- Neon Neon - Stainless Style - Electro/Pop/Crunk - with some 80’s thrown in
- Witch - Paralyzed - Psychedelic/Rock/Crunk - Recently played several SXSW shows
Sorry for the late post but I took the day off on Monday. Saturday my friend and I RSVP the Scion show at Stubb’s. This was all electronica/Dj with exception of the first band.
Black Moth Super Rainbow (great name BTW) kicked the day and they were great. This 5 piece used traditional instuments drums, bass, 2 people playing keys/moog/efx and a singer who sat on the side of the stage with a mic plugged into guitar effect peddles which he manipulated. Think of some of Led Zepplin’s more trippy songs as a comparison. BMSR was really good and I will be checking their music out soon. http://www.blackmothsuperrainbow.com/
Next, was Mixhell from Brazil. Dj tandem of Iggor Cavalera (Sepultura´s ex-drummer) and wife/producer Laima Leyton. They describe their rowdy heavy beats as Ghettotech/Grindcore. Occasionally, Iggor would jump on his drum set and play with the mix. He threw a plastic cup of wine splashing onto the Stubb’s overhang and at another point he kicked over part of his drum set when some technical difficulties happened but kept playing on the high hat and snare. Total rock n’ roll. The crowd was dancing, and Mixhell was having a good time drinking red wine & red bull while spinning big beats. http://www.myspace.com/mixhell
Direct from Germany Jence & Isi who make up Digitalism were the third act of this showcase. No turntables for these guys just elaborate noise makers. These are two opposite looking nerdy dudes one bigger with dark hair, the other smaller with blond hair. They added some vocals on a few songs and kept the crowd moving with the dance beats. You can check them out at http://www.myspace.com/digitalism
The last act of the show was Chromeo. Dave 1 (Canadian) and P-Thugg (NY) duo debuted at SXSW 07 and made a big impression. They play pop/electronica mixed in with some 80’s. Dave 1 sings most of the songs, plays guitar or bass. P-Thugg plays the keys and various sound effects. On most of the songs he used a voice tube that works through his keyboard to create the 70’s/80’s sound like Zapp (you might know him from California Dreamin by Tupac). Chromeo’s Tenderoni was a crowd pleaser. They had everyone movin to their beats for the entire hour they performed. http://www.myspace.com/chromeo
After this we went and got something to eat across the street at Jamie’s Spanish Village. Tex-Mex yummm.
We took the two legged express down to Waterloo Park to The Mess With Texas 2 free concert with 3 different stages which featured NOFX, The Breeders and Simian Mobile Disco headlining. We saw Yeasayer (ecclictic dual vocal goodness), Black Mountain (70’s rock) and then cruised. The dance party earlier in the afternoon took the energy out of me. Good fun all the way around.
I finally made it out to hear some bands on Friday night. A friend of mine and I intially decided to go to hear some DJ/electronica but we changed our minds due to Saturday’s tentative plan of going to hear similar music. Again no wrist band for me so I was looking at free shows. We hooked up with some other friends who were going to club Orchid on 7th. Which isn’t called Orchid anymore. The signage said Black and Tan, we assumed named after the drink (stout and pale beer in the same glass). But the bar didn’t have the ingredients to make the drink their bar is named after. That’s just wrong. They compensated with a drink that was almost the same but come on, that’s a no brainer. The Viper Room bought it out for the week of SXSW I’m guessing because there was signage in many places. Here are the bands we heard…
- We Barbarians. This trio was really good. They played drums (BTW this guy was a heavy hitter), bass and guitar with a few keyboard hits thrown in on some songs. The lead guitarist also sang full of emotion. I recommend checking them out http://www.myspace.com/webarbarians
- The Morning Benders. IndieRock/Lofi foursome of youngsters. Quality band. They are playing Homeslice Pizza at 2pm on Saturday. http://www.myspace.com/themorningbenders
- Nico Vega. Indie Rock Trio consisting of drums, guitar and female on lead vocals. Aggressive band who the crowd loved. http://www.myspace.com/nicovega
- Helmet. Metal since early 90’s. I used to have several of their cassettes or CDs. The support members have changed but the heavy guitar grooves they are known for haven’t changed at all. The packed crowd had their faces melted off and if their ears were still connected to their heads, they are still ringing. http://www.myspace.com/helmetrocks
Saturday has the potential of being a long one so I’m going to get some sleep.
You now know about the free shows at Auditorium Shores. Also you know about the free in-stores at various local record stores. A few posts ago I gave you a link to free shows during the festival. Here are the picks for Friday night.
Antone’shas Vampire Weekend, DeVotchKa and Constantines. Club De Ville on Red River has Bobby Bare Jr., White Rabbits and White Denim. Emo’s Annex has got a rock lineup of Super Suckers, Blue Cheer, Lions, The Meat Men, Black Earth and Red Fang. MXPX and Story of the Year headline at the Habana Annex Backyard. Stubb’swill be sold out tonight for N.E.R.D., Sia, MGMT and The Cribs. If you don’t like these choices there are plenty of other great bands to see/hear tonight.
Also don’t forget about Flatstock. This is a free/open to the public poster show where you can purchase screen printed artwork and usually meet the person that created it. There are a hundred or so booths are set up in the convention center with a wide variety of styles. The pieces are also pretty cheap. A typical poster is $10-$25. Give it a shot if you haven’t been before.
So you got no money, no wrist band, and no connections to get into any music venues. You do have a job but you can’t leave for half the day to any of the free day shows. Well you do have a few options.
At Auditorium Shores: Thursday - Groupo Fantasma (6pm), Del the Funky Homosapien (7pm), Spoon (8pm).
So you’re saying to yourself but I want to drink for free and listen to punk music tonight. Well, myopenbar.com presents a two stage show at the Texas Garage on 3rd and Guadalupe. You just need to RSVP, find more info here http://austin.myopenbar.com/ show starts at 9pm.
FREE - Plush on Red River starting at 9pm has a free show with Caspian, Constants, Consider the Source, Jonah Matranga, Whitman.
FREE - The Parlor starting at 7pm has Spain Colored Orange, Monster Sleeps Quiet, Low Red Land
Well, I hope this helps you out in your Thursday quest to escape your 9 to 5 while still getting in on some SXSW.
Last night was the Austin Music Awards. For the most part Spoon took all the major awards (Band of the year, Song of the year, etc). Not a big surprise since their album GA GA GA GA GA was on many national top 10 lists. White Denim won new band. Ghostland Observatory won best electronica band. I will not list all of them if you want to find the list it is out there to be found. So congrats to all the winners and continue to support Austin music.
This will be my last entry on band names at SXSW08. There are lots of creative and memorable band names that involve animals. Here are some of my favorites: Black Moth Super Rainbow, Panda, Sea Wolf, Aids Wolf, Fight Like Apes, Buffalo Stance, Mostly Bears, Faux Fox, Tiger Tiger, Pride Tiger, Ocelot, Birds of Wales, Beasts and Superbeasts. I probably missed some good ones that are on the list. What is your favorite that is or is not on this list?
