Thursday, December 30, 2010

Patting One's Self on Thy Back

Well folks, 2010 is drawing to a close. You've already seen what I felt were the top albums for the year so I'm going to dedicate this post to a new addition, in 2010, here at Austin Bloggy Limits. That's the trusty, Bloggy Cam. I received a simple Flip Cam for Christmas last year and have employed it to capture footage at various shows I've attended ever since. I don't have a tripod, I don't edit the videos and I'm not going for artsy-ness. I just think of it as a visual-document of my experience. I don't tweek the sound or get any sort of official permission for these videos, I simply bring the camera in my pocket and try to post-up in a decent spot. If someone gets in the way, that's how it was in person. If some jack-ass (read most people at most shows) was talking through an entire performance that is also captured. Sometimes security interrupts, as was the case when I shot Bad Veins at Stubb's, and sometimes they just try to interrupt and I point at a meaningless wristband, as was the case with Jamie Lidell at Antone's. Basically what I'm saying is you get what you get, no apologies, no excuses. Sometimes the picture and sound pleased me and sometimes it didn't. I'll be peppering some of my personal favorite videos throughout this post with a bunch of words in between.


Fang Island - Always Be My Baby video via YouTube


Some of the most-viewed clips on the Bloggy YouTube are the worst looking and/or sounding. I shot Spoon performing in the Waterloo Records parking lot with the sun directly in my camera's lens but that has been one of the most-viewed videos since it was posted. The sound is quite clear though. On the opposite side of the spectrum I was literally on-stage at Malverde shooting Sleigh Bells so the image is nice but the sound is terrible. There are a lot of negative comments on that video critiquing the audience and the sound. A lot of people from out of town don't understand the crowd at a SXSW event. These are not "normal" shows people. SXSW audiences are filled with jaded, industry-types. Some of them are there out of obligation. In the instance of the Sleigh Bells performance, most of the people you can see in the video are photographers who had been shooting for 16-18 hours before the band took the stage. As for the sound, since I was ON-STAGE the sound captured with the camera was monitor sound and the vocals were buried.


Local Native - World News video via YouTube

Occasionally I'm surprised by the response to a video. Some, I expect to be much more popular but aren't while others get many, many views when I don't expect them to at all. I feel like I must have posted one of the first live performance videos of Twin Shadow because they got around 1,000 views the first week while my video of Pavement sits with around 100 views. I guess the lesson there is if you want lots of views be one of the first to post something. All in all I don't really care if people watch the videos or not (no offense) I just like to have them for myself. I fully expect that at some point I will be forced to remove some, all or most of them. Although, I don't have too many videos from "big-name" artists, nor do I plan to.


The Smith Westerns - My Heart video via YouTube

If you're reading this thinking, "Hey I should bring a Flip Cam to shows too." Don't! That's my thing. No, but seriously you should know that it's frowned upon by the artist, their label, management, the venues etc. With that being said here's some sage advice I've learned from experience. Firstly, there is such a thing as being too close to the artist. Don't believe me? Check out 2 out of 3 of my videos of the Very Best. Also, if you want decent sound position yourself between speakers, not in front of or behind them. One of my favorite LOOKING videos is one of the first ones I shot. It was Harlem at Emo's and I positioned myself side stage with my camera behind the speaker tower, it looks really cool but the sound is sub-par. Also, I HATE zoom, it makes your shots look even less steady and often times grainy. Never zoom, if you want to get a closer shot move your feet closer to the stage. A final note, I don't shoot an entire set and neither should you pick a song at random get in position and shoot it. One to three songs MAX but it's super-irritating to the people around you to have that bright LCD display distracting them. I usually let the people around me know what I'm doing and how long I'll be doing it and they are GENERALLY ok with it.


Best Coast - Sun Was High (So Was I) video via YouTube

So this post had a few of my favorite videos but there are 118 to explore and the list will continue to grow until I get some serious cease and desist notices. To the bloggy cam...not to be confused with Sony's Bloggie Cam. Really wish I had patented that.


Jamie Lidell - Another Day video via YouTube
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Thursday, December 23, 2010

Bloggy's Best of 2010 - Music

If you're like me and you probably are if you read blogs, you love lists. Well, 'tis the season and if you can't beat 'em join 'em along with several other clichés. So, let me lead off this year's best albums of 2010 list with the usual disclaimers. The first of which is, love of art is subjective it's hard to compare a hip-hop album to lo-fi garage-rock and then subsequently rank them but that's what I intend to do. Also, I have a full-time job, which doesn't include blogging I also like to watch films and television SO I didn't listen to every album that came out this year I also didn't listen to all of the most critically-acclaimed albums of the year.

Yesterday you had the chance to read Shivvy's best of list, which I fully approve of. Combined with this list, you should get a nice picture in 28 albums of what 2010 had to offer in the way of music. With that all said, I give you the official Bloggy selections for best albums of 2010:
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Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Shivvy's Best Of 2010 - Music

I'm honored to have what I believe is the first ever guest post contribution here at Austin Bloggy Limits. Some of you may know me from when I was on the air at WOXY. It's been a tumultuous year as far as my relationship with music goes. When WOXY closed down in late March, it was literally the first time in twelve years when it wasn't my job to keep up with the cutting edge of new releases. Honestly, I took some downtime and I can say that music was still a huge part of my year, but it didn't dominate it. I definitely didn't listen to as many albums as I normally would have and I know I probably missed out on some great stuff as a result.

Luckily, I still saw a ton of live music and many of my promoter friends continued to keep me in the loop with their artists. The following list represents my favorite records of the year, not the hippest. These are the albums I bought, mostly on vinyl, and have played over and over again. They paint a picture of how I'll remember the year, through good times and bad. I'm looking forward to 2011, but many of these records will keep soundtracking my life for a long time to come.


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Thursday, December 16, 2010

Turbo Fruits Hit Red 7

Tomorrow night you can catch one of Nashville's greatest indie and/or lo--fi bands Turbo Fruits at Red 7. Their latest album Echo Kid has three tracks available for free download on their Bandcamp page and you can get their latest single for free over at My Old Kentucky Blog. That track's called Keepin' On and is available as a 7" from Turbo Time Records. If you're interested in checking out Turbo Fruits at Red 7 tomorrow night tickets are still available and will set you back merely $8.


Turbo Fruits - Where the Stars Don't Shine video via YouTube



Turbo Fruits - Get Up, Get On Down video via YouTube

Sharing the bill with Turbo Fruits tomorrow night, are their friends and label-mates Pujol. Well, to be honest, I don't really know whether or not they are friends but if they're not let's hope after this tour that they will at least be contemporaries if not compadres. Being that they're sharing a tour and a label you can expect a similar style. Not, the same sound mind you but just a similar vibe. If you liked the above Turbo Fruits' songs, chances are you'll enjoy the musical-styling of Pujol as well. I'll let you be the judge though.


Pujol - Butterflyknife video via YouTube

Incidentally, this blogger does NOT recommend "playing with a butterfly knife". I'm also not convinced that should be one word, but who am I to judge? Oh, that's right I'm a blogger, it's my job to be a judgemental ass-wipe. Isn't it?


Pujol - Black Rabbit video via YouTube

Starting thing off will be bad-ass, local band the Dikes of Holland. You MIGHT remember them from that Casual Victim Pile compilation that Matador Records put out. They've got an LP that was released last month available to purchase if you click their name at the top of this paragraph and/or you can buy that comp by clicking that link (obvs).


Dikes of Holland - No Desire video via YouTube

It should also be noted that Gerard Cosley, the dude who curated that Casual Victim Pile compilation, once referred to me as an, "...ambulance-chasing troll" on Twitter, which pretty much makes me famous.
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Tuesday, December 14, 2010

The Gay Blades & The Midgetmen

Don't be confused the Gay Blades w/the Midgetmen is not pornographic franchise...yet. It's actually the bill for Emo's inside stage tonight. the Gay Blades came all the way from New Jersey just to beat-up the beat here in Austin. They define their sound as "trash-pop", which you should have surmised from their name and they are known to put on a great show. Tickets for said show are a mere $8, which is quite a steal.

In anticipation of their tour the Gay Blades composed songs for the cities they would be visiting. Here's the song they composed for Austin, it is referential, clever and fitting in tone for our fair city.


the Gay Blades - Britt Daniel Stole My Girl video via YouTube

I didn't realize the Midgetmen were a band until recently I just though they were a very clever Twitter-collective for my entertainment. I kid, I kid. The Midgetmen have been toiling away in Austin's over-crowded, under-appreciated LOCAL music scene for about 8 years playing all those other clubs, while you're watching all of the little touring bands that Pitchfork tells you to love! That moment of indignation was dedicated to the Midgetmen, did you guys like that?

Anyway, these guys do straight-ahead rock 'n roll. It's sometimes clever and sometimes classic but always better than my band. Get there early if you want to catch there full set because I'm pretty sure they're the first of three bands. Incidentally, did you know the Club sandwich is named for the club car on a train?


the Midgetmen - Club Sandwich video via YouTube

Oh, in case you're wondering, the other band on the bill is called Devil in the Drink. I don't know for a fact but chances are they go on at 11p, since they're the middle act and the doors open at 9p.
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Friday, December 10, 2010

Year-End Lists

As a music-fan/blogger-douche I adore year-end lists. Top 10 local albums, top albums, best songs of the year, best shows, best list etc. This time of year it seems as though everyone has a list for something music-related and I like that. However, I find it annoying that Kanye West's latest LP seems to be topping so many lists this year. First Rolling Stone magazine (remember Rolling Stone?) gave the album 5 stars, then Bitchfork gave it a 10.0 and now all sorts of media outlets are calling it the best album of the year. Now, I know that no publicity is bad publicity so I'm actually promoting the LP simply by writing this bitch-fest but I have a hard time believing that of every album that came out this year it is the best. We can all agree that musical tastes are quite subjective and calling one piece of art better than another is pretty silly but let me give you my top 10 reasons why it won't be topping this blogger's list. In fact, even though I truly enjoy the album I won't be including it in my top 10 albums of the year out of shear principle. With that I give you my 10 reasons why I won't be adding My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy to any best of list on this site.

10. Self-Indulgence

Runaway is a great song, it's catch it has a good hook the production is nice but 9+ minutes?!?! I mean, the first 20 seconds is the same note! Also, I don't know about you but once it hits about minute marker 5:45 I just skip to the next track. That outro is just aural masturbation. The video for Runaway, which lasts roughly 35 minutes is the perfect example of Kanye's self-indulgence:


Kanye West - Runaway video via YouTube

9. So Appalled

The 7th track on the LP entitled, So Appalled has several emcees, none of whom can properly pronounce the word, "ridiculous", which is both ironic and irritates me SO much I have to skip the track. I know it's a silly reason but it's a reason why the LP doesn't deserve perfect marks from lazy reviewers.

8. Faux self-deprecation

I'm going back to Runaway on this one again. Even when Kanye is being self-deprecating he's saluting himself. You can't humble yourself and toast yourself simultaneously even if it's tongue-in-cheek. It's like saying, "Sorry you were insulted by what I said." That's not the same as an apology.

7. The Cover-Art

This reason requires no explanation, does this look like the artwork for the best album of the year to you?



6. Pairing Rihanna w/a song in which you hit a woman

The song I'm referring to is track 5 called All of the Lights. The chorus is sung by Rihanna and one of the first lyrics is, "...I slap my girl, she call the Feds..." Ummm, even though Kanye is in character in this song I just find that to be in poor taste to say the least. Also, it's not the only reference to violence against women on the album.

5. Hell of a Life

It's not that track 10 is terrible but it certainly wouldn't be on the best album of the year.

4. You made John Legend sing what?!?!

Like many people, I adore John Legend. He is featured on the track the Blame Game and hearing him sing "I'll call you bitch for short, as a last resort and my first resort, you call me motherfucker for long..." just seems like a waste of his talents.

3. TLDR

For those of you who don't know what TLDR means, it stands for "Too Long Didn't Read". When I notice that almost have the songs on your album approach and/or breach the 6 minute mark I'm thinking at least 90 seconds of most of those songs are just wasting my time.

2. Wasting Bon Iver

So, you get Justin Vernon to guest on your record and all you do is bury his vocals and then sample a song of his that uses Auto-Tune? How did this collaboration even occur? Hey, you like Auto-Tune? I like Auto-Tune too! Let's hang out. The first time I heard the beat kick in on Lost in the World it just made me laugh. You made a disco, club-banger out of a beautiful, delicate song? Really?

1. Over-use of the word pussy

From the 2-3 minute sample of Chris Rock going on and on about pussy to Kanye's line about "Pussy and religion is all I need" as a gay man and a feminist I'm sooo over the subjugation of women on this album. You know Kanye surrounding that pussy is a woman, she has a brain and most likely a family and she has emotions too. To quote Kanye himself on this, and other issues of feminist theory: "I don’t know what it is with females, but I’m not too good at that shit"

In conclusion yes I just dedicated an entire post to critique the latest Kanye West LP but what I'm REALLY critiquing is the human-centipede-esque best of lists this year. It's like one magazine is eating and shitting in to the mouth of the next and so on and they're all drawing the same conclusions. I do enjoy Kanye's latest and greatest effort but I don't find it to be the best LP of the year and I think all of these media outlets ranking it number one have short attention-spans to put it lightly. The ten reasons above are why it won't even appear in my 10 best albums of the year list. Also, I just dedicated this entire post to promoting the LP, so I don't really need to include it in any lists, right?

Oh, and Kanye, if you're reading this, you obviously have too much time on your hands, no one reads this website. Don't take yourself so seriously.
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Thursday, December 9, 2010

So Much Friday Action

Well y'all, in typical Austin-fashion, there are several great happenings tomorrow evening both locally-focused and touring. DJ Spooky is in town, playing Aces Lounge courtesy of our friends over at Knuckle Rumbler. Somehow, tickets to this event are still available, but Aces isn't the biggest venue so I'd get on that, also you have less than 8 hours to purchase them for the advance price of roughly $15.


Dj Spooky - Vertov Enthusiasm: Sinfonia Donbassa video via YouTube

A few blocks away Austin's-own What Made Milwaukee Famous will be taking the stage at Antone's with the White White Lights sharing the bill as well. You can grab tickets for that show for a mere $10. Doors are at 9:30 for the Antone's show and Frank Smith will be kicking things off at 10:00p.


Frank Smith - Out of Air and Turning Blue video via YouTube

Away from the downtown scene my friends at KVRX are presenting their Holiday Show at the United States Arts Authority. Proceeds for this show benefit the Austin Yellow Bike Project so even if you're not interested in staying for the whole event it would still be cool to pop in just to help out the Yellow Bike folks, just sayin. The line-up for the Holiday Show features some great up-and-coming local and local-ish acts that deserve your attention. This line-up is not set in stone but I have it on pretty good authority if you are planning to attend a few shows tomorrow night that these are the set-times as of now:



Brackett & Co. - Feeling Down video via YouTube
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Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Free Show at le Scoot Tomorrow

Those of you who know me, know I love free stuff and I'm guessing that you feel the same way. It's with that spirit of gratis that I offer you this RSVP link to see Shapes Have Fangs at the Scoot Inn. The show is sponsored by Sailor Jerry's spiced rum, so who knows maybe the entry fee won't be the only free-ness you experience at the show? If you've never seen Shapes Have Fangs you can expect some jangly, Nuggets-style psychedelic rock 'n roll. You might even stash them in the same bin with another great Austin band, the Strange Boys but maybe with a LITTLE less reverb. Just a little less though.


Shapes Have Fangs - the Desert video via YouTube


Joining Shapes Have Fangs on the bill will be more psychedlic rock from another Austin band in the form of Rayon Beach. I wouldn't put them in the same grouping as Shapes Have Fangs simply because they don't sound as retro to me. Their sound has more sampling, layering and the like. It's not a big leap though from one band to the other, you're definitely going to get your Psych on at the Scoot Wednesday night.


Rayon Beach - Memory Teeth video via YouTube

Bad Sports are traveling down from Denton to play tomorrow night's show. They use lots of reverb on the vocals and their sound is retro but I wouldn't, necessarily, call it psych-rock. To me it has too much chugga-chugga guitar to be psych-rock. It's kind of like if the Donnas were dudes who liked reverby vocals. The Ramones? We'll let you decide!


Bad Sports - All the Time video via YouTube

So, if you want to go out on a Wednesday night and let's face it, you do, don't forget to RSVP at the top of this post and head on over to the Scoot Inn.
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Monday, December 6, 2010

Thank you Austin and Beyond! +Random Vids!

When I initially heard about the Austin Blogger Awards I thought it was a very cool idea and very nice of Republic of Austin to give props to those who might, otherwise, go un-noticed. When I filled out the nomination form the only category I thought I had a chance in was the "Best Twitter" category. Unfortunately I was not nominated for best twitter. I guess not everyone is as interested in what Miss Paws is up to as I am. However, somehow I ended up being a nominee in the "Best Overall Music" category. The overall distinguishes my site from the sites that focus more on Austin music, like my personal fav 'Nites Blog or the winner from the local music category, Austin Town Hall.

Friday night, at the Austin Bleet-Up, the awards were announced and thanks to people like you this humble, little, poorly laid-out, one-man-show of a music site was awarded "Best Overall Music Blog". I don't really know how it happened and I'm not going to try to figure it out. I'm just going to say thanks to those of you who voted for me. To those of you who didn't vote for me, thanks for voting for someone else. To those of you who didn't vote at all, way to represent America.


Twin Shadow - Shooting Holes at the Moon video via YouTube


In the meantime, in addition to this blog and my Twitter account I can be stalked on F*c*book and I also have a slightly illegal YouTube channel. The above video is from said slightly illegal channel and features an artist who will, most likely, be featured on my best of 2010 list to be published later this year. You can also look forward (or not) to a special guest best of 2010 list from a certain someone special later in the month.

You can check out all of the winners in this Austin 360 post. You can find all of the nominees here. Also, I expect there will be lots of coverage over at the Republic of Austin and/or Austin Eavesdropper and/or Ultra8201 (Who probably would have won best music blog if they hadn't been a sponsor of the event, thus disqualifying themselves from said award). And/or back at the Austin Blogger Awards site itself.


the Authors - Never Know video via YouTube

I feel very lucky to live in a city whose peers encourage each other rather than cut each other down. Austin truly is a collaborative, inspiring and energetic city and I am most certainly glad I moved here. Sorry, Maine I love you but if I may quote Job from Arrested Development, "C'Mon!"
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Thursday, December 2, 2010

Big Boi at the Eastside Drive-In

I feel like a lot of people have been sleepin' on Big Boi's album, Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty that came out in July. In this humble blogger's opinion it's one of the most fun LP's to come out in 2010. It's with that in mind that I, kindly, remind you that Mr. Big Boi himself will be gracing the stage at the Eastside Drive-In on Saturday. Tickets are still available as of the writing of this post but I don't expect there will be any available at the door so if you're thinking you MIGHT want to go, just buy a dang ticket already. I expect he'll be performing a lot of stuff from his latest album but I'm sure you'll hear some tunes from Speakerboxxx as well. So, even if you aren't super-familiar with the new tunes you should still check out the show. Also, make sure you check out my friends over at Knuckle Rumbler because they have a lot of stuff going on around this show in ADDITION to presenting the show itself. I'm talking after-parties, special guests and ALL kinds of other good stuff.


Big Boi - Shine Blockas ft. Gucci Mane video via YouTube

Don't be a hipster and show-up RIGHT before Big Boi goes on 'cause you'll miss Vonnegutt. I had the chance to catch these guys at ACL Fest a month or two ago and I was psyched to see that they are touring with Big Boi. Vonnegutt is signed to Outkast's Purple Ribbon Records and they were featured on, Follow Us the second single from Big Boi's latest LP.


Big Boi featuring Vonnegutt - Follow Us video via YouTube

Vonnegutt's own EP The Appetizer brings the energy and the fun and I expect it to lead to big things in 2011. If you missed their performance at ACL Fest make sure you tear yourself away from Shangi-La at least an hour before Big Boi hits the stage Saturday or you'll be missing out.


Vonnegutt - Perform at Austin City Limits Fest video via YouTube

In other Vonnegutt news, I was so focused on the Big Boi show I completely forgot to mention that they are ALSO playing Austin Friday night with Chiddy Bang. Tickets for that show at Republic Live don't appear to be officially available but if you really want to check out that show I'm sure you could find a way to get in...possibly. You never know they may release extra tickets the day of the show and/or have some reserved to sell at the door.
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Blonde Redhead in Review (in words only)

Last night I had the pleasure of seeing Blonde Redhead and Ólöf Arnalds at La Zona Rosa. It was Ólöf Arnalds' final night on the tour and she was in good spirits cracking jokes with the crowd in a thick Icelandic accent. She performed solo with acoustic instruments making it difficult to hear her over the din of people chatting and arriving to the show. Those of us who were paying attention were entertained by her delicate, beautiful folk songs interspersed with quips and brief stories. My favorite story was about how she and her friends call finger-picking "omelettes" and they like to have "omelette competitions". She had such a good omelette going that she maintained it through three songs, whose run ended in a Bruce Springsteen cover.


After Ólöf Arnalds, Blonde Redhead took to the stage. There were four members dressed in head-to-toe white with Kazu Makino wearing a helmet/mask that looked like a white porcelain horse head with blonde pigtails coming out of the nose. The lighting was definitely the fifth member of the band. During their entrance and most of the first song the band was lit by a dozen bare light bulbs whose tungsten flickered like 12 little flames scattered across the stage. At the back of the stage were 9 photographer's umbrellas, the silver facing the audience, which worked to light the band at some points while silhouetting them at other points. All in all the lighting served to add another layer of atmosphere to a sound that was already loaded with sonic textures.

The set was peppered with songs from all periods but mostly focused on the latest album, Penny Sparkle as well as lots of tunes from 23. The entire set had a great flow, which culminated with an intense version of the song 23. to close things out. The audience walked out like they had just seen Schindler's List, with looks of deepest awe upon their faces. In short, if you haven't seen Blonde Redhead and they're coming to your town, you should probably get yourself a ticket. Or, if you missed them last night you might want to start beating yourself up now. Sorry.
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Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Zlam Dunk CD Release Party Friday

If you have yet to see Zlam Dunk perform live, then this Friday night you best be clearing your calendar to check out their CD release party at Emo's. I saw this, super-energetic, local band open up for Fang Island earlier in the year and I can assure you they are worth checking out. I also have it on good authority that the majority of the band will be finishing up at Texas State as soon as finals are done this semester, which means they'll most likely be hitting the road in support of their new LP. In otherwords, if you don't see them this Friday you may not have another chance for quite awhile.


Zlam Dunk - Ghost Woman video via YouTube

As if, Zlam Dunk weren't enough reason for you to hit Emo's Friday night, Bloggy-favs Markov will also be performing. They're album, This Quiet, has been making critical waves locally since its spring release and they stole the show at the Friday night FunFunFun Fest kick-off party at the Mohawk. They bring the melodies with a tight, technical skill-set cranking out post-rock perfection in three-minute bursts.


Markov - This Quiet video via YouTube

Sandwiched between these two outstanding, local band is Freshmillions whom I have yet to see but have heard great things about already. Tickets for Friday night's show are still available and will only set you back $6, purchased in advance OR $8 at the door. If you're under 21 you can still get in to see these great, local acts but you'll have to pay $10. Sorry kids.


Freshmillions - Hot New Jam from '73 video via YouTube
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Monday, November 29, 2010

Don't Miss Blonde Redhead at LZR

Dang, y'all I'm bummed that I'm probably going to have to miss Blonde Redhead at La Zona Rosa Wednesday night. Officially the group is a trio, still based out of New York City but chances are there will be four people doing some indie-rock shredding on stage Wednesday night. If you've never heard them before they are one part shoe-gaze, one part prog and one part indie. They have the technical skills of a prog band but there is still the cool, disaffected vibe of a new-wave band in some of the tunes. Their 2007 release, 23 saw the group moving toward a more accessible sound getting them lots of licensing deals and recognition. Their newest album came out last month and it's called Penny Sparkle. As of the writing of this post, tickets are still available and will set you back $22 if purchased in advance of the show. Typically shows at La Zona Rosa are done by midnight so plan accordingly.


Blonde Redhead - Here Sometimes (4AD Session) video via YouTube



Blonde Redhead - Not Getting There video via YouTube

As of this moment there is no local opener for Wednesday night's show but that doesn't mean one won't be added between now and then. For now, there is only one artist performing before Blonde Redhead and that is Icelandic singer/songwriter Ólöf Arnalds. Arnalds has been a touring member of the band Múm but is here in the states in support of her latest release Innundir skinni. The following song features another artist from Iceland you might be familiar with. Have you ever heard of Björk?


Ólöf Arnalds - Surrender video via YouTube

The show isn't until Wednesday, and as I said, I probably won't be able to make it but I can already tell that if I were to go I would be irritated with people talking through Ólöf Arnalds' set. So, please, please if YOU attend the show just be quiet while she is performing. Her music is, obviously, delicate and requires a respectful audience but this IS Austin and we all know that people just go to shows to chat with their friends...loudly. Oh, Austin!


Ólöf Arnalds - Innundir skinni video via YouTube
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Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Here for the Holidays

A lot of people on Twitter (2 people) have asked me about shows happening around the Butterball holiday since they will be here in Austin. Generally, there are at least 3 shows a night that I would attend here in Austin but in the wake of your tryptophan-related coma there aren't that many shows to choose from. The first, and most important show, I want to highlight is Quiet Company's Twitter show. This is going down at the ND and they'll have a projector live-streaming people's tweets from the show. I think this is a clever idea BUT the ND is a warehouse and the last time I was there I had a lot of problems with the data network on my smartphone. SO, I recommend you prepare for this possibility by reminding yourself how to tweet via text message and/or use any connections you have at ND to find out the password to their wi-fi network. Tickets to the show are $10 and if you click the Quiet Company link above you can purchase them there.


Quiet Company - A Nation of Two video via YouTube

Quiet Company isn't the only Twitter-addicted band playing that show at the ND Saturday night. You can also catch Love at 20, Moving Castles, and Guns of Navarone.


Moving Castles - Theater, Girl video via YouTube

As far as Black Friday goes you've got two choices of show. You could keep it local by checking out the Triggermen at the Scoot Inn, which I recommend if you're on a budget as both the entry and the drinks will be MUCH less expensive than the alternative show.


the Triggermen - Double Drink Fister video via YouTube

Your other Friday night choice is to catch some power-pop perfection at La Zona Rosa. Bloggy fav Brendan Benson is on tour with the Posies and tickets to see them at LZR are still available. If you think you MIGHT be interested buy the tickets now as they will be more expensive on the night of the show. Also, keep in mind that they charge $4.50 for a can of Lone Star and I believe it's $5 for a strong liquor drink...you do the math.


Brendan Benson - A Whole Lot Better video via YouTube
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Friday, November 19, 2010

Pomegranates with Oh No! Oh My!

Hey kids, Saturday night at the Mohawk you've got to catch my favorite Austin band playing with Ohioiansians (<--I made that word up), Pomegranates. Oh No! Oh My! make wonderful indie-pop songs and they have been largely over-looked in Austin's music-scene of late. Pomegranates also make wonderful, clever, jangly, indie-pop that will be tattooed on your brain for days after you see them perform. If you click their name above you can download a bunch of free tunes from that page. Expect to hear some new tunes as they recently released a new album, called One Of Us. Holla! You can pick up a copy of their latest LP, here OR at a local retailer. The show at the 'Hawk Saturday is on the inside stage so it will be a late one, it will also be much warmer than an outside show. It's all ages too, so you can bring your under-aged girlfriend perv.


Pomegranates - Whom/Who video via YouTube

Oh No! Oh My! haven't released any music for the last two years but they are playing lots of tunes from their upcoming LP, People Problems, which is due out next year. Hopefully they'll be making a lot more waves with that release as I think their sound is ridiculously accessible and at least deserves some serious licensing deals. Perhaps we'll hear their tunes featured in an upcoming season of Gossip Girl or something? Here's one of their new(ish) tunes I captured the last time I saw them perform.


Oh No! Oh My! - Live at the Ghost Room video via YouTube
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