One of the town’s mainstays over the years has been a crammed stage full of multiple drummers, keyboards and a seemingly rotating cast of whoever is available to make it to practice for that particular week’s show - ‘Til We’re Blue Or Destroy. And what shows they have been over the past 5 years! Opening for a who’s who of buzz bands, headlining fashion shows, ironic proms and a fistful of PartyEnds concerts including an extra memorable set in a south Austin brewery. TWBOD captures the audience immediately with their long and perplexing name (we, as a town have a history of supporting acts with flairs for near complete sentence band names) and they retain the attention with their fun and lush sets, many of which end in a t-shirt or two being removed.
Frontman Will Rhodes’ has worked his Red River anthems into fighting shape over time and is gearing up for a debut self titled release tonight on the beautiful Club Deville outside stage along with fellow Austin rockers New Roman Times who oddly enough are ALSO releasing a record tonight.
Austin’s Decider has a GREAT interview with Rhodes up about the new record you can read HERE. In it, the mysterious meaning (or lack thereof) of the band’s name is finally reveled! Spoiler alert!
It is ALMOST time to put on your 30 gallon Uncle Sam hats and fight terrorism by blowing up fireworks! July is in full swing, the heat is crushing souls, and people are ordering gazpacho soup. As R. Kelly would say, ”Drop up in the summer time and we rolling through the block with the sun shining and I just wanna ride, I just wanna ride.”
One of my favorite summer tracks to jam at the moment is a Hold Steady b-side from the Boys and Girls in America record. It is a cover of a Violent Femmes song and can be listened to over and over again while thinking about cookouts, road trips, and music festivals.
The mid west boys in the Hold Steady will be dwarfed by the tallness of Conan O’Brien on the Tonight Show July 8th. Very cool. I have secret hopes that Andy Richter will hop on the tambourine and join in on whatever song they choose to play , possibly Constructive Summer…
Need Fourth of July plans? I Love Mike Litt has you covered. Sign up now to be entered to stake your claim as the next Kobayashi of boiled veggie dogs. If you are not an extroverted pig, I assure you that going and watching the veggie gluttony is just as fun! Note that there will be all the NadaMoo vegan ice cream you can eat and a free Hot Dog King veggie dog while supplies last! It makes me want to sing the Star Spangled Banner just thinking about it.
Also, be aware that the indie pop stylings of HollyWood Gossip will be out in full effect playing songs about the opposite sex and riding Schwinns thru East Austin - is there anything more American than that? Maybe Explosions in the Sky but that show is sold out …and there are no free veggie hotdogs.
Check out this vegan friendly but still disgusting promo video:
And here is a video from my favorite show that has ever aired on Fox (sorry the Simpsons) Man Vs. Beast! In this segment, Diamond the Kodiak Bear takes on Takeru Kobayashi in a race to eat 50 hot dogs. Marvel at the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat! Watch the ‘instant replay’ too…
Do yourself a favor and listen to Alexander’s Dark Band. They are a 7-piece group from Austin that, despite the clever name, is in fact not too dark at all. There also isn’t an Alexander. The fact to take away is that they are one of the most underrated acts in Austin. Their debut release , Music to Stand by the Fireplace To has been out for over a year now, and it still blows me away with of baroque instrumentation and endearing , clever lyrics. This is a group that has a knack for mature songwriting and an execution that is remarkable. Ben Folds and Polyphonic Spree comparisons are sure to be made.
Frontman Jeff Luna first made a solo release in 2004 called Skeletons and Whatnot that he apparently forgot to tell people about, and as a result is hard to come by. The Alexander’s Dark Band record is much easier to come by, it is available digitally via all the usual online channels as well as all the usual Austin array of independent record stores. Read a more cohesive review of the record over at the Austin Chronicle HERE.
The group is now on a break until the fall where they are restructuring and writing new material. If their next release is anything as good as the debut album I truly believe that they will garnish a commendable following in Austin and abroad.
In the midst of their break, the guitar, flute and viola players have started the group Tres Bien Ensemble . This musical avenue composes folk chamber music similar to Penguin Café Orchestra and also performs original scores to old school short silent films. So far there are both Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton shorts under the 5-piece’s belt. The Tres Bein Ensemble will be playing the score for the Tramp live at the Cactus Cafe on July 1st, opening up for Joanna Barbera.
In the meantime, check out all of their chamber music score for the Tramp matched up with the movie on their myspace page and download a movement from it here…
Here is a song for when you are jumping from foot to foot in the driveway because you are too much of an idiot to put on shoes in the 150 degrees weather…. like me.
Maluca is part of the Mad Decent ever growing family and is bringing a rad Dominican influence into the cultural realm the same way MIA helped a lot of people learn more about Sri Lanka. Mad Decent is expanding the horizons of hipsters with almost every artist they sign. Diplo produced this hyper track and made sure it was chock full of rhythms, so- no matter how you move to it, odds are you will be on beat. Maluca was down here for SXSW this year, but I missed her sets. I can only imagine that they were super energetic and fun. Look: she has a twitter account.
Hey crew, so John and I have been called in last minute to fill in a little DJn’ at Club DeVille tonight, if anyone is out and about and would like to swing by. We’ll be playing an assortment of shiz with the dawn of PRTNDS: the eclecticism of Party Ends, the overpowering volume of a PA system, and probably a lot of beer. We’ll be at it from 10pm to 12am-ish, hope to see y’all there.
Tonight at Beauty Bar will be a blast! There will be moonwalking and crotch grabbing all over the place as Neiliyo, Zeale and Astronautalis each do amazing things with a laptop and a microphone. Come early to enjoy a tasty brew from south Austin’s own Independence Brewing as well as other treats from 3 Olive Vodka and Pie Guys Pizza… while it lasts, because once it is gone – just like Car Stereo (Wars), that is it…. for Austin anyway.
And, don’t worry Car Stereo (Wars) has confirmed that he is indeed working on several special Michael Jackson surprises for tonight.
Check out what the Austin ONION has to say about the show HERE! Also read their “exit interview” with CS(W) HERE.
Check out a Car Stereo (Wars) interview with the Austinist HERE.
Austin Sound did an interview as well you can check out HERE.
RIP MJ. Here are some remixes and covers you should grab on this momentous day. I bet more and more pop up on the internet before too long along with a bunch of “mega mixes…” The P.Y.T Demo is so necessary and U-Tern did a fine job of extending the intro and outro to really get the jam going. The Bird PetersonThriller is a fantastic example of what a good remix can be. The Z-Trip remix sheds a stripped down light on the 1969 song that is so good- it is eerie. My hypothetical remix would have much more Tito. Nonetheless, it is still amazing to think about young Micheal belting it out on national TV at such a young age. Finally, check out Petra Haden doing what she does best: sweet sweet acapellas. No, I don’t have the Alien Ant Farm cover of Smooth Criminal….
The RIP: A Remix Manifesto screening last night at the Alamo Drafthouse Lake Creek was genuinely entertaining and enlightening. It had a great cameo from PartyEnds fav AmpLive, some Diplo Baile Funk and an excellent surprise Stephen T. Colbert dancing sequence. I am energized today to try and track down some old Air Pirates comics, but I don’t necessarily need a new thing to collect, besides eBay had the good ones for around 100 bucks a pop. They are collector’s items yo. Read all about the headache the Air Pirates caused Disney HERE. Also- read all about how Disney lifted the look, feel and plot of Lion King from some old Japanese cartoon HERE. (Cracked.com - every now and then you really hit a home run.)
Everyone just steals… ahem.. builds upon on everything. That is how it is. That is how it has always been. And the last generation will always hate it and will always try to stop it. And on and on and on…
We told you about Faunts‘ killer track It Hurts Me All the Time a while back but now there is another excuse to post about it! A music video! Plenty of messy paint, pretension and pajamas. It is strikingly directed by a dude named Liam Mitchell. As far as I can tell it is his first music video… Check it out:
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