So, there is that big DIY festival in Mexico that everyone’s favorite promoter/Brooklyn-type Todd P is orchestrating in late March called MtyMx. Its got Neon Indian, Dan Deacon and most of the bands playing SXSW that the “popular” “blogs” are talking about. It is an impressive lineup in it’s own regard for a multi-day festival but the big draw is that a lot of folks need an excuse to travel to Monterrey Mexico, drink tequila and dance in a field after traveling to Austin, drinking Lone Star and dancing in a gentrified tejano bar. 25 bands a day for 3 days is nothing to shake a stick (or “el palo”) at. And it’s all for 400 pesos. Get your tickets HERE.

THIS weekend there appears to be another festival with the same idea called Festival/NRMAL. Get your tickets HERE. This one features such PartyEnds approved artists as YACHT, The Death Set,Yellow Fever, Juiceboxxx,Yppah, Toy Selectah and more. It is also in a Mexican field, possibly the same one.

So- what is the deal with all this south of the boarder action right around SXSW? Are Austin’s breakfast tacos not cutting it anymore? That’s not what the New York Times says… I am a little worried that SXSW might throw it’s weight around and try to stop Mexico from holding festivals that take away from their attention . Maybe they will rent Mexico next year for an artist lounge for reunited 90s bands….

Whatever.  Have you seen this wild and crazy Mess With Texas lineup yet?   The whole scoop is HERE.  There is an analogy about evolution in here somewhere but I’ll let you play independent music academic on that one. Have a good Thursday and watch Community tonight.

There are a lot of things I’m excited about at our upcoming Dirty Work SXSW show, not the least of which is the wide array of dance-tastic DJ & hip-hop acts we have lined up, both inside and out, but one of the top picks for the day is the much hyped, P-fork loved rock stylings of Brooklyn’s Keepaway. I’ve yet to hear anything in their airy, indie repertoire that I wasn’t impressed with and to accompany one of their better tracks, Yellow Wings, is a humorous, but strangely appropriate new music video. An un-synchronized, seemingly un-ironic, totally Gob magic show, shot on not terrible, but certainly not flattering digital video, bounces and pirouettes atop the catchy, teetering, snare driven tune. Check it out:

From Pitchfork: TV

Austin facial hair enthusiast and comedian Chris Trew has been staying quite busy lately. In one short year The New Movement improv theater in East Austin has gone from just hosting classes to being open to the public and has even opened a venue in Dallas dubbed Dallas Comedy House! Under the Megaphone Comedy umbrella he spearheads with his comedy partner Tami Nelson, Trew is spreading subversive and downright hilarious long-form clowning around all around the Lone Star state that makes Del Close smile in his grave. Trew hosted the national tour of Air Sex World Championships and as a result somehow ended up on Bad Girls Club. Read the highly entertaining message board thread where Trew engages with his newfound female fan base at the Oxygen Network HERE. (My favorite comment regarding his Air Sex routine from user “me_not_you” is as follows, ahem: “If my man was trying to eat a pizza in the middle of sex I would rip his PPPPPPPP PPPPPPPPP right off!“)

I guess I could keep going on and on about Trew also performs under nerdcore moniker Terp 2 It who has an ultra-fun album out modestly titled My Wiener Touches the Ceiling. But let’s get down to business. Chris Trew is the first act to take the outside stage at a FREE upcoming DAY SHOW we are hosting on March 18th 2010. Before all the keyboards and laptops and drum kits get plugged in and turned to 11, Trew will be enlightening the beer line  full of Thursday work skippers with stories, anecdotes and overall silliness. This will set the tone for an awesome day and we couldn’t be more happy to have a hometown beardo kick things off. Don’t miss this on Thursday at noon, oh, unless you hate Brooklyn Lager and laughing. Full lineup of the Dirty Work dayshow below.

A ton of planning and blackmail has gone into this FREE day show that just so happens to be the same week as some music festival. Thanks to help from Raw Word Records, Bridge Club Music, Brooklyn Brewery, Artifact Workshop Records, Fake Four Inc, and of course the Iron Gate Lounge (located at 1111 East 6th in beautiful Austin TX) this will be a memorable day for all!

We are proud as proud pie to have some THE bands that we were excited about being in town that week on board a show we are involved with! Ladies and germs- I present to you two stages of day party mania:

outside:

12 Comedy from The New Movement’s Chris Trew
1 CUSTODIAN
2 Keepaway
3 Sole and the Sky Rider Band
4 Neiliyo
5 Das Racist

Everything is Terrible projections all day!

inside:

12 Orion + Prince Klassen
1 Manolo Black + Hobo D
2  Sonora
3 Mexicans with Guns
4 Pagame + Gnarlos + Omoxi
5 Panchitron
6 Cauze One + Dj Dus

I’ve given you the hot tip on E-603 before. He is that other guy out there right now who is really apt at mashing things up like those guys and dolls from Glee. I just got turned onto a cool remix he did for the psychedelic electro group  Southern Belle who hail from Boston (although, be careful.  There also appears to be a DIFFERENT Southern Belle from Portland…) Most remixes these days tend to be straightforward party songs or exciting radio rap pop songs but here we have a highly danceable jam with downer subject matter of a relationship falling apart. Why not? E-603 didn’t actually use any samples that I could pick up on, instead we have handclaps and some other club-friendly effects to beef up the original a bit. Alas, there is no Ke$ha or Kid Cudi or anything like that on top of it all. Is it possible that E-603 is more than just a mashup wunderkind? Could he produce too?

Southern Belle has a cool My Bloody Valentine undertone to all their songs which really helps set them apart from the majority of keyboardy electro outfits. This is the sort of band that stands to benefit in this Post-Neon-Indian-on-Jimmy-Fallon world we are living in.

Download the original and the E-603 remix below guilt-free:

MP3: Southern Belle- Walk Out

MP3: Southern Belle- Walk Out (E-603 Remix)

Wouldn’t it be funny if I told you about that new Vampire Weekend being particularly good in my opinion? Boring. Pick up a magazine in an airport for that sort of thing for the next 4 months. Another especially great act of young men that hasn’t busted into the NPR lexicon just yet is the raw awesomeness of Dinowarlus. Part casio weirdness and part flashmob drumcircle; the band is straight up neo/psychedelic/space/garage/punk. Make sense? The album “%” came out in January and odds are these guys will be playing their Theremins and out-of-tune guitars at many a official and unofficial sxsw party. They will have you scratching your head while you try to sneak Sweet-o’s into your backpack.

MP3: Dinowalrus- Nuke Duke ‘Em
MP3: Dinowalrus- BEAD

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I had such a good time at the Neiliyo Game Night release party that I am extra thankful to the  Peen Scene for being on hand to provide photographic evidence of the shenanigans. The main thing that I recall is that everyone there were the most extroverted, good-humored and overall happy people in Austin. And that means, that believe it or not- the Game Night attendees were even more optimistic and fun-loving than the young uns next door at Mohawk to see the Appleseed Cast’s Low Level Owl played in it’s entirety. (sarcasm comes across on the internet still right? )

Club DeVille was hopping from the get go as Makers Mark was on site to offer up complimentary samplings of their fine product. Not one person complained. The Team Fabrication DJs dropped upbeat rock song anthems and tasteful electro hits , rinsed and repeated making for one of the more fun DJ sets I’d heard in a long time. A particular highlight came from the end of the evening when They Might Be Giants Man It’s So Loud In Here came on the PA.

Fizzy Dino Pop was essentially a solo project for the show as the female part of the act was overseas. Sharing the stage with FZP was another dude who concentrated on making sure that the projections that were going behind them stayed bizarre and trippy. Somewhere between the pizza spinning on a record player and Tron sped up about 500% it totally worked and helped make for a tone setting performance of merriment.

Onto the Neiliyo set…. this was his most energetic and outrageous performance yet. In addition to the usual upbeat dancing, sweating and falling on the ground, Neiliyo had the crowd completely engaged in a high stakes game of musical chairs, hopscotch and yes, even spin the bottle. I was amazed to see that inhibitions were left at the door when the slap bracelet (which included a link to download the new EP Game Night) went on everyone’s wrists.

It was a great night and if you need proof just ask anyone who woke up with a slap bracelet on or better yet - check out the pictures from the Peen Scene HERE.

Over the last few year’s we’ve all come to know and love Austin’s leading front man, one man band, hype machine, and all around dancetastic walking party Neiliyo. With more energy than a collective ‘the’ band combined and oozing savoir faire, he has captured the hearts of many, and raised their BPMs with his raging BPMs. Weather an impromptu jam at a house party, or killing the stage at Lollapalooza, I have seen few live shows from Austin bands that I feel have more potential to break out onto the musical world stage than Mr. Yo,  and his new record, a concept album revolving around classic kitsch party games, is really starting to catch up. Capturing the incendiary quality of Neil’s presence on stage is a tall order, and possibly something that will never occur in full, but one tenth of that electricity could make a record great and Game Night, his new EP, is the experimental car battery in which it will be stored.

Saturday night find out for yourself at the “record” release party residing in the always chill Club DeVille where you’ll not only enjoy a live performance of Game Night in it’s entirety, as well as some additional tunes I should think, but also actual participation in the old school games around which the album revolves, like spin the bottle, musical chairs, and telephone. As if that weren’t enough, you’ll also enjoy the comparably nutz lo-fi electro-funk of Fizzi Dino Pop, and records spun by Austin fashionistas Team Fabrication. A nominal $8 gets you in the door, the evening of highly original entertainment, and a sweet-ass slap bracelet with a download code for the album (hence my earlier quotation marks around ‘record’, because this is way cooler than a CD).

Check out this teaser track from the EP:

MP3: Neiliyo - Hopscotch

For months, the very notion of Friday night’s show has made be a giddy. Red 7 is hosting the tour of P.O.S, Dessa and Astronautalis in Austin and there can be no doubt that this will be an stunning hip hop-esq concert.

Get there early because Astronautalis is the only artist in America currently performing songs about being stabbed to death on a first date, doughnuts with tupac AND Washington crossing the Delaware. Still supporting Pomegranate, one of the best albums of 2008, Astronautalis is never anything short of a completely enthralling and absorbing live show. Veins pop, sweat pours and neo-folksy anecdotes are told. If you are reading this and still not sold – I will leave you with this: I have seen a lot of live acts in my day, and Astronautalis is my favorite live performer alive. Boom.

This will be my first time to see the Minneapolis golden child and DoomTree wunderkind P.O.S. His latest release Never Better was one of the best albums of last year and the song Drumroll was my top number 8 song of the year.  In theory, to see it done live is to have my face melted. I can’t wait.

On Pomegranate, POS is a special guest on the hidden song and on Never Better Astro returns the favor. If both or either of these tracks of performed live, it will be a very special evening. Who am I kidding, it will special evening no matter what. These are some of the most important indie-hip-hop artists in the world tonight and it special to know that they very well might end up right along side you at the Kabobalicious trailer after the show.

Get yo tickets HERE.

AND- check out this dope stack cup beat below!

It is snowing in Austin and what better way to warm up that with some new cumbia tracks from hometown DJ hero Orion. Orion is an active member of the most up and coming DJ crews around called Peligrosa who are official SXSW artists this year after ripping up the Fun Fun Fun Fest stage as well as the PartyEnds sponsored Summer Extrav-0-ganza alongside Harlem on a boat last summer! The key to the warranted attention that they receive lies in their uniqueness. In a landscape of bloghouse and heavy DnB, Orion and the rest craft booties to shake using a palate of cumbia and salsa and sprinkle in elements of hip hop and electro to create something that listeners truly respond to, if nothing else, because it is different. Mad Decent commander in chief Diplo has had great success in digging into different musical cultures to bring the best of the best to the forefront of a digital culture, but what the Peligrossa boys are doing is more genuine. This is the music that they love and they would like to play it for you. They know you can handle and accordion if the right beat is underneath it. They know you will be forgiving of not being able to understand the words because very well might find yourself with a rose clenched between your teeth. This is material that can be listened to by most any generation and find appealing elements to it.

The collection of edits, remixes and originals is called Carajo Colombia and you can name your own price! So, anywhere between zero to a milli is acceptable. The link to Download the whole thing is HERE!

An appetizer:

MP3 : DJ Orion - La Burrita de Eliseo

Sweet DJG has a damn good point about the state of thangs : “Excluding the Sockhop and one-off events at Scoot there is a distinct lack of dancing options in East Austin.” He has taken it upon himself to take actions into his own hands at an Ethiopoian spot of all places. The new and FREE weekly dance party is happening at Karibu Ethiopian Bar & Restaurant on East 7th (between Navasota and Onion) and be called Get Down Saturday Night, ( a nod to the classic boogie track by Oliver Cheatham.

I have yet to eat there, but I hear it is fantastic. For Get Down Saturday they will be throwing some tables aside to make way for a dance floor, and opening up a full bar and serving food until 2am!

The new weekly aims to be a fun alternative to bar-hopping between the area’s jukeboxes and to provide a regular spot where Austin’s elite can talk about the latest posts on hipsterpuppies, chill, dance and drink LoneStars. The rotating cast of DJs playing disco, boogie, house, and the occasional Afro-beat track are : Sweet DJG , Acid Abe, DJB Hiney, Bill Converse, Living Bluntly, Mos Jef, Mike Z, and Bink. So, there you have it, a new option for every Saturday night from now on. 

Check out this trill disco edit from Sweet DJG:

Bunny Mack- My Sweety My Sugar (Sweet DJG Edit)

It’s been a long and seemingly crazy ride, with lineup changes, record cancellations, and a bunch of really great shows, but Austin’s the Always Already are winding up for their last show together before they part ways forever. Like, forever ever.

The dance rock electro now four piece has been a staple of the Red River scene for a fair few years now, always delivering a tight, consistently surprising, and steadily entertaining performance for their faithful fan base they’ve built up over the years. Some of these shows were sponsored by Party Ends, a testament to just how much we’ll be missing them here on the site. The bitter-sweetness is that they’ll be playing one last show this weekend at the always dance-hall fun Beauty Bar with DJ Mel and the well matched electronica of Zorch.

I’m sure we haven’t heard the last out of any of the members of the Always Already, and they leave us with a pretty extensive legacy of good music and good times. Choosing a track for this post was difficult, so I’ll just go with one of my favorites.

MP3: the Always Already - I Am Electric

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I guess it’s time to get on the train of writing about a bunch of bands that you might not have heard of but will be quite relevant in the next few weeks leading up to SXSW; and if all goes according to plan for them, they will soon after be on magazine covers and in a 3D imax movies.

Enter The Crookes from Sheffield, England. They will be in the LoneStar State for the first time the week of SXSW as artists and are confirmed to play a set with that radio station everyone in Austin is supposed to love: WOXY.COM.

I am currently partial to the imagery the song’s title creates as a mirror to how things are going right now and their corresponding stress levels. Another aspect I am drawn to of this song is the relaxation I get from the jangley instrumentation and proper English lyrics strewn about the tropical tune that would appease both Paul Simon and Morrissery alike. With Vampire Weekend being as popular as they are right now, the SXSW Stage is set for the Crookes to get some serious exposure. Check it:

MP3: The Crookes- Bloodshot Days

(young woody allen photo credit: WFMU)

Immoral Technique is on some next level Andy Kaufman ish. We’ve got  a free download record featuring nothing but Disney songs with the words “immortal technique” said over it. Think it sounds annoying? You are wrong. It is mesmerizing. Is it made to be liked at all? Not really, more than anything it should be experienced. Download it all HERE.

After some internet digging and interviewing we have the legend of who and what this Immoral oddness is all about. I did some internet chatting with the hilarious and mega-talented BleuBird and he reveled that the project is indeed him. Bleubird is half of the kitten loving rap supergroup Boyfriends Inc. along with PartyEnds patron saint Astronautalis. BleuBird is ALSO half of the all-over-the-place supergroup Prinzenallee alongside Jayrope. These, compounded with his  amazing mixtapes and it is evident that the dude stays busy.

Here is the backstory from Bleu :

“A few years back Andy (Astronautalis) and I played a few Warp Tour dates with Immortal Technique, and after we played he came on stage and said ” yo, no more pussy rap on this stage today!” and when people started leaving, he was shouting ” I hope somebody you love dies!!” So, that pretty much solidified him as a total prickhole in my book, don’t get me wrong, I think his music is necessary, but I just can’t get down with the whole revolution unless you’re a fag or woman type shit.. So, both Andy and I enjoy taking stabs at him..  SO,I was in the studio working on a mixtape with a friend of mine and we were looking through a bunch of mp3’s on his computer, earlier that day he was loading up his daughter’s i-pod with a bunch of Disney songs and we kept coming across them…when Hakuna Matata came on I just started singing “immortal technique” over it which for some reason led to uncontrollable laughter…I mean, think of every rapper in the world and for obvious reasons this formula works best with his name…one thing led to another and I was in the booth, jasper lined up all four tracks and had to press record and leave the room, after two takes straight through the four, he stepped in and tried… and was surprised at how hard it actually was to keep up , it was a strangely therapeutic vocal/mental feat …in the name of pure ridiculousity I had some friends leak it onto some shareware sites..and the fun ensued!”

There you have it. Just a week after Die Antwoord phenomenon swept the internetz we have the skinny on another weirdo hip hop meme.  This is so interesting because it is by no means a “diss” record, nothing negative is said. Only the bizzare juxtoposition of another rap artist’s name said over repeatedly the classic Disney ditties of yore.

What ELSE is BlueBird up to these days? Well, right this moment he is overseas touring.   He has ambitiously rad plans of being the Anthony Bourdain of hip hop and music culture. He is working on a brilliant sounding cross between No Reservations and Insomniac where he will travel around playing indie-rap shows, working on projects, doing interviews, and taking short gigs with interesting folks. I have already signed up to have him to some tree work around PartyEnds HQ.

Grab all of the Immoral Technique EP for FREE HERE.

Grab the amazing Street Talk 3 Mixtape featuring Billy Joel’s We Didn’t Start The Fire rapped in it’s entirety over Lil Wayne’s A Millie. Yes, as a matter of fact it IS called A Millie Joel.  HERE it is all for free.

Here is a taste. Grab it all from the links above.

MP3: Immoral Technique- Immortal Techniqueamattata

MP3: BleuBird- A Millie Joel

Anticon has certainly evolved over the years with the face of indie music as a whole. I am ignorant to the juicy details (beyond what is written below, duh) of this split but it def took me by surprise. The two’s DNA is entangled by design. The split seems more or less amicable so i don’t think we have any crazy indie-hip-hop ‘beef’ on our hands…

Now seems like as good a time as any to announce that Sole and the Skyrider Band will be playing the PartyEnds.com and Raw Word Records Day Party March 18th 2010 at the Iron Gate Lounge on East 6th. It is a “leak” as it were. Trust me, more awesomely exciting acts will be announced before too long and you will no doubt get a little shaky in the knees. It’s going to be a doooo0000ozy yall.

Read Sole’s reasoning below in a letter issued on February 9th, 2010

Today, with a heavy heart I end 11+ years of working with anticon. In the early days of the label, anticon was a pet project of mine, a life-long dream. We fulfilled the dream of a collectively run record label and put out many great records and stood as an image of defiance against the music industry. Those memories, I will always have and be proud of. Sadly, those times are gone, and I need to live in the present as I prepare for the future.
Leaving the company was not an easy decision, but it was made necessary by a number of factors. Upon returning to the states from a 2-year exile in Spain, I found myself increasingly at odds with the business end of anticon and began doing more DIY work via soleone.org. Running my own website and taking a more hands on approach with my art has always brought me great satisfaction and it is what I am choosing to return to. There are no ill feelings between myself and members of anticon. I will continue to work with many of the artists and will always love them as brothers and consider them allies. This is a decision to change the way my music will be exploited and adapt to shifting paradigms.
We created anticon as a response to what was going on at the time in the music industry - the indy boom of the late 90’s. There were still a viable music industry then and people bought records. That’s how we built up our empire. The music industry isn’t just dying, but what it means to be a recording artist is changing. Technology is making everything cheap, and cheapening everything it touches. Soon the old ways of selling records will be a distant memory, along with magazines, working musicians and employed blue-collar dads. It’s not a time to cry about the recession, or urge people to go to their local mom and pops and pick up the new sole & skyrider LP. Technology is working its magic, and instead of being a passenger on its ship, I have decided to plot a new course for myself.
The very fact that I have thrived in this environment still sometimes is a surprise to me. I’m 32 today. I put out my first vinyl when I was 16. For me its always been about ethics & passion, doing what felt right in my core and acting on that, whether or not it was the popular or conventionally wise thing to do.
From now on now all my releases will be made available @ soleone.org via my new label Black Canyon Records and exclusively distributed worldwide via Revolver USA. There is an email newsletter list ton soleone.org, if you wish to be kept in the loop on my releases/updates that will be the best place.

Peace

Tim “sole” Holland

Don’t forget to grab his FREE Nuclear Winter mixtape we told you about a while back…

Be careful out there and have a good Thursday.

(Image via I like Cool. )

Weather you like it or not, the sometimes dreaded, often expensive, but  generally pleasant V-day is right around the corner. To get you in the mood, here are a few exceedingly sentimental numbers to tug at the heart strings, just don’t cry in front of your co-workers, or you’ll never live it down. Trust me.

MP3: Tom Waits - Take it With Me

MP3: Simon & Garfunkel - Wednesday Morning 3a.m. (live)

MP3: Ryan Adams - Dear John

MP3: Sufjan Stevens - Casimir Pulasky Day

( ED Note: Dues to the disturbing situation with music blogs being attacked in recent days, we are removing some of our MP3 links, including these, for now. Sorry.)

The blogs are always abuzz about some hot new ethnic tracks, weather it be the Indian cum British triumph of Beriut, any mish-mash MIA touches, or the ‘horror’ of Vampire Weekend’s lighthearted appropriations. But weather we’d like to admit it or not, it’s generally progress, opening the world’s ears, little by little, the a broader horizon. Lately I’ve been really taken with the Malawi born Londoner The Very Best’s aptly named Warm Heart of Africa, a joyous amalgamation of hip samples, traditional Africana, and commiserations. With guest spots from accessible, aforementioned bridge artists like MIA and Ezra Koenig it’s a fun, eminently accessible slice of the Dark Continent’s enduring spirit. Much of it is akin to listening to Graceland or My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, without the pervasive overarching influence of a presence like Simon or Byrne/Eno. It’s singular, but with the feel of something larger than just ‘a band’.

MP3: The Very Best -  Angonde

MP3: The Very Best - Yalira

Stock up on super-sized freedom fries because the adorably foreign sound smiths who do their versions of popular songs with a bossa nova and troplicalia twist are headed to our fair town of salsa and queso. Culture shock is right around the corner! Nouvelle Vague will be at the Mohawk on Saturday, February 13!

The icing on the cake for this show is that hometown weirdo heroes Pataphysics are opening. Nouvelle Vauge will leave the country and tell the story about one wild band they met in particular in a wacky town called Austin who wore wolf hats and sang about things that didn’t make sense.

Check out the jazzy take on the Depeche Mode track below…

MP3: Nouvelle Vague- Master and Servant

Get your advance tickets HERE!

There is a GREAT show tonight at the Red Eyed Fly and I think this is the first time that statement has ever appeared on this website. San Marcos house party bros Zlam Dunk and one of our favorite bands from the DFW hood Giggle Party! Have you had a chance to check out the Giggle Party Video for Jason Bought a Hatchet yet? It is silly. Unless, of course you think that unicorns, robots, lightsabers and Lincoln in Wayfarers are all serious subject matter. The video is a blast because it captures the fun of the music and is visually as entertaining as something form the mind of Brad Neeley. Check it:

Giggle Party’s “Jason Bought A Hatchet” from Jason Reichl on Vimeo.

Giggle Party has a early Lookout Records vibe going in terms of carefree catchiness but with a Death Set head injury that leaves them with post-modern sing-along songs that are insistently fun.

You can download the WHOLE debut EP The Holes in the Your Face Are Pleasing from Giggle Party from a banner on their myspace page HERE.  The band is working on a new record for March and until then, they are releasing a free track every Tuesday HERE. How very web 3.0 of them!

These two bands on a bill together makes so much dance punk sense it’s not even funny. Zlam brings the short shorts and basketball gusto, Giggle Party brings the silly string and drum machines.  If Zlam Dunk is a spazzy Jason Siegel, Giggle Party is Paul Rudd with Forties taped to each hand.

I hope that the Red Eyed Fly stage lays down some newspaper or something first because there is going to be a odd mixture of sweat and confetti at the end of the night…

MP3: Giggle Party – Easter Tree

Tonight at the Scoot Inn is a crazy-good 9-piece orchestral punk ensemble and choir from Grapevine, Texas called Mount Righteous.

These guys and gals don’t need electricity to make you need earplugs at the club. Like a group of punks expelled from marching band, Mount Righteous’ fat tubas, call and response vocals and the overall musical uniqueness help make street music that is actually enjoyable. They fuse the group dynamic and musicianship of Polyphonic Spree with the jaunty jigs of the Decembrists.

No synthesizers or arpeggiators here. Only a sousaphone, trombone, trumpet, drums, piccolo, melodica, bells, slide whistle, and guitar, and 8 harmonized voices having a good ol time.

The group has two releases out now and just finished recording a third with my favorite producer working right now John Congleton. The man behind the boards brings a lot of fitting elements to the table that compliment the North Texas band’s sound. One obvious attribute is his work with the recent Polyphonic Spree record, which redefined their sound and gave them more of an edge. The one song I’ve heard from MR’s yet to be released album (below) is a great next step in maturity and controlled dissonance. This ambition to grow is one of many things that excite me about this band! The idea of controlled discord is a specialty of Congleton who has helped Explosions in the Sky, the Paper Chase, and even Bill Callahan find the right balance.

Check out this fun lil’ video for Suburban Homesick Blues (get it? ) This is the first chance to sample a song from the new album, which is currently being mastered by Congleton. The yet to be titled full length album should be out early March.

Upcoming tour dates:
2/4/10 Scoot Inn - Austin, TX (with String, 100 Flowers, and the River Hymn)
2/5/10 1816 Calumet - Houston, TX
2/6/10 Blind Mule - Mobile, AL
2/7/10 Spring Street Fire House - Birmingham, AL
2/8/10 Wonder Root - Atlanta, GA
2/10/10 Soap Box Laundro Lounge - Wilmington, NC
2/11/10 Wind Up - Baltimore, MD
2/15/10 Webster’s Hall - New York, NY
2/16/10 The Modern Exchange - Southgate, MI
2/17/10 Ronnie’s Garage - Chicago, Il
2/20/10 The Brick - Kansas City, MO
2/21/10 Sound Pony - Tulsa, OK
2/26/10 The Opolis - Norman, OK
3/13/10 Bee’s Fifth (NX35) - Denton, TX