Hey Austin crew- I am excluding non Austinites intentionally for this post, not for any particular reason- I bet you really didn’t get enough surprisingly good / bad art last weekend, so you’re going to be bright eyed and bushy-tailed come tomorrow at 10am when the first ever second weekend of EAST kicks off. But don’t go blowing your wad too early on (eww), because after all the free cheap sangria and getting lost in the simultaneously scary and pleasant neighborhoods, there is some serious partying to be done.

Closing down your Saturday EAST is an official happening at Birds (Barbershop, of course) on East 6th, the CD release of the sure-fire performance art, themed music duo CUSTODIAN. Finally releasing their first offering, on local label Artifact Workshop no less (purveyors of top local acts like the Laughing and DJ Car Stereo (Wars)), Ultra-Fresh will be available for the first time in a “limited edition janitorial soapboxes containing a CD (along with a few other surprises)”. So mysterious, and really, potentially gross; but let’s hope not.

The group, featuring former front man of Single Frame Adreon Henry, create catchy, danceable, classically styled hip-hip with a witty, almost comedic edge that keeps the irony from becoming too much.  The music is a cut-up, new-wave tinged assemblage of samples and synths with an unusual amount of  truly catchy choruses, the kind you wake up in your head with for a week strait. Ultra-Fresh is certainly an apt debut title as well, and there’s really nothing like CUSTODIAN on the Austin, or as far as I know, any scene at the moment.  Their music skews slightly toward other clever , cerebral indie-rap acts like Astronautalis or Listener Project, who also share their flare for symbolic performance, for any sort of reference.

Live shows with this crew are generally quite the ordeal, with an emphasis on performance-art, and I hear there are some big plans in the works for tomorrow’s barbershop craziness, so do yourself a favor and don’t miss out. Check out this track that will posses your brain, for many reasons, all weekend:

MP3: Custodian - Pop-A-Lock