Party Ends

Posted by partyends at 02:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

   hey, go watch these videos, they will change the way you think of indie-big band-swedish-acting-like-they're-from-spain-music-collectives. It's just really fuckin' good, seriously.

We're From Barcelona -

Collection of Stamps -  

And be thier friend on myspace.

Posted by partyends at 03:23 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Posted by partyends at 03:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

   Well, I was riding the You-Tube train yesterday evening, trying to find live videos of the pAper chAse (which apparently don't exist) when I stumbled onto this great band out of the Chicago scene called Chin Up Chin Up. My good friend Ryan is from Chicago, and actually just moved back there,  and the more I looked around these sites, and thier freinds sites, the more cohesive the scene Ryan would always describe seems to be. These post hard-core kids have a progressively distinctive sound, and the more you listen, the more it reveals itself and, I think, the better it gets. Like youthful, fun music with a harder edge, these melodic, crunching, dancy tunes cover a lot of ground. Here is a video from the aformentioned group, and a couple of other Chicago kids that I'v been listening to for a while, see what Chicago has to offer.

Chin up Chip up: video: We Should Have Never Lived Like We Were Skyscrapers 

Pelican: MP3: Sirius

Russian Circles: MP3: Death Rides a Horse

Bound Stems: MP3: Andover

Posted by partyends at 05:03 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

   Oh yeah, and go see Jackass Number Two. It is truly a work of sophisto, highbrow art but, I think, it might still appeal to the "everyman" of our generation. Wonderful, and it's all so fun to try at home!

P.S. : as if this picture weren't warning enough, there is moderate to heavy homo-eroticism in this film (as was recently touched on on the Ebert & Roeper show), earning it the "r" rating. Ladies (and gentleman), enjoy.

Posted by partyends at 04:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

   Not only does this phenomenal band win my "Most Authentically 60's-70's looking Band" (replete with almost exclusively vintage instruments, equipment, clothes, and facial hair) but Mr. Jason Collett himself wins the prestigious "Best Peter Stormare Lookalike Musician". Very impressive, I must say. 

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   So, thanks to my wonderfully in the know wife, we caught a great instore yesterday evening. Jason Collett and his band played an incredible set of alt-country goodness for a tiny crowd at Good Records. Peppered with witty banter and a nice story outlining the true origins of the first song you can download below, the sound was great, the songs were, and are, solid, and technically this band is right on. I see big things for Collett and his gang in the near future. The song 'Fire' was one of the standout tracks on the Vice Records sampler that I picked up at SXSW this year, and I think when you hear it, you'll agree that these guys know their stuff. For the life of me, though, I don't understand how a group so steeped in bullseye Americana can be from Montreal. Expertly channeling Bob Dylan, Uncle Tupelo, and laid-back southern lilt of Folk Rock, these are guys to watch out for. It's crazy good.

MP3: Almost Summer:

MP3: Hangover Days:

Posted by partyends at 04:19 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

   Hey, check out these photos from the Factory People party attended by the entire staff of Party Ends.com (though niether of us made it into the pictures).

Last Nights Party: Factory People

Posted by partyends at 07:06 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

If you are not excited about this MP3- we are not friends:

MP3- Weird Al- White and Nerdy 

Chris over at Car Stereo (wars) is once again ahead of the curve with his dope chopped and screwed version.  Download it! 

MP3- Weird Al- White and Nerdy and Chopped and Screwed (Car Stereo Wars)  

YouTube is an amazing source of great weird al videos but I am going to show some restraint and just link to the actual White and Nerdy video

Posted by partyends at 03:45 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

   At the end of this long post about my boring life, there is an great live video from the recent (smog) and Joanna Newsom show that you will like. Alot. Damn, it has been a long weekend.  It all began on Thursday with the Austinist pre-ACL party, which was an overwhelming success to say the least.  Loxsly sounded superb as always as well as Till We’re Blue or Destroy.  I am sure the others were in their prime as well but I was unable to fully take them in, what with my avoiding fights and catching up with PartyEnds cohort Luther who made the trek down from Dallas to the state capitol to spend some quality time with me and to see Gnarles Barkly at the festival (BTW- they all dressed like scientists and called themselves ‘John Nash and the Beautiful Minds.’  I love it.)  Zach-0-Matic took some mighty fine pics at the Austinist party click here for more.   

   After going into work on Friday, despite the sneaking suspicion that everyone else in Austin had taken off, we all managed to head over to Factory People where all sorts of great DJs were spinning (many of which were the same songs.)  I never want to hear “Sexy Back” so often in such a short amount of time ever again. I digress: the party was fun and full of interesting folk.  The highlight to me was helping explain the wonders of Tex-Mex (specifically Queso and Migas) to a random really nice Canadian who went by the name Matt-Man.  I’ll never forget you Matt-Man. The atmosphere was excellent as per usual at FP and the party was even graced by the poor man’s Cobra Snake, LastNightsParty. The bar was open and the balls were disco.  That’s how I like it.  MSTRKRFT did their thing and everyone seemed pretty into it.  I was hoping to hear some of their remixes…. But like I said – I did get to hear some of the other DJ’s play TWO different remixes of “Sexy Back!”  

Dear MSTRKRFT: please remix anything by Justin Timberlake. 

Cheers-

Partyends.com   

MP3- MSTRKFT- DuDun Dun-  (Para one) 

SUPER!ALRIGHT! performed stellar projections at both the Austinist party as well as the Factory People party.  Everyone loved the visual mayhem at both.   

Side note: that part in Kill Bill vol. 1 with the Crazy 88 could be played on loop at my house for days. 

   Side Note number two: I did not care for the film Last Kiss at all but I am convinced that I really like this actor: Eric Christian Olsen  

   You may know him from his amazing work in Not Another Teen Movie where he plays the blond jock.  Or perhaps in Beerfest where he plays the blond German guy?  Well, in Last Kiss- he plays a really good blond guy with long hair that I really think you will like.  It makes up for his role as the young Jim Carey in Dumb and Dumberer.  And I am pretty sure he is the guy from those Game Killer commercials - where he killed that guys “game” by talking about Ecuador.  Check out this SWEET fan site. Ha.

   Sufjan Stevens at the Paramount Theater on Saturday was absolutely perfect.  Everything from My Brightest Diamond opening to Sufjan’s encore of Chicago was faultless.  We had great seats- really got to take in all the fantastic visuals, 16-piece orchestration and most of all: the bird wings.  I am bad blogger and couldn’t bring myself to disrupt the show with a flash but had no problems whatsoever finding great video footage of one of the set highlights- a new track called Majesty Snowbird 

Thanks to Chris from GorillaVsBear for this amazing video clip:   

read more from Chris about the show here.

Sunday was lazy as ever and concluded with the amazing new Mike Judge film Idiocracy . 

   This movie is great- touches on elements of TV show greats like Futurama and of course Bevis and Butt Head and King of the Hill.  I can’t stress how important it is for you to go see this if you live in one of a handful of cities that the studio has allowed it to be graced with. It is the new Inconvenient Truth and it is waaay more humorous.  You will love it.  It is hard to believe that studios think that a movie about a group of teenage warlocks (the Covenant) will do better than a witty comedy with Luke Wilson about the over corporatazation of America!  If they would just give it a chance and I don’t know- make a trailer for it for TV!  Hell, maybe even take out an ad in the local papers they- would MORE than make their cash back.  But instead they are sitting on it and going to just watch part of the money they could earn roll in when folks like me geek out over the DVD release date.   

It’s a damn shame. 

MP3- Cut Copy- Future (Chromeo remix)  

Enough ranting:  

   You want some cutting edge content?  You want something that you can tell your friends about?

How about this live video that Erik took at Monday night’s last minute (smog) and Joanna Newsom show at the Parish? 

Check it:

It is ‘Rock Bottom Riser’ in a way that I have never heard before… with Joanna on the keyboard it has a sensation of Boroqueness to it that works especially well.  The sound quality and the looks that they exchange are worth you clicking on that link alone.  Really.   

Anyway- have a good day.

Posted by partyends at 11:09 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

   ACL FEST is right around the corner and that means that there are about to be all sorts of parties with amazing bands and amazing booze.

   Sunday night at the Beauty Bar seems pretty legit. The Carrots from Austin and PartyEnds favorites Peachcake are both playing on the last night of the festival. . I think there are a bunch of bands playing at Zilker Park also… but who knows…

   This is all I really have to report at this time. Call me "out of the loop" on the after parties and whatnot because this is all I know about at the time. I am sure that Tom Petty or heaven forbid- even the Heartbreakers are playing somewhere on a stage made of pure money- but- these are all the places that I hope to be. Fuck Tom Petty. And fuck the Heartbreakers.

Posted by partyends at 04:59 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

   I have to admit that, of late, I cannot seem to log onto the internet without finding some way to watch a stupid, crazy, or depraved video on Youtube, the eighth wonder of the world. But, aside from useless crap, this medium also affords us the opportunity to fill in the gap left by MTV in the late 90's, when they abandoned the pursuit of presenting music all together, by giving us access to music videos, many that would neeeeever make it onto any form of MTV anyway, and concert footage. The bond between sight and sound might actually be getting a foothold again.

   Here are some of the live bits that I've been enjoying lately, and can help us put a face and a little ass shakin' to those voices we know so well.

Beck - Hell Yes on MTV :

I have no idea how the public can like someone so good for so long, but he still sells out those tours and makes the indie chicks and cheerleaders swoon in unison. This just proves that hes still got it, and I have to watch all the recent footage I can get since I missed his last tour (which come around about every five years or so). The best live performer playing today.

Midlake - Live at Hailey's Denton, clip :

I took this video as an experiment with my new camera (which is already broken) and it turned out shockingly good sounding. It sort of captures the elation of their shows, and, though short, illustrates the skill and talent that is gonna carry this band all the way to the top.

Uffie - Live at Ourdisco, Great Britain :

This is one of the coolest Uffie videos I've found. It's got she and Feedz showing just how they do it  hot with the kids who know whats up over in Europe, where the reception seems to draw more people than the videos I've seen from the US.

Spankrock - Live in McCarren :  

This is actually a pretty cool length of footage that sort of shows the off-the-hook-edness of Spank Rock, with his larger than life persona and exaggerated gestures. He seems out of place not in a smoky den of sweat and swinging hands, but those don't make for very good home movies.

Posted by partyends at 09:34 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

   I learned a valuable lesson in self-restraint at the circus themed bar The Carousel Lounge where I found myself front and center for the Okkervil River live DVD taping. There were a variety of high-end film and HD cameras and cheap DV cameras capturing the night’s festivities with the intent to compile an Okkervil River DVD and because of that- there was a small handwritten sign on the door that asked politely not to take photographs or to record the show. So there I was eye to eye with Will Sheff, witnessing some of the band’s best live antics ever- and out of respect to those around me, the band, and the film crew - unable to snap any pictures. I sound noble huh? Well, the truth is if my wife hadn’t gotten on to me about the whole respect for the band thing I probably would have taken some really great pictures and who knows – maybe the flash would have caused Will Sheff to forget the words and ruin the whole thing for everyone. It was probably for the best that I didn’t indulge in the greediness of taking pictures for my little Internet site. After all, the best pictures are the ones we keep in our hearts. If anyone has any job openings at the Hallmark Corporation I am very interested in writing greeting cards, by the way. Andy snuck this picture of the back of my head and the band guilt free.

   It was great to see the band in such an intimate and surreal surrounding. The Carousel Lounge is a dive bar that typically caters to regulars and the occasional indie rock show but as far as I know has never packed in a crowd like they did for the Okkervil River show. The last time I saw Okkervil in such an intimate environment was at a bookstore collective thing in way South Austin for the opening of Will Schaff’s art exhibition. After the explosion of popularity the band has experienced since the release of Black Sheep Boy, who knows how many more chances there will be to see such a great small show. I am not certain what all the final cut of the DVD will contain but at this show they played quite a few covers which is a really smart move for the band because once the DVD is out and being hyped I can already see music journalists across the country wetting their pants over their interpretations of obscure Iggy Pop, Fleetwood Mac, and Bowie songs and how they interpret them. 

For me, the show’s highlight was the Iggy Pop cover Some Weird Sin which ended with a crazy free jazz cacophony of intense sound, with everyone in the band playing outrageous noise on their respective instruments and multi-instrumentalist Jonathan Meiburg hyperventilating on his melodica the way that Louis Armstrong would have if he were to ever explore the many wonders of the fine device. Jonathan’s cheeks were red balloons with veins were bulging out, there was complete chaos--- then the transition hit like magic. They seamlessly went into the single “For Real” to much applause…. From me…

   Another point of importance for the show is the drunk girl who pushed her way to the front right around this time and proceeded to grab Will Sheff’s beer from the ground and to drink it while rubbing against me. Everyone around was pretty shocked about the beer and my wife and I were especially shocked by the rubbing.

Keep an eye for the sure to be amazing live DVD from Okkervil River! 

And grab these free mp3s from the band!

MP3: Okkervil River – For Real

MP3: Okkervil River – a Favor

Posted by partyends at 03:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

   "Happy birthday to me" I would slur at you through my hungover daze if you were sitting here at the computer next to me. I had a great psudo-surprise party last night that included way too much patrone, some remarkable BBQ, and an asshole video DJ called Zoo. So, yeah, I also got this awesome figure:

I think I'll give it a Party Ends paint job, so keep an eye out for that, cause I'll totally post it.

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   So, I know some people have been talking about the Golem band and their album "Fresh off Boat", and I keep hearing all sorts of stuff. "They're terrible", "they're incredible", "they're a big rip-off", "they're totally original in every way", lots of stuff, and nothing particularly definitive. So I'm here to tell you that you will definitely, absolutely, in every way, maybe like them.

   There are a lot of  people who will not like this. I don't blame them, it's not all that accessible to listeners who are looking for certain elements in their music, i.e. people who need to understand the lyrics, etc; but that does not mean it isn't a really good album. A good portion of the album (most of it, in fact) is not in English. The music is populated with wierd gypsy instruments, skin-stretched drums, and some remarkable accordion playing, and the vocal talent is accompanied by some fun and varied guests. It's something that has to be sat with to really be appreciated, but in the end, if your serious about music, you can probably find something that you will really like, and that will keep you coming back.

   The energy of this album is where it's at. The songs soar and bounce their way through anthemic, balladesque folk tunes and marching raucous dance numbers. It's a fun record, with no air of the pretension that just oozes from most other such artists like Devendra Banhart or even some of the Gogol Bordello songs (both of whom this will be compared to). The band actually features  members of Gogol Bordello. Those guests I mentioned earlier are Amanda Palmer of The Dresden Dolls, Lenny Kaye of the Patti Smith Group, and Mike Gordon of Phish, and to top it off the album was produced by Emery Dobyns, a true artist in this type of sound. Giving a drunken New York slur to Yiddish, Germanic, and Slavic folk music, the sound is authentic, but different. The songs are catchy and definitely danceable, even though sometimes it would have to decay into random flailing as some of the songs twist into blithering spreads. Influences are pretty clean cut, and, yes, there is "punk" in there, though I am sick to death of the term Folk-Punk, or anything-punk, but it is a worthwhile adjective for this music. From the moody Amalie accordion solo opening to the big top close, this is a record for many people, but not everyone. Try it, and I think you'll like it.

Check out a clip for this cool video for Warsaw is Khelm, featuring Amanda Palmer:

Posted by partyends at 06:54 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

   I thought I might make this a regular series, since I have such a warm spot in my heart for homespun tunes that will never rock areanas, but certainly deserve a little respect. Here I present a few kids out there doin' it up right on myspace with music that might take a few listenes to work thier way into your veins, but once they are there, they will grip you as well as any sweet ride you had back in your heroine days.

   Teenage Symphony - This Dallas/Fort Worth based group pairs lilting, exstatic melodies with full, almost symphonic accompanyment to form a liquid flow of sound and vision. Aptly named, the awkward beauty of youth and music.

   Bibles of Twang - I'v watched these UK boys develop from play-around bedroom recordings to serious bedroom recordings, while maintaining thier airy, haunting pop sound and folky acoustic, well, twang. Sit with the songs a bit, and I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

   Follow That Bird - This cutsie duo out of Austin is a two piece power pop outfit set to take over your nearest coffee shop or house party with thier noisy brand of girly harmonic rock. Low-fi fun.

   Assacre - Metal; fuckin' metal. Taking out all the useless cake, this music is just the solo-wailing, scale-running icing. A psudo art project, live shows include a boom box and a flailing, mask wearing maniac, and commonly a bunch of confused people. 

   Tame, Tame and Quiet - This raucious, semi-heavy band is eloquently dissonant, lined with a melodic charm. Finally coming into their own, these newer songs show thier technical abilities and their creative growth. 

   Best Fwends - Craaaaazy! Wonderfully catchy, wierd, psudo-rap-pop with guys dancing in thier underwear around a giant glowing skull.We saw these guys open for Spankrock, and it was great. I also hear they are big in Japan, so thats cool.

Posted by partyends at 02:57 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

   You forgot about Montréal didn’t you? You were just going to forget all about the music Mecca to the North until journalists started to use the town as a descriptor for quality/innovative/new independent music when the next Arcade Fire album dropped. Well, I would like to formally bring it back up. Pony Up! is the mutherfucking jam (and they are from Montreal.) Sure that is an aggressive way to show my allegiance- but it is effective nonetheless. It is better than: “Pony Up! is peachy keen.” Just because they are an all-girl pop rock band does NOT make them “fun” or “cute.” Pony Up! is deserving of the utmost respect from you and your music loving friends. 

   Their new full length “Make Love to the Judges With Your Eyes” literally has not left my car for 2 weeks now. Sure, I sneak in some drive-time radio action here and there and get good use out of my iPod car adopter thingy… but CD wise- Pony Up! is it. The album is pretty enough to be acceptable with a headache but poppy and upbeat enough to accompany all these great sunny Texas days. The female singing reminds me at times of an old favorite album of mine by the Concretes in that it is so vocally poppy but manages to counter the typical all girl connotations with tinges of sadness and darkness. The Pony Up! harmonies are spot on and as a result their intricacies make for near infinite re-listenability. 

   Pony Up! is charming and alluring and I hope this album makes lots of folks Top 10 lists come the end of the year… odds are you will find it high on mine. 

MP3 Pony Up!- the Truth About Cats and Dogs (is that they die)

Be their myspace friends also: http://www.myspace.com/iheartponyup

Posted by partyends at 11:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

   Hey everyone, check out this hot new remix of the hot-hot-hot Uffie track "Pop the Glock" that I just finished for our web site and as a promotional project for Stay Gold, the funk bringers of Austin. Go be both of their myspace friends, cause they are both so awsome. Thats really all there is to say.

MP3: Pop The Glock (Partyends.com & the Platinum Phantom Edition) -

   Also, I would like to take this time to say, on a more serious note, that it is a grave tragedy to lose Mr. Steve Irwin. He was great for his environmental conservation, his work to increase wildlife awareness, and as a family man and genuine person.

I definitely never thought those two pictures would be in the same post.

Posted by partyends at 02:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

   Hey everybody! I know we might have seemed to talk waay too much about the stupendous party that we threw a little while back in Austin; and we might have tooted our own horns about the best party Austintown has ever seen a little more than you less-awsome-than-us kind of people might have wanted. But, we have yet another morsel of royal awsomeness that has fallen from our holy table of coolness for you, the meager people in the dusty, fily streets of the interweb, to ravenously fight and argue over and eventually slake your hunger with.

   As you probably know, one of the sponsors of this party was the super-cool Super!Alright! media collective based out of Austin. Erik, from the collective, ran projection for the evening, and Stephen Huff, Michelle Pineu took some footage that Garrett Johnston put together into this: a brief look at the radiating awsomnity that was a night to remember. (click that little tape icon)

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   Thanks so much to the great guys at Super!Alright! for putting this video together, and letting the few people in the world that wern't there that night know just how sad it is that they missed it. Oh well.

Also, go and check out the Super! Alright! web site for some great music videos and footage reels.

Posted by partyends at 11:53 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

   In my opinion- summer is the hottest part of the year. It has been hard to keep it Trill these days- stuck in an office with no windows and not having the gate code to go swimming at my old apartments have given me a case of what one physician calls "the summer time blues"

The Favourite Sons:

   The hot jam that has been getting me through the days has been by an amazingly fun NYC rock and roll outfit called The Favourite Sons.

Cop this:

MP3 the Favourite Sons- Hang On Girl

"Hang on Girl" will haunt you, it is so catchy. Be warned.

Scanners:

I think you will be pleased:

MP3 Scanners- Lowlife

   In addition to being a really great Cronenberg movie, Scanners pull off a sound that falls between the aggressive/mellow extremes of both Yeah Yeah Yeahs and You Say Party! We Say Die!. It is refined, controlled, and builds up, then releases like butta.

   Since 2005, Scanners have toured overseas with The Wedding Present, The Presidents of the USA and The Organ, their very first US show SOLD OUT in less than hour. Not bad at all. Once the rest of America tunes in on Scanners, ears will be perking up and heads will be nodding. Their debut album is called ‘Violence is Golden’ and it will mos def help you with the summertime blues.

Lily Allen:

   LDN is my favorite. It has the rare attribute to a song that makes me want to ride a bike and do all that other normal summer stuff instead of stay inside and watch reruns of the World Series of Pop Culture. The song is the musical equivalent to a "Dramady". It is pretty. It is matter-of-fact. It is flirty. It is the summer jam.

MP3- Lily Allen- LDN

Like I said- is it even worth ranting on and on about how fun and great the young Lily Allen is. Lets hope that when she gets a record deal that shit still comes out as good as this.

Posted by partyends at 11:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)