I think that thanks to those lovely and well made condos (ahem. does sarcasm come across on the internet anymore?) across the street, the show has to wind down around Midnight. SOOOOoooo -come out early, once they wind down things migrate inside as Richard Henry keeps things going until 2. Who knows, maybe FLoss' J2K and DJ Autobot will make an encore appearance inside....
Check out what Austinist has to say about the show HERE!
bands to watch both literally and figuratively. Opening up are the 'hot item' of the DFW music scene Black Tie Dynasty, whose Killers-esq tracks (swirling guitars, keyboards) will fit in perfect in front of the giant limestone wall at Club DeVille. It is always worth cover whenever Til We're Blue or Destroy is on the bill. Every performance is unapologetically unique as the lineup seems to be dynamic: sometimes there are two drummers, sometimes there are added guitar players. Everyone in the band seems to pull double duty on
instruments and it works wonders. Next week is a big one- Flosstradamus on Tuesday.... the Always Already on Friday. Good thing i have the excitement of seeing the Dark Knight to keep me going!
Last night I had the great privilege to see the Dark Knight at 1:30am. Trust me. Buy your ticket right now and then get out your checkbook and donate your life savings to some sort of Heath Ledger charity. He was incredible. Absolutely crazy. He had every Joker mannerism out of the Gotham ballpark and into the windshield of every Batmobile before Christian Bale's. The movie could have gone on for another 10 hours as far as I am concerned. If a DVD was released of just the Joker outtakes & bloopers it would still make a billion dollars and make the nation tremble. All hail the new Joker.
Tonight is the final round of the austin installment of DJ Melee at the Hawk and it should be one hell of a party. Competitors tonight include Giant Hornets vs. DJ Starsign vs. BIGFACE. What really sets tonight apart from anything else happening in town is that there will be a live performance by Starlynx featuring the LBJ High Drum Line. Starlynx is a new group with DJ Manny and BIGFACE on the tables and MC Tiger Liu. You can listen to House Rockers on the Melee site, it starts playing automatically. Listen to the drum line break - that's what will be performed by members of the LBJ High School drumline at the show tonight! Should be pretty sick! Also, don;t forget to go see the Dark Knight. SO GOOD!
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Floss, floss, floss, floss, Flosstradamus! it is creeping up here folks. This coming Tuesday over at the Mohawk the outside stage gets rattled by two of the best Chicago DJs out there and we are pleased as a thick crust Chicago pizza pie to help make it as awesome as possible. The last time i saw Flossy D was in Austin as they looked on like proud parents while The Cool Kids killed it with their laid back Beastie rhymes. Flosstradamus made them who they are now, paved the way for Kid Sister, and have brought a dancefloor ready version of Matt and Kim's "yeah yea" directly to the aorta of the American dance floor. These two young men know what they are doing, and they do it well.
The decks have got to nice and warmed up first so Abominatron and Markus with a K will be doing the honors. This is going to the be most fun a Tuesday night has been Austin in a long time. We Own This City will be manning the photography duties for the evening, Richard Henry will be keeping things going on the inside stage late night and I will be manning the sweaty, drunken dancing duties along with all of you.
Want to win 5 free tickets?! Do you think i know what a rhetorical question is? The fine feathered folks over at Transmission have the hookup with a contest that requires you to be silly. Here's what you have to do to win 5 tickets to this show:
"In the theme of Nosstradamus, we want you, the fans of Flosstradamus, to predict the future. What major world events will take place in the year 2009? Say whatever you want...say something hilarious, something dirty, say something downright rude...the harder we laugh at your prediction, the more likely you are to win the prize, so get creative.
(1) Call us at 512-472-2009 (it's an Austin number) and, at the beep, leave us your shamanistic prediction for 2009. No need to leave any contact information, just the funny shit, please. If we involuntarily pee in our pants from laughing at your voicemail, that's a pretty good sign.
(2) When you're done, send an email to info@transmissionentertainment.com with the phrase "FLOSSTRADAMUS PREDICTS" in the subject line. In the email, re-summarize your prediction so we know which voicemail was yours.
The winner gets 5 free tickets to the show AND gets their winning voicemail prediction posted right here on the Transmission website for the world to hear & enjoy. Not to mention the fame and glory that will at last be yours. This contest, like all contests, will end at 5pm the day before the show. To the winner go the spoils."
read more about it HERE and GOOD LUCK! Not feeling lucky? Buy your tickets HERE.
MP3: Flosstradamus- Overnight Star
If you are like me and need a good song to listen to after playing 7 straight hours of Grand Theft Auto 4, then look no further. Here is a new MP3 the always-energetic Forward Russia. It is a little mathier and epic than their older stuff. This is not a bad thing, just different. Also, note that the songs are no longer just numbers. I guess this means they are maturing. The new album Life Processes comes out July 22nd on Mute Records…
MP3: Forward Russia -Spring is a Condition
I have a feeling seeing these guys like would be like seeing Jimmy Eat World at an early basement show. I mean this as an extreme compliment, not an epic slam. I am talking pre-“emo is a word and genre to be spit on” America. Pre-Clarity Jimmy Eat World. Pre-EmoGame. Ok, maybe that band name is too jaded by MTV to be accurately used on a semi-respectable music website such as this… let me try again: Sunny Day Real Estate and Fugazi clearly influence The Joy Bus. They have a more spacey take on the fusion than 90’s bands like Christie Front Drive, Sense Field, or Seven Storey Mountain and it works really well. The new release Loves You the Most is full of experimental guitar and excellent vocals. It is produced well and is completely solid throughout. The band is almost 3 years old, owns and operates its own label (KillRedRocket Records) and is about to undertake a national DIY tour, which includes everything from major clubs to Brooklyn rooftops. The Joy Bus is playing Emo’s Lounge Saturday July 19th with Sharks and Sailors and Watching the Moon. Check them out:
In addition to the new Hold Steady record (Stay Positive! Hurry up and come out on vinyl!) all that has been in my car for the past week is the brand-new summertime poolside must Mi Fresh by Austin’s own Prince Klassen. I picked this up at Waterloo Records and can’t stop listening to it. It is extremely diverse; showcasing his love for scratching, soul, dancehall, boom bap, and the 80’s cross dressing classic Just One of the Guys. Klassen is Austin’s equivalent of Baltimore’s DJ Blaqstarr in that he is unapologetically eclectic and is able to make world beats, rap lyrics, and dance jamz sound innovative and modernize them into one big dance celebration of music itself.
The mixtape title, Mi Fresh is taken from a song of the same name from the underrated hip-hop group, Poor Righteous Teachers. The sample is brought back again and again at different speeds and at different intervals as a motif to all four sections of the CD. It gets in your brain like a boll weevil. I find myself saying “mi fresh” through out the day uncontrollably.
In addition to the song selection of the mix, one thing that is interesting about it is how Klassen takes different vocal samples and really rides them out- almost to the point of them outstaying their welcome. Repetition is nothing new in songs especially in the electronic music genre but it is interesting how he does it with funk and hip hop. It is not a new idea by any means, but by letting his crafted samples build and build and build he creates his own style. This is quite the feat in the DJ game since all of the elements are chunks of what other musicians and DJs have already done.
The whole party mix ends with Santogold. This is a perfect artist to represent of the whole idea of what Klassen achieved with his technique. Santi White is one of the best in the independent music game right now who mixes and matches genres in a pleasing way (for an example of doing it wrong- see NERD’s latest.) Klassen finds just the right place for her on Mi Fresh along with James Brown, Lord Finesse, Sharon Jones, South Rakkas Crew, and more.
You can grab the mix at local Austin record stores and go jump over an apartment complex’s fence and get you swim on. Once they are gone they are gone and then what is going to remind you of Summer 2008?
You gotta love Nina Simone. Not just because of her Grammy Award winning contributions to the very fabric of American soul music, or her fiercely controversial political views, but because you have to give props to any and everyone that Craig Finn deems worthy in a Hold Steady song.
She has a new release out called Protest Anthology featuring glimpses of Nina in and out of the recording studio as her songs are mixed in with tracks of her interviews. It is hauntingly good. In her lifetime, Nina Simone recorded over 40 live and studio albums and this one is assembled with love as all of the these unreleased tracks are under direct license from her husband. The release collects some of her most poignant statements from the 1960s. It is fantastic. Also, if you want to interested in learning more about people and places mentioned in Hold Steady songs- I can’t recommend enough wasting your day away by pressing 'Random' on the Hold Steadyipedia.
MP3: Nina Simone- Revolution
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MP3: the Sword- Fire Lances of the Ancient Hyperzephyrians
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Tonight at the Mohawk, after all of the Wizard Rock is over (early show from 5-10ish) a FREE show takes place featuring a very special secret performance by a thematic Austin band who has not played out in 4 months. The surname they are booked as tonight is Stop Speaking Spanish (or something like that.) This show will be a warm up for the group as they are playing with a new line-up and gearing up for their second EP release in late August. If you want to be entertained tonight for free, come check this secret show around 10:30, otherwise you could be the Laughing stock of your freinds. (Dumb Dumb. Hint Hint.)
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Midnight Movies are an interesting band from Los Angeles that have been around since 2002 but I am just finding out about. Sorry if this is beating a dead horse and proof that I am losing my edge but their new digital Nights EP is really great the same way that the new Portishead and Vivian Girls records are great.
The release is bookended by excellent covers of the Moody Blues classic Nights in White Satin, with the album closer beautifully sung in French. Combining galloping flutes with a strangely appropriate pseudo psychedelic guitar solos, Midnight Movies create an atmospheric sound that can be listened to over and over. I am little hesitant imagining the live show being great, but for a band from LA- they are truly noteworthy. Just ask real life rock and roll guitar heroes Nick Zinner and James Iha who both remixed songs on this release.
Below, grab Should Have Known; a track that is as lazy as it is a stampede.
MP3: Midnight Movies: Should Have Known
If you like, pick up the whole digital only Nights EP on iTunes.
Pajiba has a momentous love letter to one of my all time favorite TV shows Freaks and Geeks. This is another installment of their excellent series in the best TV shows of the past 20 years. There is a long intro that explains subjectivity etc but when it gets to the meat of it- it hits every nail in every head. Next time you have about about 15 hours to spare you should truck thru the entire series laugh, cry and wish you had that amazing Steve Martin poster that is on the door of Sam Wier’s room. Click that link! So good.
Ok, now to talk about some music: here we are two years after these guys first made the rounds in the blog-o-sphere and I still am not into into the hype around Birdmonster. I think the problem that stops me from hoping on the excitement train is the vocals. It is a little too whiny, and a little too high pitch. Am I alone on this? I ran across the mp3 and figured I should share it with you anyway… They have a new album coming out soon called Mountain to the Sea. Prepare to read a bunch of praise about it from various trusted indie media outlets....
MP3: Birdmonster- Born to be Your Man
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By now you have heard that Ratatat has a new one out called LP3 coming out tomorrow. It is interesting because on this album they manage to not just play Seventeen Years over and over again with slight variations. This one is fresh. The band has remained relevant over the years thanks to their amazing remix albums, which lay their tunes under some of the dirrrtiest of the dirty south rap etc. This is a nice return to jamz that don't bank on ironic rap to carry the weight for the them.
Their new release is full of character, musical arches, and futuristic dance tracks are practically begging for DJs to lay their own Ludacris or Bun B verses over to make the next internet mashup sensation. LP3 has all the riffs that you know and love from Ratatat but within their existing sound and structure they manage to do something different. Check it:
MP3: Ratatat- Mirando
Thanks to everyone who came out to Stockholm Syndrome last night! Next time- we are shooting for having some free Häagen-Dazs. Maybe.
So, by now you know that I really like DJ nights with themes, confines and restrictions because they are novel and fun. SOOOooooo- you know I am excited about the Party coming down from Dallas and filling the Mohawk tonight with NOTHING BUT 90’s JAMZ. Hip Hop Hooray, Gangsta's Paradise, Afro Puffs,s Jump Around, Groove Is In the Heart, Unbelievable, U Can't Touch This, Here Comes the Hotstepper, Motownphilly, Around the World, Virtual Insanity, Too Legit 2 Quit...this is just off the top of my head! Lord only knows what gems they are going to bust out and add air horns and gun noises over. Be there unless you are a terrorist.
Good evening fine reader. Listen to Stay Gold on KUT's Texas Music Matters discussing tonight's Stockholm Syndrome! On the internet air- because they care. Thanks to Laurie Gallardo, a true dancing queen (ABBA? anyone?), for the help in promoting the extravaganza tonight!
LISTEN NOW:
MP3: Texas Music Matters- Stay Gold interview about Stockholm Syndrome
TONIGHT! We celbrate the Fourth of July weekend with a night of music from Sweden! Makes sense, right? Come one down to Elysium Night Club and be treated to a Smörgåsbord of Swedish synth, dance, indie, retro and pop courtesy of local DJs Stay Gold. Check out the recommendation from Austin Sound Check. And let's not forget to thank Both Sides of the Mouth!
Here is a preview of some of the jams you will be hearing that isn't Young Folks.. don't worry- you will hear that too.
MP3: Suburban Kids With Biblical Names - Loop Duplicate my Heart
MP3: Suburban Kids With Biblical Names - Rent a Wreck
MP3: Lykke Li- Tonight