Check this out: http://do512.wordpress.com/2010/02/06/all-star-spotlight-nitesblog-com/
'NITES was featured as part of The Do512 Blog's All-Star Spotlight series. I met with @Do512_Grace a couple weeks ago for an interview. She asked some good questions and I tried to give good responses. The result is the article linked above. Thanks Do512!
The third annual Fashion Freakout invades Mohawk this Friday (2/5). Local retro rockers The Carrots will provide live music during the intermission, but the real attraction will be the models sporting vintage digs from local shops like Prototype Vintage, Buffalo Exchange and more.
Read a Q&A with Fashion Freakout co-creator Audrie San Miguel at Austinvida.com.
An excerpt from the Q&A:
So what can we expect from this year's Fashion Freakout?
San Miguel: This year, we made a crazy-cool backdrop with a light installation inside of it. The runway is going to be longer than it’s ever been before and, as usual, the instruments of the band that is going to play during intermission are also part of the set. They stay on stage and they go along with the rock-n-roll theme. It’s inspired by the '50s, '60s, '70s and even the '80s.
The festival, called MtyMX, will take place in Monterrey, Mexico. That's about a seven- or eight-hour drive from Austin, if you're wondering. The festival is taking place on the site of a former drive-in theater.
MtyMx will feature 75 bands over three days (March 20-22), with a ticket price of $30 for all three days. Here's a partial list...
Dan Deacon, Neon Indian, No Age, Fucked Up, Das Racist, Washed Out, Thee Oh Sees, Pocahaunted, Indian Jewelry, Male Bonding, Best Fwends, Banjo or Freakout, Los Fancy Free, Los Margaritos, dd/mm/yyyy, Lemonade, Quiero Club, Los Llamarada, Toro y Moi, Small Black, Liturgy
Monterrey is considered Mexico's Dallas: an upper-middle-class city with lots of culture and nightlife options for young, urban professionals. But Monterrey also has a burgeoning music scene that's producing some exciting independent rock music. In that sense, Monterrey is Mexico's Austin. A third of the bands on the bill are from Mexico.
Get more details about the fest and about the city at toddpnyc.com.
STEREO IS A LIE has been getting quite a bit of local buzz lately, which makes me happy. I was hooked from this band's very first show in November 2008, when they caught me totally by surprise at Emo's. It's refreshing to see a confident, well-rehearsed band command the stage like SIAL does, rather than awkwardly fumble through a set (a common occurrence in Austin).
I could tell you about their influences... or you can watch this video I shot and edited almost exactly a year ago. The video features STEREO IS A LIE at Stubb's.
Also, check out my Flickr photo album of pictures I took at Ghost Room a few months ago.
STEREO IS A LIE is playing a cool showcase at Ghost Room on Friday, March 5. The showcase is called A Local Night For Local People, no doubt a jab intended for those of us who get cranky with the massive influx of tourists during SXSW. RSVP for this show on Facebook here. Other great bands are on the bill, including psychedelic rockers The Astronaut Suit.
Lastly, STEREO has just about wrapped up the mixing of its debut album. All that's left is for the band to figure out its distribution method, and whether or not that will include a record label.
San Marcos piano-pop-rockers Fulton Read are releasing their follow up to 2008's excellent EP Indivisualize. The new EP, titled Synchronize, will be available on January 31st, and like its predecessor, it's totally free. You'll be able to download it Fultonread.com.
To promote the EP, Fulton Read is launching a worldwide graffiti contest. All you have to do is tag the word SYNCHRONIZE somewhere (anywhere), take a picture, and send it to the band.
Prizes include CDs, t-shirts, and other merch. Categories include Best Tag, Biggest Tag, and Best Location.
Here's the event page:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=265972607959
Okay, I meant to go out way more than I did during this year's Free Week. But my girlfriend moved to Austin on New Year's Eve, and we spent lots of time unpacking and organizing and whatnot. And frankly, I would've felt like a world-class douche if I spent every night of her first week as an Austinite going out without her. Because of her 8-5, she can't be a night owl like yours truly.
But I did go out just enough to get some interesting bands on video with my new pocket HD camera. It's an able, though not ideal, replacement for my dead Sony HD Handycam. Note to anyone in the market for a thousand-dollar video camera: The Sony HC9 lasted me about 15 months from the day I bought it new to the day it died. C'mon, Sony. Really?! I won't be buying another.
WE THE GRANADA
Austin has an emerging genre I'd like to call saxcore. Along with We The Granada, we have bands like Muchos Backflips and The Gospel Truth who play loud, spazzed-out rock that jams and uses lots of saxophone for a jazzy yet vertigo-inducing effect. These bands are distinct but share a similar Mike Patton/John Zorn chaotic feel. We The Granada also has a bit of Mars Volta and The Locust in their sound. The light show is a nice touch. They have a band member whose sole job is to control the lights.
THE BULEMICS
I didn't know a damned thing about this band. They were a random Free Week discovery. I think every indie band in Austin that plays with an indifferent expression and stiff limbs should be forced to go to more punk-rock shows. Austin's got lots of good ones. And the energy-above-all ethos that fuels punk is what makes it such an appealing genre. I get tired of indie shows with bands who look bored with their own music while they're on stage. Indie, take a cue from punk: The crowd will only enjoy the show as much as the band appears to be enjoying it.
THE ALWAYS ALREADY
This band spawned around the time every band in town wanted to be a glorified Joy Division or Gang of Four cover band. But The Always Already always kept my attention with solid, energetic performances and slight, refreshing departures from the genre they based their sound on. It was like '80s UK post-punk mixed with old-school hip-hop and electro touches. Unfortunately, The Always Already are no more. They're scheduled to play their last show ever February 27 at Beauty Bar. Bassist Louis Lemuz has a new band called Love at 20, which I really reeeaally like.
PLANET RYE CO.
Remember two paragraphs ago when I talked about lifeless indie bands? Sorry, Planet Rye Co., but you're kinda flirting with that boundary. The lead singer has alright energy, but the dude playing the tambourine with the lifeless expression is kinda what I'm talking about. Same goes for the bassist. Don't get me wrong... I've seen much worse than this band, but still. Stage presence is horribly underrated in the indie-rock world. When you go to as many shows as I do, it gets old sitting through bands who look like it's a chore to play live. What's the deal?
THE GOSPEL TRUTH
Remember when I was talking about saxcore a few paragraphs ago? This is one of those bands. I don't know what to make of this style. I don't know if I love it or just kinda like it, but it's still intriguing to me. I'd like to see more live Gospel Truth.
IN SITU SOUND
What's in the water down in the Valley? Lots of hip indie bands are sprouting up in the RGV. Melodic rockers In Situ Sound join Dignan and others as examples of the Valley's burgeoning indie music scene. This band is young, but they've got potential. I just wish I would've gotten footage of the large-sounding instrumental jam they played before this song.
Watch videos at the 'NITES Facebook fan page.
Sat. 2010/01/16
My throat hurts from screaming, but at least I didn't get broken glass on me. Colin was wasted, but I've never known him to be anything but. And Anthony Johnson was back!
I love Hole in the Wall.
I knew you had it in you, Austin!
PUNK ROCK.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
I shall miss you dearly, Haunting Oboe Music.
<3
P.S. If anyone has video or pictures from Haunting Oboe's show, please send me a link.
P.P.S. I hope this is as incoherent as this blog ever gets. Cheers.
It always sucks to see a good band go away, but it's worse to see a disintegrating band going through the motions. My feelings about Haunting Oboe Music lie somewhere in between. The sextet plays its last show ever tonight at Hole in the Wall. Cover is $3.
On the one hand, I'm sad to see 'em go, but on the other hand the Oboes lost a lot of the raw energy and fury that made them such a force a couple short years ago.
Haunting Oboe Music was amazing the first time I saw them play. It was August 2007 at the now-defunct Whiskey Bar on Fifth. The Oboes put on a frenetic live show that always threatened to explode into chaos between two powerful drummers, two loud guitarists, a dance-happy bassist and a forceful trumpet player. But somehow all the elements not only managed to coalesce in harmony but create something truly memorable in a music scene that sometimes lacks uniqueness and adventurous spirit. I rarely missed a show from 2007 to 2008, becoming friends with the band along the way.
But things started going downhill in late 2008. The band seemed exhausted at shows, due in part to the ambitious 12-EPs-in-a-year project they'd embarked on that January. Their trumpet player left the band after a show at Hole in the Wall in November 2008. The band's performances seemed to lack something after that show -- something beyond the loss of textures created by a trumpet. A year later, after a string of sometimes brilliant but often inconsistent shows, the members have decided to go their own ways.
Word has it a few of the members are going to start another project. I'm excited to see what they do. Haunting Oboe's members never stopped being great songwriters and performers. It's just that the band's current lineup didn't have the same charisma and chemistry. They need a fresh start. And I'll no doubt be there when the next incarnation arises.
Elsewhere, the TXRD 2010 roller derby season kickoff party is going down at Chupacabra Cantina (400 E. Sixth) with free Lone Star and Jameson. Read more about it on Do512 here.
South By Southwest and National Public Radio are partnering for a SXSW kick-off showcase featuring Spoon at Stubb's BBQ on March 17th. The concert will be streamed live and then archived on NPR's SXSW site.
Speaking of free streaming, you can currently listen to Spoon's new album Transference (available in stores Jan. 19th) as part of NPR's First Listen series.
Austin's indie-rock heroes play a free in-store performance at Waterloo Records on Monday, Jan. 25th. It's a good time to be a Spoon fan in Austin.
