Strand of Oaks Announces Miracle Focus

Tim Showalter has described his new record Miracle Focus as a record that represents “a temple of peace in my life,” so when listening to the first single, it’s interesting trying to piece together the puzzle in where this would fit in a record; you’ll find that it’s the opening tune on the album, which perhaps hints at its mesmerizing blend of soulful vocals and wash of electronic atmosphere. His voice, for longtime Strand of Oaks fans, is always going to be the draw, and this approach sees him moving that even further into a croon-adjacent voice; I think of moments of Cohen or Cave (also Patrick Wolf, but not sure that’s a household name), just letting their notes drip with emotion. It’s going to be really special when this all gets put together; Miracle Focus is out on June 7th via Western Vinyl.

ACL 2023 WE2 PREVIEW

What weekend of ACL is it, Karen? Ok, thanks!

Weekend Two of ACL Music Festival 2023 promises to keep some trends from Weekend One alive. First of all, the weather gets an encore. It will be a bit warm on Friday, nothing too bad. A cold front will land and we’ll be in for Chamber of Commerce weather on Saturday and Sunday; it is going to be nice enough to break out the DON’T MOVE HERE shirts. Let’s get to some WE2 updates and little gallery from last weekend where I was on stage for a song thanks to my close personal friend Jared Leto. The sad news is losing out on artists like The Mars Volta and The Walkmen. The main draw for WE2 from my perspective is M83.

Click it through…

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ACL 2023 WE1 Preview

COLD FRONT ALERT: Folks, it looks like this is going to be the single best weekend of weather for ACL in years! I, for one, am extremely excited to stand in the field and listen to music with friends without melting. Granted, this readership is not always congruent with the ACL target audience, but it does not stop the fest from having enough nostalgia and newness to prompt a wristband pick up.

Let’s run through some artists to see, housekeeping and tips and tricks to survive. Click through fam.

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ACL Fest Nights

Afraid of the commitment that comes with a three-day wristband? You can catch many of your favorite band coming to Austin for ACL in October in the days between the first day of WE1 to the last day WE2 at venues around town thanks to ACL Fest Nights. Highlights for me include The Walkmen 10/7 and the The Breeders 10/13 at Stubb’s and Yves Tumor at Scoot Inn 10/7.

Check out the list off to the side here and then get your clicking fingers ready for Thursday morning at 10am when tickets go on sale.

Show Pics – Love and Rockets @ ACL Live (6/16)

There are plenty of nostalgia acts rolling through Austin this summer. Ive already seen The Cure and Duran Duran, Depeche Mode, Tears for Fears and Peter Gabriel are still inbound. BUT, when announced, I knew I had to see Love and Rockets. It is a shorter reunion tour, the first in over twenty years. While they did have one set in 2008, things were fairly bleak that I would get to ever see the band live. Pretty rad.

David J, Daniel Ash and Kevin Haskins proved that their song catalog is every bit as fresh and relevant to a not quite sold out ACL Live. Opening was artist Vinsanto delivering an introspective collection of poems as songs.

Click through for a few thoughts and plenty of pics

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ACL Festival 2023 Lineup


Austin City Limits Festival has announced the 2023 lineup. To be honest, I’m down for weekend one. Sure, the headliners are not the ATH cup of tea, but there are real heavy hitters in the middle lineup. I mean Bass Drum of Death, Chromeo, The Walkmen and The Mars Volta? At ACL? OK. Talking my language. In general, we get Death Grips, Poolside, The Breeders, Yves Tumor and Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Weekend Two highlights M83 and Tegan and Sara.

Wristbands are on sale in a couple of hours, but AMEX card holders get early access. CLICK HERE to learn more and shout out to ACL for finally putting the real price of the wristband on the storefront, no more fees and delivery and surcharges at checkout.

SHOW REVIEW: BOBBY WEIR & WOLF BROS. @ ACL LIVE (3.7.23)

Amid the inescapable ramp up of impending SXSW insanity, on a balmy and foggy evening last Tuesday, our Capitol City welcomed yet another legendary guitarist in Bobby Weir to the esteemed Moody Theater stage. As is typical with all things “Dead“, the bright-eyed, tie-dyed masses of all ages were lined up in full throated spirit in anticipation of an early 5:30 door opening, jockeying in place to get a shot at the front row. Custom shirt and glass pipe vendors were sprawled out along 2nd St., each with their warring psychedelic playlists creating an echoing corridor of weirdness. It was the picture perfect backdrop for Weir, who was on his first full-fledged solo tour since his 2020 pandemic-shortened concert run. Lucky for us, he was treating his loyal Austin deadheads to not just one, but two sold out evenings in our fair city. Read more

ACL 2022 – Weekend One Preview

We know ACL may not always be our cup of tea top to bottom, lineups drifting towards tiktok stars and Youtube trends in recent year. That does not mean you won’t be void of awesome goodness and refreshing moments of zen along with a big dose of nostalgia to come over the top and sneak up on you having a good time. Here comes a list of things you should consider if you happen to find yourself with a wristband for Austin City Limits 2022 Weekend One.

Nation of Language – Friday 1pm @ Miller Lite – First thing I will see, they might be my favorite band on the lineup. This duo, now fully fleshed out as a four piece, bring together so much of what I love about synth pop and 80’s wave hits. Songs sometimes build, sometimes simmer darkly, but their set at Levitation last year was so good.

Genesis Owusu – Friday 4pm @ Tito’s – I make it a point to hit the tent midday at some point to see something I wouldn’t normally pursue. Owusu blends elements of R&B, hip-hop, disco slow jams and straight up hype jams. I’m curious. Check out “Whip Cracker” and try to categorize.

Big Boi – Saturday 6:15 @ Honda – Big glasses, bounce.

The War on Drugs – Saturday @ T-Mobile 7:15 – These songs want wide open spaces to expand out towards, find a spot out by the chair line, reflect on the days events. This stage tends to deliver in the later hours somewhat isolated from the crossover of noise as Diplo floods the hill at Miller Lite.

Dehd – Sunday 1:15 @ T-Mobile – A tight trio delivering well-crafted lo-fi pop songs locked down with underlying synths and an ever present catchy chorus. The only bummer is that locals Darkbird and Caleb de Casper are at the same time. That would have been a nice one-two-three punch, but I am going to take Dehd this round.

Buffalo Nichols – Sunday 1:45 @ Tito’s – Carl “Buffalo” Nichols did some moving, both geographically and musically. Where it has landed him is Austin, trying to rebuild the foundation of the blues, a noble effort to connect the history of the music to a new generation. #tenttheory

MUNA – Sunday 3pm @ Barton Springs – Buzz

Spoon – Sunday 4pm @ Honda – Why not?

ZHU – Sunday 7pm @ Miller Lite – Who knows how this will go, but there are some really strong deep house jams by Zhu lately, so go check it out, get your shimmy on and I’ll report back for next weekend.

Here’s a fancy playlist with some of these artists and more —-

 

Premiere: Peter Matthew Bauer Shares Miracles

Though the demise of the mighty Walkmen broke hearts here in the ATH offices, we’ve loved all the impressive material coming from the band’s members since the break up. Peter Matthew Bauer, former guitar player and songwriter for The Walkmen, has offered two delightful LPs since his band’s demise with Liberation! from 2014 and Mount Qaf from 2017. Here in the present, Bauer has prepped another new LP entitled Flowers slated for a release on September 23rd via Fortune Tellers Music. Prior to the full release, we’ve been given the sheer pleasure of dropping Bauer’s latest single “Miracles” for all you fans to consume and enjoy. The progression and production of this stellar tune is some of the best I’ve heard in quite some time. We’ve got the single along with a quote about the track from Peter after the jump.

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