Austin Town Hall

Our year end lists are wrapping up at this point, but we wouldn’t be a legitimate music site without a list of the top songs from 2012.  Personally, I feel like this list is a thousand times more difficult to compose than an albums list because we’re dealing with close to 400-500 songs in the running.  It’s been a long process trying to narrow that iTunes playlist down to 100, and I know some incredible tunes from this year are missing, but we hope you enjoy.  Ladies and gentlemen, follow the jump for the ATH version of top 2012 songs.

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Here it is.  I know you’ll hate it; I know you’ll disagree, but that’s not the point in making an arbitrary list.  We here at ATH worked really hard to fit in the tastes of the four of us, and when we decided upon our Top 50, it really boied down to simple math.  What albums did we love when they came out?  Do we still enjoy spinning those records months later? If they’re in the Top 50, then the asnwer is probably yes.  I mean, our Top 2 records came out in January, and still play a vital part in my weekly listening.  There’s no disclaimer here.  We are who we are, we like what we like, and we hope that’s okay with you. If not, drop us a line and let us know where we went wrong.

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It’s really hard to narrow down a list of Top Albums of 2012, especially when you have four contributors with different opinions.  We gave the reins to Nathan.Lankford and Nicole Baumann on this one, since they write the majority of the album reviews, but we all have a little representation within this.  Now, we do realize that our site has specialized tastes, so please realize that these are our OPINIONS.  You’re welcome to disagree, and, in fact, we encourage that process.  Also, we’re doing a Top 100 because so many records came out this year, it wouldn’t be fair to narrow it down.  Not to mention it might lead you to discover some hits you hadn’t heard about yet. Oh, and we don’t really like Frank Ocean or hip-hop…just a personal choice…here’s the first segment.

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Our year end coverage begins with the three chiefs over at the ATH offices reveling in what was an incredible year in Austin, musically speaking.  Tons of rad bands blew us away with their live sets, and, well, there were just tons of bands.  I think we did more show coverage this year than in previous years, but as always, the great thing about our site is diversity.  We’re also linking back to our full reviews and photos of some of these nights, so you can get more of a feel of our thoughts, not to mention, checking out Brian’s great photographic 2012. Read on for thoughts on live acts from the three main contributors.
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It’s that time of year folks, when we here at Austin Town Hall try to convince you that we know what’s what in the world of music.  We’re starting things off with our list of Top Ten Austin Albums of 2012.  We purposefully left out EPs, just focusing on the Album as a whole, since that’s our favorite form of media.  Before you read this, please know that this is just the expressed OPINION of ours, and you’re definitely cool to disagree. Let us know your thoughts, and make sure your favorite Austin bands send us their hits in 2013!
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I usually end up putting in more miles around a festival then those other two guys. That means I usually see and more importantly hear more bands than the average festival goer.

This year, I was able to relax a bit on Friday as I was with out photo pit access. Once all that was remedied, it was full steam ahead. I had plenty of fun chasing the sound. We’ll start with a Top 5 bands and then hit on festival observations.

Best Bands

1) Trust – This one is number one for me. It was the perfect storm of low expectations, catching me at a good moment, a solid group of photogs in the pit and a great crowd at the rail. To say that Trust is in the wheelhouse of my electro tastes is an understatement. There is just enough retro with plenty of current trending. Loved this.

2) De La Soul – I got called out. It wasn’t me. Midway through the second of the three songs the photographers can be in the photo pit, De La stopped everything, told us that the show would not go on unless the photographers danced. And so we danced. Except for the guy next to me. Of course, I get singled out when they stopped things again. Later, Pos took time to shake my hand; he knew it was the curly-haired kid next to me. Heh.

3) A Place to Bury Strangers – Hot mess isn’t enough. It is insanity on stage. Part of playing their instruments includes throwing their instruments. At one point, a guitar appeared to be headed right for my head, but the cord stopped progress and it harmlessly bashed a monitor. They should be sponsored by a wood glue company.

4) Gold Fields – This was another surprise set for me. I was just meandering by and camped out when they played the super catchy song “Dark Again”. Aussie Friendly Fires, catchy stuff. Not sure I will stick with them much past that moment, but they sounded great and had fun.

5) Helio Sequence – Ack. Maybe this should be higher on the list. Massive talent on drums, great vocal. Engaging for a two-piece that relies on backing tracks. The opened with new stuff and backwards and forwards and solid festival set. I met them a few years back during SxSW, not a post set chat or in passing hello, we were sitting in the backyard of a studio on the east side one-upping and telling a few lies. Good people, I will always root for them.

Honorable Mentions: Flesh Lights, Ume, Cult of Youth and Penguin Prison. Omar’s new project is a departure.

Suggestions for a Better Fest

1) Go Green – A friend of mine had a great observation. FFF, don’t be too proud to take a good idea from ACL. Crowd-source the recycling effort. ACL was cleaner and greener for it since they started that program.

2) Loosen Up – …on the free water thing. Not letting people bring in empty Camelbak bladders seemed pretty silly to me. Making them throw the $35 bladder away seemed sillier.

3) Invest in the Shores – If you plan to stay here a while, please work with the city to get the grass rooted and green. The dust at the Black stage was choking out canaries.

4) Pepper It In – Give a local or two per day a middle spot. I would have loved to have seen Flesh Lights pwn a crowd on Black around 6pm.

Things I’ll Mis Until Next Year

1) My People – Festival season is over and we all won’t be in the same place until SxSW, and we’ll be far more diluted. Sad face.

2) Themed Stages – True strong suit of FFF, of you are in the mood to mosh, you know where to go.

3) Malick Mania – The cast members eating popsicles, the Red pics hanging from steadi-cams, the drool from starlets digging the same band you dig.

Here is a little slice of Gold Fields and some best of pics.

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Download:Gold Fields – Dark Again (bandcamp) [MP3]

Big best of FFF7 gallery at the photo site…

So I’m up to bat here, giving out my two cents to the masses on the weekend that was. Fun Fun Fun Fest is always a blast, and I always appreciate the fact that Transmission Entertainment is able to get the best of my two side, both punk rock and indie, toss them together and give me memories to take away.

Top 5 Bands

1) Refused – So RayRay stole this, but I’m on board with the man here.  I’d dreamed of this day since I was a teenager in the 90s, and when it came to fruition, it was more than I expected. Dennis threw down like only he could, and sure, they’re old and might not have moved around quite as much as they used to, but come one, dudes are old.

2) Cult of Youth – I love everything about what Sean is doing, especially after witnessing the live set.  The dark pirate-folk came to life unexpectedly, blasting through the songs with the same amount of passion that the band has on record, only much much louder. Oh, and I met Sean back stage and the guy was as nice as can be.

3) Disappears – This band was one of my secret picks for the weekend, and it’s unfortunate not to many people got a chance to see them; I think they were better than many of the other acts on the main stages.  They sounded incredibly tight as a unit, and their energy and guitar playing completely outdid many of the sets I caught.

4) Against Me – I know a lot of people, myself included, were interested in seeing lady Tom on the microphone, but their set was definitely not lady-like.  They played some solid gold oldies, and some of the hits off the newer records, giving fans like myself precisely what we were looking for.  If you’ve caught the band in the past, they haven’t missed a beat, sports bra or not.

5) Trust – I’m not huge on dance music in the live setting, but the timing and sound of the group won me over.  It was a darker version of the dance-pop that I heard throughout the weekend on the blue stage, and I’m planning on getting my hands on the record later this evening at the store.  Might not have been a lot to look out, but I’d take this as my dance soundtrack any old day.

Honorable Mention: FIDLAR, Cursive, Givers, The Sword, Helio Sequence and The Promise Ring.

Band Letdowns: Daughn Gibson, Class Actress, Tanlines, The Spits.

Things I Could Do Without: I know sponsorship is super important to running a large festival, but promoting smoking to impressionable kids is not ideal; I wish I could quit, but I probably got coupons from an event like this back in 96. Shuttle lines were a bit longer than last year. Crowded exits, prompting line cutters to battle out the APD.

Things I Liked: Torchy’s Tacos in the press area never fail, nor do free haircuts from Sailor Jerry.  Cheap water is definitely a bonus when that cloudless sky beats down upon you.  The spirit–the most important aspect of any festival.

Closing Thoughts: I’m more of an intimate club sort of guy (thus my undying SXSW love), but that being said, Fun Fun Fun Fest continues to progress.  The staff is always excellent, and the people genuinely seem to care about the music (rather than merely a sunny booze fest). I do appreciate the fact that the festival seems to encompass all of my tastes into four stages, allowing me to maximize my time; there wasn’t an hour where I couldn’t find something I wanted to watch. There’s still a few small tweaks that might be necessary, but we have to keep in mind, Fun x 3 is still pretty much in its infancy.

Thanks dudes for a solid good time.

We’ve always had one hell of a time at Fun Fest every year, and we always have some fun after the festival discussing our take on each day’s events.  This year, we’re letting each one of our writers provide their own take on the weekend with a personal recap of the goings ons so as to not compromise or impose on any one writer’s opinions.  I’ll be starting things off today with some random thoughts and favorite bands from the best festival in town.  Follow the jump for more from me.

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