Wand Announce Double Album

How does Wand keep growing and evolving, all the while still sounding wholly incredible? As they announce their new double LP, Laughing Matter, it comes with this wondrous new single. It begins by teasing you with this measured guitar line over piano and drums, all before Cory even enters the picture just after the 1 minute mark. Once he makes his vocal appearance, backed by Sofia in the distance, the song takes on a more elegant tone…like a far less pretentious Radiohead; it’s accessible, yet still relies upon the musicianship that’s made the band so powerful over the last few years. It’s a musical adventure, and we should all welcome that. Look for the new LP via Drag City on April 19th.

Night Drive Shares A Cover

Our friends in Night Drive have covered Perfume Genius and Radiohead previously, tagged as summer covers. They also do “Psycho Killer” live, but if you haven’t heard it, that Radiohead is one of the best things to get you all swirly-eyed-lost-in-the-moment at any Night Drive show.

The latest release is a not-quite-summer cover has us reimagining The National’s “Anyone’s Ghost”. It goes slightly uptempo to disco levels and adds a pile of synthy harmony with more movement in the phrasing of the lyrical delivery versus the original. The song builds and diverts from the source material the further along you listen.

The Many Faces of Mac DeMarco: ACL Taping + Mohawk Show (2/27+28)

Mac DeMarco has become a household name in the indie rock world– synonymous with silly antics and overall shenanigans he’s done quite well for himself by gaining a cult following. The folks over at ACL got word and decided to have him and his band on to tape an episode for the upcoming season. Mac decided to take this opportunity to dial down the antics and rock’n’roll to generate a more approachable sound for the setting. Not to worry–his victory lap show at the Mohawk brought all that you’d expect from the gentleman; a nearly three hour set with crowd surfing, stage climbing and chaos. Read on to hear my brief thoughts on these two very different evenings and see some lovely photos from the taping from Maggie Boyd.

Read more

BTS: ACL Live and 3TEN

Sometimes, we get invited to little functions here in the business end of the music industry in Austin, TX. We are quite fortunate to have one of the great venues in the world in our backyard, a venue that takes its name from one of the great music television program in the world. ACL Live is coming up on seven years as the home of Austin City Limits show tapings and has not rested on their reputation. Small tweaks have been made throughout the years, but the first major overhaul of the show experience was just completed. The lighting system has been fully revamped, all LED with more and better housings with variable colors, new pattern and motion capabilities and less power consumption and downtime for maintenance.

This seems as good a time as any to take a little tour ACL Live and little brother venue, 3TEN, and learn what’s up in the bat cave.

Read more

Day For Night 2017

Let’s get this out of the way. No, I did not get to shoot Day for Night from the photo pit. In fact, my “media” approval amounted to a discounted 3-day wristband. It was disappointing, if I am to be honest; I was truly looking forward to shooting this year. The organizers saw it differently. I guess one day we’ll have to relent and buy fake followers on social media as an insurance policy.

Alas, the hotel was bought and paid for already, so off I went to make the most. Saturday, I left the camera behind as there was confusion, too much of it, about camera policies, etc. Turns out, I had a great time wandering aimlessly through the cavernous space, spending much of my time in the art installations, occasionally paying attention to the stages. I had no schedule and stumbled into people, sometimes standing in the crowd only to look to my right and realize a friend had been right next to me for a half an hour. Sunday, I mounted the trusty 55/1.8 to the a9 and revisited the installations and took in way more music.

The art ruled the weekend – I went to an art show and caught some bands. Pop through and read about highs and lows and discoveries and disappointments…

Read more

Brand New Music from Brad Peterson

Brad Peterson earned huge successes back in the day, sharing the stage with the likes of Radiohead and Jeff Buckley. But, a spinal injury put a premature stop on his musical career…until now. He pushed through the pain, rehab and dark days to complete The Ellipsis Album, which will hit on September 22nd. Our first listen is this track, opening with a joyous burst of promise, then pulling back for Peterson to allow his hallowed vocals to soar atop the pounding rhythm. The recording of the album alone should be a testament to Brad’s undying strength, as he recorded all the instruments himself, persevering beyond the pain and internal woe. Really, this song’s a marvel, but we should rejoice in the spirit of music for bringing Brad back to us.

Here Comes a New Wand Album

Long ago, for some reason, Wand got lumped in with the Ty Segall crowd; that’s fair, considering songwriter Cory has played with Ty in various projects. But, as we’ve seen over the last two releases, Wand is entirely an act on their own territory. This latest single finds the band walking the territory between bouncier elements of Spoon and the lingering melodies of Radiohead. Maybe this is what California’s version of Spiritualized sounds like? Whatever it is, there’s no heavy riffs needed anymore, just the creative process and the perfect execution. Look for the band’s new album this September via Drag City…surely we’ll be hearing much more leading up to its release.

Goodbye 2016

day-for-night-sun-371We’ve been recovering over the holidays as it has been a strange year to say the least with more rain outs, a storm of discontent and quite a bit of loss.

The fall festival season was one of the strongest in a while with newcomers Sound on Sound anchoring the weird; the best things are often not easy. ACL had one of its best headliner lineups in years. #RadioheadplayedLetDown I have a reason to go to Houston in Day For Night. Austin Town Hall Records had several releases hit the store, great stuff. I hung out with a lot of people I love. We had a lot of great records to listen to.

Maybe 2016 wasn’t all that bad, but I’m cool with saying the final goodnight. I’ll leave you with some really random photos.

Top 50 Albums of 2016

top50You’ve all been waiting, anxiously. Waiting for our arbitrary list of the opinion of four folks who run this site, and what we think were the best albums of 2016. It’s really really important. We’re going to make our site great again with this list. We’re going to win, bigly. But really, it’s just a list of the stuff we loved the most that we covered throughout this year on our site. The comment section is open, so feel free to tell us where we’ve gone wrong or what we’ve got right or anything else fitting. Read more

1 2 3 4 7