ACL WE2 – Friday In Photos

acl-we2-121aAre you ready to reminisce?

Let’s kick off more photos from the front for Austin City Limits on Weekend Two. Friday was the day. Let’s name drop – Radiohead, Die Antwoord, M83, Foals and more. A whole day of headliners for me and I was super excited. I had one “break” where I decided to get photos of Banks and Steelz to fill in the gap. Oofah. Do I have a story.

How about you read past the break? I had to suffer for my art. Heh.

#pukeandrally #radiohead #cantstopmenow

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Premiere: The March Divide Ready Bribing Jace EP

jaredWhen I pressed play on this track the first time, I immediately thought of Jets to Brazil, but, when I caught up with The March Divide singer Jared Putnam, it was clear I was a little off base. The band releases the Bribing Jace EP on November 4th, so I threw a few questions at Jared to see what he had to say about the release and the new single.

ATH: What were your influences when writing this new EP? Any bands in particular you were listening to at the time?

Jared: In a lot of ways, I wanted these songs to be experiments in pop. I wanted to mesh together what I think are the things that attract so many people to the genre: hooks, good writing, & ear candy. I’m not even sure if it comes through, but I used Tom Petty, 90’s alt/pop, & Radiohead as my primary references. I was trying to get out of my comfort zone, it was a completely different approach, for me.

ATH: There seems to be a slight bit of indecision on “I Might.” How did the song come about, and was a finite decision ever made?

Jared: I Might was the first song I wrote for the EP, & it actually set the tone for the direction I wanted to go. When I initially came up with the guitar part, I thought I was just writing another folk song. I spent a lot of time trying to write the rest of it; chorus, bridge, etc., etc., but nothing really felt right. For whatever reason, it reminded me a lot of 90’s pop, specifically that Susan Vega song “Tom’s Diner” & Primitive Radio Gods “Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth with Money in My Hand”. I decided to run with that approach, I looped the guitar part & started adding layers. It was a lot of fun to make.

ATH: For fun….two truths and a lie…don’t specify which.

Jared:1. Neil Young is my biggest song writing influence 2. I don’t care what anyone says, the minivan was the single greatest development in automotive history. 3. I find C.C. Deville’s (from Poison) guitar solo’s very emotional. They really tug on my heartstrings.

Pre-Order the EP HERE.

ACL 2016: Weekend One From The Crowd

nd4_0348Kicking off some official ACL coverage beyond our social media blitzes from the world. Weekend One was the version of ACL where we get to see bands, spend time with friends and get snarky about the future of America and the music industry.

This gallery will feature some artists, mostly crowd related action and some highlights, calling out Lucy Dacus. Lucy’s set at the BMI stage was great. She and the band were sweet people and we’re fans.

Click through for the shots and a couple of random notes…

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ACL Weekend Two Survival Tips

nd4_0723We went to Weekend One, so you didn’t have to. Now snap up one of those wristbands out there on your bookface feed and come dance. I’m taking photos this weekend, ready to be in my head space and spending the first three up front.

  • Radiohead – Get up close or surround yourself with fellow fans to drown out and shelter yourself from show talkers. Their set is gorgeous and while they didn’t play “Let Down” for me, I am hopeful for a little set list revision to make all my Radiohead dreams come true.
  • Die Antwoord – Just do it. It is a special kind of crazy that is so authentic and genuine that it cannot be denied. Yolandi and Ninja are joined by DJ Hi-Tek and dancers sporting furry costumes and inflatable fertility dolls. It is glorious.
  • Willie Nelson – We didn’t get Willie last weekend. I am more than happy to see Willie instead of Chris Stapleton. WE2 also gets Ra Ra Riot.
  • Local Natives – The weather will be great, set up the chairs, put down the blanket and get a bottle of Rose from the Wine Down and be ready for a great festival set.
  • Foals – Sweaty mess. Lose a shoe during the jams, find it again during the builders.
  • Two Door Cinema Club – Channel you inner brit-pop screaming girl and sing along. “To the basement, people, to the basement. Many surprises await you.” The rainbow thing happened just before their set.
  • LL Cool J – Come for hit montage, stay for the slightly more obscure hits you ain’t never heard live.
  • LCD Soundsystem – Where are your friends tonight? You may have lost them by 8pm on Sunday. Make new ones and dance to banger after banger from the party factory. #DFA You will likely lose something, make it memorable.

Other random thoughts: Be polite while crossing through groups that have set up living rooms on the lawn. Being rude as you walk through reinforces the dickish behavior of claiming turf with a chair circle and caution tape. The new layout is great with the exception of sound bleed-over from Cirrus to Miller Lite (minimized later in the day when more ear holes suck up the sounds, but the bottleneck between the beer hall and the rock island is gone. The park is kind of like a giant skating rink, move around the outside, slow down and lollygag at the stages. Hydrate. Get up front at least once, stay further back at least once. Less phone, more fun.

Gimme 5 ACL: Corbu

unnamedAs we get ready for ACL this weekend, team ATH has been trying to find new ideas for providing coverage for this year’s festival in unique and exciting ways. An idea was given to me recently to have a group highlight some of their favorite bands on the bill by way of a 5 song playlist. I jumped at the idea and asked New York City based outfit Corbu to be our very first playlist band. Maybe you’ll find something you like or rediscover an oldie that you forgot about. Check out the band’s words and playlist after the jump.

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ACL Festival Preview: Lucy Dacus

lucyACL Festival is this weekend, and while a great deal of the acts are well-known, the fest is still scoring some great acts on the undercard, like Lucy Dacus. She’s been writing some incredible songs that seem to have gone about rather quietly, which is unfortunate, for you. Matador Records released No Burden earlier this year, and it’s filled with these tracks that take personal recordings, and expand them into something wholly intoxicating. I mean, just listen to “I Don’t Wanna Be Funny Anymore,” and tell me that you’re not rushing to find out more about her. I included the track below to do some of the work for you. And while you’re all about Radiohead this week, don’t forget you paid to see tons of tunes, so schedule yourself some time at 2:30 over on the BMI Stage on Saturday.

Angel Olsen – MY WOMAN

angel-olsen-my-womanRating: ★★★★★

“Maybe you know that its been too long.” Yes we do, Angel. It’s good to have you back.

At this point in her discography, I assumed that I knew what to expect from a new Angel Olsen album – confessional folk music that explores the uncomfortable dichotomy of relationships while occasionally picking up an electric guitar. In fact, I had the intention of analyzing the albums meaning and lyrical intentions when I initially dived into it, but I was constantly sidetracked by the range of emotions this album reverberates through its variety, production, and songwriting. Angel Olsen of the past, as a songwriter, seemed to deliver her message carefully and quietly. Now she’s writing unique pop and rock songs with confidence and conviction in her delivery; whether it’s a background vocal laden in effects, a climactic guitar solo, or a keyboard subtly peeking in, Angel relies more on the instruments around her and her tools in the studio than her voice to manipulate her listeners emotions. Read more

Festival Recap: Day 2 of Primavera Sound 2016

Photo by Eric Pamies

Photo by Eric Pmies

A nine hour flight turned twelve hour flight prevented me from posting this yesterday as planned, but travel woes aside I’m still living in the past weekend in Barcelona. Friday, the second day of the festival, was every bit as jam packed as the first day of Primavera Sound, with the promise, once again, of a huge name in the rock world at the spotlight of the day. As someone who calls herself a casual Radiohead fan, I’ll admit I was fairly stoked to see what the band had in store for their headlining evening at Parc Del Forum, but they weren’t the only exciting moment that Friday had in store for festival goers. Read on to hear some of the highlights and see some pictures from Day 2.

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ATH Abroad: Primavera Sound 2016 Preview

Screen Shot 2016-05-25 at 10.10.50 AMIn one week I’ll be touching down in Barcelona, Spain with around 200,000 of my closest friends in order to attend Primavera Sound. While you may not be in attendance, as this festival is quite a long jaunt away from the ATX, there are quite a few bands on the excellent and exciting lineup that will be making their way to our own city limits in the near future. As this is essentially the first super fest of the summer season, I’m on my way to Parc del Forum to scoop out who you must see when they come to a city near you, and who you should expect to step into the limelight of the indie world in the near future. Sure, I’m super stoked to see Radiohead, LCD Soundsystem, Beach House, Wild Nothing, Sigur Ros, Destroyer, Beirut, Dinosaur JR. … the list goes on. But what about those acts that get overlooked by these huge names? Read on for my top 5 international semi-under the radar acts that I’m most excited to see.

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Pecan Street Musings

Pecan Street 29The lineup for Pecan Street Festival was quite ATH friendly. Given that two of the wife’s favorite Austin acts, Night Drive and Knifight, were scheduled for set times that book-ended the dinner hour a couple blocks from Parkside, we figured we would take in all that Sixth could offer before it got dirteh.

Thoughts, pics, etc.

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