Austin Town Hall

Although established in 2006, Future Islands seem to be a band that haven’t really been able to get their footing—be it in what kind of sound they are going for, or in the number of full length albums they have put out. Regardless, after a listen or two, On the Water is the album that changes things for this band; it’s a solid synth-pop album with some jams that will have you either bobbing your head to the beat or basking in the glow of their dramatically emotional musings.

Future Islands is composed of three men with synthesizers, vocals and guitars, the combination of which makes for an interesting sound combo. You have these groovy synthesizers that fuse with the passionately gruff vocals of Samuel Herring, which makes up the crux of their sound. Herring belts the words to his songs in his mesmerizing style, pushing every ounce of emotion into every syllable he sings, which drives the sonic interest behind this band and makes the sound more than just some synthesized beats.

On the first song, which is also the title track, you can hear such passion emoted in Herrings vocals. Some atmospheric noise starts things out softly, but then the drum beats and synths roll in and it feels like a beast is crawling over your ears. This image is completed with the entrance of Herring, whose vocals feel strained with raw feeling, even turning into a growl-like state at some points. I’m reminded of a cross between David Bowie and Patrick Wolf in that the throat emotion is the main focus of his style, which may feel melodramatic to some, but proves to be my favorite part of Future Islands’ sound. If you detest it after the first song, I don’t think it would be wise to attempt to pursue this band any further—it is the driving force behind the synth.

There are some standouts on this album that seem to propel it past their last release. One of these comes third and features Jenn Wasner of Wye Oak for some male/female duality in the vocals, and the result is a lovely combination of power. Another highlight comes later on “Give Us The Wind,” in which you can jam to the deep bass of the song and feel the cathartic weight of the lyrics; “We don’t want your blessings/ Give us the Wind.”

While not all songs are exactly the most explosive of numbers, there are enough high points to outweigh the mediocre ones. On the Water serves as a good synth-pop record that will surely warrant further listening.

Artists don’t always make the best decisions. Perhaps they just get bored. Reinventing themselves after every album must get tiresome. I guess that’s why some musicians choose to collaborate with people from other genres. Leaps of faith, even if they are doomed to failure, are more interesting than repeating the same old song and dance. Finding out the hard way that something is a bad idea is more exciting than going through the motions of what has been done before. Oftentimes though, it’s best to stick with what you know. Otherwise you end up with the kind of collaborative catastrophes listed here. Let’s take a look shall we? See the Top 5 Unusual Collaborations below:

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According to Wikipedia, “Georgie Woods, a Philadelphia radio DJ, came up with the term blue-eyed soul in the 1960s to describe white artists who received airplay on rhythm and blues radio stations.” In reality, blue-eyed soul is kind of a made-up genre. And it’s kind of total bullshit… I mean soul is soul right? But alas, I wasn’t the one to coin the term and I thought it would make for a fun list. I do find it difficult to compare male and female vocalists, so to make the list a little more manageable I stuck with the guys and only selected artists that mostly made their living in the soul/blues/r&b world. There were probably lots of others that would qualify (Elvis Presley & David Bowie come to mind), but they tended to be more readily classified as rock or country. So follow the jump and I’ll share with you my top 5 male blue-eyed soul singers.

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We here at ATH hope that all of you had fun over the past 3 months soaking up the Vitamin D, getting wasted, and subsequently wreaking havoc across our city, but now it’s time to get back into the dreaded educational mentality. One of the truly great things about going to school is the first day. You’ll be meeting new people and making a good first impression is all it takes sometimes to get an excellent shot at a get-together with that certain someone you’re sure to see that day. Well, if music has taught me anything, musicians usually know how to dress to impress. I’m sorry to say it, but summer is over. Get some style for the new school year after the jump.

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While perusing some of our old From the Closet features I realized that we have never given a shout out to David Bowie, until today!  So how does one choose from such a vast discography when dealing with one of the legends of rock?  Easy!  Easy you say?  Yes, easy!  Just stick with his best album and the best representation of the glam rock genre: Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders From Mars.  I wish I could drop the whole album on our site for those pitiful few who haven’t heard it, but that’s not allowed, so I’ll stick with title track “Ziggy Stardust”.  Can you even imagine what it would’ve been like to be around in the early 70s and see Bowie during the height of his Ziggy alter-ego?  Many have tried to imitate, many have carried on the torch, some have even mocked, but we’ll just never get another Bowie.  Never.  Be sure to pick this one up on vinyl so you can experience the true mind blowing power of putting this on the record player back in 1972.  Enjoy.

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A little while back, a favorite artist of ours Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson made his way to town and we had the chance to ask him a few questions about his music.  Not much is known about the up and coming artist so we hope you find this interview to be informative.  Or at least a good read…  Follow the jump for our full interview.

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Solid collaborations seem to come around only once in a blue moon. On the other hand a FT5 of horrible partnerships could go on for 52 weeks straight without repeat. Eminem and Elton John come to mind, Bowie and Crosby creeping me out, and We Are the World as the gold standard of awesomely bad group efforts. Apart from these, there are plenty out there that have me wishing I had never heard them. Fear not, music lovers follow the jump to read about the best collaborations that won’t make you want to hang yourself; in fact, you might enjoy them.
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Of Montreal played to a packed house at Fiesta Gardens in east Austin last Thursday evening.  The show had something for everyone with Kevin Barnes doing his best to carry the torch started by David Bowie oh so long ago.  Follow the jump to read our full show review, check out some pictures, and see the full set list.

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