Catching Up with the Austin Music Scene

Seeing as the City of Austin is determined to ignore the struggling creativity of our city, we’re trying to do just the wee little bit we can for the five of you that read this site. So, I wanted to kind of jump in and highlight some of last week’s great Austin releases. This is all in addition to the great Mobley track we wrote about earlier in that week!

First, we’d be remiss if we didn’t encourage you to listen to Pelvis Wrestley, current holders of the best band name in Austin. Oh, and did we mentioned our label put out cassette of their debut Vortexas Vorever LP on Friday? We did very little but ride the coattails of their genius, which you can stream below!

Second, one of the acts we’ve championed for years, Jana Horn, released her new solo LP, Optimism. Pretty sure this might be one of the best releases in Austin this year, and hopefully the world finally starts to take notice of Jana’s incredible gifts.

Then there was a new single from Dylan Pacheco, which I’ve been super into over the weekend. It reminds me a tad of Elvis Depressedly in that sort of bedroom pop sense, but I’ll admit I feel like Pacheco might have better production touches on this number. His debut EP, Youthful Exuberance, will hit on October 30th.

Future Museums also had a single of his minimal electronica that was released via Holodeck Records. It’s this carefully constructed organic piece that’s probably best experienced while watching the following video accompaniment.

Jana Horn Announce Optimism

Earlier this year when I helped organize Slack Capital 3 (with Eric Bill/Howdy Gals), we got an early peek at new music from Jana Horn when she let us use “Time Machine” for the compilation. Now, she’s announced her debut solo LP, Optimism, and dropped another powerful tune I’d love you to enjoy. While her musicianship has always been extremely moving, this new single shows the strength of her voice alone in the world. There are some barely audible strums faintly hanging from the distance, carefully uplifting Horn’s airy vocals. She’s one of my favorite Austin songwriters, gifted in so many ways, so you’ll definitely want to check out Optimism when its released on September 18th.

ATX Spotlight: Fresh Jana Horn Music

janaJana Horn quietly unleashed this track the other week. I say it came out quietly, as that seems to be Jana’s style, though musically, there’s far more power in the work she’s done. It seems like she’s hung up the Reservations project for now, and going it on her own. It’s a bold move, but one that fits her growth as both a songwriter and a performer. Listening to this quiet track, you can hear the power in her voice, and we’re expecting that…and more…from her forthcoming LP. She seems emboldened by her venture as asolo artist, though she still grips to that magnificent fragility in her voice. For now, she’s let this song serve as a warning of greater things to come. We look forward to hearing the magic…and we’ll keep you up to date as more news of that record comes our way.