Tag: shine

American Levitation Co Shares Shine

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I sit here hopefully thinking that this new Swedish band of rockers are giving Austin’s Levitation a nice little nod with their band name, American Levitation Co. But, my digression aside, the group are pulling on their JaMC shirts and dropping a stomping bit of fuzzed out rock n’ roll. One listen through and you’ll be greeted by that thumping beat and squall of guitars, all of it tied together by this gooey melodic vocal work that drives home the pop sentiment. I love its familiarity, and am interested in hearing if they can move into making the sound fully their own as they go forward.

SxSW 2015: Converse Rubber Tracks

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Rubber TracksBrand. Branding. Brand awareness.

Forget all of that. SxSW has been a bastion of branding experiments. From giant Doritos to McDonald’s trying to be cool, we are inundated by branding and usually, it has been quite unsuccessful. Twitter campaigns hijacked in the name of comedy, new product as a punch line for your snarly friend’s quips. #flatizza

But one brand has been kind of quietly been doing something very cool for musicians. Converse set up Rubber Tracks four years ago giving Texas bands, mostly Austin locals, the chance to get some studio time on the brand’s dime. I was invited to take a tour of the studio compound taken over during SxSW and turned into Converse Rubber Tracks home base, Big Orange and Shine Studio.

A few thoughts, pics of Tele Novella and Hard Proof Afrobeat, and a little Q&A action with the bands after the jump…

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Patty Griffin Joins Stone Jack Sour

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jackiAs if we haven’t raved enough about Stone Jack Sour, he’s adding another reason for me, personally, to fall in love with his new work; he’s teamed up with Patty Griffin (one of my dad’s all time favorites) for his latest single. It’s one of the many guest spots Griffin takes on for Jack’s newest album, Love & Torture, which will be released in March via Western Vinyl. It appears as if the story of Jack’s life will creep in to the lyrical content, as various medical conditions have at times threatened his life.  But, there’s no better way to make the Grim Reaper pay than writing brilliant ballads about your survival.

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