This is fine.
ACL continues to draw ever closer and we here at ATH are starting to get hyped up for the festival. In preparation, we had an opportunity to send some questions over to Walter Gervers of Oxford band Foals. We really dig the sound these guys have created on their two album career so we were excited to hear what they have to say about their music. Follow the jump for more.
| Date | Friday, October 1st |
|---|---|
| Location | Mohawk – Inside |
| Doors | 1000 pm |
| Tickets | $8 at the Door |
In case you haven’t been able to make some of the super-memorable shows this week, a la Pavement or GBV, you have a chance to make up for that by attending Ty Segall on Friday night. I caught the dude a few months back, and I’m super excited he’s coming back through town. His new record Melted is a huge progression, and it definitely has me loving his every move. You’ll want to go check him out, and you’ll also get a chance to see The Golden Boys and Pure Ecstacy in the mix on the evening too. Don’t miss it; you’ll be glad you went.
[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/Caesar.mp3]Download: Ty Segall – Caesar [MP3]
If you weren’t on your game, you might have missed the eclectic pop release from Club 8 titled The People’s Record. It was filled with a glimpse at a band who add various instruments to their recordings, those not typically geared towards your typical bedroom pop group. Now that you know a bit about the band, take a listen to their new single, which comes out at the end of November on Labrador. You have to admire the way these two are incorporating tribal and tropicalia rhythms into such a smooth blend of jubilation.
Download: Club 8 – Closer Now [MP3]
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As a Canadian indie band, Women made some waves with their self titled first release two years ago, be it a spot on “Pitchfork’s top songs of the 2000’s,” and comparisons of their sound to the likes of Deerhunter and, to stretch it, The Velvet Underground. Since then they have been hard at work with this new album, Public Strain, which would hopefully follow their debut in the combination of moody rock music.
Opening up the album is “Can’t You See,” which begins with an intense amount of feedback and ambient noise. This background noise continues through the whole song as somewhat monotonous vocals echo slightly above. The bass line throbs constantly, but those screeches in the background seem a bit too prominent for this simple of a song, and I find myself wishing they were gone about halfway through. “Heat Distraction” then loses the nasty noise in the background and moves to a faster, out right rock beat with repeating layers of guitar that serve as the main focus of the song.
Such is the main focus for this whole album, layers of sound topped with wavy guitars as icing on the cake (not your favorite kind of cake, but one that is still edible). Women vary between slow movers that showcase the dark sound that this band does so well, such as “Penal Colony,” whose melancholy lull carries over into a purely instrumental piece, leaving the listener to ponder where exactly the band is trying to lead you, but they attempt to give an answer to this question on exceptional tracks like “Locust Valley,” where intricate guitar playing and a simple chorus of just “oohs and aahs” make up the simple song. With songs like these, Women know where to put the builds in their album; it comes after another song that, I feel, has too much feedback and not enough actual music to hold it up.
They finish off with “Eyesore,” a rather long closer, but probably the best song on the whole album, as “Black Rice” was on their prior work. It seems like the singing and the guitars are almost equal, which gives this song an eloquent balance between pure instrumental and indie rock. There are breaks in the song in which the guitars outweigh the vocals, and in turn, bits where the vocals seem to be the main focus, which makes this song enjoyable for the six minutes and twenty five seconds it lasts.
This leads me to my biggest problem with this album: the vocals are not prominent enough, and they seem to blend together with each song. Every listen, it becomes more tolerable and the flaws become less noticeable. However, it just seems as though Women haven’t really made up their mind in terms of who they are.
[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/women-narrow.mp3]Download: Women – Narrow With the Hall [MP3]
After a semi-tragic day in Austin, a return to innocence was much needed. Fortunately for me, and about 2000 other people, Pavement would provide the necessary cure for all those lucky enough to get into Stubbs. Follow the jump for review and fancy photos.
I’ve been jamming to this sweet new track from NYC group Woozy Viper. The band is self-releasing their latest batch of hits, titled Rock n’ Roll, which you can still grab for free from their web site, but we encourage the usual donation. They’ve got this Cramps feel, but with a little bit less of a horror approach, exchanging it for a nice little modern spin, making it catchy enough for everyone to enjoy. We dig it, and we hope you do too.
Download: Woozy Viper – Dirty
| Date | 9/30/10 |
|---|---|
| Location | East Side Drive In |
| Doors | 6pm |
| Tickets | $25 @ Frontgate |
So some band called Guided by Voices is playing at the East Side Drive-In(Fader fort from SXSW) on Thursday evening in Austin. I hear that they are pretty decent or something so I suggest you check it out if you have the time. Sweet indie/l0-fi band Times New Viking will also be on hand providing the opening support. In all seriousness folks, the show seems to have some tickets still available and they are relatively cheap for such a big band. I’d recommend getting to the venue early if you want a good spot.
[audio: https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/08-echos-myron.mp3]
Rating:
Deep within the confines of the vast, mysterious internet, news of a certain album emerged. Following the leak debacle of the last release, Bradford Cox and Co. took a more ambiguous approach to releasing a record. The Atlanta based quartet known for their post-punk, shoe gaze roots and enthralling live shows have been relatively quiet since the fantastic Microcastle and pre-release fiasco. The only news we heard even related to Deerhunter was a small tour with untitled new material. This tour debuted while much more press attention was paid to Bradford Cox’s solo outfit Atlas Sound, with its 2009 release of Logos and subsequent tour. Grumblings here and there and a subversive marketing strategy soon after allowed us to put the pieces together and alas we find ourselves in the midst of another gem of a record, Halcyon Digest released via 4AD.
On the opening track ‘Earthquake’, Deerhunter takes a slow, steady approach in reintroducing themselves to the listener. At once, we find ourselves in the middle of an alien, yet unmistakably familiar soundscape. Like the spider and the fly, Cox has a way of pulling the listener in with his swan-song voice while slowly sucking the life out his prey with the rhythm. Though this process is not a violent one; it’s a beautiful dance where Deerhunter spin their web, all senses at once pulsate before it seems like it’s too much. The tapping of a foot turns to muscle memory and we can barely hear the world around us. Rise and fall, these moments erase from existence and what are left are Cox, Pundt, Fauver, Archuleta , and their stunning torturing devices only to open us up and let them in. There’s no way to resist, as our grey matter is their lunch.
On Cryptograms, the band went through a rough stretch and this era brought out a more disjointed song structure while producing some of the group’s most complex ambient elements thanks to Lockett Pundt’s silky-smooth approach. With Microcastle, Cox and Co. reformed with a new purpose and the while the ramblings of previous times are more or less gone, a stronger comprehensive album composition emerged, though the group can’t quite reach that same level at present. There are elements of both sides to the story on display here with ‘Basement Scene’ and ‘Revival’, respectively. This shows that the band is aware of their roots and is willing to not hide their past while searching for perfection. Obviously they are on the right track and even find a new lighter style as heard on ‘Desire Lines’, a definite highlight on the record.
“The devil is now gone from me” croons Bradford Cox on the near perfect track ‘Helicopter’, but I don’t believe him. It’s evil how seamlessly he can create touching and soft, yet unreasonably haunting lyrics. It’s straight up sinful how he can pair these lyrics to the music with such reason and perfection. The tone changes and compositions on this track alone are catching the eye and ears of everyone far beyond the indie community.
With Halcyon Digest, Deerhunter have found themselves as comfortable in their own sound and skin as never before and we can hear this stability in the record as a whole. The vast waves of psychedelia contrasting with the subtle nuances Cox is growing to become well known for are everywhere to be heard. Hipster communities will wine and cry about it, but they’re going to need to find a new band to love, as Deerhunter is soon to become mainstream news. This album has solidified them in the driver’s seat in the indie genre (perhaps even more) and there’s no hope of commandeering the wheel. They are on a road, destination unknown, and you might as well jump in the back, buckle up, and enjoy the ride.
[audio: https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/08-Helicopter.mp3]Download: Deerhunter – Helicopter [MP3]
The now famous garage rock indie band No Age just dropped their brand new LP entitled Everything In Between yesterday on the Sub Pop label. To celebrate the release of their record, the band is offering up this new MP3 of track #3 from the album “Fever Dreaming”. You can also decide if you want to buy the new joint with a full album stream over on Soundcloud. It’s a doozy.
Download: No Age – Fever Dreaming [MP3]
With only about a week and a half remaining until the huge ACL festival starts on the 8th of this month, it’s time that you really start thinking about that plan of action for who you want to see over the weekend. Sometimes your choice will be easy with only one decent band playing at a certain time, but then you’ll have a choice like this one that will make you want to pull your hair out. So on the one hand you have The Flaming Lips who formed over 25 years ago and have been doing their psych rock thing for longer than most of us can remember. But then we have a more recent favorite in Band of Horses who can still hold their own despite their relatively short career together. Both bands are playing on Sunday late in the day at 6pm on opposite sides of the festival, so you have little hope of catching a bit of both sets. My initial feeling was to go with Band of Horses based on my just having seen Flaming Lips at Free Press Summer Fest earlier this summer. Plus, I feel like The Lips are still using the same damn live gimmicks that they’ve been hitting us with for the last 5-6 years… I mean cool, but I’ve seen it more than once. Then again, Flaming Lips play right before The National on back to back stages so it would be nice to just post up and avoid fighting the crowds. I also fear that the Band of Horses crowd could be old hippie city since The Eagles play on the same stage shortly after BOH. My indifference towards the recent material from both of these bands may cause me to just go with a majority vote amongst my friends. Care to share your thoughts?
