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This seems like a no-brainer right? You gotta go see Neil Young! Well, I thought that almost immediately, but then I pondered a bit on the subject at hand, and now I’m not sure I have an answer for you, at least not one we’ll all agree upon. Read more
Well it’s time ladies and gents, time for everyone to start mapping out that ACL schedule and deciding who is really going to be worth your time in the sun. While skimming through the schedule, the first major conflict I see for a lot of people has to be on Friday with M. Ward and M83 both going on at 7:30. Now I also see Thievery Corporation going on around the same time, but I’m going to leave them out of the mix since they aren’t really my thing.
So who you gonna pick? The atmospheric electronic jams of M83? Or would you rather go with the songwriting style of the legendary M. Ward? I think I know who I’d pick…. I think.
Let’s hear your thoughts.
[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/02-never-had-nobody-like-you.mp3]Download: M Ward – Never Had Nobody Like You [MP3]
[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/M83-Midnight-City.mp3]Download: M83 – Midnight City [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?
So every year ACL festival has a few tough choices to make when they schedule two really great bands playing at exactly the same time. Typically we’re stuck with making a choice between two bands, but this year we have been faced with a choice between FOUR great bands. The first thing that came to mind when I saw the ACL schedule was this huge conflict between these four heavy hitters on Saturday. So let’s see what we have here… First up for consideration is a performance from incredible gypsy-punk band and awesome live group Gogol Bordello beginning at 6:30 on the AMD stage. Then you have the option of stopping by the Austin Ventures stage at 6:00 for the two hour long Monsters of Folk show. Or maybe you fancy a solid veteran songwriter in the form of David Bazan beginning at 6:40 on the BMI stage. Last but not least, you can check out great live performers LCD Soundsystem on the Budweiser stage at 6:30. So what’s it gonna be? Some are saying you could maybe check out a few songs from each? Maybe you want to check out a bit of one and then slide over to catch the end of the Monsters of Folk set? I personally don’t like a lot of migrating during sets so I want to make a choice and stick with it. I’m honestly still torn on this one… You guys have any insight?
This week we’re bringing you our first touch of insightful ACL coverage, geared to make your festival choices a whole lot easier while your spending your time at Austin City Limits. Year after year, festival planners struggle to get the great bands in, and when they get them, they just have to fit them in according to popularity, and availability. It’s not as easy as we all think, so we’re taking the time out to make those hard decisions of overlapping bands easy for you. This year, our first one comes by way of Sonic Youth vs. Vampire Weekend. Read more
So it’s come down to this. The major conflict we see on Sunday at 7:30 has got to be Sub Pop boys Band of Horses playing against sister duo Tegan & Sara. Let’s just call this one the ATH Battle Royal. You have a choice between reverb laden rock n’ roll or creators of probably the best pop song to come out in several years “Back in Your Head”. What’s it gonna be? You have a difficult decision ahead of you. We hope you make the right one. Check out two of the greatest tunes of last year:
Download: Band of Horses – Is There a Ghost [MP3]
Download: Tegan & Sara – Back in Your Head [MP3]
So here’s what should be a very interesting battle: intense expiremental blues rock of The Black Keys vs. the intimate folk rock of Iron & Wine. Some people may not see the contradiction here with the bands having such starkley different sounds. I agree that the bands sound nothing alike but I’m finding this to be one of the huge conflicts of the festival. Both bands are playing at 7:30 on Saturday. Which stage will you be at? Recent singles from both bands are below to make this decision easier…. or harder?
Download: The Black Keys – Strange Times [MP3]
Download: Iron & Wine – Boy With a Coin [MP3]
Round two of our ACL battles pits Brazilian dance/pop band CSS vs. Philly artist Man Man. This is our earliest battle of the festival weekend with both bands playing at 3:30 on Saturday. CSS will be gettin’ it down on the AT&T Blue Room stage while Man Man plays on the Dell stage. So the question is simple: Power pop goodness from the ipod commercial makin’ CSS or get a little more intense with war paint wearin’ Man Man? Tell us who you’re seeing and why. Both bands most recent singles are below:
Download: CSS – Rat is Dead (Rage) [MP3]
Download: Man Man – Big Trouble [MP3]
Okay, so I personally think this may be the toughest choice to make of the festival. On one side, you’ve got a very young band in MGMT who have only had major success since the release of their superb second album Oracular Spectacular in 2007. On the other hand, Spiritualized are coming up on twenty years of existence and have been seeing success since before members of MGMT were in middle school. Both bands will be playing at 5:30 on Saturday on the AT&T Blue Room stage and the Dell stage respectively. You have a choice between the psych-pop of MGMT or the space rock of Spiritualized. What’s it gonna be?
Download: MGMT – Electric Feel [MP3]
Download: Spiritualized – Soul on Fire [MP3]
Town Hall ACL Battles is another feature we will be bringing you everyday leading up to the festival this weekend. The idea is fairly simple: two bands, same time slot, same day, who ya gonna pick? Feel free to leave comments on why you should or shouldn’t see each band represented in our “battles”. Now obviously we can’t hit every single conflict over 5 days so don’t be offended if we miss something. These are “the big ones”. Our first battle pits Manu Chao vs. Mars Volta both headlining around 8:30 on Friday. The schedule does have Mars Volta ending at 9:30 and Manu ending at 10 but were talking about opposite ends of the park (AMD and AT&T stages). It might take you 30 minutes just to get from one side to the other this late in the day. So, Sunday at 8:30, where ya gonna be? Getting your face melted by the prog-rock of Mars Volta? Or jammin’ to the world sounds of Manu Chao? If you need a little assistance, we have the most recent singles of both bands. Ding Ding.
Download: Manu Chao – Politik Kills[MP3]
[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/04-wax-simulacra.mp3]Download: Mars Volta – Wax Simulacra [MP3]
