I recently posted about their full on new wave synth jam that harkens to earlier Depeche Mode or Japan. With the title track to their upcoming release Bitter Reflection, Body of Light goes with a movie soundtrack darkly introspective ballad, catching me completely off guard. The video features James Duval that you may recognize from Donnie Darko. Is it a step too far into nostalgia or glorious indulgence?
Body of Light will be in town as part of Oblivion Access on a day show bill with Drab Majesty and Choir Boy.
The DJs that used to drive the airwaves over at 97X WOXY are friends of ATH. Between shared interests in movies, F1, Premier League and yes, even music, we got to know the team that was on air every day playing the jams we loved. It has been more than a decade since the station moved to Austin only to be disbanded.
One annual tradition over a WOXY was the Modern Rock 500. Think of it as the everlasting gobstopper of playlists; 500 tracks as debated by Mike, Brian, Matt, Barb, Joe, etc. that were influential, impactful or just plain amazing, classics and new jams alike. In conjunction with recent news articles and podcasts involving the DJs and people behind 97X, the Modern Rock 500 is making a return. Inhailer, a pretty great intarwebs radio station in Cincinnati, is playing host. The first play through started this morning with 100 spots per day this week and full replays over the long holiday weekend. The full 500 will be available 5/29 as a complete playlist.
Piling on to what appears to be a VERY busy day for jams, we have Lust For Youth releasing the single “Giorgia”. The track will be instantly recognizable musically with airy distorted synths, great riffs and a driving drum track. What changes here is the language. For the first time, Hannes sings in Swedish. You will still get that feeling in your chest, you will still nod your head in a melancholy that empowers. Interpret what you hear to be what you need at the moment.
Grab the digital track here. Of note, you can get their entire digital catalog for $42. Cool.
Austin City Limits Festival has announced the 2023 lineup. To be honest, I’m down for weekend one. Sure, the headliners are not the ATH cup of tea, but there are real heavy hitters in the middle lineup. I mean Bass Drum of Death, Chromeo, The Walkmen and The Mars Volta? At ACL? OK. Talking my language. In general, we get Death Grips, Poolside, The Breeders, Yves Tumor and Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Weekend Two highlights M83 and Tegan and Sara.
Wristbands are on sale in a couple of hours, but AMEX card holders get early access. CLICK HERE to learn more and shout out to ACL for finally putting the real price of the wristband on the storefront, no more fees and delivery and surcharges at checkout.
ATH has seen Body of Light a few times as they have played shows with some of our favorite dark-synth-pop-jams over the years. Two legitimately nice people hailing from Arizona, we can hear in the latest material a bit of a swing towards an earlier era new wave, still dark, but the build up has well-located hooks layered in front and behind the vocals and underlying atmospheres create an anchor for the more percussive elements to flourish. The imaging on this track is lovely; headphones or well-placed speakers in your listening area, chef’s kiss.
The new record called Bitter Reflection is due 6/30, but a pre-order gets you two tracks now.
The absolute legends in electronica, to me at least, Underwold have released the video for “and the colour red”. The song uses a driving premise, minimal lyricism and trails off at the end hinting at the blend into another track, hopefully released soon. They are between performances at Coachella; those of you in the bay area should see them Friday at The Warfield.
While I have your attention about the band, be sure to listen to “Juanita 2022“, a reimagining of the front half of “Junaita/Kiteless” from Beaucoup Fish.
Sure, we kept you up to speed the whole way through the conference. Sure, we have the big summary post. Now, I have the big gallery of pics from the week.
Lets get into it with a few highlights and the eye candy featuring shots from ATHvsSOTO, New Order, gravel pits, shiny backgrounds, bad lighting, temporary stages and new names for old favorites.
Given all of the reimagining of classic characters (what are we on, the eleventyeth Batman?), I thought it was proper time to reset the ATH IT Department. Now, while I will pop some electronic jams up, there will be some new content. We’ll talk technology, how I listen to music to hopefully help how you listen to music, streaming, supporting artists, industry stuff. I used the Put Your Ass In The Know (PYAITK) tag in the past, a reference to one of the original technology bloggers from WAAyayayAaayyy back, and it will be a theme here. We can do simple things to make our enjoyment of music better.
Reach out, drop a comment, whatever path, what are some topics you would like to know on the tech end of listening to the music we love? In the meantime, here is a recently released track by Orbital featuring Penelope Isles. Optical Delusion, their tenth full length, is available today wherever you stream your jams, which by the way, for me is mostly Qobuz. Why? Lossless CD quality or better available for all tracks and high artist payouts per stream. Stream ethically and buy the tracks you love.
So, weekend two is upon us. I thought I’d share some intel for you folks giving this weekend a run at ACL Festival 2022.
Feel free to read up on last weekends recommendations. Aside from Nation Of Language not being here, my advice stands. However, there are some new things coming, either by lessons learned or by changes to the lineup. Let’s talk ACL Weekend Two. Hit the jump for more.
We know ACL may not always be our cup of tea top to bottom, lineups drifting towards tiktok stars and Youtube trends in recent year. That does not mean you won’t be void of awesome goodness and refreshing moments of zen along with a big dose of nostalgia to come over the top and sneak up on you having a good time. Here comes a list of things you should consider if you happen to find yourself with a wristband for Austin City Limits 2022 Weekend One.
Nation of Language – Friday 1pm @ Miller Lite – First thing I will see, they might be my favorite band on the lineup. This duo, now fully fleshed out as a four piece, bring together so much of what I love about synth pop and 80’s wave hits. Songs sometimes build, sometimes simmer darkly, but their set at Levitation last year was so good.
Genesis Owusu – Friday 4pm @ Tito’s – I make it a point to hit the tent midday at some point to see something I wouldn’t normally pursue. Owusu blends elements of R&B, hip-hop, disco slow jams and straight up hype jams. I’m curious. Check out “Whip Cracker” and try to categorize.
Big Boi – Saturday 6:15 @ Honda – Big glasses, bounce.
The War on Drugs – Saturday @ T-Mobile 7:15 – These songs want wide open spaces to expand out towards, find a spot out by the chair line, reflect on the days events. This stage tends to deliver in the later hours somewhat isolated from the crossover of noise as Diplo floods the hill at Miller Lite.
Dehd – Sunday 1:15 @ T-Mobile – A tight trio delivering well-crafted lo-fi pop songs locked down with underlying synths and an ever present catchy chorus. The only bummer is that locals Darkbird and Caleb de Casper are at the same time. That would have been a nice one-two-three punch, but I am going to take Dehd this round.
Buffalo Nichols – Sunday 1:45 @ Tito’s – Carl “Buffalo” Nichols did some moving, both geographically and musically. Where it has landed him is Austin, trying to rebuild the foundation of the blues, a noble effort to connect the history of the music to a new generation. #tenttheory
MUNA – Sunday 3pm @ Barton Springs – Buzz
Spoon – Sunday 4pm @ Honda – Why not?
ZHU – Sunday 7pm @ Miller Lite – Who knows how this will go, but there are some really strong deep house jams by Zhu lately, so go check it out, get your shimmy on and I’ll report back for next weekend.
Here’s a fancy playlist with some of these artists and more —-
ATH has seen 
So, weekend two is upon us. I thought I’d share some intel for you folks giving this weekend a run at ACL Festival 2022.
We know ACL may not always be our cup of tea top to bottom, lineups drifting towards tiktok stars and Youtube trends in recent year. That does not mean you won’t be void of awesome goodness and refreshing moments of zen along with a big dose of nostalgia to come over the top and sneak up on you having a good time. Here comes a list of things you should consider if you happen to find yourself with a wristband for