brian.gray – Page 48 – Austin Town Hall

Have A Nice Weekend With Neil Finn

February 14, 2014 brian.gray Leave a comment

Neil Finn‘s Try Whistling This is still a go to Sunday afternoon, sitting on the patio on a nice day soundtrack. I have great memories of road trips and not-so-quiet dinners with the songs on that album. I really enjoyed the Pajama Club record, but Neil is back now with a new solo effort.

The new album is called Dizzy Heights is out now and while I am not in love with the title track, “Flying in the Face of Love” is a full on gem. Just try no to love it. I mean, yeah, if you are just here for the punk jammy-jams, then yeah maybe you can be a contradictory jerk, but this is a great song. I sometimes believe that Snowmine channels Neil’s work on occasion.

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/128351712″ params=”color=ff9900&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_artwork=false” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]

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Free Press Summer Fest Lineup

February 12, 2014 brian.gray Leave a comment

Houston’s Free Press Summer Fest is gaining momentum. It is becoming very popular for its well curated and diverse lineups and park setting, despite being scheduled in the upswing of a Houston summer.

This year sees the trend of artist diversity continuing with headliners like Jack White and Vampy Weeks to Wu-Tang and Dwight Yoakum (who I would totally be stoked to see in a festival setting). ATH faves making the list include Die Antwoord, CHVRCHES, The Kills, Lord Huron, Feathers, King Kahn & The Shrines, Poolside and The Orwells.

Which of my Houston people lives closest to Memorial’s Eleanor Tinsley Park?

Click through for the full list. Not bad at all…

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Cape Lion Hits The Sweet Spot

February 12, 2014 brian.gray Leave a comment

Cape Lion proves to me that I should move the Sweden and start Stockholm Town Hall.

Nathan was a little worried this was too poppy. Bah, no such thing as too poppy, but it can’t suck. I like this track from a pending EP quite a bit. It has the big wave synth with soaring riffs and an M83-at-their-best feeling while having a pleasant pop sensibility. I see this as the soundtrack to a drive home. Get the timing right, pull into the driveway just as the last notes fade out…

I have the embed to stream right here, but head past the break for a surprisingly awesome live video they shot in an attic above their recording space.

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/132325745″ params=”color=ff9900&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_artwork=false” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]

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FFF9 Early Bird Is Tomorrow

February 11, 2014 brian.gray Leave a comment

We are underway. The Fall festival buying season is upon us.

The pre-lineup announcements to get wristbands in your hands for cheap continue to flow outbound. Fun Fun Fun Fest 9 is the latest online ticketing opportunity that will make you swear at your computer and wonder if the number of people that got in early could be counted on one hand. Get in the queue. Might I recommend listening to our January Mix as your online on hold music?

YOU MUST GET ONLINE TOMORROW BEFORE 9AM CST!!! CLICK HERE!!!

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A Night Out In Austin (2/5)

February 7, 2014 brian.gray Leave a comment

It was a busy Wednesday night. We had some solid locals kicking off bills that featured some far travelling acts we have loved and some we wanted to see if they were the real deal. We straddled our two most frequents haunts, The Mohawk and Red7, despite the bone drying cold. I met Nate downtown, brought one camera, one lens. Instead of a normal show review, I am going to do the share few thoughts and plenty of pics thing.

Bands featured: Hundred Visions, Mozes & The Firstborn, The Sour Notes, Yuck and together PANGEA

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Have A Nice Weekend With Breton

February 7, 2014 brian.gray Leave a comment

One of the acts I absolutely loved at SxSW two years ago was Breton. They recently released their latest album War Room Stories on iTunes and are coming back for this year’s conference.

The track I feature below is a poppy number. It is a tour bus collision of Foals and Friendly Fires. The rest of the album is kind of all over the place. You think you can dismiss a song as derivative or against your grain and then it has an odd break or goes a direction you may not have expected. It is a dance pop music mash up with an accent and I kind of dig it. Give it a stream here. “Got Well Soon” is quite brilliant, as well.

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/119160803″ params=”color=ff9900&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_artwork=false” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]

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Big Synth Hits by Anne

February 4, 2014 brian.gray Leave a comment

Anne, a project fronted by Portlandier David Lindell, will be releasing a new album March 4th called Pulling Chain. You have two choices to get your fill of what is in store on that album. I am going to embed the track you should stream. You will have a Read More to check out a video.

“Terms”, the embed, has a big chunky set of waves to set the bass line and then come a pulled vocal and a few breaks. “Blonde Men”, the video, has more elegance. Both a delightfully dark and carry a post-punk sensibility belying the transition towards synth from more analog means. Run For Cover Records has been putting out some pretty sweet jams lately. Keep on it…

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/115191596″ params=”color=ff9900&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_artwork=false” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]

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Party Pics: Learning Secrets X @ Red7 (1/31)

February 3, 2014 brian.gray Leave a comment

Yeah, we were treated to some sweet jams. I went to eleven when Simian Mobile Disco‘s “Hustler” filled my ears. And thanks for reminding me how great Hot Chip sounds at club volume.

Learning Secrets turned ten years old. You should read the interview if you missed it, it explains things pretty good. Since so many friends were going to be in attendance, I had to bring the camera and a flash. That is right, I got all photo-tech on the people. We had bloggers, photogs, Transmissioners, DELOREAN, Until the Ribbon Breaks and most importantly plenty of people to dance.

Head past the break to see the party gallery…

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Let’s Not Mess This Up

February 1, 2014 brian.gray One comment

There is a video making its way around the internet today of two guys getting worked over and robbed downtown last night. It happened at a gas station we all have walked by hundreds of times on our way to shows at all the Red River venues. It happened blocks from where I spent the evening celebrating with friends, telling lies and being generally as happy as I could be. It happened to friends of a friend. It happened in front of a video camera.

I don’t want to lecture about the circumstances.They do not claim to be innocent of events leading up to the altercation, but did try to defray what was seemingly inevitable. I don’t want to repost the video, but this happened on my playground. It happened while people looked on in apathy. It was recorded, edited and uploaded, even featuring video of the police. Let’s not mess this up. Red River has gone through some rough stretches. I kind of like how things are now and would like to keep it the way it is, even make it better. Call it a Neighborhood Watch, whatever, but the wife and I parked a block away last night. I want to feel safe, I want to feel like the guys down the street have my back. More may come from the story from our end, but as it stands, it deserves attention, not for the spectacle of the video, but for the cautionary reminder that we all have a stake in this.

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