Category: Featured

ACL Interviews: Portugal. The Man

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So leading up to our little ACL festival next month, we here at ATH will yet again be bringing you as many interviews as we possibly can.  We’ll put our focus on some of the mid-level bands along with a few planned big name guys.  To kick off our coverage of the festival, we begin with an interview with an old ATH favorite Portugal. The Man.  We had the chance to sit down with keyboard player/vocalist Ryan Neighbors and discuss the state of his band.  Follow the jump to read this great interview with a great band.

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Friday Top 5: Petty Crime Songs

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I have played Mortal Kombat. Listened to Gangsta Rap music. Seen horrifically violent movies. Been completely inundated with mediated crimes of all sorts. Maybe that’s why I find songs that strive to shock with ultra violence or hardcore drug use such a bore. The most over-the-top crime narratives are often the most mundane. But songs that catalog more bizarre and subtle transgressions? The futile inane rebellions of everyday life? Now that’s the good stuff. Follow the jump and cue the Judas Priest:

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ACL Battles: Sonic Youth vs. Vampire Weekend

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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

ACL Preview: The Many Faces Of Monsters Of Folk

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We’re going off the deep end here with a bit of a different look at our next featured artist for our Austin City Limits Festival coverage.  The band is a sort of super-group, made up of renowned musicians in the indie world, and we’ve borrowed some ideas from our great friends over at theManyFacesOf.com.  Hopefully you enjoy this feature, and without further ado, we introduce you to The Many Faces Of Monsters of Folk.  Follow the jump for more.

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FTC: Red House Painters

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So as I read through the Pitchfork’s very admirable attempt at listing the top tracks of the 90s, I came across a song by Red House Painters called “Katy Song” that I hadn’t thought about in a long time.  I’m not totally sure why I haven’t been spinning any RHP tracks as of late, but it might have something to do with it not being the best “summer music”.  So after listening to that epic track again from the band’s second LP(also known as the Rollercoaster LP), I started delving back into some of my old Mark Kozelek tracks.  Honestly the guy still doesn’t get his due even after 20+ years in the songwriting game.  Maybe it’s because his music defines the term “acquired taste” or it’s just too depressing for some people, but you can’t deny the beauty he creates.  I mean the Red House Painters debut LP came out almost exactly a year after Nevermind yet no one puts this band, or Kozelek for that matter, in the same breath as Cobain or other great songwriters.  I’m here to say he’s got that kind of talent.  Instead of blabbing on all day, I’ll just tell you to spend some time with the Red House Painters and their 5 releases in the 90s.  Then move on to some of that sweet Sun Kil Moon action via debut Ghosts of the Great Highway or April from 2008.  Below is one of my personal favorites “All Mixed Up”.  Yes I know it’s a cover, but honestly I don’t care much for the Cars and creating great covers is another one of Kozlek’s trademarks.  The track appears on the incredible album Song for a Blue Guitar which was the last release with the group still together until “lost” album Old Ramon came out after that big legal dispute.  Enjoy.

[audio: https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/08-All-Mixed-Up-The-Cars-cover-1.mp3]

Download: Red House Painters – All Mixed Up [MP3]

ACL Spotlight: The Morning Benders

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Ah yes, can you really believe it’s that time of year again?  I swear I feel like I’m still recovering from a summer long hangover… Austin City Limits Festival is now only a short month away and we here at ATH are just as excited as we were our very first time.  So as usual we want to begin spotlighting some of our favorite artists playing this year’s massive festival in October.  We’ll try to touch on some of the smaller/mid-range acts that you may not know much about.  Those big name guys will hopefully give us an interview…  So our first spotlight of the ACL season (if you’re not counting the features on Ted Leo and The National we did for C3) goes to The Morning Benders.  I wanted to bring this group up in feature town because I feel like a lot of people, including myself, sort of forgot about the surprising sophomore effort Big Echo that Morning Benders dropped earlier this year.  I’m listening to it while writing this piece, and am already finding myself deeming it’s poppy and breezy tunes worthy of mention amongst the year’s best.  Of course gaining some popularity gets a bit easier when Chris Taylor from Grizzly Bear produces…  So I’d recommend picking that one up if you already haven’t and also give a listen to solid debut LP Talking Through Tin Cans while you’re at it.  The guys are currently on tour away from their Berkley home with a planned stop in Austin on Sunday afternoon.  Make sure you see them live at 3:00pm on the Lady Bird Lake stage.

[audio: https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/01-Excuses.mp3]

Download: Morning Benders – Excuses [MP3]

FT5: Worst Trends In Indie Rock

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So while recently looking back on our earliest days here at ATH, I skimmed over on an almost 2 year old post about our least favorite things in the music world.  If you don’t care to read that old piece of journalism, it was more a focus on trends in the extremely popular media world.  We ranted on myspace, the loudness of some new rock bands, and the decline of albums as an art form.  Looking back, I’d say myspace is really on it’s way out, loudness is a declining trend and albums seem to be on the rise.  We made a difference!  For today, I’d like to focus on 5 things that really erk me about our little niche known as the “indie music world”.  Of course with bands like Arcade Fire, Band of Horses, and Spoon topping the charts, these trends are slowly making the move from indie to popular.  We must put a stop to them now!  Follow the jump for more.

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FT5: Songs That Make You Rap

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You can always count on this lady to bring hip-hop and dance to the ATH table. This round of picks was inspired by a comment @DaveRupert made on one of my past articles, Songs That Make You Dance. He said a good follow up would be about the songs that make you rap, and here we are. These are a few of the rap songs we all love and know most of the words to. You may not know all of the lyrics, but when that chorus line approaches, dayum you’ve got it down. No matter your race, ethnicity, age or level of hip-hop knowledge, you know these songs (or at least that hook line).
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FTC: Orange Juice

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Our From the Closet feature this week involves one of those bands I’ve been jamming to for quite some time, and it’s a band that recently made news this week, as it was announced that Domino Records would be releasing Coals to Newcastle on October 9th, a six disc box set including all sorts of work from Orange Juice.  Personally, I first got into the band via Belle and Sebastian, who I feel the band used a lot as a reference point in their early songwriting.  Singer Edwyn Collins sort of distanced the band from the rest of the post-punk bands in the early 80s by taking a more direct, almost tongue-in-cheek, approach to writing songs–as opposed to political minded lyrics.  Their combination of R&B, funk, soul and punk always made them a lot more danceable, and a hell of a lot more endearing than many of their peers.  If you like anything involving twee, you need to visit this band, and if you just like great music, then you need to check this group out. The following track isn’t my personal favorite (“Love Sick” is), but it’s a good starting point for casual listeners. Can’t wait to get our hands on all the gems from the newest box set.

[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/07-Rip-It-Up.mp3]

Download: Orange Juice – Rip It Up [MP3]

Austin A2W: Agent Ribbons

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I guess we here at ATH have been living under a rock for the last couple years because we truly have missed out on new Austin band Agent Ribbons.  The ladies in this band made way to Austin recently by way of Sacramento and have been making a name for themselves around town as of late.  On their upcoming release, Chateau Crone, these ladies of rock create a dirty garage rock sound most similar to Dum Dum Girls or maybe even a more psychedelic version of Best Coast.  Whichever way you want to call it, this band means business with the heavy garage pop sound they produce.  Below you can check out the band’s latest single called “I’m Alright” which is a true representation of the Agent Ribbons sound.  We’ll be keeping track of this band is the tour the country and return for more local shows later this fall.

[audio: https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/01-Im-Alright-1.mp3]

Download: Agent Ribbons – I’m Alright [MP3]

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