This is fine.
Friday night was a great evening for an outdoor show; the cool breeze of the impending rains allowed the crowd to remain cool during what would normally be considered a hot Texas night. Til We’re Blue or Destroy opened up the evening just before The Shaky Hands, which led us into the night’s main event, The Thermals. Follow the jump for full show review.
The ATH crew rushed from prior arrangements to get to The Parish on Monday in order to catch a good evening with some of Canada’s finest, along with one of California’s best. It was a great show for a Monday night and all bands involved wowed the crowd. Follow the jump to read our thoughts on the show and see some sweet pics.
For those of you into all the newest lo-fi hits of the last few years, there is really one man we need to look towards: Calvin Johnson. The man was the driving force behind the great Beat Happening and also the Halo Benders, which featured Built to Spill frontman Doug Martsch. Clearly, this man’s fingerprints have been all over the musical landscape, and he’s at it again this Saturday night at Emo’s, as he takes the stage with his new outfit Hive Dwellers; former Nation of Ulysses frontman Ian S. will also have his new outfit Chain and the Gang as the show headliners.
So hit up Emos this Saturday night for a definitive good time. Here are some tracks from the closet.
[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/02-left-behind.mp3] [audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/track08.mp3]
On a quiet Monday evening, The Parish continued its recent tradition of well-produced shows as they put on a solid bill, with ATH favorites Other Lives and Elvis Perkins joined by his new band Dearland, supplying the talent. An orchestral grab bag of instrumentation ranging from cellos to trombones, to flutes, a harmonium and organs were laid upon the stage foreshadowing an ambitious evening of unpolluted musical ability in front of a very attentive audience. Follow the jump to continue reading our review.
If you’re looking for what makes Flight of the Conchords so hilarious, look no further than Jemaine Clement’s perspective on the band’s comedic strategy, “We tell you lies, and if you laugh, they’re jokes.” Funny enough, that sounds about right doesn’t it? Lies or not, Jemaine, along with his partner Bret McKenzie, had everyone in the packed Bass Concert Hall laughing uncontrollably for most of their Thursday night set. We were in attendance and had one hell of a time. Follow the jump to hear our thoughts on the show and see some fancy pictures.
After our Eulogies/Dears huge prize package just wrapped up, we’ve got another contest for all you ATH readers out there. This time one lucky fan will win a couple of guest list spots to the upcoming Thermals show at Mohawk on May 22nd. All you have to do is a leave a comment about what’s on your mind OR hit us up on Twitter and mention the contest in your @. We’ll run this one until Wednesday of next week (5/20). Don’t forget to leave a valid email address so we can get in touch with you. While you’re at it, read our review of the band’s new album or check out an interview we did with The Thermals during SXSW.
One of our favorite Canadian acts, The Dears, are stopping into town next week at The Parish. We’ve been pretty excited about this show for a while now and we were even more excited when leading man Murray Lightburn took some time to answer a few of our pressing questions. We talk to Murray about all sorts of interesting topics. Follow the jump to read our full interview.
On their recent stop through Austin with Death Cab for Cutie, we had the chance to interview Syracuse indie-rock band Ra Ra Riot. We spoke with bassist Mathieu Santos about the state of his band, his favorite music of 2009, and how his band has survived through some major adversity. Follow the jump to read our entire interviewwith Mat.
Alright listen up, we’ve got one helluva contest for a couple lucky winners out there so pay attention. Upcoming on May 18th, The Parish has one very solid lineup in-store featuring The Dears & Eulogies along with The Great Northern as opening support. If you aren’t feeling spendy, we’re going to giveaway some prize packs to two lucky winners. That’s right, first place AND second place. Deets:
1st place – 2 tickets to the show, a copy of the Eulogies latest LP Here Anonymous on vinyl, and a fancy Eulogies t-shirt
2nd place – A copy of Eulogies last EP Tempted to do Nothing on vinyl, The Dears Latest album Missiles on vinyl, AND a Dangerbird Records hoodie.
If that doesn’t spark your interest, I don’t know what will! Let’s try something new for entry in this contest… Simply leave a comment OR hit us up on Twitter and mention something about the contest in your @. Please remember to leave a valid email address so we can get in touch with our winners. Contest will be open until May 12th (one week from now).
[audio: https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/thedears_meltdowninamajor.mp3]Download: The Dears – Meltdown in A Major [MP3]
For today’s Friday top 5 I thought it would be fun to take a look at a thoroughly under-appreciated musical genre. Video game music. In particular, video game music from the 8-bit and 16-bit era. Follow the jump as we take a trip down memory lane and countdown the top 5 old school video game tracks.
