This is fine.
King Khan & The Shrines will be putting on a sure to be ridiculous show at Mohawk on Sunday night the 6th. The band is touring in support of their recent compilation The Supreme Genius of King Khan & The Shrines. Look at that picture! This show is not something to be missed. You can buy some tickets on the Transmission Entertainment website for only $10. Doors are set to open at 7pm. No Regrets!
Download: noregrets.mp3
The Futurist has a nice write up and some mp3s you can download of a recent performance The Black Angels did for the Woxy Lounge. Woxy Lounge has been showcasing some pretty heavy hitters on their Lounge Act website. Head over to the Woxy site for live performances from Mates of State, Matt Pond PA, & Cursive among others. Below is the first song from the Black Angels set on Woxy “Better off Alone” from their recent release Directions to See a Ghost.
Download: Black Angels – Better Off Alone [MP3]
Start your 4th of July off right with the only musician you should be listening to on a day like today:
Download: borntorun.mp3
Mogwai has a new single for you called “The Sun Smells Too Loud” off their upcoming Matador release The Hawk is Howling due out September 23rd. Have yourself a listen below. The band will be making their way to Austin on September 12th at Stubbs. Get some tickets before it sells out.
Download: sunsmellstooloud.mp3
The boys that brought you Done Waiting now have their own record label called Sunken Treasure Records with a brand new digital download store. So what, you ask? Well, they have the latest release from Miranda Sound as a pay what you want download. Head to their digital store and get your Radiohead like downloading on. They also have Miranda Sound’s last album Western Reserve as a completely free download on their main site. Of course we have for you a song on their newest album that you can check out if you just really can’t decide on parting with that precious $1 you’ve been saving.
Download: leaveeveryonebehind.mp3
Ring in your fourth at Antone’s on Friday with arguably the best blues musician to come out of Austin in a long time Gary Clark Jr. The show will be getting started at 10pm and only costs you $12. Go to Antone’s website and buy yourself some tickets for this sure to be stellar performance. You can also read more about Gary Clark Jr. & hear more of his songs on his website.
Download: ilikethewayyouloveme.mp3
The Silent Years just posted their entire debut self-titled album for you to download for free via mediafire. You can preview a song “No Secrets” below if you’re not a fan of download times. This could be a nice surprising debut that not many people are talking about. Read more about The Silent Years on myspace.
Download: nosecrets.mp3
Birdmonster has some new music available for the first time in a long time. The new song is called “Born to be your Man” off their soon to be released album From The Mountain To The Sea due out 8/5 digitally and 9/2 in stores on the Fader label. It’s quite the catchy little diddy don’t ya think?
Download: borntobeyourman.mp3
Rating: 
California’s Earlimart has released their 4th studio album, this one coming just a year or so after the release of Mentor Tormentor, which was one of my favorite releases of 2007. I found it an odd choice to release another album so quickly, but I wasn’t let down by this effort.
“Song For,” the opening track, begins with some bouncing percussion, as the music crashes in behind it, you are reminded of similar California acts such as Grandaddy or early Rogue Wave-neither of which is a bad comparison in my book.
Aaron Espinoza has a perfect voice for the melodic sounds of his band, as he gently sings through this album, resembling the softness of his friend Eliott Smith. It’s a comparison I am sure he is sick of at this point, but one that creeps up time and time again in his music.
“Before it Gets Better” introduces the audience to equally strong voice of Ariana Murray, the other mainstay member in the Earlimart lineup. Backed by the softness of a piano, she sings about the realization that before anything gets better, its bound to get worse. Despite the undertones of this song, Ariana allows the listener to empathize with her feelings–a good feat I dare say. Her lead role on “Time For Yourself” makes it another bright spot on the album, which I think has a lot to do with her voice in contrast to Espinoza. At some points I just find her more fitting, but that could be due to her songwriting on such songs.
Unfortunately, I found that there were some spots that missed their mark–for me as a listener. Tracks like “God Love You the Best” or “Cigarettes and Kerosene” found me searching in earnest for the uniqueness that opened the album. Even when the guitars burst in on “Cigarettes and Kerosene” I found it lacking the personality of other songs that are present. Even the title track, “Hymn and Her,” seems like a track that blends into the background of this album.
However, I found a beautiful gem on this record in the song “For the Birds.” It has the gentle quality of Espinoza, backed by the “ooohs” from Murray, all thrown into the mix with a quiet backing of piano and a strumming acoustic guitar. This is the most special moment on this album.
At times, Earlimart waiver from their focus, and it is that tendency to operate on musical tangents that has always hurt their albums. Their strengths come in when they combine Espinoza’s voice with Murray’s, using carefully constructed soundscapes to back the vocals. Lucky for us, there are plenty of those moments on this record.
Listen to the first single off the album “Song For” below:
[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/01-song-for.mp3]download: songfor.mp
Takka Takka have another new song for your listening pleasure off their latest offering Migration due out July 29th. The new song is called “Everybody Say” which can be found below. The new album features some guest drumming by Bryan Devendorf of The National.
Download: everybodysay.mp3
