New Jams from Seapony (+ New Album)

We were fortunate enough to have Seapony play at our SXSW party this year, so we’re happy to hear that the band are already about to return with a new record, titled Falling (odd title considering the release date is September 11th).  It will, again, be released by the hard-working folks over at Hardly Art, and I’m really loving this new track.  Jen’s voice sounds really good, but there’s a directness to this track that is quite striking; there’s less of a shoegaze element to the song, though you can still find a bit of the group’s endearing haziness.  I can’t tell you how excited I am for this record.

[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Seapony_WhatYouWanted.mp3]

Download:Seapony – What You Wanted [MP3]

New Tune from Papercuts

Unless you’re living underneath a rock, you realize that San Francisco is probably one of the biggest scenes in the indie rock community.  Luckily for all of us outside the city, we can get our hands on the In a Cloud II compilation, featuring new unreleased tracks from a lot of great bands; the comp comes to us via Secret Seven Records on July 17th.  My personal favorite track from the comp is the one featured below by Papercuts, one of my favorite bands from San Francisco–check that, period. It’s got that chilled out vibe Jason’s known for, with a warm trickling melody that evolves slowly. There’s tons of great tracks on this collection, so be sure to Pre-Order it now.

[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/06-Hey-Jaqueline.mp3]

 

 

New Jam From Dalton

Dalton is the name of the solo project headed up by Brooklyn native Nate Harar.  The song we have for you below, “Breaker”, appears on the multi-instrumentalists debut self-titled EP which is currently available to stream in full over on bandcamp.  Apparently Harar recorded every piece of the album in his studio recording space in 2011.  Little else is known about the musician so I’ll just let this sweet jam do the talking.

[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Dalton-Breaker.mp3]

Download: Dalton – Breaker [MP3]

 

Great Cover Tune from The Yellow Melodies

This post is about two things really: a great new discovery, and one of my favorite bands, The Television Personalities.  I just discovered The Yellow Melodies, a Spanish band in the midst of several EPs paying homage to TTP, this one called How Television Personalities Learned to Love.  The original version is one of my favorite tracks, but this cover adds a bit more of a nice jangle, rather than that post-punk art-rock we got from the original act.  For me, I’m just now discovering The Yellow Melodies, and I’m grateful, as they’ve got slews of albums for you to enjoy.  Also, I just got a reminder of how much I love going back to my Television Personalities catalog.  Here’s both songs, so you can compare and fall in love.

[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/10-14th-Floor.mp3]

Download:The Television Personalities – 14th Floor [MP3]

[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/03-14th-Floor.mp3]

Download:The Yellow Melodies – 14th Floor [MP3]

Show Pics: Chaos in Tejas (6/2)

After taking a night to relax and sweat at Stubb’s, it was back into the Chaos. Primary venue choice was Club DeVille, but I did pop next door to see the goings-ons.

Club DeVille scored a great lineup for the indie kids with Sea Lions, Royal Headaches and The Clean. I saw more Japanese hardcore at The Mohawk courtesy Zyanose, full mosh pit included. Ironically, I took an elbow to the face while shooting Royal Headache.

Here come the pics…

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Mellow Electronic Jam The Deer Tracks

It’s Monday, and while my body recovers from Chaos in Tejas, let’s throw something a little bit more chilled out in your direction.  This Swedish group is currently in the middle of releasing a trilogy of albums titled The Archer Trilogy–Part 3 should be out later on this year.  One of the reason’s I like the group so much is that I can see similarities to other electronic duo’s like the Knife, but this group has a sound completely all their own; it’s always good when you can build on influences and take your own direction.  The Deer Tracks is set to come to the US (though not Austin) in June, so keep a look out for them in your town.

[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/W.mp3]

Download:The Deer Tracks – W [MP3]

More New Music from The Intelligence

Summertime (I’m a teacher) is perfect for me to catch up on listening to records I’ve gotten that I haven’t given my full attention to, yet. This new album from the Intelligence is high on my list, so as they break out more great tracks for everyone, I’ve always gotta share.  Today this new single hit the web, and it’s more of a steady strum, as opposed to the jittery number they released earlier–that is until you get a little bit of swagger in the last minute of the track.  You can pick up the band’s new record, Everybody’s Got It Easy But Me, on June 19th via the good folks at In the Red Records.

[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/04-Techno-Tuesday.mp3]

Download: The Intelligence – Techno Tuesday [MP3]

Show Preview: The Couch @ Mohawk (6/5/12)

Date 6/5/12
Location Mohawk
Doors 8pm
Tickets $5 @ Door

Up and comers The Couch are a band we feel everyone should really be paying attention to right now in Austin.  They’re a great band with loads of talent, not to mention a great new single “Kaiser” that’s creating all kinds of buzz in town.  Joining the group are fellow talented locals The Sour Notes and relatively unknown Summer Swells.  If anyone has a link for SS, holler.

[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/kaiser.mp3]

Download: The Couch- Kaiser [MP3]

More New Music From Sonny & The Sunsets

As the June 26th release date for Sonny & The Sunsets new album Longtime Companion approaches, it seems appropriate to share another new song from the LP.  This one is called “I See the Void” and features the same sort of down trodden yet somehow still catchy style we heard on last post “Pretend You Love Me”.  The album as a whole is a gem that’s surely something you’ll want to pick up later this month via Polyvinyl.

[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/07-Sonny-and-the-Sunsets-I-See-the-Void.mp3]

Download: Sonny and the Sunsets – I See the Void [MP3]

Exitmusic – Passage

Rating: ★★★½☆

Exitmusic is a New York City band consisting of Aleksa Palladino and Devon Church that combine to create stormy electronic pop. Using layers of sound, these two are big on emotive music, hoping to generate forms of sound that moves their listeners in some way. A few years back they released the From Silence EP, which dubbed Exitmusic as dark, enigmatic and swirling. Passage, their recent effort, looks to refine these hooks and build ups to something with a bit more control.

If you aren’t careful, the first song will swallow you whole in its drama. Pushing six minutes, “Passage” goes a lot of places, exploring big build ups to drastic cut offs in the waves of sound that crash over one another. The track starts out on a quieter note, until it begins to build to one of its first crescendos and you can start to see the unbridled power that is created when these two come together, giving all they’ve got. Everything comes together in a cathartic build, and then suddenly all falls away in an explosive burst of sound that seems like it would fit as perfect background music to a movie montage. It’s a beast of a song, but Extimusic tames it to a manageable one, teetering on the edge of out of control with cymbals crashing and vocals peaking.

As far as songs on Passage go, the first track is by far the most dramatic in nature, and thankfully. While it has its place, if every song was as pushing as the opener, this album would feel distant and maudlin. This tightrope walk between accessible and melodramatic is the very substance of this album. You have songs like “The Modern Age,” on which Palladino’s vocals are close and easy to listen to; they are powerful, yet subtle in their confidence. The build on this song is manageable, easing into and out of climaxes with the help of soft percussive elements and hooking guitars. On the other side of this spectrum, Exitmusic lose themselves a bit on album closer, “Sparks of Light.” This number drags on, the echoed vocals and dull instrumentation leaving me a little bored.

However, there are still a number of catchy, cathartic songs that live up to the delightfully broody name that these two have earned for themselves. Depending on your personal state of mind, these songs may coat you in layers of glorious ambivalence, or murky heaviness. See for yourself.

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