Show Preview: Lower Dens @ Club Deville (9/10)

Date 9/10/10
Location Club Deville
Doors 10:00PM
Tickets $8 @ the Door

If you’ve been following the Austin music scene for some time, you surely know the name Jana Hunter, but you might not be aware that she’s moved up to Baltimore for a bit to work with a new band, Lower Dens. They are touring in support of their latest album, Twin-Hand Movement, which is full of fuzzy guitars and Hunter’s remarkable voice.  Opening bands Balaclavas and Black Congress will be getting you prepared for the phenomenal tunes of the headliner. I mean, it’s Friday, and I feel like a cheap show, so I’ll be there.

[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/lowerdenstealights.mp3]

Download: Lower Dens – Tea Lights [MP3]

Young Man on Daytrotter

We talked to you guys about how much we loved Young Man when he released his Boy EP not too long ago.  Unfortunately, those four tracks weren’t enough to hold us over for long, so when we found the awesome Daytrotter set today, we were really excited.  The recording features two brand new songs that haven’t been released yet, so you better hurry on over and get a hold of those tracks now.  We’ve got one here, just in case you can’t wait long enough.

[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/003-Problem.mp3]

Download: Young Man – Problem [MP3]

Autolux @ Emo’s (9/9)

Date 9/9/10
Location Emos
Doors 9pm
Tickets $10 @ Ticketweb

ATH favorite(as evidenced by the recent review of their new record) Autolux are stopping into Austin at Emo’s on Thursday evening.  Joining the band on stage are Gold Panda and Austin band Pure Ecstasy.  Those looking to live on the cheap can also check out a Waterloo in-store from Autolux beginning at 5pm.

[audio: https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/07-Audience-No.-2.mp3]

Download: Autolux – Audience No. 2 [MP3]

New Music From Women

I have been thoroughly enjoying this new track “Narrow with the Hall” from Canadian indie rock band Women.  The track starts off a little noisy but slowly builds into a head bobber with that nice backing bass line.  Fans of the tune can pick up their copy of the band’s upcoming LP Public Strain September 28th on Jagjaguwar.

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

Download: Women – Narrow With the Hall [MP3]

The Acorn – No Ghost

Rating: ★★★½☆

After their extremely successful Glory Hope Mountain, this group of Ottawans retired to a secluded area, focusing on each other and their songwriting.  The result is the Acorn‘s third full-length, No Ghost, and its a recorded moment of a band working closely together, tying together the loose ends, and pushing themselves to the max; it all turns out pretty successful.

Guitars barely trickle in at the opening moments of “Cobbled From Dust,” while singer Rolf Klausener kicks things off.  Slowly, you can feel the mood begin to change again, and as it does, Rolf’s voice soars off, meeting up with the soft percussive accompaniment.  It’s an unassuming opening, but one that reveals the attention to details throughout No Ghost.   Even the touches of distorted feedback seem to have a place here.

For the most part, this a quiet affair, and even the loud moments seem super soft.  “Misplaced” really narrows it all down to the barebones effects, just using Klausener, backing vocals, guitar, and minor percussion appearances.  Still, something special manages to escape to the ears of the listener, especially as Rolf sings “I know I know I know I won’t be misplaced.”  It’s an extremely gentle vocal, yet one that drives home the lyrical and musical message, allowing you to absorb it together as one unified piece. Similarly, “On the Line” reminds one of those old home recordings Sam Beam used to give us in his early days.  There’s a bit of vocal harmony here, but you get the sense that the band probably all just sat in a little circle, cuddled around a fire on a cold Canadian night, trying to craft the most beautiful song they could muster.

There’s not really a song, or a moment, where The Acorn doesn’t seem successful on this latest musical adventure, but it’s the home-stretch that makes it all worthwhile for every listener.  “Slippery When Wet,” aside from its atrocious hair band allusion, is perhaps one of the greatest moments of the year to come out of the down-trodden genre.  Light string arrangements dance alongside gentle picking of instruments, giving a more solemn tone to the track.  And Rolf’s vocal performance here is hands-down the best you’ll find on No Ghost.  But, they don’t stop here, filling out the back end of the record with remarkable moments that bring everything home for the audience. “Kindling to Cremation” definitely feels like the whole band got together to wrap up the whole affair, bringing in everyone’s skills to the table, utilizing their various talents, and giving us one final piece of quiet beauty. Just a great end to a great listen.

While some may yearn for a bit more variance in the songs and their writing style, sometimes its good to stick to what you know best.  The Acorn definitely know what their good at, and it appears to be writing bedroom listens full of beauty, if your bedroom just happens to be inside a nice log cabin.  No matter how long you listen to this record, one thing will always remain constant; No Ghost continue to craft delicate pieces of grandeur for all of us to enjoy.

[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/Restoration.mp3]

Download: The Acorn – Restoration [MP3]

ACL Spotlight: The Morning Benders

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]

New Music from Amy Bezunartea

Gentle folk music seems appropriate considering its rained in our town for at least 24 straigh hours.  Luckily, I was fortunate to find the great new album from Amy Bezunartea in my inbox today, which is titled Restaurants and Bars.  It will be released by Kiam Records on November 2nd, and if this single is any indication it will be full of soft melodies, delicate strumming and Merritt-esque poetry.  If you ask me, that sounds like a great record to get to know.  Give it a listen.

[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/08_AmyBezunartea_RestaurantsAndBars_Doubles1.mp3]
Download: Amy Bezunartea – Doubles

Show Preview: Pinkerton Hoot Night @ Thunderbird Coffee (9/9)

Date 9/9/10
Location Thunderbird Coffee
Doors 6pm
Tickets FREE!!

Giant Steps Productions has a cool event they’re calling “Pinkerton Hoot night” going on Thursday night at Thunderbird Coffee.  The idea is that 6 local bands will cover all songs from Weezer’s sophomore album Pinkerton.  A few bands will also throw in the occasional B-side and/or favorite non Pinkerton Weezer track.  The local lineup of sweet talent includes Ideal Soul Mart, The Bubbles, Guns of Navarone, Maryann and the Revival Band, With an Orange, and International Waters.  This should be a fun night and a reminder to us all that Weezer have pretty well sucked since their 1996 gem.

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

New Music from Big Troubles

You thought you head heard the last of shoegaze-y pop didn’t you?  Well, not so fast.  I’ve recently been let on to a great little secret, that being New Jersey’s Big Troubles. They’ve just released their album, Worry, and its ridiculously full of washed guitars roaming the country atop solid little pop melodies.  You can imagine this to be a ridiculously loud live show, but its got just the right amount of noise on the recorded version.  You can preview the full record over at their SITE, and you’ll definitely want to get on that, stat.

[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/Big_Troubles_03_Bite_Yr_Tongue.mp3]

Download: Big Troubles – Bite Yr Tongue [MP3]

New Tunes from Belle and Sebastian

Okay, so this might be an obligatory/redundant post, seeing as this was everywhere today, but I had to toss it up, if only to have it on our radio for you to fall in love with during your day. It’s a new track called “Write About Love” from Belle and Sebastian‘s new record, Write About Love.  I’m going to say it, this record already sounds like its going to be awesome, full of bubblegum goodness. This might just play on repeat as I go to bed now.

[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/write-about-love-hq.mp3]

Download: Belle and Sebastian – Write About Love [MP3]

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