Hurricane Bells

171Not really sure how we originally missed Hurricane Bells, the new solo project from Longwave lead singer/songwriter Steve Schiltz.  The band/side project of Mr. Schiltz just released a debut album on Vagrant this week called Tonight Is The Ghost and we’ve really been enjoying what we hear.  Before we make some time to give the album a proper review, check out this single “This Year”.  It starts as a bit of a slow burner and then builds up into a poppy little tune that should sound nice to your ears.

[audio: https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/thisyear.mp3]

Download: Hurricane Bell – This Year [MP3]

Top Ten Fun Fest Artists

FFFFest2009_Top10We hope all of you stayed dry on Sunday at the Fun Fun Fun Festival and we also hope you soaked in the great weather of Saturday. All in all we had a great time over the weekend and saw tons of great bands.  Just as we did with ACL, we’d like to give you a brief recap with our top 10 favorite bands from the weekend festivities. We’re putting these in no real order and just listing them with some brief reasons why we liked them so much. Follow the jump for our top 10 Fun Fest bands.

Read more

Thao & TGDSD @ Mohawk (11/12)

thao

Date 11/12/09
Location Mohawk
Doors 8pm
Tickets $10 from Frontgate

We really dug their new album and now we are excited to see that Thao & The Get Down Stay Down are making their way to the Mohawk on Thursday night.  Opening support is rather interesting and is provided by Portland Cello and David Schultz.  Be sure to stick around after Thao finishes up for some solid local bands on the inside stage including LA Snacks and DJ John Gross

[audio: https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/Thao-With-The-Get-Down-Stay-Down-Know-Better-Learn-Faster.mp3]

Download: Thao With The Get Down Stay Down – Know Better Learn Faster [MP3]

Julian Casablancas – Phrazes for the Young

julian-phrazescoverRating: ★★½☆☆

It’s been a long long time since the essence of cool was brought back by The Strokes.  No longer do we have to listen to stagnant rock on the radio, and the indie underground seems to have grown substantially.  We owe a great deal of that to Julian Casablancas.  His new album Phrazes for the Young creates a certain sense of nostalgia; it makes you look back to those days when it all seemed new and vibrant. 

Hands down, the first three songs on this record, “Out of the Blue,” “Left and Right in the Dark,” and “11th Dimension,” are all ridiculously good songs.  You can say that they have a more pop-centric leaning than most of the work done by Casablancas other band, but you can’t deny that the infections hooks are in abundance on these first three tracks.  If you take “11th Dimension” alone, you can see that combining the swagger of The Strokes with the electronic pop of Phoenix packs a huge punch.  This is such a killer opening to the album, that it really makes the latter half of the album fall flat on its face before our eyes.

Once you get to the last five songs, the pace is gone, and with it, the depth that seemingly existed from the outstart.  “Ludlow St.” has sort of a throwback feeling to a summer folk string, almost as if The Beatles have just entered into Julian’s lexicon, while the lyrics are reminiscent of Whitman’s Song of Myself.  It’s clever, but it is not a song that will last long in your memory.

“River of Brakelights” does sound exactly like some of the more straightforward rock songs that eclipsed the gems that were on First Impression of Earth.  Unfortunately, Julian Casablancas has a difficult time as it is differentiating the tones in vocals, and this song makes that all too apparent, which lead to the damage that devours this track. 

All this seems to head towards the trudgingly slow “Tourist,” a song that is lyrically akin to “Ludlow St.” All the punch is clearly gone at this point, and you can feel your heart sink as the album draws to a close.  It’s a shame actually, as the record began with such a promising start that you wanted the entire thing to be successful, but our luck has run out here.  Still, for those die-hard completists, you will find the voice of The Strokes living in a different place, one that at times, is as exciting as we’ve ever heard him.  Perhaps such moments make it onto the new work of either of his bands.

[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/Julian-Casablancas-11th-Dimension.mp3]

Download: Julian Casablancas – 11th Dimension [MP3]

Fun Fest 2009 In Photos, Take 1

FFFfest_2009_01_bannerOver our weekend of Fun Fun Fun, we had lots of fancy photographers running around taking pictures for us to capture the madness that went down.  Today we want to share come photos by our long time photographer Jonathon Edwards.  He’s been working hard for us for quite some time now and I think you’ll agree that his work is always pretty impressive.  So take some time to have a look and re-live the weekend that was Fun Fun Fun Fest.  Follow the jump for photos.

Read more

Langhorne Slim @ Mohawk (11/11)

slim

Date Wednesday, November 11th
Location Mohawk
Doors 800p
Tickets $12 @ the door

Whilst most of us are still recovering from the FFF Fest, music must go on here in town.  Luckily, there is a pretty solid show of the laid back sort for all of us to enjoy this Wednesday, as Langhorne Slim makes his return to town.  Not only will you get Langhorne, but you get the fabulous Austin Lucas, as well as Dawes.  Seems like a chill way to spend hump day.

[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/04Shoulders.mp3]

Download: Austin Lucas – Shoulders [MP3]


New Music From Longwave

longwave01NYC band Longwave are celebrating their final show of the year at Bowery Ballroom on Saturday by giving away a free song each day this week.  Yesterdays new and previously unreleased song was called “Disappointed” and it’s been getting heavy rotation in the ol itunes.  Be sure to check the band’s website each day this week for more previously unreleased and new tracks.

[audio: https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/disappointed.mp3]

Download: Longwave – Disappointed [MP3]

1 1,765 1,766 1,767 1,768 1,769 1,931