This is fine.
Emo’s has a solid lineup of local acts ready and rarin’ to go for a night of rock on Friday. Acts include heavy rockers Lions, Ume and The Record Hop. No tickets will be sold online so bring $7 if you’re of age and $10 if you’re under. Here’s that Ume song everyone is talking about around town called “The Conductor”.
Download: Ume – The Conductor [MP3]
Swiss transplant Jason Albertini is now living in the Northwest, and his music with Helvetia is easily influenced by the sounds of the area, not to mention his recordings, since he’s been joined by Scott Plouf of Built to Spill. His new album, Helvetia’s Junk Shop, will be released this September on Static Cult. This recording sounds a bit muddy, but it the vocals definitely meander through the song as you would expect from a band in this region. Here’s “Leading Towards an End.”
Download: Helvetia – Leading Towards an End [MP3]
Rating: 
Liechtenstein is another band revisiting the musical stylings of the past, and while they claim to take their style from the early 80s, the band seems to owe a lot more to the the days of Motown. An all girl group with such sweet voices surely can’t stand without looking back into the history of American R&B. Still, with all debts to the past aside, Survival Strategies in a Modern World succeeds on various levels.
In order to really appreciate this album yourself, you have to realize that the band isn’t holding onto any pretensions; they aren’t claiming to be breaking any new musical ground. Fun. This is really all the band is aiming to do. Every piece of this album glistens with droplets of fun and earnestness. Such an attitude carries the album really far for most listeners, when they could have otherwise failed.
Another advantage of the album is it’s brevity. Before the sugary sounds can wear away the enamel on your teeth, the album is finished. Not a song goes beyond the 3.5 minute mark, and only nine songs create this work of revisionist art. Sure, you may be looking for more bang for your buck, but you won’t be displeased by this album; it doesn’t give you that chance.
Musically, just imagine listening to the first Concretes record on vinyl, only you decide that you want to speed up the RPMs so that it sounds like the Chipmunks, but instead it sounds precisely like Liechtenstein. Bass lines bubble throughout the album, shaking the speakers. California guitar chords work together, jangling along the basic skeletal remains of each song. Stir in some multiple part female harmonies and you have every bit of music you will hear on this album. Each song contains one, if not all, of these elements, with the only song that differs being the closer ‘The End,” only for its odd usage of acoustic guitar. It still kind of jangles.
Listening to this album, you’ll find that there is nothing particular that really jumps out at you. This isn’t dismissing the band, for the tunes are all quite enjoyable, as you should have gathered, it merely portrays the band in an honest light, just as the band has portrayed themselves. Their sincerity in creating these tunes surely comes across upon the first listen, which is precisely why you find yourself falling in love with this album, even as you question its merit. Just give it a chance; thanks to its brevity you have the time!
[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/01-all-at-once.mp3]Download: Liechtenstein – All At Once [MP3]
As an Austin Town Hall adventure, this was our first team outing to the new venue in town, The Independent. They’ve been working with C3, and fortunately for all of us, they’ve lined up some really great shows. We were stoked to see Little Joy, though a bit saddened that Fab would not be in attendance. Follow the jump to continue reading.
Sex crazed pop musician Peaches is making a stop at Emo’s in Austin on Thursday night. Tour support Drums of Death should combine nicely with the headliners to make this a night of crazy drunken dancing and singing. Tickets are still available to purchase, but I wouldn’t plan on buying one at the door. Music starts at 10pm. Don’t miss this one!
Download: Peaches – Talk To Me [MP3]
We love the project over at Daytrotter, especially when they do work with local Austin bands. Corto Maltese is one of the younger bands around town who are making a name for themselves. Their Daytrotter session is full of four unreleased songs recorded during SXSW. Unfortunately, the band have no current shows lined up, but at least we have these new songs.
Download: Corto Maltese – Providence (Daytrotter Session) [MP3]
It’s always been really hard to classify the Fiery Furnaces; just as you have them all figured out they go and record an album with their grandmother. Still, the prolific duo is always pushing themselves, and in doing so, they tend to create a lot of really interesting tunes. This new tune represents the more piano driven side, though somewhat reminiscent of a 70s television theme song. This song, as well as others, will appear on the band’s new album I’m Going Away, which comes out July 21st via Thrill Jockey.
Download: The Fiery Furnaces – The End is Near [MP3]
Sometimes we dig dance music, especially when it involves old DC stalwarts like Ian Svenonius of Nation of Ulysses fame, and now of Chain and the Gang. He’s been working with Sebastian Thomson of Trans Am, and they’ve come up with this floor banger, under Thomson’s Publicist moniker, destined to move your hips at the local party. I mean, take a look at this picture and envision yourself dancing away. Let’s hope there is more to come from these guys.
Download: Publicist – Momma [MP3]
Rating: 
Singer Malcolm Middleton is better known as one half of Scottish band Arab Strap, but as that band has closed its final chapter, he is eager to carry on with his musical career. He’s always been working on the side creating his own tunes, but Waxing Gibbous comes at listeners with a bit more promise and consistency than his previous efforts.
You will find echoes of his past musical musings this time around, as they will surely never fade into the background of his life. The splendid single “Carry Me” is a soft-spoken number; some might even call it downtrodden. Middleton’s voice seems to ask for the support of his listener to support him by putting him upon their backs; he breaks his request to give the spoken-word explanation of his desire mid-song. This approach remains one of the marked remnants of his time spent in Arab Strap. Regardless, this song belongs on every mix tape you put together for your friends. Also, you find usage of the electronic touch; this is yet another piece of his past.
Similarly, “Zero” begins with spoken-word before the percussive element kickstarts the rest of the song. Once that becomes visible, the song takes off in a completely different direction, though his vocals still never seem to be far away from the spoken rather than sung forte. But, before the song comes to a close, he slows it down to end the song with a gentle acoustic strumming carefully placed atop steady organ work.
Don’t think that he’s suddenly grown into a happier being, with many of these songs lamenting various facets of his life. In “Ballad of Fuck All” he complains of the complacency in which his life seems to have slipped; his dreams of stardom and travels now disappearing in the rearview of his life. And, quite frankly, its this element that seems to relate his lyrics to those of the listener; he has mundane problems we can all associate with our own lives. This sort of connection has always been his specialty, but here he also asks, as he does frequently in the album, for someone to aid in his survival.
Unfortunately, some of the songs on the album drag on for longer than they should, with Middleton afraid to pull back on the reins entirely. When he holds the songs in he succeeds beyond a doubt, but as other songs meander past the five minute mark it becomes a bit of a labor to listen to the entirety of each song, let alone an album full of such songs. But, for those with patience you will find that Malcolm Middleton has crafted yet another wonderful piece of bedroom folk tunes we can all appreciate.
[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/10-made-up-your-mind.mp3]Download: Malcolm Middleton – Made Up Your Mind [MP3]
As the week full of shows drew to a close, I had one more highlight that awaited me; The Constantines. Admittedly, I was more interested in seeing openers I Was A King than the headliners, but this was mostly due to my recent love of the Norwegian band’s self-titled album, rather than animosity towards The Cons.
