SXSW Awards – 2017

How is it possible we’re already through SXSW hangover week? It seems like only yesterday the ATH crew was hanging at Hotel Vegas, with Lone Star in hand, kicking off the week a couple of Sundays ago with the awesome lineup put together by Nathan and our boy Mr. Laird. As always, we move on, reflect on the fun behind us, and plan for the next great lineup or festival. Such is the beauty of living in the live music capital of the world. To look back on the festival, Nathan, Brian, and myself came up with an arbitrary list of awards with each of us picking our choice for the category.

Hit the jump for our awards, final thoughts and a few related pics from a fun, exciting, and draining week.

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SxSW 2017: ATH vs SOTO Party Pics

Who is ready to relive the greatest day of music ever assembled by John Laird and Nathan Lankford? Ever.

The jams were copious as were the tender moments. The showcase highlighted the talent in Austin with bands watching bands that shuffled up to be other bands. We had international celebrities in attendance, as well as every familiar face possible. I took photos, some with an Instax. We ate sausage wraps and drank beaverages. It was perfect air for a whisky.

Click through and be impressed.

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Show Pics: The Ocean Party @ Cheer Up (2/28)

Our friends The Ocean Party made it to the US again to do a spell of touring. Their reason for coming to Austin was to visit sports bars, wear thongs while riding bicycles and crush some chicken-fried steak. Since that was all easily accomplished in a single 80’s montage, a show was in order. Given the affection we have for the Aussie’s, it would be natural to want to see them at a friendly venue with a friend-filled lineup. Cheer Up played host and joining the bill was Daphne, Summer Salt and Shivery Shakes.

I have a great big gallery of photos to share after the break along with a few comments.

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Show Review: The Radio Dept @ Mohawk

I’m sure if you’ve ever read our site, you know how much I was looking forward to the Radio Dept blowing into Austin on a crisp evening. My anticipation was pretty high, and for the most part, the band was successful in their delivery to a grateful crowd.

Photoguy Comment: During their set, fans would randomly raise their hands in an effort to catch the music. I love that feeling. It happened a lot. It also rained just after their set was done. That was cool.

Thoughts and B.Gray photos follow.
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Show Pics: Tres Oui Release Party

Another week, another record released by Austin Town Hall Records.

The most recent excuse to get together with friends is the EP from Tres Oui. Singles Going Nowhere is five tracks perfectly crafted pop chock full of ringing guitar and driving backlines. It is a compact example of the concise EP as opposed to five goods songs with filler content. Oh, sure, they have new songs already, so be ready for that when you see them in your neighborhood. Did I mention this was a tour kickoff, too?

Hit the road, nerds.

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Show Pics: Pollen RX Release Party

Hi. Photo tech, here.

Sunbelt Emptiness is a triumph. How is that for a quotable?

Having torn up a couple of pizzas at King Bee (you must go, Billy and Collette rule), +1 and I made our way to see all the friends over at Cheer Up for the Pollen RX release party. High on my list was checking out The Infinites plus a little quality time with Kay Odyssey. I hit the wall a little after Pollen RX’s nearly perfect set; we could have used a little more vocal in the mix from Maud. #Gremlins I should have stuck around for Deep Time and Popper Burns from field reports.

Click through, pictures and stuff to follow.

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Day For Night Recap

day-for-night-sun-324We heard such great things about the inaugural Day for Night Fest that B. Gray and I just had to attend this year…that and Aphex Twin was playing. It was definitely a special experience, with far more highs than lows, thus rendering this year’s festival a success in our eyes.

You can follow below for our highlights. And stay tuned for more photos from B.

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ATX 2016: The Christmas Gift Guide

austinchristmasAs year-end lists get more and more arbitrary, I decided I didn’t really want to play that game with our local Austin scene. Instead, I wanted to celebrate the excellent year Austin had, musically speaking, and encourage you to go grab copies of the things that suit your fancy. As it gets harder and harder for our musicians and labels to survive, lip service, sadly, just doesn’t cut it. So why not pick up something for all those you love…or just wish had better tastes!

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Top 50 Albums of 2016

top50You’ve all been waiting, anxiously. Waiting for our arbitrary list of the opinion of four folks who run this site, and what we think were the best albums of 2016. It’s really really important. We’re going to make our site great again with this list. We’re going to win, bigly. But really, it’s just a list of the stuff we loved the most that we covered throughout this year on our site. The comment section is open, so feel free to tell us where we’ve gone wrong or what we’ve got right or anything else fitting. Read more

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