We covered a shit load of great music last week, and as is likely to happen, we’re a bit all over the place, sonically. There’s definitely a fair share of punk-ish stuff like The Golden Toad and Second Act, but some classic pop acts of days of old have returned. I mean, can we give a shout out for Comet Gain and Brideshead both announcing brand new albums? I premiered a brand new track from Gentle Leader XIV, and RayRay continued with our undying love of new Night Beats. Plus, you can’t go wrong with new Austin stuff from French Film (not streaming) and Mobley, so bopping there as well. Just find a favorite, as you’re bound to find something joyful.
Over the last few years we’ve heard some powerful voices come out of Austin, but perhaps nothing feels so tinged with soul as the voice of Mobley. He’s a shape-shifting artist, pushing his work between pop, rock and soul…and as the case is below, even a little funk twist to mix it up. I mean, you can’t escape that groove that opens this number up, circling back throughout the track, like the moment after the 1 minute mark where the smoothed pop inflection shifts into a groovy little shake and bake. You’ll also find moments throughout when Mobley just lets his voice fly right into outer space, bringing it back only to touchdown with a bit of that funky strut. Keep an eye out for We Do Not Fear Ruins, which hits on April 23rd.
Seeing as the City of Austin is determined to ignore the struggling creativity of our city, we’re trying to do just the wee little bit we can for the five of you that read this site. So, I wanted to kind of jump in and highlight some of last week’s great Austin releases. This is all in addition to the great Mobley track we wrote about earlier in that week!
First, we’d be remiss if we didn’t encourage you to listen to Pelvis Wrestley, current holders of the best band name in Austin. Oh, and did we mentioned our label put out cassette of their debut Vortexas Vorever LP on Friday? We did very little but ride the coattails of their genius, which you can stream below!
Second, one of the acts we’ve championed for years, Jana Horn, released her new solo LP, Optimism. Pretty sure this might be one of the best releases in Austin this year, and hopefully the world finally starts to take notice of Jana’s incredible gifts.
Then there was a new single from Dylan Pacheco, which I’ve been super into over the weekend. It reminds me a tad of Elvis Depressedly in that sort of bedroom pop sense, but I’ll admit I feel like Pacheco might have better production touches on this number. His debut EP, Youthful Exuberance, will hit on October 30th.
Future Museums also had a single of his minimal electronica that was released via Holodeck Records. It’s this carefully constructed organic piece that’s probably best experienced while watching the following video accompaniment.
I’m super impressed with Mobley‘s work this year. He gave us A Home Unfamiliar, where he helped curate 30 songwriters and artists to come together and create a visual album…which gave us some of our first Jim Eno (Spoon) solo work. But, he’s also been working on his own songs, which is where we find him with his latest, “James Crow.” The video’s narrative follows up on Part I, which came to us with this year’s single Nobody’s Favorite;” its all part of a visual storytelling project that will coincide with his forthcoming EP, Young and Dying in the Occident Supreme. Really dig the breakdown the 1:45 mark, works well in contrast to the energetic pop burst. Dig it.
Time for more photos from the Great Lawn. Thanks for coming.
The Saturday edition of photos features a new local supergroup, a not local supergroup, some singers and song-writers, local heroes and super dance pop. We also pepper in some tribute time for Tom Petty. We heard plenty of Petty covers over the weekend, but the best thing was shutting down all the stages for a moment to playback his rendition of “Freefallin'” from a headlining set a few years back as skydivers jumped out of plane above the festival and floated down with sparkler boots. It was giant sing-along, lighters up.
Bands captured – Ought, Mobley, Capyac, Traveller, Car Seat Headrest, Dreamcar, Thundercat, Angel Olsen, Cut Copy and Spoon
Earlier this year I picked MCG as one of the band’s that would rise out of Austin this year (they played our ATX Popfest), spreading the pop gospel across the lands. They’ve been so kind to allow us to share their Outside EP with you as a preview before their 7″ release this Saturday over at Empire Control Room. Not only is the EP a must have for local vinyl collectors, but the show features some incredible local talent, including new act, Lou Rebecca, who we’ve heard lots of great things about (namely Stereolab allusions)…also Major Major Major and Mobley will play. It’s a great night to celebrate another solid Austin release with a bunch of solid Austin bands. Here’s the tracks on the EP, but one is only available if you grab the vinyl version.