Nico - Austin Town Hall

Can’t Stop Spinning This Tune from A Dead Forest Index

February 3, 2016 nathan.lankford Leave a comment

Adam Sherry’s voice is one of those that immediately strikes you when it comes into play. It has the smoky quality you remember from Nico, yet when layered with backing vocals, it’s entirely enchanting. Combine that with the steady guitar work he displays on the first single from A Dead Forest Index and their debut album. There’s something in the simplicity of it, something intoxicating that has me pressing play again and again. In All That Drifts From Summit Down will be out on Sargent House at the end of April.

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Tunes

Show Preview: Jackson Browne @ Moody Theater

May 12, 2011 nathan.lankford Leave a comment

Date	Friday, May 13th
Location	Moody Theater
Doors	800p
Tickets	$125 for 2 Tickets

Of course I realize that most of us folks don’t have the kind of money to see Jackson Browne, but I absolutely love the guy. I blame my dad of course, who always had folk/country jams about the hardship of life playing around our house as a kid. It’d be easy to dismiss Browne as an oldie (but a goodie), yet his influence over American music, even modern indie rock looms large. One track alone has reverberated for years, as Nico, Mates of State and most recently, St. Vincent, have all covered his fabulous track, “These Days.” It’s just one song in a catalog full of great tracks that you’ll surely be lucky enough to enjoy if you’ve got the dollars to witness this American great. The song below is a live version of the previously alluded to tune, so you can get the jist of it all.

[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/26-These-Days.mp3]

Download: Jackson Browne – These Days [MP3]

Shows

Thao With the Get Down Stay Downs – Know Better Learn Faster

October 14, 2009 -1893llzws One comment

Rating:

Prior to listening to Thao with the Get Down Stay Down’s new album, Know Better Learn Faster (Kill Rock Stars), I knew absolutely nothing of Thao Nguyen or her band. Boy, am I glad that has been remedied! Know Better Learn Faster has got to be one of the most pleasant listening experiences I have had in some time.

Those who have met me know that I am not drawn to dance parties or music played at dance parties, but I have to tell you, Nguyen has crafted a tight and whimsical long player that is essentially a dance party on a five inch piece of plastic (or a twelve inch slab of vinyl, depending on your tastes). Starting with rowdy hand clapping and foot stomping of ‘The Clap’ you are transported to a sweaty living room filled with pulsating bodies. The thirteen tracks on this album are sweet and sexy and just plain fun.

The influences on this album tend to shift from song to song, which would normally irritate me, but somehow on Know Better Learn Faster, it works. The music goes from Minus the Bear to Andrew Bird to No Kill No Beep Beep era Q and Not U sometimes in the same song (see the title track). Nguyen’s vocals are a little harder to pinpoint. They are at time reminiscent of Nico, Rebecca Pearcy, or Carrie Brownstein of Sleater-Kinney, which are all really good things!

I have a hard time finding something bad to say about Thao and the Get Down Stay Down. Know Better Learn Faster is perfect for the changing seasons; it will continue to bring sunshine into these dreary Fall months.

Reviews