Fun Fun Fun Fest is Rock ‘n’ Roll Down to the Details
We’ve said before that Fun Fun Fun Fest is the kind of festival that maintains their cred, year after year. Sure, there are sponsors, but they won’t be completely unrelated companies whose logos…
Show Preview: CocoRosie at The Belmont Saturday, Nov. 2nd
CocoRosie’s most recent opus, Tales of a GrassWidow, was cinematic, narrative, and imaginative. Their live shows hold the same allure, featuring costumes, extravagant staging, and of course, CocoRosie’s haunting and peculiar songs. The band…
The Breeders to Play Only Texas Show at Mohawk on New Year’s Eve
The Mohawk dropped a splash of announcement today regarding their plans for New Year’s Eve. Okay, so the pun is terrible, but the news was great! The reunited Breeders will play the final…
Weekly Rundown: The Blow, Those Darlins, Grape St., Cut Copy, Arcade Fire, and Moonface
This week’s Weekly Rundown spans more than we could cover. Feel free to take some of the links to stories we almost wrote about in this edition. And good luck deciding between the three…
Show Preview: The Blow with Love Inks Plus Those Darlins at Red 7, Saturday Nov. 2nd
Let me tell you how much we like The Blow. I once flew The Blow from Seattle to Austin to perform for a New Year’s Eve party sponsored by my blog in 2007….
Fun Fun Fun Fest Spotlight: Interview with Audacity
Fun Fun Fun Fest’s Nites programming has become increasingly substantial over the years and this year will feature artists as notable as Twin Shadow as well as up and coming bands such as…
Show Preview: Grape St., John Wesley Coleman, Booher, and Twinsmith at Hotel Vegas
If you’re looking for the best local music on Halloween, we already told you about Tele Novella’s show at The Owl tomorrow night. But if you’re in search of a weekend endeavor, we…
Show Preview: Cumulus Plays with Lonely Forest Tonight at Holy Mountain
I can’t put into words all of the personal reasons I have to be excited about this show. Cumulus is from Seattle and recorded their new album in The Unknown–the same venue that…
Moonface Shares New Video for “Barbarian”
Moonface released their new album “Julia with Blue Jeans On” today on Jagjaguwar. The former Wolf Parade member finds himself constructing an album of deeply moving tracks as exhibited in the new video…
Nine Inch Nails to Perform for ACL Taping
Austin City Limits continues to display their commitment to a wide variety of artists and musical styles as well as up and coming performers. However, the announcement that Nine Inch Nails will perform…
Cut Copy Streams Entire New Album, Plays Fun Fun Fun Fest Nov 9th
Cut Copy is giving us plenty to get psyched about in advance of their upcoming performance at Fun Fun Fun Fest on the Orange Stage on Friday November 9th. Recently they released a…
Show Preview: Tele Novella Follows New Video with Special Halloween Show at The Owl
If you, like us, were a fan of Agent Ribbons, then you’re undoubtedly already a fan of Natalie Ribbons’ new pop outfit Tele Novella that features members of Voxtrot, Jason Chronis and Matt…
Show Preview: Ashley Eriksson at The Owl Thursday Oct 30th
This is the best show you don’t know about in a good while. The Owl is formerly Baby Blue Studios, and while the venue may be slightly off the beaten path, it has…
Fun Fun Fun Fest Spotlight: Q and A with Mark Perro of The Men
The lineup for Fun Fun Fun Fest this year is impeccable. It’s hard to even know which band to be most excited about, but for us, The Men certainly rise to the top…
Fun Fun Fun Fest Spotlight: Interview with The Tontons
We really adore The Tontons. The Houston quartet creates vocally centered indie pop that feels a bit like The Cardigans with more edge and a lot more soul. At the forefront of the…
Album Review: Arcade Fire – Reflektor (Pop Press Pick)
Arcade Fire’s fourth full-length album Reflektor is a marvelous achievement. Working for the first time with former LCD Soundsystem front man James Murphy, the band has created a complex album, stylistically diverse yet…
Dirty Projectors Share Video for “Impregnable Question”
The Dirty Projectors’ latest album Swing Lo Magellan is nothing short of a masterpiece, and Dave Longstreth and co. have provided a rich context of visual components to support the album–short films, a…
Connan Mockasin Shares New Track “Do I Make You Feel Shy?”
From the sexy, synthy sounds of Memory Tapes to Gayngs, and all the bands in between, indiedom has seen a sharp rise in the influence of the 80s in recent years. On “Do…
The Starfolk Channel 90s Indie Rock in New Video for “Into the Clouds”
Minneapolis indie rock outfit The Starfolk released their self-titled album last month and have recently dropped a video for album track “Into the Clouds.” Moving between isolated minor chords strumming patters and soaring…
Video: Soft Metals – “On A Cloud”
Just in time for All Hallow’s Eve, there’s some witchy magic brewing in Soft Metals’ new video for “On A Cloud,” culled from the band’s Capture Tracks released album Lenses, which dropped this summer….
Show Preview: Father John Misty at Emo’s, Tuesday, October 29th
Father John Misty, aka Joshua Tillman, formerly of Fleet Foxes fame, created one of the best albums of 2012. Blending the styles of great songwriters such as Leonard Cohen, John Lennon, and Harry…
Stream Arcade Fire’s Reflektor In Its Entirety Here
Do we need to say more? We’re working out the full album review and will certainly comment on it shortly. But below you can stream the masterpiece that is Arcade Fire’s latest album, Reflektor.
Beach Fossils Share New Video, Play Fun Fun Fun Fest
Beach Fossils’ reverb-laden sound and surfy guitar lines certainly feels contemporary, akin to many other like-minded indie rock bands, but there’s a certain element that reminds me of Joy Division, and that’s a…
Hopitality Share Album Trailer for Sophomore LP
We completely adored Hospitality’s perfectly crafted indie-pop on their eponymous debut, which is why we’re thrilled to get a preview of material that will be featured on their sophomore effort Trouble, out January 28th…
New Track: Kurt Vile – “Feel My Pain”
Following the release of his outstanding album Wakin’ On A Pretty Daze, Kurt Vile will release an EP, It’s A Big World Out There (And I Am Scared) out November 19th on Matador, with…
Video: Moon Honey – “Self-Portrait Beneath Woman’s Mask”
We all know that Louisiana excels in creating exquisite cuisine, but the same vitality of life and melding of cultural influences that affects their food seeps into every aspect of culture. Baton Rouge’s…
Dog Bite Shares New Video for “Cold Weather” from LA EP
We’ve been fans of Dog Bite since the beginning, and even invited them to play our SXSW day party earlier this year. Following the release of their LA EP, the group has released a…
Video: Besnard Lakes – “Color Yr Lights In” (NSFW)
Okay, this video is completely creepy and terrifying. Shot in slow motion and directed by Montreal aritsts the Sanchez Brothers, the video depicts a man struggling with mental illness as he roams through…
Arcade Fire Shares New Song “Afterlife”
Arcade Fire is one of the best bands making music today. Their fierce pursuit of vital and original art has not been swayed by increasing mainstream success. As much as independent music fans…
Weekly Rundown: Poliça, Crystal Stilts, The Couch, Kurt Vile, Besnard Lakes
We’re back with our second edition of Weekly Rundown. It always takes a few rounds to figure out if you like a new idea or not. We liked the final product last week,…
Fun Fun Fun Fest Ticket Giveaway Contest Ends Today
Here are a few easy steps that will make your life better: 1) Make sure you’ve entered out contest to win tickets to Fun Fun Fun Fest right here, because the contest ends…
Lake Shares “Do You Recall?” Video, Plays The Owl October 30th
Lake’s video for “Do You Recall?” opens up with bright colors and slowly rotating camera shots. The video’s imagery feels like 70s documentary footage, and the music serves as an apt soundtrack. We…
Crystal Antlers at the Mohawk with The Zoltars and Hundred Visions Live Review
Saturday night’s perfect, crisp fall weather was just an added bonus for an evening out seeing live music at the Mohawk, where three solid acts performed on the indoor stage. I arrived just…
ACL Weekend Two Day Two Highlights w/ Grimes and Autre Ne Veut
Although the 60% threat of rain lingered throughout Friday, Saturday morning dawned clear and bright and the forecast of the day was mostly clear until late evening. Although I’d planned to take it…
Crystal Antlers Play Mohawk Saturday 10/19 w/ The Zoltars & Hundred Visions
We told you in our Weekly Rundown to make plans for this, so did you? Well, if not, there’s still time to rectify your mistake and buy tickets to Crystal Antlers at Mohawk…
Audacity Share Songs Ahead of Album, Play Fun Fun Fun Fest
Maybe it’s because we can never escape that part of us that (somewhere hidden deep inside) loved high school. Or maybe it’s just because our youth was fraught with as much repressed joy…
Radiation City to Release New Album Live From the Banana Stand
Portland, Oregon based, genre-melding quintet Radiation City has announced that they will release a live album through the folks at Banana Stand. The record was recorded by Chris Anderson, Adam Harney, and Tim…
New Track: Sumie Nagano – “Show Talked Windows”
Shedding the first part of her given name Sandra Sumie Nagano, the Swedish songwriter, whose sister Yukimi fronts the electro pop band Little Dragon, will release her eponymous debut album via Bella Union…
Album Review: Cass McCombs – Big Wheel and Others
Cass McCombs has created music that ranges from odd, reverb laden rock, PREfection’s “Subtraction” and “Equinox,” to somber folk, A’s “Gee It’s Good To Be Back Home,” to ethereal pop, Wit’s End’s “County Line.” Most recently,…
Hear Music from Damien Jurado’s Brothers and Sisters of the Eternal Son
Damien Jurado’s new album Brothers and Sisters of the Eternal Son won’t drop until next year, January 21st to be specific, on Secretly Canadian. But there’s plenty to be actively anticipating about the album….
Fun Fun Fun Fest Announces Nites Schedule
Did you miss an artist you wanted to see at ACL and then consider paying even more money to see them at a night show? Fun Fun Fun Fest always has their patrons’…
SXSW Announces Sampling of 2014 Musical Artists
SXSW is the greatest music festival on the planet. And I don’t care what anybody says. While it presents some overcrowding in small venues, it also affords the ability to see artists in…
Album Review: Nadine Shah – Love Your Dum and Mad
There is a terror and a tenderness to the wildly forlorn, hauntingly seductive sound to London-based artist Nadine Shah’s songs, which are given full berth in her debut album Love Your Dum and…
Video: Pink Frost – “The Difference”
Chicago based dream rock band Pink Frost just released their debut album and this week have shared the first video from that collection of songs. The video for “The Difference” features a montage…
Win Tickets to Fun Fun Fun Fest with M.I.A., MGMT, Television, and Descendents
To be honest, the team over at Buzzfeed beat us to the punch with this incredible post they put up earlier this month highlighting the best parts of Fun Fun Fun Fest. So,…
Weekly Rundown: Mirror Travel, Crystal Antlers, Tycho, Matthew Squires
In an effort to make your consumption of what’s happening in popular music and in Austin, TX easier, we’re rolling out a new post called “Weekly Rundown” that will run near the beginning…
Video: Matthew Squires and the Learning Disorders – “Song for a Future Phoenix”
As with any music blog, we receive a tremendous amount of unsolicited emails and submissions. However, perhaps none have been so adorably strange or earnest as those we sometimes receive from Matthew Squires….
New Track: Tycho – “Awake”
Electronic artist Tycho has released a pulsing new track that balances upbeat snares and dreamy synths. Perfect for that morning drive, the song is fittingly called “Awake,” and is the first single to…
ACL 2013 Highlights Day One
Spread out over two weekends for its 2013 installment, ACL arrived more massive and imposing than ever before. Since you’ve likely already seen coverage and heard wide ranging opinions about the festival and…
Local Natives ACL Taping Review
I was a fan of Local Natives second album Hummingbird, which dropped earlier this year. The album was careful, deliberate, and swelled to anthemic heights repeatedly throughout its eleven tracks; it also garnered…
Top 11 Picks for ACL Weekend Two
So, you bought tickets for the second weekend of ACL in its inaugural year. You suffered through the pictures and excitement of half your friends going to the first weekend. But look on…
Neko Case ACL Taping Review
Neko Case embodies not only everything that ACL has come to stand for but also the direction in which the show has been trending in recent years. Case’s particular brand of pristine Americana,…
Fuzz at Red 7 Live Review
Legend has it that a vehicle encounter with a wild hog delayed Fuzz’s arrival in Austin at Red 7 on Friday night. Though the packed crowd grew restless when the band still hadn’t…
Fun Fun Fun Fest Offers to Buy Your Next Record
As if the deal weren’t sweet enough already, Fun Fun Fun Fest has offered to buy your next album. It seem almost unfathomable to me. These are the same people that will bring…
Show Preview: Ty Segall’s Fuzz at Red 7 on Friday, October 4th
In the last couple of years, few have been as prolific as celebrated garage rocker Ty Segall. We’ve seen a pair of albums and almost half a dozen shows here in Austin. As…
