Axxa/Abraxas’ New Video for “I Almost Fell”
Here’s some legit indie shit. Today, Captured Tracks artist Axxa/Abraxas released his video for single “I Almost Fell” off his S/T debut. Like labelmate Mac DeMarco and Beach Fossils, Axxa/Abraxas’ (aka Ben Asbury)…
Sordidly Saved: Nick Cave’s ACL Taping
If you’ve read any reviews of Nick Cave’s performance at a taping for the 40th season of PBS series Austin City Limits this past weekend, you’ll know critics are describing Cave as the Devil incarnate; I…
Nicole Atkins at the Belmont: Live Review
Nicole Atkins’ voice is a study in the positive effects of harnessing great natural power. Her small frame (can’t be more than 5′ 2″) belies the volume and grace that streams directly from…
Hiss Golden Messenger’s “Lucia”
Here’s Hiss Golden Messenger’s new video for “Lucia,” a quiet solo acoustic take on a summer jam which debuted yesterday and will appear on HGM’s forthcoming fifth album, Lateness of Dancers. The album will be…
Marissa Nadler Climbs the Holy Mountain: Live Review
Marissa Nadler sailed into Austin Sunday evening at Holy Mountain atop a mystical ship of reverb and fingerpicked 12-string guitars. She was accompanied only by a single cellist, Janel Leppin, who masterfully complimented…
Sharon Van Etten’s Intimate New Video for “Our Love”
Sharon Van Etten released Are We There on Jagjaguwar Records earlier this year (read our review here), and released an accompanying video for single “Our Love” yesterday. Its gorgeously soft black-and-white treatment emphasizes the intimacy…
Polyphonic Spree at Central Presbyterian: Live Review
For Tim DeLaughter’s Polyphonic Spree, a church seemed an appropriate venue for the ensemble’s grandiose live show that was first hidden by a large white sheet in front of the stage as the group set up….
New Track: Laetitia Sadier – “Then, I Will Love You Again”
New single from former Stereolab singer Laetitia Sadier, “Then, I Will Love You Again” sits nicely with a plucky bassline groove and punchy drums, certainly holding onto its Stereolab influences. This track gives me…
The Donkeys at Mohawk: Live Review
The Donkeys rolled into Austin supporting their new album, Ride the Black Wave, perhaps having ridden it too long and not sure what day it was, to a packed audience indoors at Mohawk…
Album Review: Skygreen Leopards – Family Crimes
Shimmering, shining and alive. Breathing, enveloping and visceral. San Francisco’s Skygreen Leopards are back with their (more or less) eighth release, Family Crimes, conjuring mystic California dreamscapes and pastoral nature-folk vibes that would…
Tweedy at ACL Taping: Live Review
Last Friday and Saturday, Jeff Tweedy came to Austin for two nights, including the ACL taping for the PBS shows 40th season we witnessed, where he treated the studio audience to a marked night…
Walker Lukens Album Release Show at Stubb’s: Live Review
While Walker Lukens develops his amazing potential and obvious talents as songwriter, vocalist, guitarist, pianist and producer, we are fortunate to witness the test runs. I missed the first opening act, Hello Wheels,…
Album Review: Sharon Van Etten – Are We There (Pop Press Pick)
An ethereal haunting. A beautiful ache. Broken love and scars that smile. Life is no black and white analysis, but is made up of a complex series of contradictory feelings all competing to…
Album Review: Bobby Bare, Jr. – Undefeated
Undefeated, Bobby Bare Jr.’s fourth album with his Young Criminals’ Starvation League, anchors him ever deeper into the soil of American music. Channeling decades of influence from his own father to the hollows…
Talking Heavy with Pink Mountaintops’ Stephen McBean at Austin Psych Fest
– Stephen McBean is the central force behind pscyh rock outfits Black Mountain and Pink Mountaintops. These bands, which have released records on stalwart indie label Jagjaguwar, have become a household name among…
Album Review: Pink Mountaintops – Get Back
As we approach Austin’s 7th annual Psych Fest hosted by Austin psych-heads The Black Angels, we find a lineup up that stays true to its cosmic breadth. From electronic button-smashing to four-piece outfits…
Album Review: Withered Hand – New Gods
Looking at the expansive horizon of electronic music that dominates popular music with seemingly endless references to decades and trends that spiral into a feedback loop of self-referential bologna, artists like Withered Hand,…
