As all eyes lay fixed on ACL Festival, only a mere 2 weeks away, lest not we forget the happening of what I hope to be an annual indie-rock extravaganza, The Wall of Sound Festival taking place in Fort Worth. The festival, taking place one week after ACL and showcasing 40 bands on 3 stages in one day, will be held at the beautiful, historic Lagrave Field, home to Fort Worth’s Cats. They are a baseball team, not a house pet. Tickets are on sale now @ Spune.com, and are going for a mere $30 in advance. Once again, let the flier provide more details, and feel free to mouse over to it to purchase your tickets.

Stay tuned for a chance to win a pair of tickets to the festival. Sometime next week you’ll have your opportunity.

Mp3>>Midlake ‘We Gathered In Spring’
Mp3>>Pinback ‘From Nothing to Nowhere’
Mp3>>Ghostland Observatory ‘Move With Your Lover’

Apparently I’m not Hot enough or Freaky enough to be a part of the blogger group that curates these events, but I’m just as happy to support their efforts in bringing us the cool shows. I’ve already mentioned the coming of Grizzly Bear to town for this, not knowing the full extent of the event, and now it all comes together for you to enjoy. Let the flier fill you in on the details.

As noted on the flier, you can r.s.v.p. to get on the list for the free shows beginning next Tuesday. Local acts Sparrow House, Yellow Fever, Brazos, and Crazy Sexy Rainbow (White Denim) will be making performance appearances as well.

Mp3>>Rosebuds ‘Outnumbered’

photo : valerie@fremin.net

The Will Sheff led, Austin based Okkervil River has just recently released The Stage Names, the follow-up to 2005’s Black Sheep Boy, and the first video from this recording has just hit the digital highway. “Our Life is Not a Movie or Maybe” was directed by Margaret Brown who you might be familiar with via her direction of the Townes Van Zant documentary Be Here to Love Me. Austinites recently had the opportunity to see the band performing tracks from the new release at Waterloo records during an in-store performance, and if you missed out, the next opportunity to see the guys local won’t be until November’s Fun Fun Fun Fest. Enjoy the video, check out some photos from the in-store, and buy the record.

Mp3>>Unless It’s Kicks

Mp3>>A Hand To Take Hold Of The Scene

Roll Video Please

Okkervil River Road Read more

For those of you not aware, our local ACL Festival is holding a little competition for bands that are looking to win a spot on stage at this years festival. Lollapalooza held a very similar competition and I caught the performance of the band that won, and to be quite honest with you, there were many more bands in that contest that deserved the opportunity to be on the big stage. Let’s not make the same mistake here in Austin. I’m sure that all of the bands in the running right now deserve their chance, but some more than others for sure. It would be great to see a great up and coming band from Austin get the chance to play in the big leagues, so go out and vote, vote, vote!! I don’t want to take any particular sides in this competition and since I have already thrown out one suggestion, I’ll put another one out there for you to consider.

How about the Black & White Years? I caught their performance at Mohawk a few weeks back, and the guys have the power to move your booty. Their performance is tight, and the music is infectious.

You know what to do

Austinites take note: Local dark angels of droan and descent, The Black Angels are hitting the road with Queens Of The Stone Age and they’ll be kicking it off this Friday 8.31 @ Emo’s. The band recently wrapped up a European tour with Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, and now with very little time to rest their weary heads, they are back out for a smattering of dates with Queens. Speaking of Queens Of The Stone Age, the band will be gracing one of the stages at the upcoming ACL Fest, during the same time spot as locals Spoon. This is one of those scheduling conflicts that many of us will have to deal with sometime before 6:30 on Friday the 14th.

Mp3>>Winter ‘68

Black Angels Tour:

08-31 Austin, TX – Emo’s
09-26 Tucson, AZ – Plush
09-27 Phoenix, AZ – Rhythm Room
09-29 Los Angeles, CA – Barnsdall Art Space (SwerveFest)
10-02 Solana Beach, CA – Belly Up Tavern
10-06 Mountain View, CA – Download Festival
10-12 Boston, MA – Orpheum Theatre *
10-13 New York, NY – Madison Square Garden *
10-15 Toronto, Ontario – Hummingbird Centre *
10-16 Montreal, Quebec – Metropolis *
10-17 Clifton Park, NY – Northern Lights *
10-20 Columbus, OH – LC Pavilion *
10-22 Grand Rapids, MI – Orbit Room *
10-23 Detroit, MI – Fillmore *
10-24 Milwaukee, WI – The Rave *
10-25 Chicago, IL – Riviera Theater *

* with Queens of the Stone Age

I anticipate that the upcoming release from Band of Horses will quickly be finding its way into the top 5 of favorites from this year. Cease to Begin is scheduled to become legal on Oct 9th and you can pre-order your copy right now. Mouse your way over to the album cover if you would care to do so, and check out their myspace page for a download of Is There A Ghost.

Mp3>>Is There A Ghost

A Few Live Dates Scheduled:

• Sunday, September 2, 2007
  Charter Show Pavillion, Chicago IL
• Saturday, September 8, 2007
  Wiltern, Los Angeles CA
• Sunday, September 9, 2007
  Mezzanine (BFD), San Francisco CA
• Tuesday, September 11, 2007
  Neumos, Seattle WA
• Wednesday, September 12, 2007
  Crystal Ballroom, Portland OR

Okay, I mentioned my issue with female singers not too long ago, and if anyone has any influence on my self-recognition of my affliction, it has been Feist. I put off The Reminder for too long, and have been kicking myself with glee since I stepped up and indulged. The Reminder is great, and if you haven’t discovered the greatness, please allow yourself the pleasure.

Feist played Letterman on Monday night with an indie all-star cast providing back-up vocals and handclaps, including members of The National, Broken Social Scene, Grizzly Bear, and a few others. Why she does this to me when she knows that she isn’t going to be within any range of my ability to witness this beauty on stage anytime soon, is of mystery to me.

Mp3>>My Moon My Man

The Letterman Performance:

The Original Video for 1234 which is fun stuff:

Fellow blog site Austin Sound is putting on a little party to celebrate their 1 year anniversary, and if you are still thinking about what you might want to be doing this Saturday 9.1.07, the decision has just been made. Where else are you going to find a day long party full of great local music from 13 bands for $5, including free food and free beer? The party starts at 3 p.m. and chances are the freebies will be disappearing fairly rapidly, so your best bet is to arrive early.

You can expect to hear some tune spinning between sets from other Austin bloggers such as Covert Curiosity, Party Ends, Side One: Track One, Cubik Musik, and the Austinist. I guess my invitation to spin got lost in the mail. Maybe next year.

Lineup please:

Outside Stage:
11:00pm-12:00am: Golden Bear
10:00-11:00pm: Peel
8:45-9:30pm: Brazos
7:30-8:15pm: Black Before Red
6:15-7:00pm: The Black
5:00-5:45pm: Sunset
4:00-4:45pm: Charles Potts Magic Windmill Band

Inside Stage:
12:00-1:00am: Leatherbag
9:30-10:15pm: Transmography
8:15-9:00pm: Benko
7:00-7:45pm: Virgin of the Birds
5:45-6:30pm: The Narrow Escapes
4:30-5:15pm: Tullie

photo: rebecca miller

Local indie darlings, Voxtrot, have landed themselves on stage with The Artic Monkeys for a smattering of live dates. The opportunity unfortunately puts them in the position of postponing some European and West Coast dates, which the band has promised to reschedule by the end of the year. Voxtrot has been on the road touring in support of their self-titled full length and it looks like fans in their hometown of Austin will be waiting awhile for the next opportunity to catch some live action from the boys. Check their myspace page for updates on tour information, including their rescheduled dates.

If you are a fan of the Voxtrot you might want to invest some time in Belaire, where you’ll find Matt and Jason whipping up some sugary sweet indie pop carnival fare with Cari and Christa Palazzolo. Exploding, Impacting was just recently released and is definitely worth a listen.

Mp3>>Brother In Conflict

Voxtrot trotting Read more

Rumors regarding a reunion and recording have been circulating about My Bloody Valentine for years, and as we all hope this most recent rumor to be heavy on the side of truth, we patiently wait for some confirmation. The rumor is that My Bloody Valentine will be reuniting for an appearance at the 2008 Coachella Festival. Representatives for both the band and Coachella deny that there are any confirmed dates for the band. My Bloody Valentine’s unique style of rock was responsible for the term shoegaze and their 1991 release Loveless won over legions of fans, many of whom claim the record to be a standout recording for that time period.

We’ll keep watching this one.

Mp3>>Only Shallow

While we are on the subject of bands and DVD’s, we have another one to look forward to, and you gotta know that I love me some music DVD action. This news was the first thing that I encountered this morning on my computer and was a great introduction to the day. The band, hailing from Iceland, what one can only believe to be a quite amazingly beautiful place, has a DVD waiting in the wings to be released. Sigur Ros makes some pretty cool atmospheric music that seems a suitable backdrop for the mysteriously beautiful world that they inhabit. Heima is the title and you can expect a compilation CD which will include some new material. Don’t have a date, but sometime in November?

Mp3>>Staralfur

More video please…..

I like R.E.M., and although I may not pay much attention to what they produce these days, some of their earlier material is still outstanding, and still finds its way into my player every now and then. When it does, it usually sticks around for awhile. They have become mega rock stars and it seems a little late for them to put out their own DVD, if you take into consideration the current climate of the rock band DVD environment in which almost every working band has a DVD of some sort out early in their career. Bundling up their live DVD with a live CD and puting them out together on 10.16.07 is their plan.

Mp3>>Talk About The Passion

Mp3>>Fall On Me

The video please….

I caught The Wrens most recent show here in Austin not too long ago, and posted my, as usual, casual journalistic opinion on what was a great show, and what was believed by me to be the last show that they were going to play together as a band. How I came to this conclusion is a bit…unclear at this point. I know that singer/bassist Kevin Whelan mentioned several things that led me to believe this, one being that they had decided to end it all here in Austin because they loved the city so much, and he went on about how much they had been touring and the fact that they were all getting a little older and had other responsibilities outside of the band and touring that were making it harder, amongst other things that contributed to my conclusion that the band was calling it quits. On top of all of that, the performance was stellar, much like one a band might put on when doing so for the last time. With that being said, here is an e-mail that I received recently from band member Charles Bissell.

Hey Michael,

This is the sad sign of how far behind on email I am but just wanted to say thanks for the really nice write-up on Sonic Itch for our show there. We had a truly momentous time (as we always have the last few
years) there in Austin.

Just to clarify though, I think maybe our website thingie or our glorious bassist/Ciceroan orator was less than clear – that wasn’t our last show and we’re not calling it quits just yet. For better or worse, it was just the last show of what we’ve stretched out to be a four-year weekends-only tour for the meadowlands record and the last show for a few months as we finish setting up the studio and start on the next recording.

Sorry for the confusion. It was strangely like reading ones’ own obituary or attending ones own funeral (which I’ll probably be just as late for).

When we finish some new muzak, i’ll be sure to get you a copy on us – the least we can do…

thanks again,
charles

Sorry guys. Does it help if I say that I’m really, really, really glad that you aren’t breaking up? Probably not, but thanks to the guys for being understanding, and for having a sense of humor about the misunderstanding.

And if any one of you reading this doesn’t know who The Wrens are, or haven’t seen these guys live, then shame on you!! You are missing one of the best live bands that are still around, and you’ll soon have a documentary for proof.

Mp3>>Happy

This one makes the What the F***! category for sure.

photo : valerie@fremin.net

The buzz surrounding the young group from Port Angeles, WA is getting louder, and when they put the van in park here in Austin during their current tour supporting the recently released Hair, I decided it might be a good time to see what these guys were all about. I really didn’t know what to expect from the band as I had only listened to a few songs on their myspace page, but that short visit had me thinking about a time long ago in rock-n-roll when most of you weren’t even born yet, but holds some fond musical memories for myself. You don’t often come across 18 year-old guys fresh out of high school who seem to have enough fondness for the rock music and culture from the 70’s to emulate it in their music and their style. That is until you see The Lonely H.

photo : valerie@fremin.net

I caught the guys performance at End of an Ear records, a stripped down, acoustic performance that included a cover by the legendary The Band, but the plugged-in live performance at Emo’s was obviously their comfort zone and the stage that they prefer to occupy. Their sound draws deep from a lot of heavies from the hard rock 70’s era, Queen, Led Zepplin, and Thin Lizzy, just to name a few.Their performance style is straight out of the arena rock scene that those bands ruled, with guitar solos, flared jeans, mustaches and of course, the hair. These guys aren’t a rip off band by any means, they manage to draw from these influences and spin them into their own personal modern version of this far away time, while quietly reminding some of us how much we owe to the legends that helped paved the way for the burgeoning rock scene that we enjoy today. Some of you aren’t old enough to remember some of these bands, and probably won’t ever take the time to discover the greatness of Led Zepplin’s III or Thin Lizzy’s Jailbreak, but these guys obviously have and they understand.

Mp3>>The Meal

photo : valerie@fremin.net

photo : valerie@fremin.net

photo : valerie@fremin.net

The Hair Tour: Read more

91.7 KVRX, the student radio station for The University of Texas is throwing a party this Saturday 8.25 to celebrate the launch of their new website at the mighty Mohawk. To help celebrate this momentous event, KVRX is having some of the best in the local music scene perform for you at the party. Lomita, Maneja Beto, Yellow Fever, Peter and The Wolf , and a few others are on board for entertainment. Doors are @ 9 and the first 50 people will receive a pass to Schlitterbahn (I spelled it correctly the first time without even cheating). You can visit the new website, which will be launched the day of the party, at KVRX.org.

Set times:

Foot Patrol 10:00

The Mercers 10:30

Fancy Feast 11:00

Lomita 11:30

Yellow Fever 12:00

Maneja Beto 12:30

Peter and The Wolf 1:00