It’s what all the cool kids are doing. Drop that teaser video and get the fans salivating like Pavlov’s dogs. Neon Indian are setting to release a new LP in the fall, but have yet to name a label, title, or definite date. In the meantime, take a quick glimpse into the surroundings that Alan Palomo set for himself for recording the album, along with some sounds from the release. It’s called “Heart: Attack”

NEON INDIAN – HEART: ATTACK from gorillavsbear.net on Vimeo.

When was the last time you felt this level of swelling with anticipation for a release? It’s been awhile..and here’s why.

Helplessness Blues May 3rd.

Transmission Entertainment has teamed up with the new (ish) ACL Live Moody Theater once again, to present a pretty choice show for locals and by locals. Austin’s instrumental rock band, with the name that sums up their sound quite perfectly, Explosions in the Sky will take to the Moody Theater on June 17th. The band will be fresh off their 6th studio album release Take Care, Take Care, Take Care which sees the street on April 26th. Reviews for the album have been quite favorable, and if you care, you can find the album streaming in it’s entirety on the band’s website.

Tickets for the show go on sale this Friday 4/22 @ 10 a.m.

The Austin based via L.A. space/psych rock outfit The Boxing Lesson have teamed up with Frenchie Smith Records for their studio follow-up to the 2008 release Wild Streaks and Windy Days, which will be titled the Muerta EP. You may remember the band filled the gap with the four-track, feline inspired instrumental recording Fur State which was released in a variety of limited edition package options, including cassettes, t-shirts, stickers, and even grinders. Creative, and pretty much sold-out. Take note young bands.

The Muerta EP is set for release on 6/7/11 and promises to continue the ride with “ambient songs that soothe the dark sentiments of the mind.” And if we didn’t already catch the clever wordy homage to one of psych-rocks early pioneers, the band reminds us once again with the lead track “Darker Side of the Moog”. I think we got it this time, and what could possibly be next? “Black Hole Moog?” I kid.

Track Listing:

1. Darker Side of the Moog (6:37)

2. Muerta (5:00)

3. Cassiopeia (5:42)

4. Drone to Sleep (6:13)

Catch the band at one of their upcoming shows and stream the “Darker Side of the Moog”

• Thursday 4/21/11 @ Stubb’s Jr. (Cut Copy/Holy Ghost! After Show) – FREE TO PUBLIC

• Saturday 5/7/11 @ w/ Oh No! Oh My! & Generationals.

Darker Side Of The Moog – The Boxing Lesson by theboxinglesson

The Antlers just released a track from their upcoming Burst Apart album which is set for release on 5/10 on the Frenchkiss label. “Every Night My Teeth Are Falling Out” is a curious title for a song, and one that I can say I can relate to, unfortunately. Hate those dreams. Despite the cringe title, the song has me incredibly curious about this band that I have yet to invest much time. That’s about to change, and with the upcoming tour dates, looks like the live session isn’t far away as well. Austin will see the band on 6/07 @ Emo’s.

You can pre-order Burst Apart now with a variety of options available.

MP3> The Antlers ‘Every Night My Teeth Are Falling Out’

The Antlers tour dates Read more

The little recording studio on the East side that’s been a part of producing some of your favorite sounds from some of Austin’s best local recording artists needs a little help. It seems that the city is forcing the studio out of its current location, and the cost of relocating isn’t going to be cheap. To help offset some of this cost, we do what we do here in the music community and we put together a benefit. Tonight at Club Deville, some of the artists that have weaved their magic within the walls of Hot Tracks and at the hands of owner Matthew Smith, come together to raise some funds and it’s a pretty sweet lineup.

Club Deville

$10 cover

all proceeds go towards the relocation of Hot Tracks Recording Studio

The Pons (6-6:45pm) (inside)
Danny Malone (6:45-7:30pm) (outside)
Corrina, Corrina! (7:30-8:15pm) (inside)
Wiretree (8:15-9pm) (outside)
David Wingo (of Ola Podrida) (9-9:45pm) (inside)
Leatherbag (9:45-10:30pm) (outside)
Excited States (10:30-11:15pm) (inside)
The Eastern Sea (11:15-11:55pm) (outside)
The Gary (Midnight-1am) (inside)

music on inside and outside stages.

While many anxiously await the heralded return of Fleet Foxes to the recorded music fold,  let’s not forget the band and the man that released what some might think was easy competition for most beautiful release in 2008. Bon Iver (Justin Vernon) will once again have freshly recorded material launching within the same year as his Seattle peers, and while the majority may have favored the latter, one hopes that Vernon’s talents aren’t overshadowed by the hype. While Vernon has admitted that the songwriting hasn’t come easy since For Emma, Forever Ago, one would like to believe that he has managed to pull something pretty decent together. A possible June release date, but not much else in the details.

UPDATE: 4AD just announced the title of the upcoming release will be simply Bon Iver and the release date is set for June 20th.

There is this mysterious video teaser that has recently surfaced….

Untitled from Bon Iver on Vimeo.

It’s that time again..Rumble time! We’ve put together a diverse lineup this month, so there’s plenty for anyone to enjoy. The Pons kick things off with their infectious indie-rock, then Leatherbag gets things a little rootsier, while The Bridge Farmers bring it home, loud and fierce.

Wednesday night @ Beerland, and as always..FREE!

THE RUMBLE AUSTIN is brought to you by FUTURE SOUNDS, WATERLOO RECORDS, THE ONION AV CLUB, THE AUSTINST, AUSTIN TOWN HALL, SONIC ITCH MUSIC, COVERT CURIOSITY, AUSTIN MUSIC WEEKLY, VEOBA, PABST BLUE RIBBON and EVENTBRITE.

They captured our attention with the Exquisite Corpse EP showing multiple levels of potential, wooed us with their dreamy psych-rock tinged live shows, and moved themselves into the stream of consciousness in the modern rock scene, all within what feels like a relatively short amount of time . The female outfit from Los Angeles, Warpaint released their debut full-length on Rough Trade titled The Fool, in late 2010 and this Saturday finds the band in Austin for the first time since the release. While I personally feel that The Fool fell a bit short of the band’s potential, the live show has yet to disappoint, and with road constantly under foot for the past couple of years, one can only believe that it’s been honed to near perfection.

Warpaint @ La Zona Rosa w/PVT and Family Band. Get TICKETS

MP3> Warpaint ‘Undertow’

I’m not generally a fan of soliciting votes from folks for various contests, but this one seems pretty easy and straight forward. The O Music Awards is taking votes for best independent music blog, and while there are some of the best already in the running, it would be nice just to see the name Sonic Itch Music in there somewhere. No expectations of winning, just want to be in good company.

If you read and feel like throwing a vote our way..O Music Awards

For those of you who may have not noticed, there’s a new kid on the block raising his fist in the name of Austin’s Music People. And he’s making quite the racket. AMP (Austin Music People) has surfaced recently in the wake of several that have staked claim supporting the Austin music community over the past few years, and if they hadn’t resounded with the community before, they made their grand entrance last Thursday. The AMP launch party at the newly christened ACL Live Studio showed off a talent lineup that stretched across genres and years, featuring some of Austin’s finest artists including Alejandro Escovedo, Brownout!, Bavu Blakes, The Bright Light Social Hour, Ghostland Observatory, and more. A successful evening by any measure, with a sold out crowd and every notable member of the Austin music community in attendance, but what does this early success spell for the music people? And what is AMP’s mission and who are AMP?

The who answered in the board of directors:

Paul Oveisi – AMP Executive Director
Adrian Quesada – Grupo Fantasma & Brownout
Alex Maas – Black Angels
Brad Spies – SXSW
Brent Grulke – SXSW
Charles Attal – C3 Presents
Courtney Graber- C3 Presents
Elaine Garza – Giant Noise
Frank Hendrix – Emo’s
Davis McLarty – Davis McLarty Agency
Jack McCarty – Frontgate Tickets
Jim Eno – Spoon
James Moody – Transmission Entertainment
John Kunz – Waterloo Records
Matt Hickey – High Road Touring
Matt Luckie – Red Fez, Star Bar
Michael Feferman – C3 Presents
Nikki Rowling – Titan Music Group
Paige Maguire – Austinist.com
Randy Miller – Rainmaker Artists
Rich Garza – Pachanga Festival
Roland Swenson – SXSW
Steve Wertheimer – The Continental Club
Susan Antone – Antone’s
Terry Lickona – Austin City Limits Television
Tim Neece – ACL Live at Moody Theater
Tim O’Connor – Direct Events
Will Wynn – Former Mayor, Austin

And the why:

In 1991, Austin City Officials passed a resolution that proclaimed Austin the Live Music Capital of the World. To this day, it is that promise that brings so many new people, ideas, and opportunities to our City. The AMP project has been created to help secure and fulfill that promise, now and into the future, through the following avenues:

• Fostering networking and cooperation among Austin’s community of music professionals
• Creating a new level of collaboration between the local music industry and other community stakeholders
• Research and discussion of ideas, policies, and issues facing the music industry at large and Austin music in particular
• Giving fans a voice to be heard and a forum to celebrate and enhance Austin Music
• Hosting events to strengthen the connection between Austin’s music professionals and the fans who make Austin’s music culture the best in the world

Austin Music People are all around us: from the number one fan to the lead singer to the bartender to the booker to the venue owner to the last door guy on shift – we are all Austin Music People.

The AMP Project is founded on the fundamental belief that in the Live Music Capital of the World, music and the creative class are a crucial part of what binds us, supports us, drives us, and makes Austin special. Our Austin music culture is unique and world renowned, and it represents both our future and our past.

The AMP Mission is to protect and grow our music culture and our reputation as the live music capital of the world.

I’m not going to say that it all hasn’t been said before, but maybe not at this volume and definitely not this loaded with such an arsenal of ammunition, but the real results are still to be measured. AMP can throw one HELL of a party, but when the hangover sets in and the bottle is empty, the real work and the real music people that it’s set to impact, await. And that wallet just got a little bit fatter.

If you are interested in AMP and becoming involved..Austin Music People

And now the photos..

Echotone, a documentary film shot here in Austin will finally see it’s theatrical debut later this month at The Alamo Ritz Downtown (finally!). Tickets are now available, and the film is only showing for a few days, so you might want to get on it..now. I’ll be there on Monday night if you want to rub elbows with the Itch. I’ll gladly share my Twizzlers with you.

A bit about the film from the filmmakers:

Internationally known as ‘The Live Music Capital of the World,’ Austin’s music culture has led it to become one of the world’s most sought-after destinations. As nearly two dozen high-rises pop up throughout the city amidst economic downfall, how does the working musician get along?

Directed by Nathan Christ and photographed by Robert Garza, Echotone is a cultural portrait of the modern American city examined through the lyrics and lens of its creative class.

Get tickets HERE

You can download the soundtrack to the film for free as well, right over here at the Paste website.

I’ve showed it once before, but for those who missed first time around, the trailer…

California’s Cold War Kids, once the indie darlings on the heels of several critically acclaimed EP’s, and moving into a more mainstream conscious with their debut LP Robbers and Cowards, took to sold out house at Stubb’s on Friday night. Enlisting the producing credit of Jacquire King (Kings Of Leon, Modest Mouse, Norah Jones) for their latest Mine Is Yours, for what some might say is an attempt to musically cross that bridge into the arena market. For a band that has struggled to receive complimentary press accolades for their latest two recordings, one questions from where this fan base arises. Is it the major market radio exposure for earlier material that still resonates? Or maybe the Christian rock band tag that some were quick to try to attach to the band early on? Either way, kudos to the band for still pulling the dollars at the gate even if the majority of the onlookers were sparked mostly by the early works.

Photos by Loren Root:

Take the darkness from Bauhaus, add the up tempo dance feel of New Order and throw in some Clan of Xymox and Wolfgang Press for spice and Cold Cave is what you get. A modern day version of some of the my favorites from the 80′s and they call this genre Darkwave. Whatever you want to call it, I kinda like it. Maybe because it sifts through memories that I thought were long gone by this point.

Cold Cave have a new album coming out next Tue 4.5 titled Cherish the Light Years, and they have just released the second single from the recording titled “Villians Of The Moon”.

The band his the road with a smattering of support dates for The Kills, finding themselves here in Austin on April 20th @ La Zona Rosa. Tickets still available HERE.

MP3> Cold Cave ‘Villains of the Moon’

Cold Cave Tour Read more