Warner Bros. Records have gone all out in promoting the new album from Rilo Kiley front-woman Jenny Lewis entitled Acid Tongue. First, you could call 888-717-2243, to hear a very low quality version of the title track “Acid Tongue” on your phone. Now, thanks to a series of videos featuring Death Cab for Cutie’s Ben Gibbard, a proper version of that song and another “The Next Messiah,” have been released onto the world. First, Ben shows up at Jenny’s place to hear “Acid Tongue” carrying a numerous amount of heart balloons (with Acid Tongue written on them of course). Then Ben sits in a bathtub (with the balloons) and convinces Jenny Lewis collaborator Jonathan Rice into hearing the song again. In the latest video (below), Ben hides in a closet, scares Jenny, and “The Next Messiah” begins.

It’s some clever marketing for what should be a good album. Alt-country is not for everyone but with a guest list with names like Elvis Costello, Jonathan Rice, The Black Crowes’ Chris Robinson and Zooey Deschanel, it’s worth at least one listen when it comes out September 23rd.

Tour Dates:
09-15 Albuquerque, NM – Sunshine Theatre
09-16 Boulder, CO – Fox Theatre
09-17 Denver, CO – Bluebird Theatre
09-18 Lawrence, KS – The Granada
09-19 Chicago, IL – Epiphany
09-20 Omaha, NE – Anchor Inn *
09-21 Nashville, TN – Ryman Auditorium *
09-22 Knoxville, TN – Bijou Theatre *
09-23 Fayetteville, AR – George’s Majestic Lounge *
09-24 Oxford, MS – Lyric Theatre *
09-25 Tulsa, OK – Cain’s Ballroom *
09-26 Austin, TX – Austin City Limits
09-28 Austin, TX – La Zona Rosa *!
09-30 Atlanta, GA – Variety Playhouse
10-01 Glenside, PA – Keswick Theatre
10-02 Washington, DC – Sixth & I Synagogue
10-03 Wilmington, DE – Grand Opera House
10-04 New York, NY – Apollo Theatre
10-05 New Haven, CT – Shubert Theatre
10-08 Paris, France – Le Maronquinerie
10-09 Amsterdam, Netherlands – Melkweg
10-10 Hamburg, Germany – Knust
10-11 Berlin, Germany – Lido
10-13 Stockholm, Sweden – Kagelbanan
10-14 Copenhagen, Denmark – Vega Junior
10-16 Cologne, Germany – Gebaude 9
10-17 London, England – Koko
10-18 Glasgow, Scotland – QMU
10-19 Dublin, Ireland – Button Factory
10-25 Portland, OR – Crystal Ballroom *
10-26 Seattle, WA – Showbox *

* with Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band
! with M. Ward

photos : valerie@fremin.net

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m getting to that point of being an old, jaded music snob. I’ve been fighting it for years, and will do my best to remain as partial as I can, but the reality is… I’ve got a few years of experience under my belt, and I’ve seen and heard a few bands in my lifetime. It’s like anything in life. The more that you experience as time passes, the more your palette changes, and matures. The point of this intro is to lay down the foundation of what I have to say about my experience with The Faint on this Monday eve in Austin, Texas.

I can’t claim to be a big fan of the band, but will admit that my interest in the band was stirred about 4 years ago compliments of a favorite online station. I give kudos to this station for introducing me to great music on a regular basis. If you don’t know what station I speak of, then you’ll have to keep reading to find out, as I speak highly of them on a regular basis. That aside, The Faint had produced a couple of songs that I enjoyed and that reminded me of a time when my interest was more focused on the music that was more beat/electronica based and a lifestyle more fitting. A time when you might find me obsessed with bands like Depeche Mode, Front 242, Nitzer Ebb, and My Life With Thrill Kill Kult, amongst others. I found it a current reminder of a time when I was a different person, and the music scene was a different scene.

Curiosity peaked, and not ever seen the band before, I opted for a Monday venture with The Faint @ LaZona Rosa. I’ve spent some time with the latest release from the band, and to be quite honest, it’s not doing much for me. It’s been 4 years since the band has put out an album. Things change, and people change, with time.

I have a couple of quick observations based on the first 15 minutes that I was in the venue.

1) There are a lot of couples at this show. Not just a guy and a girl together, but obviously together. Is there something about The Faint’s music that relates to good sex? Is it great f*** music? If it is, I’m buying a t-shirt at the minimum.

2) There are quite a few people who seem really eXcited to be here. Really eXcited! Maybe that has something to do with number 1?

Now I understand why those days are in the past. I’m just too old for that shit.

Aside from the environment that was a stark reminder of a former self, I was impressed with the intensity of the fans love for the band.  The band has a following, a solid following of fans who are into the band and what they do, and as the set started with ‘Agenda Suicide’, I was that fan for a moment. The song was tight, the light show dazzled, and the screaming, dancing fans made it feel like 1988 was alive and well in 2008. And, just like any high you achieve, you come down, and the down arrived as the band completed stirring the audience into a frenzy for the first three songs, which included a personal fave ‘Take Me To The Hospital’, to lead into the new material. Not to knock the new material anymore than already mentioned, but the songs just didn’t seem to deliver the driving punch of beat laden, bass heavy dance rock than what was just delivered from the band moments before. The true fans stayed true through the newer material and the band dropped the occasional older song in the set to keep up the pace established at the beginning of the set.

I wasn’t really expecting much from this show, but what I did experience reminds of why I’m such a fan/geek about music in the first place. I go to shows for a couple of reasons these days. I go see bands that I’m a huge fan of, to have that experience of feeling connected and unified with a group of people unified and moved by the words and sounds produced by a group on stage. I also find myself attending shows purely to witness the exact experience while looking in from the outside. Watching a group connect with an audience on a level that resembles a religious experience, is pretty cool, even if I’m not a fan of the music. I’ve become a music voyeur of sorts.

Would I go see The Faint again? Yes. Whether or not I think that the new material is as good as the previous work, isn’t relevant. What matters is that the band has managed to achieve what thousands of bands could only dream of doing if even for one day. They’ve tapped into some human emotion or psyche that fans relate to on a level that envokes a sort of rapture. Or maybe it’s just good music to f*** to?

The Faint ‘Agenda Suicide’
Words by: michaelE

more photos Read more

On last week’s All Things Considered on NPR, the program caught up with Spencer Elden (now 17), the boy in the iconic album cover of Nirvana’s Nevermind. Apparently now he’s just a “straight up” California kid, who hates high school and plays Rock Band. The only difference between him and a typical teenager is that he owns a platinum record and his penis has been seen by millions of people. Check out the interesting interview HERE.

Tilly and the Wall have landed national tours with Bright Eyes, Of Montreal and Rilo Kiley, but Thursday night finds them headlining at Emo’s in support of their new album entitled o. The five-piece band’s previous releases, Bottoms of Barrels and We Like Children, were indie pop masterpieces and their latest effort follows suit, while also highlighting the band’s enhanced sound. They’ve got lush male/female harmonies, beats that make you want to dance, and if that isn’t enough, the percussion section is a tap dancer (seriously).

Check out their foot-stomping, high energy show Thursday night at Emo’s with local Austinites Belaire and Ringo Deathstar opening. Show @ 10.

MP3> Tilly and The Wall ‘Pot Kettle Black’

In order to do what I do, and quite simply because I’m a huge music geek, I spend a lot time reading bits on the old Internet as well as a fair amount of print. My print exposure has been slimmed with the discontinuance of print by some mags, but it only forces me to explore previous options not pursued. Here are few items that I found of interest over the past week or so: Pt. 2

• Stereogum posted on of the more amusing bits awhile back about Fred Durst. That’s right, I said Fred Durst. The guy who used to front the band Limp Bizkit, did an interview with Tom Green on Tom’s online show, and it’s both disburting and hilarious. This is Fred Durst in 2008.  Stereogum’s post is pretty amusing as well. If you want to go straight to the video: TomGreen.com
• This next little piece is going to be a bit lengthy since I can’t actually link to it anywhere on the net. It comes from one of my favorite prints currently, Death + Taxes, and it’s the magazine ending piece titled Music Doesn’t Matter Anymore. Just Ask Maxim, and here’s some bits from the article:

It’s true: Publishing is tough! So much so that staffers at monolithic corporations forget to actually listen to music before they write about it. (In case you’ve forgotten, Maxim recently reviewed the latest Nas album, N*gger, as well as the latest Black Crowes record, War Paint, without listening to either. Both records got two-and-a-half stars.)”
“Maybe judging people’s work is the future of critique. This is why we’ve reviewed the current issue of Maxim without reading it:
The “Letters to the Editor” were hilarious. Writes Tim from West Virginia, “Who decided to put Avril Lavigne on the cover of your last issue? You can’t whack it to a pixie stick. Who’s next? Oprah? Let’s get some tits back on there boys.” What Tim lacks in tact, he certainly makes up for in spirit, a quality we found throughout the rest of issue.

A bit later in the piece.

Though stoked on the content so far, we couldn’t stomach the eight-page “Celebrity Heart-2-Heart: Fred Durst meets Michael Bay” interview. Lucky for us, 16 pages of “Hometown Hotties:Amputee Addition (Non-Vets)” was right around the corner.

How I just managed to give Fred Durst two mentions in one day,much less in one year is beyond me. It wasn’t conscious, it just happened.

1.”The internet leveled the playing field for indie music.” – Big checkbooks and the marketing campaigns they buy still have the edge. The internet just opened the door for everyone. It’s what you do now that you’re in the now overcrowded room that matters.

lies (noun) - untruthful statements made to with the intention to deceive.

Dare I say it one more time? Colour Revolt continues to impress the hell out of me with their intense live performances, with great guitar work and sounds, and vocalist Jesse Coppenbarger intensely laying out the emotions that he’s poured into each of the songs. I can’t say enough about these guys. The live show is great, the recorded material is absolutely amazing, with Plunder, Beg, and Curse being one of my favorite recordings of the year currently.

Snowden, on the other hand, I haven’t had as much experience with. I caught them for the first time last year, while opening for Kings of Leon, and as I enjoyed the set, it was cut short, and I wasn’t enabled the full live experience. I’ve always enjoyed the band’s 2006 release Anti-Anti, and it continues to find it’s way into the shuffle from time to time. Much like Colour Revolt, I wrestle with trying to describe Snowden’s sound, as it’s extremely unique. This unique sound, a bit futuristic sounding without being completely electronic, is set to a frantic yet precise beat by drummer Chandler Rentz, while the the bass lines and guitar race to what feels is building into some explosive ending, while the ending never really arrives. Sometimes the journey is more important than the destination. A journey into a desperate and isolated landscape, while examining the emotions that still keep us human.

The selections from Anti-Anti sound better than ever, with some changes being made to the songs. New material dribbled through the set receiving a warm response, prompts anticipation of new recorded material from this fan.

While Colour Revolt continue to work the road, Snowden will apparently be working on the new material, hopefully finding a home for the songs and a release for later this year. I’ll be watching.

MP3> Snowden ‘Black Eyes’

Brooklyn band French Kicks are in town tomorrow night at the Mohawk. The band’s latest release, Swimming, their fourth, was produced and mixed entirely by the band and offers up a more melodic and “live” feel than their previous releases, especially when compared to 2002′s One Time Bells and 2004′s The Trial of the Century. The band emerged in the New York music scene around the same time as Interpol, the Strokes, and the Walkmen, and while they didn’t garner as much critical and mainstream praise as immediately as the others, their latest release has given them just that and shows the band’s ever evolving, unique sound. With catchy choruses and layers of guitars and drums upon addictive harmonies, their live show stands to be memorable.

Opening for the French Kicks is Scottish indie rockers Frightened Rabbit With honest, authentic, and almost comical lyrics like, “Jesus is just a Spanish boy’s name” and “say yes before I/you’re the shit and I’m knee-deep in it,” the band’s latest release The Midnight Organ Fight, a follow up to 2006′s Sing the Greys, became an instant favorite of mine. It’s flawlessly crafted indie guitar rock with strong drumming and passionate vocals. If you have a fancy for Twilight Sad, The Shins, or The Clean, definitely check this band out tonight. If you are dying to see them before they hit up the Mohawk Thursday night however, they are playing a FREE instore at End of an Ear (2209 S. First St) @ 6pm.

French Kicks w/ Frightened Rabbit and Zykos @ the Mohawk. Show starts @ 8.

MP3> French Kicks ‘Abandoned’

MP3> Frightened Rabbit ‘Heads Roll Off’

Scion has decided that sustaining any type of creativity in a capitalistic society can mend idealism and reality. The youth-oriented car company, amidst one of its many creative avenues, decided it was best to hit their target audience through one of the only ways it can reach them; through music. And now, it’s Ghostface Killah and “Charlie Brown.”

The latest release from Scion Audio/Visual (their in-house record label and yes, the car company) which contain four remixes from France’s DJ Mehdi, Orgasmic and Yuksek, as well as from L.A.’s Guns N Bombs, took the stylistic sounds of Ghostface’s “Charlie Brown” from his recent Fishscale recording sessions and turned them into a solid ground for that ideal reality.

With those four mixes on one release, it was only natural to listen to them like four boys trying to capture my heart (allow me to introduce my idealism seeping through).

Leading off the album was DJ Mehdi who displayed his talents to a base-driven level, defining himself as the groovy mixer of the bunch. Although the slowest of the tracks, he completely understood the need to move by channeling the perfect tempo of funk.

Yuksek’s mix, which took the track a tad faster, knew what we wanted to hear during these moments of J.U.S.T.I.C.E. and dance music, and it’s a ton of dirty synths and hard-hitting beats.

DJ Orgasmic, also known as Orgaga, took the track in a different direction, incorporating an undeniable breakbeat and adding his own twist with a 90′s-sounding loop.

Lastly, duo Guns N Bombs added their electro flair with intelligent cuts and rising tempos, taking the track into the future and making sure we dance until we get there.

To be honest, they each stole my dance-rhythm heart.

With four remixes like this, Scion definitely has their ear tuned to the right artists. And they’re heading in the right direction because beats this hard remixing a rapper this good could only mean that the reality you hear is definitely ideal.

Check out the 12” that will be released in early May.

-Sonya

MP3> ‘Charlie Brown Remix’ Orgasmic

Scion A/V website

Jim James and band sat down with MTV (gasp! it has happened) for chat about the upcoming release Evil Urges. For those of you who have been fortunate enough to catch any of the more recent live performances, the taste of the newer material probably has the anticipation of the new recording, soaring. MTV has their own take on Evil Urges and what you can expect as a fan and a listener, but hearing come from the man himself is much more interesting.

Evil Urges drops June 10th on ATO Records.

This is my favorite part of the year where the transition between winter to spring allows room for the weather to get better and for the college basketball games to get more intense. But here in Austin it means something else; it’s almost time for South By Southwest. The list has been released and this year there are over 1,600 bands being showcased to help pack the bars, clubs, streets, bathrooms, pedi-cabs, and any other location were space is available.

And since Sonic Itch Music is well, a blog about music, we’ve decided to do our part and help you guys out a little. I’ll be featuring a band that will be performing during the festival (maybe even some who won’t) to aid that everlasting fear of which show to choose.

And we present, The Black Keys.

Being that this is the city where Stevie Ray Vaughan sharpened his skills to become one of the most influential artists to ever live, there are enormous expectations when it comes to blues music. And the blues are everywhere here, from sidewalks to Antone’s. Any given night in Austin, there are musicians singing for their Tex-mex supper, greeting us with their heart-wrenching tales of Texas blues. So, for a duo from Akron, Ohio to enter the blues arena and challenge the long-standing heavies with their immeasurable sound, completely justifies me showcasing them as the very first band I won’t miss during the festival.

For any blues fan, hearing that 12-bar blues chord progression never gets old, even with one of the oldest forms of American music. But lead vocalist/guitarist Dan Auerbach revives life and wisdom into his songs, even with his under-30-mind, resembling the sounds of Chess Records, circa 1951. The songs are simple yet poignant, with lyrics keeping in tune with the blues frame of mind. But Auerbach’s guitar-playing skills raise the stakes, adding more than the essential elements that the blues require. Drums, which are done by Patrick Carney, stays in sync with Auerbach’s incessant need to rock. And Auerbach’s pitch-perfect moans complete the sound, making you think he was 75 with a drinking problem.

Maybe it’s the lack of direction that the music industry has obtained or maybe it’s my need to know how the blues should sound, but whatever the reason, these guys are saving all of our heads and minds one song at a time. SRV would definitely be proud that Austin is host to this band again.

And now you can be too.

MP3> The Black Keys ‘Work Me’

Catch their show at Emo’s Main Room (603 Red River) at 1 a.m. (a perfect time for the blues) on Wednesday, March 12th.

-Sonya

Color of Sound is an interesting project which presented 5 different musicians/groups with a color, asked them to write a song with that color in mind, and then presented each color/song combination to 5 filmmakers for them to construct a video. Interesting enough? One of my new fav bands over the last year, The Blakes were asked to take part in this project, being assigned the color Blue. They wrote a catchy little song called ‘Magic’, which happens to sound a bit like this little band called The Beatles.

Also included in this project are The Raveonettes, Dntel, Marie Digby, and Swizz Beatz.

Go to Sound of Color.com and check out the songs, the videos for the songs, videos of behind the scene making of the videos, etc, etc, etc…. It’s fun stuff.

I kinda like these guys in Elbow. Well, the music that they put together, guess I should say. Looking forward to a new album, and maybe we’ll see them around these parts for SXSW?

Portishead are putting out their first recorded piece of material in 10 years, and I for one, am curious. It’s funny, as I look back, because back then we didn’t have the fast and furious blog scene to turn us on to the music as we have today, and my acquaintance with Portishead happened the old fashioned way..word of mouth (literal mouth). My love for Portishead is limited. The recording that captured my complete attention was the live recording @ the Roseland Ballroom in NYC with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. I had heard earlier recordings and my interest was peaked, but this one for me seemed to seal the deal on the efforts of the band. I do have a copy of an EP that features as many versions of “Sour Times” as you could imagine, and I’ll share a few of those.

You can expect the newest from the band entitled Third to become legal April 14th.

MP3> Sour Times

MP3> Airbus Reconstruction

MP3> Numbed In Moscow

Not only do they have a new recording, but the band is touring as well.

I’m sure that you want the dates: Read more

Hard to believe that people spend time putting this shit together….Spam sucks for the most part, but can be funny at times.

Recently found in my Spam box:

 BDSM is Love – luna’s Journey; Take me, Spank me, Bind me and Hold me forever… I’m… wrote an interesting post today!

With Fun Fun Fun Fest going on this past weekend, I had totally forgotten that Feist was appearing on SNL. Fortunately for me, forgetting to record the show is not an issue because the video will surely surface on the internet soon enough. Can’t get enough Feist?? Who can? Feed yourself.

1234 on SNL

I Feel it All on SNL