Garage, noise rockers A Place To Bury Strangers have a new EP coming out Feb 7th on Dead Oceans titled Onwards To The Wall. A tour with Joy Formidable set for the Spring as well, and this little snapshot video for “So Far Away”

A Place to Bury Strangers “So Far Away” from Secretly Jag on Vimeo.

What do you get when you mix Deer Tick, Los Lobos, The Black Lips, Dead Confederate, and Six Finger Satellite? Diamond Rugs of course..duh.

This band of wayward songsters will have a full length out sometime in Spring of 2012, and for a little Christmas cheer whilst we wait, Mr McCauley sings for us “Christmas In A Chinese Restaurant”. You can bet that they full-length will be quite different than this track..

Live & Reel :: Diamond Rugs – “Christmas in a Chinese Restaurant” from Live & Reel @ Reel Recording on Vimeo.

Being one of my top picks for bands to see at this past Fun Fun Fun Fest, I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed that M83‘s set took place during the daylight hours. Some things are just meant to be enjoyed in the cover of darkness with fancy lights.

Well, the chance to see M83 again here in Austin will present itself once again next May at Stubb’s. Pre-sale tickets are available now, believe it or not, and I’m willing to wager that this one will sell out.

Full updated tour dates and ticket info HERE.

And, if you haven’t check out the band’s 2011 release Hurry Up We’re Dreaming you are missing out on what is certainly going to be a frequenter on year end lists.

Deer Tick hooked me with their solemnly beautiful 2010 release Black Dirt Sessions and continue to capture my attention with the raucous, raw, and rowdy follow up Divine Providence. Their recent show here in Austin took me back to time when I first caught a little band called Wilco on the A.M. tour, feeling as I had just witnessed something that will become great in minds of many for years to come.

The band released the clean version of the “Main Street” video last week, but if you know me, I’d rather wait for the dirty one to post…

And for you John McCauley fans, keep an eye out for another project of his called Diamond Rugs featuring members of Dead Confederate, Black Lips, and Los Lobos. Sounds pretty promising.

Quite honestly, I’m not that familiar with much of Lykke Li’s music, but “Little Bit” from the 2008 Youth Novels recording has seen some serious spin time around my parts. Maybe because of the lyric “and for you I keep my legs apart, and forget about my tainted heart”? I can’t help it, I’m a guy. You have to admit, she is pretty sexy as well. I’ve been giving the music some serious consideration as well. I’m not that shallow. Curiosity sparked, so this young lady is on my list of artist’s to check out at this year’s Fun Fun Fun Fest.

Lykke Li plays the Orange Stage Sat 11.5 @ 7:25

I had a wordy, descriptive post planned for recommending Murder City Devils as a must see at Fun Fun Fun Fest 2011, then I came across this video from their 2007 performance..Let it speak for itself.

A rare opportunity to see this great band.

Murder City Devils play the Black Stage Friday 11/4 @ 7:20 p.m.

I honestly felt that Girls were going to be one of those bands that put out one interesting album, exploring their creativity to the max with that album, and slowly fade into the indie-rock sunset. Gladly, I was wrong. The band continues to craft catchy, pill induced, California dreamin songs that lay claim to the fact that their creativity has only begun to peak. The bands most recent release Father, Son, and Holy Ghost is a shining example of this. Tapping into his personal experience with the Children of God cult, songwriter Christopher Owens explores a wide spectrum of themes musically and lyrically.

Girls play the Orange Stage Sat 11.5 @ 6:30

Local band Ume released their 2nd full-length recording Phantoms back in August and continues to receive critical acclaim in indie circles. Encompassing frontwoman Lauren Larson’s frenetic guitar style with a melodic sense, Phantoms is the move that the band needs to move them from Austin’s little secret to indie-rock darlings. mtvU just set loose their video for “Captive” and here you have it….

I have been in quite the Yuck mood lately, and that’s a good thing. Something about the band’s sound reminds me of a time years ago when bands like Sebadoh, Superchunk, and Sonic Youth dominated the modern rock scene.

Check out this episode of Room 205 featuring Yuck performing “Milkshake’ visually hinting at that time as well.

How does a dance/rock punk duo that existed for only 5 years and put out only 1 album score a prime spot at one of the biggest music festivals? I don’t have the answer to that question, but it surely will be worth investigating this current resurgence of interest in Death From Above 1979. Some of you might remember the small riot that took place at Beauty Bar this past SXSW? Death From Above 1979 was the band playing during the incident. Spurring small riots and landing prime spots on big festival stages…the year you reunite?

Only problem with this gig is that it conflicts with Elbow…arrrggghhhh!

Death From Above 1979: Sunday at 5:30 on the Honda Stage

LITTLE GIRL REHEARSAL from DEATH FROM ABOVE 1979 on Vimeo.

A little grunge, a little duet, a little blues, little hurricane offers an intimate conversation between folk narrative and the rough edges of county blues. They hail from San Diego and the two band members are ironically ahead of their time in their sanctification of retrospect; they met online over a love of vintage equipment and “down and dirty” blues music. Think the naked guitar riffs of Cream plus the vocal clarity of the Local Natives. The sound seems a cousin of the White Stripes, but racing within the lines of a stripe of its own. Check out the songs “Get By” and “Give Em Hell.”

little hurricane: Sunday at 12:20pm on the Austin Ventures Stage

This is one band that is high on the list of  “must see” this weekend’s ACL Festival. Elbow is that band that you fell in love with years ago, yet somehow manages to sit quietly in the background only to give you that reminding poke that they are still making great music years later. A band that has achieved little more than cult status in the US, they have maintained a solid following in the UK, continuing to record award winning albums that chart well. The band’s most recent release Build A Rocket Boys demonstrates a band’s necessity to grow it’s music as they grow in years.  Beautifully layered multi-instrumental progressive rock perfectly accented by Guy Garvey’s image evoking lyrics and recognizable vocal style. A rare opportunity to see a band riding a lengthy wave of success in an arena of turn and burns.

Elbow: Sunday at 5:30 on the Google+ Stage

Phosphorescent, the moniker under which Matthew Houck records these days, should receive a warm response from fans at this year’s ACL Fest. Making friends with Texas legend Willie Nelson certainly doesn’t hurt, especially when you’ve penned a tribute album for said legend. Titling your latest album Here’s To Taking It Easy bodes well with the mentality of Austinites as well.

Having to work within the confines of a 45 min set is the only drawback that I can find about this pending performance as Phosphorescent are definitely capable of putting together a performance that feels like a never ending party in your backyard with your closest friends. Don’t be surprised if you catch me singing the words to “Mermaid Parade” with cold beer in hand and a huge smile on my face..

Phosphorescent: Saturday 2-2:45 on the AustinVentures Stage

Austin’s The Calm Blue Sea recently had their self-titled album reissued by Austin’s own Modern Outsider Records on Aug 2nd. While mostly an instrumental piece, the album does feature one track with minimal vocal tracks titled “Literal”, and today IFC premiered the video for that track. Directed by Paul Beck who animated Richard Linklater’s films “Waking Life” and “A Scanner Darkly”, the video combines real film footage accented by cartoon heads and blotted out faces.

Beck on the video:

“As I was making the video, listening to the music, I wanted images in the video to challenge the viewer by asking, ‘Are we living the good life?’” Beck asks. “‘Are we living the nightmare?’ ‘What character are we?’ ‘What tabloid-media-mash up comforts us through the long night?’”

The National playing live in Austin..YES! Playing at the Austin Music Hall…BOOOOOOOO! Once written up in a magazine article during SXSW a few years ago as “the place where good music goes to die”, the Austin Music Hall is one of my least favorite venues in town. You would think that spending the millions that they did on the remodel, something decent would have resulted, but not the case. Either way, its the National and they are bringing indie darlings Local Natives along for the ride.

Dec 4th is the date and tickets will be selling HERE.