Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Thievery Corporation

So, my friend Tati from Laredo invited me to go see Thievery Corporation with her last night in Austin at Stubbs. When she first made mention of the band and that they were coming to town, I was willing to go just to put them on my "have seen" list, but I wasn't too thrilled since I hadn't really heard them before. While we lost each other in the crowd before the show, we managed to meet up during the last song after me and Lindsey got off stage. Yes, off stage. We had been walking around the side bar area looking for Tati and Marge and the security points to us and motions us to follow him. In my mind, I thought I had managed to look too messed up (even if I hadn't been drinking) and was going to get kicked out of Stubbs again like at the Wilco show a few months back. But to our dismay he pointed towards the stairway on the stage. All I can say is woooow.
Apprehensive about the whole Thievery experience initially, I was blown away! These guys rocked the venue! Everyone was united and dancing! The musical style of the Washington D.C. based duo consisting of Rob Garza and Eric Hilton could only be described as worldly bossa nova with a dub, Iranian-Brazilian lounge flair. Apart from their supporting band, they had a belly dancer on stage as well as Brazilian songwriter Sue Jorge. All in all, the sold out show was spectacular in every way imaginable. Being so in tune with the music reminded me of my whole Radiohead experience.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Boy George denied Visa

Having just bought tickets last night to Boy George's August show at Stubbs in Austin, I'm troubled to hear the former Culture Club lead man was denied a U.S. Visa. According to CNN, the pop star was denied a Visa by U.S. immigration officers because he faces trial in London in November for charges of false imprisonment relating to an incident back in April of 2007. Boy George, real name George O'Dowd has several U.S. dates on his upcoming tour. His management and attorneys are currently trying to sort out this mess.

5 Bands You Need to Check Out, Yo!

In an attempt to remain on top of my recommendation game, here are 5 bands you need to check out if you haven't already. While they've been in the loop and on the scene for a while, some of you may have not yet heard of them or decided to check them out.

1. The Cool Kids- A hip hop due from Northern American States Michigan and Chicago. These guys have opened up for M.I.A. and have played at both the Pitchfork Media Festival and CMJ MusicFest. They first caught my attention when they played the Gorilla Vs. Bear Party during SXSW.

2. No Age- The LA experimental group will be playing in Austin Tuesday July 1st--their noise rock style is something to be appreciated. Colin Greenwood of Radiohead has been said to be an advocate of the band. He was sporting a No Age tee at Radiohead's Dallas, Texas show.
The Eraser

3. Crystal Castles- The Toronto based duo consisting of vocalist Alice Glass and multi-instrumentalist Ethan Kath released their self-titled album Crystal Castles this year. The full-length LP features the song Crimewave which was collaboration with American Noise Rock band Health.

4. Holy Fuck-
The electro-experiemental band hailing from Ontario, Canada opened up for M.I.A. at her Austin show a few months back. They've played several festivals including Coachella, Vegoose and SXSW to name a few.

5. Beach House- This indie rock duo from Baltimore, Maryland implement soft lyrics and somber organ to their second full length album Devotion.Gila


Monday, June 23, 2008

New Girl Talk

In following the footsteps of Nine Inch Nails and Radiohead, Dj Gregg Gillis aka Girl Talk is allowing his fourth album to be priced by fans. Fans are encouraged to name their price for album just released last Thursday entitled Feed the Animals. The sample based includes an array of song samples from the past and present, the list of artists sampled are numerous. Some of the songs and artists featured in the track Give me the Beat include Gimme More by Britney Spears, American Girl by Tom Petty, Crank Dat Soulja Boy, Renegade by Styx, Kiss by Prince to name a few. Girl Talk even samples Brian Eno's An Ending (Ascent) remixed with Lil Wayne's Lollipop in the post-terrier portion of Shut the Club Down. The album is awesome! You need to check it out. Name Your Price Here!


Tuesday, June 17, 2008

NylonMag: What are you lookin' at?! street beat...

Several pictures I took today to submit to a nylonmag photo-op... I think they came out killah.









Monday, June 16, 2008

Santogold

In the past weeks, I've heard a lot of buzz about Santogold. While her debut album was released in April, it wasn't until recently that I heard about her.
Santogold, real name Santi White, is being called the new M.I.A., respectfully so if now retired. Santogold's attire and vocals are very similar to the retired Sri Lankan performer. She attributes the similiarities to having the same influences as Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam (aka M.I.A.) and working with some of the same people. Check out the single I posted below. The vocals sound hauntingly familiar... hmm.

Santogold Creator (vs. Switch and FreQ Nasty).mp3 -


Sunday, June 15, 2008

Austin Bands and misc music news...

I need to be more dilligent about writing on this thing, however I've been pretty busy with work. Okay, I'm totally lying, I've just been too lazy...

So apart from feeling a tad out of the loop, I got to check out this band called The Boxing Lesson at Beauty Bar in Austin on Thursday. While the place wasn't too happening as it usually is on days such as Friday and Saturday, the band was really good. Their sound is somewhat difficult to categorize since it seems each song varies in genre. The song Muerta can only be described as Pink Floyd's Dark Side of Moon with a hint of Parliament Funkadelic's Maggot Brain. Dark Side of the Moog has a Bowie feel to it, only darker. Upon arriving from their tour of the West Coast, The Boxing Lesson will play the following Texas Dates:
Jul 5 2008 10:00A
Exit Music Festival @ Waterloo Park Austin, Texas
Jul 18 2008 11:00P
TBA Austin, Texas
Jul 24 2008 10:00P
Double-Wide Dallas, Texas

www.myspace.com/theboxinglesson

Another worth-mentioning band is Austin's The Black and White Years, a modern more-updated Talking Heads. I really dig their songs Power to Change and and Broken Hand, which were actually produced by former Talking Heads keyboardist Jerry Harrison. While I haven't seen a live shows of theirs yet, I intend to catch one of upcoming Texas Shows. If they're as fun as they sound, this act will blow up.
Jul 3 2008 10:00P
Emo’s w/ Andy Rourke of the Smiths Austin, Texas
Jul 5 2008 12:00P
Exit Fest - Waterloo Park Austin, Texas
Jul 26 2008 9:00P
The Aardvark Ft. Worth, Texas
Sep 27 2008 12:00P
Austin City Limits Festival Austin, Texas

http://www.myspace.com/theblackandwhiteyears


Since I'm writing about Austin Music, I thought I'd mention White Denim, a trio whom I first read about on Gorilla VS. Bear. This act first broke out at SXSW 2007... I really like their song ShakeShakeShake--prevalent bass and quirky guitar riffs repetitive "shake, shake, shake" lyrics. Their next Texas date is September 27, 2008 at the Austin City Limits Festival.


In other music news, M.I.A., Sri Lankan rapper and vocalist, is reported to have retired. Throughout her performance at Bonnoroo this past weekend, she kept telling the crowd that she was retiring and at the end thanked them for coming to her last performance. Mathangi Arulpragasam, real name, announced her engagement to Benjamin Brewer, fellow musician and son of Warner Music Group Chairman and CEO Edgar Bronfman Jr just two weeks ago.