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.

http://www.myspace.com/bopenglish

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.