Moooved!

Hello fabulous readers,

Obviously this site has slowed down considerably in posts. I'm moving everything back over to my main website, caitlinwittlif.net, so check there for my ramblings about fabulous music and musicians.
Peace,
Caitlin

Mobley + Loxsly - In Review

A pair of local bands hit the inside stage last night at the Mohawk, and those who braved the rain to check them out (avec moi) were treated to layered rock and pop-rock music.

Peter Bjorn and John - In Review

There was a weekend-long Swedish dance party in Texas, if you knew the right places to be. Peter Bjorn and John hit up the House of Blues in Dallas on Saturday, playing a killer show to a less-than-enthused crowd, followed by a dirty, sweaty, awesomely fun set at La Zona Rosa in Austin. The crowd seemed much less self-conscious and much more ready to boogie down and have fun Sunday night, and the band’s energy level somehow managed to increase, feeding off of the group vibe.

Monsters of Folk - In Review

A sold-out Stubb’s audience gathered Friday to hear the gospel of the Monsters of Folk in the band’s last scheduled US stop on this tour. In concert with the religious themes running throughout their debut album, the men themselves seem to take the form of evangelists on stage, preaching their modern-day folklore and bewilderment of the universe. Jim James, M. Ward, Conor Oberst, Mike Mogis and Austin’s own Will Johnson dominated the stage for almost 3 hours, playing almost every song from their album plus a healthy mix of songs from the guys’ separate bands.

Hear This Weekend

This weekend, fabulous music is happening. Tonight, Thao & The Get Down Stay Downs are playing at the Mohawk. If you like Rachael Yamagata's voice and wish she was backed by an indie rock band, you should be at this show right now!

Tomorrow, I'll be hitting up the incredible Monsters of Folk show at Stubb's. This is the last show they're scheduled to play for this tour in the US, so it should be a ton of fun. Based on reviews of shows in other cities, it'll be 2 and a half hours of straight M.o.F., Bright Eyes, My Morning Jacket, She & Him and Ward solo stuff - also known as, incredible, lyrically driven music with beautiful, emotive layers. This stuff is gonna get you in the guttural sense, so be prepared!

Sunday, I'll be front and center for Peter Bjorn and John at La Zona Rosa. Since this is their special 10th Birthday tour (10 years of the band being together), they have had lots of special guests show up for their shows. Expect dancing, tons of energy and earnestness from the band, catchy hooks and great use of a drum machine, and did I mention dancing? Swollen ankle be damned, I'll be shakin' a leg! Follow the band on Twitter for a chance to win tickets to the show - they do giveaways before all of their shows.
See you at the shows, Austin.

101x Homegrown Live - In Review

Wednesday, 101x hosted a show for their Homegrown Live series at Emo's. I caught 2 bands.

Not quite half past 10, goldcure took the stage. A local trio, these guys played solid 70s rock with What Made Milwaukee Famous vocal stylings. Their bassist was definitely into it, groovin' all over the place as he plugged along. They weren't bad at all, though I wouldn't call their music innovative by any stretch. With nods to Zeppelin and Springsteen, this is a group for the classic rock fan.

The second band I saw better be recognizeable to any followers of this blog: Idea Soul Mart played a really strong set, pulling mostly from their self-titled album. They opened up with "Don't Fight It," which starts out with Arctic Monkeys-like guitars, and slows down to a waltz during the verse. "There's So Much Atmosphere" was another standout, with a dramatic flair and a catchy piano hook. The band played two news songs, as well: "Relative Measure," with a rhythm remeniscent of George Michael's "Faith," and "Gotta Learn Someday," which is super dance-able, combining the feel of early Beatles pop with the grit of "I Love Rock 'n' Roll."

Ideal Soul Mart are playing again tonight at The Scoot Inn, along with a stellar pre-Fun Fun Fun Fest lineup including The Hood Internet, Colourmusic and the metal Abba cover band, Stabba. Check out the full lineup here.

I'm also hitting up the Mohawk at 5:30pm tonight to check out "After The Jump," a panel discussion bringing together huge names in the music blogging industry. Paige Maguire from Austinist.com will be moderating. Check it out!

Ideal Soul Mart Podcasts UP!

The last 2 Listen Local podcasts for a while are up, and they are both from the interview I conducted this past Sunday with Adam and Clay from Ideal Soul Mart. The first episode is a general interview where the guys talk about how they met as students at the University of Texas at Austin, and how their musical influences affect their songs. The bonus episode features a story about their old (cursed?) practice space downtown, that is currently a vacant lot. As always, I encourage you to subscribe to the podcast so you can listen to all of the fantastic episodes! Thanks so much to the bands for talking with me; I hope to revive this podcast once my semester slows down a bit.