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.

Gypsy Punk Party

Gogol Bordello, the fantastic gypsy outfit headed by Eugene Hutz, is hitting up Stubb's on Sunday. If you're a fan of Flogging Molly, punk music, or music from the Ukraine, you will most likely enjoy this band. Their live show is particularly rowdy; everyone has tons of energy, and as you can see in the picture above, crowd surfing on a drum by the band members is common. Check out video below of the band at Coachella if you're curious, and hit up the show if you like what you see - doors are at 6pm and Apostle of Hustle opens.

Ideal Soul Mart - Podcast Preview

My fourth podcast episode features Clay and Adam from Ideal Soul Mart. I had hoped the episode would be ready to post by tomorrow, but it appears as though it won't go up until Thursday (can't rush these things, y'know!) Still, I didn't want to miss my opportunity to give you all a head's up - they'll be playing a show with tons of other local bands this Wednesday at 8pm at Hole In The Wall, right across the street from the University of Texas' College of Communications. If you're free and looking for something to do, hit up the show and say hi - I'll be the one in the walking boot!

Lackadaisical Listeners?

Way back when I interviewed Ethan Kennedy for the podcast, a part of our conversation that didn't make it onto the podcast revolved around the lackluster listeners that tend to attend shows in Austin. Ethan said that, although he is completely confident in what he is doing, when audiences stand like statues at his performances, arms folded and eyes somewhat dead, it can be very difficult to put out the appropriate energy at shows.

As I have attended myriad shows in the city (we're talking easily over 200), I can definitely sympathize. I don't want to go on a tirade about the way people ought to consume music (and neither did Ethan; he was emphatic about people experiencing music in their own unique way), but allow me to editorialize briefly about the folks that put on their stony faces before each show, for show. I don't want to generalize, but I do often see this as a distinct characteristic of the "hipster" culture.

In trying to puzzle out a reason for this detachment, I propose that it has a lot to do with the modern middle-to-upper-class working environment. Aligning music and so-called "white collar" jobs? I know, it's crazy, but hear me out. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the national unemployment rate in September was 9.8%, and Texas' was 8.2%. Texas' rate has been rising sharply since 2008, and I believe this has jaded many young people.

In addition, it seems that the phenomenon of multiple jobs within a lifetime could also be a cause of the disenchantment of the young. This, I cannot base on vast facts; instead, I'm basing my theory on numerous occurrences recounted to me by my friends who have recently entered the workforce after graduation. For example, one of my good friends works at a firm that recently laid off a 65-year-old family man who was two years away from retirement, seemingly as a tactic to frustrate another worker into leaving the company. Even if there were solid reasons behind the firing (reasons cited were that he was unable to "keep up" with technological developments, though my friend said she had actually received tech help from the man on numerous occasions), this is still an incredibly frustrating and disheartening situation.

I have to wonder whether this has pushed young people into a habit of not putting stock into anything, including bands. In other words, perhaps this shaky environment has made us fear getting too close to any one thing, because we are bred with the knowledge that it could be snatched away from us. So music lovers go to shows, but keep their distance because of a general sense of disloyalty.

Perhaps this is a stretch, but I think it could definitely be one explanation for the preponderance of Pierres filling music venues around town. What are YOUR theories? Let's hear 'em!

Huge Contribution for New Austin City Limits Studio

As you may have heard, the Austin City Limits Studio, where the live music show has been recorded for 35 seasons, is re-locating. Though the old studio will remain for various events and tours on the University of Texas campus, the main recording studio for the show is scooting downtown in order to increase audience size, an in order to host other performances outside of the taping of the show. I'm excited for the larger capacity, but as a UT student (despite the fact that I'm about to graduate) I will be sad to see many of the recordings move off of campus.

In their rebuilding efforts, the ACL folk are attempting to raise $6.5 million for the new location, and to preserve the old. A whopping $2.5 million has just been pledged by The Moody Foundation, a foundation that focuses primarily on projects in Galveston, and secondarily on Austin and Dallas. Moody has also funded hospitals, religious centers, and gardens, and the new downtown ACL stage will be named the Moody Theatre to honor this donation.

You can check out Austin City Limits' story about the donation here.

Listen Local No. 3 - Loxsly

The third episode of my podcast, Listen Local, is up and running. This time, I spoke with 4/5ths of Loxsly. Cody Ground, Justin Douglas, Eric Lugo and Chris Rivera talked to me in their recording studio in downtown Austin. Listen to the podcast to hear about how they met, how they feel about people dubbing their current album, Tomorrow's Fossils, a concept album, and what they have planned for the future. You'll also hear from Nolan, the talking dog.

Thursday Music Lineup

It's Thursday, and that means for many Austinites, tonight is night one of "weekend party nights." Here's a preview of what's happening at my favorite (cheap!) venues tonight.

The Mohawk: This is one of my favorite "Dunno what's up tonight, lemme try here" locations. The Mohawk consistently features great indie bands for cheap. Tonight, they've got a free Rock Band tournament happening on the outside stage, and inside, you can hear San Francisco's Railcars (think a more experimental and electronic Clap Your Hands Say Yeah), Hello Lovers who kind of sound like they're doing a poor Bill Cosby impersonation over beautiful string arrangements, and Arrington De Dionyso, a (very) experimental freestyle artist. It's like what would happen if David Byrne of the Talking Heads went COMPLETELY nuts. So, if you're looking for something a little weird, looks like the Mohawk is your place.

The Elephant Room: This is the location for all of you jazz lovers. The Elephant Room is located underneath fancy sushi joint Kyoto, and it's got a great laid-back environment and consistently incredible jazz icons showing up on the stage. Weekdays are usually free of charge. Tonight, the Austin Jazz Workshop will perform in support of their latest CD. According to their website, the workshop

is a unique project that brings professional jazz musicians directly into the public school classroom to work with young people. Since incorporation as a nonprofit in 1994, the group has received rave reviews from educators, administrators, and kids across central Texas.

Antone's: Tonight Austin's famous blues venue is hosting the Bridging the Divide UT Award, honoring Clifford Antone, Cyril Neville and Harold McMillian with "special music guests." Doors are at 6:30pm. Later, at 10:00pm and for $10, you can hear the March Fourth Marching Band.

Beauty Bar: This hipster hangout features a smorgasbord of indie bands and danceable DJs. Tonight, the ambient and epic-sounding Transfer headline, with electro-moody ISHI and Always Already, who remind me of We Are Scientists.

Cedar Street Courtyard: This unique venue hosts myriad cover bands and is a really great place if you just want a fun show. Tonight, Austin's own Li'l Cap'n Travis play during Happy Hour, and then 70's cover band Skyrocket! take the stage. The crowd tends to skew a little older at this spot.

I know this is a blog about Austin's music scene, but I'd be remiss if I did not note my insane excitement about the release of Where the Wild Things Are at midnight tonight. I'll be weeping like a willow and reliving my childhood at the 9pm showing tomorrow night at the IMAX. See you wild things there.

Monsters of Folk devour Austin!

The fabulous indie folk supergroup Monsters of Folk, composed of Conor Oberst and Mike Mogis from Bright Eyes, Jim James from My Morning Jacket, and M. Ward, is going to perform at Stubb's on Friday, November 13th - lucky for us, eh? Eh??

In all seriousness, this show promises to be excellent. An Evening With Monsters of Folk is described on the group's website as

Conor Oberst, Jim James, M Ward and Mike Mogis will be a 2 1/2 hour musical event showcasing brand new songs from the forthcoming album as well as songs fans have come to enjoy from their respective Bright Eyes, My Morning Jacket and M Ward catalogues.

Too cool for words, kids. Personally, Conor Oberst and Bright Eyes win my heart every time, but I'm also a longtime fan of My Morning Jacket and am slowly becoming addicted to M. Ward's latest release, Hold Time as well as some of his back catalog. These four men are some of the best wordsmiths of our generation. They sing political songs, they sing songs about finding your way in the world, they sing songs about what it means to be human, what it means to be alive. If you've ever found yourself soul-searching, if you've found yourself confused as to what the modern world expects from you, you'll find something on the group's self-titled album that will speak to you, I guarantee. I cannot WAIT for this show! Buy tickets here.

Expect a review of that, plus two back-to-back Peter Bjorn and John shows I'm going to the weekend of November 13th through 15th. It's going to be epic.

Pecan Street Funstival

I attended the Pecan Street Festival on the 26th and 27th of September for about 2 hours, and remained fairly near the main stage, because I was still in a cast and on crutches at the time. I made a super shaky video of what I saw and heard - it's difficult to strap on a tripod when you yourself are somewhat of a monopod - but I think it will give you the gist of the vibe there. Plus, you'll get to hear live performances by two talented Austin groups, The Alice Rose and Sahara Smith. Watch and listen away:

Interview - Ethan Kennedy

There is a bright and shiny brand new episode of Listen Local for your aural pleasure posted to the web! I interviewed Ethan Kennedy for this episode, and he recalls how he got into music, and explains his creative process. I have actually interviewed Ethan before for The Daily Texan, and he is always a fantastic subject. He's got amazing ideas about music, life and the world. You can hear an extended version of the podcast here! You can also subscribe to the entire podcast feed, if you'd like.

Ethan's new album, Raucous, will be available for consumption in November. I'll post a review of said album soon!