Austin Sound

APD is still trying to untangle exactly what happened last night on Red River as two men apparently opened fire outside of Spiro’s. According to Fox News, at around 2:15am “the two men walked up to the crowd with guns and began firing, keeping their guns low to the ground, consequently most of the injuries sustained were to people’s legs and one woman was shot in the stomach.” Fox also quotes the owners of Spiros as saying that a rap group missed their set earlier in the night and were as to leave when they arrived, ” but later returned at the time of the shooting. Whether that means it was the group that shot up the joint, we’re not sure, but police reportedly have the names of both suspects.

Scott Biram has always been known for his demented, electrified blues licks and harrowing ballads of the beaten down and bruised. The self-proclaimed “Dirty Old One Man Band” unloads a fury of hellbent skids and aching redemption, and his sixth album and third on the rebel roots imprint Bloodshot exorcises his tortured spirits in moments both brutal and begging. Like 2006’s Graveyard Shift, Biram walks the fine line between belligerence and penitence. That dichotomy is set from the start as Biram trades the CB for the opening answering machine message of “Hospital Escape.” “They’ve got me held prisoner over here,” Biram croaks out in a fevered morphine delusion. “Got me tied down to the bed. I really need your help, I need to get out of here.” The message is lifted from his infamous 2003 hospital stint after being crushed in a head on collision with an 18-wheeler. While Biram has never shied away from the tale, this moment of fear and helplessness so rawly exposed is revealing: Biram knows he’s on borrowed time, but doesn’t seem to know how to deal with that realization, and maybe that’s the purgatory that haunts the dual title Something’s Wrong/Lost Forever.

One of the many highlights of this Saturday’s Pachanga! Fest in Fiesta Gardens will be David Garza. His performance on the Plaza Stage starting at 6:45pm will no doubt electrify the crowd, as nearly all his shows do, but were actually thinking more about his 3:30pm songwriting tutorial on the Ninos Rock stage! Garza continues to be one of this cities most adventurous and talented songwriters, fearless in pushing himself and his audience to follow both his most swooning lovelorn ballads and the bite of his fevered, rapid-fire scats. Both are exceptionally on display with Garza’s latest album, Dream Delay, but as has been his style over the past few years, he has posted some more new tunes for fans to download on his website. We’ve reposted “Planet Delete” below for download, but be sure to check out the other eclectic offerings he currently has up, including the haunted “Black Rainbow,” falsetto-twingeing “She’s a Wrecker,” and the brutal distortion rip of “Karoake King.” Though we’re sure he’ll schedules some more shows this summer, right now Pachanga! is the only date on his calendar before the ACL Fest, so best not miss him this Saturday. Get your Pachanga tix here.

We’ve been waiting for the videos from the recent tapings for KLRU’s new web project, ACL Stage Left, to finally emerge. Last month they filmed local standouts David Garza, Leatherbag, and Brazos on the big Austin City Limits stage, and though the shoot was intended “only for the web,” they gave it the full ACL production. It was absolutely fantastic to see some of our local young guns (though Garza is of course pretty well established!) get to hold their own in the ACL studios, and the sound for the shows was amazing. But now the fine public tv folks have finally gotten the shows through post production and made some videos available, which premiered today on the Austinist. More videos are coming to the new klru.tv site soon, but you can also check out shows from KLRU like Texas Monthly Talks online. Jump below to watch Leatherbag lay out “On Down the Line” and Brazos unload “Mary Jo.”

We love it when our local bands get the opportunity to score them movin’ picture shows. It’s kinda like the best of both worlds! Usually, though, it’s our post-rock instrumentalists that get the honors, so we’re particularly excited about Guy Forsyth performing his new, original score to the 1927 silent Buster Keaton classic, “The General” tomorrow night at the Paramount to kick off the Theatre’s Summer Classic Film Series. It’s a one time performance, so be sure not to miss it! Forsyth will also have several friends on hand to help bring his score to life for the big screen showing, including fellow Asylum Street Spanker Wammo, and other local favorites. We were told to expect everything from “steel guitar to tuba to ukelele to harmonica and washboard.”

There seems to be a general contention these days between the single and EP. We love that the single is making a comeback, especially in 7″ form as we get from Sunset and the Black below, but we have to continue to take issue with the idea of a three song EP. We’ll let our hangups over the issue of EP vs single slide with Leatherbag and Corto Maltese, though, as both are excellent and welcome offerings that compact their distinctive sounds into great releases. Leatherbag’s Everything I Once Knew encapsulates the range of styles that he has progressed through over the years, while the Corto Maltese’ Answer, Answer proves appropriately more polished than their much acclaimed demo while still retaining their unbridled edge. Okkervil River offers up a new song, “Millionaire,” on their single to The Stand Ins’s, “Pop Lie,” along with an alternate take on the song, and the recent 7″ vinyl releases from Sunset (Loveshines II) and the Black (Little Hits) are must have local singles.

The Able Sea surprised us recently with their drifting and hazy eponymous debut. Lead track “Western Dreams” captures their aesthetic perfectly, psychedelic in very laid back, Sixties way, but with a impressive atmospheric touches that expand beyond the expected. The video for “Western Dreams” works similarly, and while it’s pretty lo-fi and nothing too remarkable on the visual side, we have to admit that it fits their eerily dreamscaped sound fairly well. Check out the video below:

Alpha Rev is the kind of band with a big radio swagger, a grandiose, swelling sound that is tempered by frontman Casey McPherson’s easy, soulful vocals. The sextet’s songs manage to be dramatic and stirring without overdosing on sentimentality, a sound that is even more epic live. Recently returned from a stretch in New York City where they were recording their third LP, which will also mark their debut for Hollywood Records and be released later this year, Alpha Rev will be holding a homecoming celebration this Saturday, May 30th at Antone’s. They have put together a ton of deals and prizes for the show, including some copies of their unreleased live recording from Antone’s in 2007. For the full list of prizes, check out our friends over at Do512. Also on the bill for this Saturday are Deadbeat Darling, Quiet Company, and Dallas quartet the Campaign.

Last week the Americana Music Awards announced their nominees, with an appropriate bevy of Austin acts honored. Chief among them were the Flatlanders, who were nominated for Duo/Group of the Year (along with Reckless Kelly) and Song of the Year, for “Homeland Refugee.” The song is off of the venerable trio’s new Hills & Valleys LP, and you can download it below. The Lubbock supergroup of Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Joe Ely, and Butch Hancock are currently out on tour in support of the album, but will be back in Austin on June 4 for a show at the Texas Union Ballroom. As for the other local acts honored with American Music Award nominations, the Gourds are also up for Song of the Year for “Country Love” off of their Haymaker! album, and Houston native Rodney Crowell gets a nod for the title track for his most recent record, Sex and Gasoline. We’ve also got some horses in the race from the biggest (Alejandro Escovedo for Artist of the Year and Album of the Year for Real Animal) to the up-and-coming (Band of Heathens and the Belleville Outfit both for New & Emerging Artist). Gurf Morlix also received a nomination for Instrumentalist of the Year on the strength of his most recent Last Exit to Happyland. The Awards are scheduled for September 17.

Ricky Stein is a young gun with an old musical soul. With a powerful voice that’s large and fearless Stein is at his best on this album. Self described as Americana music, Stein goes way beyond that to put out a blazing debut album that is more of a blues sound with his heart on his sleeve, than just pure straight-up standard Americana. At home in venues like Hole in the Wall, Momos, Antones, and the Saxon Pub, Stein solo and oftentimes with the full piece four member band behind him (including Phil Morris on bass and vocals, Stuart Burns on guitar and vocals, Nathanial Klugman on keyboard and Josh Weinholt on drums) has been spreading his music amongst crowds that are wowed by this 25-year-old’s performance.