Austin Sound

Hmm, sounds dangerous. Built By Snow are getting all Weird Science with their latest tune, “Beta-Ray Love.” Of course, that’s not really new for our favorite local geek-poppers. The tune is actually pretty sparse for BBS since it’s still in demo mode (beta?), but it still folds in the requisite synth and upbeat bop. The band also has another tune up for download on their website if you sign up for their mailing list - quid pro quo you bunch of freeloaders! This is really the first we’ve heard from the BBS boys in a while, but that appears to be because JP Pfertner, who sings and plays keys (oh, wait - they all sing and play keys!), recently had a kid. Congrats! We totally expect to start hearing some LeapFrog samples make their way into the songs. Is that what kids are into now, or do babies now come with iPads pre-installed? We’re not sure how all this works because our parents pulled us from those classes in middle school. Anyway, Built By Snow are apparently trying to rustle up some SXSW gigs, like everyone else in town, but don’t have anything currently scheduled. Check out “Beta-Ray Love” below:

As we mentioned a couple of weeks ago, one of our favorite local blogs, Ultra8201 is turning 4 this Thursday night, which is impressive, because that’s something like 20 in blog years! Naturally, there will be booze. And music. The party will be tweeted. But we have no idea what to expect when real and virtual worlds collide! Maybe it will be like Avatar? Maybe the space-time continuum will fold in on itself? It seems like there should be some kind of joke here about how many bloggers it takes to change a lightbulb or something - maybe y’all can help us out in the comments. Anyway, you should come out to the Ghost Room tonight and support not only Ultra8201, but the local blogosphere in general. On the bill are New Roman Times, The Authors, and Politics. There will also be between set awesomeness from the Redboys, a crazy pair of kids that Ultra8201 is determined to make us all love. Check out an interview with Richard over at the Austinist. Party gets rolling ’round 9:00 tonight.

If you haven’t yet voted in the Austin Chronicle’s Austin Music Poll, you have until Friday, so best get on your horse. After all, how else can we keep Bob Schneider fans from sandbagging every category!? You can vote online, or fill in the ballot in the Chronicle and mail it in (apparently there is a “postal system” that can send physical items, except you have to pay for it - crazy, we know!). So who exactly is everyone voting for this year? Who is Austin’s Band of the Year, or more importantly, New Band of the Year! You really should vote, or else Margaret Moser will just award all the category winners herself, which means only teenage bands will get any awards. Also, the Chronicle is running their second Sound Wars competition right now, and the deadline to enter your song into that is TODAY! The voting runs from January 28 to February 15. Winners get some free ad space in the Chronicle during SXSW and on their website, as well as $250. Looks like the Tiny Tin Hearts aren’t eligible because they won the last one. Oh well.

Despite their frequent label of jungle-pop, the Laughing has all the makings of a progressive rock band. At their core, there is heavy percussion passively aided by keyboard and able bass, and, most importantly, a strong lead guitar that frequently digresses into guitar rants typical of the genre. Separated from this often doomed-from-the-start formula of normalcy is the jungle elements that throw them loosely under the label of “tropical”. Although it can be taken too far at times, the local quartet’s first full-length album, Fever, is a jungle playground that is neatly executed with a dangerously typical backing.

So as you’ve probably heard, local songwriter Ryan Bingham recently won a Golden Globe (or half of one, anyway) for his song “The Weary Kind.” It’s the theme song for the movie Crazy Heart, which from what we can gather stars George Clooney playing Ryan Bingham, who is some kind downsizing songwriter? It’s all very confusing, especially since our subscription to Variety got canceled and because we’re banned from the Alamo Drafthouse ever since that “incident” at the 80s night sing-a-long. (Our lawyers say we can’t discuss the details). But Bingham (the real-life one, not the George Clooney one flying around everywhere), has been doing pretty well by Crazy Heart, even if T-Bone Burnett gets half the credit. But hey, when someone named T-Bone asks for half of something, it’s generally just a good idea to let him have it. You can check out the video for Bingham’s song below, and there are a ton more videos up on his Myspace page for tunes off his latest album with the Dead Horses, Roadhouse Sun.

Sorry old elementary school adage, but sometimes you can judge books by their cover, or in this case, an album. The cover for Ola Podrida’s Belly of the Lion, with its silhouetted figure half standing out in the waning sunlight, half blending into the flat Texas landscape, suggests a number of the isolating themes and sharp dynamics held within these otherwise soft layers of instruments and nonthreatening vocals. It’s a fitting image, too, as Ola Podrida’s sophomore album and debut on local label Western Vinyl also presents the return of David Wingo to Texas after time the songwriter spent in New York.

Because Balmorhea apparently can’t bear to let a year go by without their name being on a top ten list, the local (mostly) instrumental quintet is releasing another album next month. Local-imprint Western Vinyl will once again do the labeling, and Balmorhea’s continued onslaught of releases must mean the label is doing pretty well, which is great, because they’re certainly one of the best in town. But seriously Balmorhea, you have got to slow this ship down - you’re making all the other bands in town look bad. Plus people are going to start thinking this is way too easy for y’all! Balmorhea’s release show for the album, called Constellations, will be at the Central Presbyterian Church on February 19 along with Damien Jurado, but we’re more interested in the show they’re playing later in the month in Ohio with Mark McGuire. What?! Is the slugger changing the spelling of his name and forging a new career in ‘roid rock? Awesome! We guess the standards for getting into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame are more lax than Cooperstown. Balmorhea will also be heading out on a North American tour with the great Danes, Efterklang. Anyway, you download the new tune “Bowsprit” below, which we recommend over going to the band’s website, which seems aimed at inducing maximum motion sickness.

Crooks digs up deeply planted Texas country roots and dusts them off with lonesome guitar, southwestern horns, and Josh Mazour’s equal parts aching and rowdy vocals. While the local trio pulls no punches with its country sound, they also add a slice of Deer Tick’s indie impulse live, making them one of the few genuinely country bred acts that fits just as easily at home in Red River’s clubs. After releasing their self-titled debut album in 2008, the band has begun to gain traction and is poised to this year finally kick up some much deserved dirt. Check out two of the tunes off of their debut for download below. Crooks will be heading out for a quick west coast tour next month, but you can catch them before they take off this Friday, January 29 at the Scoot Inn along with ex-Weary Boys outfit Woodsboss, and the folk-drone psych of Headdress.

If you haven’t yet given in some small way to help out with the relief efforts in Haiti, Sunday might be the opportunity you’ve been waiting for as an all star lineup assembles at Austin Music Hall for a benefit. We might go, but we’ve already donated so much money to that nice Haitian prince that reached out to us for support via email. Still, tough to pass up this bill, which features quick 20 minute shots from the likes of Asleep at the Wheel, Billy Joe Shaver, the Flatlanders, Kelly Willis, Band of Heathens, etc. You get the picture. The show kicks off at 2:00, and you can check out the full lineup over at the Statesman’s site. Tickets are $28 in advance, and $33 at the door, with the proceeds going to OXFAM and the Clinton-Bush Fund. (We always thought the Clinton Bush fund was something entirely different, but this money seems to be going to Haiti). For more info, and tickets, check out www.helpaustinhelphaiti.org.

We imagine that Jonathan Meiburg has had many conversations where he’s started going on about birds and uninhabited islands, and then just slowly watched some poor girl’s eyes glaze over, and then leave with the drummer. Such is the price of being too smart and obsessed with something that maybe, at best, .0000000001 per cent of the population cares about. But if you can turn it into a song, then, by god, you just might get the girl. So this new album by Shearwater, The Golden Archipelago, which comes out on Matador late next month, is apparently something of a concept album, with each song “associated with an island somewhere around the world.” In fact, it’s so damn complicated, that Shearwater is releasing a freakin’ 75-page “dossier” of what we’re just going to call “stuff.” We’re really hoping that Harlem’s Matador debut, Hippies, follows their local label-mates lead and comes with a bag of “artifacts” collected at various bus stations across the country. Anyway, following the first taste of Shearwater’s album that we got with “Castaways,” Matador this week offered up another mp3 for download, “Black Eyes.” It’s about the lost South Pacific city of Nan Madol (Duh!). Take a gander below (get it?!):