Austin Sound

Headdress is a nomadic folk duo that has been camping out in Austin for the latter half of 2007, after spending the last two years traversing through the southwest. The group’s mystical travels and restless spirit is well-represented on their breezy full-length debut, Turquoise (Totem Songs), which was supposedly recorded underground in Arizona and is sewn at its seams and individually numbered through 250. At times recalling the pastoral roaming and freak folk of contemporaries like Brightblack Morning Light, MV + EE, and Wooden Wand & the Vanishing Voice, the album more closely resembles the dark side of Neil Young’s Harvest, a somber and stripped-down meditation on the roots of Americana and blues. Call it hill country psych, born under a bad sign.

Regina Spektor will never write or perform a perfect pop song. That would be too easy for the Moscow-born, Jewish singer-songwriter. Spektor prefers instead to keep things a little rough around the edges, offsetting the ambience of her casually classical piano ballads with humorous tales that capture the mundane beauty of life. Or she’ll simply belch or curse halfway through an otherwise fine song to keep things from ever becoming too calm or pretty. Such is the charm of Spektor’s third LP, Begin to Hope (Sire), which balances two-chord punk odes with heartfelt songs like her breakthrough single, “Fidelity.” Austin Sound had the pleasure of speaking with Spektor before the Austin City Limits Festival in September, and she’ll be performing tonight [Tuesday, Nov. 6] at Stubb’s with Only Son.

Crouched in the closet of his parent’s guest bedroom as the rest of his family sleeps, Will Johnson quietly strums an acoustic guitar, overcome with a sudden vision.

The song soon took on a life of its own, becoming the animus for South San Gabriel’s The Carlton Chronicles: Not Until the Operation’s Through. The record essentially tells the story of Carlton, a terminally ill house cat who attempts to break away from the hand that feeds him, only to realize that his fantasy of fleeing doesn’t change the reality of his aging and sickness.

Voxtrot’s evolution from their string of EPs and 7-inch singles to their eponymous full-length and Playlouder long-player was a natural progression, revealing their newfound depth and complexity. As such, Voxtrot begins exactly where Your Biggest Fan left off. That three-song EP closed with “Sway,” an oft-looked pensive and beautiful ballad whose breezy string arrangements, composed by guitarist Jared Van Fleet (also of Sparrow House) and performed by Tosca Strings Quartet, lilted singer Ramesh Srivastava’s poetic yearnings.

Contributed by Austin in Austin

Thurston Moore is one of the most influential musical figures of our time and really needs no introduction. With Sonic Youth, his solo work and his constant search and support of new artists through his Ecstatic Peace label, Moore continues to explore and challenge the boundaries of music on any number of levels. Moore will be playing South by Southwest for an Ecstatic Peace showcase, and although the lineup hasn’t officially been announced, Ecstatic Peace artists that should be in town include MV + EE, Tall Firs, Black Helicopters and Sunburned. Austin in Austin recently spoke to Moore about Ecstatic Peace and his attempts to “explode the whole notion of what a record label is.”

As members of the now infamous experimental indie band the Unicorns Nick Diamonds and J’aime Tambeur worked tape manipulation, puppets, cheap synthesizers and thunderous guitars into mystical and mythical journeys of self-indulgent quirky splendor that was irreverent, yet completely irresistible. But the mounting tension between band members quickly ended the band and from it Diamonds and Tambeur formed Islands.

In many ways, Islands seems an extension of the legacy they created with the Unicorns. On Return to the Sea, the group’s debut album released earlier this year on Equator Records, Diamonds sings with a childish and off-kilter innocence that recalls Daniel Johnston and Wayne Coyne. His lyricism, like the band’s moniker, suggests a sense of alienation and individualism that is further deepened by string and accordion arrangements and layers of synthesizers that combine to create a whimsical world of emotion and exuberance not seen since Neutral Milk Hotel went In the Aeroplane Over the Sea. Classifying Islands, however, is no easy feat. The band’s surrealistic sonic landscapes incorporate everything from French horns to a charango and Hammond organ, making the transition into a live performance an art in and of itself.

As indie rock icons like My Morning Jacket, Built to Spill and Centro-matic arrive at and surpass the decade milestone, the torch is being passed to a new group of bearded, slanted and enchanted, guitar-slinging bands. Insert Ladyhawk, a Vancouver four-piece whose self-titled debut (Jagjaguwar) is equal parts Redo the Stacks and You in Reverse, at times a cathartic release of adolescent desperation and carpe-diem romanticism, at others, bracing, reverb-drenched solemn balladry.

                         -Austin Powell 

Venue: Emo’s Inside
Door: 8pm
Show: 10pm
Cover: $8

Mp3 from Ladyhawk:

The Capitol Years represent the golden age of sixties pop, where peace, love, and understanding translates into meditative folk-rock ballads, mop tops, and flower power. Leaning closer to The Byrd’s “Mr. Tambourine Man” than Bob Dylan’s, this Philadelphia-based quintet specializes in infectious harmonies, lo-fi grooves and overall Beatles pastiche.

Originally conceived as a solo project for Shai Halperin, who recorded every instrument on 2001’s Meet Yr. Acres with a four-track, the addition of Mastercaster’s rhythm section (Sir Kyle Lloyd and Dave Wayne Daniels) moved The Capitol Years out of the bedroom and into the garage for last year’s retro-rock gem Let Them Drink. The band’s latest, Dancing Away the Terror, is a mirage of ambient, colorful pop music, an escape from the tumultuous modern times through the ideals and sound of a past generation. Seriously though, what’s so funny about Dancing Away the Terror? Park the Van labelmates National Eye will open along with locals The Lemurs.

Contributed by Austin In Austin

Robert Randolph has only gotten high once. He mistakenly ate one of Gov’t Mule’s potent brownies before a show. At the Bonnaroo Music Festival, he demonstrated its effects, collapsing to the ground and convulsing his legs until his signature wide-brimmed hat fell to the floor.

For Randolph, music is the ultimate high. With his sacred pedal steel guitar in tow, he seamlessly blends genres – from funk and gospel to rock ‘n’ roll - unifying their associated histories and followers through an uplifting and spiritual songs.

I recently spoke to Randolph about his numerous collaborations for his latest album, Colorblind.

Robert Randolph and the Family Band will be performing at Stubb’s on Saturday, October 28th.

Contributed by Austin in Austin

Built to Spill’s seventh album and first in nearly five years, You in Reverse, is an appropriate reflection of chief songwriter Doug Martsch’s own personal maturation. It’s found in the tone of his guitar, the reverb in his vocals; nothing is polished to perfection. Instead, the indie guitar icon focuses primarily on creating emotional and epic musical passages that build from fundamentally simple conceits to climactic and grandiose gestures, while accepting its own limitations and imperfections.

From his hotel room in Washington D.C., Martsch fielded some questions regarding his solo work, cover band, and life in studio.
Built to Spill will perform Friday, Oct. 20, at Stubb’s.