Austin Sound

The past year on the Austin music scene has been a rather up-and-down affair. We’ve had some fantastic developments, like the internet radio tastemakers Woxy moving to town and making themselves right at home, and we’ve had a number of low points, like the continued fight over sound ordinances and city hall stifling plans for a dedicated music department. We also lost long time Austin icons like Stephen Bruton, Tina Marsh, and Rusty Wier, and even Sky “Sunlight” Saxon moved to Austin only to quickly move on to yet another plane of existence. And already at the start of the new decade, our music scene is caught between promise and controversy. The former came in the form of last month’s release of Matador Records’ Austin comp, Casual Victim Pile, curated by Gerard Cosloy and hopefully putting a number of new bands on the map, and the latter emerging with the University of Texas’ decision to try to shut down the seminal Cactus Cafe.

There is no band in Austin right now more on their way to domination than The Sword, the lords of thunder that have ripped the local music scene’s indie heart with their heavy pummel of guitars and metal sprung from Black Sabbath’s burning altar. Riding upon an epic sweep, the local quartet has branded Red River behind a fierce doom and sludge onslaught, carving out an international reputation on the strength of their two acclaimed albums, 2006’s Age of Winters and last year’s Gods of the Earth, as well as being tapped to open for Metallica on their 2008 tour. We spoke with the Sword’s frontman J.D. Cronise about the band’s helping forge an unlikely metal resurgence from Austin, his songwriting, and the surprising details of the band’s third LP, planned to be released next year (acoustic guitars!). The Sword will be laying waste to Waterloo Park on Saturday, November 7, as part of the Fun Fun Fun Fest, scheduled to play at 4:25 on the Black stage.

It’s October 8th and I find myself inside the elegantly lit Hideout Theater listening to local folk singer Joanna Barbera pick at her guitar, stomp her foot, and sing raspily into the mic. I’m front left and can almost reach out and touch her. While she is singing, I notice the absolute silence that surrounds her — the unfaltering focus — and it seems that no where else would such nuanced and subtle finger-picking and lullaby-intoning ring out so clearly and impress with such emotional force.

The unlikely convergence of the Band of Heathens serves as the epitome of Austin’s music scene: three distinctly talented songwriters brought together by playing weekly in-the-round gigs at Momos. That was back in 2006, though, and since then, Gordy Quist, Colin Brooks, and Ed Jurdi, along with Seth Whitney on bass and John Chipman on drums, have become a uniquely melded force. Following the release of two live albums, the band issued their eponymous studio debut last year, and have already returned with a sophomore full-length, titled One Foot in the Ether, and released this week on their own label. While the shades of their folk ballads and Little Feet-esque southern jams still emerge on the latest album, their sound has congealed as much more uniquely their own, and the band has never sounded as impressively coherent as they shift into looser, more rockin’ territory. We spoke with Gordy Quist about the new album, the songwriters’ solidification over the past couple of years, and their decision to eschew labels despite widespread interest. You can catch the Band of Heathens’ famous live show again in Austin this Saturday, September 12, at Antone’s, where they’ll be playing with Drew Smith’s Lonely Choir.

Kat Edmonson, whose socially-conscious single “Be The Change” made waves in Austin last year (thanks in part to the excellent video that was made with it), has come back with Take To The Sky, a new album full of old jazz standards and brilliant, unashamed pop covers (although Edmonson may take issue with you calling them “covers”). Her breathtaking live performances have been packing Austin clubs for months behind her band’s unique and versatile arrangements and Edmonson’s stunning vocal prowess. She took time out of her busy independent-artist schedule to talk to us about going up North, the new album, covering The Cure, and “kittenish” puns that were perhaps less than fit-to-print. You can see Edmonson live on Tuesday, July 7, as she plays at the Cactus Cafe on campus. We suggest you stop by and pick up Take To The Sky before a major label grabs it up (seriously).

Ever since the release of last year’s stunning Rivers Arms, we’ve heralded Balmorhea as one of the best bands in Austin, a reputation even further enhanced with this spring’s third album, All is Wild, All is Silent. The band, now expanded from the original collaboration between Michael Muller and Rob Lowe to a sextet with strings and percussion, infuses a classical elegance to their compositions that drift between ambient folk and controlled, understated post-rock textures. Balmorhea returned just this week from their first European tour, and we took the opportunity to catch up with Muller, who discussed the concept behind All is Wild, All is Silent, an upcoming remix project of the album coming out later this year through local label Western Vinyl, and the band’s next record, which is already recorded. If you have yet to see Balmohea weave their exceptional sound live, the band’s show this Friday, May 22, at Stubb’s is a must. Locals Pompeii and Alex Dupree and the Trapdoor Band open.

In January of 2008, Haunting Oboe Music announced their ambitious project to release an EP a month for the entire year. We talked to the band at the outset to gauge where they were starting from and what they hoped to accomplish with effort, and followed their progress throughout the year. Having survived the endeavor and produced an amazing 12 EPs and over 50 new songs, we wanted to check back in with the now-quintet as they prepare to start playing live again. (For an amazing rundown of their EPs, we recommend you check out the awesomely comprehensive review of all 12 over at ‘Nites!). The most impressive aspect of the EPs is the range of styles and changing dynamics that can be witnessed over the course of the year, listening to the band fearlessly explore different directions and then slowly hone that sound back into a more coherent presentation. HOM is currently working on narrowing down and re-doing the songs from last year for their debut full length to be released at some point this summer, but perhaps the biggest change to their equally cathartic and intricate sound will be seen live. They’ll be playing inside at Emo’s tonight, Thursday April 16, along with Lymbyc System and Loxsly. We sat down with Nick Whitfield, Ian Hunt, and Anthony Johnson at the band’s house to talk about the project, where the band is now, and what’s next.

This weekend, the Black Angels will present Psych Fest 2 at the Radio Room (formerly Bourbon Rocks on Sixth St.). Though only the Fest’s second incarnation, it has already blossomed into a three day event with over 30 bands, including headliners A Place to Bury Strangers, Sky Sunlight Saxon of the Seeds, and locals the Golden Dawn performing their 1968 psych classic, Power Plant. And of course, the Black Angels and scores of other fantastic Austin bands will be joining in on the fun. We talked to Angel’s guitarist Christian Bland earlier this week as he made preparations at the Radio Room, asking him about the past year’s experience teaming up with Roky Erickson (with whom they’ll be playing at the Austin Music Awards), the current psych scene, and the band’s plans for the Fest in the future. Psych Fest starts this Friday, March 13.

There’s something about discussing music over beer that always rides a fine line between pretension and authenticity. Among friends, bare bones honesty surfaces, and we can delve into the meat of albums circulating in these days of plentiful “indie” pop rock bands. Though there’s a dearth that’s worth a mention, fewer deserve a full play on your iPod.

Austin-via-Athens, Ohio five-piece The Story Of is part of that shiny minority, and migrating southwest 4 years ago brought their creative core closer to the fore. Candid, punchy and playful, they’re respectful of each other, as close friends always are, and though their dynamic isn’t uncommon, it nicely compliments the mélange of poppy, bright, sometimes spatial, sometimes somber rock they’ve made since 2002.

PRESENTING THE 2008 SAMMIES

Greetings from the ever soggy, though otherwise climatically inconsistent city of Houston. You know, we, the editors of The Skyline Network, know we have a responsibility not just to make up new words and tell people what the hottest new dice is, we also should participate in some sort of feedback loop wherein we ask our readers what some of their tite mite be. That’s why, every year since 2007, we’ve organized The Sammy Awards, recognizing 713/281/832 favorites among our exceptionally good looking audience. We give them the categories, they give us the votes, we give the winners Certificates of Achievement that we found at the dollar store. And while more of them were thrown in the firepit at the awards party than actually made it out the door (at least one now hangs in the venue’s rest room), it’s our way of saying thanks for the memories. This year, as an added bonus, we were able to assemble a notable cast of notables to provide Special Comments on the winners. We’re very Pine Belt about all this. Without further ado we present The Sammies.