Austin Sound

We love this idea and can not wait for the Singularity, when we will all have replaceable parts. In fact, with the way that we’ve been treating our livers, it’s really our only hope for living out the rest of the decade. And when we do finally replace our dilapidated and crumbling husks of bodies with new pieces to make us faster better stronger whatever, we really hope that the Black and White Years’ sophomore album, Patterns, will provide the OR room/assembly line soundtrack. The new video featuring the always awesome animation of Eric Power, makes us really happy and really sad all at once, kind of like thunderstorms, animal shelters, and twitter. In other words, conflicted! Check out the video for “Cold” below, though, and you’ll have a chance to catch the Black and White Years again here in town when they play a HAAM benefit at Antone’s on April 28.

Yesterday afternoon the Statesman reported that blues pianist, Antone’s fixture, and Austin legend Pinetop Perkins passed away at the age of 97. Perkins reportedly died at home in his sleep due to cardiac arrest. The pianist was a pillar of Austin since moving here with the aid and support of Clifford Antone in 2003, and garnered three Grammys, including a Lifetime Achievement Award. Perkins was an icon of a trifecta of Delta, Chicago and Austin blues, having played with nearly every blues legend of note from Sonny Boy Williamson to Muddy Waters. In a statement posted on the artist’s website, B.B. King called Perkins “one of the last great Mississippi bluesmen,” while Susan Antone notes appropriately, “He was a member of our family, not just the Antone’s family, but the Austin family.” Arrangements are still pending. Watch a video of Pinetop and Clifford Antone playing the Broken Spoke back in 2005 below:

We really don’t thrown around words like absurd casually - really only when the situation truly calls for it, or with Charlie Sheen. So when we say that the lineup for the Austin Music People launch party and first annual benefit is absurd, you know it’s good. Here’s the deal: Back when the non-profit was announced in October, we thought this would be the kind of group that could actually get stuff done for music in Austin. But we just figured that was politics and money stuff - you know, boring. We didn’t anticipate that it would putting on amazing events like this. So to help raise money for AMP, there will be a huge show on Thursday March 31, at the new ACL Live at the Moody Theater (naturally) to help drive membership. Tickets are on sale as of 10am this morning for two prices (including a cheap $20 one!): There’s the $20 Community Membership including ticket to the floor and balcony and membership that includes invites to exclusive AMP events, special discounts and giveaways, or the special $250 Professional Membership, which is a ticket to mezzanine seating as well as a pre-show VIP Happy Hour reception with AMP’s Board and professional members. Plus, AMP membership includes regular professional networking gatherings, project opportunities, key updates, invites to AMP events, and special discounts and giveaways. So yeah yeah yeah, all that i is good stuff, but why are you REALLY going? Because of this lineup below:

We love the Old Settler’s Fest every year. Even when it gets a little too Austin-hippie jam band for us, there are rarely events that are as chilled out and friendly and that compile such top notch talent in a relatively small area. So we are kind of excited that this year, in addition to the expected roots all-stars like Richard Thompson, Sam Bush, Tim O’Brien, and Jim Lauderdale, there is also a pretty nice dose of artists we would typically consider more in the indie-oriented realm. Most notably is the Friday night headliner of the Avett Brothers, which indicates that either the Old Settler’s Fest has finally caught on, or that the North Carolina trio has been supplanted by their British tribute act in the form of those Mumford lads and are now down to lower tier festivals. We kid, we kid - this is a win-win in our books! Also interesting to note are Langhorne Slim and Elliot Brood, and of course a ton of great local artists ranging from the young Ruby Jane to Jimmie Dale Gilmore. The Fest and camping will be going on out at Camp Ben McCulloch and the Salt Lick Pavilion from Thursday, April 14 to Sunday, April 17, 2011, and for tickets and more info, check out their website. The full lineup and schedule are below:

See your bands in this week’s Chronicle. Get your bands here.

Last month we got a taste of the new Okkervil sound when they debuted the first of their new tunes on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. It was an odd little preview with A.C. Newman and the Roots’ ?uestlove and Damon Bryson helping out on the song “Wake and Be Fine”, which will appear the new Jagjaguwar release I Am Very Far due in May. “Weave Room Blues” is even weirder though - as a non-album B-side, they seem to be feeling the freedom to mess around on the song. Either that, or A.C. Newman’s New Pornographers’ stardom is beginning to rub off. There are no official dates up yet for Okkervil around town, but we do know that they will be here for SXSW, so get your RSVPs on to those parties. Check out “Weave Room Blues” below, and you can already pick up the new 7-incher from the band, Mermaid, now.

So seems the Murdocks have finally had enough of us. You know, they just got really good, so it only makes sense to go out on top and thus up the pricetag on their eventual reunion show. Good business strategy. Very savvy. Of course, seeing as how it took them nearly half a decade to get their last LP out, maybe this isn’t so much a hiatus as it is a break to do some recording. Or something. Last year the local trio impressed with the release of Distortionist, but according to the band, this Thursday will mark their last show for the indeterminate future. We know how these “trial separations” go, though - first you start up the side project, and then things just fall off, and before you know it, it’s been two years since you thought about all those good old Murdocks days. It’s cool though - we can take it. The funny thing about this breakup though, is that they’re going to still dump a bunch of videos and tunes on us over the next year that they have in the attic. So what’s up guys, is this good bye or not? Don’t tease us. Either way, we’ll still be down at Emo’s on Thursday night for one final fling with Murdocks as the band unloads their “hits” from across the past decade with support from Paper Shapes, Antic Romantics and Shazz.

A couple of weeks ago, our friends over at Do512 officially launched their new in-house concert series with the inauguration of the Do512 Lounge. With help from Austin Music Weekly filming the gigs, they have put together an amazing, intimate experience. Consider it kinda Austin City Limits for next generation. So while they don’t have a deal with TV (yet!), they do have the web and the awesome talents of the AMW crew. Their first “pilot” show in the Lounge was Saints of Valory, but the Black Angels were really the ones to initially set the tone for what the Do512 folks want to accomplish - big bands, intimate venue, and free beer. Sounds like Austin to us! The Black Angels played about a 5 song set to a crowd of about 50 fans, and if you couldn’t be there, you should definitely check out the video below and pay attention to Do512 for your chance to get in on some of their upcoming performances in the Lounge. You can also check out more videos from the series on Austin Music Weekly’s Youtube page (as well as other great shows from around town), including the most recent Lounge sets from James McMurtry and the Bright Light Social Hour.

Next week the Sour Notes will be releasing their fourth LP (in as many years!), titled Last Looks. We’ve been following, and fans of, the quintet over that time, with the band proving to be impressively aggressive in their evolution. Last Looks, which was actually recorded on the heels of last year’s It’s Not Gonna Be Pretty, was held onto for release until now as the band upped their touring profile, and we’re excited to finally get to hear their new material and share it with you via the streams they’ve offered up below. The quintet now features drummer Taylor Steinberg, pianist Kelly DeWitt and bassist Amarah Ulghani joining founding Notes Chris Page and Jared Boulanger, but perhaps even more exciting is the additional strings and brass added across Last Looks courtesy of Mother Falcon, who will be joining the Sour Notes live for the CD release show next Thursday at the Mohawk. Also on the bill are For Hours And Hours and Missions. If you can’t wait until then to get a taste of the band’s latest sound, you can catch them tomorrow, February 12, as they participate in the free “Rehearsal at the Astoria” series at Atrhouse, and wet your palette with the full album stream of Last Looks below:

Um, WOW. We have to admit that we weren’t expecting to wake up this morning to animated erections! (Ok, maybe we were, but that’s a different story). We were, though, really excited (not as excited as some, apparently) about the new animated video for the Boxing Lesson from their album Fur State. Like their earlier video, this one was done by Jeanne Hospod, and is pretty trippy and odd. Hell, we’re even a little confused by the video’s actual description: “Alien woman seduces hapless human male involving a very unusual flower.” Hahaha, hapless human males! Also, he should really have his penis looked at now, because we’re pretty sure it’s not supposed to glow like that. What the hell is going on here! Honestly though, the best part about this video is the end, when the hapless human male wakes up from his wet dream to three cats staring at him. Oh man, if we only had a nickel… Watch the video below, unless you’re at school or somewhere where it matters if someone thinks you’re some kind of pervert or something. The Boxing Lesson, first with the Furries, now this.