Austin Sound

ACL’s “The Sound and the Jury” competition, the annual contest where mediocre bands compete for a chance to play the worst possible slot on the ACL Fest lineup, is now open for business! We don’t really have any problem with the past battle of the bands winners, which were the Steps last year and new Austinites the Rocketboys for the inaugural competition, but really, this contest can get pretty dreary. After months of grueling pandering and head to head playing by the bands, they win, and the big payout is to play to an AM crowd of basically those folks who were too drunk or stricken by sunstroke to leave Zilker Park the night before. Calm down kids, we’re kidding! (We’re not really kidding). Anyway, you can sign your band up and begin the process of promotion (what? no Twitter account? You don’t stand a chance!) at the Dell Lounge, where all the cool kids are hanging out. Good luck folks, and to help get you in the spirit, here’s their video recap from last year’s competition.

Well, no sooner has the schedule for this year’s ACL dropped, then the Chronicle reports that the Beastie Boys will have to cancel the rest of their tour this year because Adam Yauch has been “diagnosed with a cancerous tumor in his left parotid gland.” We don’t know what that means, but it doesn’t sound [...]

Oh Noes! Let the inevitable annual complaining about conflicting bands begin! The Austin City Limits Festival released their grid today, and taking a look at the schedule broken down by days, it really doesn’t seem nearly as Nineties heavy as folks have been giving them a hard time for. Sure, headliners like Pearl Jam, Dave Matthews Band, and the Beastie Boys will all be drudging up some nostalgia, but the daily breakdowns look pretty packed this year! And though it will break our hearts to have to choose Grizzly Bear over the Airborne Toxic Event (it will not break our hearts), that’s the nature of festivals. All in all, the weekend of October 2 - 4 appears to be pretty stellar, and hopefully given the later date, a little bit cooler than the usual ACL sunburn. Check out the schedules here, and let us know what you’re excited or disappointed by. Also, single day passes are now on sale as well.

Well, there you have it. ACL finally gave official word on their 2009 lineup, supporting the all the rumors that have been circulating the past few weeks. Headliners this year will in fact be Pearl Jam, Dave Matthews, and the Beastie Boys, with Kings of Leon, Sonic Youth, John Legend, and Jack White’s new band, The Dead Weather, likely to pull in some of folks as well. We’re excited to see a particularly strong tier of indie band represented, with Grizzly Bear, Deer Tick, the Low Anthem, Cotton Jones, the Henry Clay People, and the Felice Brothers all showing up. We also can’t recommend highly enough catching Rodriguez, who will finally be coming to Austin! Also of note is the local representation with some familiar to the Fest (Ghostland Observeratory, Black Joe Lewis) and some newcomers (most notably Leatherbag). The 2009 ACL Fest goes down in Zilker Park October 2-4, and 3 Day passes are onsale now for $185. Check out the linuep below:

The ACL Fest has pushed back it’s weekend festival date to October this year, which should hopefully cool down Zilker Park a bit. This year’s Fest will take place October 2-4, and though no one in the lineup has been confirmed at all, the Stateman’s blog has been swirling with overheard speculation for the past week. But whether those rumors pan out or not, the early bird tickets will be onsale on April 7, though the price has yet to be announced. We’ll keep you posted.

In preparation for his string of ACL afterparties shows at Emo’s, where he’ll be shaking the floors inside on Friday and Saturday night, Car Stereo (Wars) mashup master Chris Rose is offering a download of his latest creation. It’s a pretty sweet remix of Spoon “Rhthm & Soul” (sic), and we’re sure he’ll be unloading it on the sweaty masses this weekend. Download the track below, and prepare to overtake the stage inside at Emo’s.

The competition for an indie band to win their way onto the ACL stage has reached it final leg, and once again there several local representatives vying for the 11:45am Friday slot on the Dell Stage. Among the six groups that will face off in the battle of the bands are Austin’s youngster sensation The Steps, the soul shakedown of T-Bird and the Breaks, the Scotland Yard Sale’s power pop, and returning finalists Quiet Company. Also winning top votes in the online contest are the Mexico outfit 60 Tigres and Utah’s Good Morning Maxfield.

For those not wanting to battle the sweltering September heat in Zilker Park, the ACL Fest has announced their official rundown of aftershows, which include some great opportunities to catch bands in more intimate settings than Fest. Among the artists performing their own shows are David Byrne, The Black Keys, The Drive-By Truckers, Conor Oberst performing with Jenny Lewis and M. Ward, and, finally, the Butthole Surfers giving us a local gig (Luckily, Stubb’s sound guy is probably out of beer-bottle flinging range). Full list after the jump, or go here.

The ACL Fest is once again holding their “The Sound and the Jury” battle of the bands for an opportunity for one worthy act to garner a set at this year’s festival. Last year saw four Texas bands and one from Georgia duking it out in the final live showdown, including locals Golden Bear, Quiet Company, and Nelo, though Abilene’s Homer Hiccolm and the Rocket Boys took the prize. Bands have until August 22 to register but voting starts on July 11. You can sign up here.

The Austin City Limits Festival released the schedule for the three day Zilker Park bash this week, and we like what we see. No major complaints in the conflict department, and a well-rounded set of artists. The Fest takes place September 26-28.