Thursday night when all you faux hipsters will be wearing your best Urban Outfitters to Stubb's for the Phoenix concert, I'll be at Emo's watching one of my favorite new bands, Violent Soho. These Aussies are out to prove grunge and anything Sonic Youth(ish) still kicks ass. Speaking of Sonic Youth, they are even on Thurston Moore's label, Ecstatic Peace! Records. They are touring to support their self titled album before making their way to Lalapalooza this summer. Violent Soho will be playing with Austin's own, The Boxing Lesson and Red Falcon. Now watch this video, turn it up and get your face rocked off!
Tonight at Hogg Memorial on the U.T. campus is where it is at tonight. It wasn't easy making my concert selection as there are several great shows tonight. Del Castillo at Antone's is going to be great as always. You could experience some Red River history at The Red Eyed Fly and see the Riddlin' Kids and Rubberhead. I used to like seeing the Riddlin' Kids in my early twenties, but the rare opportunity to see Nortec Collective takes precedence over all. It is not everyday you hear music like Nortec's, much less get the opportunity to see them live here in Austin.
Nortec Collective is a group of four DJs from Tijuana, Mexico. At Hogg Memorial tonight you'll get to see Bostich and Fussible. No stranger to Austin, this same duo was the headlining act at the first annual Pachanga Fest. Signed to Nacional Records, arguably the best Latin Music label in the world, Nortec has received nothing but praise and critical acclaim. Their fusion of electronica and Mexican Norteno music is truly original. They coined the sound. Their Tijuana Sessions albums are some of my favorite in my personal collection.
What is great about Nortec is not just their original sound, but their live show. They perform to a back drop filled with an array of multi-colored lights and images while their band backs up their DJing. Pictured in the show flyer, you'll see them holding this white board with squares. It is actually called a tenori and they use it in their music. It's pretty cool actually, and rather than describe it I figured I'd post a video clip for you to check it out. Go to the show and you'll see it live in person. If I had a tenori, I'd never leave the house.
This weekend in Austin we are blessed with not one, but two back to back nights with Alejandro Escovedo at the legendary Continental Club on South Congress. Escovedo is a music icon and a real genuine dude. I only hope I'm half as cool as he is one day. I admit I didn't much care for his music until Boxing Mirror came out, but wasn't totally won over with his latest album came out, Real Animal.
The first time I got to see Alejandro live in concert was at the legendary Gruene Hall in Gruene (pronounced like "green") right outside New Braunfels in 2008. It was also my first time seeing a show at Gruene Hall. My dad and I went and had a blast. Afterward, Alejandro stayed and signed autographs, took pictures with fans, etc. I bought my vinyl copy of Real Animal that night and had him sign it. I snapped this photo with him for the scrap book.
Just to briefly touch upon his music for those who don't know, it is very modern rock meets alt-country. It leans a little on the American side at times, but then kicks ass '60s rock style. He is an old school punk rocker, world traveled and made what is being called his "debut to the world" by sharing the stage with Bruce Springsteen. He often gets comparisons to The Boss more than any other known artist. Although I don't agree with the comparison, I know The Boss's fans will no doubt love Escovedo.
He does draw, and forgive my honesty and age here, an older crowd most of the time. There's always a few of us 20 something, in the know music geeks in the crowd. I am hoping that changes over time and believe it will as more people hear Real Animal and attend his shows. You may even get to hear him cover "All The Young Dudes" or see him share the stage with some talented musician friends of his.
When I was surfing around for a good live clip to embed in this post, I came across some great live footage on Vimeo of Alejandro performing "Always A Friend" live at SXSW this past March. Turn it up and give it a listen, then thank me later. There's some helpful links for the show as well as my interview with Alejandro I did this spring for Austin Vida. It was one of the highlights of my career.
From Austin Vida's Alysha Hernandez: "Austin Vida sat down with the duo outside of Sound on Sound Records to talk musical projects, chemical inspiration, and the Monterrey music scene. Anel – clad in a black dress, tights, and wrestler-esque boots – stared into the skyline. She seems quiet, but on stage she sings and screams like a banshee – her heart’s contents on display for all to see. Meanwhile, Mou wore dark-rimmed glasses; his hair was characteristically unkempt, with curly tufts shooting into the air."
Here is a YouTube video from their recent show at Emo's, a video different from the one we used for Austin Vida. This should give you an idea of why we were so fascinated with XYX. On Austin Vida, we use the Vimeo player for the better sound quality and HD capabilities.
On June 26th, you all need to go check out Austin based Latin Fusion band, Este Vato. This is your chance to see them for FREE with the Peligrosa All Stars DJs. I personally love these guys and will recommend them to anyone. Here's a quick video from the first time I saw them back at Trophy's on South Congress.
One of my favorite local rock groups, Velvet Brick, will be playing a show this Saturday at Room 710 on Red River. From the looks of the flyer above, it should be a great show. Velvet Brick front woman, the lovely Deanna Marie, is always a joy to watch. Velvet Brick also has arguable the best guitar player in town, Jason the Warlock Guitar God, shredding for your listening pleasure. Thanks also to photographer Laurie G. for taking some great live shots below.
For more information on Room 710 and Velvet Brick, click on the following links:
The Dears are a loose collective of Montreal-area musicians who combine cabaret-style vocals with a moody, intense brand of orchestral pop/rock. They were nominated for 'Best New Group' at the 2004 Canadian Juno Awards, and soon after the band found itself on several 'Best New Band' features in music magazines from Rolling Stone to NME. Great Northern is an indie pop group from Los Angeles with a shimmering, folk-influenced style of dream pop that's anchored with just enough of a rock & roll heart to keep it strong. Eulogies open.
More info:
Monday May 18th 8:00 PM
Venue: The Parrish, 214 E. 6th St, Austin, Texas 78701
This month on Austin Vida we have introduced a new feature. Our new music editor, Ajay Miranda, has captured some great video from some amazing Austin bands like Brownout, Del Castillo and Pack of Wolves. We also shot our first video pilot at La Rumba Disco on Riverside, featuring none other than Houston' Los Skarnales. Feel free to embed and share the videos from the Austin Vida Vimeo or You Tube. Thanks again to Ajay and thanks for reading the new Austin Vida.
Pack of Wolves is my favorite new metal band not only in Austin, but my favorite new metal band period. Being that they are from right here in Austin and Latinos only adds to my enthusiasm for them. Having been a fan of their former bands, such as At All Cost or their other side projects,it was great to see this group come together to take the metal scene to new heights in Austin. Having received some Spins already on No Control, hosted by Austin's metal guru Chuck Loesch, their success will only continue. I got to sit down with Trey Ramirez and Adrian Carillo to talk about the band coming together, the Austin metal scene, and even Hall and Oats. After all, there's nothing more metal than Hall and Oats.
Two hot young cdFuse artists, Driver F and Zlam Dunk, will be playing Friday at Stubb’s. They will be playing with Austin rock group, Spin Alley, as they release their new album entitled Victims. I have not yet checked out Spin Alley, so I look forward to seeing them for the first time. From what I hear on their myspace page, its sounds a little like 311 meets Faith No More.
I have seen co-headliners Driver F and Zlam Dunk many times this past year. Neither band ever disappoints me. Both bands are young and very high energy, but my comparison stops there. Both are worth checking out, and here’s why:
Driver F has the best album release of 2008 with Chase the White Whale. Don’t believe me? You can listen for yourself here on cdFuse or view their praise on the Driver F myspace page. All those critics and publications can’t be wrong. In addition to their great CD, their live show is the best it has been right now. They always had that “it” factor, but lately they sound more polished.It is a great blend of keys, horns, guitars, and energy. The horns don’t over power but compliment the vocals of Tyler Welsch and (W)Andy Lane. Even your mom will like Driver F.
Zlam Dunk is the hottest young band on the scene since Driver F. Having only been together since last spring, they too continue to improve their already exciting live show. Since they don’t fit a specific genre, I call Zlam Dunk’s music “dance punk”. It is certainly punk enough to mosh to, but hip enough to make you dance. There are lots of drums, keys, guitars, a tambourine and even the quintessential cowbell….because we all need more cowbell. Let me warn you though, their music and live show never slow down. You know when some bands play a couple of fast tracks and slow it down for a song or two? Not the Zlam Dunk guys. This band needs ritalin, but even that probably wouldn’t work.
If you don’t like mosh pits or crowd surfers, avoid the front and post up with me at the bar. I'll see you there!
After a three month layoff and an ownership change, Austin Vida is back and better than ever in 2009. With a new team and attitude behind it, Austin Vida has more to offer than ever before. We will be featuring music, reviews, business spotlights, news on the arts, blogs, and sports. That’s right. We’re introducing sports to Austin Vida this year.
Sports is the theme for our first cover, which features Austin MMA champ Nick “The Ghost” Gonzalez. Nick sits down with us to talk about growing up in Austin, his new management and major network deal. Nick is quite the charismatic personality with a lot to say. Austin Vida is proud that he represents Austin.
As always, Austin Vida will continue to support the local Latin Music scene with articles, Q&A’s and album reviews. After all, Austin Vida was originally founded to support Latin Rock in Austin. Be sure to check out our Ozomatli feature as well.
Also in this edition, we will be featuring book reviews, a business spotlight on Carlos Santana’s new restaurant, and our contributor’s blogs about whatever is on their mind. Be sure to click on the share buttons at the end of every article, add Austin Vida to your myspace friends, and “tweet” with us on Twitter.
Finally, we wanted to thank Austin Vida founder, Brian Stubbs, for creating this wonderful and much needed webzine for Austin’s Latino community. We needed something like Austin Vida that was uniquely ours...something that represented our viewpoints. We promise to hold ourselves to the same high standards Brian set forth for Austin Vida.
What's up everyone? After you recover from all the New Year's stuff, the real fun begins with Free Week. There will be many free shows (for 21 and up, small cover for under 21) all over downtown at venues like Emo's and Red 7 just to name a few. My first Free Week show I'm recommending to you is Built By Snow at The Mohawk. On the bill with them is my new favorite band, Zlam Dunk, and The Always Ready. I'll be out and about all week, discovering new bands I like, learning about bands I don't like and enjoying my current favorites. See you on Red River.
We just received the upcoming release, Mega, from Austin’s own Built By Snow. Mega is set for a January 20, 2009 release, but I got an early listen this week. Having followed Built By Snow for some time now, I was not surprised or disappointed by what I heard on Mega.
Wednesday night I hit up one of my old favorites for venues, Red7, to see The Action Design. Playing in the same bill as The Action Design was L.A.'s Killola and Austin's own Under The Gun. The show was outside in the Red 7 patio, versus being on the inside stage where I usually catch shows there. Truthfully, on a nice night, I prefer the patio.
When I got to Red 7, Under The Gun was in the middle of their set. Being one of my favorite local bands, I try to catch them whenever I can. Wednesday they did a really cool Bad Religion cover and some new songs that will be on their next album according to bassist Will Campbell. It should be interesting. The new songs sounded less punk rock party and more punk rock politics.
Shortly after Under The Gun finished up, Killola set up. Killola is a female fronted rock band from L.A. Lead singer, Lisa, has the look of actress Taryn Manning and the attiude of an early Deborah Harry. Cute as she was, she was all business on stage. It was so hot and humid Wednesday night, it is a wonder she didn't pass out of heat exhaustion. She was all over the stage, bouncing around and what not with her flinging all over the place. The small crowd was feeling it too, or just starring at Lisa and not really paying attention to the music. Either way, they got their moneys worth.
I wish I could tell you the names of some of their songs, but this was my first Killola experience. It won't be my last. In fact, Killola is giving away a free download of their album on their myspace if you want to check them out. I describe their sound as "party rock". I say this after seeing picture of Lindsay Lohanwith their album. I feel as if now I can be part of the cool kids now for being in the know. Lisa was super cool and engaging after the show as she posed for pics and hung out with fans. That kind of behavior and gratitude for fans speaks well. Being the picture slut that I am, I took a picture with her as well.
After Killola was the band we all came to see, The Action Design. I was interested in Action Design because two of their members are from the now broken up, Tsunami Bomb. I caught on to Tsunami Bomb late, as I discovered them only last year. They broke up after their 2004 release Definitive Act from what I understand. What a bummer right?
Lead singer "M" (Agent M or Emily Whitehurst) and bassist Matt Mckenzie were the two left over members from Tsunami Bomb. Whitehurst picked up right where she left off from Tsunami Bomb. She commanded the stage with her vocals and keyboards from the moment she set foot on it. The Action Design was energetic, a little electronic and more indie rock than I expected. Nothing against Indie rock, but I hear too much bad Indie rock these days to the point where I cringe at the mere mention of the word "indie". Wednesday night I didn't hear anything I didn't like from The Action Design. Every song sounded ready to be a breakout single and sounded polished (despite not having the best sound at the venue). There was good incorporation of key boards without them getting annoying or over done. Whitehurst was the great vocalist I remember from Tsunami Bomb. She is what will carry this band to another level, even though the band themselves seem to be great musicians.
I still cannot believe I saw them at Red 7 and not a bigger venue. Oh well, that's Austin for you. Here it is possible to catch a great band, not just a good but great band, on any given night at any venue. I see bigger shows for The Action Design here in the future. I picked up their CD after the show and highly recommend checking that out before they come back around. Check out this clip I took from the show:
Sunday night at Emo’sAustin got their first live look at hip hop legend Nasir Jones, aka Nas. He did not one, but two back to back shows in which he sold out both. I was fortunate enough to get a ticket to the second show. You really missed out if you didn’t catch either show.
Opening for Nas on this tour was popular Brooklyn MC Talib Kweli. Now Talib is no stranger to Austin. I remember him opening for Common a couple of years ago at Stubb's. Austin loves him and he gives a good show. He doesn’t come with hype men or an entourage, which I love by the way. As much as I love hip hop, I often find too many rappers often bring too many unnecessary people on stage. Now Kweli only comes with a DJ, but it works and works well. Usually I only enjoy hip hop shows that bring a band such as RZA, Common, and of course The Roots.
There is really nothing quotable or profound to I can say about Talib’s performance. He was solid as always and was a good opener. I didn’t hear anything new from him that I didn’t hear two years ago, but I enjoyed the tracks just the same. I really just wish him and Mos Def would do another Black Star album and tour.
Oh, I almost forgot. The actual opener for the show was this poor young girl from the California Bay area named Eva (I could be wrong on the name, so feel free to hit me up in the comments). This girl came out with some tired ass bubble gum R&B (I use the R&B classification loosely) and four back up dancers. I swear she was singing to a tape anyway. The You Tube comments and my fellow bloggers are already commenting on her.
This time, those few comments represent what the whole crowd was actually feeling. She lasted all but two songs before she got booed off the stage. No joke. Two songs and her dancers were the first ones off the stage before her. They knew when it was time to quit. I wonder what geniuses thought it would be a good idea to book her for this show or tour. I mean, did they want her to fail? You can’t throw some teeny, label manufactured, mediocre talent girl to the lions at a Nas show. Nas fans are hip hop purists and won’t even tolerate whack rappers. Still goes to show those in the industry still don’t all get it.
After Talib, Nas finally came out. I was wondering what he was going to have left for this second show. People coming out of the first show were already singing his praises, so I was anxious. That, and I have been waiting since I was like ten years old to see Nas. Those who were there already now…he came with it. He “killt” it. He owned it. He’s Nas.
As hard as it is for me to say anything negative about the greatest rapper alive not named Mos Def, I have two gripes. 1) I heard during the first show he did some Tupac covers. He didn’t do those during the second show and 2) Even with the crowd screaming and yelling for him to do “Ether”, he only gave us a few seconds of it.
Addressing Nas directly here: C’mon Nas! We know you and Jay are BFFs now. We know this. We read the magazines, the interviews online, etc. We know. Still, you asked us what we wanted to hear and then teased us with it. Why? “Ether” was your best track of this decade. It is a remnant of the best battle hip hop has ever known. It was a battle you won. You said so yourself Sunday night.
Oh well, Nas is still one of my all time favorites. His new CD is in my truck right now and I haven’t taken it out since I got it. In case you want to see clips of the second show, check out this clip a dude by the name of “mashfest” uploaded. The Emo’s people told me I couldn’t take my camera in there, so I left it in my car. Thanks Mash, for being a renegade and giving the people a memory of the best hip hop show this year.
Ian is a graduate of Round Rock High School and attended St Edward’s University in Austin, Texas. In 2008 he joined the team at Double Stereo (formerly CD Fuse) as their Blog editor where he reviewed concerts, albums, and did interviews for the popular music site.In January 2009, he became the Editor in Chief for Austin Vida. In 2010, with the help of some of his most talented friends, he launched Red River Noise. "Ian's Music Blog" is also one of the few blogs selected to be a Do512 All-Star.
On any given night of the week he can be found in downtown Austin on 6th Street and the Red River live music district.
