Watch: "I Know Places" (Live on the Moon) by Lykke Li

This chick has been all over the music magazines, including two covers recently, and European press of course. Lykki Li is going to be a festival headliner soon. I just sense it. With amazing stage presence and that incredible voice, she can go far. I think she fills the void that Amy Whinehouse left and Duffy tried to fill but couldn't.

Angel Ferrer tonight at Momo's

Tonight Angel Ferrer, formerly of Ill Camino and currently with the Chris Perez project, will be performing with his Daylight Sessions soul band tonight at Momo's. He's a good musician, songwriter and singer. Tonight is a rare opportunity to see him doing his soul thing. He performs at the 12:30am spot after Wendy Colonna and Dave Madden. Yeah it is a little bit late, but his soul music is perfect for ending the night. Take your lady for a night cap and then go home and make babies. Check out this live video clip of Ferrer performing at Lucky Lounge in 2009.



Momo's is located at 618 W. 6th Street above Katz's Deli. Tickets are $10. More details here.

Adrian Younge and the Black Dynamite Orchestra totally smash!

Adrian Younge and the Black Dynamite Orchestra have been featured on Wax Poetics recently and played at the Scoot Inn during SXSW. How they flew under my radar, I don't know. I'm super pissed at myself for missing this band. Will someone please bring these guys back around to Austin?!!!!!!!!

Inspired by the Blaxploitation movies of the 1970s,  musician Adrian Young (not the guy from No Doubt) is a Wax Poetics artist. He and his crew there took Sundance by storm with above performance. I first saw this video below that made me look them up. Turn it up loud!

Still Bill: A Tribute to Bill Withers at Momo's

One of my all time favorite old school soul songs is "Ain't No Sunshine" by the great Bill Withers. I credit my dad for introducing me to Withers at a young age. I think Withers often gets lost in the shuffle these days with all the other fantastic soul artists of his era, but there isn't a person alive that doesn't know and love "Lean On Me". Some of his other classic hits include "Just The Two of Us" and "Lovely Day". Now you know who Bill Withers is right? Yeah, that guy...

3/10 Ocote Soul Sounds DJ Set at Malverde

This Wednesday, March 10th, Adrian Quesada and Martin Perna of Ocote Soul Sounds will be spinning at Malverde. It will be interesting to see them behind the turntables instead of their instruments, but it should be a good time none the less. There is no cover so there is no reason to stay home. Wednesday is the new Friday for the cool kids of the world. Marlverde is located at 400-B West 2nd St. Austin, TX. 78701 (above La Condessa and across from Lambert's). The guys from Ocote spin from 8pm to 12am. Get your Coconut Rock groove on!

2/22/10 Free Show with Downtown Rulers Club at Continental Gallery

 

Alex Chavez of Dowtown Rulers Club

Two weeks ago I went up to the Continental Gallery on South Congress to checkout Downtown Rulers Club, the soul side project of Maneja Beto's lead singer Alex Chavez. It was the first time I have ever heard him sing anything non-Latin and in English. The dude is good. He got soul and so do his bandmates: Christopher Grady on bass, Jeremy Bruch on drums and Beto Martinez on guitar. All four members play for bands or artists you might recognize including Brownout and What Made Milwaukee Famous. 

Downtown Rulers Club is a semi-new new band and looking for a good spot for a weekly residency. Their show Monday night is free. They play at 9:30pm and put on a good show. That Continental Gallery space is small but has a good vibe to it. It is not The Continental but the second floor loft next to the tattoo place and The Continental Club. Check it out for free and have a good time listening to music that your momma would love. 

Visit the Downtown Rulers Club on Facebook here: Downtown Rulers Club Fan Page

Free show Monday night with The Downtown Rulers Club

 

The Downtown Rulers Club (photo by Isabel Salazar)

This Monday night at The Continental Club, The Downtown Rulers Club will be playing a free show starting at 9:30pm. They are a very cool classic '60s-'70s style soul band. They are fronted by Alex Chavez, whom you may know as the lead singer of Maneja Beto. Other members of The Downtown Rulers Club include members of Grupo Fantasma. When I first heard these guys, I was hooked immediately. I love old school soul music live. You can keep up with these guys on their Facebook page for now. We'll see what happens with these guys as the year goes by. For now, give a listen to The Downtown Rulers Club:

Sharon Jones on SNL with Michael Buble

Michael Buble is a good singer who gets rich off singing other people's songs, but Sharon Jones is the real deal Holyfield. I love me some Sharon Jones and The Dap Kings. Their new album, I Learned The Hard Way, is coming out on April 6th. I'm really hoping they stamp a vinyl for that one. Right now you can visit www.daptonerecords.com and get you a free download of the title track. You know you need some soul in your life.

Check out my girl Sharon Jones on SNL:

1/9/10 Saturday Free Week Pick: T Bird and the Breaks at Mohawk

After getting my aggression out at Red 7 on Friday, I'll be ready for a change of scenery and venue Saturday night. Saturday is a feel good night that should lead you to get your last bit of Free Week fix at Mohawk. One of my favorite bands, local or non, is T Bird and the Breaks. I've talked about on here before, but in case you're visiting for the first time, they are a blue eyed soul band that sound something from your mom's old record collection. If you like Black Joe and the Honeybears, Brownout, Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings or just some good old school soul music, then you will love-love-love you some T Bird and the Breaks.

As for your worries about it being cold and this show being on the outdoor stage, fear not. Mohawk has outdoor heat lamps and the wall surrounding the outside area blocks wind for the most part. You can always hang out inside by the bar and inside stage to catch some more Free Week goodness, but come out when T Bird plays. I know there is lots to do and see Saturday night, but seeing T Bird for free at Mohawk is a must. They don't play Red River too often as they usually do the Momo's, Antone's and Continental circuit. If miss them Saturday, catch them at Hole in Wall over by UT campus on January 23rd. I'm glad to see they are giving love to the old Hole in the Wall, a venue I admit I never go to enough.

For some quick and brief T Bird and the Breaks goodness, click play on this widget and turn it up. I also posted a couple of links below for you to explore if you wish.




More helpful links:

T Bird and the Breaks on MySpace

T Bird and the Breaks official website

Thanksgiving Pick: T-Bird & The Breaks at Momo's

With all your relatives in town, or if you're visiting from out of town, you are going to want to get out of the house. You'll either want to A) get the hell away from the them until it is time for them to leave back to the crap city that they came from or B) go out and show the family you love a good time in Austin, Texas. Even on holidays such as Thanksgiving, there are plenty of good live shows to choose from. How do you choose from so many? I'll make it easy on you.

My Thanksgiving pick is for one of my favorite local groups, T Bird and The Breaks. I first saw these guys at the 2008 Sound & The Jury contest at Antone's. In fact, they were who I would have chosen as the winner even though I wasn't there to see them that night. This ten piece soul group is a throwback to time when music was good. They are a throwback to the blue eyed soul your parents grew up listening to on vinyl. With a brass section, three female back up singers and one funky ass white boy singing lead, they can do no wrong. They kind of remind me of this group from one of my favorite '90s movies, The Commitments. Anyone else remember that one? With the those cool Irish dudes?

After stuffing your big ass with turkey all day and watching the Cowboys barely beat the Raiders, you will need to work off everything you ate. There is no better way to do that then heading down to Momo's Thursday night on 618 W. 6th St. You'll see it right by Katz's Deli for those of you who may need a land mark to reference. Also playing at Momo's Thursday will be Brett Randell at 8:00pm and Blues Mafia at 10:00pm. T Bird and The Breaks go on at midnight. By then you should be tipsy or stupid drunk, so T Bird will sound even better than they all ready do. I'm telling you, they are a great party band even your momma will like. Check out their latest single here and listen for yourself:



For more on T Bird and The Breaks, visit the following links:

T Bird and The Breaks official website

T Bird and The Breaks on MySpace

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Album Review: 'Coconut Rock' by Ocote Soul Sounds

Ocote Soul Sounds is the combined musical genius of Adrian Quesada and Martin Perna. Both come from big bands, as in bands with lots of members and popularity, while coming from different worlds. Many of you may have seen them live recently with their friends, Thievery Corporation. They’ve played with some of the biggest names and most talented of musicians known and less known. With Coconut Rock, Ocote’s third release, they may have created something unique that holds its own that will make people forget about all of that.

Click here to read the full review on Double Stereo

I can't post the new video for "I'm Broke" by Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears

Today I just realized that I have never blogged about one of my favorite local Austin based groups, Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears. Seriously folks, I'm embarrassed by it. Black Joe is amazing, funky, soulful, you name it. There's nothing bad that can be said about these dudes.

Here in Austin especially, they cross over into every genre of music fans, from indie rockers to funksters. Even hardcore fans such as myself get down to Black Joe. They should be even bigger now thanks to recently opening for Austin's indie mega stars, Spoon. This past Friday on YouTube, their label put out their new video for "I'm Broke" off thier album Tell Em What Your Name Is!

This is the part where I'd usually post the video, but it has been disabled by request on YouTube. I hate when labels, bands, artists do that. Why even bother to put it on YouTube? I know the answer, it's exposure. People search YouTube all the time and it will get views. As a fan with a blog, Myspace page, etc I'd like to post it and share it with people. Viewing it on YouTube is free. Watching the YouTube videos are free. The average person can't rip the videos anyway. Even someone who could with a YouTube downloader, could they also edit the video? Those people are slimmer by the number. Would they do it to this video? Not likely. The same thing happened when they put "Sugarfoot" on YouTube. That pisses me off.

Unleash the reigns there suits and watch the views increase greatly! Watch as they sell more albums and downloads. Watch more people buy tickets to their shows in Austin and out of Austin. Why cheat the band out of that? Embrace web 2.0 and social media. When done right, it does wonders for bands.

Click on the album cover to check out the video for "I'm Broke". It's funky. If you are new to Black Joe Lewis & The Honey bears, check out the video for Sugarfoot as well. You'll enjoy that as well.

Gaby Moreno: The Austin Vida Interview

Guatemalan Born Gaby Moreno marches to the beat of her drum. While she is one hundred percent Latina and bilingual, she is not the Latin pop princess she may appear to be. She is approachable, humble and bit shy. However, when she takes the stage and gets behind the microphone, you would swear her voice was coming form someone else’s body. Moreno sounds like she is from another era, born sixty years too late (which she will tell you herself). Old jazz and blues records are what make Moreno tick, not the Latin pop some may expect her to play.

Click here to read the full interview with Gaby Moreno on Austin Vida

Album Review: Its Easier To Be Someone Else by Hey Ocean!

Hey Ocean! is a cool indie soul hybrid from Vancouver, British Columbia. They were here in Austin for SXSW this year and played one of the Musebox showcases. After reading more about them online, it appears they have created quite a buzz for themselves in their native Canada. Soon they will have the music blogosphere buzzing stateside as well with their sophomore effort, It’s Easier To Be Someone Else.

Click here to read the full review on Double Stereo

Nikka Costa Album Review on cdFuse

If you are looking to fill the Amy Winehouse void in your life and Duffy doesn’t quite do it for you, then check out what we got in the mail recently at cdFuse. The newest release from Nikka Costa, someone I consider to have one of the best voices in music, will easily fill that void.

Full Review...