me::title_else
My Schedule
1:00 AM
to 2:00 AM
Surfer Blood
409 schedule::attendees
Location
Emo's Main Room
eventtype Music
Artists Surfer Blood
event::about Hailing from West Palm Beach, Florida, the quintet known as Surfer Blood had a breakout year in 2010 with the release of their debut album 'Astro Coast' in January 2010. Months prior to the actual release, Surfer Blood took the CMJ music festival by storm playing an incredible 12 shows. Spending the winter months leading up to their album release, Surfer Blood criss-crossed the nation on tour supporting Japandroids and Art Brut. Never breaking straight into the new year, getting a major boost from all around rave press reviews, including a 'Best New Music' tag from Pitchfork Media, the band continued their incessant touring. This year has taken these Floridians across Europe several times, as far as Japan for Summer Sonic and Australia for Splendour in the Grass festivals; they ended out the year with a support tour for Interpol. Because of their dedication, 12 months later Astro Coast is topping several year end lists. NPR deemed them "America's best new pop band", they made Rolling Stone's "Rookies of the Year" list, Filter Magazine listed their album as #7 of the year, plus making the list of numerous others: MySpace, NME, Urban Outfitters, Rough Trade Shop. Based on the longevity that the album stayed in PopMatter's rotation, they regard it as "unfuckwithable" and PrefixMag said, "Surfer Blood is the best '90s band working today." For 2011, Surfer Blood will return with an EP of new tunes to be released in late spring. More touring will inevitably ensue.
event::tags All Ages
12:30 PM
to 1:00 PM
Hounds Below
27 schedule::attendees
Location
Hole In The Wall
eventtype Unofficial Music
Speaker/Artist(s) Info
Hounds Below
event::about
The Midgetmen are excited to be hosting our 4th Texas Jumpstart party during SXSW 2011. We've moved to the Hole in the Wall for this year, but The Midgetmen's Texas Jumpstart 4 will still be 100% free with 100% free beer (til it runs out).
1:30 PM
to 2:00 PM
Goes Cube
18 schedule::attendees
Location
Hole In The Wall
eventtype Unofficial Music
Speaker/Artist(s) Info
Goes Cube
event::about
The Midgetmen are excited to be hosting our 4th Texas Jumpstart party during SXSW 2011. We've moved to the Hole in the Wall for this year, but The Midgetmen's Texas Jumpstart 4 will still be 100% free with 100% free beer (til it runs out).
8:00 PM
to 9:00 PM
Dale Watson
34 schedule::attendees
Location
Continental Club
eventtype Music
Artists Dale Watson
event::about Though Dale Watson’s recording career spans two decades, the maverick country traditionalist has never before released an album like this. “There’s nothing here that’s retro,” insists Dale of Carryin’ On. “I was really hoping to make a record with today’s technology, but with the musicians who played on the music I grew up on. I’m pretty happy with the way we’ve merged today with yesterday on this album. It will remind people of the old records, but it sounds like something new.” The new album on a new label marks a fresh start for Watson, a major leap from the hardscrabble honky-tonk that has won him an international following, earned him induction into the Austin Music Hall of Fame and established him as a leading crusader against the “Nashville Rash” plaguing the country music industry. Without compromising his musical values, he sounds here like a singer with nothing to prove and no one to fight. The angry young man has matured. The result, says Dale, is “the pinnacle of what I’ve done, in terms of the songs, the production, the musicianship.”
event::tags 21+
8:00 PM
to 9:00 PM
Skatenigs
20 schedule::attendees
Location
Emo's Jr
eventtype Music
Artists Skatenigs
event::about The Skatenigs were doing things they liked without anybody's approval or looking at the past or the future. Their simple songs with anarchy bent, intelligent lyrics, samples from movies or politicians speeches perfectly matched to the songs and characteristic voice of Phil Owen created a general showcase of this Texas band. The leader and vocalist in the band was unchangeable Phil "Phildo" Owen, a musician in such other projects like Snowblack, Choreboy or (the most often) Revolting Cocks, but also a producer of the first Skrew album amongst all. Phildo has his own style of making music and performing it on the stage, maybe more spontaneous than worked out but still memorable after many years have passed by. The public was always enthusiastic to the live shows of The Skatenigs what's yet another proof for its characteristic sound mixing punk, rock, rap and metal styles with a little bit of industrial as well. Now, the 'CEO of industrial bump and grind' will soon unleash the heavily-anticipated Skatenigs album. Owen's most dynamic and cohesive effort to date, blistering industrial tracks that are a forward-thinking, scathing indictment of the fast food mentality and the utter complacency that is pervading and eroding American culture. Scheduled for digital release spring 2011 "Adult Entertainment for Kids" is sure to rock the foundations of everything considered to be wholesome by middle-America. The message is simple, yet urgent: it is a lyrical call-to-arms to wreak havoc on conformity, to rebel against the idiocy that is inherent in societal institutions, to stop tolerating nefarious political administrations, corrupt corporations, and the evils of capitalism.
event::tags All Ages
8:00 PM
to 9:00 PM
Suuns
110 schedule::attendees
Location
Red 7
eventtype Music
Artists Suuns
event::about Montreal’s Suuns possess a rare trait in rock music: restraint. They use it like an instrument, which makes their debut full-length Zeroes QC as unsettling as it is wonderfully exasperating. It’s immediately apparent in album opener “Armed for Peace,” a track that starts off like a robot breaking down in a hot desert; the song’s mechanic beat plods like iron-shoed footsteps as the melody of a wheezing synth mirrors the crackling sound of old transistors and circuitry being cooked in the sun. It’s deceptively lulling, the tension almost unnoticeably wrenching up and up until the track unexpectedly opens into a barrage of nose-diving guitar riffs and crashing drums – yet the band still stays locked on the song’s linear, forward-motion direction. Suuns were born during the summer of 2006 when vocalist/guitarist Ben Shemie and guitarist/bassist Joe Yarmush got together to make some beats which quickly evolved into a few songs. The duo were soon joined by drummer Liam O’Neill and bassist/keyboardist Max Henry to complete the line-up. “I don’t think we were really a ‘band’ for the first year,” Ben surmises. It wasn’t until a friend helped them procure a spot at Pop Montreal 2007 that he says the group played their first “real gig.” Last year, Suuns entered Breakglass Studios with Jace Lasek of the Besnard Lakes co-producing and engineering, and recorded their first album. The group wanted to create something that couldn’t be pigeonholed as simply indie rock. “Jace definitely had a huge impact for bringing to life the big sound of the band and being open and willing stretch out any idea we or he had,” Ben explains. The resulting Zeroes QC is a warm yet dark, propulsive collusion of pop, post-punk and experimental rock – one that allows the group to musically shapeshift without losing any of the sense of tension and unease that runs throughout the record. During tracks like “Gaze,” tightly wound guitars and bass ring and buzz atop Liam’s metronomic, powerhouse drumming, with Ben’s cool, detached vocals acting as a nervy counterweight as he delivers falsely assuring lines like, “Don’t you be yourself, you are someone else.” Often his close-miced sing/speak is as metronomic as it is melodic; in “Arena” Ben’s rhythmic “What-choo, what-choo”’s are reminiscent of Suicide’s Alan Vega as he leads the band’s death disco groove into a bloodbath of razor-sharp guitars, while his icy, hushed delivery in “Sweet Nothing” is almost as motorik as the song itself. Most impressive, though, is how Suuns effortlessly sculpt memorable pop songs from experimental building blocks, frequently using noise and space as actual hooks. All of this amounts to a great first album – one that is as timeless as it is thrillingly modern.
event::tags All Ages
10:00 PM
to 11:00 PM
Ponykiller
9 schedule::attendees
Location
Emo's Jr
eventtype Music
Artists Ponykiller
event::about PonyKiller, consisting of Collin Yeo, Ben Deffendall, Trevor Darling, and Tim Nolan, is a high-def grunge / psychedelic POG rock with modern pop undercurrents. With loud, driving rhythms, catchy, haunting leads and morose yet uplifting vocals, PonyKiller grabs the attention of a diverse audience. Lending from such influences as King Crimson, The Melvins, and Growing, remnants of these styles are present, however a new style is born. Lead singer / rhythm guitar player Collin Yeo, also the bass guitar player for popular touring band Arson Anthem, has a voice best compared to Jim Morrison mixed with Jim Varney. Ben Deffendall, lead guitar, produces creepy, wailing solos, accompanied by looming hooks. Trevor Darling the bass guitar player puts out a loud, clean tone that punches through and drives the music. Drummer Tim Nolan hails from a John Bonham / Stuart Copeland pulpit, often shifting the dynamics of the songs. With a newly signed contract with Housecore Records, PonyKiller is anticipating the release of their first full length album "The Wilderness". PonyKiller can play with bands of varying styles, ranging from Dead Meadow to haarp. This New Orleans based band can be contacted at ponykillernola@gmail.com.
event::tags All Ages
10:00 PM
to 11:00 PM
10:00 PM
to 11:00 PM
The Gourds
56 schedule::attendees
Location
Continental Club
eventtype Music
event::about Whether you think The Gourds non-sequitur loving n'ere-do-wells or post-modern lyrical geniuses, their mandala-like musical vignettes and gulps of down-home authenticity can not be denied. Musical lifers and road dogs to the end, Kevin 'Shinyribs' Russell, Jimmy Smith, Max Johnston, Keith Langford and Claude Bernard remain at once roots music's envelope pushers and its torch bearers, its purveyors of Joyce-ian density and nickel novel groove - its Jekyll and its Hyde. With Haymaker! the band celebrates 15 years in music and the journey that has taken them through the outer reaches of popular music... and back again.
event::tags 21+
10:30 PM
to 11:30 PM
DeVotchKa
375 schedule::attendees
Location
ACL Live at The Moody Theater
eventtype Music
Artists DeVotchKa
event::about For more than a decade, DeVotchKa has been melting its sweeping collection of influences into an authentic and totally original blend of rock 'n' roll. With the release of the band's fifth album, "100 Lovers" (Anti-, February 2011), the band has headed back to the romantic influences of the Arizona desert with producer Craig Schumacher (Calexico, Neko Case) to create a compendium of short stories inspired by the varied moments the band experienced since the release of A Mad & Faithful Telling (Anti-, 2007). Like many bands, DeVotchKa spent much of their early years traveling the highways and byways searching for gigs and a musical direction. As time went on, the band began to foster important musical collaborations with the unequivocal Calexico and the seminal gypsy punks Gogol Bordello. International tours with Gogol and recordings with Calexico have helped spread the band’s sound around the globe. DeVotchKa's first big break happened when Nic Harcourt, former music director for KCRW, introduced his listeners to a then unknown rock band of worldly sounds on his daily radio show, "Morning Becomes Eclectic". Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton, who were listening that day, stumbled upon the sound for their movie, "Little Miss Sunshine". A critical and box office hit, the film was nominated for the Best Picture Oscar and, for DeVotchKa's soundtrack, a Grammy. The little gypsy wedding band from Denver was suddenly known all across the nation, playing large venues and major music festivals, including Coachella, Bumbershoot, Lollapalooza, and Mile High Music Festival. After years of toiling in obscurity, the band was selling out shows at the Fillmore in San Francisco and First Avenue in Minneapolis, with breakout performances at Bonnaroo and Austin City Limits Music Festival. The love spread to Europe, which has become a yearly destination for the band. "100 Lovers" is the album DeVotchKa had always wanted to make. "How it Ends" was recorded and mixed in only nine days, mainly due to lack of funds. On "A Mad and Faithful Telling,” the band had more time and conducted complex arrangements and experimental recording techniques. For "100 Lovers", DeVotchKa spent over a year defining their sound, taking multiple trips to the desert studio to craft twelve new recordings. The final product is the bands strongest album to date, filled with songs fans will love, songs to draw in new listeners, and exciting numbers that fit nicely into their rousing live sets. Guests on the album include members of Calexico and Mauro Refosco, David Byrne and Thom Yorke’s go-to percussionist. With a full tour lined up for the spring and dates booked all over the world, 2011 is gearing up to be the biggest year for DeVotchKa yet. DeVotchKa is: Nick Urata: Vocals, guitars, Theremin, trumpet, piano Jeanie Schroder: acoustic bass, sousaphone Shawn King: drums, percussion, trumpet Tom Hagerman: violin, viola, accordion, piano
event::tags 18+
11:00 PM
to 12:00 AM
The Black Angels
241 schedule::attendees
Location
La Zona Rosa
eventtype Music
Artists The Black Angels
event::about Since Aristotle, man has organized his knowledge vertically in separate and unrelated groups---Science, Religion, Sex, Relaxation, Work, etc. The main emphasis in his language, his system of storing knowledge, has been on the identification of objects rather than on the relationships between objects. He is now forced to use his tools or reasoning separately and for one situation at a time. Had man been able to see past this hypnotic way of thinking, to distrust it (as did Einstein), and to resystematize his knowledge so that it would all be related horizontally, he would now enjoy the perfect sanity which comes from being able to deal with his life in its entirety. It is possible for Man to alter his mental state and thus alter his point of view (that is, his own basic relation with the outside world which determines how he stores his information). He then can restructure his thinking and change his language so that his thoughts bear more relation to his life and his problems, therefore approaching them more sanely. It is this quest for pure sanity that forms the basis of The Black Angels. -Tommy Hall
event::tags All Ages
11:00 PM
to 12:00 AM
The Fresh & Onlys
149 schedule::attendees
Location
The Windish Agency House @ ND
eventtype Music
Artists The Fresh & Onlys
event::about This has been a decisive year for San Francisco’s the Fresh & Onlys – including invitations to play All Tomorrow’s Parties and then they joined Deerhunter for a UK tour, extensive treks throughout the US, and standout performances at the Woodsist festivals in NY and Big Sur. Keeping with their notorious urgent pace the Fresh & Onlys released a handful of exclusive 7” singles, and Captured Tracks issued the lush and anthemic August In My Mind EP. Now to cap off the year, Play It Strange arrives from the infamous In The Red Records with a tour supporting Clinic across the US to follow. Play It Strange is the third full length album recorded in just over two years since the band’s inception with previous albums out on Woodsist and Castle Face. This newest album is also the first recording done outside the band’s own analog home studio. Hot on the heels of touring and arranging these new songs live, Play It Strange was furiously recorded and mixed in one week with Tim Green (Fucking Champs, Comets On Fire) at Louder Studios in order to better capture the muscularity and depth of the band’s live performances. The Fresh & Onlys newest is a shimmering pop record full of infectious melodic hooks, led by singer Tim Cohen’s hazy romanticism, and the incessantly propulsive rhythms of Shayde Sartin and Kyle Gibson. Play It Strange has an evocative moody swagger that jangles with 80’s guitar pop like the Go-Betweens, Jacobites, or early R.E.M. and a provocative rawness ala Iggy Pop or The Gun Club. The record is saturated with guitarist Wymond Miles sonic textural sprawl full of desert guitar-noir phrases that call to mind Morricone/The Bad Seeds. Play It Strange is an addictive record that will establish the Fresh & Onlys as a band that effortlessly laces together threads of great guitar bands from decades past. They may not be your favorite secret to keep much longer.
event::tags 21+
11:45 PM
to 12:45 AM
Flogging Molly
300 schedule::attendees
Location
ACL Live at The Moody Theater
eventtype Music
Artists Flogging Molly
event::about What makes a band truly remarkable? Insightful lyrics? Memorable melodies? Blow-your-mind live performances? The truth is that it takes all of those things along with a boundless enthusiasm, an infectious energy and a supreme devotion to the fans. With this rare combination, a band may ascend past "good," - or even the record industry's Holy Grail, "marketable" - and reach sublime. Drawing on the hardships and joys of their own lives and a musical history ranging from old world Celtic to modern day punk rock, the seven members of Flogging Molly do just that, and they do it with a charm and an ease that makes them one of the most accessible bands performing today. "We're not a traditional band," explains Dublin born singer/songwriter, Dave King. "We are influenced by traditional music and inspired by it, and we put our own little twist on it." Founded in Los Angeles in 1997 by the expatriate King, Flogging Molly got its start and its name from a local bar called Molly Malone's where the band played and grew and laid down the blueprint for its eventual success. As every member of Flogging Molly will emphatically explain, there were no predetermined expectations for the band's sound. From night to night playing to a packed house at Molly Malone's, the sound evolved organically. Traditional Celtic instruments like violin, mandolin and accordion blended seamlessly with grinding guitars and pounding drums. Without consciously attempting it, Flogging Molly merged the music of King's childhood in Dublin with the music of his adulthood in L.A. "If it didn't have mandolin, accordion, fiddle and whistle, it would be punk rock, and if it didn't have guitar, bass and drums, it would be traditional Irish music," King admits. With a sound anchored in such diverse influences and with band members ranging in age from their 20s to their 40s - a decidedly non-MTV-friendly demographical mix, Flogging Molly was not embraced by the mainstream music industry. The band simply didn't fit any preconceived notions of what a "successful" band was. Not deterred in the least, Flogging Molly embraced a DIY philosophy. Their amazing work ethic and rapidly growing fan base led them to DIY-style record label, Side One Dummy, and the two fit hand in glove. In 2000, their Side One Dummy debut, Swagger, featuring the anthemic "The Likes of You Again" and "Black Friday Rule" along with the best ode to a hangover yet, "The Worst Day Since Yesterday" (which later found its way into the Angelina Jolie-Brad Pitt film, Mr. and Mrs. Smith), obliterated initial expectations before Flogging Molly headed back into the studio to record their 2002 follow up, Drunken Lullabies, which included instant classics like the rousing "Rebels of the Sacred Heart" and the doleful "The Son Never Shines (on Closed Doors)." 2004's Within a Mile of Home once more showcased the band's ability to play driving rock and roll on one track then slide effortlessly into lilting, pastoral harmonies on the next and contained a beautiful duet between King and Lucinda Williams on "Factory Girls." Flogging Molly's latest album, Float, recorded in King's native Ireland, delivers still another iteration of the band's sonic evolution. More mature yet retaining the immediacy that marks all of their work, Float may find the widest audience acceptance of any Flogging Molly album. Hard charging tunes such as "Requiem For A Dying Song," "Paddy's Lament" and "You Won't Make a Fool Out of Me" give way, as listeners have come to expect, to more sober ruminations on tracks like "Float." The overall effect is a symphonic layering of sound that possesses a unique rhythmic flow from boisterous to bereaved and back again. Long time fans and new discoverers will be equally astounded. Spend 10 minutes in a room with the members of Flogging Molly, and you will have no doubt about their passion for their music. As mandolin and banjo player Bob Schmidt describes it, "We're deadly serious about what we do. As much as it's a good time and a fun thing, it's no joke to us." Guitarist Dennis Casey echoes that sentiment, saying, "I just give it all I've got because I just believe in it that much." Flogging Molly isn't a mere band, they're a seven member nuclear family. They are as devoted to one another as they are to the music they create. It's no wonder their extended family - the legion of loyal Flogging Molly fans - keeps growing every day.
event::tags 18+
11:59 PM
to 12:59 AM
The Hounds Below
24 schedule::attendees
Location
Maggie Mae's Rooftop
eventtype Music
Artists The Hounds Below
event::about
The Hounds Below is a new band comprised of lead vocalist Jason Stollsteimer (of the Von Bondies), guitarist Ben Collins, drummer Nick Adams and bassist Gjon Gjavelini. The band was originally formed in 2008 after Stollsteimer wrote a group of songs dealing with a previously unexplored emotional territory. Jason's songs encompass a refreshing yet nostalgic aesthetic, creating a distinct sound that is captured in every reverberating note - Think modest mouse with Roy Orbison as the singer. Stollsteimer's genre-defying songs transition effortlessly through a variety of musical styles. From the heart-aching 'Crawling Back to You' to the hauntingly beautiful 'Cumberland's Crumblin,' each song showcases Stollsteimer's solid song-writing and versatile vocal capabilities.
6:00 PM
to 7:00 PM
Solace and Fury
10 schedule::attendees
Location
Lanai
eventtype Unofficial Music
Speaker/Artist(s) Info
Solace and Fury
event::about
Pinpoint Music is headed to South by Southwest 2011 to host the very first Pinpoint Music party in Austin, Texas. This inaugural event will be held on Thursday, March 17th (St.Patrick’s day) at the Lanai Rooftop Lounge in downtown Austin and will showcase 8 of our favorite and very talented bands from across the country. The lineup will span our diverse interest in music genres with the bands Family of the Year, Pepper Rabbit, Inspired Flight, Slang Chickens, Pujol, Sundelles, Hi Ho Silver OH, and Solace and Fury.
Oh, and did we mention that there will be free Texas barbecue from the one and only Louie Miller? How about wildly cheap Vodka specials from Pearl Vodka for the early comers? Yes there will be. So come thirsty and with an appetite and get ready for a night of great bands and great people because we’re going all out and want you to be there.
event::tags Free BBQ, Free Food, Cheep Booze
Website http://bit.ly/PinParty
7:30 PM
to 8:30 PM
Injured Ninja
7 schedule::attendees
Location
Skinny's Ballroom
eventtype Music
Artists Injured Ninja
event::about INJURED NINJA BIOGRAPHY INJURED NINJA are an Australian avant-garde experimental rock group that formed in Perth, Western Australia in 2007. Its members are Steven Aaron Hughes, Dominic Pearce, Jake Steele and Matthew Bairstow. In 2008, INJURED NINJA performed a mixture of improvised and rehearsed gigs in art galleries and small performance spaces throughout Perth, releasing their debut EP ‘Circuitboard’ in October. The band became quickly notorious for their intense, loud and unpredictable performances. The band toured to Japan in early 2009 performing 11 shows across the country in less than two weeks and later performed their first tour to the east cost of Australia in December that year. In January 2010 the band released a 12” split single with Perth act French Rockets, named ‘IDDQD’ which included a DVD with a video for each band’s songs, directed and produced by members of INJURED NINJA. These band members have since gone on to produce a series of music videos for many high profile Australian acts. The split single won the WAMi (West Australian Music Industry) Award for ‘Most Popular Single’ in May 2010. Their debut album ‘INJURED NINJA vs. Skylazer’ was recorded in Perth in late 2010 with engineer Kieran Kenderessy. Due for release on Perth-based label Heartless Robot Productions in February 2011, it combines intense walls of guitar drone, with dance / break-beat and dub / reggae influences and captures the many facets of the INJURED NINJA live sound. The 11-track album will be packaged with a comic outlining the story of ‘vs. Skylazer’, drawn and designed by frequent INJURED NINJA art collaborator, Peter Long. First single from the debut LP, ‘Golden Top Mountain Journey’ was released as a 7” single in October 2010 to highly positive reviews across the country and has received nationwide airplay. INJURED NINJA will be releasing a split 7” (‘Chrysopoeia’) on boutique Melbourne based label Aniseed Records in early 2011. INJURED NINJA will be touring US in March / April 2011 including an appearance at the 25th SXSW festival in Austin, Texas. DISCOGRAPHY Albums Vs. Skylazer (2011, Heartless Robot Productions) Singles and Eps Circuitboard CD EP (2008, self released) IDDQD (INJURED NINJA) 1x1 (French Rockets) split 12” / DVD (2010, Heartless Robot Productions) Golden Top Mountain Journey 7” DL (2010, Heartless Robot Productions) Chrysopoeia (INJURED NINJA) Fangs Of… split 7” (2011, Aniseed Records) HTTP://WWW.INJURED-NINJA.COM HTTP://WWW.MYSPACE.COM/INJUREDNINJAH
event::tags 21+
8:00 PM
to 9:00 PM
Rwake
26 schedule::attendees
Location
Valhalla
eventtype Music
Artists Rwake
event::about “The way of the South" has resonated through southern music for generations and “the way”, it seems, for southern metal bands is often raw, to-the-point, unfiltered expression; unflinching delivery oozing with conviction. The southern bands just mean it a bit more. And in that tradition, like EYEHATEGOD and BUZZOV*EN before them, RWAKE f**king "mean it" and don’t care what you think. Just over ten years ago RWAKE started out as a four brothers jamming to kill time, 'cause in Arkansas that's all you have...time. And in time those brothers were joined by other brothers (and a sister) and recorded some tracks their first material in September of ’97. A “real” first demo, Xenoglossalgia: The Last Stage of Awareness, followed shortly as well as a slew of shows throughout the deep south, including their first ventures outside their home state of Arkansas. In December of ’99, RWAKE recorded their first full-length album with TODAY IS THE DAY’s Steve Austin. For reasons buried by the sands of time, the record never saw a proper release and was mostly distributed by the band while on tour via hand-scrawled CD-R’s. RWAKE spent the next few years stringing together shows throughout the Eastern US, developing their overwhelming, cathartic live performances in sweltering warehouses, stuffy basements, and any backwoods DIY show (indoors or out) that would have ‘em. By 2002, RWAKE recorded what would become their first properly released full-length, Hell Is The Door To The Sun. Hell Is The Door... was the sound of a band with a purpose. Less a record than an hour-long summoning of personal demons and primal fury, Hell Is the Door… put RWAKE firmly on the radar of heavy music connoisseurs. ALABAMA THUNDERPUSSY took the band on its first proper North American tour in support of Hell Is The Door… and gave RWAKE a platform to expose its ugliness for all to see. Two years of writing and touring culminate in 2004 with RWAKE entering Volume Studios (PELICAN, MINSK, UNEARTHLY TRANCE) with long-time friend Sanford Parker of MINSK to record the full-length album ‘If You Walk Before You Crawl You Crawl Before You Die’. ‘If You Walk…’ was released via At A Loss Records and full on bled the sonic hostility the band had become know for. The band hit the road extensively again; including a run with WEEDEATER and spots shows with the likes of MASTODON, HIGH ON FIRE, The HIDDEN HAND, MEATJACK, and many more over the years. In January ‘06, RWAKE signed with Relapse and that spring made their first appearance as a label artist at the heralded SXSW Music Festival. In one of the most talked-about sets of SXSW ‘06 RWAKE aired out a host of new material that left a trail of slack jaws and blown minds in its wake. Just a few short months later and the band was back in Parker’s Volume Studios to lay that material to tape in the shape of it’s new record Voices of Omens. Voices of Omens hits below the bible-belt with thick, tar-black riffing, vicious male/female howls and leads so sweet you'd think they're from Georgia. Instead thisArkansas band represents their dirty south with their intensely unique style of acid-drenched metal. Voices of Omens is a hostile explosion of hideously impure American metal which emanates an eerie and unsettling vibe; haunting in atmosphere and hallucinogenic in it's effect on the listener.
event::tags 21+
9:40 PM
to 10:40 PM
Bare Wires
45 schedule::attendees
Location
Red 7
eventtype Music
Artists Bare Wires, !!!
event::about Bare Wires patents their own brand of electrified garage punk with their latest album Seeking Love (Castle Face). The Oakland based trio fuses glam glitter pop with garage punk grime, producing what has been called everything from "Soft Punk" to "Leather Jacket Rock". Breaking away from the "Biker Psych" sound of Snake Flower 2, Bare Wires started as the side project of Matthew Melton in 2007 with the release of a crude garage punk single Voodoo Doll on European label Solid Sex Lovie Doll. Later developing on what was called "a rawer Raw Power" and adding his own analog recording system into the mix, Melton continued to record under the name, releasing the Artificial Clouds LP on Tic Tac Totally in 2009. With solid mid-fi production and a minimalist aesthetic, Artificial Clouds dispensed with the jagged, proto-punk edges of "She's So Out" and slipped into the smoother, hook-laden, but no less scrappy rhythms of "Go Away Frankie" and "Teen Witch." Bare Wires' "smooth punk" found only further expression on the Let Down 7",a dirty, sleazy pair of fuzz-doused songs with guitars ripping through a crunching amplifier on a hazy cloud of smoke. With their latest album Seeking Love, recorded in Melton's bedroom studio in Oakland, CA, the three piece comprised of vocalist and guitarist Matthew Melton, bassist Fletcher Johnson, and drummer Nathan Price, delivers ten stadium-ready tracks of hand-clapping, speaker-blasting rock n' roll, while still speaking to the sincerity and authenticity that has become Melton's songwriting trademark.
event::tags All Ages
10:00 PM
to 11:00 PM
DeVotchKa
384 schedule::attendees
Location
Lustre Pearl
eventtype Music
Artists DeVotchKa
event::about For more than a decade, DeVotchKa has been melting its sweeping collection of influences into an authentic and totally original blend of rock 'n' roll. With the release of the band's fifth album, "100 Lovers" (Anti-, February 2011), the band has headed back to the romantic influences of the Arizona desert with producer Craig Schumacher (Calexico, Neko Case) to create a compendium of short stories inspired by the varied moments the band experienced since the release of A Mad & Faithful Telling (Anti-, 2007). Like many bands, DeVotchKa spent much of their early years traveling the highways and byways searching for gigs and a musical direction. As time went on, the band began to foster important musical collaborations with the unequivocal Calexico and the seminal gypsy punks Gogol Bordello. International tours with Gogol and recordings with Calexico have helped spread the band’s sound around the globe. DeVotchKa's first big break happened when Nic Harcourt, former music director for KCRW, introduced his listeners to a then unknown rock band of worldly sounds on his daily radio show, "Morning Becomes Eclectic". Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton, who were listening that day, stumbled upon the sound for their movie, "Little Miss Sunshine". A critical and box office hit, the film was nominated for the Best Picture Oscar and, for DeVotchKa's soundtrack, a Grammy. The little gypsy wedding band from Denver was suddenly known all across the nation, playing large venues and major music festivals, including Coachella, Bumbershoot, Lollapalooza, and Mile High Music Festival. After years of toiling in obscurity, the band was selling out shows at the Fillmore in San Francisco and First Avenue in Minneapolis, with breakout performances at Bonnaroo and Austin City Limits Music Festival. The love spread to Europe, which has become a yearly destination for the band. "100 Lovers" is the album DeVotchKa had always wanted to make. "How it Ends" was recorded and mixed in only nine days, mainly due to lack of funds. On "A Mad and Faithful Telling,” the band had more time and conducted complex arrangements and experimental recording techniques. For "100 Lovers", DeVotchKa spent over a year defining their sound, taking multiple trips to the desert studio to craft twelve new recordings. The final product is the bands strongest album to date, filled with songs fans will love, songs to draw in new listeners, and exciting numbers that fit nicely into their rousing live sets. Guests on the album include members of Calexico and Mauro Refosco, David Byrne and Thom Yorke’s go-to percussionist. With a full tour lined up for the spring and dates booked all over the world, 2011 is gearing up to be the biggest year for DeVotchKa yet. DeVotchKa is: Nick Urata: Vocals, guitars, Theremin, trumpet, piano Jeanie Schroder: acoustic bass, sousaphone Shawn King: drums, percussion, trumpet Tom Hagerman: violin, viola, accordion, piano
event::tags 21+
10:00 PM
to 11:00 PM
Hull
10 schedule::attendees
Location
The Ale House
eventtype Music
Artists Hull
event::about ARTIST BIO Forged in the sweat-laden depths of darkest Brooklyn, with the sun at its zenith, HULL materializes as a massive entity storming New York stages. A musical colossus of epic proportions, HULL commands their listeners through each riff, with incredible precision, a seafarer guiding vessels through ominous waters. MORE ABOUT HULL "...More than two years later, [Hull has] signed to local imprint The End and reemerged with a startlingly assertive full-length that warrants the same amount of hype that Tombs have been on the receiving end of over the past six months. "Unlike Tombs' more direct, black metal-infused approach, Hull concentrate more on graceful ebbs and flows while slyly avoiding slipping into more expansive, spacious, Isis-style jamming that many bands fall into. The pace on Sole Lord might be slow, but there's no idling whatsoever, the arrangements deliberate enough to hold us captivated throughout, whether it's on mellower fare like "Wanderer," the blues-drenched swagger of "Healer" or on the downright wistful, Led Zeppelin-esque "Vessel." Drummer Jeff Stieber anchors the arrangements, alternating between fluid and pulverizing, while the interplay between guitarists Nick Palmirotto, Drew Mack, and Carmine Laietta is at times extraordinary, as on the multifaceted epic "Architect," which occupies the sludgy space that Mastodon have since abandoned. However, their ace in the hole just might be their shared lead vocalists, making for a diversity in the vocal department that most bands could never hope to pull off." -Adrien Begrand decibel
event::tags 21+
10:00 PM
to 11:00 PM
Swords of Chaos
8 schedule::attendees
Location
Prague
eventtype Music
Artists Swords of Chaos
event::about Swords of Chaos is a thrilling Icelandic four piece that has attracted local admiration with neck-breaking performances all over Reykjavík. They started out in 2008 and have played concerts all over Iceland. Their music can be described as hardcore rock and influences range from Sunn0))) to Converge to Fennesz. They are signed with Kimi Records and their first releases has recently been released.
event::tags 21+
10:00 PM
to 11:00 PM
Worm Ouroboros
16 schedule::attendees
Location
Barbarella Patio
eventtype Music
Artists Worm Ouroboros
event::about Worm Ouroboros is Lorraine Rath (Amber Asylum, The Gault) on bass and vocals, Jessica Way (World Eater) on guitar and vocals, and Aesop Dekker (Ludicra, Agalloch) on drums. We set out to create music which explores the lines between fragility and strength, darkness and light, harmony and discord. Drawing inspiration from many places, including metal, doom, folk, progressive, and dark ambient genres, we seek to create a creeping, dark landscape full of murky dreams and emotions.
event::tags 21+
10:30 PM
to 11:30 PM
Big Freedia
79 schedule::attendees
Location
Beauty Bar
eventtype Music
Artists Big Freedia
event::about Big Freedia (pronounced "Free-da") is the undisputed "Queen Diva" of Bounce Music, and performs six or more times a week in various venues throughout her hometown of New Orleans. Bounce Music is an original urban music rising up from the intimate and fun-loving nature of the New Orleans housing projects which dominate the city's street culture, and Freedia performs a derivative of Bounce reserved for self-proclaimed "Sissies" (a locally used name for biological men with varied and ambiguous sexual identities) that has risen to prominence in recent years and features explicitly gay and cross-dressing musicians and themes. Big Freedia, like other "Sissy" artists, has achieved mainstream success with several New Orleans hit singles such as "Gin in My System" and "Azz Everywhere!" from her albums "An Ha, Oh Yeah" (1999) and "Queen Diva" (2003). Freedia began her musical career almost 15 years ago at the Walter L. Cohen High School in New Orleans, where she was enlisted as choir director from her sophomore to senior years. She sees her performance as a Bounce artist as an extension of this work, often interacting in a call and response/teacher and student, fashion with her audiences. Big Freedia has always acted as a mentor for many younger artists and is currently at work on her third album. While also running a successful decorating business (for which she counts the Mayor's office as a client), Freedia recently developed a musical about her life entitled "Catch That Beat" which featured cameo appearances by a who's who of New Orleans Bounce artists alongside the story of her upbringing in New Orleans 3rd Ward. Since 2009 Freedia has begun traveling outside the city regularly with her dancers and live DJ, Rusty Lazer, playing to audiences across the country and in Canada alongside (or onstage with) artists such as Spank Rock, Ninjasonik, Japanther, Mos Def, Gucci Mane, Monique and many more. Last year Freedia performed on the West coast with New Orleans band Galactic, recreating her collaboration on the critically acclaimed 2010 album "Ya-Ka-May", and at North By Northeast alongside Kid Sister, De La Soul and her New Orleans neighbors Quintron and Miss Pussycat. Most recently Freedia closed FYFest between !!! and The Rapture in Los Angeles, shared the stage with Major Lazer at MusicfestNW in Portland, played multiple shows at CMJ including the Windish Agency Showcase and lit up the crowd by performing with 8 dancers at the 2010 Fun! Fun! Fun! Fest in Austin, Texas.
event::tags 21+
10:30 PM
to 11:30 PM
The Death Set
73 schedule::attendees
Location
Beauty Bar Backyard
eventtype Music
Artists The Death Set
event::about The Death Set, from Brooklyn, originally hails from The Gold Coast, Australia. It was here where Johnny Siera met co-founding member Beau Velasco in 2005. Drawn to one another’s reckless care of music, the duo united to write fleeting songs with lifelong hooks and overdriven melody. Hell-bent on recording and touring, The Death Set moved the U.S. originally to the gnarly streets of Baltimore then to Philadelphia then finally to Brooklyn. Buoyed by the DIY network they found there, the band recorded and released the To (2006, Rabbit Foot) and Rad Warehouses Bad Neighborhoods (2007, Morphius) EPs, honing the noise of jury-rigged gear and overblown mics. The Death Set quickly became known for out-of-hand live shows, and carried that energy onto its first full-length recording, done at The Copy Cat in Baltimore, an artist warehouse studio where the band and many others lived at the time. The Death Set’s debut album, Worldwide, on Ninja Tune’s Counter Records imprint came in 2008 and fully filled twenty-five minutes with eighteen breakneck songs. Produced, engineered and mixed by Siera at The Copy Cat, with further mixing by Rob Girardi at Lord Baltimore Studios, Worldwide boaseds the endearing sound of unrefined creation. From the timeless call-to-upraise-arms of “Negative Thinking”, through the rallying anthem of “Intermission”; the love-buzz of “Heard It All Before” along the serrated edge of “Cold Teeth”; through the wistful chime of “Had A Bird”, and the high-voiced androgyny of “Day In The Wife”; The Death Set exploits consonance to the fullest. “Around the World” enters enemy dancespace, while “Listen To This Collision” puts crowds on a crash course with each other. With the addition of Jahphet "Roofeeo" Landis on drums (who has toured with Santigold, Spankrock, Amanda Blank, and Ninjasonik) and fellow Aussie expat Dan Walker on guitar, vocals and production, the trio set about touring and destroying all types of stages all over the world. From massive festivals like Fuji Rock in Japan and Dour in Belgium to DIY spaces to Parisian basements. The Death Set have found touring partners and friends in Girl Talk, Bonde Do Role, Spank Rock, Ninjasonik ,Japanther, Best Fwends, Dan Deacon, Ponytail and many more. While The Death Set’s sound is most like that of its punk influencers -- Black Flag, Minor Threat, and Buzzcocks – it also bears the distinct mark of hip-hop and electronic styles in production, and as interludes in their raucous offstage outbursts. The band were touted as the #1 biggest hope of the future by NME, “Best Live Band” by the Baltimore City Paper, The Death Set jams blindsiding minute-songs into compact spaces. Which brings us to The Death Set’s new sophomore album, “Michel Poiccard,” which sadly comes prefigured by tragedy. Just as the pair were about to embark on writing a new album together, Velasco, who had struggled with drug addiction on and off throughout his life, died of an overdose. The band were shattered, so much so that Johnny still finds it almost impossible to talk about. It wouldn’t have been surprising if the group had decided to call it a day. Relocating to Brooklyn and enlisting long time friend and Baltimore associate XXXchange (Spank Rock, Kele, The Kills) to man the desk, they created “Michel Poiccard,” an album which loses none of the charm of their previous “punk spazz” work but adds considerable depth, both in terms of the punch and bottom end that XXXchange brings to the table, and in terms of a sense of desperate loss or longing, which permeates everything on the record and reaches a considerable pinnacle on “I Miss You Beau Velasco” and the closer “Is It The End Again?” There are songs here about mammoth Ecstasy binges (“Chew It Like A Gun Gum”), Beasties-like celebrations of arcane handshakes (first single, “Slap Slap Slap Pound Up Down Snap”) affirmations of relying on positivity thoughout the roughest of times "We Are Going Anywhere Man", a celebration of one of the stars of A Bout De Souuffle (“Michel Poiccard (She Yearns For The Devil)”), tales of smashed equipment and angry promoters (“Can You Seen Straight?”), with a dose of familiar, snotty, punk anthems about French girls with a penchant for taking it up the shitter (“I Like The Wrong Way”). Diplo drops in for a fight and ends up giving them a keyboard line for “Yo David Chase!”. Spank Rock guests on “7PM Woke Up An Hour Ago”. Yes, all of them are instilled with the same manic Ritalin-and –Sunny-D-induced energy of their earlier records, but it feels like something deeper has happened here, too. Above it all floats the spirit of Beau Velasco, amused and laconic. Words of his were rescued from samplers and old ProTools sessions so that it is his voice that opens the record with words which could serve as the group’s mission statement, perhaps never so fully realised: “I wanna take this tape and blow up ya fuckin’ stereo!”
event::tags 21+
10:50 PM
to 11:50 PM
Witch Mountain
26 schedule::attendees
Location
Barbarella Patio
eventtype Music
Artists Witch Mountain
event::about Witch Mountain was formed in Portland, OR in 1997 by Rob Wrong (Iommi Stubbs, M99) and Nate "Nanotear" Carson (Point Line Plane, Two Ton Boa, Sunn0))) collaborator). By 2000, the groundwork had been laid, the demo "Homegrown Doom" was remastered and released in Europe, and Dave Hoopaugh (Iommi Stubbs, Comavoid, Towers) was brought in to be the final bass player after a string of many. Debut album ...Come the Mountain was released to critical acclaim in 2001. Man's Ruin tried to license it stateside, but they went under before it could happen. The first printing sold out in 2 months, and an expanded edition was released with bonus tracks composed for the unreleased PC/Dreamcast video game "Shrapnel". A partial list of bands Witch Mountain shared the stage with between 1997 and 2002 includes: Lost Goat, Bongzilla, Goatsnake, Acid King, Bottom, High on Fire, Spaceboy, Add-X, Village Idiot, Merde, Diesto, Wapeka, Blood Hag, Crow (Japan), Orange Goblin, Electric Wizard, YOB, Sea of Green, Dixie Witch, (men of) Porn, HC Minds, Unearthly Trance, Enemymine, Unsane, EyeHateGod, Spirit Caravan, Alabama Thunderpussy, Weedeater, Stovokor, Cuda, The Glasspack, Fireballs of Freedom, Clutch, Gunpro, Unida, Solitude Aeturnus, Unorthodox, Sour Vein, Isis, Soilent Green, Jumbo's Killcrane, Karma to Burn, Nebula, Penance, Raging Slab, Shamelady, Warhorse, Agalloch, Thrones, The Whip, etc, etc. Witch Mountain's last tour was in 2002 with Eternal Elysium from Japan. After that, a period of hibernation was in effect. Rob and Dave had children to raise and families to look after. Nate was touring constantly with PLP. In 2005, WM shook the dust off for an appearance with the mighty YOB (their last Portland gig before their own hiaturs) and Totimoshi. Seasonal gigs followed with Acid King, Atomic Bitchwax, Wolves in the Throneroom, and others. It became clear that the chemistry was better than ever, and the songs had really bloomed over time. 2006-2007 marked the return of Witch Mountain to Portland stages as a trio with new songs and veteran tone and ability. Gigs with Danava, Gargantula, Green Milk from the Planet Orange, Stovokor, Buried Blood, and old friends the Glasspack made for good times and further deafened the local audience. In 2009, Witch Mountain finally found a voice to match its mighty instrumental prowess. Uta Plotkin keeps the tunes strong and melodic, and the music sounds better than ever. With Uta in tow, WM resumed its history of gigging strong with the likes of Pentagram,Saint Vitus, Jucifer, Ludicra, Lesbian, Slough Feg and the reformed YOB. 2010 will be an auspicious year for WM as the sophomore album South of Salem has finally been recorded at Smegma studio with mega-producer Billy Anderson. Mastering has been handled by Mell Dettmer. The results speak for themselves. Oregon is a stronghold for heavy music and its fans. In the valley between YOB's cosmic doom and Red Fang's brash party rawk, there lies a mountain
event::tags 21+
11:00 PM
to 12:00 AM
Kvelertak
34 schedule::attendees
Location
Prague
eventtype Music
Artists Kvelertak
event::about Brutally catchy punkrock/metal with a taste of groovy darkness! 2010 has really been a good year for Kvelertak. Their self-titled debut album (produced by Kurt Ballou, artwork by John Baizley) was released in Europe during the summer, supporting Converge and Kylesa on their first European tour. They did their first headliner tour this fall, and another European tour with Coliseum late 2010. Kvelertaks received great reviews. Labeled ”the best Norwegian debut album of all time” by Norwegian rock authority Asbjørn Slettemark and «the best Norwegian band since A-Ha» by Simon Young of Kerrang. They’ve also been portrayed in European magazines with reviews including: 9/10 Metal Hammer 8,5/10 Terrorizer 88/100 Aardschok 4/5 Kerrang! 4/5 MetalSucks 9/10 Decibel 9/10 Rock Hard 4/5 Zero Tolerance In addition to this, they recorded a live session for BBC Radio 1 and played festivals like Sonisphere and Leeds & Reading. They are doing Eurosonic for the second time this spring, along with more European touring. Kvelertak shamelessly draw inspiration from every corner of something that could fit into their idea of good hard-hitting and catchy rock'n'roll. Regardless of genre, but always truthful to the basic idea of the band; good songs performed with the tongue-in-cheek attitude of their punk-rock pioneers. Unlike the majority of heavier bands they sing in their native language – adding even more character to their already unique sound.
event::tags 21+
11:00 PM
to 12:00 AM
The Kills
514 schedule::attendees
Location
Emo's Main Room
11:15 PM
to 12:15 AM
Emmylou Harris
245 schedule::attendees
Location
Antone's
11:45 PM
to 12:45 AM
Agalloch
50 schedule::attendees
Location
Barbarella Patio
eventtype Music
Artists Agalloch
event::about For fourteen years the Pacific Northwest group Agalloch has carved out a multifarious sound consisting of black metal, folk, progressive rock, and ambient soundscapes that has marked them as a pioneer in the contemporary dark music scene. Their dynamic approach to metal began with the demo From Which of this Oak released in 1997. This demo exhibited a deep connection with the early recordings of bands like Ulver, In the Woods, and Katatonia. The band released one more demo before securing a three-album deal with The End Records resulting in the releases Pale Folklore (1999), The Mantle (2002), and Ashes Against the Grain (2006). In between each of these full-lengths the band pushed on the flexible boundaries they had developed around themselves through a series of limited releases that found the band experimenting with post-rock/experimental rock (The Grey EP, 2004), and neo-folk/psychedelic folk (The White EP, 2008). Beginning in early 2003 the band began performing live. Their stripped down and explosive live shows stretched from the west coast to the east coast of the US all the way through central Europe. Recently the band performed two sold out shows in Romania and was the first metal band to perform at the historical Reduta Cultural Center in Brasov. In late 2008 the band’s live performance was captured on DVD in Belgium and released under the title The Silence of Forgotten Landscapes (Shiver Records). In their eight year history of playing live Agalloch has had the pleasure of performing with such diverse groups as The Gathering, Dornenreich, Alcest, Subarachnoid Space, OvO, Satyricon, Saturnus, and many others. Such varied lineups are a testimony to the ease with which Agalloch can cross musical genres and styles. Now, after a long four year wait, Agalloch returns with their fourth full-length album Marrow of the Spirit to be released on November 23rd, 2010 through Profound Lore Records. This new record encompasses the vast musical landscape Agalloch has traversed for fourteen years and sees them continuing to stretch and enrich their sound.
event::tags 21+
11:45 PM
to 12:45 AM
The Bangles
268 schedule::attendees
Location
Cedar Street Courtyard
12:00 AM
to 1:00 AM
Alex Skolnick Trio
12 schedule::attendees
Location
Easy Tiger
eventtype Music
Artists Alex Skolnick Trio
event::about Alex Skolnick Trio Bio As pioneers of a harder hitting alternative form of straight up Jazz, New York City based Alex Skolnick Trio (AST) bends genre and form of seemingly disparate bebop jazz standards and originals with a highly cerebral balls-out take on arena hard rock and metal staples reconceived from the jazz harmonic perspective. Comfortable in blurring the stylings of Wes Montgomery, Jim Hall, Joe Pass and Pat Martino with Black Sabbath and Rush, Mssrs. Alex Skolnick (guitar and vocals), Matt Zebroski (drums), Nathan Peck (acoustic standup bass) are stellar virtuoso artists who live for the thrill of playing challenging music in front of their fans. Conceived as a sharp three piece ensemble that draws upon the musical wanderings of Alex, who is the world-renowned lead guitarist and founding member of Testament, one of the most influential metal/thrash bands of all time. He is also a member of Trans Siberian Orchestra; the wildly popular rock opera whose musical style is described as symphonic rock meets classical music with a touch of Metal. Not to mention, that Alex is featured in a number of side projects including performing on the soundtrack for the hit Broadway musical Jekyll & Hyde, as a live guitarist for Grease – the Broadway show, and has been brought on stage to perform with his friends, the acoustic act, Rodrigo & Gabriella. Along with Kirk Hammett, Charlie Hunter and Steve Vai, Alex has the profound distinction of being one of the more successful individual students of uber-guitar-hero Joe Satriani. The original formation of AST began when Matt meet Alex in 2001 as music students at the prestigious New York City university, The New School, while both were pursuing degrees in Jazz. In Sep 2003, Nathan was brought in to replace the departing John Davis, who wanted to focus exclusively on playing indie rock music. As Matt grew up with Nathan in Pittsburgh and he knew that Nathan was a killer jazz player (sideman to Jazz notables Maynard Ferguson, Maria Maldaur, and others), he made sure that Nathan was the top priority for the Trio in solidifying the lineup. The Trio clicked immediately and soon embarked upon the Guitarevolution tour, sharing the bill with ex-Megadeth guitarists Marty Freidman and Chris Poland in a series of West Coast dates, winning over a primarily virtuoso instrumental rock and metal fan based audience. With a brand new record, "Veritas" releasing in March 2011 (Palmetto/Megaforce) AST sets a whole new agenda with an artistic vision that challenges notions of contemporary Jazz should sound like. Though the record clearly shows that AST continues to draw in their listeners with Hall/Pass & Wes inspired instrumental tunes, AST has added a depth and intensity normally only found in rock records and then, on stand out remixed track "Bollywood Jam" liberally added in electronica and beefy club driven drum and bass loops and lead a new path to a form of Jazz that absolutely kicks out the jams just to mix things up a bit. This is adventurous leap into the frontiers of exciting new Jazz oriented rock music. The previous eight years have seen three Alex Skolnick Trio records produced, Last Day in Paradise 2007 (Magna Carta), Transformation 2004 (Magna Carta), their debut recording Goodbye To Romance: Standards For A New Generation 2004 (Skol Productions) The international music press has been immediately receptive and effervescent in their support of the Trio. Since the debut, AST had had an entire Jazz notes column in Billboard, honored with 4 ½ stars by Downbeat, reviewed by Jazziz, The Village Voice and has charted on the JazzWeek radio charts. Typical of a comment by an AST fan (in this case, Kirk Hammett of Metallica) as recently proclaimed in Guitar World magazine when speaking about AST: “Love them. I love his work. What Alex is doing by putting heavy metal songs in a jazz context is completely refreshing. His take on "Detroit Rock City" blew me away; that song has never sounded better to me. And when you think about, the old jazz standards were the pop music of their time, so Alex has updated the notion of what a standard is, and it's opened up all the current music to interpretation.” Alex, Nathan and Matt have performed at such notable music industry conferences as CMJ and SXSW, and has toured in the United States, Canada, Europe, the UK and Oceania. They've appeared live on XM Satellite Radio, Fox Morning News, Brother Wease, and many other radio stations including WNEW (New York), WCPN (Cleveland) and WGMC (Rochester). Live AST performs a compelling mix of live music and typically intersperses half the set of original compositions, with arrangements of classic Metal-Rockified Jazz music by Deep Purple, Judas Priest, Pink Floyd, Rush, Sabbath, Dio and more, most of which have been thoroughly road tested by the boys. 2011 promises to be an exciting year for the trio as they prepare for a new record and focus on building their American and European audiences
event::tags 21+
12:10 AM
to 1:10 AM
Slim Cessna's Auto Club
44 schedule::attendees
Location
Red 7
eventtype Music
Artists Slim Cessna's Auto Club
event::about Slim Cessna's Auto Club New Album Title: Unentitled Street Date March 1, 2011 Alternative Tentacles Records(USA) Munich Records (Europe) Houston Party Records (Spain / Portugal) DESCRIPTION : Engaging, riveting, sad and humorous; demanding the audience to participate both live and while listening to their albums; Slim Cessna's Auto Club has been branded with every musical description possible. This seems fitting, as SCAC describes their music as American (Is that not what America is, a mixture of every one and thing resulting in something new?); and after more than a decade of working and living as SCAC, they have created their own genre. Unentitled is another highwater mark in the Auto Club's supremacy in a field they alone claim. Songs like "Three BloodhoundsTwo Shepherd's One Fila Brasileiro" manage to add creepy lyrical imagery to its jaunty chorus. "Do You Know Thee Enemy" uses Slim's trademark call-and-response vocals and "Hallelujah Anyway" has Munly serving as an ominous narrator. The components are drums, upright bass, pedal steel, banjos, piano, guitar, vocals and stories. They have recorded critically acclaimed albums (Village Voice, Denver Post, San Francisco Chronicle) on Jello Biafra's Alternative Tentacles label. Spin Magazine and No Depression have described them as the best live band in America. The songs are each thoughtfully crafted with unique arrangements, executed by superb musicianship, then fully realized through original, insightful and intelligent lyrics. With two of the most charismatic frontmen around (Westword) and four accomplished musicians, SCAC is the past, present and future of American music. Slim Cessna's Auto Club is from Denver, Colorado. * Led by Slim Cessna and Munly Munly. * Features members of SLIM CESSNA'S AUTO CLUB, MUNLY & THE LUPERCALIANS, DENVER BRONCOS UK, BLOOD AXIS, THE DENVER GENTLEMEN, and TARANTELLA. * First new SLIM CESSNA'S AUTO CLUB studio album since 2008. * LP contains a DIGITAL DOWNLOAD CARD for mp3 album and lyrics booklet. * Recorded and produced at Absinthe Studio, by Robert Ferbrache of Denver Sound fame (Slim Cessna's Auto Club, Munly, Blood Axis, Sixteen Horsepower, WovenHand, Tarantella). * Playing at SXSW in March; Europe in April thru June; Us and Canada throughout the remainder of the year (dates TBA). * Jello Biafra's favorite band.
event::tags All Ages
1:00 AM
to 2:00 AM
...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead
308 schedule::attendees
Location
Beauty Bar-Palm Door
eventtype Music
event::about …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead Plenty of bands like to yammer on about how their newest record is a “return to their roots,” as if some undiscovered brilliance is to be found and resurrected on early demos and basement jam sessions. But in the case of ...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead (or Trail of Dead from here on out, because who really wants to type all that over and over), a return to form could be just what the doctor ordered. The band’s 2002 album, Source Tags and Codes, sparked a near universal rock-critic orgasm; after that, how could their two follow up efforts match up? But Trail of Dead is now free men, emancipated from Interscope and ready to reach back to the past while looking forward. “We finally have the artistic freedom we’ve wanted, with no pressure to create radio music, no legal department to OK our artwork, and no A&R people breathing down our necks,” says Conrad Keely, one of two primary and founding members of the band. Although many other labels would have certainly welcomed them, Trail of Dead decided to cement their freedom by starting their own label, Richter Scale Records, as a partnership with Texas-based Justice Records. In October, they released the 5-song Festival Thyme EP as a teaser of things yet to come. The new album, The Century of Self, will be released February 17th. The Century of Self is epic, and was clearly made without the gimlet eye of a major label A&R person overseeing it. From the soaring instrumental opener, “Giants Causeway,” to the album’s closer, “Insatiable Two,” which starts off with the sounds of a demented circus and ends with an echoing sing-along about Keely’s lack of monstrosity, the record is a work of tremendous scope and ambition. While the term “prog” is terribly overused, in this case Trail of Dead has managed that rare feat – a prog album that isn’t academic or painful. “The new songs are very personal,” says Keely. “Some of them are autobiographical. We’re building on everything we’ve ever done, looking back on our whole career and taking a lot of inspiration from our early music. We continue to evolve the concept and try to incorporate new ideas. And there was no point on the record where we were trying to write songs you’d hear on commercial radio. We know that singles are driving the market, and we don’t care.” Then again, Trail of Dead never cared much, anyway. Friends since childhood Keely and Jason Reece started playing music in the indie rock town of Olympia, Washington. The pair then relocated to Austin, Texas, where Trail of Dead was officially born. They released a self-titled full length in 1998 on Trance Records, then hopped to Merge and put out Madonna in 1999. After a successful run opening for hipster stalwarts Superchunk, Interscope came calling, Source Tags and Codes dropped, and the rest is history. With the new album, Trail of Dead is planning to hit the road, incorporating a visual art element in to their tour. Keely is an accomplished visual artist who recently showed his work at the 34 First Ave Gallery in New York, and hopes to include other bands whose members make art, as well as incorporating a visual element in to the live show. Fifteen years in to their career, Trail of Dead continues to innovate and grow. At a point where many other bands would be resting on their laurels and half-heartedly tossing off greatest hits comps, Trail of Dead are just getting started. Trail of Dead was originally formed by Conrad Keely, Jason Reece, and Kevin Allen and the line-up is now completed by members Aaron Ford, Clay Morris and Jay Phillips. For more information please contact Stunt Company: Sue Marcus – 718-222-8963 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 718-222-8963 end_of_the_skype_highlighting or sue@stuntcompany.com
event::tags 21+
1:00 AM
to 2:00 AM
Dixie Witch
17 schedule::attendees
Location
Barbarella
eventtype Music
Artists Dixie Witch
event::about Ten years in the running, Austin Texas's own Dixie Witch has established themselves as one of the seminal Texas Power Trios. Led by the thunderous rhythm and vocal section of Trinidad Leal and Curt Christenson aka "CC", Dixie Witch has experienced both success and hardship on the road. The road can either break a band or make a band and in the case of Dixie Witch it has defined them and made them who they are today. Dixie Witch brings a solid foundation and a united front that only a decade of touring can create. In true, "Family Style", these band mates have formed a brotherhood that has given way to songwriting with nods from greats such as Lynyrd Skynrd, Mountain, Black Sabbath, and Waylon Jennings. In the spring of 2009, Dixie Witch introduced new guitarist Joshua "JT" Todd Smith to the fold. This addition has brought a new energy to the band, creating a springboard into the next chapter of Dixie Witch history. 2011 brings new energy, new songs and new life for Dixie Witch. DW will be recording their long awaited 4th album at Mad Oak Studios in Allston, MA. With a powerful modern heavy rock sound, ten years of a brotherhood gives way to a new horizon. And the band plays on...
event::tags 21+
1:00 AM
to 2:00 AM
East Bay Ray & The Killer Smiles
12 schedule::attendees
Location
Skinny's Ballroom
eventtype Music
Artists East Bay Ray & The Killer Smiles
event::about Legendary DEAD KENNEDYS guitarist East Bay Ray, and vocalist SKiP McSkipster from the WYNONA RIDERS have formed an exciting new band, THE KILLER SMILES. Drummer Steve Wilson of TATU and bassists Greg Reeves of CORDOVAN, and who has recorded with numerous artists including Chuck Prophet and Counting Crows, round out the band. The band is finishing up their 12 track album with the guidance of producer (and BUTTHOLE SURFERS guitarist) PAUL LEARY, best known for producing SUBLIME’s self-titled break out CD and their single “Santeria.” The Killer Smiles have also already been invited to the international alternative music festival South by Southwest (SXSW) in Austin, Texas in March 2011. For its members, the name Killer Smiles invokes images of wolves in sheep's clothing and silver-tongued phonies, those masks people wear to hide their true intentions and con others. Some of the songs deal with this kind of emotional fakery, “You’re Such A Fake,” “Raising the Stakes.” Other songs careen from frenetic post-punk, “It’s Broken,” to cinematically tinged guitar rock, “Area 51,” “The Heat Is Something.” The band takes a deliberate approach to let things be a little more human and less of a religious cult. Always present is the distinctive guitar of East Bay Ray, who has penned some of the most recognizable and memorable guitar riffs to emerge from the West Coast punk movement, highlighted by the vocals of SKiP, plaintive one moment and full of old school attitude the next. Add to that the energetic feel of Greg Reeves with the driving beat of Steve Wilson, and you've got what promises to be a band to reckoned with.
event::tags 21+
1:00 AM
to 2:00 AM
She Wants Revenge
111 schedule::attendees
Location
Beauty Bar Backyard
1:00 AM
to 2:00 AM
Surfer Blood
463 schedule::attendees
Location
Habana Bar Backyard
eventtype Music
Artists Surfer Blood
event::about Hailing from West Palm Beach, Florida, the quintet known as Surfer Blood had a breakout year in 2010 with the release of their debut album 'Astro Coast' in January 2010. Months prior to the actual release, Surfer Blood took the CMJ music festival by storm playing an incredible 12 shows. Spending the winter months leading up to their album release, Surfer Blood criss-crossed the nation on tour supporting Japandroids and Art Brut. Never breaking straight into the new year, getting a major boost from all around rave press reviews, including a 'Best New Music' tag from Pitchfork Media, the band continued their incessant touring. This year has taken these Floridians across Europe several times, as far as Japan for Summer Sonic and Australia for Splendour in the Grass festivals; they ended out the year with a support tour for Interpol. Because of their dedication, 12 months later Astro Coast is topping several year end lists. NPR deemed them "America's best new pop band", they made Rolling Stone's "Rookies of the Year" list, Filter Magazine listed their album as #7 of the year, plus making the list of numerous others: MySpace, NME, Urban Outfitters, Rough Trade Shop. Based on the longevity that the album stayed in PopMatter's rotation, they regard it as "unfuckwithable" and PrefixMag said, "Surfer Blood is the best '90s band working today." For 2011, Surfer Blood will return with an EP of new tunes to be released in late spring. More touring will inevitably ensue.
event::tags 21+
1:00 AM
to 2:00 AM
The Strange Boys
100 schedule::attendees
Location
The Bat Bar
1:00 AM
to 2:00 AM
Thee Oh Sees
199 schedule::attendees
Location
Red 7 Patio
eventtype Music
Artists Thee Oh Sees
event::about Thee Oh Sees are the latest incarnation of songwriter, singer, and guitarist John Dwyer's ever-evolving pop-folk psychedelic group. Dwyer, who hails from Providence, RI, has been active on the San Francisco indie scene since the late '90s, working with several bands, including the Coachwhips, Pink & Brown, Yikes , Up Its Alive, and Swords & Sandals, among others, and he formed OCS (which is an acronym for Orinoka Crash Suite, Orange County Sound, or whatever Dwyer decided it was on any given day) initially as a vehicle for the experimental instrumentals he was producing in his home studio. In time OCS morphed into an actual band, and worked under the usual flurry of names, most notably as the Oh Sees or the Ohsees , and eventually as Thee Oh Sees, featuring Dwyer on guitar and vocals, Brigid Dawson on vocals and tambourine, Petey Dammit (sometimes listed as Petey Dammit! on bass, and Mike Shoun on drums.
event::tags All Ages
1:00 AM
to 2:00 AM
1:00 AM
to 2:00 AM
Zoroaster
24 schedule::attendees
Location
Valhalla
eventtype Music
event::about "Zoroaster, from Atlanta, has progressed over the last decade into a pretty wonderful band: on its forthcoming 'Matador' (eOne), over the repeating, ultra resonant riffs, Will Fiore sings or growls his slow, serene vocals bathed in echo, stretching your attention span. It's center-of-gravity music." - THE NEW YORK TIMES ZOROASTER's heady mix of mammoth metal and psychotropic shoegaze has seen the trio hailed as "one of the U.S.'s most promising metal bands" and it has receiving shining praise for its explosive power, intriguing mysticism and unique take on heavy music. Summoned by the mighty sludge of The Melvins, the mysticism of Celtic Frost and the nihilistic blues of Black Sabbath, ZOROASTER formed in 2003 out of 'the need for sedation by high volumes and low frequencies". The band immediately began creating devastating, dirge-ridden doom that erupted into heavyweight grooves and transcendental musical atmospheres. ZOROASTER's early sound was compared to "having 10,000 ton granite slabs dropped on your head from a height of several miles". ZOROASTER released its third full-length, 'Matador', on July 13, 2010 on eOne Music to critical acclaim. Hot on the heels of a U.S. jaunt supporting Kylesa, the band has announced U.S. tour dates with Weedeater for a month long run of live dates set to kick off on February 28 in Detroit, MI. Additionally, ZOROASTER have been confirmed as one of the featured acts for the 2011 Roadburn Festival, set to take place April 14-16 in Tilburg, Holland. This will be the band's debut appearance at the revered fest; ZOROASTER performs on April 14 alongside Godflesh, Pentagram, Quest for Fire, Ghost and many more. Now in its twelfth year, Roadburn has become the world's leading underground festival for psychedelic, avant-garde, doom "or any other variation of leftfield sonic pleasures that push the boundaries of music."
event::tags 21+
1:15 AM
to 2:15 AM
The Greenhornes
124 schedule::attendees
Location
Emo's Jr
eventtype Music
Artists The Greenhornes
event::about The trio of Craig Fox, Patrick Keeler and ‘Little’ Jack Lawrence--heretofore known as The Greenhornes—have been churning out the highest quality rock n roll for well over a decade. Formed in the late 90s in Cincinatti, Ohio, The Greenhornes have toured the world over (and over and over) and released 3 full length albums, an ep and a boat load of singles across a multitude of record labels. After a five year break in which Keeler and Lawrence joined The Raconteurs and Lawrence subsequently joined the Dead Weather, The Greenhornes are back! What to say about the sound…pure, straight up Nuggets inspired rock and roll. And by straight-up we mean sans revisionist new wave of snotty garage rock posturing. These guys have been weened on a diet almost solely consisting of the finest r+b and rock innovators: The Kinks, The Who, The Zombies and The Easybeats are immediately recognizable in their sound. This isn't a hobby or something these guys are doing between projects--it's their life. Good, old-fashioned rock 'n' roll, plain and simple. Their most recognizable tune, ‘There Is An End’, was featured throughout Jim Jarmusch’s 2005 feature ‘Broken Flowers’. After a five year hiatus, The Greenhornes are very excited to have Jack White’s Third Man Records release their brand new full length album, the aptly titled ‘****’ in the fall of this year.
event::tags All Ages
12:00 PM
to 1:00 PM
The Black Angels
208 schedule::attendees
Location
Radio Day Stage Austin Convention Center
eventtype Music
Artists The Black Angels
event::about Since Aristotle, man has organized his knowledge vertically in separate and unrelated groups---Science, Religion, Sex, Relaxation, Work, etc. The main emphasis in his language, his system of storing knowledge, has been on the identification of objects rather than on the relationships between objects. He is now forced to use his tools or reasoning separately and for one situation at a time. Had man been able to see past this hypnotic way of thinking, to distrust it (as did Einstein), and to resystematize his knowledge so that it would all be related horizontally, he would now enjoy the perfect sanity which comes from being able to deal with his life in its entirety. It is possible for Man to alter his mental state and thus alter his point of view (that is, his own basic relation with the outside world which determines how he stores his information). He then can restructure his thinking and change his language so that his thoughts bear more relation to his life and his problems, therefore approaching them more sanely. It is this quest for pure sanity that forms the basis of The Black Angels. -Tommy Hall
event::tags All Ages
2:00 PM
to 3:00 PM
Fitz and the Tantrums
217 schedule::attendees
Location
Radio Day Stage Austin Convention Center
eventtype Music
Artists Fitz and The Tantrums
event::about Pickin’ Up The Pieces Fitz – vocals Noelle Scaggs – back-up vocals/tamborine James King – saxophone Jeremy Ruzumna - keyboards John Wicks - drums Joseph Karnes - bass In just a year or so, soulsters Fitz & the Tantrums went from the living room to the main stage. The recipe for meteoric success? Six killer musicians, five dapper suits, irresistible songs, some serendipity and one vintage organ. Since their first show at Hollywood’s Hotel Café in December 2008, Fitz and co. have toured with Maroon 5, played to thousands at Colorado’s world famous Red Rocks Amphitheatre, shared the stage New Year’s Eve with Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, and performed on KCRW’s esteemed show, Morning Becomes Eclectic, all this on the strength of their stellar five-song EP, Songs for a Breakup, Vol. 1. For some bands, it takes a lifetime to build this success, but few performers deliver an unrestrained blast of soul-clapping, get-down-on-the-floor, moneymaker shakers like Fitz and the Tantrums. Now post-release of their debut full length, Pickin’ Up the Pieces, which has since earned them a 3 ½ star album review in ROLLING STONE, the troupe is poised to get down in dancehalls across the universe. It all began when… [cue flashback sounds] “I got a call from my ex-girlfriend,” Fitz explains, “And she said, ‘My neighbor is moving out in a hurry and has to sell everything. And, he has this organ…” Fitz, the Svengali frontman of the crew, describes the find like the discovery of a compass, or that treasure map in Goonies, which undoubtedly leads to adventure. Not one to say no, Fitz called some piano movers, cashed in some favors, and seven hours later, the organ went from the curb to his living room. That night, Fitz stationed himself in front of that vintage instrument and wrote a blue-eyed soul anthem, “Breaking the Chains of Love.” “Sometimes, the Music Gods just give it to you,” Fitz says. The overflow of inspiration startled Fitz. He’d spent years in L.A.’s music industry, writing music and working in a studio with Beck producer, Mickey Petralia. But at those 88 keys, just seven hours after that organ dropped into his life, Fitz had finally found his voice. “I’ve always been a singer,” Fitz says, “but with so much music, I felt that I was trying to push a square peg through a round hole. I was being not true to myself, and it never felt right until I wrote that song, and I sang like that. I thought, this feels so real, so natural.” Fitz shared his vision with long-time friend and saxophonist, James King, who immediately connected with the sound. While the electric guitar drives rock, the saxophone takes center stage in soul, and that’s the way Fitz likes it. “We wanted to find a new vocabulary for the genre, I wanted to make a record without any guitars. Could we make a huge sound with out any guitars?” A huge sound takes a huge studio--Motown had Studio A in Detroit, Philadelphia International had Sigma Studios, Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound was created in Hollywood’s legendary Gold Star Studios-- but when it came time to capture the feeling and the soul of soul, Fitz knew of the perfect studio: his home. There in the living room, he recorded Songs for a Breakup, Vol. 1, a burst of effervescent swingers and floor-stompers, infused with the energy of long forgotten songs. The infectious, rolling rhythms of “Breaking the Chains of Love,” immediately turns your head and actually get cemented in your brain, like a good pop song should. The sound is familiar, but distinct. That’s what grabbed the attention of Maroon 5’s Adam Levine. Levine was getting a tattoo in New York when the tattoo artist told him he had to hear this new band he had discovered. After that one encounter, Levine personally invited Fitz and the Tantrums to join their tour. Like the EP, Fitz recorded the full-length debut back at home, to bottle the lightning that struck in those first jam sessions. He now delves into more acerbic lyrical territory, going on the offensive against gold diggers on the exceptionally funky “MoneyGrabber,” and even gets political on the piano-banging, handclap-driven call to action, “Dear Mr. President.” "L.O.V." is a jaunt through pop music history embarking with a groovy organ intro, meandering through juicy big band breakdowns and Fitz's svelte croons, then carrying us away with flute outro. It's a funk-filled plea to give love a chance. These powerful songs take the band’s energy up a notch, but like their energized performances, they never loose control. Those blistering performances are now well-chronicled for adequate ubiquity, Last Call With Carson Daly nailing the money shot for “MoneyGrabber” at the band’s sold out show in November at LA’s El Rey Theatre featuring a sea of a thousand pogoing fans and a handful of F.A.T.T. gems rocked along with blue-eyed soul vet, Daryl Hall on the band’s spot on Live From Daryl’s House. Lest we forget, an omnipresent T-Mobile HTC ad that actually namechecks the band that, for the past several months, is impossible not to see if you’re watching even an hour’s worth of television. Oh, and there are the hot spots on Criminal Minds, Desperate Housewives and a great many more, not to mention a ton of success at radio for the aforementioned runaway “MoneyGrabber,” all with the promise of more to come. In their sound and on the stage, Fitz and the Tantrums are nothing but professionals, and never less than classy. Enter the Tantrums, Fitz’s airtight ensemble keeping it real like it’s 1969. Funky drummer John Wicks is a Motown B-side aficionado and prolific session player, Jeremy Ruzumna manned the keyboards and was musical director for Macy Gray. James King backed De La Soul and bassist Joseph Karnes is a well sought after session player. Then there’s Noelle Scaggs, the powerful voice behind Fitz’s croons. Make no mistake, Scaggs is not just there for “doo-wops” and handclaps. She shimmies and flirts, she stokes the crowd and simmers them down, and she has no qualms about keeping Fitz in check. “She is not just a backup singer,” Fitz says, “We have repartee. Onstage, we’re Ike and Tina.” There, on the stage, Fitz and the Tantrums are not just a band, they’re an explosion. Scaggs high steps it to the tight-as-hell rhythm section, while Fitz, cooler than cobalt, croons like the aforementioned Mr. Hall for a new generation. It’s obvious that this is no tryst for the band, this is a full-blown, head-over-heels love affair. Pickin’ Up The Pieces is available on the Dangerbird Records website: http://dangerbirdrecords.com/downloads/fitz-and-the-tantrums # # # FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Perry Serpa/Rob Lawi – Good Cop Public Relations (718) 846-0518 perry@goodcoppr.com rob@goodcoppr.com www.goodcoppr.com Cristina Parker – Noise NY 917 684-0452 cristina@noiseny.com FITZ & THE TANTRUMS: www.fitzandthetantrums.com DANGERBIRD RECORDS: www.dangerbirdrecords.com
event::tags All Ages
7:35 PM
to 8:35 PM
8:30 PM
to 9:30 PM
Ninjasonik
42 schedule::attendees
Location
The Phoenix
eventtype Music
Artists Ninjasonik
event::about Ninjasonik's music speaks for itself and while not defined to one genre it has the ability to perhaps be just punk, just hip-hop and just pop. Derived from the not-so subtle title 'hipster-sonic', a comic reference to the lifestyle of Brooklyn's innovative DIY musicians, the name Ninjasonik reveals more of the group's vision and musical taste's than they suspect. Telli, and Jah-Jah are the duo behind Ninjasonik's rebellious lifestyle. Jah-Jah, a DJ turned vocalist, shaped by New York's Bronx and Brooklyn boroughs, is the eclectic figure of the group. Using inspiration from skater lifestyle and the party scene, and musical inspiration from the political attributes of hardcore punk, he brings a multi-dimensional, non-superficial energy that fuses the group's mission to their music. He exudes a personality so diverse that it sees him gracing billboards in Japan and the cover of the influential street-style book Street Boners. Telli, a vocalist from birth, and the group's energy source is well versed in storytelling. He is a hip-hop raconteur with a personality that radiates into his music. For him, music is not simply a passion but an addiction. Though he's worked with many artists and independent labels in the past, he's found his niche in Ninjasonik where he promotes a message of 'not selling yourself short' and doing 'what you feel whenever you want'. His flow, while reminiscent of early hip-hop is loud and carries the artistic weight of living and breathing present-day Brooklyn. Ninjasonik are at the helm of a noisy cultural revolution and well on their way to becoming the voice for this new musical generation. They will as the group's front man, Telli, states, 'change the face of music
forever.' Ninjasonik's method of fusing the old, the new and the esoteric to energize, excite, and connect with their audiences sees them, not only solely producing music, but creating a lifestyle where everyone can claim the right to be who they are, wherever they are, for as long as they want. Where taking risks stimulates creativity, where creativity breeds innovation and where innovation effects change. This is the Ninjasonik formula. Ninjasonik's mission is clear non-conformity and rebellion is the origin of innovation. Their music is definite: Be what you want, when you want, how you want!
event::tags 21+
8:55 PM
to 9:55 PM
Weedeater
40 schedule::attendees
Location
Dirty Dog Bar
eventtype Music
Artists Weedeater
event::about After over two incredibly action/drama/injury/tour-soaked years of constant insanity, North Carolina sludge crusaders WEEDEATER have completed their long-delayed, yet more anticipated-than-ever, fourth full-length release. The intoxicating ten-track brutalizer, dubbed Jason... The Dragon, has been scheduled for worldwide release on March 15th, 2011 via Southern Lord Recordings. After over a year of literally crippling injuries to all three of WEEDEATER's members hitting the headlines, including infamous classics like "Dixie Dave blew off part of his foot with a shotgun," or "Keko tore his meniscus this week," and "Shep broke his goddamn pinkie on tour" or even "Dixie nearly died in his ninja-scuba assassin Halloween costume" and more, the band still forged on through these blows for multiple tours -- several regional and national headlining tours, as well as supporting Down and The Melvins -- to finally complete this record. Although delayed by eight months, the haggard trio infiltrated Steve Albini's Electrical Audio Studio in Chicago this past September to pound out Jason... The Dragon. As with their Southern Lord debut God Luck And Good Speed, the Jason... album was mastered by the legendary John Golden at Golden Studios in southern California, unearthing the true grit that this band dumps forth. With no argument to be had, Jason... is by far WEEDEATER's most varied and organic recording to date, taking their caustic, chest-collapsing, resin-coated ultrasludge to new otherworldly new realms of delirium just by taking it all closer to home, stripping their tonal onslaught down to acoustic bass at times, perfectly infusing a bit of banjo and piano, and even utilizing some new vocal tactics. Diehards fear not; this IS still WEEDEATER. It's just WEEDEATER at their finest hour... yet. WEEDEATER promises to kick off 2011 hard with this release, having already booked a headlining US tour for February and March, with a European tour in the planning stages to take place shortly thereafter on their way to smoke the hordes at Roadburn, and with countless more tour rampages to be announced throughout the whole upcoming year in support of the album. One can only envision the horrendous aftermath to be announced from the WEEDEATER camp throughout 2011... Stay tuned for more updates as it all hits the fan.
event::tags 21+
9:00 PM
to 10:00 PM
Weird Owl
10 schedule::attendees
Location
Headhunters
eventtype Music
Artists Weird Owl
event::about Weird Owl was formed in 2004 and after numerous shifts in personnel and direction, released its debut LP, "Ever the Silver Chord Be Loosed", on TeePee Records in February of 2009. Its desert, acid-tinged vibe was an immediate success in the "stoner" market and garnered praise from sources near and far. Weird Owl's sophomore effort for TeePee, entitled "Build Your Beast A Fire" is slated to be released in May of 2011 and boasts a stronger melodic and song-oriented vision of the band.
event::tags 18+
9:00 PM
to 10:00 PM
WhoMadeWho
47 schedule::attendees
Location
The Windish Agency House @ ND
eventtype Music
Artists WhoMadeWho
event::about WhoMadeWho may lack a question mark after their name but their music will certainly have you asking after them. The Danish trio are difficult to pin down but their music sounds as effortless as it is stylistically and sonically adventurous. WhoMadeWho are on a mission to eschew convention.
The band formed in 2003, with falsetto voiced bassist Tomas Høffding coming from the Scandinavian rock underground, singer songwriter/guitarist Jeppe Kjellberg from the avantgarde jazz scene (with beard to match), and drummer Tomas Barfod – who also records as Tomboy – a rising star of electronic music. They released several 12-inches on leading German disco label Gomma Records, culminating in their eponymous debut album in 2005, which won them a devoted audience who evangelised about their new favorite band, making it the sleeper hit of the year. While touring the globe the band started work on their second album. “The Plot” was released three years later, were it got great reviews across the board, culminating with the +500.000 views for the “Keep Me in My Plane” video. Because of the lengthy recording process with “The Plot”, the band matured sonically, making it a bit more pop, still with the distinct rock- and electro sound. As a live band WhoMadeWho are an unforgettable, incendiary experience having played alongside genre bending contemporaries Daft Punk, Soulwax, Hot Chip and LCD Soundsystem as well as having their 1st album song “Space For Rent” covered by Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age after seeing them rattling bones in their skeleton garb. Always using a foundation of beats and bass lines, the songs are then written on top, alongside the unusual additions of oboe, castanets, electro-synth or vocal harmonizing that pushes their music into the extraordinary. NME once asked ”God knows what would happen if they got serious?” That time is now! The skeletons are back in the closet for now, only to be taken out on special occasions. Alongside their extensive touring, WhoMadeWho have been working on a third album that will reveal a darker side together with their own take on party music. Outlandish getups aside, WhoMadeWho get serious on their new material. However, as always it will be full of playfulness and pumped rhythms that will put the room on fire and get the party started. WhoMadeWho individually evangelise about 60’s psychedelia, 70’s stoner rock, 80’s mutant disco, 90’s electronica and this have resulted in their warped sound of now. They are so much more than a danceable rock band. They are the spark to a firework display of ideas. And they’re just about to light the blue touch paper for the third time. Don’t stand back! As Seattle paper “The Stranger” wrote after nominating WhoMadeWho’s 2010 South by Southwest performance as the best show of the festival: WhoMadeWho is not only “the rockingest dance band or danciest rock band but both the danciest dance band and the rockingest rock band.”
event::tags 21+
9:40 PM
to 10:40 PM
Kylesa
76 schedule::attendees
Location
Dirty Dog Bar
eventtype Music
event::about Since this Savannah, Georgia, United States quintet first formed in early 2001, worrying about genre limitations has never been a priority. Taking musical chances, however, always has been. While Kylesa are as heavy as any band out there, they are beholden to no one scene and no preconceived notions of what heavy music should be. “Lots of people like to stick to one kind of music,” guitarist/vocalist Philip Cope elaborates, “and even with the underground, lots of people segregate themselves into small little categories and place lots of imaginary rules on these scenes.” “We just like playing heavy music and we’ve always liked playing it regardless of what is popular or trendy,” guitarist/vocalist Laura Pleasants adds. “It’s most rewarding for us to try and push our own boundaries of what we can to do with our music and hopefully, in the end, offer something that is at least original.”
event::tags 21+
10:15 PM
to 11:15 PM
Hunx & His Punx
110 schedule::attendees
Location
Red 7
eventtype Music
Artists Hunx & His Punx, !!!
event::about Too Young To Be In Love is the first fully-realized Hunx and His Punx album, and the group's first for Hardly Art. It was recorded in New York City by Ivan Julian-one of the founding members of inimitable NYC punk legends Richard Hell and the Voidoids. This record was made in the same studio that one of Hunx's idols, Ronnie Spector, once recorded in. While it is preceded by the Gay Singles LP (True Panther Sounds/Matador Records, 2009), a collection of hard-to-find and out-of-print 7' singles, Too Young To Be In Love is the first proper studio record from Hunx and His Punx. Too Young To Be In Love also marks the first time the group has ever been comprised entirely by 'punkettes'-another name for the all girl band that band leader Seth Bogart (aka Hunx) always dreamed of. Shannon Shaw (of Shannon and the Clams) plays bass, and wrote three of the album's songs. Her powerful voice on 'Lovers Lane' and 'The Curse of Being Young' crackles and breaks with a raw ferocity that perfectly compliments Hunx's swoon-worthy nasal croon. This album also represents a distinct reversal of roles-the all-girl quartet (Shaw, plus guitarist Michelle Santamaria, drummer Erin Emslie, and Amy Blaustein on guitar/organ) bring the fire
while Hunx brings the softness-the sweet, oh so sweet, sugar. All of the ladies sing on this album, and their voices combine to create some modern Wall of Sound magic. Hunx and His Punx might be the first ever "girl group" fronted by a flamboyant gay male whose dream in life is to sound like a girl. They have created a unique new sound they refer to as "Young Oldies," a mixture of 50s teenage rock 'n' roll, 60s girl groups and bubblegum pop. Hunx is that boy you just wanna kiss-maybe after sharing a triple scoop ice cream cone, then roller skating with the Shangri-Las and Redd Kross rotating on a never-ending loop. He's the boy in that picture from your high school yearbook-the one you pasted sparkly red heart stickers all over, then taped inside your locker. He's the boy you fantasize about because he always saves you from your broken heart. You've never met him-but you love him
because you know he believes in love. 'I only write songs out of heartbreak,' says Hunx of the new record. Older songs focused on trashier homoerotic topics like cruising and boyfriend stealing. But Too Young To Be In Love is all about love and heartbreak. People tend to have scandalous ideas about Seth 'Hunx' Bogart. This can happen when you try to French kiss the entire front row at one of your shows, pose for photographs nude or bare everything in the video for "Lust For Life" by the band Girls. But behind all of this is a sweet and somewhat innocent entertainer who knows how to put on a show. Despite the sweet overtones of Too Young To Be Love, there is also plenty of heartbreak and some dark moments. One might think, at first glance, that the final track, 'Blow Me Away' is a winking nod to fellatio. 'It's a song about my father who killed himself when I was a teenager,' says Hunx, somehow proving that the album's title, Too Young To Be In Love, might be selling Bogart a little short. He has never been 'too young.' And he really does believe in love. After doing brief tours with Girls, Harlem, Nobunny and Jay Reatard, the band is set to embark on a headlining US tour in April 2011. "Deliciously trashy homoerotic pop." --Pitchfork "Behind all the debauchery, there's some damn fine rock 'n roll." --Paste "Bogart is a vivid, alluring frontman with one thing on his mind." --The New York Times "Like The Ramones teaching Martha Reeves and the Vandellas how to fist each other." --Worrapolava
event::tags All Ages
10:35 PM
to 11:35 PM
11:00 PM
to 12:00 AM
Das Racist
327 schedule::attendees
Location
The Phoenix
eventtype Music
Artists Das Racist
event::about Das Racist is a weed edge/hare krishna hard core/art rap/freak folk music trio based in brooklyn, new york, comprised of queens-born himanshu kumar suri, san francisco-born victor vazquez, and queens-born ashok kondabolu. Suri and vazquez met at sarah lawrence bard pomona wesleyan art college in massachusetts, where victor was himanshu's resident advisor in a "students of color for social justice" themed freshman year dormitory. The duo later added kondabolu as a hype man and spiritual advisor. After a couple of years of occasional drunken freestyles with each other, Himanshu and Victor decided to record a couple of raps together. The first of which was called "We Made It" and immediately became a hit amongst stupid assholes who like rap from the 1990s and really want that shit to keep happening. The second track was called "Fever" and it was fucking terrible - really bad. Then they made some other songs and then they made "Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell" which is the one that everyone likes and then they made some other songs.
event::tags 21+
11:00 PM
to 12:00 AM
Screeching Weasel
100 schedule::attendees
Location
Scoot Inn
eventtype Music
Artists Screeching Weasel
event::about For those that aren’t familiar with them (frankly, you should be ashamed of your self), Screeching Weasel have been a stalwart of the pop-punk scene for 25 years. Back in ’86 they took up the Ramones’ torch and have since created a bonfire. With legions of dedicated fans and a whole slew of acclaimed releases under their belt Screeching Weasel have firmly entrenched themselves as living legends in the punk rock world. Not satisfied to rest on their laurels, the band recently reformed and completed their first new material in 11 years, First World Manifesto. Comprised of 14 tracks, First World Manifesto has all the hallmarks of an instant Weasel classic. From the short fast punk rock standards bearing Ben’s trademark ire (this time directed at message board tyrants, scenesters, and blind followers) to the traditional mid-tempo girl oriented songs, it’s all in there. Musically, First World Manifesto delivers on expectations with their emblematic guitar driven sound ringing throughout, due in no small part to the return of famed guitarist Dan Vapid. Additionally, they enlisted Mike Kennerty (All-American Rejects) to take the reins as producer, and threw in some backing vocals by Dr. Frank (Mr. T Experience) and Joe Queer (The Queers). First World Manifesto is the masterpiece that Weasel fans have been dreaming about for the past decade of silence.
event::tags 21+
11:20 PM
to 12:20 AM
Dum Dum Girls
331 schedule::attendees
Location
Red 7 Patio
11:30 PM
to 12:30 AM
Helmet
131 schedule::attendees
Location
Dirty Dog Bar
eventtype Music
Artists Helmet
event::about Seeing Eye Dog, HELMET's seventh album, is one of the band's most uncompromising and ambitious releases, embodying the classic and utterly unique Helmet sound and pushing it into regions the band has never before explored. One big reason for that spirit of musical adventure is the record is essentially self-released (through the Work Song label). "I just felt completely free to do whatever I wanted to do," says frontman Page Hamilton. "It was really fun to make this record because I just felt this…freedom." Freedom can also arise from limitation, something Hamilton knows well--as ever, he insisted on having few overdubs and edits on Seeing Eye Dog. "This album is human and honest," he declares. "People have always commented that we sound like our albums live, and our recording approach has a lot to do with that. Humans playing music will always be better than chop-shop rock." Besides Hamilton, the humans on Seeing Eye Dog include drummer Kyle Stevenson, who joined Helmet in 2006, guitarist Dan Beeman, who's been on board since 2008, and long-time Helmet bassist Chris Traynor. (Dave Case is the band's touring bassist.) The album was produced by Hamilton, with additional production by Toshi Kasai (Melvins) and vocal production by Mark Renk. Some history: In 1989, Page Hamilton co-founded the New York-based Helmet, fusing Zeppelinesque riffing with a vehement post-hardcore precision, augmented by dense chords and offbeat time signatures based in Hamilton's formal jazz training. The combination was that rarest of visionary creations--it was successful in its own time. After their 1990 debut album Strap It On (on revered indie label Amphetamine Reptile), Helmet unleashed the major label Meantime (1992), a widely acclaimed album that earned a Grammy nomination, went gold, and launched a thousand other bands. Betty followed in 1994, successfully branching out from the band's ferocious attack and into more varied musical waters. (In 2010, Helmet issued via their website helmetmusic.com a digital-only deluxe version of Betty that includes 14 original album tracks plus five bonus tracks.) Another acclaimed album Aftertaste followed in 1997 and after nine years and thousands of shows, Helmet called it a day in 1998. Hamilton went on to do soundtrack work for major Hollywood movies like Catwoman, S.W.A.T., Titus, and Saw, among others, formed the band Gandhi, and, following in the footsteps of greats like Adrian Belew and Stevie Ray Vaughan, played lead guitar in David Bowie's band in 1999. In 2004 Hamilton restarted Helmet, releasing two acclaimed albums--Size Matters in 2004, Monochrome in 2006--and co-headlining the Warped Tour that year. Helmet did extensive US and European touring in 2009 in preparation for the new album.
event::tags 21+
12:00 AM
to 1:00 AM
Chromeo
389 schedule::attendees
Location
La Zona Rosa
eventtype Music
event::about Imagine, if you will, a yacht. It’s forged of gold and strong African teak, bobbing gently at anchor somewhere between the French Riviera and Detroit. A statue of the late Roger Troutman is affixed to the stern like a guardian angel. The ladies of Klymaxx wander the decks serving strawberries and cream on silver platters. Sylvester himself is the skipper, and Hall & Oates are down below, keeping the engines in shipshape. This is the S.S. Chromeo, and the two men who create the smoothest of music under the same moniker are at rest aboard, preparing for another global voyage of lovers’ funk ambassadorship. Here we have Dave 1, the suave professor, the voice and intellect, enjoying a rosé as he ponders French literature. And with him we have the one and only P-Thugg, the brawn and the body, sipping on the ghetto cocktail known as Thug Passion and proudly going through his mental rolodex of jeep beats and funky flourishes. The men of Chromeo are about to release Business Casual, which is their third full-length album and a testament to the growth and further sophistication the band has undergone over the many years they’ve been collaborating. After their sophomore release, Fancy Footwork, pushed them into the stratosphere of party-rocking, club-banging, and heart-thrilling electrofunk, we might consider Business Casual their postgraduate work. Where does a group go after mastering their craft? Do they rest on their laurels? Do they retreat into self-parody? Neighbor, please. Chromeo, in 2010, have pushed forward into yet newer levels of song craft and body moving music that is respectfully indebted to its noble inspirations while still being fully contemporary. Are there lush string arrangements on “Don't Walk Away”? Do we have Moroder-esque analog synth layers draped all over “Don't Turn The Lights On”? Is there a fully authentic French ballad (don't forget, Dave and P are of the Québécois persuasion and will never abandon those roots) in “J’ai Claqué la porte”? Well yes, actually, to all of the above. But what’s this we have here? The flip side of Chromeo, the emotional gangster tracks, are still here on Business Casual, represented by titles such as “Hot Mess,” "I’m Not Contagious," and "You Make It Rough." And, newly added to the roster, we have the straight-up pop, vanilla in the best sense (creamy and smooth), of “The Right Type,” a get-up-and-go tune in the greatest 80s tradition, and the album closer, “Grow Up,” which almost sounds like golden era Billy Joel backed up by Cameo. How real is that? Lyrically, Dave continues to mine the rich vein of affairs of the heart. Is there really any other topic that Chromeo needs to cover? Arrogant ladies, dancefloor seduction, boudoir skills, love gone wrong, and knights in shining armor… Chromeo does all this and more with their trademark Franco-insouciance-that-borders-on-coolness and their always sexy worldliness (pause). In these uncertain times of financial upheaval and musical mediocrity, Chromeo’s Business Casual is a testament to the fact that inspirational funk shall always prevail. Vive le Chromeo!
event::tags All Ages
12:00 AM
to 1:00 AM
Junius
14 schedule::attendees
Location
Valhalla
eventtype Music
Artists Junius
event::about After touring solidly across North America, the UK, and Europe for the last several years, the bearded men of Junius are currently working on the follow-up to their critically acclaimed The Martyrdom of a Catastrophist (on The Mylene Sheath worldwide and Make My Day Records in Europe). Junius has been electrifying rapt audiences with its spellbinding walls of reverb-drenched guitars, haunting vocals and self-made lights since 2003. The band's music is both cinematic and accessible, building to crescendos which echo some of Post Rock's most epic moments, but with vocals, hooks, and lyrics creating focus throughout. While Junius can be tough to categorize (they've been called a hybrid of Neurosis and The Smiths by Rolling Stone), band members have cited such artists as Bedhead (Junius singer/guitarist Joseph E. Martinez's uncle Trini was their drummer), Philip Glass, Hum, and M83 among a long list of inspirations.
event::tags 21+
12:00 AM
to 1:00 AM
The Black Angels
244 schedule::attendees
Location
Cedar Street Courtyard
eventtype Music
Artists The Black Angels
event::about Since Aristotle, man has organized his knowledge vertically in separate and unrelated groups---Science, Religion, Sex, Relaxation, Work, etc. The main emphasis in his language, his system of storing knowledge, has been on the identification of objects rather than on the relationships between objects. He is now forced to use his tools or reasoning separately and for one situation at a time. Had man been able to see past this hypnotic way of thinking, to distrust it (as did Einstein), and to resystematize his knowledge so that it would all be related horizontally, he would now enjoy the perfect sanity which comes from being able to deal with his life in its entirety. It is possible for Man to alter his mental state and thus alter his point of view (that is, his own basic relation with the outside world which determines how he stores his information). He then can restructure his thinking and change his language so that his thoughts bear more relation to his life and his problems, therefore approaching them more sanely. It is this quest for pure sanity that forms the basis of The Black Angels. -Tommy Hall
event::tags 21+
12:35 AM
to 1:35 AM
Saint Vitus
45 schedule::attendees
Location
Dirty Dog Bar
1:00 AM
to 2:00 AM
A Place to Bury Strangers
194 schedule::attendees
Location
Billboard Bungalow @ Buffalo Billiards
eventtype Music
Artists A Place To Bury Strangers
event::about A Place to Bury Strangers had a simple goal for their first proper studio album, the exquisitely-damaged Exploding Head: "The original idea," says vocalist / guitarist Oliver Ackermann, "was to create the craziest, most fucked-up recording ever." How crazy, you ask? Enough to justify that Cronenberg-channeling title, for one, as dollops of distortion and flecks of feedback deliver enough controlled chaos to derail a turntable. And if vinyl isn't your thing, well, let's just say you'll be checking the levels on your living room stereo from the second "It Is Nothing" sucks everyone in earshot through a vortex of groove-locked rhythms (hammered out by drummer Jay Space and bassist Jono MOFO) and back-spun power chords. Pain as pleasure, if you will, a beautiful feeling that's maintained for 43 mesmerizing minutes, from the paranoid android pop of "In Your Heart" and gorgeous gate-crashing melodies of "Keep Slipping Away" to the Chinese water torture chords of "Lost Feeling" and sputtering percussion of "Everything Always Goes Wrong" Not to mention the apocalypse now effects of "Ego Death" the sinewy, slightly sinister overtones of the title track, and the firework finale flare-ups of "I Lived My Life To Stand in the Shadow of Your Heart". A Place to Bury Strangers has an illustrious touring history including supporting Nine Inch Nails at arenas, large venue tour with MGMT in Europe a full US tour with Holy Fuck and shows with some of their heroes and influences including The Jesus and Mary Chain, Brian Jonestown Massacre, Dandy Warhols and Chapterhouse. They have been touring non stop since the release of Exploding Head, doing three full scale US tours of the US and UK/Europe including shows with the Big Pink, Japandroids, Darker My Love and Dead Combo. They are now hard at work on the follow up to Exploding Head with an eye toward a Spring 20011 Release. A Place To Bury Strangers have often been called "the loudest band in New York". This may very well be the case, but unlike much so-called "loud" rock and roll that's out there, APTBS is not loud simply for the sake of it. The sonically overdriven sound they've accomplished is no clumsy accident, but a carefully cultivated and well-maintained entity all its own, fostered by an unbridled passion that's clearly evident in every live show they play and each recording they make. A Place To Bury Strangers does not so much play songs as allow them to pour out. They are songs about longing, heartbreak and confusion played extremely well and at a passionately loud volume...
event::tags 21+
1:00 AM
to 2:00 AM
Texas Terri Bomb with The Hot Things
19 schedule::attendees
Location
Karma Lounge
eventtype Music
event::about TEXAS TERRI BOMB! TEXAS TERRI BOMB! IS the REAL DEAL! No BS about it! Texas Terri hails from Austin, TX. She relocated to Los Angeles, CA. in 1984. Texas Terri moved to Berlin, Germany March 1, 2007 from where she continues to tour Europe, write her new record, and is working on writing a book. Texas Terri keeps pushing forward regardless of any obstacle, unlike so many other bands in today's world. This lady has an unstoppable, pure spirit that is necessary to keep her dream alive, her dream being to keep doing music, release records, and go out on the road as much as possible to play for and see her fans. Her fans mean everything to her. At the end of every show she announces to them from the stage, "Without you, i am nothing". She has a special connection with her fans like nothing ever seen before. It's true love. Texas Terri's street credibility puts her miles above others. She has earned her title as "underground legend" in the punk rock & roll world and it shows in her songs and her stage presence. Her voice and persona has a tough girl attitude and sex kitten charisma (and evey emotion in between) she will steal your heart away and you will not want her to give it back! Always fresh and full of spontaneity with that early NYC/CBGB's edge. She has been compared to the likes of Iggy Pop, Mick Jagger, Steven Tyler, Wendy O. Williams, Joan Jett, etc, not bad, eh? Yet she still has the magnitude of holding her own individuality. So, in this world of pre-fab music, why settle, aren't you hungry for more? Let the Rock & Roll run through your veins! Get some, and get it now! Texas Terri has released two full length cd's/vinyl, toured the U. S. and Europe (both with People Like You Records) and has songs/roles in several movies. She has sang on many other artists projects including a duet with Duane Peters on a Huns rlease, Chris D and the Flesheaters, the Bulemics, to mention but a few. Texas Terri Bomb! 's last full length record, was produced by world renowned Jack Douglas (Aerosmith, John Lennon, Cheap Trick, Alice Cooper, Patti Smith, etc.). Some special guests joined in for the recordings including Wayne Kramer (MC5), Marc Diamond (Dwarves/Motochrist), Dave Teague (Dickies), Don "Demonboy"Cilurso (The Stiff Ones) and Ryan Roxie (Alice Cooper) to name a few and Cherie Currie (The Runaways) sang a duet with TxT on the Thin Lizzy song "The Rocker". There are at least 4-6 movies that have TxT songs in them. Texas Terri and band performed in and has two tracks in the movie "PREY FOR ROCK & ROLL", starring Gina Gershon, Drea Matteo, & Lori Petty that was released in Oct. 2003. Now out on DVD. Screenplay and music written by Cheri "LOVEDOG" Hubert. "I saw Texas Terri at the Wasted Festival UK and I was suitably impressed even in my state of inebriation, and yes like most of the blokes at the back of the room I was wondering whether it was a man in drag. I can assure you Texas Terri is all woman but she has bigger balls than a lot of you men out there. This punk rock ‘n’ roll at it’s finest, if you can imagine the New York Dolls with Joan Jett on vocals you'd be somewhere close." ....PUNK & OI / Paul "Texas Terri is a bad ass bitch that keeps the hard rock coming. She’s well known in the industry having working with such punk luminaries as Wayne Kramer, Cherie Currie, Marky Ramone, Cheetah Chrome and Mike Watt." .....SUICIDE GIRLS / Daniel Robert Epstein "Texas Terri is often compared to such frontpersons as Iggy Pop (she’s been deemed by many “the female Iggy Pop” – though it must be made clear she doesn’t say this of herself), Lux Interior, Joan Jett (this from Cherie Currie of The Runaways herself), Mick Jagger, Stiv Bators (by Cheetah, himself!), Wendy O. Williams (by Lemmy), and Courtney Love to name a few. TxT explains, 'You take all these people and what they really have in common is spontaneity, honesty, and just soul. They give you every bit of their passion and energy when they’re onstage. And that’s pretty much what a TxT show is like.' " ........REBEL NOISE / Janelle Jones "It's good to hear an old-fashioned punk rock record once in a while. Not that hyphenated punk is necessarily a bad thing, but an album like "Your Lips…My Ass!" that all about aggression and a bad attitude, with just enough melody to keep things interesting, can be a refreshing change from micromanaged niche-punk. With guests including Dwarves/Motochrist string-slasher Marc Diamond, Runaways frontwoman Cherrie Currie and the great Wayne Kramer, you already know tunes like "Dirty Action," "Mafia" and a take on Thin Lizzy's "The Rocker" are gonna burn the speakers down, and that's pretty much Terri's policy for the entire record: scorch the earth and piss on the ashes later." ....HIGH BIAS / Michael Toland
event::tags 21+
1:00 AM
to 2:00 AM
The Fleshtones
60 schedule::attendees
Location
Continental Club
eventtype Music
Artists The Fleshtones
event::about After 16 albums and more than 25 years conquering rock fans in the US and abroad, The Fleshtones have remained amazingly true to their danceable, crowd-pleasing, shindiggin’ rock ethic. And there have been rewards: they even have their own “republic,” Fleshtonia, founded in Gijon by a grateful Spanish fan. These days, they wear the mantle of “world’s best party band” with pride; in fact, they’ve issued a standing challenge to any band out there to a live showdown. Says Zaremba: “The Garage thing … A lot of people take it and it’s almost like archeology—very dry, keeping it the same as it was – they’re too much in awe of it. We look at it as an approach … we see it as a living thing. We’ll cover stuff like Sylvester’s ‘Do You Wanna Funk’ and people accuse us of not being pure. We’re working with the essence of rock and roll—the thing that gives you the buzz from the music.” Their new long-player, Do You Swing?, delivers 13 revved-up tracks of the band’s patented sound, recorded with Rick Miller (Southern Culture on the Skids) at Miller’s retro-gear filled NC studio, The Kudzu Ranch. With tracks like “Hard Lovin’ Man,” Double Dippin’” and a version of Led Zep’s “Communication Breakdown” that has to be heard to be believed, “it’s what the world has come to expect from The Fleshtones but more so,” cracks Zaremba. It’s raw, it’s raunchy, and most importantly, it SWINGS.
event::tags 21+
1:10 AM
to 2:10 AM
Das Racist
369 schedule::attendees
Location
Emo's Main Room
eventtype Music
Artists Das Racist
event::about Das Racist is a weed edge/hare krishna hard core/art rap/freak folk music trio based in brooklyn, new york, comprised of queens-born himanshu kumar suri, san francisco-born victor vazquez, and queens-born ashok kondabolu. Suri and vazquez met at sarah lawrence bard pomona wesleyan art college in massachusetts, where victor was himanshu's resident advisor in a "students of color for social justice" themed freshman year dormitory. The duo later added kondabolu as a hype man and spiritual advisor. After a couple of years of occasional drunken freestyles with each other, Himanshu and Victor decided to record a couple of raps together. The first of which was called "We Made It" and immediately became a hit amongst stupid assholes who like rap from the 1990s and really want that shit to keep happening. The second track was called "Fever" and it was fucking terrible - really bad. Then they made some other songs and then they made "Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell" which is the one that everyone likes and then they made some other songs.
event::tags All Ages
3:30 PM
to 4:30 PM
Kurt Vile And The Violators
298 schedule::attendees
Location
Auditorium Shores Stage (Lady Bird Lake)
eventtype Music
Artists Kurt Vile And The Violators
event::about Kurt Vile has a way of tying time in knots. You can hear it on his new album Smoke Ring For My Halo from the get-go – the pinwheeling guitars and reaching atmospheres of ‘Baby’s Arms’ are as strange as they are familiar: a demonstration of how Kurt can put worn methods and sounds through himself and end up with something that isn’t emotionally or sonically obvious. Instead we’re left with a record that contains traces of the past but doesn’t waste precious time in the now being reverent. Once compared to Leonard Cohen, Tom Petty, Psychic TV, and Animal Collective in the same review (for 2009’s Childish Prodigy), Kurt can bring to mind anything from Suicide to Leo Kottke to My Bloody Valentine, Bob Seger, Nick Drake, and Eastern ragas. Still, he pieces together these disparate elements so seamlessly and unpretentiously that such reference points are rendered pointless by the singularity of his sound. Kurt Vile might belong to a long lineage of classic American songwriters, but he’s the only one who’s alive and in his prime today. This is the fourth time Kurt Vile has put an album’s worth of songs together and stuck a name on it, but in a sense Smoke Ring For My Halo is his first real album – every flinching guitar arpeggio and vocal wander was made to be here, made with this record in mind, to sit alongside another in situ and in sequence. It seems weird saying this given the amount of ground he’s covered already, but Smoke Ring For My Halo is the perfect way into the music Kurt Vile makes. It’s tender and evocative, elusive but companionable, tough in the gut and the arm but swollen in the chest and giddy in the head. It’s a record that is perfect for any given day during whatever season, to satisfy all moods in every possible scenario – be that first thing in the morning or last thing at night; today, tomorrow or five years from now. In short, it’s real. Kurt Vile isn’t just the loneliest of ten siblings born to parents on the outskirts of Philadelphia, the former forklift truck driver who makes rock band guitar songs in the solitude of his bedroom. Smoke Ring For My Halo brings all of that together, marrying the introspection of the nocturnal stoner with the exploration of a troubadour frontiersman to arrive at a record you know is so much more than the sum of his and its constituent parts because often he sounds like he doesn’t know how he got there himself.
event::tags All Ages
7:00 PM
to 8:00 PM
ALTAAR
17 schedule::attendees
Location
Valhalla
eventtype Music
Artists ALTAAR
event::about ALTAAR is the new band of Andreas Tylden and Sten Ove Toft. Tylden has been the single most important character within Norwegian hardcore the last decade through now disbanded JR Ewing, and Toft is Norway's king of noise. They've assembled an all-star team for ALTAAR, consisting of Espen Hangård (KILLL/Diskord/NoPlaceToHide), Didrik Telle (Obliteration), Kenneth Lamond (JR Ewing) and sometimes Jørgen Munkeby (Shining). Together they fuse inspiration ranging from Phillip Glass to Barthory, the result is a diabolic soundscape and soundwaves which transmit emotion and atmosphere. Defying the normal boundries of genres, their music is best described as droning doom-sludge with black metal aesthetics. The result is a jaw-dropping, fantasticly intense live-experience somewhere between SUNN0))), Isis and Wolves In The Throne Room. Here's a snippet to see for yourself: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AS7ck_ggqWQ They are currently building a great buzz, and were one of the most acclaimed bands among foreign journalists at last year's by:larm and Øya festivals. Spinner, The Fader and CMJ Magazine were among media lauding them. Their debut cassette is due for re-release on vinyl this spring, and their debut album is due early this summer. One to watch as a coming stalwarts of Norwegian metal.
event::tags 21+
7:50 PM
to 8:50 PM
Suck Piggy
13 schedule::attendees
Location
Headhunters
eventtype Music
Artists Suck Piggy
event::about DEATH ROCK Girl's Band “suck piggy”!! A group of 4 girls band that acts around Kyoto in Japan. Formation in August, 2004. With heavy music that contains a hardcore element Therefore, it is acting in melodic music where it doesn't stay. The reputation is in the intense staging that cannot be thought with the all-female band. It is performing to various, live events. It is five time habitual practice as for independent project ?PIGGY*STARDUST? by 2008. It arrives through several-time member changes now. New CD is scheduled to be put on the market in June, 2010.
event::tags 18+
8:30 PM
to 9:30 PM
Gypsyblood
32 schedule::attendees
Location
Emo's Annex
10:00 PM
to 11:00 PM
The Strange Boys
92 schedule::attendees
Location
Mohawk Patio
11:00 PM
to 12:00 AM
JEFF The Brotherhood
147 schedule::attendees
Location
Mohawk Patio
eventtype Music
Artists JEFF The Brotherhood
event::about JEFF The Brotherhood is Jake and Jamin Orrall, two brothers that play drums and guitar. They grew up in Tennessee making music and trying to have a good time. Since their inception they have been playing anywhere from house parties to rooftops, backyards, bars and art galleries and releasing their own records, tapes, comic books and home made videos. The Brotherhood has been called "kraut punk", "psychedelic grunge" and "noise pop" drawing comparisons to bands like Hawkwind, Wipers, and early Sonic Youth. They have been carrying their heavy damage all over the country since 2006 and have shared bills with Oneida, Battles, Sonic Youth, Ex-Models, Jay Reatard, Black Pus and Dave Cloud. Their "we'll play anywhere" attitude and frenetic live shows have earned them near legendary status in the clubs and basements of Nashville and beyond. With three guitar strings and a minimal drum kit, they manage to distill rock to its primal essence.
event::tags All Ages
11:00 PM
to 12:00 AM
Naam
16 schedule::attendees
Location
Scoot Inn
eventtype Music
Artists Naam
event::about We’ve got something heavy here, man. The incarnation of Brooklyn, NY’s Naam manifests a signature brand of super-sonic and ultimately mesmerizing heavy psychedelia. Trance-like and punishing at times, this trio of psychonauts (John Bundy – bass, vocals / Ryan Lugar – guitar, vocals / Eli Pizzuto – drums) mold elements of classic psychedelia and prog with modern elements of jam-heavy bliss and apocalyptic amplitude. Naam’s self-titled debut is more so an aural-intoxicating odyssey than an album. Recorded on a 100-acre farm in upstate New York, Naam manages to capture an elemental sound, surfacing the hidden wisdoms of the forest and the fields while capturing the mysticism of the night sky. In its increasingly dark and sinister progression, the album depicts an unholy spiritual journey in the search for a higher plane of enlightenment. Naam delivers their deafening sermon to bring a new dawn for all civilization. The vast seas cannot drown Them, the darkest caverns cannot conceal Them, They will conquer insurmountable foes. They are war, They are peace, They are time and space, They are infinite, They are Naam. Naam's debut record came out in 2009 on Tee Pee Records. They are currently writing for their next 7" and record.
event::tags 21+
12:00 AM
to 1:00 AM
Eyehategod
42 schedule::attendees
Location
Scoot Inn
eventtype Music
Artists Eyehategod
event::about They've been called doomcore, sludge and stoner rock, survived line-up shuffles, label hassles and a short-lived split. And after 23 years of creating some of the most corrosive, vile music known to man, EyeHateGod still hasn't lost the piss and vinegar that fueled them back in '88. .. ..
event::tags 21+
12:00 AM
to 1:00 AM
Jesse Malin & The St Marks Social
81 schedule::attendees
Location
Maggie Mae's Gibson Room
eventtype Music
event::about After three critically acclaimed solo records, dozens of world tours and TV appearances, Jesse Malin found himself back in New York City questioning his next move. From his days fronting seminal hardcore trio Heart Attack and infamous glam punks D Generation, then seven years on the road as a solo artist, Malin had cultivated a devout fan base. He'd shared stages with everyone from The White Stripes to Counting Crows, The Hold Steady to Lucinda Williams, but felt like he was losing the plot. Malin contemplated going back to school, becoming a standup comedian or a Las Vegas wedding DJ, and even started work on a documentary film about DC hardcore Rastafarians The Bad Brains. For over a year he didnít play or record. When asked by a Hollywood screenwriter to pen songs for a film about author J.D. Salinger, Malin ó a fan of Catcher in the Rye and other Salinger works ó traveled to Cornish, NH hoping to speak to the famous recluse. In typical punk-rock fashion, instead of getting the interview, Malin landed at the local precinct for trespassing and was released only after the cops watched his video duet with Bruce Springsteen for "Broken Radio" on YouTube and were convinced he was just a writer doing research. Though he never met Salinger (who passed away this past January), Malin made the most of the experience by writing "The Archer" and "Lonely at Heart"ótwo songs that would make him want to work again and become the basis for his new album. Over the summer of 2009, in the basement of Avenue A watering hole Hi- Fi, the songs came forth. Malin, with impresario Don DiLego, drummer Randy Schrager, guitarist Matt Hogan, and bassist/DJ Tommy USA, worked with his newly formed band to bash out an album's worth of gritty anthems, and The St. Marks Social was born. A solid band, but one with an open door to Malin's community of musician friends - longtime partner in crime Ryan Adams, pop singer Mandy Moore, fellow label mate Brian Fallon, and former bandmates from D Generation Howie Pyro and Danny Sage - the Social is a group effort to keep the P.M.A. Says Malin, "To me, rock 'n' roll is an exorcism that begins every night when the sun goes down, the music starts playing, and the spirits start flowing. It helps to say things in public over dirty microphones. It's a way to spit out the poison." When Jesse met producer Ted Hutt (Lucero, Flogging Molly, The Gaslight Anthem) one drunken night at a local bar, their talk of making a record fast, loose, and raw, was the beginning of Huttís quest to create a record that would encompass Malin's roots and evolutionófrom hardcore thrasher to punk/folk singer-songwriter. The album's basic tracks were laid in three days at Greenpoint, Brooklynís Mission Studios, and the rest at Sonic Youth's Think Tank Studios in Hoboken, NJ. Filled with the characters Malin does bestómessengers and misanthropes, hipsters and hypocritesóand as always, his constant themes of redemption, nightlife, heartbreak, and survival, LOVE IT TO LIFEóa sentiment taken from a ticket stub Joe Strummer autographed for Jesseówas built with desperate optimism that shouts in gang vocals that no matter how bad it gets, youíre never alone. LOVE IT TO LIFE will be in stores on April 27, 2010. Jesse Malin and The St. Marks Social will start a residency this month at the Bowery Electric in New York to get warmed up for a run of dates with label mates Gogol Bordello in April.
event::tags 21+
12:00 AM
to 1:00 AM
KEN Mode
10 schedule::attendees
Location
Valhalla
eventtype Music
Artists KEN Mode
event::about Winnipeg, Canada's KEN mode are elitist-asshole metallic noise rock with touches of post metal, hardcore, sludge and doom (so they've been told); a product of long, hard winters culminating in a sound that whips, pummels and lacerates its end users like a wicked Manitoba wind. The power trio bares only the essential ingredients necessary to deliver maximum impact and is an exercise in efficiency and ferocity that convincingly illustrates this is the way it should be. The band has been aggressively smearing their filth since 1999 by touring all over Canada, the US and Europe with the likes of Pelican, Daughters, Buried Inside, The End, Gaza, Engineer, Taint, and done various regional dates with Mastodon, Burnt By The Sun, Cursed, Baroness, Bison BC, Propagandhi, These Arms Are Snakes, Despised Icon, etc. March 15, 2010 will see the band unleash its fourth and most devastating work to date; the Godcity/Kurt Ballou (Converge, Trap Them, Old Man Gloom) produced, West West Side/Alan Douches (Dillinger Escape Plan, Mastodon, High on Fire) mastered "Venerable" via Profound Lore Records. Here's what a few magazines and publications have said about KEN Mode: "This is how I know KEN Mode rule: I saw them play a virtually empty bar about five years ago and still remember that gig like it was yesterday. In this day and age, when half of what hits the stage when I decide to part with my precious time and leave the house doesn’t even register, this is a triumph-and-a-half. Not only do they sound like a raging beast wired on the up-tempo bits 'n' pieces of Unsane's discography, but in the case of much of the new material, KEN mode evoke the brutality of Unsane's Total Destruction and Unsane album covers brought to musical life." - Decibel Magazine "With their debut 'Mongrel' and the stellar follow-up 'Reprisal', Canada's best kept secret established a reputation for perfection jagged, chest-tightening riffs that not only demanded your attention but commanded it as well. Consequently, they have a lot to live up to. Luckily, they've done it again... They've eased up on the straightforward drive 'er home Keelhaul heaviosity, while maintaining the mid-'90's Black Cross punk meets Melvins undertone, and zoned in on the dissonant Kittens country quirks and Botch-flavoured guitar antics that had previously played second fiddle to the spirit of crushing riffage." - Terrorizer Magazine "Winnipeg's KEN Mode have run a tight ship since their inception, resulting in two previous provocative and unforgettable releases. Yet even with the musical muscle showcased on Mongrel and Reprisal, there was still room to grow, to become more comfortable in their warped, artistic anti-rock/metal hybrid, as opposed to being consumed by the youthful tendency to prove themselves. With Mennonite however, we celebrate the power trio's bar mitzvah; they're grown men. Still uncompromising and heavy yet feature a few more laidback — for them — grooves and tracks that grow into the focal point rather than rage from start to finish, Mennonite accomplishes more in one track than even KEN Mode probably thought possible. Incredibly well rounded and gripping, the album rages through thick, drawn-out battles of emotional torment, strikes fast and deadly with two-minute shots of rage, seizes with bastardized pop metal bravado and mesmerizes thanks to the band's relaxed attitude and comfort in their skin." - Exclaim Magazine "I’m not gonna try to demarcate what the hell these three Canucks are capable of in a song, but I’ll say this: (KEN mode) should be ground-zero for you disillusioned souls looking for granite-heavy, solid ‘heavy mental’ that’s as challenging as it is battering." - Metal Maniacs "The daily grind (pun intended) at a school where geometry, heavy metal history and chaos theory are the only courses offered." - Alternative Press "Although it shouldn’t, it always somewhat surprises me that KEN Mode is able to expand on what they’ve already done. However, the fact that they are able to speaks volumes as to just how good this band is. This is noise-rock at its finest, if you haven’t managed to check out KEN Mode yet then you are really missing out." - Built on a weak spot "There are drummers and there are drummers. Then, there are drummers. Ken Mode’s skin basher Shane Matthewson belongs to the latter kind; the ones that organize and gather the masses. The ones that make the difference and are, through skills and gusto, able to elevate the sound of a band from the above par to the outstanding. And kudos to the band too. Quite frankly I wasn’t expecting a three piece to come off as potent as Ken Mode. Guitarist vocalist Jesse Matthewson (is this one musical family or what?) bends his axe in quasi mathematical manners, the riffs are played in Forrest Gump ping-pong speed angularity, shooting off in all directions and...the result is an explosive encounter between post hardcore and noise rock. " Deaf Sparrow Zine
event::tags 21+
12:00 AM
to 1:00 AM
The Rods
9 schedule::attendees
Location
Rusty Spurs
eventtype Music
Artists The Rods
event::about The Rods are an American heavy metal band formed by David "Rock" Feinstein (guitar and vocals), Garry Bordonaro (bass and vocals) and Carl Canedy (drums and vocals). Feinstein had first come to mainstream attention after playing in Elf, with his cousin Ronnie James Dio. The Rods sound differed considerably from Elf, adopting a more traditional heavy metal sound compared with the blues-rock sound that Elf preferred. Their first album was originally released independently as Rock Hard in 1980 and the following year the band was signed by Arista Records, who reordered the album tracks and released it simply titled The Rods. Their second album Wild Dogs followed in 1982 and was re-released in 2004. The Rods' third album, released 1983, was entitled In the Raw In 1984 Canedy and Bordonaro played on Jack Starr's album Out of the Darkness with Rhett Forrester of Riot and Gary Driscoll of Rainbow. Then in 1984 The Rods made their fourth studio album Let Them Eat Metal and recorded the album The Rods Live. Their album Heavier Than Thou was originally released in 1986. An album was also released that features all of the band's members, entitled Hollywood - Canedy, Feinstein, Bordonaro, & Caudle. Canedy is also a producer of heavy metal bands, and his credits include Anthrax's Armed and Dangerous and Spreading the Disease, Exciter's Violence & Force, Overkill's Feel the Fire and Possessed's Beyond the Gates David "Rock" Feinstein just released his solo CD on Niji called "Bitten By The Beast" and their is a new Rods Cd scheduled for a 2011 release!
12:00 AM
to 1:00 AM
Ty Segall
144 schedule::attendees
Location
Mohawk Patio
12:20 AM
to 1:20 AM
Jackie Chain
11 schedule::attendees
Location
Klub Krucial
eventtype Music
Artists Jackie Chain
event::about Jackie Chain is a native son to Huntsville, AL. Jackie found his love for rap music at an early age, growing up in the trailer parks and listening to his favorite groups such as Eightball and MJG, UGK, 3-6 Mafia and Too Short.
event::tags 21+
12:30 AM
to 1:30 AM
The Woggles
34 schedule::attendees
Location
Mohawk
1:00 AM
to 2:00 AM
Bad Veins
51 schedule::attendees
Location
Skinny's Ballroom
eventtype Music
Artists Bad Veins
event::about Bad Veins are a rarity in today’s musical landscape: An act who didn’t set out to become critical darlings or the next “buzz” band, but managed to achieve both after only playing a handful of shows. However, despite the fact that Bad Veins’ music has been instantly embraced since their inception in late 2006, the duo of Benjamin Davis and Sebastien Schultz decided not to rush out the disc you’re currently holding in your hand. The result is Bad Veins, an album that’s unique but familiar, and not only lives up to the hype but surpasses it. Looking back, it’s hard to believe it all started out a little over four years ago in a non-descript attic in Cincinnati, Ohio. The group was originally conceived by Davis as a solo project, yet after Bad Veins’ first gig he quickly realized he would need a collaborator—which is where drummer Schultz entered the picture. “I always loved watching Sebastien play in his old band because he is just such a dramatic drummer,” Davis reveals. “We hooked up one day and I showed him all the stuff I’d been working on. I muted the electronic percussion and let him play on top, and after the first practice these songs were way cooler than I ever imagined they could be,” he continues. Bad Veins’ second gig was opening for Snowden, who were so impressed with the duo they instantly began singing their praises to anyone and everyone – especially in NYC. In no time, the band was performing at a showcase for the popular Manhattan-based web site Gothamist yet this was only their third show. From there, the palpable buzz surrounding the act spiraled out of control, eventually leading to five-figure grants, product endorsements and a deal with Dangerbird Records. The immediate amorous response to Bad Veins may be directly linked to their live shows, specifically their ability to accurately replicate their luscious songs with some help from a third member: Irene. The lovingly named antique reel-to-reel player handles 50 to 70 extra tracks, allowing the dynamic duo to create their huge orchestrations the way they were intended. A year after this duo’s first show, they found themselves at CMJ touted as “the breakout act of the event” on the Festival’s site – yet it was Davis who was taken most by surprise. Although they could have easily capitalized on the attention they were receiving, Davis and Schultz decided instead to work with the music licensing company Black Iris (who hired Davis as a freelance composer after hearing the first Bad Veins demos) and utilize the commercial company’s studios as well as expert engineers in Richmond, Virginia and Los Angeles, in order to fully realize this flawless collection of songs. The finished album is as cerebral as it is visceral, and showcases what Bad Veins are capable of. “I’m so glad that we waited and made this record on our own terms,” says Schultz. From the military drum introduction of “Found” to the final rattle of “Go Home,” Bad Veins is a cohesive collection of songs that sounds more like a labor of love than an attempt to move units. This is especially evident with the album’s breakthrough single “Gold And Warm,” a track that unifies the best parts of the Killers and the Walkmen while retaining the band’s indie sensibility and landlocked Midwestern roots. That same attention to detail is applied to Bad Veins’ lyrics, which are rich in metaphor yet aren’t so ambiguous that you won’t understand what Davis is talking about. “I think there’s a common thread on the album that stems out of my personality,” he explains. “There are fears and insecurities involved in no matter what you do and I’m the kind of person who thinks about those things a lot - so they weed themselves into pretty much every song,” he continues. “I typically write about something that I’ve experienced, so they always have this woven element of my own personal demons.” There’s no clear genre or box to stash this band into and even Bad Veins themselves aren’t exactly sure where they fit in. But, they can’t wait to start performing live and find out. “I think everyone from some indie kid in Ohio to a Williamsburg hipster can find something to latch onto with this record and enjoy it,” Schultz explains. “I don’t feel badly because we don’t fit in anywhere,” he continues, admitting that even if it ended tomorrow, Bad Veins have already accomplished more than they ever imagined. “If we can spend this next year on the road and see the world by playing the music we want to play, then we’ve already succeeded.”
event::tags 21+
1:00 AM
to 2:00 AM
Black Heart Procession
71 schedule::attendees
Location
Maggie Mae's Gibson Room
eventtype Music
Artists Black Heart Procession
event::about After Three Mile Pilot began an open-ended hiatus in 1997, singer/guitarist Pall Jenkins and multi-instrumentalist Tobias Nathaniel embarked on a darker, more subdued journey as The Black Heart Procession. In the many years and albums since, the band's line-up has expanded and contracted, but at its heart and soul remains Jenkins and Nathaniel.
event::tags 21+
1:00 AM
to 2:00 AM
1:00 AM
to 2:00 AM
Quintron and Miss Pussycat
68 schedule::attendees
Location
Mohawk Patio
eventtype Music
Artists Quintron and Miss Pussycat
event::about "Quintron has been making genre-defying noise and "Swamp-Tech" dance music in New Orleans for over fifteen years. The majority of his 12 full-length albums have the psychedelic soul of New Orleans garage R&B filtered through a tough distorted Hammond B-3 and a cache of self-made electronic instruments. He has also released strange soundscapes based on inner-city field recordings of frogs and neighborhood ambiance. Quintron regards his most significant creation to be his patented instrument called the THE DRUM BUDDY, a light activated analog synthesizer that creates murky, low-fidelity, rhythmic patterns. Notable DRUM BUDDY clients include performers Nels Cline of Wilco, Laurie Anderson, Fred Armisen, and DJ Mr. Dibbs. Quintron's permanent collaborator is none other than master puppeteer, MISS PUSSYCAT who plays maracas and sings, as well as entertaining all age groups with her highly amusing technicolor puppet shows. Hers are complex puppet shows beautifully crafted for success in intimate venues of late night rock and roll drinking and dancing: tactile, idiosyncratic puppet characters, pithy dialogue, electronically pixilated soundtracks, and charming black light effects create a visual and engaging overture/finale to Quintron and Miss Pussycat's music sets. Quintron aids in puppet manipulation and voicing. Miss Pussycat, in turn, sings lead and back-up with a steady maraca beat during Quintron's performances. The Quintron / Miss Pussycat experience is one of barely controlled electronic chaos, "Swamp-Tech" dance beats, small explosions, incredible clothes, and entertaining puppet stories. You can see them perform regularly at the Spellcaster Lodge in New Orleans, Louisiana or on one of their many tours around the world. This act somehow has equal relevance in sleazy nightclubs, pizza restaurants, and university lecture halls."
event::tags All Ages
1:00 AM
to 2:00 AM
Slough Feg
12 schedule::attendees
Location
Valhalla
eventtype Music
Artists Slough Feg
event::about 'The Lord Weird Slough Feg', whose name is derived from a character in ancient Irish mythology, originates from Central Pennsylvania. The band relocated to San Francisco, California in 1990 in hopes of resurrecting the ailing 'true metal' scene in the United States. The band quickly gained a reputation as, 'The band San Francisco loved to hate' by taking a stand against the trends and incorporating stage savagery with strong visual imagery. Three demos were produced by the band in the early to mid nineties. These were followed up by a self produced, self titled debut CD released in 1996. Scoring points for originality in the European underground, they aroused the interest of Dragonheart Records in 1998 and 'Twilight of the Idols' was released in 1999. This was followed by, 'Down Among the Deadmen' released in the year 2000, and Sci-Fi epic, 'Traveller' in 2003. In 2005 the band moved to the Italian label Cruz Del Sur, releasing 3 albums. 2010 marked the move to Profound Lore Records, and a slight change of direction to a '70's NWOBHM sound with the release of Animal Spirits. Slough-Feg's style is an eclectic mix of Celtic Folk and Traditional Metal peppered with buckets of energy and lyrical depth.
event::tags 21+
1:00 AM
to 2:00 AM
The Cynics
18 schedule::attendees
Location
Easy Tiger Patio
eventtype Music
Artists The Cynics
event::about The CYNICS are the most respected garage outfit around today. Their Live Shows are Legendary. Their body of Recorded Work displays a rich, diverse, history of Timeless Tunes and Rock and Roll Classics. They return to SXSW this year for the first time with the Spanish rhythm section (Angel on Bass & Pibbs on Drums) that played on "Here We Are" lp as well as a forthcoming new lp! The CYNICS will be showcasing songs from the new "Spinning Wheel Motel" lp (recorded w/ Jim Diamond/Ghetto Recorders, Detroit) as well as playing all the party hits!!
event::tags 21+
1:00 AM
to 2:00 AM
Valient Thorr
57 schedule::attendees
Location
Barbarella
eventtype Music
Artists Valient Thorr
event::about A quest for knowledge, quest to see / all these things inside of me / looking in, there’s something wrong / I must set out on my own If there is any hope that Rock N Roll can change the world, as Valient Thorr believe it can, people are going to have to start to get their own personal shit together first. In what could be viewed as a single handed, spur of the moment effort to wrestle the phrase “personal responsibility” back from the Right, Stranger, the new album from intergalactic Rock N Roll saviors, Valient Thorr eschews direct frontal attacks on politicians and their wars and instead focuses inward on personal decisions and ethical living in the world economy. Taking lessons from legions of like minded musicians and following the musical path Valient Thorr have traveled, Stranger broadens the boundaries of what is hard and heavy, aggressive and fierce, extending an invitation to a party to be enjoyed by the heshers, head bangers, stoner rockers, thrashers, skate punks, old schoolers and the truly hardcore. If one were to imagine hearing a palpable buzz so engaging that is has its own gravitational pull, something so strong that as one is pulled closer, the buzz becomes a throb that seemingly doubles over on itself into infinity. This is the furious sound of Valient Thorr, a band whose entire being is founded and powered on the force of one huge, mass, communal headbang that has the power to deliver a unifying moment of clarity. This may sound mystical, but in this case it is real, because as any dyed in the wool Thorrior will tell you, it is the energy of sweat soaked revelry, rather than electricity, that powers the amplifiers and drums that produce this hearty onslaught of all things future-past in the pantheon of high energy, heavy metal, ROCK n ROLL! Screeching guitar leads, low end rumble, breakneck paces and feel good shout along hooks are made to exist together, often in a single song, proving that this is the only sound possible to deliver Valient Thorr’s powerful message of positive change and transformation. Anyone that has ever sweated and headbanged can get with this. Touring relentlessly since 2001 after crash landing in the North Carolina Triangle area, a place they now call home, Valient Thorr have this year already criss-crossed the U.S. on the Volcom Tour with Mastodon, Between The Buried and Me, Baroness and are currently in the midst of a European tour that will keep them abroad through the end of July and includes festival appearances at Hellfest, Roskilde, Serengeti and Rock Im Ring, before returning stateside for a massive U.S. headline tour set to kick off in September. Produced, recorded and mixed by Jack Endino (Nirvana, Mudhoney, Dwarves, High On Fire, Toxic Holocaust), Stranger, set for release on September 14, 2010 is Valient Thorr’s fifth album in seven years. A considerable feat since they have been averaging close to 250 shows a year for most of this time with acts as varied as Motörhead, Joan Jett and the Black Hearts, Eagles of Death Metal, Gogol Bordello, Fu Manchu, Early Man and Skeleton Witch. To get right down to it, Stranger fuses together the roots-rock, no-bullshit beginnings of Stranded on Earth and Total Universe Man with the laser guided immediacy of Legend Of The World and the total metal shredding of Immortalizer, into one supernova burst.
event::tags 21+
1:05 AM
to 2:05 AM
Peelander-Z
118 schedule::attendees
Location
Headhunters
eventtype Music
Artists Peelander-Z
event::about Peelander-Z, the Japanese Action Comic Punk Band based in New York City, was originally formed by Peelander-Yellow, Peelander-Red, and Peelander-Blue (later replaced by Peelander-Green), after meeting in the Z area on the planet Peelander. On the band’s latest album P-TV-Z (Chicken Ranch Records, 9/28/10), Peelander-Z has their sites set on making the ultimate happy fun kid friendly punk rock record. On P-TV-Z, Peelander-Z covers kids classics and writes several new ones as well. "Old MacDonald Had a Farm" is re-titled "E-I-E-I-O" and given a ska flavor. "How Are USA?" rolls through the state names over a rocking track. The silliness that Peelander fans love is also abundant on tracks like "Taco Taco Tacos" and "Ice Cream". Chicken Ranch Records honcho Mike Dickinson says, "I emailed the band about doing a kids record and they replied with a very enthusiastic yes! I played it for my young children and they flipped out. They love this band." Hunkering down in Austin, Texas with producer Evil Elvis and engineers Bryan Nelson and Chico Jones at Ohms Studio, Peelander-Z brought out the cream of Austin's indie and punk crop to guest on P-TV-Z. Members of The Riverboat Gamblers, The Octopus Project, Foot Patrol, Atash, and Black Joe Lewis' Honeybears horn section all make appearances. Peelander-Pink even takes a vocal turn on French pop influenced "Dial Ring Ring Phone Pho Phone". P-TV-Z closes with the wistful "Wasabi Man", which is Peelander Z's answer to Motley Crue's "Home Sweet Home". P-TV-Z comes packaged with a DVD featuring videos for "E-I-E-I-O", a performance clip of "Go! Rio!", and videos for "So Many Mike" and "Ninja High School" off their previous album P-Pop High School, plus tons of extras! Peelander-Z has appeared at major music festivals including Bonnaroo, CMJ and SXSW, and played with artists such as Buckethead, The Vibrators, and Guitar Wolf. The band has also been featured on TV programs like VH1's Best Week Ever and Comedy Central's Upright Citizens Brigade among others. At their live show, Peelander-Z guarantees intense audience participation and a chance to exercise. You'll see the band in colorful costumes reminiscent of Japanese animation, though they describe their outfits as their skin. You'll also see The Red Squid, human bowling and all around insanity. A rare occasion for the entire family to rock out and have a great time.
event::tags 18+
1:15 AM
to 2:15 AM
Mean Jeans
37 schedule::attendees
Location
Easy Tiger
eventtype Music
Artists Mean Jeans
event::about The Mean Jeans are here to rescue you! Billy Jeans, Jeans Wilder, and Howie Doodat have brought us an lp that rocks from start to finish. The Jeans burn through 13 songs of pure retarded genius that will remind you of how happy you were when you heard the Spits for the first time. You have songs about partying, getting wasted, running out of smokes, partying, pogoing, space trash, and oh yeah…..partying! Nobody this year has put out a record this much fun and I don’t think anyone is gonna top it in the next couple of months. -buddyhead.com
event::tags 21+
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