8:00 PM
to 11:00 PM
ExpressionEngine Meetup
21 schedule::attendees
Location
Red 7
eventtype Unofficial Party
event::about
Come mingle at this year's ExpressionEngine developer meet up at SXSW Interactive!
8pm - no badges or RSVP required.
For more info, email info@wearepapertiger.com
8:00 PM
to 3:00 AM
That Internet Party
90 schedule::attendees
Location
Red 7
eventtype Unofficial Party
Speaker/Artist(s) Info
Nazcarnation, White Arrows, Soft Healer, Skiggy Rapz, Flying Turns, Learning Secrets, DJ Kosha Dillz, DJ DNS, Mickey Schiff DJ Set, The New Movement w/ Lamebook Live
event::about
Sponsored by Lamebook, Texts From Last Night, Chuck Norris Facts, Passive Agressive Notes, Regretsy
6:00 PM
to 8:00 PM
GDC @ SXSW Interactive
37 schedule::attendees
Location
Red 7
eventtype Party, Interactive
event::about
Mix & mingle with your industry peers and learn more about GDC Online, the leading social & online games conference this Fall.
12:00 PM
to 12:20 PM
Exray's
8 schedule::attendees
Location
Red 7
eventtype Unofficial Music
event::about Force Field PR & Terrorbird Media 4th Annual SXSW Day Party
12:00 PM
to 6:00 PM
Force Field PR & Terrorbird Media 4th Annual SXSW Day Party
279 schedule::attendees
Location
Red 7
eventtype Unofficial Party
Speaker/Artist(s) Info
FREE. All Ages. Early Arrival Strongly Suggested.
Rad Gift Bags for First 100 Attendees
Free Ben And Jerry's Ice Cream!
Inside Stage:
Exray's
Cloud Nothings
Pictureplane
Rainbow Arabia
Nite Jewel
Lower Dens
The Death Set
The Soft Moon
Outside Stage:
Lord Huron
Violens
Screaming Females
Braids
Generationals
Weekend
Toro Y Moi
tUnE-yArDs
12:30 PM
to 1:05 PM
Cloud Nothings
159 schedule::attendees
Location
Red 7
eventtype Unofficial Music
event::about Force Field PR & Terrorbird Media 4th Annual SXSW Day Party
1:15 PM
to 1:55 PM
Pictureplane
40 schedule::attendees
Location
Red 7
eventtype Unofficial Music
event::about Force Field PR & Terrorbird Media 4th Annual SXSW Day Party
2:05 PM
to 2:45 PM
Rainbow Arabia
36 schedule::attendees
Location
Red 7
eventtype Unofficial Music
event::about Force Field PR & Terrorbird Media 4th Annual SXSW Day Party
2:10 PM
to 2:40 PM
Braids
150 schedule::attendees
Location
Red 7
eventtype Unofficial Music
event::about Force Field PR & Terrorbird Media 4th Annual SXSW Day Party
2:55 PM
to 3:30 PM
Nite Jewel
63 schedule::attendees
Location
Red 7
eventtype Unofficial Music
event::about Force Field PR & Terrorbird Media 4th Annual SXSW Day Party
3:40 PM
to 4:15 PM
Lower Dens
144 schedule::attendees
Location
Red 7
eventtype Unofficial Music
event::about Force Field PR & Terrorbird Media 4th Annual SXSW Day Party
3:50 PM
to 4:30 PM
Weekend
75 schedule::attendees
Location
Red 7
eventtype Unofficial Music
event::about Force Field PR & Terrorbird Media 4th Annual SXSW Day Party
4:25 PM
to 5:05 PM
The Death Set
43 schedule::attendees
Location
Red 7
eventtype Unofficial Music
event::about Force Field PR & Terrorbird Media 4th Annual SXSW Day Party
5:15 PM
to 6:00 PM
The Soft Moon
29 schedule::attendees
Location
Red 7
eventtype Unofficial Music
event::about Force Field PR & Terrorbird Media 4th Annual SXSW Day Party
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
9:00 PM
to 10:00 PM
The Luyas
43 schedule::attendees
Location
Red 7
eventtype Music
Artists The Luyas
event::about The Luyas is the project of Pietro Amato, Mathieu Charbonneau, Stefan Schneider, Jessie Stein and occasionally Sarah Neufeld. The band first came together somewhat haphazardly, the initial result of which was their debut album, Faker Death, which the band released independently, and then on Canadian boutique label, You’ve Changed Records. In 2009 the band made a record with old friend and Canadian master, Jeff Mcmurrich, maker of the coolest records north of the border. Many hours of processing live sounds through boxes ensued. Torrid romances played themselves out, families crumbled, the economy weakened, Owen Pallett did orchestral arrangements, everybody cried. Life is life for everyone. The Luyas played with their boxes. Coffee, beer, whiskey, worse; All of this was processed through a space echo. Then it was the end of the summer. So the band went to Europe. They toured extensively supporting Bell Orchestre. Sarah cut Jessie’s hair off into the Danube on the last day of the tour. Look out for a new album to be released on Dead Oceans in 2011.
event::tags All Ages
10:00 PM
to 11:00 PM
Little Scream
27 schedule::attendees
Location
Red 7
eventtype Music
Artists Little Scream
event::about LITTLE SCREAM’S MUSIC is—like her moniker—full of perfectly satisfying contradictions. It is at once familiar and completely distinct; effortlessly absorbing multiple genres into a sparkly and cohesive landscape. From her early days performing with a battered acoustic guitar through a cigarette amp, to her current multi-layered solo act typically combined with a rotating band of all-star musicians; one thing remains true for Little Scream: things are always done in her own weird and wonderful way. Born in Iowa and raised along the Mississippi River in an ‘Addams Family meets 700 Club’ home, Little Scream, aka Laurel Sprengelmeyer, learned violin and piano as a child. ‘When my parents divorced, all my mom got out of the deal was a green Chevy pick-up truck. When that truck was dented up in an accident, my mom used the insurance money to bring home a Washburn banjo and the black Fender La Brae I still sometimes play at shows. I spent the following months locked away in our root cellar learning guitar tablature. Mostly Aerosmith’. Little Scream emerged onto Montreal’s music scene at her own pace, appearing and disappearing on stages alongside the likes of Owen Pallet, Atlas Sound, Stars, The Sea and Cake, and Handsome Furs; all the while slowly crafting the sounds that would become her debut full length: The Golden Record. Co-produced with Richard Reed Parry (Arcade Fire, Bell Orchestre), The Golden Record features Little Scream on guitar, vocals, violin, and keyboard. In typical Montreal fashion, it showcases a healthy slice of local talent including Richard Parry, Mike Fuerstack (Snailhouse), Becky Foon (Silver Mt. Zion), Patty McGee (Stars), and Sarah Neufeld (Arcade Fire, Bell Orchestre). The National’s Aaron Dessner also contributed on “Heron and the Fox”. The title refers to the 1977 Voyager Space shuttle time capsule recording that contains sounds, language and music intended to represent earth. In Little Scream’s words: ‘It is a poignant if not futile gesture of communication with some form of sentience that might intercept it in the distant future when we are the distant past’. The otherworldly cover of The Golden Record is one of Little Scream’s own original oil paintings. Watch out for the Spring 2011 release of The Golden Record. www.littlescream.com Contact: Gillian Nycum, gillian@longplaymanagement.com
event::tags All Ages
11:00 PM
to 12:00 AM
Sun Airway
64 schedule::attendees
Location
Red 7
eventtype Music
Artists Sun Airway
event::about The first time Sun Airway's crackling pop sounds made their way through our speakers, we heard what felt like the lost soundtrack to the next Sofia Coppola film; atmospheric yet catchy, hazy but somehow vital and immediate. Sun Airway has hit on the sweet spot where infectious hooks and cerebral electronic pop intersect, pulling textural sound and pop songcraft into one. It is hard to imagine namedropping both the Strokes and Animal Collective when describing a single band, but that is exactly what Pitchfork has done with Sun Airway, while describing "Put the Days Away" and "Infinity," two tracks from the band's debut album, Nocturne of Exploded Crystal Chandelier. There is no shortage of magical moments on Nocturne of Exploded Crystal Chandelier, from Side A's one-two punch of "American West" and "Oh, Naoko" to the heartfelt "Waiting on You" and the anthemic "Put the Days Away." Sun Airway twists their songs with their kaleidoscopic production — lush electronic washes, synthetic textures and pulsing rhythms — obscuring the hooks in hazy pop bliss. Hailing from Philadelphia, Sun Airway is led by songwriter Jon Barthmus, who is joined by fellow sound sculptor Patrick Marsceill. Recorded primarily in Barthmus' basement studio over the course of 18 months, the album blends processed sounds, field recordings and timeless vocal melodies into their abstract fractured pop. The duo expands to a full blown quintet when performing live, with projections designed for each song, creating a wondrous sensory overload. In addition to an ambitious live show, Sun Airway have been reinventing the music of others, with remixes of Delorean, Kisses, Here We Go Magic and more circulating around the internet.
event::tags All Ages
12:00 AM
to 1:00 AM
Small Black
122 schedule::attendees
Location
Red 7
eventtype Music
Artists Small Black
event::about New Chain is the debut long-player from New York's Small Black. Richly coloured and thickly layered, it is an absorbing, eclectic and obsessive body of work. The Brooklyn group have succeeded in melting together locked and popped drum-shudder, gauzy spirographic synths and subtly contagious, half-remembered melody into ebullient bursts of evocative, subliminal and thoroughly modern pop. The songs are equally informed by the rhythmic bounce and stylistic swagger of more left-leaning contemporary radio rap and R'n'B as it is the submerged kaleidoscopic swirl of the early 4AD dream factory. Formed at the tail-end of 2008 as a bedroom recording project, Small Black first made waves with their eponymous debut EP. Recorded in the attic of singer Josh Kolenik's uncle's remote Long Island beach-house/surfboard workshop, it served as an ideal introduction to the group with its pulsing patchwork synths and addictive, stay-gold hooks that seemed to unfurl themselves gradually over repeated listens. Slightly more immediate and polished than its predecessor, Small Black's new album New Chain remains a continuation of this contrasting ethos – a delirious smudging of the lines between melancholy and nostalgia, tension and celebration, unabashed pop music and experimentation. "It's always been a question for us," explains keyboardist/songwriter Ryan Heyner, "of how much to push it, how much to reveal. I find a lot of the best music creeps up on you." New Chain was predominantly written, recorded and fully realized in the seclusion of sleepy, suburban Delaware, where bassist/songwriter Juan Pieczanski spent his childhood summers., and then mixed by Nicolas Vernhes (Animal Collective, Dirty Projectors) at his Rare Book Room studio in New York City. The group spent the hours in Delaware as Kolenik says "trying to take the excitement and stimulus of NYC to a place far from distractions, where it could be organized properly." The effect of the transposition between city life and the isolation could explain the way the record's full-blown party jams are tempered with weirder moments of longing and enigma, and conversely, how its more discordant, foggy moments conceal huge moments of melody. A thinker's party record? A party-hardy thinker's record? Not sure. All we know is that New Chain is one of the most involved, intriguing and effortlessly human collections of organic pop music you're likely to hear this or any other year.
event::tags All Ages
1:00 AM
to 2:00 AM
Parts & Labor
88 schedule::attendees
Location
Red 7
eventtype Music
Artists Parts & Labor
event::about Constant Future is the career-defining statement from Brooklyn-based noise-pop trio Parts & Labor. The album's 12 tracks deliver the bare essentials that made them sui generis totems of modern art-punk: synthesized keyboard riffs distorted into oblivion, percussion pummeled hypnotically, crackling drones that haunt and soothe, fearless melodies hollered skyward. Their last release, 2008's acclaimed Receivers, saw Parts & Labor blasting off in all directions and creating collage art from hundreds of fan-curated samples. But fifth album Constant Future finds them crashing back to earth, focusing pointedly on what they do best: unique, electronic landscapes melded with buzzing, anthemic hooks. Parts & Labor have distilled the lessons and experiences of nearly 10 years as a band into a catchy, blown-out masterwork. Maximalist engineer Dave Fridmann (Flaming Lips, Mogwai, Sleater-Kinney, MGMT) co-produced and mixed the album with P&L at his Tarbox Road Studios in Casadega, NY. A band already known for their dense, futuristic sound was ultimately transformed into something massive, beaming, downright nuclear. The album is the product of two years of vigorous writing and demoing which resulted in more than 40 songs. For the actual recording, Parts & Labor settled in a former boxing ring in Milwaukee to track the record themselves, with drummer Joe Wong leading the charge. Over Constant Future's 39 minutes, vocalists Dan Friel and BJ Warshaw steadfastly chronicle several whirlwind years of growth, taking lyrical cues from the artful work of their musical heroes (Sonic Youth, Lungfish, Fugazi, Wire). The pair weave tales of teeth-baring city-scapes ("Fake Names", "Echo Chamber"), the anxiety of death ("Rest", "Never Changer") and the horrifying pitfalls of our nascent century ("Outnumbered", "Skin And Bones"). But, as their sunny refrains would imply, there's always a glimmer of hope, acceptance and love buried just beneath Parts & Labor's paranoid surface ("Without A Seed", "Hurricane", "A Thousand Roads").
event::tags All Ages
8:00 PM
to 9:00 PM
Heavy Cream
36 schedule::attendees
Location
Red 7
eventtype Music
Artists Heavy Cream
event::about Heavy Cream's aura is the color bad. They are three girls and one guy from Nashville, Tennessee that play rock and roll Stonehenge punk. Their music is youth incarnate; fast and loud and exuberant. Ripping through their set with the ferociousness of a mountain lion, their primal beats, catchy riffs and bewitching drones leave you wondering when Joey Ramone and Suzie Quattro had a love child.
event::tags All Ages
8:50 PM
to 9:50 PM
Pterodactyl
25 schedule::attendees
Location
Red 7
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
10:30 PM
to 11:30 PM
Grass Widow
40 schedule::attendees
Location
Red 7
eventtype Music
Artists Grass Widow
event::about The name Grass Widow is a coupling of words, which when combined, provide a basis for multiple meanings. Bassist/vocalist, Hannah Lew, drummer/vocalist, Lillian Maring and guitarist/vocalist, Raven Mahon chose the name for their San Francisco-based three-piece as a way to represent the approach they take to writing music. The phrase is rooted in 17th century literature; commonly referring to a woman whose husband is away at sea, but the visual associations of each word also provides an opportunity to interpret meaning on multiple levels. "For me," says Maring, "it's about a state of solitude when you realize parts of you may be missing." Lew adds: "The name Grass Widow refers to elements of the unknown or the subconscious, things not in plain sight." Grass Widow approaches lyrical content in much the same way, using metaphor to express complicated, intimate themes. Inspired by the personal, they use myth and allegory to synthesize ideas and create new landscapes wherein listeners can draw their own meaning. “We write lyrics about very personal and often dark subjects, but present the ideas in a way that disguises the content within metaphor and upbeat instrumentation,” says Mahon. “Although we chose the name early on, it has evolved with us as our process has become refined.” Grass Widow formed in 2007 and quickly received attention within the Bay Area as well as national underground press via publications like Yeti. Influenced by similarly all-female punk and post-punk acts like The Neo Boys and Kleenex, they also note Roy Wood's The Move and The Kinks as a major source of inspiration, which can be heard in their three-part harmonies, complex arrangements and odd chord progressions. In addition to these musical influences, Grass Widow is influenced by a legacy of women who have paved the way through their music and politics. Their collaborative songwriting process, the fact that they don't have a front person and that they all equally contribute to the work of the band speaks to this philosophy. In addition, they take the opportunity as an all female band to bring attention to the roles of spectacle and spectator in their scene and make a conscious effort to play shows where women are involved. “Women on stage or on the Internet play a similar role to women in films, looked at but not returning the gaze,” says Lew. “Women have been excluded from the audience. I want to think that we are challenging this pattern by representing ourselves in a way that makes a lot of space for women in the audience.” In a statement from the band: “We want to thrive in our scene as musicians, with a focus on our musicianship first, not our gender. Our goal is to normalize the role of gender in our craft and have an avenue to express our intelligence and our love of music. We acknowledge that movements of the past created by or affecting women in the art and music worlds are hugely influential, but there is potential for the original sentiments to lose potency if the meaning is misinterpreted or not redesigned for a modern context. Even the riot grrl movement is kind of antiquated. You never really hear people talk about that 'new riot grrl' band. We owe a great deal to that lineage but it's time for something new. We want to be portrayed as the responsible, thoughtful people that we are.” In 2009, Grass Widow released their first S/T LP on local indie imprint Make-A-Mess Records as well as a 12" EP on Brooklyn label Captured Tracks. On August 24, 2010 Grass Widow released their latest full-length on Kill Rock Stars entitled Past Time.
event::tags All Ages
11:20 PM
to 12:20 AM
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
12:00 PM
to 5:00 PM
Shirts For A Cure Party
108 schedule::attendees
Location
Red 7
eventtype Unofficial Party
Speaker/Artist(s) Info
Paint It Black
Fake Problems
BANE
Title Fight
Riverboat Gamblers
Dave Hause
The Flatliners
event::about
The Shirts for a Cure Project is very excited to announce this year’s SXSW day party. Donations will be collected at the door and are strong encouraged.
8:15 PM
to 9:15 PM
Colleen Green
33 schedule::attendees
Location
Red 7
eventtype Music
Artists Colleen Green
event::about I know a couple of things about Colleen Green. One thing that's for sure: she's a songwriting phenomenon. She sings lovely, catchy, fuzzy songs that range from 80s pop goulash to psychedelic drone; from 90s power punk to homemade Sebadoh-style songs of heartache. Think of her as a sort of female Daniel Johnston, with her at home making comics, armed with a seemingly unlimited amount of well-composed songs, her lamentations on out-of-reach love, her self-medication, her bedroom recordings. She proudly displays her musical heroes' influences on her sleeve. She plays live shows alone on stage with only an electric guitar and a drum machine to accompany her. Is she a genius? Who knows. So let's get down to the bare bone facts. These are the things I know about Colleen Green to be true: Colleen Green sprouted up some years ago in Massachusetts, deep within the forests of the Merrimack Valley. She was raised by a loving family that brought her up on a steady diet of delicious oldies and sugary cereals. Colleen Green went to school, learned how to speak the language of the streets, and by second grade was rapping on school grounds. By the age of 11 she had discovered punk rock and never looked back. From that point on she was obsessed with music. Green moved to Oakland, California in 2008 in search of hot sun, good bud, good buds, and nice boys. Fortunately, five of her best friends decided to join her, the best of which being Kayla. Along with their friend Steve O, Green and Kayla created the Full House House in West Oakland and invited countless great bands from across the nation and world to play in their living room. Kayla can be seen on the front cover of the 'Green One' 7', and is also one of two main characters in Green's comic strip, "Real Shit Daily". Recently, Green retreated to a cave in Los Angeles, where she can now be found sleeping, smoking, baking magical treats, and staring at the wall. Within two lonely months, Colleen had written and recorded Milo Goes to Compton; within five she had released both that tape and the 4 Loko 2 Kayla CD-R EP as well. Both of these albums have been in heavy rotation since the day they arrived in my mailbox. Anyway, that is just the beginning of the Colleen Green story. If you can, get to know her. And text her. You will love her . 'A brutal gem for the real indie club bound to blow up speakers and inspire many bands out there to get way more creative (or violent) with their re-appropriation of 1960s Girls in the Garage tropes.' --20 Jazz Funk Greats 'Like coffee for your ears.' --Pitchfork 'Slightly snotty but totally cool fuzz pop music.' --Neu Magazine
event::tags All Ages
9:15 PM
to 10:15 PM
The Moondoggies
45 schedule::attendees
Location
Red 7
eventtype Music
Artists The Moondoggies
event::about There is something inherently calming about large bodies of water. In times of emotional duress, standing at the edge of an ocean watching the waves roll in and out, centers the spirit in a way that standing on terra firma cannot. Kevin Murphy (lead vocals, guitar) chose to title the Moondoggies' new album Tidelands in part because of a remote area outside his old stomping grounds of Ketchikan, Alaska where he used to go to escape from civilization. More importantly, as the sly recurring themes of water throughout the Seattle quartet's second full-length underscore, these are songs crafted to provide solace, sense, and cause for celebration in a world fraught with turmoil. 'What the water represents can be taken many different ways,' concedes Murphy. 'Many of the lyrics came to me while trying to be constructive in how I dealt with feeling depressed, rather than just getting wrapped up in my own head.' Although full-throated vocal harmonies are still central to the band's sound, the ten selections that comprise Tidelands embrace a wider range of timbres and dynamics than their 2008 debut, Don't Be A Stranger. Stylistically, this sophomore set is a strong creative leap forward for the young band. There are selections fashioned from little more than hushed acoustic guitar and vocals (the haunting 'A Lot of People On My Mind'), and others-like the robust 'What Took So Long'-that rise and fall and accumulate momentum, veering towards gospel fervor with impassioned blasts of organ, then reeling back in quiet reflection. Tunes written almost exclusively by Murphy are juxtaposed with those born from long sessions improvising with his band mates: drummer Carl Dahlen, keyboard player Caleb Quick, and bassist Robert Terreberry. There are numbers that were composed at home in Seattle, alongside others created during Murphy's isolation in Alaska ('Empress of the North'). 'Lead Me On,' featuring violin by Seth Warren of the Maldives, sprang from the union of two different songs by Kevin and Carl. Further enriching the album's sonic palette are pedal steel performances by another member of the Maldives, Chris Zasche. Recorded in the winter months bridging 2009 and 2010, the record has a more unified feel than its predecessor. 'On our first album, we crammed everything on there, because we didn't know if we were ever going to have another opportunity,' admits Kevin. 'This time I really wanted it to make sense as an album. There was a theme, and I felt that honing in on certain songs and a particular feeling made it a more interesting record, and not just Don't Be A Stranger, Part 2.' (Songs deemed worthwhile, but inappropriate for inclusion on Tidelands, found a home on the EP You'll Find No Answers Here, released in June 2010.) The new album was produced and recorded by the band and Erik Blood (who also oversaw the making of their debut), with additional production input from Seattle stalwarts Phil Ek and Kurt Bloch. The quartet experimented and took risks during this process: multiple reads on the same song were tried, with various vocal and instrumental arrangements taken up and abandoned until the right balance was struck. While 'Empress of the North' appears on Tidelands as a hushed acoustic ballad consisting entirely of acoustic guitar and pained, longing vocals, Blood convinced the guys to record an additional, vintage soul-style rendition of the tune. Bloch, meanwhile, recorded the quartet live-in-studio to capture the feel of their spirited live shows. Though they sprang from Seattle's vibrant roots music scene, the Moondoggies are a band schooled in much more than the common touchstones of the current Americana movement; there are no intentions of treading water stylistically here. It's precisely this creative stretching that has resulted in the bands most artistic step forward to date: Tidelands.
event::tags All Ages
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
11:15 PM
to 12:15 AM
Unnatural Helpers
10 schedule::attendees
Location
Red 7
eventtype Music
Artists Unnatural Helpers
event::about The Unnatural Helpers have been banging around Seattle for a few years now as the perennial hobbyhorse of singer / drummer / songwriter / sole consistent member Dean Whitmore, who has also spent time with such Seattle outfits as the Intelligence, Welcome and Dipers. Despite the myriad lineup changes over the years, the band has managed to retain and expand on its original sound in a steady and cohesive way anyone who has witnessed the live show over the years will be well familiar with the band's taut, muscular guitar-rock, driven by Whitmore's whip-tight drumming and usually caustic, often self-deprecating vocals. Oh, and the songs are always short. Very short. No words should be wasted listing off the dozen or so people that have passed through the ranks, and even as this is being typed it remains impossible to guess at who all is playing in the current lineup of the band, so let's just agree to focus on the folks that played on the record. Guitar and sporadic vocal duties are held down by Brian Standeford and Leo Gebhardt (who have previously played together in the Catheters, Tall Birds and most recently Idle Times), with some additional playing by Kinski's Chris Martin. Kimberly Morrison from the Dutchess & the Duke provides confident, swaggering bass lines throughout, as well as some guitar, keys, and the occasional backing vocal. All the way through Whitmore's half sung / half shouted vocals and lashing drums seem to be racing the rest of the instruments to end of the song. Recorded over the course of a week with Seattle mainstay Kurt Bloch (Fastbacks, etc), this particular incarnation of the Helpers certainly seems to have struck upon something Cracked Love & Other Drugs is a collection of beguiling and wonderfully varied tunes. Album standout 'Sunshine / Pretty Girls' finds the band at their pop best with Whitmore, Standeford and Morrison combining for a big sing along chorus. 'Our Most Entitled' is tense, wiry and delightfully unstable, while 'Brave Dumb Face' is a full-on freak-out, Whitmore barking out lyrics over insistently off-kilter drumming while guitars buzz in and out of the mix. The guitars get big and sweeping on tracks like 'Claim it Mine' and 'The Truth about You'; it may seem strange to use the word epic regarding songs that fall short of the two minute mark it seems to be the only apt descriptor here. Cracked Love is 15 songs that conflict and compliment, in just over 25 minutes. Ricocheting between broken and twisted relationships, mock fatalist wink nodage, knucklehead party racket, absurd isolationist paranoia and open book love-letter sap-crap with the prevailing sentiment being summarily diffused just before it has gone too far. This push and pull friction along with great pop sensibilities and good old fashioned rock & roll KRAANG is in the end what makes Cracked Love such an intriguing, appealing listen.
event::tags All Ages
12:15 AM
to 1:15 AM
Fergus & Geronimo
42 schedule::attendees
Location
Red 7
eventtype Music
Artists Fergus & Geronimo
event::about Things that come from Texas are often odd and grand, and this is no exception for Denton's Fergus & Geronimo. Named after the rival child gang leaders from the 1994 movie War Of The Buttons, their music is at times both focused and loose, and comes from a wide range of unexpected influences. At the core of the group is Jason Kelly and Andrew Savage, who met while Kelly was recording and mixing a record for Teenage Cool Kids, a band started by Savage. During that four month process of recording, Kelly and Savage bonded over music, the creative process of recording, and the possibility of having a band that draws from a variety of sources. Black and Chicano doo-wop, the energy and atmosphere of classic soul, the precise control of Frank Zappa, psychedelia, and a thought to nearly everything in between. "Sparks is a pretty big influence not just musically, but the way that band operates," Savage adds. "It is two guys making weird music with no other agenda than being creative and surprising, and that's what I want this band to be. That band is a great example of a group that makes no compromises for creativity." Unlearn is the group's first full-length after releasing a handful of singles on various labels over the past two years. Kelly admits to being "very excited and proud" that the record will be released on Hardly Art. Unlearn is an 11-track history lesson on the world of popular music with lush R&B harmonies, authentic rock and roll energy, and a fair share of experimentation. "On this record especially we got into a lot of backmasking and pitch control. But no real rules, it's kind of anything goes," Savage notes. Both members share writing duties and play and sing everything on the record, with the exception of Elyse Schrock's vocals on the title track, and Casey Carpenter and Monet Robbins on flute and sax, respectively. "We went out of our way to treat every song as its own and to give each song different tones and atmosphere," says Kelly. This concept pays off like a jackpot, with each song as a unique piece of a patchwork quilt that fits all of the sounds and styles together like a brilliant puzzle. Unlearn at times sounds old and at times new, but always authentic and informed. So can you unlearn what you know, as the title track suggests? In a world where information waits in line to enter your brain, how does one decide what path of influence is best to take? "I think that a band like Fergus & Geronimo is more naturally spawned in a place less exposed or less saturated with culture. We got into the music we are into because we somehow wandered into it, and just because we both have a natural inclination for being odd," Savage remarks. Unlearn is a dynamic of raw passion and indifference that has a really good chance of sulking it's way into the mind of the listener. The less you look, the more you find indeed.
event::tags All Ages
1:15 AM
to 2:15 AM
La Sera
125 schedule::attendees
Location
Red 7
eventtype Music
Artists La Sera
event::about Since joining all-female punk trio Vivian Girls during the spring of 2007 Katy Goodman's DIY-style bass playing and drifty-faded vocals have sent waves of adoration rippling throughout Brooklyn's pop punk circuit. Her newest band La Sera showcases her signature style, bringing her talent for creating dreamy pop songs even more to the forefront. After touring the world with Vivian Girls, releasing a handful of well-received records, and starting record label Wild World with her band mates, Goodman started exploring other outlets. She played in the short-lived dream-pop band All Saints Day in the spring of 2010, and a self-titled limited-edition 7" of spectral tunes was released on indie label Art Fag earlier this year. In February 2010 Goodman started working on some fresh material that inspired the formation of her brand new band, La Sera. Her inspiration sprung from an attraction to early pop hits from the 1950's and ethereal choral vocals. Her new songs contain warm celestial-pop melodies that echo with the dreamlike effect of a church choir and effuse a softer, less aggressive sound than the Vivian Girls. Recording with a tambourine, guitar, and layers upon layers of heavenly vocals, she started sending her songs to filmmaker/music producer Brady Hall (the director of Vivian Girls videos "Moped Girls" and "When I'm Gone"), who immediately wanted to collaborate and dove into re-recording her rough material himself. After hearing his finished work, Katy flew to Seattle and the two recorded all the vocals, mixed the songs and filmed two La Sera music videos at Brady's home studio. The eponymous La Sera is the result of these sessions. With a dozen fresh tracks, La Sera muses on death, love, and love lost within the span of two minute choiral pop blisters. The phantasmic quality of Goodman's voice takes hold of the contradictorily upbeat 'You're Going to Cry,' while 'Dove Into Love' seems to send time into drifting slow motion, enveloped by a wave of guitar strums. The lilting and delicate 'Hold,' meanwhile, tells the story of two people hugging each other to death. Hardly Art will release the full-length in early 2011, preceded by a limited 7' for 'Never Come Around' in November 2010.
event::tags All Ages
12:00 PM
to 6:00 PM
No Sleep Records Showcase
40 schedule::attendees
Location
Red 7
eventtype Unofficial Music
Speaker/Artist(s) Info Travis Shetti
Acoustic Piebald Performance
Fake Problems
Laura Stevenson and the Cans
into it. over it.
This Time Next Year
santah
Mansions
afficionado
TS & the Past Haunts
White Apple Tree
now.Now.
The Felix Culpa
former thieves
Moving Mountains
Make Do and Mend
Native touche amore
Defeater
8:00 PM
to 9:00 PM
Speak
14 schedule::attendees
Location
Red 7
eventtype Music
Artists Speak
event::about Forever questing for innovation, SPEAK invoke timeless melodies in energetic, synth-laden anthems. Frontman Troupe Gammage has been recording music since age 11. Mesmerized by the compositions in his favorite video games, he started creating his own using rudimentary computer software. Developing his sound through his study of electronic music and observation of his musician parents (Ernie Gammage and Christine Albert) and the Motown collection at home, Troupe released his first EP at age 16. He went on to release two more albums online garnering over 25,000 downloads to date. Gammage spent a year in University of Southern California's music composition program before moving to Austin to pursue video game composition and voice acting. After co-founding his own production company and gaining solid footing in the business through work on games for Playstation, XBox, Wii, and PC, Troupe has shifted his focus to pop powerhouse SPEAK. The band met through mutual friends in 2008, rising from the remnants of electro-pop band Jupiter-4. With Gammage join University of Texas students Nick Hurt (guitar) Joey Delahoussaye (bass) and Jake Stewart (drums). Hurt and Delahoussaye are guitar performance majors. SPEAK recorded their debut EP with producer Chris Frenchie Smith (JET, Dandy Warhols). Through Smith, Troupe landed a gig recording keys for JET's new album Shaka Rock. The band's debut album EP, Hear Here has garnered serious attention, receiving highest 4-star honors from the Austin Chronicle, and great reviews across the board. Recently SPEAK was presented with an Austin Music Award for Best New Band from none other than the Talking Heads. What people are saying about Hear Here Austin Chronicle (4/4 stars) [Hear Here is] poised to change the musical landscape¦crank up the volume: The future just got a lot brighter AV Club (B+) Smooth electronic seduction, spiked with a little venom Austinist swimming in synth and innovative pop melodies
event::tags All Ages
9:00 PM
to 10:00 PM
Wheelchair Sports Camp
5 schedule::attendees
Location
Red 7
eventtype Music
Artists Wheelchair Sports Camp
event::about Wheelchair Sports Camp, the Denver based pseudo hip-hop band is Kalyn as MC/producer, Abi McGaha Miller as vocalist/saxophone, brother Isaac as live rhythm, and Christopher Behm-Meyer as DJ B*Money. The band unknowingly started in the summer of 1997 when Kalyn moved back from Burbank, CA to her Denver hometown and was invited to attend/corrupt the 14th annual week-long Wheelchair Sports Camp. Having grown-up listening to TLC, Salt -n- Pepa, Missy Elliot and The Pharcyde despite her parent's recommendations, Kalyn entered a talent show at the age of 12 rapping originial rhymes over a cassette of herself beatboxing. After meeting Abi and later brother Isaac in college, Kalyn combined talents to create a more live, jazzy, funky, combination to the traditional hip-hop group. And after hitting their groove with DMC national finalist DJ B*Money, they had everything a group could need to call themselves a good band. The unconventional setup of live instruments, turntables and Kalyn's produced beats, presents a polished sound unique to the hip hop game with old-school lyrics that maintain a sarcastic yet independent and heavy consciousness. After playing for a few years around the Denver metro area, the group has been fortunate enough to share the stage with headliners and mentors like Raekwon, Rahzel, Zion I, Souls Of Mischief, good friend One Be Lo & Binary Star, Blueprint, Mr. Dibbs, Macklemore, DubConscious, Pep Love, Astronautalis and many more. The band has played outside home in places including New York, Los Angeles, Portland, Seattle, and continues to expand their fanbase in further markets. Wheelchair Sports Camp persists to stay passionate about many causes, playing shows to raise money and awareness to prevent domestic violence, support Haiti relief efforts, promote equality, advocate an end to the war in the Middle East, aid the homeless, and any other fight they can foster. Taking a nod from one of their favorite artists Radiohead, Wheelchair Sports Camp always has free or pay what you can CDs available at shows for fans. "If you can't afford music or food, steal it!" has been their motto since inception. Their goal is to spread their music like wildfire, and they encourage their fans to share and borrow creativity in hopes to conserve a free culture. To them, it's the only way to keep their music headed in the right direction without allowing money and greed to interfere with the creative process.
event::tags All Ages
10:00 PM
to 11:00 PM
Ya Ya Boom
3 schedule::attendees
Location
Red 7
eventtype Music
Artists Ya Ya Boom
event::about Sisters Marisa and Monica Demarco hail from Albuquerque, N.M. And colors are weird in the desert, blown-out. It's the quality of the light from a brutal sun so close. In that glare, Ya Ya Boom grew. Maybe that's why the band sounds the way it does, the sonics vivid and warped, the beats like kernels in dry heat, the voices layered and saturated. It's a rock band. Vocals (Marisa), bass (Monica) and guitar (Carlos J.R. Garcia) and drums (Ryan Jarvis). But the clever timing, the orchestration, the atypical harmonies and the vocal brawn make it more difficult to nail down beyond that. Power prog pop? Maybe. Orchestral pop rox? Sure. Punk, like back in the day before the genre went rigid? Ok. Ya Ya Boom has been described all of these ways. The band released it's fourth LP in late November 2010. "Balloon Heart" sees Ya Ya Boom reaching across its borders though still happily in its element. The song lineup is diverse: A big bar rock song bangs its chest near experiments in blending effects; a simple dance number sweats on a creepy operatic track. Through the genre hopping, the band's skill and personality provide the glue.
event::tags All Ages
11:00 PM
to 12:00 AM
DZ Deathrays
2 schedule::attendees
Location
Red 7
eventtype Music
Artists DZ Deathrays
event::about Like the band title, DZ DEATHRAYS consists of only two parts, that being Shane Parsons and Simon Ridley. While it may be hard for some to comprehend a mere two piece with the ability to create a massive wall of sound, this is a feat which DZ DEATHRAYS have been able to conquer with results fashioned from a statically charged mix of influences like Death From Above 1979, The Bronx, Justice, Sunn 0)) and Lightning Bolt. With this combination musical mentors as ammunition they create a blend of driving monster beats firing over an avalanche of guitar similar to the sound of a squadron of attacking Panzer tanks. After just 10 months of playing consistent energetic shows from trashed lounge rooms to warehouse parties across the nation, DZ DEATHRAYS (originally just DZ) found themselves playing on their first sold out tour around Australia after being personally selected for the entire national support slot by world renowned electro indie punk outfit, Crystal Castles. Through out their brief two year career they have also had the honour of being able to share the stage with many highly revered international acts such as RATATAT (US), The View (SC), Midnight Juggernaughts, The Grates, Die!Die!Die! (NZ), Biffy Clyro (SC), The Temper Trap, Cut Off Your Hands (NZ), Grinspoon and many, many others. In September 2009 DZ DEATHRAYS won the Triple J Unearthed award for the Valley Fiesta and released their debut EP entitled ‘Ruined My Life” through local label Useless Art Records distributed through Inertia which sold over 600 copies in pre sales alone even before lead single “Blue Blood” had received any rotation on Triple J or the many other community and internet radio stations which it still receives around the world to this day. This release helped boost DZ DEATHRAYS profile enabling them to play to thousands on many of Australia’s most world renowned festival stages such as Big Day Out, Park Life, Field Day, Sunset Sounds, Play Ground Weekender not to mention all the smaller independent festivals. They were shortlisted for two separate competitions for Tooheys Extra Dry, in particular the Ted The Lab competition where they were runners up and received personal kudos from Mark Ronson. Currently Blue Blood, Teeth and The Mess Up are on rotation on Triple J and DZ DEATHRAYS were recently awarded 39th position on the Rip It Up Magazine’s Fresh 50: http://ripitup.com.au/article/1246. Originally a band designed for playing drunken house parties, DZ DEATHRAYS may be moving on to larger prospects, but their refreshingly palatable gritty-indie sound that they own still prevails. Armed with the additional blinding flashes of strobe lighting, the smell of sweat and alcohol and with a taste for mayhem and carnage, their live shows are a treat for all of the senses.
event::tags All Ages
12:00 AM
to 1:00 AM
Slug Guts
2 schedule::attendees
Location
Red 7
eventtype Music
Artists Slug Guts
event::about Slug Guts hail from heat stricken confines of Brisbane, Australia. In the first four months of the band, Slug Guts recorded their first LP “Down on the Meat” which was released on Stained Circles Records (Jay Reatard, Eddy Current Suppression Ring, Dirtbombs.) After numerous Australian tours and shows playing alongside Lightning Bolt (usa), Primitive Calculators, Flipper (usa), Eddy Current Suppression Ring and many others, Slug Guts went back into the studio, three months after the release of ‘Down on the Meat’ and recorded a thirteen song LP titled ‘Howlin Gang.’ Howlin Gang LP features a duet with Angela Bermuda (Circle Pit) and guest appearances by Sarah Spencer (Blank Realm). In this recording session Slug Guts also finished a split 7” with iconic Australian 1980’s experimentalists Primitive Calculators, which features both bands doing Primitive Calculator’s quasi single ‘Ugly Pumping Muscle’ to be released in January on Sweet rot Records (Canada). In June Slug Guts completed a twelve-date tour of Japan before returning for a mid year Australian tour. Slug Guts are proud to announce that Howlin Gang will be released February 28th 2011 on Sacred Bones, a record label from Brooklyn, New York. Slug Guts are currently putting the finishing touched on their 3rd LP
event::tags All Ages
1:00 AM
to 2:00 AM
Fresh Millions
21 schedule::attendees
Location
Red 7
eventtype Music
Artists Fresh Millions
event::about PRESS "Samples and other electronic sounds give Fresh Millions' fun, fresh instrumental rock music a modern flair, but it's live instruments that make the music pop. Instead of utilizing hundreds of vinyl-sourced clips and effects to form a three- to four-minute work, the live nature of "Forever" utilizes a more organic touch to achieve similar results. The resulting patchwork is as danceable as it is rocking — a winning combination if ever there was one." -- NPR Song of the Day "Imagine if you cut out all of MGMT's psychedelic tangents and Ratatat reassembled them. That's a decent starting point for Fresh Millions. The local daft punks craft collage-rock, layering live instrumentals over snippets from old jazz records. Fresh Millions' self-titled debut, which beats with a metal heart thanks to production from the Sword's Bryan Richie, is the latest cosmic egg hatched by Insect Records, the new label from Attack Formation general Ben Webster." -- Austin Powell, Austin Chronicle "the emphasis for these guys is not solely on being electronic, but on being a live electronic band. They compare themselves to Octopus Project and Ratatat, and that’s apt. From the booming drums to the big, all-around punch of Fresh Millions, this is an album that wants to prove its stamina and transcend knob-twisting as a performance strategy. In that department, the album is certainly a success." -- Adam S., austinist.com "Across an economical nine tracks, “Fresh Millions” also makes time to rock. Maybe that’s the influence of producer Bryan Richie, of Austin metal maestros the Sword, but “Fresh Millions” is loaded with towering electric guitars on the propulsive “Monty” and “Spunout,” dashes of ’70s funk organs and some of the most bone-rattling drumming on any local record this year." -- Patrick Caldwell, The Austin-American Statesman "Full of robot vocals, catchy loops, disco beats and psychedelic keys, the new album has a mellow Daft Punk or a rocky Justice feel to it–with just a little ESG, Hot Chip or George Clinton." -- Chris Apollo, republicofaustin.com "Using an animated mix of computers, synthesizers, and live instruments, Fresh Millions blends disco-era bass lines and electro-era pop with heavy, danceable beats. Their sound (and highly entertaining live show) has drawn comparisons to the likes of Passion Pit and Ratatat, and they are certainly making a name for themselves in the 512." -- Lawrence Boone, covertcuriosity.com "It’s surprising that the qualities of Austin’s two marquee instrumental-rock acts—Explosions In The Sky and The Octopus Project—have taken so long to intersect and spill over into new bands. But while Zorch may only borrow the Octopuses’ mischievous, circuit-bending streak, the duo’s compatriots in Fresh Millions treat their glitchy tracks with the clear-eyed, full-hearted cinematic sweep of EITS. Then again, neither of those elder scene statesmen ever dig into a groove like Fresh Millions, which tempers its build-up/tear-down impulses with scratches of disco guitar and hip-displacing syncopation." -- The AV Club
event::tags All Ages
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