5:00 PM
to 2:00 AM
kNERD Launch Party
104 schedule::attendees
Location
Skinny's Ballroom
eventtype Unofficial Party
Speaker/Artist(s) Info
6:00 Birds & Batteries
7:00 The Boxing Lesson
8:00 Lost In The Trees (one of NPR's favorite new bands of 2010)
9:00 Black Books
10:00 Lacuna Incorporated
11:00 The Authors
12:00 Twin Tigers
1:00 Not In The Face
event::about
kNERD.COM Launch Party
Come have some free drinks and live music with us!
Skinny's Ballroom (used to be Club 115)
5pm - 2am
115 San Jacinto Blvd, Austin TX
Click "Attend" for this show at
www.knerd.com/bands/knerd
to receive free drink tickets.
NO BADGE REQUIRED
***drink tickets are limited. Arrive early to receive your tickets.
event::tags free drinks
Website http://www.knerd.com/bands/knerd
6:00 PM
to 7:00 PM
Birds & Batteries
18 schedule::attendees
Location
Skinny's Ballroom
eventtype Unofficial Music
event::about
Part of the kNERD Launch Party
Website http://www.knerd.com/bands/knerd
7:00 PM
to 8:00 PM
The Boxing Lesson
19 schedule::attendees
Location
Skinny's Ballroom
eventtype Unofficial Music
event::about
Part of the kNERD Launch Party
Website http://www.knerd.com/bands/knerd
8:00 PM
to 9:00 PM
Lost in The Trees
45 schedule::attendees
Location
Skinny's Ballroom
eventtype Unofficial Music
event::about
Part of the kNERD Launch Party
Website http://www.knerd.com/bands/knerd
9:00 PM
to 10:00 PM
Black Books
3 schedule::attendees
Location
Skinny's Ballroom
eventtype Unofficial Music
event::about
Part of the kNERD Launch Party
Website http://www.knerd.com/bands/knerd
10:00 PM
to 11:00 PM
Lacuna Incorporated
1 schedule::attendees
Location
Skinny's Ballroom
eventtype Unofficial Music
event::about
Part of the kNERD Launch Party
Website http://www.knerd.com/bands/knerd
11:00 PM
to 12:00 AM
The Authors
5 schedule::attendees
Location
Skinny's Ballroom
eventtype Unofficial Music
event::about
Part of the kNERD Launch Party
Website http://www.knerd.com/bands/knerd
12:00 AM
to 1:00 AM
The Authors
3 schedule::attendees
Location
Skinny's Ballroom
eventtype Unofficial Music
event::about
Part of the kNERD Launch Party
Website http://www.knerd.com/bands/knerd
8:00 PM
to 9:00 PM
EMA
22 schedule::attendees
Location
Skinny's Ballroom
eventtype Music
Artists EMA
event::about EMA comes from South Dakota, the dead center of America's great empty heartland. She moved to LA when she was 18 because she really liked "Welcome to the Jungle". There she started playing with legendary folk/noise outfit Amps For Christ and formed the band GOWNS with Ezra Buchla, whose electrifying live shows caused Pitchfork to declare them "one of the most heart-stoppingly great live bands on earth". There has never been another professional artist or musician in her family. Despite having only 2 years of childhood piano lessons and no formal audio training, she writes, records and produces all her own music. Of all of these, EMA approaches producing with a focus that borders on obsession, creating a unique sonic signature that plays with fidelity, song structure, and the analog / digital divide. She also plays guitar like Iggy plays a microphone, showcasing her brutal yet melodic style in a 25 minute feedback opening for Throbbing Gristle on their last US tour. Her first solo record, Past Life Martyred Saints is going to be released in Spring of 2011 on City Slang / Souterrain Transmissions, and reflects the diversity of her barroom jukebox aesthetic. Defiant of micro-genre classification, it includes a 4track grunge eulogy, a blown out "trashy" 80s dance romp, a badly damaged 60s girl group weeper, and even her take on a hip hop piano ballad. She has a hard time answering the common question 'what sort of music do you make?' "Well what sort of music does Elvis Costello make? Or the Beatles? Or Velvet Underground? Rock? I guess I make rock music." An answer which seems at once kind of simple yet also refreshingly freeing.
event::tags 21+
9:00 PM
to 10:00 PM
Country Mice
12 schedule::attendees
Location
Skinny's Ballroom
eventtype Music
Artists Country Mice
event::about Country Mice front man Jason Rueger grew up on a farm in rural Kansas passed down through three generations of his family. With headphones on, he walked the path, bruised his hands and squinted his eyes in the sun, but music, above all else, made him whole. Looking out from his window, he set his sights for something different than the dirt and milo that stung his eyes and cut his hands. Jason fought against the gravity-pull of hometown and, with all the joy and pain of letting go, moved to Brooklyn. Here, he met Ben Bullington (guitar), Kurt Kuehn (drums) and Mike Feldman (bass), who, being from Kansas, Wisconsin and upstate New York, also shared a comfort in displacement and they quickly banded with Rueger. As Country Mice, they rallied together to craft apocalyptic ballads through amplifier hazes that thicken into funnel clouds, drums that stomp-clap sedately before the storm peaks, and bass tones that thicken the bloodstream. Jason draws on his small town rearing with sophistication beyond the ordinarily romantic and reductive Americana troubadour, and his songwriting is anything but dime a dozen. You can hear strong traces of Neil Young and Wilco mixed into their modern experimental guitar sounds that any fan of mid-90’s Sonic Youth and Dinosaur Jr. would love. Together they cut their teeth among the other hardworking bands of Brooklyn's fast-paced scene. To date, the band has released two formative 7" singles and a limited edition cassette on Brooklyn-based indie labels and now they are ready to unleash their debut album,"Twister," on Wao Wao Records. This is a record that sonically chisels through the calloused shell of glossy rock & roll to find the dissonant live wire beneath and play it for all its worth. It tells a tale of strained memory: the hardships, joys, and love of growing up in a small town in the Midwest, with the hopes and dreams of traveling the world – a record for every kid seeing the big world from his small bedroom window. Wao Wao Records (www.myspace.com/waowaorecords) is run by Toby Rascal and Hbear, two members of Kanine Records (www.kaninerecords.com), out of the basement of the Kanine Records headquarters, normally referred to as the Doghouse. Toby and Hbear formed Wao Wao Records to start releasing records by Country Mice the day they heard a lo-fi mp3 off of a 4-track demo that Jason, Ben and Kurt did in their practice space. They instantly knew then and there, that these three had something special and they wanted to be a part of it. “I instantly fell in love with their scratchy guitar sounds. It reminded of the joys of digging up a lost bone on a warm spring day. While their guitars feed back off of his homemade amp, Jason gives off a classically lost vocal style that gives way to a whole new take on a long lost 90’s indie sound.
event::tags 21+
10:00 PM
to 11:00 PM
Ormonde
9 schedule::attendees
Location
Skinny's Ballroom
eventtype Music
Artists Ormonde
event::about Ormonde is a collaboration between Anna-Lynne Williams (Trespassers William) and Robert Gomez, who met while recording parts for John Grant's album in Denton, TX. After listening to one another's solo albums, Robert came up with the idea to rent a house in the small desert town of Marfa, TX for a month, and write and record a full album. They set up recording gear in a little adobe house under a sky full of stars in February 2009, and left a month later with ten songs. This album will be released on Hometapes this summer.
event::tags 21+
11:00 PM
to 12:00 AM
The Caribbean
7 schedule::attendees
Location
Skinny's Ballroom
eventtype Music
Artists The Caribbean
event::about If indie rock is a high school, then Washington, DC's The Caribbean -- Michael Kentoff, Matthew Byars, and Dave Jones -- sit at the lunch table with Daniel Higgs, Wayne Coyne, and John Darnielle. But since their inception in 2000, they've always hidden behind something: lyrics, unorthodox chord progressions, slithering melodies, iconic-but-abstract visual art, humor and satire, a nearly un-Google-able band name, and even their own normal-guy appearance. Discontinued Perfume, their first album in three years, began no differently: it was born Municipal Stadium, in the tradition of ambiguous album names like Plastic Explosives and Populations. But then the compass arrow turned. On the suggestion of friend and album co-producer Chad Clark, the song "Discontinued Perfume"-- a reference to the mysteriously doomed Teresa Duncan and Jeremy Blake -- surfaced as the namesake. This change in direction, with a name so open to interpretation and edging on sounding pretty, was no subtle shift, but it resulted in the band's best work to date.
event::tags 21+
12:00 AM
to 1:00 AM
All Tiny Creatures
17 schedule::attendees
Location
Skinny's Ballroom
eventtype Music
Artists All Tiny Creatures
event::about Wisconsin quartet All Tiny Creatures, led by Thomas Wincek (Volcano Choir), will release their first full length album Harbors on Hometapes on March 29, 2011. The building blocks of the new album, like All Tiny Creatures' 2009 Segni EP, were whittled from looped and freestanding sounds democratically created by synthesis, guitars, and percussion. But as the needle glides into "Holography", the swift and playful start of Harbors, there's a new kind of compositional poise. It's an album of transformative repetition, of music that travels freely between the left and right brain. It pulls from the same well (with a new bucket) as their Krautrock and Minimalist forebears -- guys like Steve Reich, Terry Riley, and Manuel Göttsching --and even the greater history of rhythmic percussion found the world over. And then there's one entirely new instrument for All Tiny Creatures: the human voice. All Tiny Creatures introduce vocals on Harbors, adding a new dimension to their sound as well as to their entire creative process. As songs began to take shape, they were shared with a close (and very talented) group of friends. These were instruments that could talk back. Joining All Tiny Creatures vocalists Thomas Wincek and Andrew Fitzpatrick are Justin Vernon (Bon Iver), Roberto Carlos Lange (Helado Negro & Epstein), Phil Cook, Brad Cook, and Joe Westerlund (Megafaun), Ryan Olcott (12 Rods, Mystery Palace), Matthew Byars (The Caribbean), and Jennifer Fitzpatrick (a scientist and Andrew's wife). Harbors will be released on double LP, compact disc, and digitally. The album features striking visual art by world-renowned designer Aaron Draplin of Draplin Design Co., Portland, Oregon.
event::tags 21+
1:00 AM
to 2:00 AM
Feathers
9 schedule::attendees
Location
Skinny's Ballroom
eventtype Music
Artists Feathers
event::about Feathers is a group formed around the creative nucleus of Eddie Alonso and Eric Rasco. Using an array of often unusual or vintage instruments (from the Farfisa Mini Compact to the Suzuki Omnichord through to the Baldwin Electric Harpsichord) The band set about making a kind of synth-fuelled prog that sounds much like a time capsule of '70s library music. Recruiting a host of additional musicians and engineers (Tortoise's John McEntire among them) Alonso and Rasco's music carry shades of Stereolab, Broadcast and the Ghost Box label. There's undoubtedly an arch, knowingly retro feel to all this, but since it's so lovingly and accurately reproduced - and all beautifully recorded to boot - you can't help but admire the likes of the queasily upbeat electric piano and lapsteel jaunt 'Jazz Computer', the Raymond Scott-like analogue country of 'Bad Ballet' and the lavish Italo disco routines of 'Miami Song Tennis 2'.
event::tags 21+
12:00 PM
to 1:00 PM
1:00 PM
to 2:00 PM
2:00 PM
to 4:00 PM
3:00 PM
to 4:00 PM
4:00 PM
to 5:00 PM
5:00 PM
to 6:00 PM
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+
8:25 PM
to 9:25 PM
Run,Walk!
11 schedule::attendees
Location
Skinny's Ballroom
eventtype Music
Artists Run,Walk!
event::about Run, WALK! could be the loudest band you'll hear at this year's SXSW. They are also one of the most promising. In a crank it up as far as it will go, you're either with us or against us kind of way. Matthew Pickering-Copley (bass, vocals) and Tom Clements (drums) have been battering UK and European audiences with their bass-led artrock for several years. They couple distortion, feedback and a megaton of low-end crunch with sharp hooks and stop-start rhythms. This is equal parts cerebral and fun rock and roll made by musicians too young to order drinks at the bar . Back in their home country, the Run, WALK! boys have established themselves as frontrunners of the underground music scene. They formed as tenagers in the southern city of Winchester. It wasn't long until they were snapped up by hip hardcore label Holy Roar (Gallows, Rolo Tomassi, The Ghost of a Thousand). Shortly afterwards they released the seven-track EP 'I Hope This All Works Out So I Can Stop Standing on Even Amounts of Manholes in the Street' to critical acclaim. Reviewers praised their musical ecclecticism and unrelenting execution, likening them to a young Lightning Bolt. Less than 12 months later they released an instrumental four-track, shortly followed by the free for download Peekay in December. These guys are noisy. Like, NOISY noisy. They take no prisoners. All they want is to batter your ear drums and have a good time. Best get on board.
event::tags 21+
9:20 PM
to 10:20 PM
The Invincible Czars
10 schedule::attendees
Location
Skinny's Ballroom
eventtype Music
Artists The Invincible Czars
event::about Austin's Invincible Czars have made their mark by creating exceptionally original music: songs and instrumental pieces that are like four-to-five minute "mini-symphonies" chock full of memorable melodies, meticulous arrangements, dynamics, and humor. Their music fuses all kinds of styles including riff rock, classical music, loungey grooves, spacey klezmer, country shuffles, and circusy polka. They have become known and lauded for their arrangements of classical works such as Tchaikovsky's "The Nutcracker Suite" and their silent film scores. The band is currently releasing "The Gospel of the Beast", their eclectic and humorously musical version of Iron Maiden's "The Number of the Beast", as digital singles on the 6th of each month through their web site. The Invincible Czars will perform "The Gospel of the Beast" for SxSW 2011. They are also planning a release of their version of Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture" on Cinco de Mayo 2011, debut their latest silent film project "Dr Jeykll and Mr. Hyde" at Houston's Discovery Green in June 2011 and begin recording demos for their next classical interpretation - an 11 piece big band (combined with Austin's Bee vs. Moth) to perform Mussourgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition". The Invincible Czars draw from influences as disparate as Igor Stravinsky, Van Halen, Louis Armstrong, The Melvins and Ween. The band applies the DIY attitude of post-punk groups like NoMeansNo and Fugazi to their musical explorations. The Invincible Czars have performed at private events, nightclubs, parks, theaters, community centers, television stations and radio studios from San Francisco to New Orleans.
event::tags 21+
10:15 PM
to 11:15 PM
Muck and the Mires
18 schedule::attendees
Location
Skinny's Ballroom
eventtype Music
Artists Muck and the Mires
event::about MUCK AND THE MIRES from Boston, Massachusetts have been called the greatest garage rock band in the US. Their songs, reminiscent of the 1960's British Invasion, are all two minutes long and all potential hits! Named #1 Garage Band by LITTLE STEVEN, their CD is produced by RUNAWAYS legend KIM FOWLEY. Muck and the MIres tour constantly and just returned from London England where they headlined the Dirty Water Festival.
event::tags 21+
11:10 PM
to 12:10 AM
The Rubber City Rebels
16 schedule::attendees
Location
Skinny's Ballroom
eventtype Music
Artists The Rubber City Rebels
event::about The Rubber City Rebels are cult legends from Ohio. Part of the class of '77 that included Devo, The Dead Boys Pere Ubu and others. Musically they align with the other seventies bands that had solid, hard rock roots before transitioning to Punk, New Wave and Power Pop. These bands include the Sex Pistols, The Vibrators, Ramones, The Dead Boys, The Dictators and Radio Birdman. Whereas later punk outfits might claim The Clash as an influence. These bands would more likely cite Alice Cooper, The Stooges, The Flamin' Groovies, AC/DC, Black Sabbath, Blue Cheer and the "Nuggets" one hit wonders like 13th Floor Elevators, The Troggs and The Amboy Dukes. The Rubber City Rebels, although not as well remembered as many of their colleagues from the era, have an amazing history that continues to play out to this very day. Many of their contemporaries are unfortunately unable to tour at all, much less put on a compelling show. Not so the Rebels. They have toured the US, EU and Japan consistently since 2001, and garnered rave reviews, articles and audience appreciation all over the world. They have also released new product since 2003 that has resulted in a whole new generation of fans. In 2003 the band released a new album of 12 songs on the Smog Veil label. The title track "I Wanna Pierce My Brain" was included on the Tony Hawk Underground soundtrack and was featured in Activision's national television spot for the new game during it's pre christmas ad blitz. That game went on to sell millions of copies and is still a huge franchise for Activision. Another track, "I Don't Wanna Be A Punk No More" from the same album has been in regular rotation and is a favorite on Sirius Radio's Little Steven's Underground Garage since it release, being a favorite of DJ and Dictator's front man Dick Manatoba and a featured "Coolest Song in the World". You will also regularly hear album tracks of theirs on XM's Faction show. During the 2005 EU tour in Spain the band was extensibly covered by the national rock press and given their own half hour National TV broadcast on a Spain's version of Austin City Limits. This show is also heavily syndicated in Latin America. In Japan, two retrospective CD's on the bands career were released in advance of their first Japanese Tour in 2005 - The Akron Years and The Hollywood Years. The Rebels played Tokyo two consecutive nights and Osaka to sellout crowds and rabid fans who somehow were able to sing along with all the songs! The Rubber City Rebels are more well known to musicians than to the general public. This is evidenced by the many covers that have been released by younger bands. One of the bands that has publicly cited The Rubber City Rebels as an influence is Norway's infamous and hugely successful, Turbonegro. Out of tribute to the Rebels, Turbonegro have lifted a few lyrics and musical ideas from the band. During the Rebels EU tour in 2005, the band was joined on stage by Turbo members Hank, and Happy Tom for a rousing version of The Lewd's "Mobile Home". A cover song that appeared on Turbonegro's Ass Cobra album and was penned by the current Rebel's bass player, Bob Clic
event::tags 21+
12:05 AM
to 1:05 AM
Ignorance Park
1 schedule::attendees
Location
Skinny's Ballroom
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+
8:00 PM
to 9:00 PM
The Lava Children
7 schedule::attendees
Location
Skinny's Ballroom
eventtype Music
Artists The Lava Children
event::about With The Lava Children’s* self-titled debut, the listener is immediately aware they’re hearing something completely uncommon. In fact, The Lava Children are something completely uncommon. As the music industry becomes ever more jaded and manufactured and music is treated like so much invaluable garbage to be traded and tossed about freely, it seems like hearing something that sounds totally new is becoming less and less of a regular occurrence. Here you’ll find no familiar “classic rock overtones.” There are no hackneyed “angular guitar tones”- in fact, you’re only occasionally reminded that you’re even hearing instruments. From the dreamy, weirdly programmed Colecovision-on-the-fritz nonsense of opening track, “I Am a Pony,” to the underwater opium cabaret wash of “Particles,” to the discordant, drunk music box stagger of “Troll,” every track on this mini-lp bears the same distinctive stamp of not sounding a whole lot like anything else you’ve heard. This music may have been found inside a rotting old fish, plucked from a muddy, overgrown swamp and encrusted with plankton and river rot. It could have been stuck in an ice block in the far-flung pitch-black night of the frozen tundra or growing out of a patch of moss and fungus on the side of a mighty California redwood tree. It could’ve been found buried in an Egyptian desert wasteland, firmly clutched to the now-hollow chest of some bygone dusty old corpse… and it just might be cursed. Hell- maybe it’s from space, or some kind of message from the future. But fact of the matter is it’s made by a couple of Oklahomans who are soon to be Texans...Though that doesn’t make it any less of a fascinating listen. Close your eyes, turn off all the lights, and turn this album up. See if the little hairs on the back of your neck aren’t immediately standing at full attention as you find yourself awash in weird, half-remembered memories of playing with a dog you had when you were five years old, deep in the swiftly darkening woods and far from home.
event::tags 21+
9:00 PM
to 10:00 PM
Hospital Ships
24 schedule::attendees
Location
Skinny's Ballroom
10:00 PM
to 11:00 PM
Kid Dakota
19 schedule::attendees
Location
Skinny's Ballroom
eventtype Music
Artists Kid Dakota
event::about Kid Dakota is the musical moniker of Darren Jackson. He started performing as "Kid Dakota and the Tumbleweeds" in 1998 while living in Providence, Rhode Island. The name was chosen in homage to his home state of South Dakota and also as a parody of Kid Rock. In the summer of 1999, Darren recorded the five songs that would appear on the So Pretty ep with long time friend and producer, Alex Oana, at City Cabin (formerly Blackberry Way). Darren moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota that winter and self-released the So Pretty ep in the spring of 2000. The ep caught the attention of Alan Sparhawk, singer and guitarist for the seminal slow-core band, Low (band) and he offered to release the ep on his label, Chairkickers' Union under the condition that it be expanded into a full-length lp. The LP version of "So Pretty" was released in the spring of 2002 with three additional songs. In 2004 his second album, "The West is the Future" was also released by Chairkickers. It was recorded live at Seedy Underbelly in Minneapolis, MN by Alex Oana and featured Zak Sally, the bassist from Low. His most recent album, A Winner's Shadow, was released on March 11, 2008 on Graveface Records. His new album, "'Til Dawn Do Us Part" will be released by Graveface in the Spring of 2011.
event::tags 21+
11:00 PM
to 12:00 AM
Experimental Aircraft
27 schedule::attendees
Location
Skinny's Ballroom
eventtype Music
Artists Experimental Aircraft
event::about "Four years is far too long to wait for new material from a group as dynamic as this Austin space rock quartet. Thankfully, the pay off is considerable. As with their second album, their third one (Third Transmission, get it?) represents another exponential leap forward from their previous efforts. It’s clear from the opening track, “Stellar”, where the guitars and effects pedals soar across the horizon, blanketing Rachel Staggs’ dulcet crooning in a blustery storm cloud, that this is one of the finest American shoegazing bands of the past decade. But the real revelation here is TJ O’Leary, whose lead vocals on tracks like “Upper East Side” adds a harsher, more insistent rock feel to the band’s ethereal soundscapes. Here’s hoping that their fourth transmission will materialize sometime before 2012. –The Big Takeover
event::tags 21+
12:00 AM
to 1:00 AM
Dreamend
9 schedule::attendees
Location
Skinny's Ballroom
eventtype Music
Artists Dreamend
event::about Following The Seven Fields of Aphelion's Periphery (Feb '10/Graveface) and Tobacco's Maniac Meat (May '10/Anticon), Dreamend's album, So I Ate Myself, Bite by Bite is the latest album from a member of the peculiar electronic band, Black Moth Super Rainbow. With So I Ate Myself, Bite by Bite and its companion piece (which is set to come out in 2011), Dreamend diverges from the synth-pop of Black Moth to take on a nightmarish folk sound that evokes the faded scenery of ghost towns and eerie midnight drives. As Dreamend's sole member and proprietor behind Graveface Records, an independent label with a sharp focus on hand assembled items and limited editions, Ryan Graveface has a dazzlingly complex album in SIAMByB. Heavy on banjo, bells, guitar, organ and fearlessly honest vocals, this record is relentlessly catchy. "Pink Cloud in the Woods," sets the tone for the album with its deceptively patient ruminations. Sparse cricket sounds, bells and piano evolve into stop-and-go drums and the breathy chant of "I walked through the woods. It was a rainy day." From there, SIAMBbB sprawls out like a cinematic experience more than a loose collection of songs. The tale concerns a character who acts on his destructive fantasies and impulses. A synapse in his head snaps like a twig and before he knows it, he's in the middle of a deed he'd never have imagined undertaking just days before. The banjo-laden song "Pieces" delves deep into the details of the crime with intrepidly gruesome lyrics. Its misleadingly upbeat energy by way of intricate drumming causes this song about brutal murder to be unusually catchy. Album closer "An Admission" shifts down the synth highway as it details the character's seemingly inexplicable need to kill again and again. It starts with pitch bending swirls buttressed by banjo and drums. Soon, these elements are overtaken by stormy effects and soprano "whoo-ooo"s, culminating in an about-face of percussive THRASH. The tale of SIAMBbB will have you reeling and so will its incredible packaging. The label who brought you indie-rock's first bonafide, hand made pop-up book with Long-Forgotten Friend have upped the ante: the LP version of So I Ate Myself, Bite by Bite, is presented like a phenakistoscope, a classic Victorian animation machine. If you thought picture discs and colored vinyl were cool (both mediums you Graveface aficionados will know a lot about), wait until you get a load of William Schaff's painstaking, brilliantly delivered design. It's truly a remarkable accomplishment in the annals of the Album as Artform, which is a hallmark of Graveface Records.
event::tags 21+
1:00 AM
to 2:00 AM
The Appleseed Cast
125 schedule::attendees
Location
Skinny's Ballroom
eventtype Music
Artists The Appleseed Cast
event::about Sagarmatha, the seventh full length by Appleseed Cast, finds the band self-assured and largely home-recorded, indulging in the creation of their art beyond the pressures of hype or doubt that compromise younger and lesser bands. It seems that they understand that for a band that's been making music for ten years to sound fresh, their ideas must be fresh. Sagarmatha integrates the more anthemic sensibilities of Two Conversations (mainly in the very catchy vocal melodies) and the density and distorted rock moments of Peregrine with the experimental tendencies of both Low Level Owl records. While LLO alternated noise and song over two records, pushing and pulling the listener in and out of the din and the narrative, Sagarmatha is a world where the melodic vocals and knotty delayed guitars Appleseed Cast is known for are supported by (and can't exist without) the ambient noise, electronic beats, bells, percussion, and keyboards the band has grown to love. They've been pegged with various genre names over the years, most of which they've outgrown and outlived. At this point, I think they are best described as weavers: of sounds beautiful and horrible, always intriguing, and of stories in sometimes inscrutable but always evocative lyrics. Their songs draw you in immediately, but demand multiple listens, which is how it should be I think, and is why they've inspired such a loving and long-lasting following. They've weathered many storms of fashion. Sagarmatha is mountain-climbing music, Appleseed Cast are mountain-climbers. Sagarmatha is epic in scope and sound, evoking the horror and beauty of nature, the sublime. A band bred by the ocean and born in Kansas is unafraid to stare into the void of sea or sky. As points of reference, I suggest this record fits somewhere between the intersection of Low and the Flaming Lips, Can and the Postal Service, or Fugazi and Sigur Ros.
event::tags 21+
8:00 PM
to 9:00 PM
Netherfriends
30 schedule::attendees
Location
Skinny's Ballroom
eventtype Music
event::about Shawn Rosenblatt, the core of the band Netherfriends, has turned the mythology of touring on its head since his latest months of touring, making his trip around the country into a productive affair. Starting in April 2010, Shawn gave up his apartment and hit the road for one year with the goal to write and record a song and perform in all 50 states. As of January, he has hit 39 states. Netherfriends began as a musical offering of Shawn Rosenblatt in 2007, while he was still a student at Columbia College in Chicago. During the 50 Songs Project, Netherfriends has released his debut LP Barry and Sherry as well as played the Pitchfork Music Festival, the Pop Montreal Festival, and the CMJ Music Fest. After releasing Barry and Sherry last September, Netherfriends wasted no time in releasing the free flowing EP Alap to ring in the New Year. Netherfriends bends traditional colors of pop touching upon psychedelic, dream, and synth to create a new musical spectrum. According to Daytrotter, Shawn Rosenblatt "is some kind of a mastermind" that "has an expert way with indie rock arrangement and with the tricky business of sounding both unfamiliar and like something that we've been intimate with time and again." The next few months will see Netherfriends on the road for a return to the SXSW Music Festival and the completion of the 50 Songs in 50 States Project. Netherfriends plans to begin releasing the 50 songs as a series of EPs/LPs within the next couple years.
event::tags 21+
9:00 PM
to 10:00 PM
Dignan
31 schedule::attendees
Location
Skinny's Ballroom
eventtype Music
Artists Dignan
event::about Bio: "Beauty of style and harmony and grace and good rhythm depend on simplicity." --Plato Welcome to Dignan. Meet 5 friends from McAllen, Texas:: Andy, Devin, Trey, Heidi and Davy. Meet their auroral melodies, their poetic percussion, and their ethereal lyrics. Meet their shy smiles as they glance downward when asked why they play music together. "This is our community. This is how we show love." Not long ago, these youthful artists were high school students, negotiating the maze of adolescence and self-discovery. Rather than pursue the typical channels of rebellion, however, original band members Andy and Devin chose to spend late nights in the local church sanctuary with their guitars. Drinking Pepsi and writing songs until 5: 00am, the young duo began to develop a sound that would eventually transcend their age and experience. Credit the holy architecture and acoustics, credit the sleep deprivation, credit their need to deal with their circumstances; it was in the wee hours that Dignan was born. Like most young bands, member turnover was high towards the beginning. Andy and Devin played with a number of friends from their hometown before finally recruiting Trey, whom they had met while he was drumming for another band, and Davy, who originally sold and managed merchandise for the band. After befriending Heidi, the only non-Texan in the group, the band was complete. Between the five of them, Dignan brought an extremely eclectic list of musical influence to the table. Ranging from Broken Social Scene and Arcade Fire, to grandparents who specialize in lounge music, to their hometown of McAllen with a 95% Hispanic population, the band had a wide variety of experiences and sounds in their repertoire to choose from. Feeling free to explore, the band began to incorporate an array of different instruments into their songs. What emerged was an array of melodies that brood over love, loss, angst, and crime. Playing primarily in Texas, the band built up a strong local following in the lone star state early on in their career. In 2007, the band recorded their first EP, the guest, releasing it on the indie label Bearded Beauty. They also began touring nationally, and by early 2008, had 3 cross-country runs under their belt. The band is currently working on writing and recording new songs, as well as playing with bands like Ra Ra Riot and Colour Revolt. In the world of complicated musicians, dynamics, and aspirations, Dignan keeps it simple. They love making music, and they love the music they make. As L.I. Wilder said, it is the sweet, simple things of life that are the real ones after all.
event::tags 21+
10:00 PM
to 11:00 PM
Soft Swells
9 schedule::attendees
Location
Skinny's Ballroom
eventtype Music
Artists Soft Swells
event::about Modern Outsider Records, the creation of married music industry veterans Chip and Erin Adams, is thrilled to announce Soft Swells, the new indie pop band of Tim Williams, as the label’s first signing. “Tim Williams has been a good friend of ours for a number of years and when he came to us with his new Soft Swells project, we jumped at the opportunity to work with him,” exclaims Chip Adams. “We are proud to unveil Soft Swells’ debut single as the first release on Modern Outsider.” “Every Little Thing” will be released digitally on February 22. “Signing to Modern Outsider is truly a dream come true for me,” Williams reveals. “Not only do I get to work on the music I love, I get to do it with Chip and Erin Adams, two of the hardest working and sweetest people in the entire music industry.” Williams began his music career as a singer/songwriter crafting folk-tinged melodies. He emerged on the Brooklyn indie scene in the early 2000s and released three well-received albums on Dovecote Records. After relocating to Los Angeles from Nashville via New York last year, Williams formed Soft Swells, a nod to his beachy new surroundings. The band features Williams’ longtime friend and collaborator Matt Welsh of the alt-country band Phonograph. First single, “Every Little Thing,” is replete with Williams’ canny pop songwriting and features full use of his band’s arsenal: reverby guitar, subtle electronics, stuttering and snapping drums, handclaps and a ringing xylophone. www.softswells.com www.myspace.com/softswells www.twitter.com/softswellsmusic http://www.facebook.com/#!/softswells
event::tags 21+
11:00 PM
to 12:00 AM
The Calm Blue Sea
34 schedule::attendees
Location
Skinny's Ballroom
eventtype Music
Artists The Calm Blue Sea
event::about The Calm Blue Sea is a band from Austin, TX. They make (mostly) instrumental music. Call it post-rock if you need an existing label, but their sound draws on more than the associated loud-quiet-loud canon. The dearly departed internet radio giant WOXY's Futurist blog may have said it best about their debut long player: 'The more appropriate term you should be hearing or reading when the band is described is 'beautiful', because that is the word I could not get out of my mind when listening to the soaring tunes on this record.' Since forming in 2007, The Calm Blue Sea have taken their uniquely cinematic rock on two US tours, released a well-received debut full length album, and a follow-up double album film score. Their incendiary live shows have paired them with giants Mogwai, Caspian, Pelican, the Appleseed Cast, and the Twilight Sad. Additionally, the live performance of their original score for Fritz Lang's Siegfried sold out the Austin cinephile haven Alamo Drafthouse. The Calm Blue Sea have recently signed on as an artist and management client with Modern Outsider Records, also based in Austin.
event::tags 21+
12:00 AM
to 1:00 AM
Ume
66 schedule::attendees
Location
Skinny's Ballroom
eventtype Music
Artists Ume
event::about Ume (pronounced ooo-may) is an Austin trio with an explosive yet sweet aesthetic that's been catching folks off guard - in a very good way. Their sound has been described as balancing "pop hooks and sweet female vocals with crazy heavy riffing" (Chromewaves), "poppy and surprisingly heavy... powerful and charming" (Brooklyn Vegan), and "so loud, they could make Nirvana seem fit to play a GOP fundraising cocktail" (Pop Times Mag) The band self-released their Sunshower EP in 2009 - receiving 4 stars from the Austin Chronicle to the Irish Times - followed by four national tours, including dates with Polvo, Nada Surf, and Warpaint, as well as performances at CMJ, NXNE, and SXSW. The band just wrapped up their highly anticipated full-length set for release just in time for this year's SXSW. Behind Ume's explosive music is an unassuming trio. Guitarist/vocalist Lauren says that show after show she meets people who don't think she could possibly have played in punk rock bands for over a decade. One of her first fans was bassist Eric Larson, who approached the then 15 year-old guitarist after seeing her grind-core band perform on a skatepark vert ramp. While attending and playing Houston-area DIY punk shows, the high-school couple met drummer Jeff Barrera. Shortly after forming Ume, Lauren moved to Pennsylvania for graduate school in philosophy. In 2007, she traded in the PhD pursuit to follow her guitar heroine dreams. She now also helps young girls do the same through her work with Girls Rock Camp Austin.
event::tags 21+
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+
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