Thursday, January 22, 2009

Goldcure Live


Local Austin band Goldcure played an amazing set at the SXSW show last year. They just put their heads down and worked, playing 8 songs in 35 minutes! Damn! Local bands always have it hard at SXSW. Local fans tempted away by the sparkly tour vans of the traveling acts in town. Goldcure had some folks in the audience though, and I found them to be some of the nicest blokes around. Their CD, PORTUGUESE PRINCE came out this year. Check it out. promo photo: goldcuremusic.com. live photo: foto47.



1. "Portuguese Prince" Download mp3 (with permission)
2. "It's Not Over Yet" Download mp3 (with permission)
3. "Never Alone" Download mp3 (with permission)
4. "Rubber Inside" Download mp3 (with permission)
5. "Tired Of Saying Hello" Download mp3 (with permission)
6. "Beautiful Disaster" Download mp3 (with permission)
7. "Too Long" Download mp3 (with permission)
8. "Yer Blues" Download mp3 (with permission)

Saturday, January 17, 2009

Tres Bands De Armando


So I am in Mexico for a few weeks vacation. That doesn't mean I haven't been posting, but the only place with internet access is the pool bar, and as I discovered this morning, one can only really sit here for a limited time and not in the morning. As I am getting too drunk to write with any snap, I must step-up the urgency a notch. I can't really remember the subject I had decided upon for this post - something about "The King of Carrot Flowers and The Queen of Pumpkin Plukes."

Linking Neutral Milk Hotel with Dog Die In Hot Cars would be a stretch even at full-strength, so I panicked and and just asked the barman here, Armando to bring me his favorite new CDs. Instead, gesturing to my laptop, he aptly pointed out that myspace was only a few clicks away. Armando is no slouch, and apparently he is REALLY into reggae music. So here goes:

1. Los Guanábana (Mexico) - A difficult name to pronounce, and probably only recommended as a trick by Armando to watch me slur-away at it. BTW - I tried to get a photo of Armando, but every time I remembered my camera, it was his co-worker, Sylvia (left).

2. Gondwana (Chile) - Mo' Reggae. I nearly said that it reminded me of 10cc, but I realized quite quickly that this could be a stabbing offense to a proper reggae fan.

3. Cultura Profética (Puerto Rico) - My favorite of the three. Really great, chilled out reggae. I want to refrain from saying more, as the genre isn't my forte. Clearly Armando knows his shit though, so hit these bands up, reggae fans.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Jenny Morgan


Jenny Morgan is a native Austinite, who I met when I was fairly young. I remember a huge great dane in her yard, and Jenny spurring me on to climb the railing to her roof, where we were to look at the moon. I had just broken my leg a few months earlier, but Jenny was undaunted by the cast, and as a result, I suppose I was also. She had just released her first recordings, called Old Ribbon Hi-Way. It's a sweet little folk record with a very distinct pop element to it. Folk songs typically aren't as catchy as hers are.

Fast forward 10 years. Jenny Morgan is an Austinite again, having been many places in between. While she was 8.5 months pregnant with her second son, Rowan, she dropped by a CD release party / live-recording I was doing in Bryan, TX at Revolution Cafe. She called that town home for several years, so a lot of the people in the crowd knew her. She hadn't played in a while, she said, due to being all pregnant. I remember at one point everyone in the place was putting out their cigarettes when they realized Jenny had one in the oven. The recording engineer wasn't really prepared for an opener, but we just told him to roll tape anyway. Her new record is called "The Songs I've Sung"
1. "Brings Me Back Around (live)" Download mp3 (with permission)
2. "Mother (live)" Download mp3 (with permission)
3. "Runnin' With The Brazos (live)" Download mp3 (with permission)

Sunday, January 11, 2009

The Boy Bathing Live from the Irie Bean

The Boy Bathing Live at Irie Bean Coffee BarThursday, March 14, 2008. The Boy Bathing. photo by foto47.

The Boy Bathing headlined the first day of the party (The DLAY day), which also included Goldcure (show post to come), Language Room, The Will Evans Project, and Dertybird in support. For me specifically, this is a very memorable gig, as I ended up meeting a lasting, close friend that day. The recording came out of it really well also, with 7 great tracks altogether. Some of them from the new record, which I believe is still a twinkle in David Hurwitz's mind's eye.

The Boy Bathing on MySpace
Video for "Beaches Meet The Sea" on Fensepost
photo by foto47


1. "The Feast" Download mp3 (with permission)
2. "Haunted House" Download mp3 (with permission)
3. "Wedding Song" Download mp3 (with permission)
4. "Ready To Love" Download mp3 (with permission)
5. "The Purpose Of A Rake" Download mp3 (with permission)
6. "Children of Corn" Download mp3 (with permission)
7. "The Beaches Meet The Sea" Download mp3 (with permission)

Friday, January 9, 2009

Phonograph Live in Texas

Phonograph Live at SXSW 2008
I first saw Phonograph play during a one month residency they had back in 2007 at the Living Room, on the lower east side. The Living Room is one of the few venues in Manhattan where you can just have a gamble, and see some new music without having to worry about sitting near the door. They were post-Arclight, pre-Hiawatha at that time.

Phonograph Live at The Irie Bean
The next day my PASTE came to the office and they had a track "Parsons White" on the sampler (this is back when the PASTE samplers were still good). That sort of thing cements a band in your mind, and when I was organizing a show for SXSW a few months later, I had to have them on the bill. I was relentless, and they finally acquiesced.

Abe Seferth of PhonographThey played at 5pm or something on a Friday. The crowd was small, but appreciative. I nearly tripped and fell off the stage, trying to hand a beer to someone. Thankfully, my unnatural squeal at that moment cannot be heard in the recording.

There are tracks from their self-titled debut release on Arclight Records, tracks from the Hiawatha Talking Machine EP, and one new track from their newest record, which I believe is finished but not yet released.

Recording by jamnow.com, all photos by foto47

1. "Parsons White" Download mp3 (with permission)
2. "Somewhere Between" Download mp3 (with permission)
3. "Watch and Ward" Download mp3 (with permission)
4. "In Your Mind" Download mp3 (with permission)
5. "Radio Waves" Download mp3 (with permission)
6. "Have I Told You" Download mp3 (with permission)
7. "Are You Gonna" Download mp3 (with permission)
8. "Nu Americana" Download mp3 (with permission)
9. "You're A Giraffe" Download mp3 (with permission)

Buy Phonograph's Records!!

Thursday, January 8, 2009

Jukebox The Ghost

Jukebox The Ghost at SXSW 2008

Jukebox The Ghost are all over the place. Three-part songs, a punk drummer, a video on MTV2. How much did they pay that girl to play Victoria? .. .. Nothing. That's right. She did it for free*. Chicks work for them for free, and they were still nice enough to play our little party last year at SXSW! Stand-up gents. That's what I say.


Oh yeah, and when they ran out of time during their set, with 5 minutes left, they decided not to play "Good Day," and rocked out the last 5 minutes of Abbey Road instead. Well done, fellas. Here's both of them:

"Abbey Road" (Medley) Download mp3 (with permission)
"Good Day" to get this track, contact us for a leftover sampler. We still have a few left

*I have no idea how much that chick worked for. Top dollar, I'm sure.

Buy Jukebox The Ghost's Records!!

Paul Banks and the Carousels Live

paul banks and the carousels at sxsw 2008

Friday, March 14th 2008 - Paul Banks and the Carousels. Again, this is from the Canon Records / DLAY Music Management Day Party at The Irie Bean Coffee Bar in Austin, TX. The files got damaged in a hard drive crash, and I have only been able to save two songs. I also posted the album version of "Live To Share" from Paul's self-titled debut record. Paul was channeling Jeff Buckley at times during this show.

1. "Medicine" Download mp3 (with permission)
2. "Bring It On Home To Me" (Sam Cooke) Download mp3 (with permission)

"Live To Share (album version)" Download mp3 (with permission)

Buy Paul's Records!!

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

The Swimmers Live

The Swimmers at SXSW 2008

Friday, March 14th 2008 - The Swimmers. This recording is from the Canon Records / DLAY Music Management Day Party at The Irie Bean Coffee Bar in Austin, TX. I have been sitting on these recordings and pics for a while. They were provided by jamnow.com. Enjoy.

1. "It's Time They Knew" Download mp3 (with permission)
2. "St. Cecilia" Download mp3 (with permission)
3. "We Love To Build" Download mp3 (with permission)
4. "Pocket Full Of Gold" Download mp3 (with permission)
5. "Moving" Download mp3 (with permission)
6. "Heaven" Download mp3 (with permission)
7. "In The Park" Download mp3 (with permission)
8. "All The New Sounds" Download mp3 (with permission)
9. "Star" (David Bowie) Download mp3 (with permission)

photos all by foto47

Buy The Swimmers' Records!!

Friday, January 2, 2009

SXSW 2009. Already?!?

So we just got the deposit form for our housing at SXSW this year. Holy Shit. They don't waste any time once the fiscal year turns over. It got me thinking what a time-consuming festival SXSW is. We start planning months in advance for what essentially amounts to 3 or 4 planned events surrounded by controlled chaos and misery / exhaustion. One week later though, the power of memory floods a thick rose sheet over the whole thing. Hangovers and pain don't seem to come out in the photos, we're all smiles, the stack of records actually provides some decent noise (contrasted with the "sound" guy's interpretations the week before), and then a week later you get the email about advance badges for next year. Ahh. I can't wait.

SXSW 2009 Bands so far:

Dent May & His Magnificent Ukulele, St. Vincent, Beach House, Anni Rossi, Future of the Left, White Lies, Passion Pit, Ra Ra Riot, Gabriella Cilmi
, Ximena Sariñara, Primal Scream, Friendly Fires, B.o.B, Sage Francis, Buraka Som Sistema, Arc Angels, Courteeners, Raul Malo, 8Ball & MJG, Reflection Eternal, Wale, Pete & the Pirates, Ben Harper and Relentless7.

Last years doings:


Last year I threw a day-party with a friend of mine, over two days at a little coffee house on South Lamar. It was great. The line up was awesome, we had great sponsors - free beer, free tacos, and a free live recording from JAMNOW.com. It was a trip, and I never really did anything with all the pics / recordings. So here they are. It is gonna take me a couple of posts to get it all up, as there were 10 bands: Paul Banks and the Carousels, The Swimmers, Phonograph, Russell Huie, Jukebox The Ghost, Goldcure, Dertybird, Will Evans, Language Room, and The Boy Bathing. Some of the tapes from the first day got screwed up by an annoyingly high level on the backing vocal mic, and the board overheated at one point, but other than that, it sounds great! First post will be tomorrow or the next day. I'll try to salvage the Thursday lineup.