Races are a new band from Van Nuys, led by Wade Ryff. Their first LP, Year of the Witch, is most certainly a heartbreak album... you don't even have to listen to the songs, just read the song titles: the knife, don't be cruel, all for you, walk through the fire, lies.
An uplifting album it is not, but it is haunting and harsh and beautiful at the same time. And a great start for a very promising band. Here is their second video for the song Lies, shot in Van Nuys:
You can stream their album through Spotify or through their bandcamp right here.
Florrie is a lovely, drummer/singer/songwriter from sunny Bristol. She's got a tasty pop sound that's perfect for dancing away the Mondays. Listen and buy her new EP here. Below is the video for her single Shot You Down.
Orca Team is a beautiful-sounding 60's pop band from Seattle. I know we're supposed to let the 60's go already, but I don't care. Here's their latest video, from Restraint, a fresh full-length (go listen!).
Things I like about Orca Team:
Jessica describes their music as "Cold Surf".
Dwayne is a coffee snob.
Their blood/vomit seems to be black.
Things I don't like about Orca Team: They're touring From Seattle to New York, to the UK and back, and they're not stopping in Austin. Who do they think they are?
Parkour spends all of his time these days in Vegas. So somehow it was appropriate that last night Parkour, C Bear and I played music at Hotel Vegas for Get Yo Mind Right. The bands were great and Vegas is one of the best new music venues in town. If you haven't been, head down on a Thursday for Graham Wilkinson's happy hour. The musical highlight for me was Austin's BitterBirds. Check them out on Facebook and track them down if you're in Austin. Here's Blacklist off they're newish 7".
When The Books broke up, I was pretty bummed. But half of the band, Nick Zammuto, recently released a self-titled album. Zammuto is a quirky sound collage that takes up where The Books left off. They are Dan Deacon, minus the irritating. I recommend listening if you like Dustin Wong, AU, or White Fence.
Here is the opener (and my favorite) "Yay" and a live video of "The Shape of Things to Come."
Safety Rat usually handles hip hop on the blog, but since he's out there in whiter than white Switzerland I thought that I would give it a try.
Killer Mike is an Atlanta based rapper who just released his latest LP titled RAP Music. Big Beast was produced by El-P, considered a living legend by many hip hop connoisseurs, and features Bun B, T.I. and Trouble.
The video is obviously inspired by the Drive movie, or as Bob Jovi calls it "the coolest music video ever made" because of it's awesome soundtrack and sparse dialogue. But Killer Mike does a good job of paying homage while giving it it's own spin and making it cool as hell.
The whole album is amazing, and Killer Mike will be making a pit stop at the Mohawk on 6/23. Who wants in?
By now you all know how we love our Nordic chanteuses on this blog. Theressa Andersson is from Sweden, but she's been a local Austinite before and has lived in New Orleans for a while, and you can totally tell. She gives us a mesmerizing mix of Swedish pop with all it's electronic beats and loops — and her very icy and detached vocals — with brass band and marching band elements surely giving tribute to her much loved New Orleans.
Last Fat Tuesday she was part of the Krewe of Muses, and she performed her song "Hold on to me"on top of a magnificent white swan. She recorded it and released it as her first official video for her 2012 album Street Parade. Here it is:
