They’re a four-man psych-folk group who got their start in Stillwater, OK with some thick, harmonic choruses in the midst of crunching, distorted guitars and some grand instrumentation. They have a bursting folk-pop sound built of keys, guitars, even horns....

Now not only a film about a concerned cast of characters from Sesame Street in search of a wandering Big Bird, Follow That Bird! has taken on a new face… and sound, in Austin. They’re an all-girl, three-piece rock and roll group. With a healthy burst of energy, the group plays songs pumped up with the sounds of punk rock and 90s indie rock....

They’re about a step from wide rock and roll popularity and leaving Austin behind. You may not know the band’s name because they’ve been relatively incognito in Austin, going almost unnoticed locally but drumming up a sizable following elsewhere in the country and abroad, far abroad, like Japan abroad. ...

If you listen to this band for the first time and don’t go, “what the @%#&!”, then you just must be used to totally bizarre music that scoffs in the face of normalcy. ...

This Austin trio has a very '90s feel, but in a good way. They have an indie pop sound that touches down in some familiar territory. The vast majority of songs are plump with rich, affective hooks. Their newer songs are produced by Louie Lino who works with Nada Surf and Matt Pond PA among others, and that influence really shows. ...

Zest of Yore are having their CD release party for their new album, Quality of Life, at Emo’s on Thursday night with The Little Gentlemen, Go Action Team and Sad Like Crazy in the lounge....

Remember back when jazz was cool? Well, you probably don’t, unless you happen to be in your '60s or '70s. Miles, Thelonious, Freddie Hubbard, Art Blakey, Max Roach, Sonny Rollins (still pumping it out), and countless others made jazz cool, but somewhere along the way it got lost, and it was replaced by genres like dancey post-punk. Luckily, there are young musicians like Parks, Christian Scott and Esperanza Spalding helping to snatch jazz out of the hands of your granddad and hand it down like a Werther’s Original....

The indie pop of this Austin symphonic sextet is often quite charming like on “Tarzan” where the strings and flute weave brightly and an echoey, Band of Horses-esque vocal track sings over a slightly somber number about a forlorn stuntman having trouble giving up on an old role. Jeff Luna sings, “He used to be Tarzan, now he’s just Steve.” The disc is at times funny, at others really pretty, sometimes lightly clever and occasionally a little unpolished. ...

An Austin group in the earliest stages, Ideal Soul Mart are full of potential and DIY attitude. They’re an indie pop duo of multi-instrumentalists who have a tendency to work out the songs as they’re playing live, helping give them an experimental flare as the guitar, drums and keyboard rage on and frolicsome melodies dance about in the atmosphere. They’ve got pounding drums, jangly guitars and arm fulls of catchy vocals....

Smack dab in the middle of the triangle of Dallas, Fort Worth and Denton is Grapevine, Texas, and in this suburban town you’ll find this poppy, happy marching band/choir sort of group of 19 to 25-year-olds. They have a curious sound that could work in a venue, at a house party or even at a street festival. ...

Well, there isn’t really much that’s sour about this Austin pop group. They’re pretty much all sugar, although sometimes it can be a little bittersweet. The group – Jared Boulanger, Chris Page, Brandi Dipietro and Travis Hackett – formed just this year and has recently released The Meat of the Fruit, their first 7-song album....

They’re a local power-pop/punk rock/just-plain-rawk trio, and their music is full of energy with its fair share of squeal, screech and pure rockness. Then, there’s the pop element that’s strong but not too overwhelming and gives it all an ultra-catchy sheen. Murdocks – Franklin Morris, Kyle Robarge and David T. Jones – have a basic, guitar-bass-drums set up, but they manage to keep things very full and rock and roll dance-friendly. ...

It’s murky dreamland indie pop, and it’s local. Light, pillowy vocals in catchy choruses spill over bright keys and guitars that lift you up right into the clouds. They’ve released four LPs since 2006, which is kind of impressive, and their latest one is called Things I Am Guilty Of. They’ve also been working on an EP, which should arrive soon....

Listen to the beginning of “Masochism in the Trade” and try not to be mesmerized. The experimentally shrieking guitars and ghoulish keyboards make the air thick with a carnival vibe that quickly turns into an electro pop number fronted by a singer sounding something like a darker version of Gwen Stefani at times. Add in plenty of violin along with some viola, glockenspiel, mandolin and even a drum machine, and you’ve got a local group that’s easy to get wrapped up in, but hard to classify. You can dance until you drop dead from the consumption with this bleak, experimental, violin-rock. ...

They’re one of Japan’s greatest and most under-appreciated indie punk exports, and they’ve been going strong since the late '80s. One member of the Le Diamant team fondly recalls an interview with the group for a zine back in 2003 via translator. Some consider them the Japanese equivalent of Cursive, but that could be because the two groups have a strong relationship from touring together and sharing space on an impressive split CD, 8 Teeth to Eat You. ...

This Austin band likely chose this moniker because if dinosaurs all of a sudden pulled off the greatest coups ever and rose from ocean depths to take back the planet, this would be the band they listened to as they stomped feeble humans in highly populated areas. It’s sludgy, hearty and crude. The seven-way brutal noise explosion that is this group just released their debut, Not Noiice, with a sound mixing overlapping primal vocals, music scrapes, distorted chords and pure fun that could encourage either artful interpretive dance or a straight-up slam fest....

They have been a secret building in Austin for a short time now, but it’s getting to the point where the blockages are about to break as these Americana Austin, Texas boys gear up for the release of their brand new studio effort out this month. This collaboration-turned-band made up mostly of songwriters – Colin Brooks, Ed Jurdi, Gordy Quist, Seth Whitney and John Chipman – has so skillfully utilized instruments like the dobro, lap steel and harmonica to create soulful, bluesy and rocky country-mingled tunes....

Ethan truly is a master of the Hawaiian ukelele, and somehow he’s managed to tune his miniature axe to the key of ‘completely charming.’ All he wears is board shorts and a lei while playing. It’s just one man playing softly folkie, catchy songs on his tender ukelele. Apparently, although he’s called Ethan, Master of the Hawaiian Ukelele, he occasionally plays guitar instead. What’s up with that? His latest album, So Real, was just released this month. ...

They are a trio of geeky rock and rollers from England, Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire actually. They’re already winning over warm bodies on their native isle, where they’ve cracked the charts and were nominated for the Nationwide Mercury Prize in 2007. All dressed up in tweed jackets and trousers with ties, the three give a professionally stuffy yet silly slant to their post-punk, catchy rock and roll. Their second full-length, Superabundance, is set to come out in America on April 22nd. ...

It’s unclear from the group’s MySpace whether or not they're still playing around town or even in existence, but a few songs recently came across the Le Diamant desk which warranted a little attention. They’re an indie rock, alt. pop group making their home in the 512....

If you haven’t experienced the dreamy, spectral indie pop group Beach House yet, then be sure that you will. This Baltimore-based duo of Victoria Legrand and Alex Scally’s keys and guitar has been winning over fans mainly by word of mouth. Their last show in Austin during the beginning of March brought such a crowd that their next performance in town will no doubt have to be upgraded from Emo’s lounge to the outside stage. Beach House’s 2006 self-titled debut met with high critical acclaim. However, their latest, Devotion, isn’t making quite the same splash....

It’s always a nice surprise when a band’s MySpace doesn’t describe them accurately or obviously. When you click on the link and the page opens to reveal a designation like ‘rock’, ‘alternative’ or the oh so typical ‘indie’, a little part of you dies. But, when that left-click unravels a host of curious, unorthodox genres like ‘melodramatic popular song’, ‘Spanish pop’ and ‘tropical’ a new hope stirs within you. But, that’s not Gulf of Mexico’s most powerful weapon. ...

Every week, Le Diamant Brut shuffles through our inbox, unearthing musical MySpace gems for you -- here at home and beyond. Enjoy. ...

Although they may share neighboring shelf space in record stores and similar vowel sounds with the DC reggae/punk band, their music couldn’t be more different. These two blonde Cincinnati boys, Benjamin Davis and Sebastien Schultz, have come up with a fairly affecting mixture of perky pop and sweetly vulnerable indie rock. Well, to be fair there is a third member; she’s a 1973 reel-to-reel for playback of background mixes named Irene. They’ve built up a little steam recently on the music blogs, and of course they’re headed to Austin for SXSW. ...

Here’s the scene: It’s late in the evening on a Saturday night, and there’s a line full of 16-to-30-year-olds wrapped around the block extending away from the large black door of the New Brookland Tavern in Columbia, South Carolina. Tonight, local, epic, electronic rock band Baumer is playing, and it’s going to be a packed house. A sizable portion of those dance party hungry hipsters clad in t-shirts both black and neon waiting in queue will not even make the capacity cut-off point. But, many of them will stand outside for a good portion of the set, listening from the street. Inside, as Baumer heats up, the cramped crowd bounces and sweats to New Order-inspired electronics, indie rock guitars and a bold voice not unlike that of Muse singer Matthew Bellamy. This isn’t a rarety for the band; it’s every time they play a show in their hometown. ...

What’s the Deal: There’s one main, overwhelming reason why The Blow made it into this week’s Le Diamant, and that’s because of their song “Parenthesis.” It’s the kind of cute and quirky pop tune that made the songs off the Juno soundtrack so viral. The Blow is the devious and rascally spawn from the mind of musician, visual artist and performer Khaela Maricich. The other half of the creative team that is The Blow is (or was) Jona Bechtolt. According to the group’s MySpace, Bechtolt has left the band, most likely to further his singing and programming in his solo project, YACHT. The Blow have this whole middle school crush ‘Do you like me? Check yes, no or maybe’ thing going on that sinks its teeth in all the way to the gums with a swirling mixture of video game-style electronics and poppy folk. ...

Some of Austin’s most active live acts take the stage at Emo’s on Thursday evening to bring an end to the venue’s Free Week. Horse + Donkey are riding high following the release of their impressive self-titled full-length. The album finally gives us locals a chance to enjoy the act’s reverb-heavy droning psychedelia at our pleasure, at home or in the car. Still, that’s no excuse to stop playing live, and the trio has been averaging a solid amount of gigs in town over the last few months. The explosive, vivid video for Horse + Donkey’s “Magic Horse” was directed by Wiley Wiggins and can be viewed here....

The holiday season can slow things down in town but it cannot keep you from yearning for some good, live music and busting out your new, Santa provided wardrobe. If you have not had your mistletoe and Kringle fix, Emo’s steps in with a Christmas special (literally) on Friday. Christmas Special (featuring members of Voxtrot) provide Holiday cheer and Christmas carols with support from The Black and Red Leaves....

Photo of Moth! Fight! by Aubrey Edwards courtesy of MySpaceIn 2007, Le Diamant Brut sifted through MySpace, show listings and press releases, bringing you a weekly dose of information and advice on all the bands you might have missed. If you missed a week, or want more information on the bands listed here, check out the archives. Happy New Year! AUSTIN BANDS 12/18 - Ringo Deathstarr: Fuzzy, super-loud shoegaze with guitar noise and warm vocals.......

As Christmas approaches, good shows tend to get sporadic and good friends tend to leave town, but the promise of Emo’s Free Week will carry us into the empty canvas that is 2008. Still, we have ten days or so to find that one last good moment of 2007....