Results tagged “theblackangels”

Ok, ok, it’s been said before, and it will all be said again, but something happens to a society on edge and at war, and that something is happening now, an subconscious shiver that plays out tangibly, and literally, not just on cable and the and radiowaves but in music venues across the U.S. Will 2009 ultimately be dubbed Year of the Freakout? There’s a case to be made there, as we all the meantime follow “Mad Men,” transfixed by characters grappling with identity issues, about to be caught in a riptide of racial politics and a national disgrace of a war. Hmm. Well, it’s a good year for Halloween, as citizens all over the political spectrum slog, wade, or tip-toe through suspenseful pauses. And the Black Angels, homecomers fresh off a tour with The Raveonettes, know this. That’s why they’re hosting a freakout, complete with an event poster featuring an ambivalent, Voltron-eyed Obama in a Jean Genet-esque pose. (We guess.)

In the case of The Black Angels, aside from trading their guitars for brass instruments, the tags of “psych-rock” and the comparisons to heavy pop bands like The Velvet Underground and the decades-later brew proffered by The Jesus and Mary Chain will forever chase them. But as this band grows, their sound is no less steeped in dark traditions even as it becomes more and more their own. Their debut Passover was solid enough, but the band’s sophomore disc Directions to See a Ghost is a sizable, ambitious step forward. While the band may never outgrow Velvet Underground references (their own fault, really, considering their name), their new record rediscovers a sound that never was. Many songs on the records begin minimally with either just bass or drums, and reach a sterling crescendo under waves of delayed guitar and lead singer Alex Maas’ welcome high register vox – greatly preferable to the rumbling bass voice that usually always seems to accompany heavy music.

Two days after SXSW kicks off and our city becomes a living, breathing conglomeration of people from all walks of life, Austinist presents Local Music is Sexy at the PureVolume Ranch. Past Local Music is Sexy events have showcased acts such as The Black Angels, Brothers and Sisters, The Lemurs, The Corto Maltese, Black Before Red, and IV Thieves to name a few. Last year, we remember dancing the night away to Car Stereo (Wars)’ mad mash-ups, drinking free Red Bull (among other things), and having a go at the sweet Wii set up in that little lounge at the location. All in all, an excellent time.

Psychedelic music came of age in Austin in the 60’s thanks in large to The 13th Floor Elevators and the emergence of The Vulcan Gas Company as a community and a venue to support the genre. (Check out this site for a history.) The Vulcan Gas Company (316 Congress Ave.) shut its doors in the 70’s but lately there has been a renewed interest in the era in part due to Scott Conn’s Dirt Road To Psychedelia documentary. The Black Angels must also be blamed thanked for this rejuvenation; the local outfit has paved the way for a new generation of psychedelic acts with their impressive 2006 release, Passover. A full-length follow-up is expected this May.

Sonic Boom (a.k.a. Peter Kember) makes his 2nd appearance in Austin within the last six months at The Mohawk on Saturday. Since our city regularly hosts acts numerous times in a year, this might not seem too extraordinary. But this is no ordinary act -- Sonic Boom was once part of the legendary British outfit Spacemen 3 whose psychedelic innovations influenced many of the bands you might listen to today.

While a great deal of lip service is paid to “Keeping Austin Weird,” how did Austin manage to get so weird, anyway, and how far have we strayed from that great flashpoint of weirdness, the sixties? This special installment of Music Mondays at the Alamo Drafthouse will answer all this and more, with a presentation of the film Dirt Road to Psychedelia by director Scott Conn.

Fun Fun Fun Fest captured more than a few hearts last December on a cold winter evening with a three-stage-pronged attack that provided ample genres for everyone in attendance. Some of the stand-out acts included Spoon, The Black Angels, The Octopus Project, Peaches, and Prefuse 73. This year, the fest is back, bigger than before, and a month earlier to boot. November 3rd and 4th will see Waterloo Park transformed into a musical carnival featuring...

Fun Fun Fun Fest captured more than a few hearts last December on a cold winter evening with a three-stage-pronged attack that provided ample genres for everyone in attendance. Some of the stand-out acts included Spoon, The Black Angels, The Octopus Project, Peaches, and Prefuse 73. This year, the fest is back, bigger than before, and a month earlier to boot. November 3rd and 4th will see Waterloo Park transformed into a musical carnival featuring...

Danny Taylor and Simeon Coxe III created The Silver Apples in 1967 in New York City. With Simeon supplying the vocals and synth, and Taylor providing the percussion, the duo created psychedelic soundscapes accentuated by electronic beats. Their name was coined from a William Butler Yeats poem while musically, the duo employed all the tricks of the trade that might seem fairly standard now but were truly innovative at the time. Simeon utilized multiple audio...

On the eve of ACL Fest, we're gonna turn off our laptops, put on our drinking shoes, and head over to the Mohawk, because Austinist is hosting Local Music is Sexy IV. An annual tradition since its inception in 2005 (back when the 'hawk was the Velvet Spade, and folks were still arguing over the smoking ban), Local Music is Sexy showcases a bunch of promising young Austin bands and DJs that we're most excited...

Emo's is packing in approximately half of the bands in Austin this evening for a Bacchanalian orgy of rock and roll, Lone Star, and - with all due respect - poorly conceptualized tattoos. Silly tats aside, tonight is guaranteed to be a blowout, and whether you're looking to get familiar with some of the best indie that this town has to offer, or a long-time fan, you'll be sonically satiated come this evening. Here's...

Although Hoot Nights and Tribute shows tend to occur frequently, Saturday’s extravaganza at Ruta Maya promises to trump all with an extensive lineup of local talent set to cover a variety of tunes recorded (or released) in 1967, known otherwise as the Summer Of Love. Get there early, even if the music does only start at the respectable time of 4:20 p.m. Full lineup below but we have to mention some of our favorites --...

*The views expressed in The Laurie Show are those of the author and do not represent Austinist as a whole.* -ed. note It’s the time of year when thoughts might turn to mushy things, like Valentine cards and heart-shaped boxes of candy…and all the money that companies are raking in selling this sort of foofy-ness. My question to you is this: Would you like to know what truly says “love” with a capital L-O-V-E?...

Tomorrow's your last chance to vote in the PLUG Independent Music Awards, the annual audience-juried awards event that recognizes the most promising artists and members of the independent music community. Beyond traditional music categories like Album of the Year, New Artist of the Year, and genre-specific awards, PLUG also celebrates everything from live venues and music festivals to internet radio stations and music blogs. This year, several Austin or Texas-based bands, stores, and organizations...

Ask any mop-haired kid roaming the UT campus with clingy jeans and just a hint of bong water breath, and said youth will tell you By The End Of Tonight is the hottest thing since Malibu real estate. Lucky for him, and you, they're playing a post-extended-hiatus set at Emo's tonight. The Alvin, TX quartet render layers of messy, metallic instrumental post-rock into songs that meander towards catharsis like a lost baby deer wandering into...

Seattle's public radio station, KEXP 90.3, has long been a bellwether of up-and-coming bands in the national indie-rock scene. This year, Austin groups took not one, but two spots in their Top 90.3 albums of 2006. Nestled in the top 20, our own beloved electronica exhibitionists Ghostland Observatory's Paparazzi Lightning took #16, while brooding psych-rockers The Black Angels' Passover took #6. Not only is this titillating news for the bands, outplacing indie legends like Yo...

Emo's has made it onto Playboy.com's A-List of America's Ten Best Rock Clubs, chosen from among thousands of venues by musicians, music journalists and industry insiders. "One of the main venues for the annual South By Southwest booze-and-music bacchanal in the spring, Emo's remains at the center of this bohemian college town's vibrant music scene all year round," reads the gushing post, further clarifying that "the club's name is no indication of the genre...

We told you last week that Ghostland Observatory would be rocking Hogg Memorial Auditorium. What we didn’t tell you was that they’d be rocking the old joint with The Black Angels. Further left unmentioned was the fact that the show in January will feature one of the most amazing light shows ever seen at an indoor concert in Austin. We recently received a call from GLO’s secret lair, and the fellas are promising to...

The first-ever Fun Fun Fun Fest is this Friday, December 1st, at Waterloo Park. Over two dozen great acts are on the bill, including Spoon, Peaches, The Black Angels, Prefuse 73, and DJ Mel. Tickets are now $25, and can be purchased at the gate. Learning Secrets perform in the Dance Party Tent at 4:30pm. -- The Editors Bonus: Download Ian's new winter mix, featuring Sebastian, The Rapture, Jurgen Paape, James Figurine and more. [mp3]...

The first-ever Fun Fun Fun Fest is this Friday, December 1st, at Waterloo Park. Over two dozen great acts are on the bill, including Spoon, Peaches, The Black Angels, Prefuse 73, and DJ Mel. Tickets are $20, and can be purchased online. Quintron and Miss Pussycat perform on the Austin Fuzion Stage/Tent at 6:50 p.m. -- The Editors How is the tour going for you so far? Great... even though we have broken our...

The first-ever Fun Fun Fun Fest is this Friday, December 1st, at Waterloo Park. Over two dozen great acts are on the bill, including Spoon, Peaches, The Black Angels, Prefuse 73, and DJ Mel. Tickets are $20, and can be purchased online. Octopus Project perform on the Indie stage at 3:30pm. -- The Editors What's your favorite thing about playing festivals? (Or do you prefer not to play them?) Festivals are rad! We very...

The first-ever Fun Fun Fun Fest is this Friday, December 1st, at Waterloo Park. Over two dozen great acts are on the bill, including Spoon, Peaches, The Black Angels, Prefuse 73, and DJ Mel. Tickets are $20, and can be purchased online. Dead Meadow perform on the Indie stage at 4:30pm. -- The Editors Any new recordings that we can expect soon in the form of a new full length? Steve Kille: We are...

As Fun Fun Fun Fest is but a day away, we'd like to share a few downloads from some of the artists playing tomorrow's first-ever winter music festival (in Austin). Check back later today, as we'll be giving away one last pair of tickets! Indie Stage Spoon (8:50-10:00) [myspace] [mp3] "I Turn My Camera On" Peaches (7:30-8:30) [myspace] [mp3] "I Don't Give a Fuck" The Black Angels (6:30-7:15) [myspace] [mp3] "The First Vietnamese War"...

The first-ever Fun Fun Fun Fest is this Friday, December 1st, at Waterloo Park. Over two dozen great acts are on the bill, including Spoon, Peaches, The Black Angels, Prefuse 73, and DJ Mel. Tickets are $20, and can be purchased online. Gamblers perform on the punk stage at 6:55. --The Editors How's Volcom treating you? Any Riverboat Gamblers skate decks in your future? Volcom has been great! They give us lots of socks,...

The first-ever Fun Fun Fun Fest is this Friday, December 1st, at Waterloo Park. Over two dozen great acts are on the bill, including Spoon, Peaches, The Black Angels, Prefuse 73, and DJ Mel. Tickets are $20, and can be purchased online. Circle Jerks perform on the Punk stage at 8:55pm. -- The Editors We’re excited to have you coming to Austin. You were here in March attending South By Southwest, right? I’ve been...

FRIDAY [15] music • Ghostland Observatory and Thee Emergency at The Mohawk (912 Red River) ® party • Earthdance at NiaSpace (7:30pm-10pm, $15) party • Eastside City Limits party with Pink Nasty, Tnlons Fort, I Kill Cars, Missing Tapes, Brothesr and Sisters, Til We're Blue or Destroy, The Black at Red Scoot Inn and Old Austin Daze Compound (9pm-4am, FREE) ® party • Teleport Door presents the Pop Yo Colla' party with DJs Daniel...

It's entirely possible that you aren't at all interested in wandering around Zilker dehydrated and lost all weekend, but there's no reason to worry: there are plenty of things to do and shows to see this weekend that have nothing to do with wristbands or sunscreen. Most notable is the Filter Party at Beauty Bar featuring The Presets, I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness and The Secret Machines. In addition to the MSTRKRFT...

Austin's C-Side Records has been busy the last few months, releasing albums by two bands to watch back to back. Golden Bear's self-titled debut is a near perfect collection of songs with influences as diverse as Spacehog, early Built to Spill and My Morning Jacket. Austin music scene bright lights such as Pink Nasty, Voxtrot’s Jared Van Fleet, The Black Angels’ Kyle Hunt, and Jason Morales of Tia Carrera help out on the album,...

There have been a few changes to the ACL schedule since last week - as Tom noted yesterday, both Ghostland Observatory and The Dears have been added to the lineup, replacing Feist and Kasey Chambers. And there's another dropout - Fields are off the schedule, so Brett Dennen has been added to the Austin Ventures Stage lineup on Sunday, shifting a few of the artists to later slots that day. You can check out...

There is much to report this week surrounding the Zilker Park-sized dust oven that is ACL Fest. The big news is that a ridiculous number of 'official' ACL aftershow concerts has been announced. Many of the fest's acts will take over all of our club venues immediately after the big show ends each night. All tickets go onsale tomorrow at 10am, except for Sufjan Stevens, which is already onsale. This means that either (a)...