Unknown Mortal Orchestra

Psych rock with shades of Black Keys, Tame Impala, Prince, Spanish Gold, and My Morning Jacket. Pretty tight groove and cool sound.  Digging it.  According to the Spotify bio, this is one dude from Portland, named Ruban Neilson, with his brother on drums and his dad on "occasional" horns. However, their website says that the band is Neilson and two other dudes (Jake Portrait and Riley Geare).  Whoever is involved, they are doing something cool here.

The most listened-to track on Spotify is called "So Good at Being in Trouble," from 2013's II.  Here are the Black Keys and Spanish Gold comparisons.  Just over 6 million listens.

McLovin'!  That video doesn't make much sense and it leaves me unfulfilled in the end.  But the song it sweet.  Since that 2013 album, he recently put out a new album in 2015.  Here is the title track from the 2015 album Multi-Love, with about 3.7 million listens:

"She wants to bury me in Austin under Uchiko."  What?  Have no clue what the heck that is supposed to mean.  But it is a groovy tune anyway.  No song off of the original, eponymous debut album cracks the top ten most popular tracks on Spotify, but one other tune from II has almost 3.5 million spins, and a cool title, "Swim and Sleep (Like a Shark)"

Love the tune.  Excellent song.  And, when your video starts off with a puppet making love to itself, then you know its good.  Cool band, like what I'm hearing and would give them a shot at the Fest.

The Barton Hills Choir (2015)

Back again, this is the choir from the elementary school just up the hill from Zilker Park.  Here are my thoughts from last year.  Like School of Rock, I think this is supremely cool.  Yes, the crowd will likely be mostly made up of parents of these kids, but how kick ass would it be to report to the world that you have sang on stage at ACL?  If I'm one of these kids, I'm using that as a pickup line all through high school and college.
"Oh, that is cool that your boyfriend is majoring in Art History.  BTdubs, I'm a big time singer, and once opened for the Foo Fighters and Drake.  Whats that?  Your room?  Sounds awesome."

Here is a little Foo Fighters to get ready for this year's fest:

Here is "Both Sides Now," uploaded about a week ago.

And here is a tune from last year's ACL Fest, with Stuart Murdoch.

I wish I went to Barton Hills Elementary.  And was 8 again.  Go get 'em, kids.

School of Rock (2015)

Back again, this will be kids who go to the local School of Rock and get to jam a stage at the local festival.  Pretty sweet deal.  Here are my thoughts about it from last year.  And here is a recent video of the Rockers jamming the old standby for earnest American Idol contestants everywhere, Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah:

Super cool that they get to go play the big stage.  Love that this happens, even if I don't plan on being in that particular crowd.

The Q Brothers (2015)

Oh yeah, they're back again!  One of the worst things I remember watching in preparation for last year's festival!  Here are my thoughts from last year.

Not much has changed about my opinion since then.  Despite the fact that they have a song on their album (2006's The Feel Good Album of the Year) entitled "Mad About Saffron," I'm still not going to tell you that this is good stuff.  Sadly, that song is not about the spice that makes paella good, but is about their niece.  Here is a new video I didn't make fun of last year.

Orange is the New Black meets Shakespeare meets hip hop!  He just said that this made him feel like Johnny Cash.  Oy.  And here is a four year old rip off of the Beasties.

Oh man.  Seriously, listen to that whole thing. A couple of times.  This is your brain on Q Brothers.

Jessica Hernandez and the Deltas

I think your easy comparison is Amy Winehouse, as this is retro-tastic music with a strong voiced female lead.  The Detroit version of Winehouse.  I think this music is a little harder, a little less slavish to the past and a little more current.  But in the same family tree for sure. Her voice is kick ass, and the backing band (5 dudes) is solid throughout the entire debut album, 2014's Secret Evil.

Right after saying that she isn't firmly welded to the past, here is her most popular track on Spotify (265k listens), called "Sorry I Stole Your Man," which is entirely wedged in old school soul and girl group history. 

That stuff right there is cool.  Just let yourself enjoy it for a second, and you'll be grooving around in no time.  Sweet.  In addition to that one, she's got some good song titles, such as "Neck Tattoo," "Dead Brains," and the confusingly difficult to do at the same time instructions from two separate songs, "Cry Cry Cry" and "Run Run Run."  The second most popular track is called "Lovers First," right up there with 239k listens.  But there is no good video of that track, so here is a live version of third place track, "No Place Left to Hide."

It's her voice that sounds like a throw-back, that variable little tremolo in between brassy notes.  A different brand of high-energy soul.  Interesting sound, I've been happy coming back for more of it all day long.

Jose Gonzelez

Plainly beautiful indie acoustic.  Jose Gonzalez taps into some visceral point in my brain that just makes me relaxed and pleased with the world.  Not a lot of flash in his music, it is generally just his voice, his classical-style guitar, and maybe a little other accompaniment.  Lots of hand claps or guitar body taps.  I saw him come through ACL Fest a few years ago with his side project, Junip, and liked that quite a bit as well.

His most recent album, Vestiges and Claws, is really very good from start to finish.  I don't need to dig deeply into it since I already did a few months ago, but I stand by my sense of immense pleasure derived from the album.  I gave you a look at the most popular track off the album at that time ("Every Age," which is a beauty), but the most popular track from that album now is another track, called "Leaf Off/ The Cave," which is also awesome, and a little more driving.

Something about that video just caught me right up in it.  Weird shots, but it trapped my attention for a couple of minutes.  Video of people expecting stills is always entertaining.  Great tune, almost 5.3 million listens on Spotify.

Before that 2015 album, Gonzalez released 2007's In Our Nature, 2007's Stay in the Shade EP, and 2006's Veneer.  He is Swedish, with his family being from Argentina, but it feels impossible to classify his music based on place.  After reading my review of Vestiges and Claws, my friend Noah reminded me that Gonzalez's music had been used heavily in the The Secret Life of Walter Mitty movie/soundtrack.  Which is likely why it sounds like something that would underscore a guy's search for meaning in this life.  In line with that, the most listened-to track on Spotify for Gonzalez is "Stay Alive," from that soundtrack, with 21.5 million listens:

That video is cleverly titled "The Secret Life of Jose Gonzalez" and has a feeling of some of the movie scenes.  I like it.  And the other song from the soundtrack that I remember, which was used to great effect in the trailer, is called "Step Out."  Here is the trailer (skip to 1:35 if you just want the song):

Makes that movie sound amazing, right?  I did like the movie, but that montage of scenes with that song behind it made it even more powerful.

His most listened to song other than the one above is from the 2006 album Veneer, and is called "Crosses."  With almost 20 million listens on Spotify, it dwarfs almost everything else in his catalog.

I mean, how damn pretty is that music?  I like his more recent stuff better, I think it sounds more full than the older, more basic stuff, but I still can't mess with any of it.  I've spent the last couple days just listening to his music and see no reason to stop.  So good.  I expect to go check out the live show.

William Clark Green

At first, I was super excited that the huge dude from The Green Mile had started making music.  I bet that dude would sound like a big, bad Barry White love machine if he made music.  But no, that dude's name is Michael Clarke Duncan.  Which is really nothing like this guy's name, except that I somehow retained his middle name back in the recesses of my brain.

Instead of Barry White soul, this is a Texas singer-songwriter with some Nashville country vibes. His lyrics can be pretty well done at times, but most of the music that comes along with it is not the solo picking of the folks I think of as Texas singer-songwriters, it is more of the Dixie rock and roll sound.  But after a couple of listens, I don't think he smells like Nashville after all.  Every once in a while ("Outcast") he breaks out a Steve Earle-ian sound that makes me think he's doing something better and more original.

Biggest hit (by a mile) is one of those bits of country songwriting schtick that is too clever by a mile (not quite as hinky as "Hollywood Squares," but in the same wheelhouse as "Check Yes or No") called "She Likes the Beatles."  He's got about 680k spins of that one, while his next tune checks in at 68k.  Pretty big differential.

Live version (can't find the studio version on YouTube) but not too terribly different from the original.  His voice is good, and the more I listen to it, the more I like the lyrics and sentiment of the song.  It ain't Dylan, but I think its fun.

Green has four total albums available on Spotify - 2008's Dangerous Man, 2010's Misunderstood, 2013's Rose Queen, and 2015's Ringling Road.  Overall, I'd call them hard to categorize after a few listens.  He's got swamp-ified gumbo ("New Orleans" or "Born on the Bayou"), charming love songs ("Let's Go"), the Steve Earle move ("Outcast," but also "Can't Let Go" and "Drunk on Desire"), and pure cross-over Nashville rock.  His second-most popular song on Spotify is "Sympathy," from that most recent Ringling Road album.

The think I'm liking is that even though this has the generic hallmarks of crap country, the lyrics aren't god-awful garbage about trucks and tight shorts and dirt roads, etc.  That being said, this one is not his strongest lyrical effort for me.  I think "Ringling Road" is pretty cool though.

That plunking little banjo bit is great, just slinking up and down with a mysterious lilt.  I like it.  Overall, I'd say this guy isn't going to make my top things to see, but I think he could be a fun afternoon band to just jam out to with a few beers.

Asleep at the Wheel (2015)

Nothing much has changed since I reviewed them last year.  Which was actually pretty damn funny, if I do say so myself.  However, with great-big-silly-adventures like this blog come great responsibility, so here are factoids from the Internet that may or may not be true:

• From Paw Paw, West Virginia.  Paw Paw.  Seriously.
• Opened for Alice Cooper in 1969 in Washington, DC.  How weird was that show? Start off with some old people swing, then straight into "Feed My Frankenstein?"  Actually, I think Girl Talk did that last year.
• 1977's Best Country and Western Band in Rolling Stone magazine.
• Wikipedia lists 35 members and ex-members in the band.  Impressive.
• They were scheduled to perform at the White House on 9/11.
• Their song, "The Letter that Johnny Walker Read," was used on a Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas radio station.
• Nine Grammy Awards.
• The have played the Austin City Limits festival 1,174 times.

They do have a new album out, so I gave it a spin or two, and its actually pretty damn enjoyable.  It is (SHOCKER!!) another tribute to Bob Wills called Still the King: Celebrating the Music of Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys.  Which is kind of funny, since back when the 100th anniversary of Wills' birth was coming up a few years ago, Ray Benson apparently said "Some folks wanted another tribute album," Benson said. "But we'd already done two. I felt like we'd be cashing in on Bob's ghost."  I guess letting ten more years pass was enough to resolve any of those concerns.  Anyway, the new disc is chock full of great guests adding excellent flavor to the music, like Lyle Lovett, Merle Haggard, Avett Brothers, Willie, George Strait, Robert Earl Keen, Kat Edmonson, Jamey Johnson; its a good list of guests. And even aside from the famous names helping out, these guys absolutely stick the sound of classic western swing.  I mean, pitch freaking perfect tunes.  Pretty awesome.

"Tiger Rag" with Old Crow Medicine Show is a hell of a lot of fun, and "I Can't Give You Anything But Love" with Kat Edmonson is also damn fine, but the most listened to tune on the album so far (17k spins) is the Avett Brothers track called "The Girl I Left Behind Me."

Banjo action with some barroom piano.  Fun stuff.  I like the whole album.  I likely won't go see them at the festival, but this album is good enough to keep around.

Sons of Bill

Americana/ alt-country.  The lead singer sounds like the guy from They Might Be Giants to me. Which makes this good music even more appealing.  Birdhouse in Your Soul, baby! Shades of Wilco/Son Volt and R.E.M. make this sound sweet.  Check this one out in particular, "Arms of the Landslide"

The sound is all Son Volt there, with the TMBG lead singer voice, plus the guitar noodling and tambourine of old R.E.M.  Cool stuff.  That song is off of their 2014 album, Love and Logic, which I liked the best out of the three studio albums offered on Spotify.  The most popular track, by a ton, is also from that album and is called "Road to Canaan," with almost 550k listens.

Winsome and gentle, I have to think that this track was on a soundtrack or something because no other song cracks 100k listens.  "I belong to you darlin', ain't that enough?" Apparently written in Iraq, but singing about Nebraska and the quiet desolation there when everyone is asleep.  The second most listened to track is from their second album, 2009's One Town Away, called "Broken Bottles." Couldn't find the studio version on YouTube, but here is a live track.

They look so pained in singing the song.  But I like this one a bunch - lyrically solid and well played. The band is apparently some brothers (one guess what their Dad's name is!) out of Virginia.  Their third album is called Sirens, and is a little more polished, even with an arena-ready rocker complete with requisite "wooooooaaaahhhhhhhoooooooohhhhh" singalongs (the solid "Turn it Up").  You know what I also hear in here sometimes?  Cracker. Remember Cracker?  I still like Cracker. Another song that I bet gets them some love when they play at home - "Virginia Calling," which is a cool sounding track.

They also have a live disc (With Kerosene Instead) in the midst of their three studio albums, and it sounds like they have a devoted following of screaming beer drinkers ready to party. AND they cover R.E.M.'s "Finest Worksong" on their live album, which is completely kick ass.  Sounds great. Cool find down here in the bottom third of the poster.

The Suffers

A ten piece soul band from Houston.  I honestly thought I'd be hearing some sort of punk/metal band from the name of the group.  Instead, pleasantly surprised about this sound.  One tune has a ton of spins on Spotify - "Make Some Room," which is a straight shot of soul lovin'.

The video is kind of adorable.  That might be the first time I have used that word on this blog.  But its a sugar sweet song with a tight groove behind it, and sounds so fine.  Make me a sandwich and michelada!  I'm in!  With over 385k spins on Spotify, that track has almost 10x the listens of anything else they have.  I dig it.

The second most popular track on Spotify for them is called "Gwan," which they got to perform live on Letterman in March 2015.  They bring the funk on this thing:

Kam Franklin, that lead singer, brings the noise.  "I said gwan!"  The powerful crooning of "Make Some Room," and then the thunder of "Gwan," she's got it going.  They just have one EP out, 2015's Make Some Room, and then a two song single from 2013.  But the band backing her brings it as well - fun sound and cool find.

KOA

I literally, out loud, just said "Oh God, not another one," when the most popular track on Spotify started.  Yet more electro music - although not entirely bad, more of the Disclosure vein than the Deadmou5 type.  HOWEVER, additional research has shown me that there are a bunch of unoriginal people using this same moniker, and that aforementioned song is likely not the droids we are looking for.  I present you, discerning listener, with the following options:
1.  KOA the house person/producer/beatmaker/whatever.  Pleasant, if generic, beatmaker tune to get your groove on with.  With 69k spins, by far the most popular "KOA" on Spotify.
2.  KOA the world music-y gypsy tunes from some place other than 'Merica.  None of these tunes have more than 1,000 listens, so this one might not have yet hit the big time.  I can't even pronounce their song titles, with such luminary hits as "Podzimni," or "Divka Bleda," or the one everyone knows, "Toc Se S Vetrem, Rozarko."  Love that one.
3.  KOA the Christian "rocker" who actually doesn't sound like the worst thing I've ever heard.  A little Jackopierce and Third Day thing going on here.

4.  KOA the band with absolutely no presence on Spotify.  According to the ACL website, we are looking for a "soulful beach-rock sound," which doesn't click with any of the three sounds above. On to YouTube!  The ACL folks say that the band has one EP, called Cool it Down.  Here, with all of 2,373 views on YouTube, is that track by noted beach-rockers KOA:

You know what?  I'm not going to try to fade that song.  Pretty nice chill music for all of the Jack Johnson-ites out there to enjoy in between Curious George soundtrack sessions. I mean, I'm almost certainly not going to go see them play, but that is a pretty chill tune.

Hozier (2015)

I looked him over last year when he was announced as coming to the 2014 ACL Fest.  Sadly, he skipped out on the festival because of sickness of some sort.  I was very sad-face about that.  After I first listened to him, he put out his lone album, which I liked, and ended up naming as one of my top ten albums of the year.

Honestly, not a ton more to say about the guy.  He makes really great blues-fired rock and roll, and from reports I read after his recent shows in Austin, his live show is great.  You all know "Take Me to Church" (or if you don't, then go to the link from last year above and listen, it's good).  My kids sing along with varying rates of success, which is entertaining.  My son asks someone to take him to church "on a Saturday Night" while my youngest sings the word "dog" like she's in a bad rockabilly band from the swamp.   Duuuuuuuwwwwg.  It is kind of awesome.  And by the way, take a guess at the number of listens on Spotify for that song?  344 flipping MILLION.  That is insane and whips Drake's best or the Foo's best by a large factor.  Wow.

But the rest of the album is also awesome - I think my favorite tune from the album is "Jackie and Wilson." 

Distorted rock swagger, a choir, a great sing-along chorus that makes you feel in on the cool knowledge for classic rock and roll.  So good.  Basic stuff, but done right and I'm in for sure.  Almost 16.5 million Spotify listens.  Awesome tune.  But then you listen to the rest of the album and I dig "Someone New" so much, and "Like Real People Do," "Angel of Small Death and the Codeine Scene," "In a Week," the whole rest of it.  Well done.

His second most listened to tune is "Work Song" with just under 30 million Spotify listens. 

Gospel-y, swinging low and full of soul.  I'd rather have the fun times of Jackie & Wilson, but this tune is great as well.  I'll definitely plan on going to see Hozier do his thing.

Hunter Sharpe

Sometimes, when very low down on the poster, you run in to people who don't exist on Spotify. Which is very annoying.  Hunter Sharpe is one of those.  However, he has a few tracks available through YouTube, so all is not lost.

The SXSW new artist bio thing on him says the following: "Hunter Sharpe is an up-and-coming alternative artist from Austin, Texas, combining indie rock, cutting lyrics and 'uncommonly crafted songwriting with an electrifying performance!' Described as 'expressive and poignant,' he’s been compared to alternative powerhouses like Arctic Monkeys and Nirvana. On the verge of a new album release, Hunter Sharpe has gathered a loyal and sizable following, playing nearly every major Austin venue and is considered an 'Artist to Watch.' "  C'mon man.  Don't compare people to Nirvana.  Now if he isn't the greatest thing ever I'm going to be disappointed.

For being from Austin, he definitely has a Brit sound to his voice, and is a ginger, but he sure does like to jam the mandolin.  Here is evidence, with "High"

50 views, so I just bumped his viewership by 2%.  You're welcome, my friend.  Song #2 available on his YouTube channel is called "Ivy"

He's a good lyricist, and the music is good too.  This is well done.  Ivy had 103 views, but I just bumped that up to 107.  Boom.  Finally, his last song available on his YouTube channel is more of a rocker, called "Elephant Walk"

That last one is a damn fine jam.  I like it, and at 334 plays, it is the most popular track he's got. Good sound, we'll see what it sounds like once he releases an actual album.

Boom Forest

Beautiful folk indie.  I mean, really lovely stuff.  This is one guy, John Paul Roney, making gentle tunes that recall classic folk tunes, with a few in here that sound more modern.  I definitely prefer the classic sound over the modern, but all of them are good.  When I read the band name on the poster, I figured this was going to be another EDM group, so I was pleasantly surprised to hear this great stuff instead.

Also of note, the guy is very weird.  Read the "Aboot" section of his website.  Or see his answers to this American Songwriter piece.

Anyway, one album, from 2014, and also called Boom Forest.  Only one tune appears to have an official video - "Baby Teeth" (almost 7k listens on Spotify):

Cool track.  BTW, there are no rocket launches or thunder in the studio version of the track. That version definitely changes the feel of the tune, but you get the idea.  Here is the most listened to track on Spotify (almost 11k listens), called "No Lion" and featuring another band called Phox.  This is obviously not the studio version, but you'll have to go to Spotify for that.

Killer harmonies and nice lyrics as well.  The opener to the album ("Wooden Heart") sounds like David Wilcox to me.  I love David Wilcox's music (even if his ramblings can be a little cray cray). "Clean Coal" evokes the ultimate touchstone for this type of music, Nick Drake.  "Shadow of a Doubt" sounds like some War on Drugs or new Mumford, until it switches in the middle and becomes a quiet folker.  "Analog Cowboys," with the In-the-Air-Tonight drum break in the middle and more strident sound, is also totally different, more arena ready and pop sounding.  Interesting and fine album.  Good discovery way down at the bottom of the poster.

Tame Impala [update]

Psych rock goodness.  Sounds a ton like late 60's Beatles, and maybe some Cream, and a little bit of Jimi Hendrix Experience.  I have been entirely late to the Tame Impala party - I had heard one of their hits ("Elephant") for years on the radio without actually knowing who sang the song, and only recently have I figured out who they are.  I like this band.  Aussies from Perth, they started out with a few EPs in the late oughts, but then really hit their stride with 2010's Innerspeaker and then gained real fame with 2012's Lonerism.  They have a new album coming out soon, and the singles they have released from that coming album ("Let It Happen," "Cause I'm a Man," "Disciples," and "Eventually") sound like an evolution of sorts from their best stuff - trippy, harmonic, fuzzed out rock, but with a little more electronic sound now.  Here is "'Cause I'm a Man"

• "Let it Happen" is kind of a crazy eight minute long thing, shifting between dance rock, glitchy electronic, orchestrals, and smeared synths. (4.4 mill. on Spotify)
• "'Cause I'm a Man" sounds like a joke Lonely Islands song or something.  All 70's swanky slink and synth with falsetto singing about being a Man.  But then you listen to the lyrics, and he's apologizing for making bad choices and blaming it on being a man. Eminently pleasurable song. (3.8 mill. on Spotify)
• "Eventually" is a sleepy, fuzzy rocker heavy on the organ. (1.8 mill. on Spotify)
• "Disciples" gets a little funkier and danceable.  But it feels like it ends too early - like there is more coming. (1.2 mill. on Spotify).

Their two most listened-to tracks are "Feels Like We Only Go Backwards" and "Elephant," both from 2012's Lonerism.  Here is "Elephant"

Over 21 million spins.  Really cool song.  I love the bass line and the opening lyrics - "Bet he feels like an elephant, shakin' his big grey trunk for the hell of it."  Doesn't make any sense, but it feels right to sing it along with the great chug of this tune.  And they've got some other strange things going on in the album.  I feel like you could easily confuse someone with some of these tracks by telling the listener that this was long-lost Beatles B-Sides - check "Be Above It," the album opener. After running through this album all day at my desk, the whole thing makes me think of that era of the Beatles.  Their experimental, psych phase. Great stuff.  I also hear a hint of the 90's Brit-pop folks like Blur and Oasis.

The most popular track off of Innerspeaker is "Solitude is Bliss," with over 3.5 million spins.

I have to say that I'm not nearly as in to that older album as I am to the 2012 one. Innerspeaker kind of keeps going on for too long, where as I felt like Lonerism ended too soon.  According to the crack team of the World at Wikipedia, "Lonerism was voted number one overall in Rolling Stone, Triple J, NME, Filter, Urban Outfitters, FasterLouder and Obscure Sound's 2012 Album of the Year polls." Ooooh, the vaunted Urban Outfitters year-end poll!  I bet the band was PSYCHED to add that trophy to their cabinet.  I wonder if the Wikipedia entry for First Aid Kit notes that they won the dulljack best album of 2014 award? Huh, for some reason it doesn't mention my award.

Weird to me that I had still never checked this band out after RS named their album the best of the year, but I guess I was slacking that year on discovering new music.  Either way, I'm glad that I've now given them their due.  I dig it and will hopefully see them at the festival.

[update 8/19/15]  The full new album is out - called Currents - and it continues with the promise of those first four tracks I talked about above.  Another standout is "The Less I Know the Better," funky stuff.  I still think the album opener, "Let It Happen," is the best tune on the whole thing.  And I feel like a few of the tracks on here are less interesting and/or lean more on electronica than I would like, makes the album as a whole drag, but the good tunes are great enough to buoy the whole thing.  The one that pokes out immediately is "Past Life." 

In addition, RS did a good profile on the guy behind the band, Kevin Parker, and his recent set at Austin's Psych Fest.  He sounds intense, and I kind of want to go see Perth for myself.  And it sounds like his live show is going to be a good spectacle.  Looking forward to it.

Residual Kid

Holy crap, these guys are excellent.  Grungy rock and roll, literally being done by children. Check out this video for "Friend"

Seriously.  What is going on?  How did those middle schoolers figure out how to jam?  They have one EP out on Spotify, called Faces EP, with just five songs, but they are a blast.  A blast that somehow has really few plays - no song has more than 15k spins, and most are under 10k. Something is wrong with that.  My favorite is the Nirvana-steeped "Faces."  This is a less-than-stellar video of a live version, but you'll get the idea until you go listen to the whole EP twenty times on Spotify.  Which I encourage.

Get it ON!  Children of the ROCK!  Very In Utero-era sounding to me, which is a great thing. The stuff I read online about them pegs them at like 15/16 years old, from Austin, and they have played together for several years.  They get compared to Nirvana, Dinosaur Jr., and shoegaze.  I love it. Here is one more newer tune that isn't on the EP.  "Fabulous"

Hell, here's another not on the EP, a cover called "Friday on my Mind."

I dig the Queens of the Stone Age drum solo in the middle.  I am all in on these dudes. Second line from the bottom at their home town festival, making good.

YouTube just played this video for me too, so why not share.  I might just collect every video they've ever been in.  The opening sounds of their first song on it ("ICSTW" or something like that) is Bleach-era Nirvana and then turns into old Blur. Freaking sweet.

The host's age check says they were 14, 16, and 16 as of January 2015.  "Not Having Fun" has a really good chugging middle section of rock lockdown.  I feel like we're getting in on the ground floor of something amazing here.  I just friended them on Facebook.  I think I'm going to get emotional unless I see them play live immediately.

Daughter

Hushed folk indie with an electronic edge.  Yet another band fronted by a lady - I've been randomly choosing bands from the middle of the poster and feel like I've been on a run of lady singers.  The band's top song rings a bell, like I've already heard it before, maybe from the movie A Long Way Down.  Regardless, it is a hell of a song.  Here is "Youth"

Over 42 million listens on Spotify, just over 4 million YouTube hits, and a great sound of gentle picking building up into an urgent rock.  "We are the reckless, we are the wild youth.  Chasing visions of our futures."  I also liked "Setting fire to our insides for fun."  Pretty song and good sound.

The band has one album and a couple of older EPs.  2013's album If You Leave includes "Youth" as well as a handful of other tunes with more than 10 million listens on Spotify, but their His Young Heart EP has their second most listened to track, called "Landfill," with almost 14.3 million.  Here is an NPR Tiny Desk version of that track:

So very beautiful.  And the rest of this EP is similarly killer stuff - "The Woods" is just amazing sounding.  If this kind of touching, soulful indie is your thing, then you'll want to try out that 2013 album as well, because it is good stuff too.  I don't know how well this will translate into a festival stage, but I think I'd like to find out.

Metallica - Circuit of the Americas - June 6, 2015

Something in my left knee isn't working right.  Two days later, my throat still sounds like I'm a lifetime smoker.  If I try to turn my head or look down, my neck hurts like hell.  And I've got a weird looking bruise on my forearm.  But I have to say that was one of the most fun shows I've ever seen.

As you may know from reading this blog, I was excited about the prospect of Metallica showing up at ACL, after they were named as a headliner for Lollapalooza.  When that didn't happen, I was kind of disappointed until I saw that the band would play the X Games out at COTA.  In!

I'll readily admit that I was not an O.G. fanboy of Metallica.  When I was a young lad, I was scared of bands like Metallica or Guns N Roses or really anything vaguely metal or hardcore.  I was supposed to stick to my R.E.M. and Midnight Oil and U2.  Maybe I had a toe dipped in the hard rock waters of AC/DC or Bon Jovi, maybe the classic rock stuff on KLBJ.  But then the Black Album came out in 1991.  I was in high school, MTV was a golden god at the time, and the Enter Sandman video/song had me hooked right away.

My kind older sister took me to the mall to help me buy the album, and I opened the door to metal.  If you don't remember the Black Album, or never listened to it, the whole thing is bad ass.  From the huge hits like "Enter Sandman," "Nothing Else Matters," "The Unforgiven," and "Sad But True," to the lesser known gems like "Don't Tread on Me" or "Holier Than Thou," the entire disc is thick with killer riffs and precision groove.  And if you discover an album like this, with the "Unforgiven" on it, when you are a teenager, you will bitterly intone lyrics like "They dedicate their lives, to running all of his."  And you will feel powerful.  I listened to the disc a few times this last week, and had forgotten just how heavy and awesome it is.  The middle section of "Don't Tread on Me," where the instruments all just lock into an iron-clad chug of a groove - excellence.

About that same time as the Black Album came out, I remember a friend had the cassette single for "One," which we freaking wore out. And that was about the extent of my Metallica knowledge for years, until about the time I moved back to Austin.  I forget why, but I decided I needed to go back into the archives and see what was out there.  I went on to half.com and bought ...And Justice For All, Master of Puppets, Ride the Lightning, and Kill 'Em All in one massive buy, ripped those to my computer, and started jamming them.  I think Master of Puppets is the best of the bunch, well, after the Black Album.  And 2008's Death Magnetic has some good tunes as well.

Anyway, the big show.  They built a special stage out at the Circuit of the Americas to host the two big shows for this year's X Games, so this wasn't in the good amphitheater that is already out there. They reserved a big chunk of space up front for the VIP folks (and I was too cheap to pony up an extra $100 to get up there).  But even with regular GA tickets, I was about 20 feet back from the VIP section on a grassy hill.  I ended up separated from my friends for the entire show (with about 20 undelivered texts only noticed after the show), but the people around me were pumped up and friendly enough.  I was definitely close enough to see the whole show well, and not so crowded that I felt squeezed.

The setlist was a good bit different from the ones I had researched before the show - they apparently figured the Texans wanted a different show than the Euros.  As you can see from that link, we got to hear a wide scope of their music, heavy on the classics.  When your band hasn't put anything new out in 7 years, you are obviously limited to older tunes, but I also have to think that the band just knows why people have come to see them.  No one really wants to hear them cover other people's music or experiment with new tracks.  The people want what they know and love.  But the band also did a really cool job of making this particular concert different and special feeling, by adding in extra jams in the beginning and end of songs to make this an original show.  It didn't feel like a rote performance built to just play the hits, collect a check, and leave.

Aside from the selection of the songs, know that these guys are still at the top of their game on their instruments.  Lars Ulrich, the drummer, runs a tight ship but also adds in enough flair for you to recognize his technical skill.  And he looks like he is in pain he needs to beat the drums so hard. Robert Trujillo, the relative newcomer to the band, jams those bass lines like he wrote them himself. The bass in Metallica is an under-rated portion of the music that makes it better than a lot of the other metal I have heard.  Adds heft and depth and funk.  Hammett can fire up soaring, singing guitar solos as well as shred in and among the heavy tunes.  And Hetfield still brings the ability to sing, growl, and scream as necessary, along with a great sense of how to conduct the crowd.

Best part of the show to me was the "Sanitarium" to "Master of Puppets" section, which included "One" and the best track from Death Magnetic, "Cyanide."  When thousands of people are chanting "master!  master!" and "landmine!" in sweaty, electrified unison, it was insanely powerful.  Literally getting goosebumps right now just thinking about it.  "Master of Puppets" was the best - the heavy start, virtuoso solo in the slowed down second act, and then the crushing third section.  So good.

Cool thing I never knew about - livemetallica.com - in a few days, I'll be able to download the entire concert in digital format.  Cool souvenir of the night I'll definitely plan to buy.

I would go back and watch them again in a heartbeat.  Feels the same as the Pearl Jam show at last year's ACL - bands at the top of their game putting on a real deal show for a huge group of true fans. Seriously awesome.

Sheppard

You have likely heard their big hit, unless you are the kind of radio listener I'd like to be who never has to listen to the Top 40 station.  In which case, bully on you.  The band of six Aussies (several are siblings, I'll give you one guess on their last name) has one album, 2015's Bombs Away.  In general terms, the album goes between breezy, light pop rock and more aggressively poppy electronic-steeped rock.  That big hit, "Geronimo," is a little more driving Mumford rock, and clocks in with over 136 million listens on Spotify.

Not my favorite of the one hit wonder type bands, but I think I'm also swayed by the fact that my kids no none of the lyrics other than "SAY, GERONIMO!" which they are very loud about yelping, off the beat, when the song gets to the chorus.  Sheppard, its really not your fault that my kids can annoy me.
The second most popular and listened to track on Spotify has 5.5 million listens (after these two, and a remix of Geronimo, nothing else cracks a million) and is called "Let Me Down Easy."  Here is the breezy pop side I was talking about:

Very pleasant.  Not really giving me much to remember it by, but nice for the five or six listens I've given it.  On the other hand, you should avoid listening to "A Grade Playa," which is a terrible kiss off song that sounds like old-school Debbie Gibson but with current lyrics about the guy being a "playa" and "hater."  "Shake It Off" had some shine talking about the haters, this one is not so good. "Find Someone" sticks in the same vein of kiss-off songs, but I actually kind of like that one.

In the end, not that interested in these cats.  The word that keeps sticking in my mind is pleasant. Relatively simple tunes with nice lyrics, but nothing really stands out to me all that much.  We'll see how the schedule shakes out.

American Aquarium

Americana country.  According to Wikipedia, their band name came from the Wilco song "I am Trying to Break Your Heart."  I know that everyone is supposed to love Yankee Hotel Foxtrot with the burning desire of a thousand suns, but it has never been my favorite of the Wilco library.  And that particular tune definitely never did it for me.  So now this band ends up with a rather unwieldy band name so that they can name check the super hip Wilco.

Regardless of that boring dissection of their band name, their music is great.  I like the band a lot. They have eight albums stretching back from 2006's Antique Hearts to 2015's Wolves.  According to the Internet, 2012's Burn. Flicker. Die. is the most popular and critically acclaimed of the batch.  I like the sound, brings to mind the old Whiskeytown tunes from before Wilco came along.  I also read some comparisons to Springsteen on this album, and I don't disagree to the extent that all heartland-y rockers sound a little like Springsteen.  Their second most listened-to track is the title track off of Burn. Flicker. Die. with just under 200k listens.

This album is kind of country-punk sound to me.  The singer's gravelly voice hollers out lyrics kind of like a Gaslight Anthem or Dropkick Murphys.  But the music is well-done alt-country-punk jam. Their most popular track (by quite a bit) is "I Hope He Breaks Your Heart" (maybe in response to Wilco's I am Trying to Break Your Heart?) off of 2009's Dances for the Lonely, which has over 250k listens on Spotify.

Slow burner of a country song, all about the vengeance requested on a lady who broke the singer's heart.  "I hope you feel the way I do now!"  And finally, because you should get real video and not just all still images, here is the title track off of the new album, which is currently slotted in as second most popular but only has 60k listens:

I dig it.  Sounds like a gruff Jackson Browne with a slide guitar.  The whole new album is a little more rock than the prior discs, but has a tight southern alt-country sound.  They had better be careful or royalty-grabbing Tom Petty is going to come after them for "Southern Sadness."  If I've got the right schedule, I'd dig going to see these guys play live.

Talk in Tongues

Psych rockers from L.A.  Love it.  They only have one album, 2015's Alone With a Friend, but it is really well done rock and roll with loads of distortion and chill vibes.  They formed just recently, popped out a single, and then got to work on this new album.  Their website does a good job of detailing their backstory - I'll let you go there if you are interested.  They believe in themselves - and definitely think that they should play huge festivals (at midnight no less).

Their sound is awesome, a little more accessible Tame Impala, so I figured they would have blown up when I looked at their playcounts.  Nope.  Their most popular track, "Still Don't Seem to Care" has only 12k spins on Spotify.  The official video on YouTube rocks out with 1,677 plays.  So, surprisingly, little action so far on them.  I think that ought to change.  Here is "Still Don't Seem to Care"

Tasty, right?  I think my fav off the album is the second song, called "While Everyone Was Waiting," which adds a funky bass line to the spacey rock.

Really good sounds.  The ACL shows will be shut down before midnight, so I don't know how they are going to feel about their time slot here, but I figure I'll go check them out.

Moon Taxi (updated)

All in on my enjoyment of this band.  I predicted they would show up here after they were added to the Lolla lineup this year, and I have extolled some of their virtues in the past.  Hard for me to explain in more detail than I did in that "past" post, but at least here I can provide you with a few links to music so that you can judge for yourself.

This is a Nashville rock and roll band that puts on a hell of a live show.  Pure energy bomb the last time I saw them.  Two full albums and one live EP available on Spotify.  My favorite song, and the third most popular in their Spotify page, is from 2011's Cabaret, and is called "Mercury"

Their music is tuneful, funky, and easy to rock out along with.  And in my recollection of their live show, they all just sweat and grind and bounce off of the walls - no boring standing around going on.  320k views on YouTube, 1.3 million Spotify listens.  Their most listened to track is from 2013's Mountains Beaches Cities album, and is called "Morocco"

A little more of a breezy tune, with a good singalong chorus for a crowd.  Just over 1.8 million Spotify spins and 209k YouTube plays.  This music is right up in my wheelhouse - I've been jamming these two albums ever since I found out about these cats two years ago at the ACL aftershow.  My one gripe, I can't say I'm into the Matisyahu rap on Caberet's "Square Circles," but otherwise that album is right on.  Looking forward to this one.

UPDATE:  A new single, released sometime around mid-July 2015, called "Make Your Mind Up."

Does it sound to anyone else kind of like an EDM anthem?  That synth lick under the chorus and then during the break before the verse really sounds like something off of an Avicii track.  Not so sure about that, but I can imagine this being a fun one to dance around to during their show.  New album will be coming out soon.

Meg Myers

Electronic pop and rock.  I feel like I've slogged through electo pop so many times while listening to the lower-tier bands this year.  Myers has two EPs on Spotify, 2012's Daughter in the Choir and 2014's Make a Shadow.  Her voice makes me think of Fiona Apple, but her music is all moody electronic or angry rock.  I was going to say I liked it, but then "Tennessee" was followed by "Poison," both of which are terrible, and so now I'm not so sure.

She has two tracks with over two million spins, both from the more recent Make a Shadow EP.  The top one is called "Desire" with almost 2.8 million listens.

So ominous!  Like a 50 Shades of Grey fan song.  And those lyrics, I mean, she really wants to get it on with invisible guy.  Although maybe she needs to understand that he is invisible and therefore apparently can't answer when she asks how he wants her.  It would help preserve her voice from having to ask that question 300 times and getting all screamy about it.  Poor invisible guy.  Use a dry erase board to let her know how you want to get it on.

Then the second most popular track is called "The Morning After," which is much less angry, insistent ominous rock and more of a folky singer-songwriter thing.

Pretty.  And I like that side of her much better than the screaming nutjob in "Heart Heart Head" or "Go."  The non-screaming music is fine, but I just found myself not wanting to start it back up after getting off of a call, so I think I'm not that in to it.

Metallica Preview

I am getting overly excited about the Metallica show this weekend at the X Games.  First, I listened to their most recent live album (Metallica Through the Never) a few times, and it is so freaking heavy and awesome.  Literally, when it transitions from the opening spaghetti western theme to "Creeping Death," I get goosebumps.  So awesome.

Second, I ran over to setlist.fm and looked at their last few shows to see if I could get a handle on what I am going to get to hear.  I set up a playlist that tracks their last few shows (and finally figured out how to embed a Spotify playlist into the blog, yay me!) that you can enjoy here.



While I have to question playing The Unforgiven II when the original Unforgiven is so much better, I'll have to give them the benefit of the doubt for now.  More to come after the show.

Alt-J

Alternative rock/indie art weirdos Alt-J joined up after meeting in University in England.  For your Mac nerd trivia moment of the day, they are named after the keyboard combination that will produce a delta symbol.  Their original album, An Awesome Wave, is damn good.  They fired up a few hits off of that album, including "Fitzpleasure" and "Breezeblocks," along with just a cool sound - rock sounds sprinkled with strange chanting, electronic clicks and bloops, and references to Where the Wild Things Are. Here is "Breezeblocks"

With 80 million spins on Spotify and 54 million on YouTube, its a pretty large hit.  Definitely a weird tune, and "Fitzpleasure" and "Tessellate" are also winners, but they all have a great sound that the rest of the album tracks well.  You know what a "breeze block" is?  I didn't, but it is apparently what the Brits call a cinder block.  So my desk in college was mainly breezeblocks.  Now you know.

Unfortunately, I think their new album is crap in comparison.  I know that it was well-received by critics and won a Grammy nod, but I think other than a few tunes, it just takes the weird aspects of Awesome Wave and amplifies them to the point of unpleasantness.  I get that music nerds like the fact that they sampled Miley Cyrus for "4x4," but beyond the grin of irony I got from first hearing that, so what?  I listened to the album several times on one drive from Austin to Dallas and back, and I just can't get on board.  "Every Other Freckle" sounds good, but I'd just need to grab a few of the songs off of here and ditch the rest of the album.  I'll give them props for the fun of "Left Hand Free," which is a weird but fun party tune:

With the line-up as it is, I'll hope that these guys are playing while I want to get set up for the Foo Fighters, and that way I won't have to worry about whether I should see them or not.  I'm not terribly excited about the prospect, but they'd likely be good.

Leopold and his Fiction

Garage rock tracking very closely to the White Stripes.  Got that heavy rock and roll blues-vibe of Led Zeppelin, just missing the virtuoso playing and singing of that band.  Can't say I like the band name much though.  Maybe it has a cool back story about being a lyric from a Robert Johnson tune or something.  Unfortunately, this is not the studio version of this tune, which I think is a damn fine song.  But you'll get the flavor of how this one rocks, here is "Cowboy," their most popular track on Spotify with 38k listens.

Sweet stuff.  I like it.  Their discography shows some growth over time, as their initial album, titled Leopold and His Fiction and released in 2006, is that raw garage rock scruff.  Here is the most listened to track from that album, with almost 40k spins, called "Go On Have My Way"

This is the Jack White/White Stripes stuff I was talking about.  The whole album is similarly tasty. After that 2006 album, it looks like the band split up and re-formed with new personnel, and then put out a second disc in 2009 called Ain't No Surprise.  Spotify doesn't carry that one for some reason, so I couldn't tell you what it sounds like.  But then they put out a few singles before a new album in 2012, called 3.  3 is pretty different from the first album - less raw, DIY swagger (although they still have some) and a more polished indie rock sound.  I still like it, but from all appearances, that didn't go over as well with fans, as no song from that album cracks the top ten on Spotify for popularity.

Since that 2012 album, Spotify has three newer singles, and they rock it out.  The first is "Cowboy," linked up above.  The second most popular is called "Waves (Golden)" and it also jams.

Dig it.  You would expect that they have a new album coming out this summer, or something to create a bit of buzz for them since their last music came out three years ago.  But either way, I think they'd be a fun band to see do their thing.

Twenty One Pilots

Yuck.  I listened to these dudes a few weeks ago in trying to figure out who was on the 6th line of the Lolla poster, and they have not gotten any better with distance.  I just tried their most recent album out again (2013's Vessel) and its still bad rap/rock/electro badness.  I'm doing a public service here, forcing myself to finish the album long after I can tell how that is going to go.  This is the 7th line of the poster! Fitz & the Tantrums and Gaslight Anthem last year!  Ugh.

I already showed you "Tear in my Heart" (see link above), so here is their most listened to track on Spotify, "Car Radio"

In a nutshell, bad Linkin Park poetry rap over a simple piano/drum, then some synths kick in too, and then it turns into an electro dance instrumental until the singer screams some lyrics.  I mean, maybe if you are an angst-y teenager and you want to mumble these lyrics to yourself while you think about mean people in your junior high?  Is that what is going on here?  Over 16 million spins for that track on Spotify, so someone thinks its worth listening to over and over again.  And then a lot of the other songs are much more poppy and dance-y, not so screamo.  I have no clue what this is supposed to be. I'd love to dig the bands this high on the poster, but I just can't get behind that stuff.

Con Brio

Three different artists appear when you search for this on Spotify, so I was a little worried about what was going on, but thankfully the ACL website now shows a picture to help guide me.  This is not the band/choir with three albums of  religious music in Dutch (Swedish? Viking?).  Nor is it the (actually kind of amazing) instrumental Spanish guitar group.  This is, instead, a soul band from San Francisco with one EP in their catalog. Only one of their songs cracks 4,000, and it is called "Never Be the Same." YouTube won't give me a studio version, so here is a live clip of the tune.

Some serious falsetto soul love-makin' music.  The crowd shots in that video make me sad - about 20 people trying real hard to look like they are totally caught up in the soul groove. And I'm pretty sure they spliced one crowd scene into there more than once.  But I like the track well enough.  They definitely look like they are having fun retro-ing out and jamming together.  "Kiss the Sun" sounds like the new funk disco version of Daft Punk.

On the other hand, their least popular song on Spotify (but the only other one with a video I could find to link you to) is called "A Sex Supreme" and is just as slinky and low as it could be.

Aw yeah, baby.  Kind of fun music, but nothing so spectacular that I feel like I need to see it live.