The Donkeys - Photo: Jeff Wenzel

First of all, I know I’ve been out of touch lately, with hardly any posts up, so let me apologize for my absence, but also suggest that you check out some of the other great sources of music we have linked to in our “Links” section off to the side whenever we’re out of the office.

Second, and more importantly, Living On The Other Side, this new album by The Donkeys, is a must listen for fans of good Americana music. And guess what: they’re playing Wednesday night right here at the Mohawk in Austin on the second stop of their cross-country tour supporting the new album.

The Donkeys are experts at musical progress, channeling the music of their elders with pride while still making considerable creative progress in their own right. Owing their musical direction to time-tested Americana traditions, most of the album tends to sounds vaguely familiar to the undiscerning listener, like a Blues record that got lost in an extensive collection, unheard for years. That sense of familiarity is the genius of a band like The Donkeys: it’s clearly not a ripoff - you can never put my finger on exactly which band they sound like - but it embraces the spirit of its influences (the ones Americana has been preaching for years), placing that spirit at the album’s core and building freshly from their. It’s no surprise then that even with repeated listens there is still that sense of familiarity and Americana identity.

To describe the band any further would probably do their music even more of an injustice, so I’ll hand it over to The Donkeys after the jump, where you can download “Walk Through A Cloud” and “Nice Train” straight off the new album. If you like what you hear, be sure to head out to the show tonight at the Mohawk. They’ll be playing with local acts Golden Bear and Visitors (who also come highly recommended).

Music, tour dates and more after the jump.

Tunes:

Donkeys - “Nice Train”

Donkeys - “Walk Through A Cloud”

Info:

Living On The Other Side is available 9/9/08 on Dead Oceans.

The Donkeys Fall 2008 Tour Dates:

09/02/08 Denton, TX - Rubber Gloves
09/03/08 Austin, TX - Mohawk
09/04/08 Houston, TX - Rudyard’s Pub
09/06/08 Birmingham, AL - Bottle Tree
09/08/08 Charlotte, NC - Thirsty Beaver
09/09/08 Philadelphia, PA - M Room
09/10/08 Cambridge, MA - The Middle East Upstairs
09/11/08 Brooklyn, NY - Union Pool
09/12/08 New York, NY - The Cake Shop
09/13/08 Purchase, NY - The Stood
09/14/08 Rochester, NY - Bug Jar
09/15/08 Bloomington, IN - Cinemat
09/16/08 Chicago, IL - Bottom Lounge
09/18/08 Des Moines, IA - Vaudville Mews
09/19/08 Lawrence, KS - Replay Lounge
09/20/08 Denver, CO - Larimer Lounge
09/21/08 Salt Lake City, UT - Kilby Court
09/23/08 Seattle, WA - Sunset Tavern
09/24/08 Portland, OR - Someday Lounge
09/25/08 San Francisco, CA - Hemlock Tavern

Having seen Micah P. Hinson and Sarah Jaffe open for Will Johnson only about 20 times, I can highly recommend checking them out as they release new CD’s along with Dove Hunter tonight at Stubb’s.

The new Hinson album, which is called Micah P Hinson and the Red Empire Orchestra, is streaming in its entirety on LastFM right now, and I must say it’s entirely fantastic, and that now three LP’s in, Hinson somehow continues to release albums that are everything I could ask for in a pseudo-folk record. The new album is available on Jade Tree Records in the US and Full Time Hobby in the UK, where he’ll be touring all fall (see below for dates).

As excited as I am to see Hinson again, the real excitement tonight is for the long awaited release of the first real EP from Denton folkstress Sarah Jaffe, titled Ever Born Again. Jaffe you may remember from when she opened for Centron-matic/South San Gabriel at their Austin unveiling of Dual Hawks this past summer, or any number of other times she been through Austin recently. I’ll be honest: Jaffe may be my favorite artist coming out of Denton, or even all of Texas, at the moment. If you had to “classify” her, you might tag her as ‘folk’, if only to account for her knack for terribly perfect lyrics and love of a big acoustic guitar. You can hear most of the EP on her myspace right now.

Judging from the few tracks I’ve heard off Dove Hunter’s debut album The Southern Unknown, they sound like an oddly Southern version of Califone, which is of course a very good thing. The album, which was named Most Highly Anticipated Album of 2007 by the Dallas Observer, has been generating enough hype to kill a small child. I haven’t heard the full album yet, but from what I’ve been reading it lives up to the hype quite nicely.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to the ATM to stock up on cash for all these great albums tonight.

Show Info:
Micah P. Hinson / Sarah Jaffe / Dove Hunter
At: Stubbs (inside)
August 9th, 2008
Doors: 9pm
Tickets: $8 (via Front Gate Tickets)

Micah P. Hinson UK Tour Dates:

15th august 2008 palais du grande large - la route du rock, st. malo, france
31st august 2008 electric picnic, stradbally
2nd september 2008 club ifor bach, cardiff
3rd september 2008 holy trinity church, leeds, uk
4th september 2008 academy 2, liverpool, uk
6th september 2008 frig & fiddle, cheltenham, uk
7th september 2008 bestival, bbc stage, isle of wight
9th september 2008 junction 2, cambridge, uk
10th september 2008 bodega, nottingham, uk
12th september 2008 end of the road festival uk
2nd november 2008 stereo glasgow uk [0844 847 2487]
3rd november 2008 the cluney newcastle uk [0191 230 4474]
4th november 2008 ruby lounge manchester uk [0161 832 1111]
5th november 2008 glee club birmingham uk [0871 472 0400]
6th november 2008 scala london uk [020 7833 2022]
8th november 2008 thekla bristol uk [08713 100 000]
9th november 2008 wedgewood rooms portsmouth uk [023 9286 3911]
10th november 2008 norwich arts centre norwich uk [01603 660 352]
11th november 2008 the zodiac@academy oxford uk [0844 477 2000]
12th november 2008 hanbury club brighton uk [01273 606312]

Brazos, the fantastic local band who has me on the edge of my seat with any news of new material, will be at Progress Coffee every Friday this month, starting the 11th and ending on August 1st. This Friday, they’ll be joined by The Weird Weeds and Nat Baldwin (formerly of Dirty Projectors).

Brazos haven’t been out much lately, and their debut EP A City Just As Tall is still in regular rotation on my CD player at home. I’ll be excited to see what new stuff they’ve been cooking up in Martin’s bedroom, or wherever they’re recording now-a-days. Check out the mp3 for “Mary Jo” below if you really need more convincing to see them at one of four shows.

The Weird Weeds put out their third album I Miss This earlier this year, which was met with rave reviews, at least by this critic. As far as live shows go, Sandy Ewan spends most of the show on the ground with her guitar and a bow and along with guitarist Aaron Russell and master drummer Nick Hennies craft some of the most interesting live shows in town. If you’ve never seen The Weird Weeds, now’s the perfect time to start. If you’ve been there, done that, there’s no reason not to do it again. Be sure to welcome them back from their June tour.

Continue reading Show Preview: Brazos, The Weird Weeds, Nat Baldwin - Friday, July 11, Progress Coffee

Whenever I mention that I write about local Austin music, people ask me if I know Brothers and Sisters, at least more often than they ask about other bands. I don’t know if that makes them the most popular band in Austin, or just the best band in Austin, but they could easily be both. They’ll be releasing their second album entitled Fortunately in August. If you don’t get your hands on it you’re an idiot, plain and simple.

Having made abundantly clear how I feel about Brothers and Sisters (their debut album spent a long, long time in my car), let’s talk about new music. In addition to the new song “The Air is Getting Thicker,” which John Laird posted over on Austin Sound, you can also download “You’re Gone” off the new album below.

At first listen, both songs remind me of everything I liked about Brothers and Sisters when I first heard them, especially “You’re Gone,” which returns to the upbeat speed of songs on Brothers and Sisters like “One Night.” Like the Jayhawks, the band they’re often compared to, Brothers and Sisters take the most simple lyrics and dress them up with everything I love about good alt.country, the kind of stuff that would make Whiskeytown and Uncle Tupe’ proud.

Continue reading Brothers and Sisters: “You’re Gone”

It’s midweek, and if your Fourth of July was anything like mine wasn’t (ie full of fireworks and America), you’re hurting for some excitement come midweek. Obviously, that’s where Ringo Deathstarr and The Watermarks come in. They’ll both be playing tonight at the Beauty Bar over on E 7th, and I highly recommend checking it out.

We interviewed Ringo Deathstarr over on Austin Sound a while ago. Here’s a little of what we had to say about the Deathstarr:

It’s difficult to listen to Ringo Deathstarr without recalling the likes of My Bloody Valentine or the Jesus and Mary Chain, which nearly everyone that has tangled with the quartet’s debut EP has noted. And that’s just fine with us. For while that influence pervades their sound, the group has brought some power to bear on Austin’s resurgent shoegaze scene. The narcotic haze that lulled locally with the Trance Syndicate/ Texas version of the genre (Bedhead, American Analogue Set, and more recently For Those Who Know, the Swells/Seaholm Electric) still lingers, but Ringo Deathstarr unleashes a wave of ear-ringing reverb and distortion that is anything but subdued (and why we assume they answered below in all CAPS.) The Beaumont-bred band is the project of Elliott Frazier, and has in the past year steadied its lineup to tour and produce their excellent eponymous debut EP.

Houston based The Watermarks may be the perfect addition to this bill. Heavy synths layer the songs, which though catchy at times also veer toward the same dark rawness of Joy Division/New Order. Don’t mistake my comparisons for imitations though, as The Watermarks have an original spirit of their own.

The band seems to have found the perfect middle ground combining cheesy synths and hooks of pop music (which the band can do quite well) with less predictable elements of originality. A lot of people are into the synth-pop revival these days, and few do it right. One of those few: The Watermarks. Listen to “Remember To Forget” below, which is less synth heavy, but still great.

Show Info:

Ringo Deathstarr and The Watermarks
at The Beauty Bar
Wednesday, July 9th, 2008

Tunes:

Ringo Deathstarr:

Ringo Deathstarr - “Down on You”

The Watermarks

The Watermarks - “Remember To Forget”

I think everyone has a system for navigating through the staggering amount of new music and new bands. I’ve developed a sort of “mental Netflix” that helps me to keep track of everything. If I read about a band I’ve never heard three or four times on my internet machine, I add them to the “queue.” A band has the ability to move up in the queue if dictated by some outside force. Examples of an “outside force” include being humiliated in a social situation for not knowing about said band, or learning the girl I’ve had an unhealthy crush on listens to them. More commonly though, I’ll read that a band is coming to town and make sure I give them a listen to see if it’s worth going.

Wye Oak’s debut album If Children came out earlier this year on Merge, and I get the feeling that they’ve been undeservingly stranded at the bottom of more than a few queues. There just hasn’t been much press about them. Truthfully, though, I think you’d struggle to find a more solid album this year. Every song is immensely pleasing: from the delicate finger-picking of opener “Please Concrete” to the final reverb-soaked chord of “Obituary,” Wye Oak manages to retain consistency even through stylistically diverse songs. “Regret” is a quietly strong folk song while “A Lawn to Mow” explores a more traditional rock ballad with electric piano and subtle tremolo. The piano line driving “Keeping Company” sounds like its lineage can be traced back to oriental scales, and the accompaniment of light and dancing percussion only adds to its Eastern aesthetic. They are at their best, however, when they let the styles and genres blend, resulting in the “sound” of the band.

Continue reading Album Review: Wye Oak - If Children (Merge)