We had an incredibly diverse group of bands come through EAR studios during our week in Austin for SXSW 2009, but when it comes down to sheer intensity, none of them can match Future Of The Left. The band made up of Andy Falkous, Kelson Mathias and Jack Egglestone (two parts former Mclusky, one part former Jarcrew) were our final act of a great week in the studio, and they made for a memorable finish.
Even though the high octane, punch to the gut style is not something you hear on the WOXY airwaves alot, our listeners really took to the Future Of The Left debut album, Curses in 2007, and we felt really fortunate to have the band not only play a couple songs from that record, but also three brand new songs from their upcoming sophomore album, Travels With Myself And Another, which is due out at the end of June.
And so, at the end of a long week of music for us and the band, they stepped up big time and played one of our favorite sets of the weekend. Enjoy the ear shattering sounds of Future Of The Left.
When Thomas, Dede and Darren were all working together at a major label in the UK a couple years ago, I don’t think any of them dreamed that they would find themselves with their own band, playing to crowds in Austin, Texas USA during SXSW. But that is exactally the situation the band found themselves in this year during SXSW 2009.
After one of the most talked about sets at the Hot Freaks day party, We Have Band dropped into EAR studios to play a session for us. The trio have only been making music together for a little over a year, but the chemistry and pure fun they incorporate into their performances is nothing short of contagious.
Thus far, the band have only released a few singles and done some remixes for others, but with a full length album on the way, they previewed some of their material for us, and had all in attendance in our studio dancing throughout their set.
Tracklisting
How To Make Friends (not included at management’s request)
Oh!
WHB (not included at management’s request) -interview-
You Came Out
Honeytrap
Ever since his first album for Secretly Canadian Records, which was one half The Novelist, and the other half Walking Without Effort I have had a certain fondness for everything the man touches. While some of his work has flown under my radar, it is hard not to appreciate the songwriter / mad scientist that sits behind his piano and bears his soul.
So when the new album from Swift fell into my lap, I had to see what he was up to now. And as it turns out, what he is up to is blowing the roof off of all the adjectives you may have used to describe him in the past. It’s pretty easy to categorize some of Swifts previous efforts as bedroom pop or hushed and even dark at times, while this new album, The Atlantic Ocean comes out of the gate downright sunny and dare I say it, fun.
This is not to say that Swift has never ventured into the sunnier side of the pasture, but something about the introduction to this new album is way more in the realm of a soulful Beach Boys album rather than some previous work, which might fall closer to a brooding version of Rufus Wainwright. And current contemporaries like Ron Sexsmith should take note, buying an vintage analog tape machine from Jeff Tweedy has its benefits. Because that is just what Swift used to record most of this album, after touring with Wilco last year. Leaning on his proven approach and getting some help from engineer Chris Colbert, Swift churned out what in our opinion is his best record to date.
But when it comes down to it, Swift might describe The Atlantic Ocean the best when he says it is like “Prince sitting in on John Lennon’s Plastic Ono sessions”.
The Atlantic Ocean is out April 7th from SC and interestingly enough, Swift finds himself out on the road with The Fray, of all bands, this summer. All dates listed after the jump….
Stuart McLamb played everything on The Love Language’s self-titled debut. He used a storage space and even his parents’ dining room to record the cd. He definitely has some creative production techniques to create a wall-of-sound style in a very lo-fi manner.
The recordings attracted the attention of Bladen County Records, who decided they wanted to sign ‘em up. Unsatisfied with early efforts to play the material out as a trio, Stuart eventually recruited his brother Jordan and some folks he used to play with in a band called The Capulets to help flesh out the sound. Now, seven members strong, they’ve gotten some strong assistance from fellow North Carolina indie rockers The Rosebuds. Ivan and Kelly have taken the band out on the road a few times now and helped put them in front of some great crowds.
With the reception that their own record is getting now, it won’t be long before they’ll be able to return the favor by taking a band under their wings as they travel the U.S. and beyond. In the meantime, you can catch them out on the road for most of April opening up shows with our friends Headlights.
Brooklyn’s Bear Hands have been building a nice fan base here and abroad since the release of their Golden EP back in 2007.
We got turned on to the band after they played several shows with Pomegranates and were lucky enough to have them stop by on their way home from SXSW this year.
Their recent single for What A Drag was the March selection in the Too Pure Singles Club over in the UK. The track is also expected to appear on their full-length album, which they’ll start recording shortly after returning to Brooklyn.
Track Listing:
What A Drag
Can’t Stick ‘Em - interview -
Sickly Brunette
Camel Convention (new/unreleased)
We knew we were onto something special upon first hearing Tell ‘Em What Your Name Is! by Black Joe Lewis and his crack band, the seven-piece Honeybears. Playing a rockin’ blend of old skool R&B that recalls the best of Stax Records, they’re poised to become one of the year’s breakout acts thanks to their debut on the Lost Highway label.
Austin-based, Lewis hails from suburban Round Rock and has been well known on the local scene for the past few years. Their live performances have earned the reputation for being a good ol’ funk-soul throwdown and it’s hard not to see why. Playing for WOXY listeners on the day of the CD’s release, Lewis led the Honeybears, performing minus one trumpet player, through a blistering set of five tunes from the disc that had the whole joint jumpin’.
Spare a thought for the headliners for whom Lewis and the Honeybears will be opening for on their tour that started almost immediately after SXSW: they’ll be an extremely tough act to follow.
Our SXSW session with The Wooden Birds was the only performance of the week that we booked without hearing a note of music upfront. This, after all, is the new project of Andrew Kenny from American Analog Set. We’ve always been fans of AmAnSet and so when we saw he had a new band and was releasing the upcoming album Magnolia on Barsuk stateside and on the Morr Music label overseas, it was an instant no-brainer.
Andrew is a native Texan, but had spent about six years living in Brooklyn before relocating to Austin after last year’s SXSW festival. After AmAnSet split, he spent some time playing with Ola Podrida, Her Space Holiday, and even Broken Social Scene. The Wooden Birds was born with the help of his bandmate in Ola Podrida, David Wingo (who does not appear in this performance) after heading back to Texas.
In the interview portion, Andrew notes that the songs he ultimately chose for the album were ones that could be performed by a 5-piece band in a live setting. Some of the songs on Magnolia are older than others. They share a common thread in that they all tend to be fairly percussive and vocal heavy, sharing some lovely harmonies between Andrew and Leslie Sisson. Rounding out the band are Chris Michaels (who co-produced the album), Matthew Frank, and Michael Bell (from Lymbic System).
Enjoy this preview of Magnolia and pick it up when it hits stores on May 12th from Barsuk Records.
The depth of talent in the Austin area is really rich, as we found out during our stay during SXSW 2009. Harlem are not originally from Texas, but call it home now and fit in nicely along side the talented group of musicians in the Lone Star state.
Their debut album Free Drugs :) was such a success locally and in the blogosphere that the band had to re-press another batch of albums to keep up with the demand. Their lo-fi garage rock sound and laid back approach have really appealed to us as well, and we were happy to have them into EAR studios.
During their 6 song session with us the trio plays several tunes from the album as well as a couple of new ones as well.
Tracklisting
Irresistible
Number 1
Beautiful & Very Smart interview
Tila & I
Psychedelic Tits
Hundred A Dollar A Night Man
Viva Voce is a band we’ve always managed to miss connecting with at our Cincinnati studio, so we made a concerted effort to lock them in for a session during SXSW. As it turns out, dropping by EAR Studio was literally the first thing they did upon arriving in Austin on Wednesday, the third day of our live broadcast.
The band, who for years had been solely husband/wife Kevin & Anita Robinson, created a stir in early 2009 by announcing their break-up, only to announce their reformation as a quartet in the same statement by formally adding Corrina Repp and Evan Railton to the lineup. The four made their live debut just the week prior to SXSW, playing a series of gigs en route from their Portland home base.
They treated us to two new songs from their forthcoming Rose City full-length, while digging into their catalog for three other selections during their five song set.
When we started our 4th day of broadcasts from Austin, we had already crossed the halfway point. We were feeling really good about everything that had happened so far and were looking forward to getting down to our last 3 days in the studio. Our very first performance on Thursday was with The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart, a Brooklyn band that went into the festival with loads of solid buzz over their debut disc on the Slumberland label. We started playing the album in early January and were excited to have the band play.
Alex, Kip, Kurt and Peggy arrived at the studio at 8am and were ready to go. There wasn’t an ounce of pretension, as you might possibly expect from a band living in the middle of a perfect storm of publicity, hype, and 13 or so scheduled performances during the week. Nope, they came right in, grabbed some coffee, and started to set up.
During the session, they talked a bit about how they essentially formed as a band so that they could play for Peggy’s birthday party, their love for Dairy Queen while on the road, and even performed a brand new song called “103″, which should be released as a 7″ single later this summer.
