Author Archives: Bobby Leath

At SXSW this year, I had the privilege of meeting Mono Stereo’s manager, Danny who hooked me up with a bunch of cool Mono Stereo 7 inches and a copy of the forthcoming album (due out this Fall). Needless to say, I was blown away. The song, “Me And My Machine” is the best single I’ve heard this year.

Since Austin is such a great town for fans of psyche/garage/pop, I wanted to share this post that our TVD UK buddies posted today. I can only hope that they make it to next year’s SXSW or to Austin’s Psychefest!

Sweden has long since been a fertile breeding ground for great psych/garage/pop. The 80s saw the The Nomads, Pushtwangers, Watermelon Men and others make great underground rock records, and in more recent times The Soundtrack Of Our Lives and The Hives have each impressed, with visceral live shows and a string of fine albums and singles to their names.

The latest band in this tradition, but with their own sound and a distinctly NOW feel, are Mono Stereo. Debuting with a limited fan-only release, the ‘Space Out’ EP was released at the tail end of 2009; last year saw the band release a U.S. Only 45, ‘On And On’ / ‘A Matter Of Confusion’, followed by the ‘Me And My Machine’ single. An album is on the not-too-distant horizon, and this week we caught up with the band to discuss their attitude and output:

Read More »

As I mentioned on Friday with the Waterloo Records post, we have some more information to pass along of what’s going on at a few of the other record stores in town:

End Of An Ear (2209 South First Street)- Not only can you head down to End of An Ear for Record Store Day, they will also be participating in South First Art Walk. Then at 5pm, Apache Dropout will be playing an in-store.

Breakaway Records (211 W. North Loop Blvd)- They’ll be putting out 10 copies of the Grainger Hunt 45 that will be released by PureSoul.de who are pressing 500 copies of these bad boys. Breakaway is the only store in town that will be carrying it. The store opens at 11 so get there early!

Friends of Sound Records (1704 South Congress)- Jacob Noack will be DJing in the afternoon and all downstairs records (normally $1-$4) will be only .50 cents! Also be sure to check out their sister store on the north side of town, Backspin Records (4631 Airport Blvd)

Trailer Space (1401-A Rosewood)- The Zoltars will be playing an in-store. Time is TBD. You can call the store at 542-9001 to get more info. Oh, and 40% off to anyone who shotguns 3 beers in 3 minutes. Ha!

Rockaround Records– Rockaround is not a store front, but Mike always hunts down and sells some really good vinyl. He just recently got some quality metal and punk in stock. Check out his website and sign up for his email blast to stay posted.

Jimi Hendrix :Blues Vinyl Giveaway!
Originally released in 1994, this collection features 11 blues tracks that Jimi recorded between 1966-1970.

Recently re-released on vinyl just a few months back, the fine folks over at Sony Music, gave me a copy of this album to give to you! Just like last week with The Strokes giveaway (congrats, Ryan!) all you have to do is comment why you should win this album and I’ll pick a winner this Friday (4/15) no later than 5pm. Winner must reside in US or Canada.

Here’s a track listing in case you were wondering:

1. Hear My Train A Comin’ (acoustic)
2. Born Under a Bad Sign (instrumental)
3. Red House
4. Catfish Blues
5. Voodoo Chile Blues
6. Mannish Boy
7. Once I Had A Woman
8. Bleeding Heart
9. Jelly 292 (instrumental)
10. Electric Church Red House
11. Hear My Train A Comin’ (electric)

Good luck!

As they do every Record Store Day, Waterloo Records has some cool stuff going on throughout the day. I know most of you (myself included) will be getting there at 10am to get your paws on the best RSD releases, but there will also be some great events happening later in the day that will make you want to come back to Waterloo after visiting the other fine record stores in town.

First up at 3pm, Austin guitar legend Eric Johnson will be signing copies of the vinyl release of Up Close. This album doesn’t officially hit stands until 4/19, but Waterloo got the ok to put it out early in honor of Record Store Day and this autograph signing. Also available will be his recently reissued Ah Via Musicom on 180 Gram Vinyl. So grab a copy of each album and get them signed by Eric!

Read More »

If you are looking to get out of the house this weekend but want to avoid the annual clusterfuck that is the Texas Relays, there is still quite a bit going on around town starting tonight for fans of all types of music. Here’s a small sampling of this weekend’s shows:

Thursday

Heart– Moody Theater

Guster– Stubbs

Friday

Carolyn Wonderland– Threadgills (South)

Wire– Mohawk (Only 100 tickets left!)

Chris Knight– Antones

Randy Rogers Band– Nutty Brown Cafe

Saturday

All Time Low w/ Yellowcard and The Summer Set– Stubbs

Bobby Long– Stubbs Indoors

Charlie Wilson (Urban Music Festival)- Auditorium Shores

Dale Watson– Broken Spoke

Leo Kottke– Paramount Theater

Matt the Electrician– Saxon Pub

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart– Emo’s

Warpaint– La Zona Rosa

Sunday

Bill Callahan– Bookpeople (Starts at 5pm!)

Maserati– Mohawk

See, you have no reason to stay home!

To celebrate Record Store Day being less than two weeks away, and to piggyback the parent site’s “Eleven Weeks of Record Store Day Vinyl Giveaways”, TVD Austin is having it’s own vinyl giveaway for the next two weeks.

First up for this week’s giveaway is Angles, the new album from The Strokes after a five year hiatus. I picked up my own copy this weekend, and I have to say, it’s my favorite Strokes album since their instant classic debut, Is This It. Hard to believe that came out ten years ago!

In order to win this record, all you have to do is comment why you should be considered the lucky winner. I’ll select who impresses me most at 5pm CST on Friday, 4/8. This contest is open to US and Canada residents only.

Good Luck!

Today would have been Ronnie Lane’s 65th birthday. One of the founding members for both the Small Faces and then later Faces, Ronnie spent 10 years living in Austin from 1984 until moving to Colorado in 1994 where he died on June 4th, 1997 at the age of 51 from pneumonia.

I was only 23 when he died, and honestly couldn’t comprehend at the time why the music community in this city was very saddened by his death. I knew who he was, but I couldn’t call myself a fan back in those days. To me, he was just another guy from the Faces that lived in Austin. Like Ian McLagan did. What can I say? I was young and dumb.

In 1997, I was already a fan of the band Golden Smog, and had played their album, Down by the Old Mainstream, religiously. But it wasn’t until after Ronnie’s passing that I put two and two together that “Glad & Sorry” was a Ronnie Lane tune they were covering. Then, in 1998, Rod Stewart released the album When We Were The New Boys with Ronnie’s “Ooh La La” being my favorite track on that album.

Ok, now I realized there was something pretty special about Ronnie Lane. The first Faces album I bought was Ooh La La because those two songs were on there. Yeah, I was hooked immediately. I then went on to gather as much Faces, Small Faces, and solo albums that I could find. Now, I’m doing the same thing, but tracking them down on vinyl. That’s not the easiest thing to do since it’s rare when you find any of his work in the vinyl bins. Especially in this town that adopted him as one of its own.

So happy birthday, Ronnie. You will be on my turntable tonight.

Waterloo Records is having their annual anniversary storewide sale starting today through Sunday (4/3). This marks their 29th year in business and to celebrate this achievement, all regularly priced merchandise in the store is 20% off! So that means every non-sale priced compact disc, DVD’s, LP’s & accessories in the store is on sale!

Also, visit www.waterloorecords.com and shop online from Thursday through Sunday and get 20% off regular list price on anything in the on-line store.

Oh, and in case you didn’t already know, their have increased their vinyl section!

Sure you do!

Before Centro-Matic hit the road this summer in support of their upcoming tenth album, Candidate Waltz, Will Johnson will be playing a series of solo living room shows in May. If you are interested in playing host and have room for 30 to 40 guests, check out the Centro-Matic website for more details.

Here is the list of “pickup truck rock” tour dates:

Read More »

“We are very proud to be releasing our debut EP ‘Robots’ on vinyl as part of RSD2011. The four-track EP was recorded especially with the side A/ side B vinyl format in mind. The record explores themes of solitude, mind control and living in a dystopian world.

Because of the vinyl format we decided to record four songs we felt would work together as conceptual piece of work. Robots and Dark Clouds of London make up side A and describes an external view of a manipulative and totalitarian world… where Side B includes the songs House of Make Believe and Sharks and this focus’ on a more internal, human perspective on emotions in respect to this. —Mozzy Green

Anna | I remember the record player in the sitting room when I was growing up, we had our dad’s vinyl collection at our disposal so my brother and I would spend afternoons sat crossed legged in front of it leafing through the records and giggling as we negotiated putting the stylus on the record. The favourites were the Beatles ‘Abbey Road’ album and Alice Cooper’s ‘Love it to Death’. I loved learning exactly where your favourite bit of a song was and knowing which groove to go for. I love looking at the sleeve artwork as well, especially those covers that, each time you look you see something you hadn’t noticed before.

For all the technological advances since then, digital simply doesn’t compare to the sound of a well loved and well played record. When I went round to a friend’s to listen to the ‘Robots’ EP white label when it came through, it was a thoroughly different experience – it’s our first release on vinyl and there was something so physical and kind of romantic about it, not to mention the sound quality – it was a little emotional! Needless to say, I’m scouting around for a record player now.

Read More »

In 2009, Starship 27 was released. The album, curated by drummer, producer, and DJ J-1, featured an assortment of West Coast beat producers. Shortly after the album’s release, eclectic Austin label, iNsect Records got in contact with J-1 and struck up a conversation. This eventually led to Starship Vol. 2 being released via iNsect.

Today marks the release of Starship 27, Vol 2 on iNsect Records. A few weeks ago, friend and founder of iNsect Records, Ben Webster, let me have a listen to this album and I was immediately hooked. No lyrics are needed because this 21 track instrumental album has some of the spaciest and funkiest beats I’ve heard in a while. Starship Vol. 2 will keep you nodding your head from start to finish and will definitely induce neck pains.

Starship Vol 2, sees the list of tracks and producers expand, including music by Dam-Funk, DIBIA$E, P.U.D.G.E., Devonwho, and Detroit’s own House Shoes and Waajeed . With Starship 27 Vol. 2, J-1 becomes the curatorial captain guiding the spacecraft on its voyage. “I chose all these folks because I’m truly a fan of all of their music…” says J-1. “I really think it’s a cool concept to have all the kats on 1 joint so everyone can see the talent that’s in our community.” I couldn’t have said it any better. For the artists I knew of on this album, I am still a fan, and for the one’s I wasn’t familiar with, they gained a new fan.

If you’re into hip hop, funk, soul, heavy bass, beats and just good music, this album is for you. If all else fails, you will be supporting an Austin label. Now go to the iNsect records website and pick this up! For now, here is one of my favorite tracks on the album, make’s me want to pop and lock every time I hear it:

—Charles Jordan

Jon in DC posted this yesterday and I know our readers in Austin will definitely be interested!

From recordstoreday.com

THEY’RE HERE! The thing a lot of you are looking forward to, of course, are the special pieces coming to your favorite record store on April 16. Here’s a list of them, one you can print out, check off and take to your local record store. We’re doing things a little differently this year, so you’ll see a few different categories here:

“WINDOWED” RELEASES: These are titles that will only be available in record stores on Record Store Day, but will someday be available to other retailers down the line.

REGIONAL/SMALL RUN RELEASES: These are titles that are being released only to a certain region of stores, or have such a small run or distribution that the majority of participating stores will not have access to them. We feel it’s important to include these releases and celebrate the spirit in which they are released.

And remember: LIMITED EDITION, BABY. A lot of these titles have limited runs. You may not get your hands on all the pieces you want. Your STORE may not get their hands on all the pieces they want. That’s the nature of limited releases. But that’s what makes them so exciting!

Download the PDF here!

Here are photos from the Vinyl District/Sneak Attack Media/Luv Luv Luv day party last Friday. All photos courtesy of Jessica Stookey and Marni Wandner.

Nicole Atkins & The Black Sea

Hanni El Khatib

Craig Wedren

Babeshadow

Read More »

Once SXSW 2011 drew to a close, I had to ask myself for the first time in twenty years, am I getting too old for this shit? My feet are, at least.

More than any year previously, I’ve never seen so many people embarking on downtown at the same time. Usually, downtown during SXSW is full of badge and wristband wearers, but they were definitely outnumbered by the party goers this time around thanks to the increase in non-SXSW events going on.

I’ve also never heard of so many problems than there were this year. Whether it be the massive crowd breaking down the barrier at the free Strokes show at Auditorium Shores, the camera boom falling and injuring fans before OMD’s set at Stubb’s ,the near riot at Beauty Bar when Death From Above 1979 came on or the thousands of fans being texted that they were no longer on the RSVP list for Kanye West, things certainly seemed to be getting out of hand.

Read More »