Author Archives: Bobby Leath

In honor of our friends at Polyvinyl Records’ showcase on Saturday (March 19) at the Parish, we have five Polyvinyl albums we are giving away for free!

And in order to win, all you have to do is find me during SXSW and say,

“I love The Vinyl District and Polyvinyl Records!”

(Each person that comes up to me and says this will get to pick one of the five records I have on me.)

Ok, I know that sounds pretty difficult and very Waldo-ish, but that’s why you should take a look at my South By recos I posted yesterday to get an idea of where I may be at. Also, be sure to follow me on Twitter: @VinylDistrict. I’ll be live tweeting starting tonight and give you clues where to find me.

Here are the records from Polyvinyl that I will have with me in my gray messenger bag at all times until they are gone. See, I already gave you a hint. Look for the guy with the gray messenger bag! Ha!

And to avoid any confusion, yes they are on vinyl!

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My turn to give it a go.

As Mark mentioned in his post, we are only giving our picks for official SXSW showcases. If we also listed all the bands we want to see at day parties, we’d be here all night.

Things kick off tonight lightly. Think of it as an appetizer to the mayhem that is to come, but there will still be plenty of good music to whet your appetite.

You also might want to pay close attention to my picks. They tie into a contest I’ll be posting tomorrow involving a record giveaway courtesy of Polyvinyl Records. Ok, I’ve already said too much. On to the picks!

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Now it’s Charles Jordan’s turn to list his picks for SXSW this year.

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Throughout the week, the staff of TVD Austin will be giving their best bets for this year’s SXSW. Mike Harrell kicks it off with where you will most likely find him throughout the festival. Too bad he can’t be at more than one place at the same time.

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Friends of Sound and Exploding in Sound are teaming up to bring you a very cool block party next Thursday from noon to 6pm in the alley where you enter Friends of Sound off Congress Avenue.

Event invites are at Facebook or Do512. Click on either to be taken to the event page. Hope to see you there!

And here’s the lineup:

12 PM: GIFT HORSE
1 PM: GYPSYBLOOD
2 PM: ZLAM DUNK
3 PM: DISCO DOOM
4 PM: MARKOV
5 PM: PULLED APART BY HORSES

Kicking off a new segment called “Between Two Speakers”, I sat down to have a chat with local garage power pop band, Simple Circuit. Currently with two 7 inches available in local record stores which have now been picked up for distribution via Matador Direct, you can also find them on the just released Casual Victim Pile II compilation. Sitting down on a sunny, Sunday afternoon over cheese fries and a few beers, the four (human) members of the band discussed all things Simple Circuit. Unfortunately, fifth member of the band, Fairfax the vacuum cleaner, was not available to attend.

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Austin’s mayor Lee Leffingwell proclaimed today, March 8th, 2011, to be Motörhead Day in honor of the metal giants sold-out show tonight at Stubb’s.

Here’s the proclamation:

That’s pretty awesome! m/

Thanks to Jeffrey Tandy of Austin Metal Music Examiner for bringing this to our attention.

Every year at SXSW, rumors circulate that a big name band will be playing the festival. This year, the honor goes to the Foo Fighters, but it’s no longer a rumor. The Foo’s will be playing MTV’s Woodie Awards showcase at the Austin Music Hall on March 16th. Also on the bill will be Sleigh Bells, Two Door Cinema Club and others. MTV is giving fans a chance to attend the awards show by applying here.

Dave Grohl and the boys will also be playing a smaller, private show at an undisclosed location on Tuesday night, after the world premiere of their documentary on the band’s history at the Paramount. The location of this show will be announced at the premiere, but we all know these things have a way of leaking out!

We’ll do our best to keep you posted on other bands rumored to be playing (or not) at the festival this year.

*Editor’s note- This story was first reported by Michael Corcoran of the Statesman.

From TVD Austin staff writer Mike Harrell:

Keith Morris is a modern day Rip Van Winkle. The former Black Flag/Circle Jerks front-man’s new band OFF! channel the angst from the early 80s as perfectly as his former bands did. But to give Morris all the credit would be a great injustice to the other talented musicians in the band. He teams up with Mario Rubalcaba (Earthless/Hot Snakes/Rocket From The Crypt), Dmitri Coats (Burning Brides), and Steven McDonald (Redd Kross). What’s even better for those of you who pine for the return of true old school punk rock, without the Reaganomics and disco that fostered the movement, is Off!’s coming to SXSW!

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That’s right! You’re invited to the The Vinyl District/Sneak Attack Media/Luv Luv Luv Records day party at Clive Bar (609 Davis St) on Friday, March 18th from 12-6 pm. We’ll have some tasty nachos courtesy of Zocalo Cafe to go along with our stellar lineup of music throughout the day (see below).

You can RSVP here: www.sneakattackmedia.com/austin2011

See you there!

12:30 Sean Rowe

1:15 Saadi

2:00 Babeshadow

2:45 Only Son

3:30 Craig Wedren

4:15 Hanni El Khatib

5:00 Nicole Atkins

Native Detroiter and TVD writer Charles Jordan, previews the hip hop acts from his hometown coming down to Austin for SXSW:

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Get ready, vinyl collectors. Former Inner Sanctum owner, Patrick Hilton is once again opening up his home to all of us where he will have 5000 records for sale next weekend. The sale will be from 10-6 each day, Friday March 11th through Sunday March 13th. On Friday, each record will be available for $5, Saturday it goes down to $3, and then whatever is left on Sunday will be yours for only $2.

He told me that this is some of his best stuff that he personally picked out from a total of 42,000 records he still has in storage. Being that I went over there a few times last year and bought about a paycheck’s worth of records, that made my mouth water a little bit. It’s a great way to build up your record collection on the cheap or find that one record that’s been eluding you forever.

His house is at 1802 Redlands, Austin, TX and he can be reached at 547-9777. See you there!

From TVD Austin’s Mike Harrell:

First on my plate for SXSW picks, is Austin power-pop punkers Literature. These guys know how to write a damn good catchy tune and also create a brilliant video. Don’t believe me? Watch the “It’s Cruel” video below and see for yourself.

They kickoff a dandy little showcase at Easy Tiger Patio on Friday the 18th at 8pm. This showcase also features Gentleman Jesse and His Men, The High Dials, Guards, Revolver, and Young Adults. They’ll be playing plenty of day shows as well so you’ll have quite a few opportunities to catch them at SXSW ’11.

In the meantime, check out Literature along with Simple Circuit, The Zoltars, Bottle Service, Sally Crewe & the Sudden Moves, and The French Inhales at Beerland this Thursday for the first of three nights celebrating the release of Casual Victim Pile II. We will have more coverage of CVP II later this week.

The “Cincinnati” 7” is available at various local record stores around town. Pick it up. You will not be disappointed.

Head down to Antone’s Records tomorrow (2/26) at 3pm for Amplified Heat’s in-store album release party for their new record, On the Hunt, available for purchase on vinyl!

Refreshments provided by Lovejoy’s featuring FREE Jake’s Brown Ass Ale while it lasts!