If, like most good folk, you keep up with the whats and whys of America’s favorite freeform radio station, WFMU, or if, like most of the music industry, you are in Austin for SXSW, you may have come across the glaring “Special Guest TBA” in the midnight slot of tonight’s WFMU’s SXSW showcase at Barbarella (611 Red River, right in the heart of the fabled 6th Street red light district). Meme-conscious readers may have noted the day of the showcase and assumed that the ever-resourceful WFMU had snared the first-ever live performance by tween sensation Rebecca Black, but if I do say so myself the actual truth is even better: tonight’s Special Guest at the WFMU showcase is Philadelphia’s own Kurt Vile, whose new album Smoke Ring For My Halo is still just as crazily good as we’ve been saying for a while now.
If you happen to be stuck in some cultural backwater that doesn’t even have its very own Stevie Ray Vaughan statue, fear not, because WFMU will be broadcasting the entire showcase, starting at 9:00PM EST/8:00PM CST, at 91.1FM and online at wfmu.org. Those of you who are familiar with time zones will be aware that that means Kurt is on at 1:00AM EST, which is technically Saturday, which kind of screws up the Rebecca Black reference from earlier in this post. What can I say.
(scenes from SXSW 2005 : Matador co-owner, Austin resident for all of 15 minutes politely instructs a motorist to “go the fuck back where you came from” before recognizing his dog’s veterinarian)
It’s that time of year, when the fair of city of Austin is besieged by thousands of aspiring musicians, label creeps, bloggers, tech pimps, cinema parasites and self-styled marketing reptiles, all of ‘em urinating in my front garden on their way to and from some dubious “showcase” or launch party designed to appeal to their MOST CRAVEN INSTINCTS. I watch all of this from my front porch, my air rifle sitting atop a cooler of Guyaki Yerba Matte, wondering exactly how much jail time I’d serve for shooting the bluetooth earpiece off the skull of a gentleman trying to negotiate a contract at the foot of my driveway.
At which point, I’m reminded that he’s actually a guest in my home and our conference call that I’ve been ignoring is already 10 minutes old. Where are my manners? Sure, Austin’s chock-a-block with SCHMUCKS ON THE MAKE this week, but who am I to point an accusatory finger at these lovely visitors when they provide this label with such a fabulous opportunity to hawk our wares? The following Matador artists are playing (too many times) in Austin this week. Shows marked * will require an SXSW badge or wristband for priority entry ; happily, such gigs are in the overwhelming minority compared to the open-to-the-great unwashed public events listed below. I look forward to seeing you around town this week, and thank you again for keeping Austin, TX’s property values well above the national average.
Esben and the Witch :
Tuesday, March 15, 10pm, M for Montreal Showcase, Spill, 212 E. 6th St. (SXSWi event)
Wednesday, March 16, 2:30pm Flavorpill / I Rock I Roll Day Party, Lipstick, 24, 606 E. 7th St. (RSVP)
Wednesday, March 16, 8pm, Windish Booking Showcase*, ND Studios, 501 N. Highway I-35 (5th St. and Brushy Avenue)
Thursday, March 17, 2:30pm, Pop Montreal Party, Beauty Bar, 617 E. 7th St.
Thursday, March 17, 6:45pm, FADER Fort, 1101 E. 5th St. (RSVP)
Friday, March 18, 3:15pm, Windish Agency Party, Emo’s Jr., 603 Red River
Friday, March 18, midnight, BBC/Huw Stephens Showcase *, Latitude 30, 215 San Jacinto
Saturday, March 19, 2:40pm, Mess With Texas, Eastside Drive, 1001 E. 6th St. (RSVP)
Saturday, March 19, 4:40pm, Dazed & Confused party, Flamingo Cantina, 515 E. 6th St.
Ted Leo (solo)
Wednesday, March 16, 10pm, Brooklyn Vegan Showcase*, The Swan Dive, 651 Red River,
Thursday, March 17, 5:30pm, Other Music/Dig For Fire present, French Legation, 802 San Marcos
Friday, March 18, 3pm, Flower Booking/Onion AV Club Party, Mohawk, 912 Red River
Saturday, March 19, 4:55pm, Mess With Texas, Eastside Drive, 1001 E. 6th St. (RSVP)
Glasser
Thursday, March 17, 10pm Pitchfork presents *, Central Presbyterian Church, 200 E. 8th St.
Friday, March 18, Rhapsody Pary, Club Deville, 900 Red River (RSVP)
Kurt Vile & The Violators
Friday, March 18, Rhapsody Party, Club Deville, 900 Red River (RSVP)
Saturday, March 19, 3:30pm, Auditorium Shores, 950 W. Riverside Drive, free, all ages
Saturday, March 19, 6pm, Waterloo Records parking lot, 600 N. Lamar Blvd.
2 of the first documentaries ever made about music* are set to grace Austin’s silver screen later this month when Alamo Drafthouse teams up with End Of An Ear and Matador to bring you Watch Me Jumpstart and Slow Century — two films about esteemed Matador alums Guided By Voices and Pavement — as part of the Alamo’s Music Monday Series.
$2 gets you admission along with some killer food and drink specials.
And be sure to catch the bands when they come to the Casual Victi…. er…. Live Music Capital.
Guided By Voices
Thursday September 30 @ East Side Drive
w/ Times New Viking
Pavement
Tuesday September 28 @ Stubb’s Waller Creek
w/ Woven Bones
This week is amounting to what passes for the Thor Harris Media Blitz, what with Shearwater’s multi-instrumentalist extraordinaire being photographed in Sunday’s New York Times (as part of the newly configured Swans lineup), as well as assisting bandmate Jonathan Meiburg in giving MTV Canada’s Sharlene Chiu a guided tour of Austin, TX. OK, The latter segment begins airing today, however you can watch a web version, just be advised the Shearwater segment doesn’t start until about 3 minutes and 56 seconds in, but if you wanna watch the members of Yeasayer eating lunch, well, there’s that, too!
Yesterday’s admittedly incomplete round up of recent activity from Casual Victim Pile alumni glaringly omitted the Austin quartet Love Collector. Not because I wish them DEAD or anything, but rather, since Dave and Robin fucked off to San Francisco for the summer, things have gone a bit quiet on the Love Collector front. As it turns out, however, I was woefully uninformed. Not only are Love Collector returning to the stage August 28 at Beerland (with The Golden Boys and John Schooley’s One Man Band), but director Amedo DiNardo has completed a video for ‘Casual Victim Pile”s “First 48″. Bottle Service‘s tambourine-playing dynamo Joe Ryan makes a cameo appearance, while Shawn and Rob reveal themselves to be track & field’s greatest revelations since Rosie Ruiz.
You know, not everyone in the music industry descends upon Austin for the SXSW Music Conference. Somebody’s got to hold the fort down. After all, these records ain’t gonna sell themselves. This is my minute-by-minute account of March 18, 2010.
9:30 am: I’m here 30 minutes early because I had to be up and at the DMV by 8 am. Wondering who in Austin is still up drinking from last night. Office is eerily quiet.
10:30 am: Still the only one here… I think.
11:18 am: Chase a dog around the office in an attempt to remove a mail order package from his mouth. Sorry J. Roger from Phoenix… let me know if your corners are bent.
11:43 am: IMing with my cousin about who it would be creepier to get hit on by (if we were girls): The Fonz or Alex P. Keaton.
12:12 pm: Make a list of fake band names. Entries include: The Shittybutts, Sweet Love, Mike Watt’s Sweaty Socks, The Super Falcons, The Burnin’ Blazin’ Mississippi Madmen (feat. Dennis DeYoung), Tugboat Crash, Doucheslayer, Cocks-A-Fire, Wicked Neptune.
12:32 pm: Get a call from Kris Chen who is either drunk or psyched. Or both.
12:35 pm: Mentally count all the people I know who are at SXSW.
12:42 pm: Get a phone call from mom to tell me that Red River is “off the fuckin’ hook.”
12:45-1:40 pm: Stared at a paperclip.
1:45 pm: Ride the elevator a couple of times.
2:00 pm: Download a program that makes my digital photos look like Polaroids. Psyched.
2:03 pm: Realize that 99% of the fun of Polaroids is waiting for the pictures to develop. Bummed.
2:12 pm: Debate telling coworkers about my plans to time-travel.
2:45 pm: Watch #2 seed Villanova squeak out an embarrassing overtime win over #15 seed Robert Morris. Almost call the university to demand a refund of my tuition.
2:50pm: Sit in Patrick’s chair. Try to sign a bunch of cover bands. No one buys it.
3:01pm: Check the Bro’d Trip twitter account to see if Adam is going on without me.
3:05: Decide to take my own Bro’d Trip… to the deli.
3:25-3:55 pm: I think I just took a nap.
4:05 pm: Think about taking up cigarettes again.
4:06 pm: Think about taking up grass again.
5:00 pm: Look up Facebook profiles of girls who dumped me in high school.
5:10 pm: Look up Facebook profiles of kids I beat up in high school.
5:30 pm: Use a Google application to determine the distance of my nightly jogging route. Feel great that it’s 1.2 miles. Immediately feel awful that I felt great over 1.2 miles.
6:15 pm: Count the emails I’ve received today: 16. New all-time low.
6:25 pm: Laugh out loud at email #17 from one of our SXSWers that simply reads “Fuck you.”
After far too much local hype (for my comfort, anyway), our 17-band, 3 night spectacular at Austin’s Beerland kicks off this evening (doors at 9pm, music at 1opm) with the first show from The Persimmons in many months. Running orders for all 3 evenings are below (headliners on top) but please be advised of the following ;
a) we’re giving away a ltd. edition screenprint of the above poster to the first 30 paid attendees tonight
b) End Of An Ear will be selling LP’s and CD’s on Friday and Saturday
c) Alan Benavides and Fred from The Stuffies will be spinning records Friday and Saturday
d) Friday and Saturday night’s shows start at 9pm sharp.
e) it’s $5 to get in. If you don’t think it’s worth paying .83 cents (U.S.) per band, please keep it to yourself rather than requesting guest list space for a blog we’ve never seen before. Thanks, dignity (yours especially) is a precious thing.
Thursday, February 4
Follow That Bird!
Dikes Of Holland
Kingdom Of Suicide Lovers
The Distant Seconds
The Persimmons
Friday, February 5
Woven Bones
The Young
Wild America
Flesh Lights
Elvis
The No No No Hopes
Saturday, February 6
Harlem
The Golden Boys
Bad Sports
Love Collector
The Stuffies
Lost Controls
(Order ‘Casual Victim Pile’ on LP, CD or digital album from The Matador Store)
While this week’s release of Matador’s 19-band Austin/Denton compilation, ‘Casual Victim Pile’ has met with mostly favorable notices, some have rightly raised the question, “where’s the inflammatory, entirely unnecessary attacks on other genres / scenes etc.?” So with that in mind, we commissioned Denny Schmickle to design (and Obsolete Industries to print) a limited edition poster for next week’s 3-night stand at Beerland. Please, if 60 of these managed to completely obscure the entrance to the Saxon Pub, rest assured this was purely the handiwork of an overzealous street team.
That said, a limited quantity of the above poster will be free with paid admission ($5) to next Thursday’s NIGHT ONE featuring Follow That Bird!, Dikes Of Holland, Kingdom Of Suicide Lovers, The Distant Seconds and The Persimmons. On the subsequent Friday (Woven Bones, The Young, Wild America, Flesh Lights, Elvis, The No No No Hopes) and Saturday (Harlem, The Golden Boys, Bad Sports, Love Collector, The Stuffies, Lost Controls) nights, Alan B will be playing records between sets and our good friends from End Of An Ear Records will be peddling LP & CD copies of ‘CVP’.
(top, bottom : insanely great comp. of Austin/Denton talent, entry point to cathedral of sophisticated entertainment)
For a couple of months now we’ve been in semi to full-on promo blather mode about our ‘Casual Victim Pile’ compilation 2XLP/CD, out January 26. As promised (with some gracious assistance from Austinist and WOXY) all of the comp’s 19 bands —- save for Tre Orsi (outta town) and The Teeners (split up) — are taking part in a 3 night series at Austin’s Beerland. Lineups below don’t necessarily reflect the running order (though they might), but we’re hopeful with a $5 cover each evening you’ll get your money’s worth.
Persons living outside the Central Texas region are fully encouraged to fly in for the event —- you’re welcome to stay on my couch at one of Austin’s many economically priced hotels. And keep in mind, the following Sunday is Super Bowl XLIV, and there’s almost certainly going to be a huge party at my house one of Austin’s many generic sports bars/taverns.
Failing that, four of CVP’s leading lights are playing Denton, TX on Sunday, January 17. Bad Sports, Tre Orsi, Follow That Bird! and Dikes Of Holland are joined by Teenage Cool Kids at Rubber Gloves. The following Monday is Martin Luther King Day, and if you’re hoping to make the trip from Austin, you can always catch a ride with me Greyhound ($28.40 roundtrip). But you can figure out your own travel plans – what am I, Expedia? ‘Casual Victim Pile’ is still available for preorders from The Matador Store, double vinyl for the discount price of $15.30, single CD for $8.50
As most of you are aware, when I’m not opening prescription medication I’ve found in Chris Lombardi’s desk attending marketing meetings at 304 Hudson Street,, I spend the majority of my time in the lovely city of Austin, TX. The region’s musical heritage, while often acknowledged in the major trade fairs and sprawling rock festivals, often leaves some folks more recognized than others ; 13th Floor Elevators, Bubble Puppy, Moving Sidewalks, Doctor’s Mob, True Believers, Big Boys, Dicks, Nice Strong Arm, Butthole Surfers, Scratch Acid, Texas Instruments, Daniel Johnston, 16 Deluxe, Glorium, …Trail Of Dead, Spoon, Shearwater, Strange Boys, Total Abuse, Hex Dispensers, etc. NONE OF THESE WONDERFUL ARTISTS HAS A STATUE, and that makes me want to cry.
The thing is, I really suck at making statues. I’m a little more accomplished, however, at putting together compilations. On January 26, Matador will be releasing a double LP / single CD collection/ digital album called ‘Casual Victim Pile (Austin 2010′), featuring 17 songs from a newer generation of Austin bands (plus a couple of wildly talented ringers from Denton for good measure). I’ve been working on this comp. off and on over the past year and I feel pretty good about this record being a valid representation of….uh…..the bands I like to see most often? The Austin Chronicle recently touted CVP as “shaping up to be the most impressive regional comp since 1983′s ‘Cottage Cheese From the Lips of Death’ (Ward 9) , and while I’ll take that praise any day of the week, to my ears it more closely recalls Matador’s 1991 NYC underground sampler., ‘New York Eye & Ear Control’.
Of the album’s 19 songs, 18 are previously unreleased, Harlem’s “Beautiful & Very Smart” being the only current exception. Only Harlem, The Golden Boys, The Distant Seconds and Elvis have released full albums previously, while several of the bands on this album (Flesh Lights, Dikes Of Holland, KOSL, The Stuffies, The Persimmons) are making their recorded debuts (at least as of this writing). Here’s the track listing.
There will be more news to follow in the days in weeks ahead, including a multi-night stand at one of Austin’s more beloved nightspots (OK, Beerland) featuring the majority of the album’s participants. In the meantime, ‘Casual Victim Pile’ is available for preorders starting today from The Matador Store, 2XLP for the discount price of $15.30, single CD for $8.50
P.S. ‘Casual Victim Pile’ is an anagram for ‘Live Music Capital’. I learned that from a talking statue.
