Austin City Limits Music Festival 2009: Can't Miss This - Friday, Oct 2

The PARLOR MOB - Sat. 10/2, 2:20pm (Austin Ventures)

People, you’ve got to be ready for ACL right out of the gate– and we know you are. With the impossibility of scheduling every band in its ideal time slot, gems like The Parlor Mob risk getting lost in the shuffle.
Hailing from Asbury Park, New Jersey, Parlor Mob is a now-and-then collision of the sounds of Jack White, the Black Crowes and Led Zeppelin. Guitarists Paul Ritchie and Dave Rosen transcend their age and shred up riffs that would make Michael Schenker or Rik Emmett blush. Vocalist Mark Melicia is high-hitting and explosive.

These cats can really put on a show as evidenced here. For an audio sample of what you’ll experience, head here and then click on the song “Everything Your Breathing.” Follow it up with “Carnival of Crows.”

Signed to Roadrunner Records – a label who knows their talent – And You Were a Crow,  is the band’s debut album and it’s a smoker.

Parlor Mob plays early in the day on the Austin Ventures Stage – and with the newly planted  grass, turns the greenish venue into the closest thing ACL has to Chateau de Versailles. You’ll be able to get up real close for this one and get the Parlor Mob get your blood pressure going to start your ALC 2009.

~jason repko

Austin City Limits Festival 2009: Can't Miss This - Raphael Saadiq

Raphael Saadiq - 5:30pm, Friday 10/2/09  (XBox 360)

By the time Raphael Saadiq - former bassist of 80’s and 90’s swing and R&B outfit Tony! Toni! Tone! and known then as Charlie Ray Wiggins – hits the stage at the ACLFestival, he should be a household name once again. Staying relevant with last year’s Grammy-nominated solo album The Way I See It, Saadiq recently performed everywhere from Bonnaroo to the Stockholm Jazz Festival. Leading the way to the revamped R&B throwback album era are Joss Stone, Corrine Bailey Rae, Amy Winehouse and Sharon Jones. It’s about time one of the guys returns to Hitsville with one of their own. Saadiq hits the Grand Salami. 

Saadiq’s bass playing roots are prevalent in the heavy stepping vibe and he pairs it with a soulful vocal delivery. Here’s a little nugget from his website www.raphaelsaadiq.com and a recent video performance from Sept. 28, 2009, on NPR’s Tiny Desk. Along with guitarist and right hand man, Rob Bacon, Saadiq performs “Love That Girl,” “100 Yard Dash,” and “Sure Hope You Meant It.” After your mind is blown by these acoustic numbers, try to imagine it with a nine piece band on stage Friday evening…

Now stop imagining things and go catch a Mowtown hit for real. 

  

~jason repko

2009 Austin City Limits Music Festival: Happy as a dog!

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Profile: T-Bird and the Breaks

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Austin Music Magazine

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Austin Music+Entertainment

New issue out now. Click to download pdf version.

CDDocumetary: The Clash (1977)

That the Clash proved both commercially viable and significant in popular culture is a testament to their fortitude and uncompromising style. With so much self-induced adversity, the Clash were destined to fall apart, but not before recording seven original albums- all of which are worth owning for different reasons. Here's the first. You can also download the CDDocumentary here.

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The singles "You Really Got Me," and "All Day and All of the Night," might have propelled the Kinks into UK stardom but in 1968 the Kinks concept album "Village Green Preservation Society," their lowest-selling album ever, would cement itself as one of the best of all time.

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CD Review: Aimee Mann

AIMEE MANN
@#%&*! Smilers
Super Ego

Songwriter Aimee Mann has run the gamut: from movie soundtrack composer (Paul Thomas Anderson’s Magnolia), multi-instrumentalist, contractual standoff (CBS), record label creator (Super Ego) and the smash 1985 MTV video hit for “Voices Carry” by her group ‘Til Tuesday.

More than 20 years later one thing is for certain: Mann is securing her foothold as one of the best.

On her 2005 release The Forgotten Arm, Mann leaned on a more gritty and straightforward instrumentation, reflecting her strengths as a live performer and the energy of the album’s concept.

Her sixth and latest solo album, @#%&*! Smilers, is created with a completely different palate which includes Wurlitzers, Clavinets, analog synthesizers, and selective horn and string sections. The result a master chef serving up her delicious creation: full of flavor but sparse in texture; exotic in presentation yet delightfully simple.

Smilers continues her mastery of whittling human nature into a four minute pop tune. Mann has developed a keen musical and lyrical rhythm from each album release to the next, building on themes and not simply repeating them. Lyrically, she combines a seemingly innate ability to conjure up a vivid image, and to portray it in a way that is universal, not exclusive.

In stores June 3, 2008

CDDocumentary :: Prince- Sign O the Times (1987)

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CDDocumentary: Linda Ronstadt- Heart Like a Wheel (1974)

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CDDocumentary: Liz Phair- Exile in Guyville (1993)

Love it or hate it, Liz Phair's 1993 Exile in Guyville broke the conventions of bubbly pop female singers of the time and the countless boy bands fearful of veering off course from the successful and formulaic blueprint. In her wake, Phair left one of the more notable efforts of the last 15 years of music. Download an iTunes and iPod playable version HERE. Also plays in Windows Media Player and Winamp.

CDDocumentary: Roxy Music- Country Life (1974)

Roxy Music was arguably the most influential rock group of the 70's and their impact has grown in the years since. Their recorded work stands as an important groundswell of nonconformity and successful art-pop experimentation. Download an iTunes & iPod & Quicktime-ready version HERE. Also plays on Windows Media Player and WinAmp.