Slacker 2011 Premieres Tonight at The Paramount

From the Austinist:

It's not too late to attend tonight's premiere of Slacker 2011, the re-imagining of Richard Linklater's homage to Austin as it existed 20 years ago. You don't have to love the original film to appreciate the significance of this project -- whether you were born in the skyscraperless hippie town Austin once was or recently moved here from California to start your new tech job, consider it your civic duty see and think about what this updated snapshot represents.

Online ticketing for the event is now closed, but slackers who still want to attend can buy their tickets at the Paramount box office beginning about 10 minutes before tonight's 7pm screening (as capacity allows).

The event kicks off at 6pm with the red carpet arrivals of Linklater, members of the original cast, and directors and cast members of Slacker 2011. General admission tickets are $15, and Paramount Film Fans can receive $5 discounts when they purchase at the box office or email ahead of time.

Watch the trailer below, and if you can't make tonight's premiere, it looks like the Alamo Drafthouse will be screening the film a few times beginning this weekend.

Supreme Cuts | "Fools"

I love this song almost as much as I love the artwork. [Via]

Active Child and Com Truise at Emo's (9/2)

ACTIVE CHILD

COM TRUISE

[Active Child] and [Com Truise]

Friday September 2nd at Emo's (Inside)

[Tickets]

1st Annual Fun Fun Fun Fun Fest Water Olympics

Sunday, September 11th

12noon – 6pm @ Fiesta Gardens (Austin, Texas)

Registration and Opening Ceremonies @ 12pm

Games Begin @ 2pm

Games:
EVENTS:
Tug of War Across the Lake
Paddleboard Jousting (single person event)
Paddleboard High Kick Competition (single person event)
Paddleboard Freestyle Competitoin (single person event)
Canoe Jousting (two-person teams)
Canoe / Paddleboard / Kayak Relay (three-person teams)

The Austin Facial Hair Club will be providing tasty grub and slinging merch.

Brought to you by: The Expedition School, The Austin Chronicle, & The Austin Facial Hair Club
More Info: http://funfunfunfest.com/news/45172

Equals | Self Titled Album Out Today

[DOWNLOAD]

The Texas-based band, Equals, hasn’t always been the technical and tightly-arranged instrumental band it is now. The band’s large soundscapes, searing guitar riffs and blitzing rhythms were products of evolution.

The members of Equals–bassist Alex Guzman; drummer Matt Toman; keyboardist Logan Wexler; and guitarists Simon McDonald and Dylan Storey–met in high school and college and began playing in several different projects that were musically diverse before fine-tuning their sound into a heavier, more cinematic approach. “When we first started playing in bands, the music always came about through improvising and then we decided that we wanted to have a band that was more composition-driven and wanted to create music with simplicity, more focused on the ambiance and the sonic palette than anything else,” said Toman. “Once we started figuring out how to apply a lot of the feeling and textures of ambient music, our music started progressing.”

After a year of writing and gigging around Central Texas, they were able to hone their sound and write a collection of songs that would become their self-titled debut EP. The album was recorded by the band themselves in various homes and studios with Alex Bhore (This Will Destroy You) mixing and acclaimed mastering engineer Alan Douches (Animal Collective, Sufjan Stevens) at the helm. The result is an energetic and technical composition filled with densely layered sounds, sharp-drum fills and attention-grabbing guitar parts. Every song plays like a mini-opus that charters new territory with each song. With influences from Tortoise, Maserati, Mercury Program or the more affable comparisons to Battles, the band continues to refine their sound and leave plenty of room to breathe, but shows no sign of slowing down anytime soon.

Equals - Equals [Manateam Records]
Tracklisting:
1. False Light
2. Salvo
3. Table Monster
4. Roadside
5. Electric Blanket

Neon Indian | Release Party/After Party (9/23)

Friday, September 23rd

Neon Indian @ Mohawk (CD Release Show)

[TICKETS]

Neon Indian Afterparty @ Blazer Tag (midnight - 3am) w/ DJ sets by Neon Indian and Learning Secrets. We'll be having a "Battle Royale" style Lazer Tag Tournament for FFF Tickets at the party!

[TICKETS]

Stream: The Drums | Portamento + Tour Dates

[Stream The Entire Album 'Portamento' Now]

Watch The Drums' "Visiomento":
Episode 1 - http://thedrums.com/visiomento/episodes/01.html
Episode 2 - http://thedrums.com/visiomento/episodes/02.html
Portamento is available for pre-order on iTunes now.

Tour Dates:
09-28 Hoboken, NJ - Maxwell's
09-29 Boston, MA - Brighton Music Hall
09-30 Montreal, QC - Evenko
10-01 Toronto, ON - The Mod Club
10-03 Cleveland Heights, OH - Grog Shop
10-04 Chicago, IL - Subterranean
10-05 Minneapolis, MN - 7th Street Entry
10-06 Des Moines, IA - Vaudville Mews
10-10 Portland, OR - Doug Fir Lounge
10-11 Vancouver, BC - Venue
10-12 Seattle, WA - Crocodile Cafe
10-14 San Francisco, CA - The Independent – Treasure Island Night Show
10-15 San Diego, CA - The Casbah
10-18 Los Angeles, CA - Echoplex
10-20 Tempe, AZ - Sail Inn
10-22 Dallas, TX - The Loft
10-23 Austin, TX - The Parish
10-24 Houston, TX - Fitzgerald's
10-26 Tallahassee, FL - Club Downunder
10-27 Orlando, FL - The Social
10-28 Miami, FL - Grand Central
10-31st Atlanta, GA - The Drunken Unicorn
11-03 Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg
11-05 Philadelphia, PA - Making Time at Voyeur Night Club
11-06 Washington, DC - The Black Cat

Ume | Phantoms- Available Today

An exhilarating head-on collision of front-woman Lauren Larson's blistering guitar shredding with impeccable pop songcraft and driving, feedback-filled jams, Austin-based power trio Ume's anticipated sophomore LP, Phantoms, is available today on Modern Outsider Records. Recalling a time when the band and kids in the crowd weren't afraid to sweat, the album marries the heavier and more distorted side of indie rock with visceral passion and pop hooks, further proving why Rolling Stone named the female-driven trio one of the nation's best unsigned bands before Modern Outsider quickly snatched them up earlier this year. [via]

Ume | Phantoms [Purchase][Stream][iTunes]
01. "Rubicon"
02. "Burst"
03. "Captive"
04. "The Push"
05. "Destroyer"
06. "Run Wild"
07. "Pretend Again"
08. "Hurricane II"
09. "Dancing Blind"
10. "The Task"

Download: Politics | Cities EP

[Download]

The debut EP Cities from Austin band Politics is out today and available for FREE download via the bands BC page or direct download by following the links below. We will be sponsoring the bands release party this Saturday at Emo's with Radiation City and Carver. You can purchase tickets for the show in advance [HERE].

[Politics | Official]

[BandCamp]

[Cities | Direct Download]

Video: St. Vincent | Cruel

TV Girl | "Baby You Were There" Video

Seriously I don't envy directors these days. It seems like every idea is played out already. TV Girl chose to go the route of stop-motion and the video is certainly creative. It features a couple hanging out together at home and culminating in a date night with a chicken wearing a top hat and their clothes doing the deed. Huh? Just watch. (via)

Download TV Girl's Benny and the Jetts EP for FREE at their Facebook page.

TV Girl | [Bandcamp] [Facebook]

The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart | They Shoot Music Sessions

TheyShootMusic.at

Last Night: The Decemberists at Austin City Limits

After the bands sold out performance at Stubbs last Monday The Decemberists stuck around Austin to perform at their second Austin City Limits performance and their first at the new venue. This band was born for this kind of taping and quickly drew the audience in with a collection of tracks from their latest release as well as some of the essentials.

Colin Meloy has a certain undefinable characteristic that makes The Decemberists that much more endearing. Its easy to imagine that most bands would not reach such a level of success as they have given the content of their songs. They don't make it easy and challenge their listeners in a time of short attention spans and iTunes singles. But Meloy and the rest of the group perform and write with the utmost conviction that you follow them along for the ride.

Not to say that it was all serious. Meloy and the others poked fun at the cameras, comparing them to freaky robots. He also jumped into the seats at one point and played a portion of the song while seated with the crowd. It was also the only ACL taping that I have attended that had so much crowd participation. At one point they instructed the band to scream as loud as they could when given a gesture to which the crowd cheerfully obliged. It remains to be seen how much of that will make it in to the actual show.

And on a happy note it was nice to see that band member Jenny Conlee was able to fly into Austin for both the Stubbs performance and the taping. She was diagnosed with breast cancer on May and is currently recovering from chemo. She seemed in great spirits and will be playing handfuls of dates during this leg of the tour with plans to full resume her duties in the future. You can see the full setlist from the show below.

It was recently announced that Coldplay would be doing a taping during ACL in addition the already announced tapings with Arcade Fire, The Head and The Heart, Gomez and Randy Newman. To enter for a chance to attend a future taping or to see see info on airing, previous tapings and other great stuff check out: AustinCityLimits.org and ACL-Live.com

Set list photo cred @Andylanger

The Weeknd | Thursday

Download the latest mixtape "Thursday" now at The Weeknd's official site or here.

Bon Iver | "Holocene" Video

I want to go to Iceland. That is all. (via)

Bon Iver | [Official] [Twitter]

Fun Fun Fun Fest 2011 Makes Some Awesome Additions (Spoon, Black Lips + More)

Through a tweet earlier today the amazing people behind Fun Fun Fun Fest unleashed a video to help describe their sadness in leaving Waterloo Park. At the end of the video, some incredible bands were added to the already insane lineup at this year's fest. Spoon will be performing their ONLY 2011 show and Black Lips will also be bringing their crazy antics to the FFF Fest stage. Watch the video to catch all the additions and try not to tear up...

Unfortunately student three-day passes did sell out last night but you can still purchase regular three-day passes ($135) or Pretty Important Person passes [PIP] ($270). Single day tickets ($55) go on sale September 1st.

Fun Fun Fun Fest | [Official Site] [Twitter] [Facebook]

Weekend Announce Red EP | Stream first track "Hazel"

From PR:

San Francisco post-punks Weekend have been touring hard behind their debut album Sports since it arrived on Slumberland Records in November 2010. Between seeing their track "End Times" promote the Showtime hit Dexter, touring with Wire, and suffering a van breakdown of panic-inducing proportions on the road with labelmates the Pains of Being Pure at Heart, the noise-pop trio found time to pause and reflect. The result: a five-song EP titled Red due this fall.

"The goal for the EP was to remove some of the haze from the first LP and be up front about all the fucked up things that were happening musically and lyrically," says bassist/singer Shaun Durkan. "We've always been interested in indulgence and restraint and we tried to push that further with these recordings," adds guitarist Kevin Johnson. "Maybe this song doesn't have a guitar in it, or maybe we use a synthesizer or there's no distortion or no drums. We were pulling back to make everything a little more searing."

Slow-burning opener "Sweet Sixteen" and urgently bouncy "Hazel" were originally recorded during an all-night jam earlier in the year and refined during the band's sessions with producer Monte Vallier, who also helmed Sports. Durkan started fiddling with the lyrics of "Sweet Sixteen" in a tour van in Europe while thinking about his sister and dog, who had both turned 16 (the EP is named after the latter). "I was reflecting on the endless optimism of youth and impending doom of ageing," he explains.

Birds Barbershop presents Shinerhosen | Thursday 8/18,

Birds Barbershop and Shiner will toast their new partnership with a neighborhood “Bock” Party on Thursday, August 18th from 7 to 11 p.m.party featuring complimentary Shiner Bock and Shiner Light Blond beer, a live Oompah band and DJ, photo booth, Shiner Bock flavored Amy’s ice cream and more at the shop located at 1902 South Congress Ave. For more details, visit birdsbarbershop.com.

CANT (Chris Taylor of Grizzly Bear) | "Believe" [Stream]

Last month we heard the tripped out sounding "Answer" from the Chris Taylor's solo project CANT, and now our ears get another track to sample. Check out "Believe" down below. (via)

CANT - Believe (taken from Dreams Come True - Terrible Records / Warp Records) by Warp Records

The debut Dream Come True (track list) is due out September 13th via Terrible Records/Warp Records.

Fools Gold | "Wild Window" Video

Fools Gold have to one of the bands I most excited to catch at ACL this year. And btw, it's exactly a month from today.

Fools Gold | [Official]

Feist | "How Come You Never Go There?" [Stream]

It's really been far too long since we've heard from Feist. Her new album Metals drops in less than a few months time on October 4th. To tide us over until then, listen to a stream of the first song ("How Come You Never Go There?") to surface from the forthcoming album. (via)

How Come You Never Go There by Feist

Feist | [Official Site] [Facebook]

Stream: Politics | "Warning" + Upcoming Show Announcements

Last week we previewed the first track from Politics and now we are just a few weeks away from their debut EP release via the Ultra8201 LABEL*. The band is excited to announce two upcoming performances coinciding with the release and we are proud to stream another track today titled "Warning".

You can catch the band when they play their very first show at Emo's with Radiation City from Portland. The band is currently on tour and will be in town on September 3rd. They have been called "a super dreamy potpourri of some of the most pleasing music of the last few decades..." - by My Old Kentucky Blog"

[Politics] ///Upcoming:

September 3rd at Emo's with Radiation City [Tickets]

Video: Kanye West and Jay-Z aka The Throne - Otis

The National | "Exile, Vilify" Video

Recently a contest was held to make a video for The National's contribution ("Exile, Vilify") for the video game, Portal 2's soundtrack. The winner (out of 320 entries), as chosen by the band themselves, is about a sad looking sock puppet. I have to say though, I prefer the video that was chosen as #1.00000000001. Watch both down below.

[#1 Video]

[#1.00000000001 Video]

Video: GIRLS | Vomit

Theophilus London at Lustre Pearl (8/20)

Theophilus London is sneaking into town to play a "secret" show at Lustre Pearl next week (8/20) and you have to enter for a chance to win tickets. Just follow the link to the Dell University Facebook page below and at the bottom of the page is an entry form. You have to till Wednesday August 17th to enter but the sooner the better. The show will also be streamed on Noisey.com. Good Luck! London will also be back in September for Austin City Limits.

[Dell University/Entry Form][Noisey.com]

Purple Swamp Party at Scoot Inn + Giveaway (8/13)

After 2 years of throwing versus parties at the Scoot Inn, Knuckle Rumbler stepped back into the lab to create a new series of events with the one intention: to overhaul, outlast and overexcite humanoids more than any other party before.

[RSVP]

And this Saturday - August 13 Knuckle Rumbler presents to you: Purple Swamp Party @ The Scoot Inn

Cover is only $5, $3 when you RSVP on Do512.com [RSVP]

A celebration of all things purple. Expect to hear the best of bounce, brass, southern rap and purple tunes. The kings of the DJ scene, DJ Orion and Kid Slyce will drag you into a lagoon of hot sweaty beats, putting your ultraviolet cranium into a haze. Let it wash over you, into your pours, and all your sanity and wits will all vanish.

We are proud to co-sponsor this incredible event and in celebration we want to send you + 5! guests to the party for FREE. If you follow us on Twitter (@ultra8201), and we hope you do, we will be giving away free passes for you and 5 friends today.

Tonight: DIRTY (Punk Rock Edition) at Dirty Bills

The Rapture Announce Tour Dates (w/ Austin Date at La Zona Rosa 10/12)

We have been mentioning details about The Rapture's upcoming release "In The Grace Of Your Love"(out 9/6) over the last few weeks and today the band announce tour dates in support of the release. They will be in Austin on October 12th at La Zona Rosa. You can also pre-order the album now at Insound and download the track "How Deep Is Your Love?" [HERE].

The Rapture | Tour Dates:

8/20 - New York, NY – Music Hall of Williamsburg
9/22 – Boston, MA – Royale
9/23 – New York, NY – Webster Hall
9/24 – Baltimore, MD – Sonar
9/25 – Washington, DC – U Street Music Hall
9/27 – Columbus, OH - TBD
9/28 – Chicago, IL – Metro
9/29 – Minneapolis, MN – The Varsity
10/1 – Denver, CO – Marquis Theater
10/3 – Scottsdale, AZ – Martini Ranch
10/4 – San Diego, CA – Belly Up
10/6 – Los Angeles, CA – The Music Box
10/7 – Pomona, CA – Glasshouse
10/8 – San Francisco, CA – The Sound Factory
10/10 – El Paso, TX – Club 101
10/11 – Dallas, TX – Granada Theater
10/12 – Austin, TX – La Zona Rosa
10/13 – Houston, TX – Warehouse Live
10/17 – Miami, FL – Grand Central
10/18 – Orlando, FL – The Beacham Theatre
10/19 – Atlanta, GA – Masquerade
10/21 – Philadelphia, PA – Making Time @ Voyeur

Ditch The Fest Fest 2 | Line Up Announced

The annual fest that serves as an alternative to those that don't want to mess with the ACL Festival just announced this years line up and it's a virtual "who's who" of Austin's local talent. This year it takes place across four venues.

Lucy The Poodle Productions Presents
DITCH THE FEST FEST 2 | Saturday September 17th, 2011
CHEER UP CHARLIE'S + RED 7 + BEAUTY BAR + CLUB DE VILLE

Show Spotlight: Classixx + Learning Secrets at the Parish

CLASSIXX: Fresh on the heels of their new single "Into the Valley" for Green Label Sound, the LA based producers/DJs are spending the summer nights marinating dance floors across the world. Barely into their twenties, Classixx has begun defining a new sound for the Los Angeles electronic music scene. A refreshing change from the trance and techno inspired Electro that has been dominating dance floors, their Donna Summer’esque grooves have caught the ears of music aficionados, fans and artists alike. With recent remixes for groundbreaking artists such as Phoenix, The Ting Tings, Shiny Toy Guns and The Sounds their funky midtempo sound is turning heads everywhere.

You can catch them in Austin on August 19th at The Parish with two of Austin's finest party throwers, the wonderful duo that is Learning Secrets. This show is essential and will more than likely reach capacity so get your tickets now. [Tickets]

Dum Dum Girls - Only In Dreams | Album Teaser

This Friday (8/12) at the Mohawk $13 Advance ($15 Day of Show) Doors @ 8pm. Show @ 9pm.
Presented by Austin Psych Fest and Transmission Entertainment. [Tickets]

Dum Dum Girls (Guitar Duo Set) - 11pm
Mark Sultan/BBQ - 10pm
Night Beats - 9pm

The Pains of Being Pure At Heart - Heart In Your Heartbreak (Twin Shadow Remix)

Lana Del Rey | "Video Games" Video

Lana Del Rey (aka Lizzy Grant) describes her music as "Hollywood Sad Core". Her song "Video Games", with its harp and soft piano are reminiscent of Cat Power and Florence and the Machine. (via)

Lana Del Rey | [Facebook] [Twitter]

Daniel Rossen Performs New Songs At A Solo Gig

Big thanks to YANP and Grizzly Bear Galore for the heads up on this one! Daniel Rossen of Grizzly Bear performed an intimate solo acoustic set at Family Band's Upstate Forest Party in New York recently. Watch videos from his set, including a cover of Townes Van Zandt's "Kathleen" (Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5). Just an FYI, you might want to throw some headphones on.

(Photo Cred: Little Miss Mars)

New Neon Indian | "Polish Girl" [Stream]

Another new Neon Indian track has surfaced. Last month we posted a live video of the song "Polish Girl" and now thanks to NPR, we can hear the official song. I like the direction he seems to be taking from what I've heard so far.

Catch Neon Indian next month at the Mohawk on Friday, Sept. 23rd. Hopefully you bought tickets, because the show is already SOLD OUT!

Neon Indian | [Official] [Facebook] [Twitter] [Blog]

Ume | "Conductor" (Acoustic) [Live]

I love how Lauren still rocks out even when playing acoustic.

Ume | [Official] [Myspace] [Twitter]

Last Night: Arctic Monkeys at Stubbs

Fun Fun Fun Fest | Full 2011 Line Up

The full line up is here! After leaking bands to you over the last few weeks we are happy to finally announce the full 2011 Fun Fun Fun Fest Line up! The festival takes place November 4-6th at its new home at Auditorium Shores and tickets are available now. You can also follow FFF Fest on Twitter for giveaways, student pricing announcements and more. [TICKETS]

ORANGE STAGE

Passion Pit | Lykke Li | M83 | Blonde Redhead | GIRLS | HUM | Clap Your Hands Say Yeah | Okkervil River | Black Joe Lewis and The Honeybears | Architecture In Helsinki | Ted Leo & The Pharmacists | Heartless Bastards | Tune-Yards | Ra Ra Riot | Tinariwen | Radio Dept | Cold Cave | We Were Promised Jetpacks | Mates of State | The Joy Formidable | Cloud Nothings | The Boxer Rebellion | Asobi Seksu | Keep Shelly In Athens | Le Butcherettes | Jim Ward (Sparta/At The Drive-In) | Joe Lally (Fugazi) | Future Islands | Crooks | Lemuria | TV Torso | Maneja Beto

BLACK STAGE

Slayer | Danzig Legacy (Danzig/ Samhain / Danzig and Doyle perform Misfits) | The Damned | Hot Snakes | Murder City Devils | Kid Dynamite | Boris | Cave In | Negative Approach | D-Generation | Eyehategod | Russian Circles | Thee Oh Sees | Zero Boys | Paint It Black | Trash Talk | Youth Brigade | No Bunny | Davilla 666 | Bane | Earth Crisis | Graveyard | Doomriders | Ceremony | From Ashes To Rise | World Inferno/Friendship Society | Total Control | Death Grips | Touche Amore | Defeater | Mind Spiders | OBN III | Shapes Have Fangs | Schmillion | Thieves

BLUE STAGE

Public Enemy | Major Lazer | Odd Future (OFWGKTA) | Diplo | Flying Lotus | Neon Indian | Four Tet | Spank Rock | Dan Deacon | Cecil Otter & Swiss Andy present: WUGAZI | Childish Gambino | Budos Band | Rakim | Del The Funky Homosapien | Big Freedia | YACHT | Baths | MNDR | Austra | Dengue Fever | Black Milk | Franki Chan | Ocote Soul Sounds | Auto Body | Bird Peterson | Brandt Brauer Fricke | Picture Plane | T-Bird and the Breaks | Cecil Otter (Doomtree) | G-Side | Speak | Purity Ring | Car Stereo (Wars) | B.L.A.C.K.I.E | Fat Tony

YELLOW STAGE

Henry Rollins | Reggie Watts | Brian Posehn | Upright Citizens Brigade | Turquoise Jeep | Donald Glover | Ali Wong | Anarchy Championship Wrestling | Neal Brennan | Best Fwends | Matt Bearden | Brody Stevens | Captured By Robots | Kenny "K-Strass" Strasser Yo-Yo Extravaganza | Whamcity Comedy Set | Louis Katz | Chris Trew |Veggie Hot Dog Eating Contest | JT Habersaat + the Altercation Punk Comedy Tour

Politics: Fuel For The Flame

We are happy to announce the release of Politics' first track from their forthcoming debut. The song is called "Fuel For The Flame" and its release comes in advance of the bands debut EP which will be released through the newly launched Label* portion of Ultra8201 next month. You can stream the track and download it for FREE by clicking the link below.

Politics | [Official][BandCamp][Download - Fuel For The Flame]