Reviews

Good ol' Free Week. I didn't want to write a recap, but a lot of people asked me if I was going to. So here I am, but I'll keep this brief.

Here's a quick list of bands I saw during Free Week: The Midgetmen, Franny & Zooey, Tactics, Oh Look Out, The Couch, The Nouns, Hour Band, Technicolor Hearts, Black Books, Marmalakes, Stereo is a Lie, missions, and The Tontons. I also saw Tje Austin, but his show wasn't officially part of Free Week.

Best performance of the week (because everyone kept asking me...): Hmm, that's a tough one. I saw a lot of great shows, but I guess the one that sticks out in my mind is definitely Franny & Zooey. This is Eric Green's (formally of Riverboat Gamblers and I followed him for my We Are The Lottery League story) new band. It's just him on drums and Mrs. Glass (real name: Jordan Webster) on guitar and vocals playing blues. Think The Black Keys but way way WAY better. I caught the end of the set, because set times for Free Week were frustrating, but that's another blog post for another day, but what I did catch was awesome. I will sit down with these guys in the future and tell you more about them. That plan is already in motion.

Honorable Mentions: Marmalakes, Black Books, Equals, Tactics and Sorne

The "It's About Time I Finally Saw This Band" Award: The Nouns. I interviewed them almost a year ago (You can read that article here). Timing just never worked out so I made sure to check them out this week. I wasn't disappointed as I dug their grungy garage rock. Singer/guitar Travis Beall's huge grin on his face just added more to the show. They even threw tamales at the crowd. I'm a fan.

Other bands I caught that I've been meaning to see: Oh Look Out, Hour Band and Zorch

Below you can check out the photos I took during the week, including a stupid amount of Equals. Sheesh. This is becoming a problem. I did take photos of Zorch, but they're on my friend's camera.

In case you aren't aware by all the Christmas lights around town, Christmas is coming (in exactly one week in fact)! And several Austin bands have released Christmas tunes to bring in that holiday cheer.

I haven't listened to that many Christmas tunes this year, because I, for one, am tired of Christmas music. It's a result when your former boss kept her radio on all day to whatever station plays Christmas tunes 24/7 from the Monday after Thanksgiving to Christmas day. There's only much Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston and Christina Aguilera trying to outdiva each other a girl can take, you know what I'm saying?

But these Christmas tunes prevent me from acting like Scrooge.

First up is Little Lo's "Toyland" as part of Skank Family Collective & Chinquapin Records Presents: A Holiday Charity Jungler). Vocalist/guitarist Ryan McGill takes a step back as vocalist/keyboardist Bailey Glover takes over lead vocal duties in this dreamy lullaby. Makes me want to break out the eggnog and yearn for snow.

I love this Zorch interpretation of "Last Christmas." This song, originally written and performed by '80s duo Wham!, is usually covered in the pop world (Glee, Ashley Tisdale, etc.), but Zorch brings in their interesting style. This may be the best version ever, at least in my opinion.

Kris Keyz, professional pianist (you can see him perform with Tje Austin), released "Kris KeyZ Productions Presents: This Christmas" with 10 tracks of traditional Christmas tunes sung by local musicians.
Edited: The album was free to stream and download for a limited time. Contact Kris if you would like a copy.

Speaking of Tje Austin, he will perform with Nakia at 8:30 p.m. on Dec. 22 at Zilker Park's Hillside Theatre. They will perform Christmas songs at this FREE show.

And SPEAK released an interactive SPEAKMAS card. So break out the artistic skills and doodle away here. It's in realtime too.

They are also selling a limited edition SPEAKMAS Singing Greeting Card which plays a SPEAK rendition of "O Holy Night," and the cover was drawn by guitarist Nick Hurt himself.

See? Isn't that cute?

I don't have a tune to share, but The Shears posted on Facebook on Dec. 11 that they are working on a Christmas tune. Come on guys and gal, stop the teasin' and get to releasin'. There's not much time left!

Added: A little bit after I posted this blog post, I got an email from Mobley with a Christmas tune of their own. Here's a video with 2/3 of the band, Anthony Watkins and Tim Shelburne, performing Wham!'s "Last Christmas." You can download a copy of the single here.

The politics behind the music in the "live music capitol of the world" is something tourists rarely see.

A new documentary, Echotone, which opens April 24 through 27 at the Alamo Drafthouse Ritz, sheds some light on how city ordinances and other decisions directly affect the Austin music scene.

Echotone's director, Nathan Christ, originally began the documentary to follow the synth-pop band Belaire. He was already in talks with the band when he realized there was something else brewing that needed to be seen.

Click here to read the rest at Accent.

This double truck was my baby. I assigned writers to cover five bands that released albums in Feb and review the albums. I wrote about Mother Falcon on the right. Layout Editor Elizabeth put the page together. Good job team.

Originally posted at Accent.

Below are my contributions

Mother Falcon feature
Mother Falcon isn't the typical rock band. Instead of four members that each take on the role of guitarist, bassist, drummer and vocalist, the band members instead consist of a handful of classically-trained musicians playing classical instruments such as the violin, the cello, and the double bass.

However, recording a full-length album with the almost-20 members that form Mother Falcon can prove to be a challenge.

"Mixing was a challenge," said Matt Puckett, a member of Mother Falcon. Puckett plays the saxophone and glockenspiel as well as sings.

"You have to balance... There's 19 people playing, and there's more instruments. Then you have to balance all the vocals too. There's like 20 something tracks (per song)," said Yun Du, one of the violinists.

"Oh there's more than that," said Matt Puckett. "We're looking at some of the songs that probably had 34 tracks to mix together which is a lot."

With that many members in a band, there was careful planning on when was the right time to have everyone together for the recording process.

"There's always that sweet spot beginning of August, where people haven't left for school yet, but they just got back from summer vacation. That's where it has to be done," said Du.

Instead of recording each instrument one track at a time, the band decided to record each song live with everyone performing their parts at once. While it could have been easier with scheduling if they didn't go this route, Mother Falcon wanted to capture the ensemble feel that comes out during a live performance.

"I really wanted everybody to able to play together at the same time because so much of our music is dynamic," said Puckett. "It involves watching cues from other people. When we recorded, it was just recorded in a church. We were in a circle just like we are in rehearsals. So we look at each other... Whereas when we're playing in the headphones to tracks that are already recorded, it's, I feel, like a less dynamic experience typically."

Now that the album is finished and ready for the masses, the band is preparing for their album release on Feb. 26 at the Central Presbyterian Church. This is the same church the album was recorded in.

"It should be pretty cool. It'll be a rare experience. I hope it'll be a rare experience for a lot of people, because it'll sound pretty much how it sounds on the record. That's the goal," said Puckett.

Alhambra album review
The moment the strings swell into the opening track of Mother Falcon's Alhambra, the listener is immediately swept away from the notorious rock scene. Rather than standing in a grungy, beer-smelling venue, the album's live recording brings people into the comfortable seats in an open auditorium.

Mother Falcon uses their classical music education to bring this genre into the ears of all music fans. It's high art for the common people. It merges traditional orchestra movements with today's indie rock music.

Instead of electric guitars and bass guitars, the band uses violas and stand-up basses as well as other instruments (including an accordion) to form the foundation of the music.

Nick Gregg and Claire Puckett take turns sharing vocal duties as their voices lightly float over the tunes stepping away from the spotlight. In Mother Falcon, every musician works as an ensemble letting the music be the main focus.

The album isn't perfect though. With about 20 members, the band is very limited in the amount of time allowed for rehearsing and recording the songs for the album. While the quality of music falls into an incredibly higher standard than most bands in Austin, there are several moments when just a little bit more time to get that note just right would really make Alhambra pretty close to perfection. However, it's those small imperfections that give this up-and-coming band character.

WTF SPEAK? SPEAK for a Year is over. We had a deal guys. After December, we were supposed to go our separate ways and let this project end.

Of course that didn't happen. A week ago, I got a Facebook invite for a show SPEAK was playing at Progress Coffee. Even though it was a free show, I wasn't going to go. I wanted to purposely avoid the show to show people (and I really mean my skeptic friends) that I wasn't a SPEAK fangirl and could cut myself from this band. SPEAK for a Year was just a project and that's it.

But the moment I read on that Facebook invite that they were going to "perform string quartet arrangements of Speak songs," I hung my head in shame. I know I'm gonna be at that show. I'm going to go because once upon a time during my Southwest Texas days, I used to hang out at the Coffee Pot on Tuesday nights to watch my friends play impromptu jazz. I would attend my music major friends' recitals and concerts. I carried sheet music in my backpack with a flute case in hand since I was in the 6th grade. I sang in the choir for most of my life.

I am a former band nerd. Of course, I was going to be at that show.

The show was great. The coffee shop was packed but luckily, I arrived early so I got a good seat to enjoy this low key set.

I can read music and I can play music, but I've always been jealous of those that can rearrange music to their instrument with no trouble at all. I've tried it before and it was too time consuming for me. Of course, my music major friends saw what I was doing and was like "Oh, why don't you just write it in that key?" Jerks.

Anyway, the man behind the arrangements Maurice Chammah did a great job turning SPEAK's cotton candy pop rock into subtle orchestral compositions. So all those people that immediate hate on SPEAK because it's a "boy band" and "pop music" can finally get their chance to enjoy the tunes without jeopardizing their credibility. Hello hipster fanbase.

SPEAK performing at Progress Coffee from Sarah Vasquez on Vimeo.

Watching the show made me realized how much I miss performing. I was inspired to go home and start playing my flute again. But let's be real here, people. It's been over five years since I last put that flute to my mouth and the last time I did, I sounded like a 6th grader all over again. My tone was fuzzy. My fingers played sloppy. All those years of leaving my flute in the closet has caught up with me.

I no longer sound like this girl...

The flute player in that song is me when I was a 19-year-old SWT college student.

Back to the original topic, it felt pretty wierd being at a SPEAK show after the year was up. I know I wasn't obligated to see this show. I know no one was expecting me to write a review on it (although, here I am anyway), but a part of me just couldn't resist.

A friend of mine Chris Snyder, who recently finished his year project of recording a song a day, (and here we thought seeing SPEAK for a year was insane), posted a blog post about how he missed it. I have to say I can agree. When you pursue something like this, it eventually becomes a routine.

It’s been a while since I’ve posted here, and I’ll be honest with you — I miss it. Over the course of 2010, this project became not just a routine, but a structure. Routines are habits; they can mean something, or not. For the most part, routines don’t really mean anything. In fact, it’s quite common to complain about our routinized lives. But my routine — songwriting, recording, posting — was different. It was something I poured myself into. It was a journal, of sorts, of my physical and mental state. I wrote songs in odd places: on an Amtrak train, on a plane to Denver, in a cab in Queens, in a hotel in Toronto, on a beach on Long Island, at my childhood home in Los Angeles. (I’m probably forgetting a place or two.) I wrote songs when I was tired, buzzed, and caffeinated. I wrote some of them with a clear idea of what I wanted, and I wrote others with no premeditation at all.

But now, for what has felt like a very long stretch of 21 days, I haven’t written a damn thing.

This was, in part, deliberate. I needed a break. I needed some sleep. I needed to see friends and watch movies and catch up on Mad Men. I needed to spend some quality time with my wife-in-training, for pete’s sake. I also needed to get some space from the project, to reflect on what I’d done, to figure out what comes next.

But now, three weeks into 2011, the absence of the daily song is starting to gnaw at me. No no, I’m not going to start in again with some all-consuming musical experiment. But I think the quiescent period is over. It’s time to get back to work. After all, I have EPs to release and shows to play…

By the way, you can download two of his EPs with some of the songs from his project here.

As for SPEAK continuing in this type of string adventure, I really do hope they release an album or play more shows like this. I think they have something here people other than teenager girls would really enjoy.

This is just one post in my wrap up of the year 2010. If you would like to read the rest, click here to the main post.

There were a lot of great shows in 2010 that I was fortunate enough to see for free. I love my job. I didn't review a lot of shows as I would have liked but here are some that stuck out in my mind.

White Rabbits
I <3 the White Rabbits. When they rolled into town, I was on it. I even paid $15 to see them. I wrote in my ACL post "for those that know what a cheapskate I am know what a big deal that is." And man, they didn't disappoint. I prepared myself for the show by listening to their two albums ad nauseam at work. I also showed up before the show started, waited in line, and stood right in front of the stage just for this band. Again, none of these characteristics are me. Even though I'm press, there are just some bands that bring out my inner fangirl. This is one of them.

Unfortunately, I got some annoying news right before they took the stage but I was distracted by the percussion awesomeness not to care.

Thrice, Kevin Devine, Bad Veins, The Dig
Summer shows in Texas are fucking brutal and this was no exception. I was sweating so much that I could feel it dripping down my back. Yuck. Poor Chantel, who took the photos, was stuck in the front with a crowd of people around her for the entire show.

It was a random line up but it worked. I watched Thrice from the side of the venue away from the crowd and it was surreal to see this sea of sweaty dude bros pumping their fists in unison and yelling out the lyrics. Those moments make shows unforgettable.

Carney and Athlete
Another summer show but this was inside Stubb's. Think that made a difference from the Texas heat? Hell no. Again, I was sweating and with the combination of the sultry tunes from Carney and the charisma from Athlete's frontman Joel Pott, good god. Babies were probably made that night.

New Politics
I stumbled onto this band during SXSW right before Fall Out Boy's Patrick Stump was set to play. I arrived early so I could ensure that I would be able to get a good spot for viewing. Nothing is more annoying that trying to see a band from behind a person taller than you or drunk high-pitched hyenas. That's a story for another day.

When I walked in the Dirty Dog bar, New Politics was on stage. The music was fun. Honestly, there wasn't anything too special. Got some pop punk elements to it and catchy "yeah yeah" to sing along to. But the minute the lead singer started break dancing, I was sold. More bands need to incorporate break dancing in their sets. Just saying.

Fun Fun Fun Fest
This is what I tweeted about this festival on the old Twitter:
.@funfunfunfest is the one festival to bring out every journalist's inner fanboy/girl. I've never seen so many of them geek out in my life.
Decscendents, Bad Religion, The Bronx... I was such a fangirl that weekend and so was everyone else. It was awesome.

This had to have been my favorite tweet of mine:
As I look at the red-colored press from Gwar's spray, I'm glad Karissa was in the pit & not me. The things we do for you. Haha. So True.

The Secret Handshake
I felt bad for The Secret Handshake when I found out they had to cancel their tour because of low ticket sales. That's disappointing. It disappoints me that if a band hasn't had their ass kissed by Pitchfork or whatever music blog hipsters consider tastemakers that month, no one gives a shit. Whatever happened to liking music just because it's good fun music?

Anyway, off my soapbox... SPEAK opened for this band for my November show and I was really impressed by them. The Secret Handshake is fun, bottom line. Don't believe me? Here's a video.

Down with Webster, Friday Night Boys, The Bigger Lights, and Cute is What We Aimed For

I won free tickets for this show from Do512.com. Yay. I was a fan of Cute is What We Aimed for and I'll admit it was because I thought the name was witty. I don't know if you could call me a fan though because I didn't listen to them on a regular basis. I had the album but I honestly think I heard it once. Again, that name is adorable.

Anyway, the show was interesting. I loved the first band Down with Webster. The second two bands, not so much. The lead singer of Cute is What We Aimed For though... Wow, what a charmer. I was trying my hardest not to swoon, but I just couldn't resist.

Good in the Sack

I had a flashback at the show from the days I spent in the Backroom, reeking of cigarette smoke (smoking was allowed in venues then), and hanging out with all my friends from the Austin Punk Rock website. Seeing everyone in the crowd again singing along to Good in the Sack's silly little lyrics about wishing to know how to fight and having friends with benefits made me feel like that 23-year-old newbie "blogger" all over again.

The Steps, Love at 20, Bright Light Social Hour
This show was great. Three local bands all bringing some different to the line up. Hearing The Steps' guitarist Sam Thompson perform those guitar riffs impressed me. And he's like 19. Wow. These youngins' are coming out of the wombs with talent these days.

Love at 20 always brings a good show which comes as no surprised with all that determination Mike Groener has in that mind of his.

And Bright Light Social Hour was the reason that brought me to that show. It was their last show before they camped in a studio to record their debut full-length. I wanted to see what the big deal was.

Ever see a Cheech and Chong movie? Those '70s and '80s cult films where those two idiots would get high and hilarity would ensue? If life was a Cheech and Chong movie, the Bright Light Social Hour would be that band playing on stage in the bar setting up the scene. I thought for sure that those two clowns would stumble into Emo's at any minute to entertain me. That funky bass, Jack's moustache, and catchy lyrics... woo, that's a show.

Wakey!Wakey!

Unfortunetely, this show wasn't my favorite in the least, but that wasn't Wakey!Wakey!'s fault. It was completely the crowd. The show was inside the Mohawk so it was crowded. That's not a bad thing. Standing in front of a drunk couple who insisted on whistling and yelling as loud as they could because they just looooove Wakey!Wakey! was. I was so annoyed by the end of the night that I wanted to walk out and leave. It was only a keyboard, a violin and vocals so it was very chill show. I understand you're so moved by the music that you feel the need to express yourself, but geez people, yelling? That's unnecessary. Especially inside the venue. Ugh. But the show was memorable.

Glassjaw

Glassjaw was epic. But I'm sure you've realized by now that "epic" is such a regular fixture in my vocabulary. I say episodes of Glee were epic. I say eating a sandwich is epic. But Glassjaw actually lived up to definition "of heroic or impressive proportions."

I wrote a brief review about the show that never got published. Mainly because it was a hot mess, but here are some highlights:

Its been around seven years since Glassjaw performed in Texas, let alone in Austin. With this date not only being the last show they're playing for awhile, it was also the only U.S. date they had booked this year. So it was no surprise that this show sold out immediately when the tickets became available in late December.

Arriving at Emo's at 8:30 p.m., there was a line wrapped around the corner but it moved rather quickly. Glassjaw was the only band on the bill so the crowd had about an hour to get as close to the front as possible or hang out in the venue until the guys took the stage.

The show itself was an hour and 30 minutes of some favorite songs including “Tip Your Bartender,” “Siberian Kiss” and “Ape Dos Mil” as well as some newer tracks from the upcoming album (release date hasn't been officially announced yet.). Vocalist Daryl Palumbo was drowned out by the tightly packed fans who sang along to his every word. Even with one guitar player missing from the original line up, the band still sounded just as fierce and aggressive as the Glassjaw fans love.

After the last song “Babe,” the band said their thank yous and walked off stage. Unfortunately, the small hope in the air was quickly deflated when the band didn't come back for an encore. However, the overall consensus from the fans that night was that this Glassjaw performance was exactly what they have been missing.

This is just one post in my wrap up of the year 2010. If you would like to read the rest, click here to the main post.

I saw a lot of movies in 2010 from covering two film festivals but other than that, I didn't really see any films outside of that. Here are some that made an impression on me in 2010.

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
It's no secret on how much I loved Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. I'm not even a Michael Cera fan. But I love love LOVE this movie. I had every intention of seeing this film before I was asked to review it two weeks before it came out. A friend of mine highly recommended the graphic novels (enough to actually let me borrow all of them) and I was hooked.

So when I got the text message to see the movie, I jumped on the chance. My brother came with me to the screening and got to experience what it was like to be in my journalism world. We showed up 15 minutes before the movie started and we were escorted to our reserved seats (with my name on the signs!) while there was a line outside the door. I would be lying if I said the red carpet treatment didn't affect me. I've been doing this for almost eight years, it's about time I enjoyed some perks.

The movie itself had me before it even started. When I saw the Universal Studios logo appears in 8-bit, I was already giddy. I just loved everything about this film. It embraced everything in my geeky little world: video games, comic books, great music and witty dialogue.

Toy Story 3
The first Toy Story just reaffirmed my belief that toys had feelings like people so I made it a point to play with all my toys when I was little. Yes, I was one of those weird kids. I still have problems picking what I want at the store and I'll never walk into a animal shelter. It makes me all teary-eyed just thinking about it.

I saw Toy Story 3 because everyone told me it was a must see. I didn't want to see it because "I'm an adult and that's a kid's film." Toy Story 3 was great and really hit home. A lot of adults were moved to tears because the ending... Well just watch it. It will move you to tears, unless you have no soul.

Avatar
All I gotta say about Avatar is that it's so pretty! Predictable storyline, but man, it's so pretty.

Hatchet 2
I already wrote what I wanted to say in my Accent post. So here it is again:

I saw the first Hatchet during one of my horror movie marathons and loved it. It's a hilarious throwback to those '80s slasher films... Definitely watch it if you're a big horror movie buff or you just like blood and guts thrown everywhere. There's plenty of it.

Buried
I wrote an article about the film that never got published. Here it is:

The first night of Fantastic Fest opened at the Paramount Theatre with Let Me In, the American remake of the Swedish movie Let the Right One In, and the suspenseful thriller Buried. Buried has one of the most simplistic plot of a man buried alive, but also one of the most impactful.

Nothing like starting the day by waking up gagged and buried underground. That's just the beginning of the 90-minute film. Equipped with a cell phone, and several provisions such as a knife, glowsticks, and a crappy flashlight, Paul Conroy (Reynolds) uses his limited battery life and air supply to contact as much help from the U.S. as he can.

Director Rodrigo Cortes manages to keep the simple story line of a man in a box entertaining with the help of Reynolds' intense emotional delivery. As the movie only takes place inside a coffin, many people instantly wonder how a director could film not only inside a box, but also manage to keep an audience's interest for the duration of the film.

"The first thing you have to do is not to think of the coffin at all, because if you think of the box, you're going to focus on the restriction. So you just think of the story and on the emotions you want the audience to feel. Then you focus on the right way to shoot it with the right narrative and technical cinematic tools, but you don't think if it's possible inside a box," said Cortes.

Reynolds, who's normally known for his abs or as the charming funny man in romance comedies and comic book movies, shows he can be more than that as the average-man-stuck-in-an-awful-situation Conroy. It takes a strong actor to convey a story with just emotions and never having to take off his shirt, Reynolds nails it. While there was some quips thrown in to keep some sort of sanity, Reynolds really brought the audience in the box with him, making them feel as if they were in this situation together. On that note, this is a claustrophobic person's worse nightmare.

"The last day was particularly tough because I showed up to set and there were paramedics on set," said Reynolds during the Q&A with the audience after the premiere. "I said to Rodrigo, 'Why, why, whywhywhy are there paramedics on set?' And he said 'They're here to make you feel better.' I said, 'They're not making me feel better.'"

Without giving too much away, Buried is a film that will keep the audience on the edge of their seats with the "Will he or won't he live?" storyline. It's a film that people will have to see for themselves to get that answer.

Austin Film Festival
All these movies were so great. If they are ever released in theaters or on DVD, watch them.

This is just one post in my wrap up of the year 2010. If you would like to read the rest, click here to the main post.

January: Free Week
I went to Free Week just to watch some great bands for free and hang out with friends. If a band caught my attention, I would keep them in mind for future coverage. So I had no intentions of actually working with shooting photos, writing reviews, etc.

But after the week was over, I realized I saw a lot of bands that should be shared so I wrote up this quick post with my debut of Twitter-style reviews. Writing a review in 140 characters or less is a great writing exercise I recommend for any writer. You have to be to the point and consise.

February: 200 music interviews
I have an excel sheet that I use to keep track of all the coverage I've done. Yep, I can be that anal retentive. Unfortunately, it hasn't been updated since I've posted this blog about reaching 200 interviews. I'm sure if I update it now, I'll be pretty freaking close to 300 if I haven't already hit that mark yet. What can I say? I get around.

March: The Dig performing "I Just Wanna Talk to You"
I fell in love with The Dig the moment I interviewed them. The first thing I heard out of one of their mouths that wasn't "Are you Sarah?" was "There are cute girls over there." See, our interview was at the Parish hours before their show and there were already teenagers lined up at the door.

During their set, I happened to pull out my Flip cam right before they played this song which is one of my favorites. I knew I was in for a treat when band members of the other two bands hopped on stage with them. Such a good song.

April: SPEAK covers "Toxic"
I was trying to refrain from including any SPEAK posts in this but this band affected a big chunk of my year that it was hard to resist. It was this post when I decided that I was actually going to go through with SPEAK for a Year. As I was writing for it, I kept debating in my head if I should just go ahead and announce it or wait until I've covered more shows. I must have click the preview button like 5 times before I decided that yes, I was going to go through with the crazy project.

It was published right before the April show so after the set, some of the guys asked me what was this project I was going to announced. Once they all showed they were ok with it, it motivated me to go home and write up the first post for SPEAK for a Year. I ended up staying up until 2 in the morning getting it all ready.

May: In-depth We Are the Lottery League
This was a fun assignment. It was my first time doing a story like this when I was just a fly on the wall, covering this type of event from beginning to end. I didn't know what to expect, but it came out pretty well.

June: Good in the Sack interview
One of my favorite bands during the APR days was Good in the Sack. Since I worked at a childcare center, I could never wear their shirts at work but man, I loved this band. It's pop punk with tongue-in-cheek lyrics about breakups, drinking, etc. Wow, I just made them sound like Blink 182, but rest assure, they weren't.

The moment drummer Jorge announced the band's return during this year's SXSW, I informed him we were doing a reunion interview. Of course, the band was all in (who could say no to this face?) and after their set, we walked towards the back of the bar and chatted just like old times. Only this time, some of us had less hair and more weight as before.

July: Giant Steps interview
I interviewed James through email to promote his SXSW showcase but once I took on the Spinner job, my time was very limited. Hey, I got paid for Spinner though. I felt bad I didn't get the interview out but once he announced his anniversary show, it saw the light of day.

August: Art vs. Industry interview and Love at 20 interview
I had two interviews published in August and I liked both of them so I'm choosing both.

Art Vs. Industry were some of the nicest guys I've ever met and very knowledgeable on not only music in general but also where they stand with their genre of music. I felt so out of place at Elysium where I interviewed them but they treated me like anyone else even though I was wearing pastels.

With Love at 20, Mike and I met for coffee and just ended up having a very long conversation about music. The man knows what he wants and has planned his way to get it. Why can't more bands be like that?

September: SPEAK
October: SPEAK at ACL
I only posted one thing during September and October and they both have to do with SPEAK. September was a fun one because I got to make fun of dude bros and my October post was about my experience with SPEAK at ACL.

November: NaNoWriMo
I wrote a novel this year.
I. Wrote. A. Novel. This. Year.

It blows my mind that I went through with NaNoWriMo this year and actually made the word count. I've been editing the novel when I'm not watching Veronica Mars or posting things for Red River Noise. I have a long way to go before anyone reads the finish product.

December: Zlam Dunk
Besides the obvious posts with SPEAK singing at my birthday party or the 2010 review for December, this was a fun post to write. I interviewed the band during Wild Frontier Fest in September but only used two lines from it in my article for Accent.

Since we spent most of the brief interview talking about recording, I figured it was time to bring it out for Zlam Dunk's CD release show.

This is just one post in my wrap up of the year 2010. If you would like to read the rest, click here to the main post.

I didn't have much time to write reviews this year. It's not a bad thing but there were a lot of great albums that came out. So now that I have some time, I finally sat down and got to writing. I'm completely rusty so a lot of these reviews make me sound like a fangirl but you know what? This is my blog and these albums are good.

I just wished I had more time to go more in-depth or review more albums more often. Maybe that should be my resolution for 2011.

By the way, these are in no particular order.

SPEAK "Here Here"

This EP came out in February 2010 and I still can't stop listening it. It gives me the same cravings as those red sour belt candies where no matter how much I eat them, I just can't seem to get enough. I always want more and when I'm not eating one, I'm thinking about how I'm gonna get more. SPEAK's EP gives me that same kind of addiction.

It seems that once the last song "I'd Rather Lie" is over, I'm ready to hit the play button (if I haven't already done it) so I can listen to the five songs all over again. And yet almost a year later, the songs haven't lost its charm on me.

Quiet Company "Songs for Staying In"

I've been waiting for this EP ever since Taylor Muse mentioned during our April 2009 interview that this was in the works. I discovered this band last year and left such an impression to be included in my best of 2009 post last year.

I was hooked the moment I heard the first single "How Do You Do It?" and apparently so was the rest of Austin. I guess someone took note when I posted in my Best of 2009 post, "Pay attention to this band ya, I expect 2010 to be the year for them," because they gathered a pretty big following with radio airplay and playing some gigs with big headliners.

I've probably said it before and I'll say it again, but vocalist and main songwriter Muse has perfected the skill of writing enchanting lyrics about falling and being in love. What girl wouldn't want a guy to sing out to them "I just want to see your smile in the morning. I just want to wake up next to you, love?"

Swoon.

Ghostland Observatory "Codename: Hondo"

Ah Ghostland Observatory, one of our hometown heroes. I hopped on this train later than most people but man, these guys are great. This is one of those bands that presents the complete package. Sure, the music could be called the run-of-the-mill electro rock that everyone seems to be playing nowaday, but these guys have been around since 2004 so they know how to do it well. Add a cape and pigtails and you got yourself a show.

Zlam Dunk "Noble Ancestry"

Every hear an album that affects you so much that once you hear one note from that album, it's stuck in your head? So now you have to hear it. That's what Zlam Dunk's Noble Ancestry does to me and it drives me insane, but in a good way.

The band is all in their early 20s which is a little obvious when reading their song titles and lyrics. "Castle Beyond the Goblin City?" A song about Shark Week and the '80s movie Top Gun? Really guys? But it's also that youthful spirit that reminds me of that age before I had to start worrying about mortages, paying bills, getting a "real job" that isn't in retail. It's the time when it's about having a good time and sometimes I just need a reminder.

And that's what Zlam Dunk accomplishes. They have fun, they cut loose and every show brings a good time. Not many bands can do that.

AutoVaughn "Science of Our Time"

I met these guys during SXSW in 2006 or 2007 (it's been so long that I can't remember) and my my, how much they have changed. For the better, of course. The album they released this year Science of Our Time went beyond my expectations.

I have to be honest. During the first listen, I was put off by it. It didn't sound like them. It sounded like an overproduced version of AutoVaughn. That Nashville edge they had was blurred. There was hints of it throughout the album, but I guess when you win Fender Road Worn competition and tag along with Cage the Elephant, it was bound to happen.

Granted, I haven't seen this album performed live, which is where it's at, so I don't know if this is just studio magic or the commercialized route they're heading. Either way, this album is still great and full of catchy hooks.

Through the Trees "Dig It Up"

Through the Trees' Dig It Up blew me away this year. After hearing so much indie blogger bullshit for the past three years, I loved that this band brought it back with their straight-to-the-point rock and roll. Just good old school rock music. There is no pretentiousness here. And that is no surprise that the band is extremely talented given that they've been playing music way before most of these blogger bands were born.

L.A.X. "The A EP"

Can you believe I didn't want to like this album? For reasons unknown to me, I honestly thought I wouldn't like it. After a couple of listens though, this album grew on me.

It reminds me of the days when my dad was a DJ and listened to a lot of electronica dance music in my house. Sadly L.A.X. is a niche band. A lot of people aren't going to give them a chance because of their genre alone. But for what they are, they're pretty good.

My only pet peeve is with the song "Don't Push Me." I rolled my eyes when I heard the lyrics "Don't push me. I'm close to the edge. I'm trying not to lose my head." I can name three songs off the top of my head with those direct words. How many times do those lyrics need to make an appearance in a song? Seriously. Bands, don't do that.

I don't think L.A.X. is there yet but I like what I've heard so far and the vocal stylings of Erin Jantzen and Yadira Brown are the right fit for this.

The Dig "Electric Toys"

I've said what I already wanted to say about this band in my interview with The Dig. So I'll just rehash it...

"I've been thinking for days on how to describe New York quartet The Dig without sounding like a complete fangirl, but the bottom line is this: This band is freaking awesome. Whether it's a straightforward indie-pop song such as "You're Already Gone" or a moody alt-rock tune like "She's Gonna Kill That Boy," or even a mixture of the two as in "He's a Woman," these guys just nail it every time. And when they perform these songs live, it's even better."

This is just one post in my wrap up of the year 2010. If you would like to read the rest, click here to the main post.

I got into podcasting this year, more than usual. Since I don't have TV or a car to listen to the radio, I use podcasts to stay in tuned with the common people in the outside world. ;)

Instead of listing all the podcasts I listen to, I'll just give you the four highlights:

The Moth Podcast
The Moth features various people in all different professions. These people share entertaining stories about some crazy situations they've gotten involved in.

The first one I ever listened to featured Steven Burns and the crazy date he had with a "fan" of the show he hosted, Blue's Clues. It was hilarious. I was listening to the episode on the bus on the way to class and drew some unwanted attention on myself because I couldn't keep my amusement to myself. I've been hooked every since.

Nerdist
I grew up to Chris Hardwick when he hosted that MTV's '90s dating show "Singled Out," but I was especially excited when I realized that he's still around amusing the world with his crazy sense of humor. Only now, he's covering the geek world of gadgets and this podcast, Nerdist.

Each episode is ridiculously long but it's well worth it. Most of the guests are nerds in their own way. Past guests have included Rainn Wilson, Matt Smith and Bill Maher. Even though the podcasts are usually an hour long, the conversations are so casual and personal that I can't help but feel like I'm sitting in whatever room they're in as they chat away.

Backline Show
I've heard a lot of music podcasts and it's shocking that most of them aren't very good. It should be easy, right? Or so it seems. But I either don't like the music they feature or there's too much personal banter I could give two shits about for me to enjoy them and I usually lose interest.

That didn't happen with The Backline Show. The host Josh Shepherd stays on track only talking about the bands or talking to the bands about their band. Our music tastes are pretty common and the interviews are insightful. I highly recommend this podcast if you're into music.

KUT Morning Newspod
Again, since I don't have TV, I use this podcast to get my daily news. I love that I can get the Cliff Notes version. It isn't just a rehash of what they feature later or the day before and they get straight to the point which is important when I don't have much time.