1. This Week in Houston

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    Hurray for the Riff Raff will have a serious supporting cast Thursday.

    This week has some solid music, but two great shows are unfortunately both on Thursday night.

    First off, Bayou Music Center will play host to an interesting pairing of sweeping folk from Lord Huron and synth-heavy rock from Alt-J. These are both fantastic bands that I wish I could see, and the I imagine their live show will be pretty breathtaking.

    That said, also on Thursday, Fitzgerald’s has an embarrassment of riches in the crazy-talented young folk musicians department. I’ll be getting there early to catch British solo soul artist Michael Kiwanuka, and from there The Deslondes and Spirit Family Reunion will warm up the crowd for New Orleans-based folk band Hurray for the Riff Raff, another one of my favorite bands from SXSW this spring. I’ll be honest, with this much floor-stomping music packed into one night, combined with the intimate atmosphere downstairs at Fitz, I have a really good feeling that Thursday night could get exceptionally rowdy, bordering on reckless. I’m excited, and you should be too.

    Oh, and Aimee Mann is playing at House of Blues Sunday night, if you’re into that to the tune of $45.

    I’ll see you out there!

  2. Notes from Last Week’s Shows: Buxton, The Lonely Wild, Deseret, Robert Ellis

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    The Lonely Wild layin’ down the spaghetti.

    I only made it to two shows this week, but fit 3 bands into the first one Wednesday at Walter’s:

    Deseret
    I hadn’t heard any of their music beforehand (mostly because they haven’t recorded any of it), so I wasn’t really sure what to expect. I got there in the middle of their set and was really impressed with the songs as well as the instrumentation. The lead singer has a gorgeous voice, and Lucas Gorham (whom you may know as the frontman of Grandfather Child) was tearing it up on lap steel, among other instruments.

    The Lonely Wild
    I listened to their one LP when I saw they were opening for Buxton, and their record is simultaneously cinematic and fun. Their live set was even more spaghetti western-inspired, especially when they broke out not one but two trumpets. I continue to be surprised by how much awesome rootsy music comes out of LA, and these guys are now one of my favorite LA bands.

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  3. This Week (AND BEYOND!) in Houston

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    Hometown hero Robert Ellis comes back home on Thursday

    OK, the fall lineup is seriously kicking off now, and it’s time to start making tough decisions.

    TUESDAY! Minus the Bear will bring their infectious math-rock (and probably a pretty sick lightshow) to the House of Blues (tickets).

    WEDNESDAY! H-Tunes may see its first-ever tag-team coverage, as friend of the blog and general liker of good music Jesse has his heart set on seeing fantastic English electro-folk (really, electro-folk? Sure, why not) band Daughter at Fitzgerald’s (tickets), where I would totally join him, except that local folk-rockers Buxton are also playing at Walter’s (FB event page). I only recently got really into their LP Nothing Here Seems Strange after seeing them play FPSF, and I haven’t seen them headline anything yet. Also, I checked out opener The Lonely Wild (bandcamp) today, and I’m pretty excited to see them, too.

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  4. Notes from Yes Indeed! Festival

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    Quiet Company closing the night at Last Concert Cafe

    On Saturday night, I went to the giant block party of (mostly) local bands at the bars on Nance Street known as Yes Indeed! (which I unforgivably neglected to include in this week’s preview post), and after missing the last two big local music parties in town, I was pleasantly surprised by most of the bands I saw. I didn’t get there until 9, so I missed a lot of music Highlights are as follows:

    Sphynx, an electro-pop three-piece from Austin, put on the grooviest, sweatiest dance party I’ve seen at the Doctor’s Office, and were just all the best kinds of weird. Go ahead and try putting this song on and not dancing to it. I’ll wait. That’s what I thought.

    I was kind of surprised how much I enjoyed some moderate moshing in the House of Creeps living room during RIVERS’ set. The kung fu playing on the wall behind them certainly didn’t hurt anything.

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  5. This Week in Houston

    Between a kinda slow music schedule and being out of town a lot, this blog’s been on a bit of a hiatus, but the next several weeks hold too much good music not to write about it. This week is a good way to ease into what will be a very very busy fall.

    Tonight (Tuesday), The Tontons play a free session for Paste Magazine in the bar at the Aloft Hotel in the Galleria (RSVP here). I missed the benefit show at Walter’s this past weekend where they played, so it’ll be good to see them for the first time in a while (for me). I’ve heard they have some new songs, so it’ll be cool to hear those, and in a different setting, too.

    On Thursday, Rhett Miller (of the Old 97s) will be playing solo at the Mucky Duck (tickets), if you want to get a kinder, gentler side of alt-country.

    If rowdier Texas country is more up your alley, Reckless Kelly is playing at House of Blues on Friday (tickets), and Max Stalling wraps up the weekend at Firehouse Saloon (tickets) Saturday night.

    Of course, if you really want to get crazy, or you’ll already be in College Station for the A&M-Alabama game, Robert Earl KeenLyle Lovett, Rodney Crowell, and Emmylou Harris are playing probably the only stadium show you’ll ever see on this blog at Texas A&M’s First Yell, at Kyle Field
    Have a blast, yall, this is just the beginning of a pretty nutzo concert calendar. I’ll try to make an extended look ahead at the next few months this week, too.
  6. Last Weekend: Wild Child x2

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    Tearing it up at Scoot Inn in Austin

    A few takeaways from last weekend:

    A) Whiskey Shivers. Hadn’t really heard of them a week ago. Like a lot of folky bands recently, their recordings didn’t really make an impression on me when I listened to them before the show, but they were an absolute blast live. Literally everyone was dancing, the washboard player blew a fireball, etc. Go see them if you get a chance.

    B) Mango’s Music Cafe. It was my first time there, and it’s a pretty solid venue. Cool crowd, great location, sound was decent. There were some columns in weird places, but overall it’s really good to have a place like Mango’s for that size of show.

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  7. This Week in Houston (well, Texas at least)

    Oh man, I somehow got my dates mixed up, and thought I’d be able to see more bands this week. It turns out everyone is playing Friday night. This is further complicated by the fact that I’ve seen all the bands involved before, and they’re all awesome.

    First up, local favorite Featherface is headlining with their psych-ish rock at Walter’s with some good Austin bands warming up (tickets). This would be like my fifth time seeing Featherface in the past year, but they’re always an awesome time, and it’ll be cool to see them in a legit venue for once (they play the Doctor’s Office a lot, which isn’t a bad thing, but it’s a thing).

    Austin band Wild Child is also playing at Mango’s on Friday (tickets). They play some fairly simple but infectious folk music, and were one of my favorite bands from SXSW. In Austin, they played through some serious technical difficulties in a hot, dirty, sushi joint (which, totally by the way, are two things a sushi joint should never be) and put on a much rowdier show than listening to their record would indicate. Along with Phox (who, like Wild Child, are originally from Madison), they were one of the bands I most wanted to make friends with from SXSW, and it might actually be possible, since they live in Austin now. Point is, it’s complicated.

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  8. This Week in Houston

    Hey yall, it’s looking like another good week to live in Houston. Here’s what I’m up to, and what you should be up to, too.

    Thursday night, Portugal the Man will be playing some awesome psych-rock at House of Livenation Blues (tickets). If they’re anything like they were at FPSF last year, it should be a pretty great show.

    Friday has a little something for everyone. If you’re more in the mood to down some Lone Stars and stomp some hardwood (this guy), check out Folk Family Revival, a good Texas country band from Magnolia, at Firehouse Saloon (tickets). If you’re looking to mosh to some local prog-metal (not so much), look no further than Scale the Summit at Fitzgerald’s (tickets). If you Just Wanna Have Fun, Time After Time, go see Cyndi Lauper at House of Blues (tickets).

    Saturday night, if you’re down for a night of local surfy lo-fi music, head to House of Creeps, which will be hosting Infinite Apaches, among others(FB event page).

    As always, comment or send in a tip if I missed anything.

  9. Last Night: Generationals and Baths

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    Not pictured: everything; my phone died like 10 minutes after arrival and I’m not a “pro” with a “real camera.”

    Last night was pretty solid, despite my best efforts to screw everything up. Due in equal parts to poor foresight on my part, the lack of a kitchen at Public House, and my preoccupation with a fumbling round of darts, I ended up spending like 45 minutes waiting for and eating a chicken parm sandwich at D'Amico’s. Which is neither here nor there, really. But the point is, I missed Gringo Star’s set, which was unnecessary and regretful. That one’s on me. 

    Once my friend Jesse and I got to Fitzgerald’s, though, we saw that a) upstairs and downstairs had been switched, evidently in the past 24 hours, and a) the set times weren’t staggered at all, so Generationals and Houses were playing upstairs and downstairs, respectively, at the same time. It wasn’t a huge deal, and 97% of the people there probably had no idea, but after already missing one band I wanted to see due to my own incompetence, it was kind of a bummer to miss another band because of  scheduling.

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  10. Last Night: Small Black

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    Small Black and their awesome lights


    Small Black put on a pretty great show downstairs at Fitz last night, along with openers Equals and Heavenly Beat. Mostly due to me not wanting to get wet in a downpour that eased up around 8:30, I missed all of Equals’s set, but some folks I talked to on the patio told me they played a great set, comparing them to Explosions in the Sky. I also learned that they’re a Texas band, so I felt like even more of an idiot for missing them (y'know, since I write a blog about local music and all). I checked out their EP today, though, and the story checks out. Solid ambient rock.

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