Nu Rave Brain Wave

The great SWN Festival who is hosting our favorites Happy Birthday and Spectrals at this years festival which will take place October 21-23. They’ve added another 18 bands to the bill which already looks amazing, but they’re really stepping their shit up. For full lineup and ticket details head to SWN Festival.

Munch Munch
Bastions
Lucky Delucci
Wilder
Goodtime Boys
The Computers
Magic Kids
Union Jackals
O Children
Stagecoach
OK
To The Bones
Sweet Baboo
Oui Messy
Fair Ohs
Cut Ribbons
Victorian English Gentlemens Club
The Guns

mp3 | Magic Kids - Superball

August has been a very strange month, but very good. I’ve been driving so much recently, 1300 miles in the span of about 10 days. Holy shit. These songs have been soundtracking my insane driving and the crazy move that I just made back to the UK and what not… You’ll never know the kind of satisfaction that lugging your own weight in clothing 5,000 miles gives you. However, you can listen to what got me through it below….

01 Kanye West – See Me Now
02 Velvet Davenport – When You Are Out
03 Eternal Summers – Pogo
04 Balkans – Bill Spills
05 Caitlin Rose – Shanghai Cigarettes
06 Magic Kids – Superball
07 Happy Birthday – Perverted Girl
08 Sweaters – Sky Mall
09 Chuck Berry – La Juanda (Espanol)
10 Wanda Jackson – Making Believe
11 Cee Lo Green – Fuck You
12 Unouomedude – Buildings

mp3 | Nu Rave Brain Wave – August 2010 Mix

The 2010 Fun Fun Fun Fest happens  November 5-7 at Waterloo Park in downtown Austin, TX. With a lineup that almost reaches the maximum heights of FYF Fest, you’d be a fool to miss out on Woven Bones, Wavves, Ariel Pink, Best Coast, Magic Kids, etc.

Pick up your tickets here.

mp3| Woven Bones - I\'ve Gotta Get

Photo Courtesy of | Kandi Cook

Memphis’ Magic Kids hit my radar not too long ago and I was enchanted by their wonderfully poppy rock music. Magic Kids take something that could very well work as a dirty garage tune, and instead add horns and strings and synths and make it into something wholly bright and bubblegum. Yes, they’ve got a lot going on, but the songs themselves never wind up washed out by the tidal wave of instruments/musicians in the band. They’ve been honing their chops recently, touring with that weirdo-hobbit Ariel Pink and Puro Instinct (nice name change, ladies!) but you can catch them in North America AND the UK (as I may well do)…

They’ve also released a cut from their forthcoming album, Memphis, which will be out on August 24th through True Panther Sounds. You’ve presumably (if you follow this blog as closely as you should…) heard the demo cut of ‘Superball’ off the 7″ split with the great Smith Westerns, but the album cut has been transformed into something even better..

09-01 Lubbock, TX – The Foundation *
09-03 Phoenix, AZ – The Trunk Space *
09-04 Los Angeles, CA – FYF Fest
09-05 San Francisco, CA – Bottom of the Hill*
09-08 Vancouver, BC – The Media Club*
09-09 Seattle, WA – The Vera Project *
09-10 Portland, OR – Backspace- Music Fest NW *
09-11 Garden City, ID – Visual Arts Collective *
09-13 Salt Lake City, UT – Kilby Court *
09-14 Denver, CO – Hi Dive *
09-16 Lawrence, KS – Replay Lounge *
09-17 Memphis, TN – Hi Tone Cafe *
10-1 London, UK @ Barfly
10-2 London, UK @ Camden Proud Galleries
10-3 Bruges, Belgium @ Botanique/Witloofbar
10-5 Amsterdam, Holland @ Paradiso
10-6 Tilburg, Holland @Tilburg 013/Batcave
10-7 Hamburg, Germany @ Molotow
10-8 Helsingar, Denmark @ Musikhuset Elvaerket
10-9 Oslom, Norway @ Café Mono
10-10 Gothenburg, Sweden @ Pusterviksbaren
10-11 Stockholm, Sweden @ Landet
10-12 Copenhagen, Denmark @ Lades
10-13 Berlin, Germany @ Magnet
10-14 Köln, Germany @ Werkstatt
10-15 München, Germany @ Atomic Cafe
10-16 Zurich, Switzerland @ Club Zukunft
10-17 Milan, Italy Indierocket party @ Rocket (free entry)
10-18 Paris, France @ Point Ephemere
10-19 Oxford, UK @ Jercicho Tavern
10-21 Bristolm UK @ Louisanna
10-22 Bristol, UK @ The Social
10-23 Cardiff, UK @ Swn Festival
10-24 Newcastle, UK @ The Cluny
10-25 Leeds, UK @ Nation of Shopkeepers
10-26 Birmingham, UK @ Hare and Hounds
10-27 London, UK @ TBC
10-28 London, UK @ Lexington
Fri 11/05 Dallas, TX @ The Cavern Ω
Sun 11/07 Houston, TX @ Numbers Ω
Mon 11/08 Baton Rouge, LA @ Spanish Moon Ω
Wed 11/10 Chapel Hill, NC @ Local 506 Ω
Fri 11/12 New York, NY @ Mercury Lounge Ω

Sat 11/13 Brooklyn, NY @ Silent Barn Ω
Mon 11/15 Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Tavern Ω
Tue 11/16 Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle Ω
Wed 11/17 St. Louis, MO @ Firebird Ω
Thu 11/18 Nashville, TN @ The End Ω

Ω= w/Bosco Delrey
* w/Candy Claws

mp3 | Magic Kids - Superball

The Strange Boys

If you read this blog regularly, you’re aware of our well-documented love of Austin’s own Strange Boys. Although we’ve not fallen for their second album as swiftly as we fell for their practically perfect ‘And Girls’ LP, we know that their live show will always deliver. They’ve got a new lineup – drummer, sax and Tim Pressley from Darker My Love and it will be interesting to see what they’ve got to offer on the live front now that the stage will be a little more crowded. They’re only playing the Wednesday so they can carry on the rest of their US tour, so be sure to check them out early, while you can.

DOWNLOAD ->The Strange Boys – Be Brave

Harlem

Harlem has been one of my favorite new musical discoveries of the year. You can probably guess what they’re like – lo-fi, garagey music with “hidden” pop tunes. Harlem’s new record ‘Hippies’ is filled with some of the catchiest songs I’ve heard all year long – ‘Friendly Ghost’ is witty and prime for shouting along to; ‘Tila and I’ and ‘Gay Human Bones’ stand out as best of ‘Hippies’. I wouldn’t miss Austin-via-Tucson’s Harlem who will be one of the standouts this year.

DOWNLOAD -> Harlem – Friendly Ghost

Magic Kids

Magic Kids are, to me, kind of what Los Campesinos! were in 2008. They’re a little bit twee, a lot quirky, but all in all a ton of fun. They also have extremely catchy songs – well, the two that I’ve been addicted to were, at any rate. If I was to guess, I’d say they’re going to wind up as just a kitchy little band, not go the way LC! have really, but that’s not to say they won’t put on a fun show in Austin, so I’d catch them, but only if you have the time.

DOWNLOAD -> Magic Kids – Superball

Fool’s Gold

Another NRBW live favorite, Fool’s Gold is going to be playing this years SXSW again. We loved their debut album ‘Fool’s Gold’ with its sense of whimsy, rhythm and communal experience – I even gave it like a 7/10 or something on DiS! – and can’t wait to see how they’ve improved as a live band since we saw them last April. If you’re looking to dance or if you want to have a really fun, uplifting, communal live experience – Fool’s Gold will fulfill that need beautifully.

DOWNLOAD -> Fool’s Gold – Surprise Hotel

Surfer Blood

The more I listen to ‘Astrocoast’ the more taken I am with this band – what started out as a casual listen has blossomed into something much more. There’s something instantly likable about their polished tunes – perhaps it’s the voice that owes more to Panda Bear than Cole Alexander, perhaps its the danceable instrumentation, or the delicate heartbreak layed bare throughout the album or even the wit and charm (“Coupled with a weakness for cocaine and liquor”, anyone?) of the entire album. I don’t know which of those things it is but ‘Astrocoast’ is growing on me and lucky for us, Surfer Blood is playing about 5 times a day during SXSW so hopefully everyone will have the chance to catch them.

DOWNLOAD -> Surfer Blood – Take It Easy

She Keeps Bees

Lo-fi, bedroom, sexy… What can I say about She Keeps Bees? The interplay between the members, the blues, the dirtiness of the recordings – it all comes together in a really messy little package that’s practically bursting with delight. Jessica’s vocals are beautiful and tortured on record and I can’t wait to see how they translate live. The simplicity and the timeliness of their songs is sure to make a memorable set – don’t miss out on this band – I was forced to on Valentines Day and I’ve been depressed ever since.

DOWNLOAD -> She Keeps Bees – Gimmie (Live)

Lissie

I’m gonna be straight up honest here – I don’t know a lot about Lissie. But what I do know is that the girl has an enchanting voice. A lot of people reference like 70s Laurel Canyon talking about her – and I have to agree a little bit. There’s something a little country backwoods about her (perhaps it’s because she lives in Ojai) but there’s also something really contemporary, something like female-Fionn-Regan about her. I am basing this recommendation on the strength of her Bob Dylan cover of ‘To Ramona’. Give it a listen. If you’re not taken with her voice, well, you suck.

DOWNLOAD -> Lissie – To Ramona (cover of Bob Dylan)

After hearing ‘Hey Boy’ by these Tenneesseeians (is that right?) I was pretty hooked, but after some recent events – I’ve got to stop getting super excited by bands with one really good song. So then I was twittering it up and saw a link to a new download from the NME Radar piece about their UK Label Boss, Dean Bean. What a name. Anyway, I downloaded it and fell into fits of swoon. I love their old-school vibe that mixes with their kind of wonky-pop modern, almost twee ways. Their mix of retro and silly is really endearing. The download I’ve got for you today is called ‘Superball’ which totally plays off of the nostalgia of childhood thing in a way more obvious way than the rest of the stuff I describe like that, but like the rest, it’s catchy as fuck and a little grating in a good way. Can’t wait to catch these kids ASAP.

mp3 | Magic Kids – Superball