Last night was another example of a reason I freaking love the Austin music scene. Jorts rockers The Bright Light Social Hour played a free 2-hour show at The Belmont. That venue isn’t exactly known as a bastion of local rock, but they do have a nice stage with good sound. Bright Light put the stage to good use; if for some reason you have yet to see these guys, please do yourself a favor and correct that. It’s Deep Purple meets Spinal Tap, and it’s awesome. The guys are skilled musicians, talented showmen, and just downright fun to watch. Hell, it’s just fun to watch Jack’s mustache…

They will be having an album release party on September 17th at Antone’s. Get your $10 advance tickets here. It will be a fantastic night of music as The Bright Light Social Hour will be joined by Brass Bed and The Frontier Brothers. Plus you can get pre-release copy of the self-titled album at the show.

For now, check out a few pictures I got of The Bright Light Social hour last night below.

[View with PicLens]

I am most comfortable when ranting about some perceived injustice in the music scene, so bear with me as I try to be…gulp…positive.

In the past couple years, I’ve been very lucky to be a part of the Austin music scene. I’m not the most experienced, most established, hardest working guy out there by far but I have been able to dabble in a lot of cool shit since I’ve been in Austin. From the little experience I do have, I’ve come to this conclusion: You guys ROCK.

Our music scene has it’s shady side and plenty of flaws, but overall it really is amazing. From the musicians that bust their asses every week, to the self-started promoters that book\promote them, to the local media that covers the shows, to the scores of music fans that come to dingy venues to support the bands, there really is nothing else like it. It takes the hard work and dedication of a number of fantastic people to make it happen. Even us weekend warriors who do this as a hobby can get a taste, something that would be near-impossible in a less personal scene. For the most part, people in Austin’s scene do it for the love, not the power or money. I guess it helps that there is very little power OR money to be had in the local music scene…

Anyway, that’s about all the positivity I can muster on a Monday. So before I go all double-rainbow on you (you have seen that video, right? I’m posting it below anyway), just know that all you guys are awesome. You know who you are and what you do.

It’s too much! Tell me what it means!

You are probably going to want to be at Mohawk this Saturday. And honestly, you probably already know why…but I’m going to tell you again anyway.

From 3pm until 2am this Saturday, Mohawk is going to be packed full of bands, DJs, and free crap for Red River on the Rocks. Pretty much every local band worth seeing is on the bill, with Georgia alt-rockers Dead Confederate taking the headline slot outside and Zeale headlining the inside stage. Just look at the wall of text on the flier! I could write a separate post about pretty much every band on the bill.

If you use the code “Sugar”, you’ll get discounted tickets. Get them now or you’ll be paying $20-25 at the door.

As an added bonus, yours truly will be taking a DJ slot in the VIP room. Come watch me push buttons and make music! It’s going to be a fantastic day, hope to see you there!

For all the details including set times, click the show flier below.

sdsdad

Thanks to everyone who replied on Facebook and Twitter! I wish I could give a pair to everyone, but for this contest (and unlike Highlander), there can be only two.

Chosen today at noon, at random, and without any fanfare whatsoever, below are the winners of the pairs of tickets to the Lone Star Bash at the Brewery.

1. Melissa Garcia (via Facebook)

2. Aaron Preine (via Twitter)

Stay tuned if you are interested and don’t yet have tickets. I might just have a couple more pairs to give away in the near future.

To ticket winners: Send me a message on Twitter or Facebook. These are hard tickets so I’ll have to pass them off to you. Congrats!

Monday night was a Lone Star-fueled blur thanks to dollar beers at Barton Springs Saloon. I can’t think of a better way to follow that up than to give away some passes to the annual Bash at the Brewery event taking place at Lone Star brewery on September 25th. This is the second year Lone Star has thrown open their gates for the Bash. Check out all the details on Lone Star’s website.

Aside from the ridiculous amounts of beer that will be on hand, the event features seven bands on two stages. Bob Schneider, who seems to be everywhere all the time, is taking the headline slot but I’m probably most excited to see Band of Heathens again.

There’s a catch to all of this, though. You can’t buy tickets; you have to win them through the lottery on Lone Star’s website. But hey, you are cultured and intelligent (just by virtue of visiting TwoGroove of course). Cultured and intelligent people deserve a leg up. To that end, I’ve got a handful of passes to this year’s Bash and I’m feeling generous.

The details: To win one of 2 pairs of passes to the event, you simply have to post a comment here, on TwoGroove’s Facebook page, or @TwoGroove on Twitter that you want the tickets. I’ll pick two winners at random after this weekend and announce the winners early next week. Easy as pie.

If you don’t win, don’t worry. I’ve got more passes and will be giving those away in the coming weeks.

Today I bring you Pinup Saints, an electro-pop outfit from Montreal. Austinites might notice a bit of a White White Lights sound in there. The music is catchy, mostly upbeat, and incredibly sexy. For the full experience, check out the track “Helluva”. Distorted vocals mix with synth and drum machine beats to create three and a half minutes of head-nodding hook-filled goodness. The rest of the EP is equally fun and features a lot of interplay between the vocals of Wynn and Rara. Oh, and there’s a Cindi Lauper cover in there.

Check out our short interview with Wynn and Rara, preview the brand spanking new EP Helluva using the little widget thing at the bottom of the post. The whole EP is free for download, you just have to sign up for the mailing list thing.

Members/Instruments:
Wynn Holmes and Rara (Lead Vocals)
PL (Guitar)
Marc A (Drums)

Year Formed: 2005

1. Past: What is your musical background? What has led you to this point?
Rara was a hip hop beat-making soul singer. Wynn studies jazz and classical music growing up and then became a professional dancer and choreographer. We worked together on a project in Montreal a few years back and connected. Pinup Saints became our home.

2. Present: Where are you at now in your career? What are you currently working on?
We just finished our new EP Helluva. We’re working on our sound as a band; we are planning a promo tour and planning to reach as far at the UK.

3. Future: What’s coming up for you? Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
We will have more gigs with our live band and a new show. We’re working to create our own video and multimedia content. It is important for us to DIY.

4. Where can people find more of your music?
You can find our music for free on PINUPSAINTS.COM. We’re also on Reverbnation and iTunes.

5. Anything you’d like to plug?
Check out our new single and EP. Go to our website and come out to our shows!

As usual, I am a little late to the party on this one. It’s ok, though. Just like the last time I was late, I come bearing a gift.

Electronic duo Pretty Lights, who will be at the upcoming Nocturnal Festival at Apache Pass, released their latest EP at the end of July. The 6 song EP, entitled Spilling Over Every Side carries on two Pretty Lights traditions.

First, it is high-quality instrumental hip-hop/electro akin to RJD2 on LSD just like their previous releases. Listen to the opening track  ”High School Art Class” (psst, check the embedded YouTube thingy at the bottom of the post) to hear what I mean. About two and a half minutes in, the song goes from DJ Shadow to Glitch Mob.

Second, it is available totally free of charge. Yep, just click the spiffy little banner down there and all the songs can be yours for free. Donations are appreciated, of course.

I’m stoked to see Pretty Lights this summer at Nocturnal Festival (here’s hoping my press passes come through!). Oh, and you totally need to go to Nocturnal Fest. Disco Biscuits, ATB, Girl Talk, Krafty Kuts and Pretty Lights just to name a few.

Free crap below!

It is no secret that ska music has taken a back seat again in recent years. Well, let me be clear, ska music is all but gone in mainstream music right now. It didn’t take a back seat, it got all the way out of the car and took off in the other direction. Even previously ska-heavy acts like Aquabats and Goldfinger have dropped the style on recent releases.

Of course, none of that concerns the guys in Rude City Riot, a “Power Ska” six-piece from Canada. Formed in 2008, well after the end of the latest ska revival, Rude City Riot has taken it upon themselves to spread the ska sound. And you know what? It’s pretty damn catchy. I dare you to listen to “Imposter Man” and not sing along to the chorus. It’s got that reggae style that NOFX used so well on “Johnny Appleseed“.

Check out our interview with RCR frontman Dusty Lionhart and give that ol’ ska sound another shot. Use the little ReverbNation widget thing at the bottom of the post to listen to a few tracks and stay tuned if you like what you hear: Rude City Riot is working on their first full-length album right now.

Members/Instruments:
Dustin Lionhart III – Vocals
Scott Atkins – Guitar
Jeremy Spokane – Bass
Jonny McCormack – Saxophone
Kevin Tang – Trombone
Flavio Cirillo – Drums

Year Formed: 2008

1. Past: What is your musical background? What has led you to this point?
Musical background is one of the aspects that makes RCR unique. With seven of us there are so many different influences that define who we are as a band. Some of us come from a Jazz background, others from Punk and Metal. Despite all of these different genres taking part, Ska is the common bond we all share.

Our love of Ska music has lead us to this point. It is a music chalk full of history and roots. Although there have been ups and downs, it always sticks around in some shape or form. We notice how the “Ska” sound and beat influence so many other genres in popular music today without getting it’s due respect.

2. Present: Where are you at now in your career? What are you currently working on?
We are in a really great place with our career. It has been just over two years now as a band. We have had the time to figure out our identity as a unit. We now know what works and what doesn’t. We can truly say that we have our own sound. All the genres and backgrounds mentioned above have all complimented the Ska sound with us. What happens when you mix them all together? “Power Ska” that is what we are.

Currently, we are working on our first full length album. We had very good and positive feedback on our debut EP and more recently with our double “A” sided single releases. The encouraging words from critics and fans has given us the drive to raise the bar even higher for our first full length effort.

3. Future: Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
In 5 years I see Rude City Riot still on a mission to introduce the rest of the world to Ska Music. Most have heard it before but they don’t realize that is in fact called Ska. Many do not even know that Ska came before Reggae. We want to educate and recruit people one at a time until dancefloors are burning up everywhere! The world needs more Power-Ska!

4. Where can people find more of your music?
You can find our music on our website: www.rudecityriot.com. If you decide to sign up as a member of the “Riot Squad” you can download as much of our material you like for free. RCR is also found at iTunes, CDBaby, Rhapsody and many more digital outlets. An amazing amount of stuff comes up if you Google “Rude City Riot”.

5. Anything you’d like to plug?
We encourage our friends and fans to come see us live in concert. Ska Bands are notorious for the highly visual and fun to watch stage presence and Rude City Riot is certainly no exception. As a band, every member wants to deliver a memorable and exciting show and RCR leaves it all on stage when we play no matter when or where. Our fans deserve no less and it is what we would expect if we went to see our favorite bands live. No surrender!

Six acts for the price of one! Come check out some great electronic music at Elysium this Friday while getting drunk off Deep Eddy Sweet Tea vodka. TwoGroove is proud to be a sponsor of this show, especially since it features Gobi, MoTel Aviv, and Czech One!

So grab $5 and a friend, see you this weekend!

Click on the poster for more info.

Like most people, I frickin’ hate Mondays. And today is no different. It’s hot, I have a lot of work to do, and I’m not feeling particularly motivated. Luckily, I have a secret weapon: annoying the living hell out of my co-workers. It puts me in a good mood. Oh yeah, and I have a super-poppy, upbeat hour of music masterfully lovingly stitched together.

Just check the tracklist if you think I’m kidding. I stuffed Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Michael Jackson, Queen, Vanilla Ice, and Eiffel 65 into this mix in an effort to go over the top with the pop…not that Vanilla Ice is really pop music anymore… Regardless, it’s a fun hour of music. Even if the mention of “pop music” gets your skinny jeans in a twist, give it a shot.

Poppy though they may be, these are some really good tracks. Alex Metric and Designer Drugs seem to only release fantastic remixes, so I double-dipped and included them both twice. Check out how the Bloc Party track fits perfectly with Empire of the Sun’s “Walking on a Dream” (starts at about the 10.45 mark). Little things like that make me happy and, in turn, make Mondays just a little bit easier. Oh, and the REM remix from Tony Pryde is pretty freaking epic. That one gets going around the 44 minute mark. There is even a “hidden” track (not all that hidden considering you can see the entire waveform in the music player).

If you’re in need of a pick-me-up, go ahead and listen to my July mix, that’s what it’s there for. Click the little down arrow on the SoundCloud player to download a copy. And drop me a comment or two about what you like or if there are any tracks you want to request in an upcoming mix.

July 2010 by TwoGroove

Tracklist
Eiffel 65 – Move Your Body (DJs From Mars remix)
Milke – Love Get Out Of My Way (Designer Drugs remix)
Bloc Party – One More Chance (Alex Metric remix)
Empire of the Sun – Walking on a Dream (Dirty Little Secrets remix)
Katy Perry – California Girls (MSTRKRFT remix)
La Roux – Bulletproof (DJ Jem remix)
Depeche Mode – John The Revelator (UNKLE remix)
Scanners – We Never Close our Eyes (Designer Drugs remix)
Jefferson Airplane – Somebody to Love (Enjoy DJs remix)
Michael Jackson\David Guetta – Bad Memories (DJ Sean Extended Mashup)
Lady Gaga – Alejandro (Ruskos Papuseria remix)
N.E.R.D. – Hot n’ Fun (Boys Noize remix)
R.E.M. – Losing my Religion (Tony Pryde remix)
Grum – Heartbeats (Worship remix)
Kids at the Bar – Your Body on Me (Trash Yourself remix)
Vanilla Ice – Ice Ice Baby (The Disco Villans remix)
Queen – We Will Rock You (Love Thy Brother remix)
Gorillaz – Stylo (Alex Metric remix)

OMG SUPER HIDDEN TRACK: The National – Afraid of Everyone (We Plants are Happy Plants remix)