Songs of the Week AUSTIN - Editors Pick
“roots, the sticky south, swampy rock and roll!”
STEPHEN:
"Winter's Wolves" -- The Sword
If you play enough Magic: the Gathering, or D&D, or any other sort of late into the night trawling the dungeons of the mind in the basements of reality fantasy gaming, there will be a moment of clarity amidst the haze of Mountain Dew and buckets of half-eaten Red Vines where all of a sudden that Dire Wolves card you've just cast into the arena or that group of beasts about to savage your party suddenly howl, loudly and for real, and everybody just stops and tenses for a minute, and then recognizes the power of group hallucination and communal gaming and friendship as the bonds that are formed among only the bravest of warriors. And then all hell breaks loose because who the fuck even understands how banding works anymore anyway!? The Sword, that's who, and now they are banding with your very soul. Magic indeed.
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REYNA:
“Bad Vibrations” – The Black Angels
There is something about this song that reminds me of a light breeze, though it is, for all intents and purposes, a rather dark psychedelic jam (I mean, the song is about “bad vibes”). Maybe it's the reverb-saturated guitar line tracing the length of the song, or the vocals, which have an echo to them that sounds like they're being yelled up into the dusky, pink heavens. Then there is the floating drone that slinks in and takes over toward the end. The whole thing seriously gives my skin that soft summer air feeling; makes me dream of lying in the middle of some field somewhere, my body obscured by tall, dry grass, looking up into some perfect dimming sky, the grass shifting slightly in the wind.
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SHENYAH:
"Gonna Live" -- The Ghost Wolves
All it took was this video to be completely on board with the music created by this husband-wife duo. I feel roots, the sticky south, swampy rock and roll! This recording is definitely a more tame acoustic version of what I've heard from their debut EP, In Ya Neck! Their sound is definitely more plugged-in, loud, foot-stomping, punk-blues rock. I'm pretty pumped to get a fresh taste with the May 27th release of their first full length album, Man, Woman, Beast on Plowboy Records! Keep an ear out and support this rad-ass band (and their wolf, Winter)!
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ROY:
"I, The Kite" -- Will Johnson
I'm never more than 40 percent certain what Will Johnson is singing about. With his main gig, the alarmingly underrated Texas band Centro-Matic, I can often let the words get lost in the Rock and not worry overmuch what he's actually singing, let alone what he means. But when it's a solo affair, I'm left with just guitar, that captivating voice, and those vexing words. "I, The Kite" comes almost into focus then pulls back from the lens, leaving me with a haunted feeling and a tingling in my fingers. My gut tells me this is exactly the point.
in the end you were left with the strings
and I, the kite
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JOHN:
"Stardust" --Willie Nelson
From the first notes of his guitar, the first vibrations of his voice, this song captures me and fills me with life's timeless feeling. It is a near perfect rendition and Willie's voice is as good as it has ever been on this recording, nuanced, sweet, honest, and emotionally satisfying. When I think of Austin music, Willie is always the first musician I think of.