Listening Parties

The Internet has changed the face of promotion; it’s as dramatic as the change from radio to TV. Welcome to public image 2.0: If you don’t show up a year early, you’ve lost the race already.

photo / Paige Maguire (all rights reserved) Erik Wofford and the Black Angels at Cacophony Recorders 

It’s the biggest spider I’ve ever seen. Its web takes up an entire window pane, and it just wrapped up a caterpillar for lunch. The spider is one of the newest residents at Cacophony Recorders, an East Austin studio run by Erik Wofford and Darwin Smith. Erik tells me that the spider showed up as he was recording the new Black Angels album. Most producers, I think, would’ve swatted it down long ago – but most producers wouldn’t have chosen a studio with gigantic windows looking out onto the Colorado River. And for that matter most producers wouldn’t put their mixing equipment in the middle of the same room the band plays in.

Adam Avramescu takes a look at 2007’s most interesting pop. Find out what you missed.

Fiction, a promising Austin up-and-comer still crafting its own narrative, has just released the five-song You Will Never EP. Adam Avramescu listened to the CD and checked out the band’s last show before a three-month hibernation.

I’m Not There is a film that’s not afraid to confront Bob Dylan’s many myths. Adam Avramescu confronts the film.

Day two of Fun on Repeat Fest kept up Saturday’s momentum.

Let’s just get it out there: Fun Fun Fun Fest was pretty much what its name implied.

I saw a film today, oh boy.

Yeah, they’re cool, but have you heard their older stuff?

He’s built a career on singing about national tragedy. Why was John Vanderslice silent on 9/11?

Advice for the downtrodden: Good music makes you feel smart. Do you feel better about not being a crappy hipster?

It’s no secret that ACL Fest has gone corporate. Like, Huey Lewis corporate. But what’s the real scam?