3 posts tagged “asobi seksu”
As previously mentioned, I had the wonderful chance to see Faceless Werewolves/Asobi Seksu/Mates of State at Emo's in Austin, TX this past Sunday night. It was my first time at Emo's as well as my fist time see all three groups live.
Of the three, this was also the first time I heard music from the Faceless Werewolves. They are a local Austin trio. These guys, well, one guy, two girls were a lot of fun and I enjoyed their music. Doing a search, I could've seen them at SXSW 2006. Shame on me. Here's the band's info page with website link and free track to download. Trying to take photos of them proved to be difficult, twofold. All of the tall dudes standing in front of me didn't help. Guitar player, Baldomero Valdez's constant, energetic, jumping around the stage, as if he were a werewolf, didn't help much either. Watching Baldomero, it's evident he's channeling the spirits of guitar players who've come before him. What's not to love in a female drummer such as Erica Barton, thrashing about with a smile on her face. Oddly enough, it's Kelsey Wickliffe, a hot female guitar player, who is the most controlled and restrained among the three. Here's a review of their current album from local Austin paper The Austin Chronicle. This Austin360 article sheds some light on the group. Here's more tracks to download from a 2001006 live performance at KVRX 91.7FM in Austin, TX.
Next up was Asobi Seksu. Now here's an example of how the Internet and podcasts work. I discovered Asobi Seksu thanks to KEXP 90.3FM and several of their podcast. Shortly after hearing their music, I just had to buy their current album, Citrus. I like the orange tint of the jewel case and how the CD label is designed to look like old school vinyl. Their indie music is so good, you almost don't realize at first that frontwoman, Yuki, is singing songs in both Japanese and English. Taking photos of this group was a little bit easier...except for the fact that Haji, bass player, was constantly standing in shadow. The lighting on that side of the stage could never catch him. I really like this group and look forward to seeing them play again. Here's a live performance 23 minute podcast from online radio station WOXY, from this past October.
Saving the best of last. The Mates of State finally took the stage. As it turned out, this was their final performance for their American tour. This husband and wife duo proves that it takes two make a thing alright. You can tell these two are still in love as they smiled, joked, and laughed with each other and everybody at Emo's. It was sort of difficult to take photos. The problem being, well, it's two people, one sitting behind drums and the other on keyboards. Never the less, I fired away. This was definitely an awesome set, magical if you will. Mates of State were groovin' off the energy coming from the Austin crowd and told us, rather early, we were due for an encore. They got done, dashed off the stage, and just thirty seconds later, they we're back. They even brought out Asobi Seksu to help out with a couple more songs. The crowd, including me, went nuts. They all finished off with a cover of Kenny Loggin's "Danny's Song". Yes, you read right. And let me tell you, it was a blast.
Sunday, I was up in Austin. First things first, picking up comic books before the store closes. Next I needed to get some food. I work nights and therefore wake up during the night to start my day. Even on my days off, I tend to stick to this routine. Sunday's breakfast would be one of my favorites I hadn't eaten in some time. This meal, as you can see, is from the restaurant called Culver's in Austin, TX. This particular Culver's is the actual restaurant that double as the fictional "Mickey's" in the movie Fast Food Nation, directed by Richard Linklater who also lives in Austin, TX. Culver's is also one of director Guillermo del Toro's favorite places to eat whenever he's in Austin
After I got done eating, I was gonna kill a hour over at Waterloo Records. After a couple mintues in the store I was told they were closing early. Oh crap. It wasn't a total loss. I picked up the current album from The Gossip. Much thanks go out to fellow Voxer Jason on a recent post about this great Indie group. I still needed to waste time. So I aimlessly wandered around at a Barne's & Noble. The main event for the evening was seeing Faceless Werewolves/Asobi Seksu/Mates of State at Emo's. I'll break that down in a separate post.
By the time it was all over and done with, I need food again. Dinner would be at Magnolia Cafe. I drove out to the west side of Austin and pulled into the little parking lot. I noticed there were only a couple other customers at this great 24 hour cafe. I say great because you can order breakfast around the clock. I order me coffee (black) and the #11 The Economical.
So, it's early Monday morning as I type this. I'm watching the awesome indie flick The Station Agent, again. I highly recommend this movie.
I originally wasn't planing on doing anything this past Sunday. But after I got home from work in the morning, I figured, what the hell. Spending an evening in Austin, you know I love it. I jumped online and quickly made up my itinerary. I slept for about six hours and even though this caused me to feel a little grumpy, I forced myself out of bed. I shot out of the house and stopped off to gas up. I also grab my usual bottle of water and peanut butter wafer snack thingie.
I get into Austin and head up town to pick up this past Wednesday's comic books. Next, I head south to the Alamo Drafthouse Lamar and buy a ticket to see For Your Consideration. Only then do I realize it doesn't start for another hour. Damnit. Rather than sit around, I take a short drive down the street to Waterloo Records. Amazingly, I don't buy any CDs. Instead I pick up the newest issue of Filter magazine. It comes with a CD, so there you go. While I'm there, I snag tickets for the upcoming December shows for Faceless Werewolves/Asobi Seksu/Mates of State at Emo's and Ratatat/The Faint at La Zona Rosa.
Mental note: Now that I've been blogging on Vox for the past month, there's a few recent live shows I need to make entries for.
Time to get back to the Drafthouse. I order a small Dr. Pepper and some good 'ol chips & queso (no photo). As for the movie, For Your Consideration just didn't work for me. It just seems like Christopher Guest and company play the level of humor too safe. Several of the actors in the ensemble cast were also part of the late and great TV show, Arrested Development. That was an Emmy award winning series on primetime network television with writers who weren't afraid to go for it. Maybe Borat and Jackass have spoiled me. I don't mean to be hatin' so let's move on.
The movie is done and I race back across the river to the Alamo Drafthouse Downtown location. I settle down for a special treat. I place my order for an ice tea and a Porky's Pepperoni pizza (no photo). Last night's live event was the second Sound Seen VJ competition in Austin, TX. In short, DJs take music loops and video clips and use computer software to mix both elements together, live on stage. It was pretty damn cool. Midway through, Alamo Drafthouse owner, Tim League got up to show off his skills. Having only a week to work with the software, I'm afraid to say Tim got blown away by the other DJs. Maybe he'll get them at the third one that's gonna happen in early 2007.
I get home and I fire up the Intel MacBook, jump online and make my usual rounds across the Internet. One of the must get done, is purchasing a ticket to catch Joanna Newsom at the The Parish in mid December. The last thing to due before bed, is finishing this post.
Done and done.
