What to do this weekend: 6/30-7/4
Our weekly suggestions of Austin- and Texas-centric music, by no means exhaustive or complete. For full listings visit http://do512.com/. Thursday, 6/30/16 The 2nd Annual [...]
Blog
Led Zeppelin did not plagiarize “Stairway to Heaven”
So says the legal system. According to The Washington Post: Led Zeppelin’s guitar wizard Jimmy Page and charismatic lead singer Robert Plant both claimed that they hadn’t [...]
Free stuff from Tickemaster! But not free stuff you want.
Hey, remember that whole Ticketmaster fiasco from, like, 13 years ago? Yeah yeah, you remember…from The Washington Post: In 2003, two men purchased tickets to a Wilco [...]
I’m not sure what to make of this
Sean Lennon and Les Claypool are currently collaborating as the Claypool Lennon Delirium, and they’ve got a new album out right now called Monolith of Phobos (2016). [...]
More copyright infringement, this time with Ed Sheeran
Coming on the heels of Led Zeppelin’s upcoming court case over “Stairway to Heaven” is news that the attorney who won the “Blurred Lines” case [...]
Led Zeppelin News 6.6.2016
So, what’s going on with Zeppelin this week? First, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant will be in court next week for the “Stairway to Heaven” lawsuit. If you [...]
Review: Black Pistol Fire @ Emo’s
Black Pistol Fire is a banging two-man band from Austin via Toronto that just released their second (and even better than the first) album Don’t Wake the Riot (2016). [...]
Thomas Fekete
Thomas Fekete passed away Monday. You probably remember him from the excellent indie rock band Surfer Blood, which he left last year after being diagnosed with a rare form of [...]
Review: Florence + The Machine @ the Moody Theater
There’s no way my review of Florence + The Machine‘s most recent ACL Live taping will be unbiased or objective in any way, because Florence Welch is one of the [...]
Review: Beach House w/ The Chamanas @ the Moody Theater
Beach House is by far my favorite dream pop group (which on the surface sounds like an insult, because how many dream pop groups could one person like? Answer: a lot, so [...]
Review: Chvrches w/ Alvvays @ Stubb’s
There was a time I was really into synthpop. And yes, I’m a huge fan of The Human League and Pet Shop Boys; thanks for asking. I also loved the early 2000s synthpop [...]
Train gives us what nobody was asking for
Train has re-recorded the 1969 album Led Zeppelin II and is releasing it at Starbucks. Let’s just let that soak in for a moment. Needless to say, the reaction from both [...]
Review: A Prairie Home Companion @ Bass Concert Hall
I am not ashamed to admit I love A Prairie Home Companion. LOVE IT. I’ve been listening since before I can remember because my parents love it too (we are an NPR family [...]
ACL Festival 2016 Lineup
It’s the happiest day of the year: the official Austin City Limits Festival 2016 lineup announcement! I called Radiohead, like, 2 days ago, people. I have my finger on [...]
What’s going on with Radiohead lately?
A couple of days ago I was on Pitchfork and came across this article about Radiohead erasing their internet presence. I checked out their Twitter, Facebook, Google+, even [...]
A fitting tribute to Prince
There’s really only one way to honor a pop icon like Prince: by re-watching the dramatization of the best Prince story ever told from Dave Chappelle’s late, great [...]
The must-see shows of SXSW 2016
It’s SXSW Music time. There’s too much to see, too many bands, too little time, too many people, not enough drinks, too much good music to pass up. Let’s [...]
Car Seat Headrest is set to blow up
A few weeks ago, All Songs Considered featured a new song from Car Seat Headrest in the New Mix. Bob & Robin were all, “It’s the greatest song you’ll [...]
Welcome to SXSW 2016!
Anyone who knows me knows SXSW isn’t my jam (am I the only music journalist who really doesn’t get excited about big festivals?). It’s mostly because it [...]
Hey, how about those Grammys?
Full disclosure: I didn’t watch the Grammys because I don’t have TV (I’m one of THOSE people). I prefer to just let them happen, then read/watch/listen to the recap the [...]
Farewell to one of the good ones
Journey on, David Bowie. Journey [...]
Jimmy Page’s former home burns down because of Aleister Crowley curse
No, for real though, that place is cursed. On December 23rd, the Boleskine House near Loch Ness in Scotland caught fire and about 60% of the house burned. The [...]
Our culture loves music. Too bad our economy doesn’t value it.
In today’s Washington Post there’s an important article by composer and producer T Bone Burnett. In it, he discusses the cultural, emotional and economic role [...]
Missy Elliott’s got a new video and it is excellent
Marionettes, [...]
The ACL Roundup 2015
I went to the Austin City Limits Festival this year, despite the fact that I am not at all a festival person. But it was my first chance to go to ACL so I wasn’t going to [...]
Farewell LivingLovingMaid, Hello Smack Madness
Hey, have you guys noticed that Led Zeppelin hasn’t actually been a band since about 1980? Yeah, me too. So while this site started as a fanzine for all things Led [...]
Itchy-O at Fantastic Fest
For the past 8 days I’ve been deep into Fantastic Fest — the biggest genre film festival in the US — hosted here in Austin at the Alamo Drafthouse. [...]
Feel free to sing “Happy Birthday” now
If you follow any old-person music news, you’ve probably heard that the copyright to the “Happy Birthday Song” has been in dispute for a while now. If you [...]
Review: Kansas @ the Long Center
A couple of weeks ago I interviewed Kansas in preview of their show at the Long Center here in Austin. Obviously I listened to a bunch of their music in preparation for the [...]
Surviving Festivals: The Austin City Limits Edition
I like music, but not music festivals. THERE I SAID IT; IT’S TRUE. I turned 30 and all of a sudden I was like, “I no longer desire to stand around in the rain all day [...]
Smack Madness 