When you are in the throes of mama-hood, it’s easy to forget that we live in the Live Music Capital of the World. It’s easy to forget how music can tell a story, lift you up and take you to a different place. You don’t necessarily have to go downtown, get super dressed up or break the bank. Plus, we gotta get ready for ACL next month, right?
Did we convince you? Great! Now, you just need some ideas of where to go. That’s why we’ve done the hard work for you. We’ve studied the listings, listened to the bands and have ten shows (plus one, because it was so hard to choose) we recommend for this month. Keep in mind that some shows might sell out, so check the links before heading out. Have a blast!
Featured Event: Purity Ring, September 5th, Austin Music Hall
After sixty-five fortnights, Purity Ring have returned with their second album, Another Eternity. The pair ventured home to the frozen industrial landscapes of their birthplace Edmonton, Alberta to document much of what was to become the album. For the first time, vocalist Megan James and producer Corin Roddick were able to create a record in the same room.
Purity Ring’s first album, Shrines, was recorded separately in Montreal and Halifax, where Corin and Megan were respectively living at the time. Despite being a thousand kilometers apart and barely talking, Shrines was a cohesive, beguiling and wholly unique universe of what the band called ‘Future Pop’. At the center of the amniotic swirl of Shrines was an undeniable nucleus of crystalline pop which presciently suggested both indie and popular music to come. Critics were psyched: ‘Best New Music’ from Pitchfork and praise from The New York Times, Rolling Stone, and NPR, among others. They quickly amassed a rabid fanbase, toured relentlessly and sold out shows worldwide.
On Another Eternity, Purity Ring trade the gorgeously claustrophobic atmospheres of Shrines for wide-open, muscular vistas of sound and luminous, up-front vocals. Crafting a lyrical universe of “sweat and dreams” populated by seacastles, rattling spines, and weeping drawers, Megan James wields concrete imagery and metaphor with increasingly direct, startling resonance. Corin Roddick’s gifts for evocative melody remain intact, but his drum work and use of space have been completely reforged: immaculately built and focused in service of the song.
Listen to tracks from Another Eternity here. For more information about the show, click here.
Austin Music Mama September 2015 Roundup
9/12 |
Seattle’s Midday Veil will release their new album, This Wilderness, on September 11. The band has been around since the late-’00s, having transformed from more experimental beginnings into a fully-formed synth-psych being that incorporates elements of krautrock, electro-disco and baroque pop. A good entry point is “Empire is No More“. Doors open at 9pm for this show at Sidewinder (formerly Red7). Troller and Hidden Ritual open. Tickets are $9 minors and $7 for 21+. |
9/15 |
Austin-based teen pop “it” band Charlie Belle is releasing a new EP, I Don’t Want to Be Alone, on September 18. “Get to Know” is one of the songs on the EP. The band, which is comprised of songwriter, vocalist and guitarist Jendayi Bonds and brother and vocalist, Gyasi Bonds (yes, they are siblings), received well-deserved praise for its latest EP which was reminiscent “alterna-pop” of the 90s. Doors open at 8pm for this all ages show at Stubb’s (indoors). Each ticket purchased includes a free CD copy of the upcoming EP. General admission is $7 plus fees. |
9/16 |
Diet Cig is a pop rock band from New Paltz, NY, fronted by Alex Luciano with Noah Bowman of Earl Boykins (Forged Artifacts) on drums. The five songs on the debut Over Easy EP, written by Alex in the comfort of her bedroom, capture the innocence of adolescence and infatuation. You can listen to the band’s music on Soundcloud. Doors open at 10pm for this all ages show inside at the Mohawk. Tickets are $10 and Pleasure Venom opens. |
9/17 |
Beats Antique forges a curious alliance between Middle Eastern traditions and potent West Coast circus, underground hip hop, breakbeat brass band, downtempo, glitch and dubstep. Stream the band’s music here. The band stops at Emo’s on its tour for an all ages show. Doors open at 8pm, and Lyrics Born opens. Tickets are $10 plus fees. |
9/18 |
The Neighborhood‘s new single and album arrive as worthy follow-ups to their breakout debut album I Love You, and the band’s influential, double-platinum hit single “Sweater Weather,” which ruled radio and video platforms for months with one of the longest and most successful runs of 2013 along with follow-up single “Afraid,” which reached the top 5 at Alternative Radio. The newest release is “R.I.P. 2 My Youth.” The band plays at Stubb’s outside with Bad Suns and Hunny. Doors open at 7pm for this all ages show. Tickets are $32 plus fees. |
9/20 |
The Indigo Girls need no introduction, unless you were living under a rock in the 90s. Emily and Amy released their sixteenth album on June 2nd, One Lost Day. Doors for this show at the Paramount are at 6pm and the show begins at 7pm. Kristy Lee opens. Tickets are $35+. |
9/22 |
Catfish & the Bottlemen are a British rock band quartet with incredibly catchy idie rock songs. You might have heard “Cocoon” on the radio from the band’s 2014 debut album, The Balcony. The band plays the 101X Birthday Concert Series with Jamie N. Commons at Emo’s. Doors open at 7pm for this all ages show. Tickets are $17 plus fees. |
9/23 |
Civil Twilight brings a perfect blend of atmospheric sound and hazy storytelling that transports you to another place. Although Steven McKellar, his brother Andrew and Richard Wouters hail from South Africa, their sound is incredibly epic and their powerful song “Letters From The Sky” takes you to a time where it’s not quite daylight and not quite darkness. You can stream the band’s music here. The band plays the Parish, and doors open at 7pm for this all ages show. Tickets are $13 plus fees. |
9/24 |
If you are a fan of EDM, you probably already know about Zedd. Madeon and Alex Metric join the Grammy-award-winning performer on the True Colors tour, which makes a stop at the Austin360 Amphitheater. Check out Madeon’s performance of “Pay No Mind” to get a sense of what the show will be like. Ages 17+ only. Gates open at 6:30pm and the show starts at 7:30pm. Tickets start at $42. |
9/25 |
We interviewed MS MR before the band played at the 2013 ACL Festival (read the article here). This year, the duo of Lizzy Plapinger and Max Hershenow are toruing in support of their highly-anticipated sophomore album, How Does It Feel, which came out on July 17th. Listen to an acoustic version of “Wrong Victory” off the album here. Circa Waves and Crater open for this all ages show at Emo’s. Doors are at 7pm and tickets are $25 plus fees. One dollar from each ticket goes to the Third Wave Fund, the only national group that supports and strengthens youth-led gender justice activism. |
You might also be interested in checking out KGSR’s Unplugged at the Grove music series, which starts on April 9th and runs through mid-September.
[author] [author_image timthumb=’on’]http://www.livemom.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Nicole-Basham-Sara-Marzani-Photography-livemom.jpg[/author_image] [author_info]A native Austinite and soccer-playing mom, Nicole uses her 9-year-old son as an excuse to rediscover her hometown through his eyes. In Thoreau’s words, her mission is to “suck out all the marrow of life”, or in her son’s words, to cultivate in him a love of “advenchers”.[/author_info] [/author]
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