Case CockrellLive MusicReview

Live music review: Spaceflight Records party at Radio East featured The Black Angels, Nolan Potter and more

For the 5th anniversary of Spaceflight’s opening, the Austin-based music centerpiece threw a party at the year-old Southeast Austin venue Radio/East on December 6 with signees Anastasia Hera and Nolan Potter’s Nightmare Band, featuring a headlining outing from none other than Austin psychedelic mainstays, The Black Angels. 

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AlbumCase CockrellReview

Album review: White Denim record 12 out today is a passionate return to form

Since the release of 2023’s Raze Regal & White Denim Inc. in collaboration with guitarist Regal, who also plays in Austin staple Nolan Potter’s Nightmare Band, fans have been eagerly awaiting the newly California-based musician’s next entry in the long-running indie rock song machine. Fortunately for White Denim loyalists, the time has arrived for the Austin to Los Angeles band to release their 12th full-length album, fittingly titled 12. This newest batch, engineered by the singer and guitarist himself and mixed by former drummer Josh Block and mastered by Dallas-Fort Worth musician Jordan “Jorts” Richardson, is Petralli’s first in his new SoCal studio, and feels like a passionate return to form. 

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Drew DoggettLive MusicReview

Live music review: Interpol Honors 20 Years of Antics with Precision and Nostalgia at Moody Amphitheater

Almost twenty years ago, I downloaded my first song off iTunes. I put $0.99 down for the Interpol lead single Evil that would keep a steady hold on the automatic “Top 25 Most Played” playlist. After obsessively listening to the song, Antics became the first album I downloaded. From there it was The Strokes, Pixies, Modest Mouse, and Sonic Youth. Antics was my gateway into a wider array of sonic landscapes and I am eternally grateful for that 30-second iTunes preview that hooked me.

On November 21, Austin’s Moody Amphitheater hosted a celebration of the 2004 album, where the band delivered a masterful two-hour set to honor the record’s 20th anniversary and provide some fan favorites to boot.

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Case CockrellLive MusicPreview

Live music preview: Holiday Hootenanny with Danny Brown, HEALTH, Of Montreal, Water From Your Eyes set for December 14-15

Resound Presents’ annual winter formal returns this year with a two-day event set to take place on December 15 and 16 with a worthy lineup to ensure Austin music fans send off their year with a bang. The 16-band excursion dubbed the “Holiday Hootenanny,” is an enormous opportunity to see the up-and-coming and well-established talent with many acts that have torn through Austin in 2024 as show favorites as the stacked concert calendar in town has continued to unfold. The event is also co-presented by all-star concert photographer Pooneh Ghana and famed local radio station KUTX. The annual programming will take place at the multi-stage Radio/East, located in South Austin, one of the city’s most exciting new venues

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Case CockrellLive MusicPreview

Live music preview: Wizard Rodeo festival is set for year four with thoughtfully curated eclectic bill

The annual Wizard Rodeo music festival returns to The Long Time Sandlot for another year of folk-oriented fun on December 7. An eclectic lineup put together by San Antonio country rock sensation and Lonesome Rose venue owner Garrett T. Capps, Little Mazarn’s Lindsey Verrill, and The Long Time owner Jesse Ebaugh, Wizard Rodeo promises a celebration that defies all the current era’s normalities with a genre-spanning music lineup, art installations, and multiple stages, (Including one located inside of an onsite boarding house, go figure.) The booked talent will showcase the widespread creativity of Central Texas and beyond.

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Case CockrellLive MusicReview

Live music review: King Gizzard played marathon three hour set at Germania Amphitheater

The trek out to Austin’s Circuit of the Americas racetrack where Germania Amphitheater is located is a daunting one. From taking in an hour of traffic, ludicrous drink prices, and baffling ticket expenditures, the Formula 1 Racing spot has most Austin music fans disinterested in driving out to the sticks to experience its monstrosity. (17 miles outside of the downtown area to be exact.) In last Friday night’s case, fans of a certain Australian band made an exception.

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Amanda QuraishiPremiereSong

Song Premiere: Starflake releases single Cuando Tomas (In My Head Again) today

Now, O’Brien and his long-time collaborative compadres are back with a new song titled “Cuando Tomas (In My Head Again)” and it does not disappoint. Once again O’Brien (vocals, bass, guitar, Roland JX-8P, Wurlitzer) is joined by Zac Catanzaro (drums) and Juan Alfredo Ríos (electronic percussion), delivering a track that swings like a cosmogonic pendulum between the ethereal and the funky.

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Greg AckermanLive MusicReview

Live music review: Fastball played Scoot Inn in support of their new album Sonic Ranch

Fast forward to last week’s show at Scoot Inn on the East Side of the Live Music Capital when fans gathered to hear the band introduce their latest effort, Sonic Ranch. What may surprise fans who haven’t kept up with group, is this record is quite good. If you were at Scoot Inn on Thursday last week, you saw the pride on the faces of bandleaders, Tony Scalzo and Miles Zuniga as they introduced their new songs. They have every right to be proud.

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Greg AckermanLive MusicPreview

Live music preview: The Bright Light Social Hour to play Evermore benefit at Radio East November 17

On the heels of Rocktober, as the holidays approach and touring shows become more infrequent, the live music focus in Austin turns towards local acts. Local lineups appear at the Armadillo Christmas Bazar, holiday themed events such at The Last Walz and occasionally worthwhile benefit concerts like the Love is Evermore event taking place at Radio East a week from today on November 17 at Radio East with The Bright Light Social Hour headlining their only Austin Fall performance with Parker Woodland and longtime Austin musician, Oliver Steck’s Squirrel Show. Evermore is a bereavement advocacy group that works on policy initiatives and provides resources to the public. The group is dedicated to making the world a more livable place for bereaved people.

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Case CockrellLive MusicReview

Live music review: Day 3 and 4 of Levitation wrapped with standout performances by The Sword, Wine Lips and more

Levitation Festival 2024 soared into the weekend with its expected triumphant intent. Every Halloween weekend, fest producers The Black Angels and show runner Rob Fitzpatrick never miss the mark in serving music fans both the hot up and comers and the legacy acts that paved the way for those new acts to take form. The Cosmic Clash team witnessed the annual extravaganza from its Thursday kickoff until the closing moments and picked out our favorite highlights that lit up the weekend to make up one of Levitation’s most landmark years yet. With a multi-venue format that requires fans to jump from show to show to get the most out of their experience, there isn’t a shortage of music to see, which makes a statement for both the robustness and openness of the Austin music sphere.

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Brian HillsmanLive MusicReview

Live music review: Levitation Halloween Kickoff at Hotel Vegas with Osees and Kairos Creature Club

Halloween night 2024, marked the opening evening of Levitation Festival this year.  With artists from around the globe opening on stages at venues throughout Austin, Kairos Creature Club and Osees presented a Halloween kickoff at East Sixth’s Hotel Vegas. It was a show that would surely deliver. Each year, Osees make their way to Austin for a four-night residency at East Austin live music hub. And every year, they put on versatile sets that exceed the expectations of music fans. Halloween night last Thursday was no exception.

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