Author: Amanda Quraishi

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AlbumAmanda QuraishiReview

Album Review: Savannah Red’s Christmas Album is Your New Holiday Classic

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At some point after Halloween and before Thanksgiving, we begin to detect familiar melodies in the background while we’re at the grocery store or waiting in a doctor’s office. By the time December rolls around, the holiday music is in full effect. Which might not be so bad except that out of the decades of popular Christmas music available, there seems to be only a handful of Christmas songs that get played ad nauseam. By the time Christmas is over, even the most ardent Mariah Carey fan needs a break. Which exactly is why A Savannah Red Friends & Family Christmas should be on tap for all your holiday festivities this year

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Amanda QuraishiPremiereSong

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

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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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Flakefest Vol 1 2024
Amanda QuraishiLive MusicReview

Live Music Review: Flakefest Vol. 1 defied expectations at Mohawk June 28

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Nowhere could this phenomenon be better illustrated than at FLAKEFEST Vol. 1 on Friday, June 28, 2024 at Mohawk. Two bands – Como Las Movies and Starflake – took to the stage along with a handful of other local music luminaries and brought us an evening of homegrown, Latin-infused, experimental music that defies expectations and crushes definitions.

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Amanda QuraishiPremiereSong

Song Premiere: Starflake Has Landed With Single NuBooty

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Instead, O’Brien is running head-first into a brand new project – an experimental tropi-punk ensemble called Starflake. He is joined by two of the hardest working musicians in the Austin music scene, drummer Zac Catanzaro (Walker Lukens, Song Confessional) and percussionist Juan Alfredo Ríos (Como Las Movies, Easy Compadre!), both also members of The Bright Light Social Hour; as well as bassists/synth-psychonauts Ben Nelson (Molly Burch, A. Sinclair) and Alex Holeman (Chroma Phase).

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The Bright Light Social Hour at Scoot Inn
Amanda QuraishiLive MusicReview

Live Music Review: The Bright Light Social Hour headlined stellar Scoot Inn performance last Saturday

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The band played Austin for a few SXSW-adjacent shows this spring and now they’re back on the road, taking Emergency Leisure eastward – but not before one more local show at Austin’s Scoot Inn on Saturday, April 13. Local favs The Mammoths opened early, followed by Mo Lowda & the Humble who are scheduled to continue on tour with The Bright Light Social Hour through the end of spring. By the time Mo Lowda was done vibing, the crowd was primed and the mood shifted in anticipation. 

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The Bright Light Social Hour
Amanda QuraishiLiveLive Music

Live Music Review: The Bright Light Social Hour Works Magic at Mohawk

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The Bright Light Social Hour is currently on tour following the release of their new LP, Emergency Leisure but the band made a pitstop in their hometown last Saturday night, playing The Mohawk before a throng of loyal, exuberant fans. 

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Love in Exile
Amanda QuraishiLiveLive Music

Live Music Review: Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer and Shahzad Ismaily Perform Love in Exile at Bass Concert Hall

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On the evening of Friday, September 29 2023, Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer and Shahzad Ismaily took to the stage at Bass Concert Hall to perform their spellbinding collaborative project Love in Exile. What transpired over the course of the next hour was, in every sense of the word, art. 

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Semihelix Downstream
Amanda QuraishiPremiere

Video premiere: Semihelix released dreamy new single Downstream Friday

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Semihelix is back with a brand new single “Downstream” (Hen House Studios), a shoegaze anthem that perfectly captures the late summer vibe and invites us all to take a deep breath and let shit go. Band members Geannie Friedman (guitar/vocals), Mikey Cota (bass) and Valdemar Barrera (drums/vocals) bring their signature sound to this anthem about going through the fire and opening ourselves up to a better, more chill way of being.

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AlbumAmanda QuraishiReview

Album review: The Bright Light Social Hour’s new record Emergency Leisure is here to cure what ails us

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Fans of The Bright Light Social Hour have been waiting patiently for their new album, Emergency Leisure (Escondido Sound) to drop ever since it was announced earlier this spring. It’s been three years since the release of their last LP, Jude Vol. II, and a lot has changed with the band since then. 

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