An album featuring the Black Keys and some of the biggest names in hip-hop will be released on November 27 under the name Blakroc. The project sports contributions from Jim Jones, Mos Def, Q-Tip, RZA, Raekwon, Ludacris, Pharoahe Monch, NOE, Nicole Wray, Billy Danze and the late Ol' Dirty Bastard. Sessions got underway in early summer in Brooklyn, N.Y., with Mos Def's songs among the first put to tape.

Standout moments include the album opening blues-banger featuring ODB, both tracks with Jim Jones, and the Pharoahe Monch & RZA one-two punch on "Dollaz & Sense." There's good production throughout, and never an "oh no they didn't" moment on any of the album's 11 tracks. The Observer digs it to the tune of four stars. A video teaser featuring in-studio footage is now live at blakroc.com.

• Blakroc - "Dollaz & Sense" (feat. Pharoahe Monch & RZA)
• www.blakroc.com
  

Festival goers were greeted by by warm temperatures Saturday, the first day of the 4th annual Fun Fun Fun Fest. Something notable and worth mentioning was the layout of the Orange and Black Stages. A huge platform, divided equally into halves expedited setup time between acts.

The first act we caught was the Royal Bangs, a poppy indie orchestration permeated by electro beats. The quintet who hails from Knoxville, Tennessee recorded their full-length debut “We Breed Champions,” independently and released on Audio Eagle records May of last year. Their fun songs had hipsters bobbing their heads even before indie rockers Crystal Antlers played on the opposite side of the shared platform.

We had the opportunity to sit down with Vega and Neon Indian front man Alan Palomo and ask him a few questions, here’s what he had to say:

CC: How was Neon Indian conceived?

AP: The actual conception started with the song “I Should Have Taken Acid with You.” I had this intense dream where I had taken this potent psychedelic dream and right when it was kicking in, I woke up and actually had this very disorienting morning, so I texted Alicia about it and she was like ‘do you want to take some acid.’ So we set some time aside to do so, although I wasn't able to because I was up in Dallas mixing somebody’s records so I wasn’t able to come down and I felt really bad about it so a month later I wrote this tongue-in-cheek song but still sincere apology that was based on this similar sensibilities we shared.

CC: What is the origin of the name?

AP: It’s the only band name I can’t take credit for. It’s actually kind of an inside joke from high school. Shortly after graduating, I started the band Ghosthustler and my long time friend Alicia in mock retaliation created a band called “Neon Indian.” She made this Myspace page which sat there for years because she doesn’t know how to play any instruments. Given that much of the subject matter of Psychic Chasms hearts back to that time, it makes perfect sense to name it after the pretend band that never actually happened.

CC: And what influences your musical style of writing?

AP: Around the time I wrote the whole album, it was such a weird introspective time because I moved to Austin and I didn’t really have too many friends or as many as I thought I did and I didn’t have a car so I mainly just spent my time indoors and it threw me through this self-reflective loop. Through that stir-craziness, it served as a weird audio documentary or soundtrack to these memories that are buried in experience. I kind of wanted to translate that into music and that’s why it has these buried sensations, sounds are constantly changing in the song, but musically I would say it would be influenced by a lot of weird child-hood pop songs.

CC: So what happened to the secret show you guys were playing tonight?

AP: Aw man, the thing is we had a show commitment for the rest of the tour in Lubbock, which is an intensely long drive. So unfortunately, it was just a logistical nightmare to play the show, do that little radio thing and drive to Lubbock. It sucks because we really want to the play the show.

One of the highlights of the Saturday evening was New York post-hardcore rockband Les Savy Fav. The set began with “The Equestrian” off 2007 release Let’s Stay Friends. Front man Tim Harrington emerged in a sea monster or “Creature from the Black Lagoon”-esque metallic costume. Less than a minute of commencing, he peeled off the mask to reveal a black metal fence design painted on his face. He sang a few more lines before entering the crowd, where he was greeted enthusiastically by fans. By the third song, Harrington had rubbed fake blood on his torso and smeared brown paint on his back and lower end which could have suggested a result of an upset stomach.

His entertaining antics drew cheers, laughs and a lot of dropped jaws. At one point he tried to take the camera from a videographer, from whom he found much resistance. After the attempt, he clumsily crawled atop the crowd where he proceeded to stick his tongue down an audience-member’s throat. A rendition of the Silver Jew’s “Punks in Beerlight” followed. Towards the end of the show, Harrington brought out a 10 foot ladder which was initially placed in the crowd and somehow shifted into a flat walking plank. A member of the audience joined Harrington and licked his sweaty protruding stomach---jaws dropped and many gagged.

The evening ended with alternative rockers The Jesus Lizard on the Black Stage. Upon getting on stage lead singer David Yow greeted fans with a snarky “Hello Dallas!” before diving head first into the crowd. Louder than last week’s Dinosaur Jr.’s show, we wished we had brought earplugs and feared for our lives as a mosh pit loomed and beer cans flew every which way.

Here's a new video from Sunset, this one for "Rivers Of Babylon" from their new album Gold Dissolves to Gray. This is the fourth full length from Sunset in two years, due to be released on November 24 via Autobus Recs. Bill Baird posted a bit of info about the album on Sunset's Blogtime:

"Also, we have a new album coming out November 24th! "Gold Dissolves to Gray," which was just called a "beauty of an album" (Some Velvet Blog), is available on 180gram lp with c.d. inserted. Also available as a c.d. with special screen-printed cover. Both the c.d. and l.p. are available in a limited edition of 500. Did I mention the c.d. looks really cool under a black light? Yes, it does.

It's somewhat of a departure for me. Less psychedelic, maybe. Bringing forth certain folk and country elements that had previously remained under the surface. Safe to say, this record will be unique in the Sunset catalog. The next release, fairly near completion, takes things in a whole other direction."

Wednesday 11/11:

• Pretty Lights, Alex B, Gramatik at La Zona Rosa
• Pretty Lights - "Hot Like Sauce"

Thursday 11/12:

• Thao & the Get Down Stay Down at the Mohawk

Friday 11/13:

• Elvis Perkins in Dearland, AA Bondy at the Parish - Tix
• All My Friends (LCD Soundsystem tribute) at Beauty Bar
  
• Mastodon, High on Fire, Dethklok at the Austin Music Hall
• Monsters of Folk (Conor Oberst, Jim James, M. Ward and Mike Mogis) at Stubb's

Saturday 11/14:

• ATX Converge with White White Lights and more at Mohawk
• Car Stereo (Wars) at the Highball
• Son Volt, Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit at Antones

Sunday 11/15:

• El Perro Del Mar at End of an Ear - 3pm
• El Perro Del Mar - "I Can't Talk About It"
  
• Peter Bjorn and John, El Perro Del Mar at La Zona Rosa
• Japanther at Red 7

First off, RIP Jerry Fuchs. I was saddened to hear of his tragic passing yesterday.

Second, LCD Soundsystem has decided to give away this new tune for free. “Bye Bye Bayou” is the first new music from LCD Soundsystem since the release of Sound of Silver, and the track is a cover of an Alan Vega song from his 1981 debut album. You can pick it up on vinyl right here. LCD’s upcoming third album will be released in March 2010.

Third, there's an LCD Soundsystem tribute band playing in Austin on Friday. They're called All My Friends, and they will be playing at Beauty Bar along with Prince Klassen.

• LCD Soundsystem - “Bye Bye Bayou”
• lcdsoundsystem.com

Washed Out is the one-man musical project of Ernest Greene, who creates dreamy, hazy, lo-fi dream-pop in his parent's home in the rural Georgia town where he grew up. He combines drunken synthesizers with all sorts of layered effects, mixing danceable beats and melodies with an 80s throwback feel. It kind of sounds like Ducktails and Neon Indian had a baby.

Washed Out has released a couple of limited-run EPs via Mexican Summer and Mirror Universe, but those songs will eventually be put out on a larger scale. He says he has no plans to go out on tour, but is thinking of doing SXSW next year. Get your hands on the Life of Leisure EP, every song is a hit.

• Washed Out - "New Theory"
• Washed Out - "You'll See It"
  
• myspace.com/thebabeinthewoods

We couldn't be more excited to know that we will be able to spend the weekend soaking up the sights and sounds of Fun Fun Fun Fest at Waterloo Park. Tickets are still available, the weather is going to be perfect, and this might be the best lineup in the festival's brief history. We will have more coverage after the smoke clears, but for now here are our band picks for each day, along with info on a few after parties. The full festival schedule is here.

Mr Curiosity picks:

Saturday:

• Crystal Antlers
• Times New Viking
• Vega
• The Sword
• Dead Confederate
  
• DEATH
• Neon Indian
  
• The Cool Kids
  
• Ratatat
• The Pharcyde

Sunday:

• Fuck Buttons
  
• Atlas Sound
  
• Why?
• Broadcast
• The Strange Boys
  
• HEALTH
• Crystal Castles
  
• Danzig

Ashley Cass picks:

Saturday:

• Melt Banana
• DEATH
• Neon Indian
• Yeasayer
• The Cool Kids
• Les Savy Fav
• Jesus Lizard
• Destroyer

Sunday:

• Atlas Sound
• Mission of Burma
• Crystal Castles
• Danzig
• Of Montreal

Cherrypeel's Combo Plate

The Hood Internet, Neiliyo, Prepmode, and more

Location: Scoot Inn

RSVP - $5/$8 at the door

Fu Manchu, Lions, Fucked Up(DJ set), and more

Location: Red 7

$10 Tickets

Saturday:

Deadmau5, Toddy B, Burns

Location: Stubb's

$20 Tickets

The Cool Kids (DJ set), DJ Mel, and more

Location: Beauty Bar

Before 10pm - $5/After 10pm - $10

The Octopus Project, Voxtrot, and more

Location: The Mohawk

$15 Tickets

Sunday:

Trail of Dead, Dark Meat, and more

Location: The Mohawk

$15 Tickets

In the beginning, Le Loup was simply the bedroom project of Sam Simkoff. The debut Le Loup album arrived in 2007 and consisted of Simkoff handling all of the instrumental duties himself, blending keyboard loops with banjo, folk harmonies, percussion, and computerized effects. The album was released via Hardly Art, the new label started by Sub Pop founder Jonathan Poneman, and received positive reviews like this one from Pitchfork.

Le Loup has since evolved into a seven-piece band, with each member contributing vocals and songwriting credits. The second album, Family, finds the middle ground between tribal rock, freak folk, and sonic experimentation. Everybody in the live band sings, and all instruments work together to create a sound that is heavily laden with intricate patterns and swells, edging towards dramatic, sweeping movements. The group has drawn comparisons to the likes of Animal Collective and Yeasayer.

• Le Loup - "Forgive Me"
  
• Le Loup - "We Are Gods! We Are Wolves!"
  
• leloupmusic.net

Le Loup will be performing in Austin tonight at the Mohawk, after playing a 5pm in-store at Waterloo Records. Opening the show at Mohawk will be Zorch, a local drums and keys duo who make experimental rock using Wurlitzer, Moog, Omnichord, frenetic drumming and some loud amps. They are influenced by the likes of Lightning Bolt, Death From Above 1979, Battles, and HEALTH. Here's two of their demo tracks:

• Zorch - "Moris the Loris"
  
• Zorch - "Zut Alore!"
• zzoorrcchh.com
  

In less than a week from now, Fun Fun Fun Fest or the “Greatest. Festival. Ever,” as dubbed by credible music blog the Brooklyn Vegan will take over Waterloo Park. The ultra cool hipster’s wet dream features acts such as Crystal Castles, Of Montreal, Ratatat, Cool Kids, HEALTH, Atlas Sound and Les Savy Fav to name a few. This year’s highlights include Danzig, formerly of the Misfits, recently reunited 1970’s Detroit punk rock band DEATH and alternative rockers The Jesus Lizard, who originally formed in Austin back in the 80’s.

The fourth annual music fest which encompasses the notable genres of indie rock, punk, and hip hop has hosted performers Murder City Devils, Bad Brains, Dan Deacon, Cadence Weapon, MGMT and Atmosphere in the past. The brainchild of former Emo’s talent booker Graham Williams was actually conceived by accident. “I was booking for the club one weekend and a bunch of tours that were hitting Austin at the same time. We couldn’t accommodate them and neither could any other club in town it seemed, so I teamed up with my friends at Alamo Drafthouse, whom I'd done a few events at Waterloo Park with, and we rented the park to have a show...more bands were added and it ended up being a fest by default,” said Williams.

Since its beginning in 2006, the fest has added comedy, a fourth stage and tripled in artist count, bringing the amount close to 90. Also involved in the project are James Moody, owner of the Mohawk and Michael Terrazas of Club DeVille who are also partners in Transmission Entertainment, a local music booking and promotions company. The trio met while Williams was trying to find a venue for a band that wouldn’t play Emo’s. He called around to a few places, including the Mohawk and the dialogue with Moody and Terrazas (who is also an investor in Mohawk) just grew from there.

“The partners of Fun Fun Fun Fest are me, Graham and Michael, but we involve everyone, from our stage managers and our bookers Joe, Rosa and Brendan, our sponsor guy---we all vote and talk about bands that would be good. Graham is sort of the final say so because he started it. He’s the founder, but we all work together,” said Moody. Transmission Entertainment was formed almost out of necessity, because the progressive underground music market wasn’t being serviced. “We started it as a market need for local bands and up-in-coming bands,” said Moody. “We wanted to service that market of really talented struggling musicians and no one was really doing it and that’s how we started.”

Before making his home Austin eight years ago, Moody resided in 15 cities. “My dad was in the Air Force and he kind of dragged me all over the world... Germany, Nebraska, South Dakota, California ( a couple times), four different places in Louisiana, lived in Seattle,” he said. Like Williams, Moody also began his music career route by booking gigs for a club in Ruston, Louisiana. “The owner kinda said, “what are the kids listening too?” so I booked some what they called at the time “alternative,” but we don’t use that term anymore.”

We had the chance to ask both Williams and Moody a couple of questions about the festival and here’s what they had to say:

CC: What is your future vision for FFFFEST?

GW: I don't know… the concept has to stay the same from the style of music we book and the mix of genres--the whole scene within a scene concept. I could see it growing a bit, but I know it'll never be TOO big...and I don't want it to be.

JM: To be great at the middle, like to be a solid-medium sized fest. We don’t ever want to be a sort of big, huge fest, because it’s already been done and it’s being done well. We want to try to hold on, as closely as we can to that intimate experience of seeing a really big and talented band in a relatively small environment.

CC: What are some of the highlights this year, which acts are you looking forward to the most?

GW: Man, that's tough. I don't mean to pat myself on the back to hard, but this year is pretty fucking awesome. I mean there are so many bands I want to watch and so many playing at the same time...off the top of my head: The Jesus Lizard, Gorilla Biscuits, Destroyer, Crystal Castles, Pharcyde, GZA, DEATH, Mika Miko, Torche, Les Savy Fav, Buraka Som Sistema, etc, etc.... I'd say 75% of the acts I want to watch this year.

JM: Oh Danzig for me, just because I grew up with Misfits. Jesus Lizard getting back together is huge because David Yow is crazy and always puts on an insane show. Les Savy Fav, Pharcyde and one of the biggest stories, DEATH.

CC: How do you remain energetic throughout the weekend?

GW: I eat healthy; I try and get some sleep. I don't drink, so that helps. It's tough, because aside from all the set up and running the show, we also have all these big after parties at night during the festival, so we're out super late every night too and then back down there crack of dawn.

JM: I use a lot of tools, things like booze, Red Bull, gum, friends, popcorn, candy, coffee… Amongst all those things I tend to make it through plus we work all year for this, so the adrenalin alone gets me through the weekend, but I always crash real hard by the time Monday rolls around.

CC: Any advice for people who aspire to work in the music scene?

GW: You have to do it because you love it or want to do it, never because you think you'll make a ton of money. It's like playing music, being an artist, etc… if you do it right and because you want to do it and it's something you believe in, it usually works out. I think too many people go into it thinking it's going to be like any other job, but it’s not.

JM: You gotta fight for it; it’s a labor of love. You may never make money in it, but that’s not what it’s about. Those that make money in it are very few; but if you can make just enough money in it to make a decent living and pay your rent, then your blessed and lucky and that’s what you should fight for being able to do what you love and live in a place like Austin… those are my goals. Stay committed to it and it’ll happen, but also, make sure your goals are more around the music than around the business… then you’ll probably do well.

CC: What's currently rotating in your CD player? (What are you listening to?)

GW: I've been listening to DEATH a lot and that new Phoenix is the jam too. Been playing Negative Approach on my iPod a lot since they're playing a FFF afterparty and it's got me in the mood. And for some reason I've noticed me playing "Tim" by the Replacements a bunch these past few weeks. Not sure why, but it's been on regular rotation and all that. The Burn 7" I've played a good amt lately for some reason as well. The new YYY’s is underrated… Oh yeah, that Mayer Hawthorne record is really good too.

JM: I’ve been listening to Fugazi, School of Seven Bells…. The new Dinosaur Jr. is amazing. I’ve been listening to the Junior Boys, Murder City Devils and rotating some more Danzig into my system just to get ready for November.

Tickets for the two-day festival are still available and you can purchase them at FunFunFunFest.com.

The Jesus Lizard - "Mouth Breather"
Danzig - "Am I Demon"

Disco Doom, a relatively unknown band from Zurich, Switzerland was the opening band for Saturday’s 90’s indie explosion at Stubb's. The Swiss rockers were a perfect addition to the full lineup with their mixture of instrumental distortion, exploding atmospheric rhythm, mesmerizing guitar vibrato and down-tempo vocals. Second on the list were Dinosaur Jr.’s bassist Lou Barlow & The Missing Men, which were sort of a back-up band for Barlow’s solo stuff. Serving double duty, Barlow mostly played songs off his new record Goodnight Unknown which was released earlier in the month. Despite stopping and restarting the opening track twice, the rest of the set ran smoothly.


Following were notoriously loud alt-rockers Dinosaur Jr. Fans unequipped with ear plugs found themselves covering their ears more often than not as guitarist J Mascis’ distorted sonic waves boomed loudly over the three Marshall quad cabinets behind him. Almost from the beginning, a rowdy mosh pit consisting of mostly younger men slamming and shoving into each other occupied the front of the stage. “Murph is sick, he has the flu” announced Barlow over the microphone which drew loud applause from the slew of varied demographic of younger-aged and “back in the day” fans. The crowd went wild when the trio played “Feel The Pain,” off their 1996 release Without a Sound, the band’s most commercially successful album. “I Don’t Wanna Go There,” off the new album Farm concluded the deafening performance.


Before Built to Spill, the evening’s headliners, came on stage, Chicago based poet Thax Douglas recited a few lines inspired by the band. Douglas is a notorious “rock poet” who has read poetry before other notable acts including Andrew Bird, the Arctic Monkeys, Guided by Voices, The Flaming Lips, Of Montreal, Wilco, The White Stripes and Modest Mouse to name a few. He has since moved to Austin and has been spotted around town reading poetry for acts such as Sunny Day Real Estate.


Several minutes later, Built to Spill emerged from the darkness and commenced with “Three Years Ago Today,” a track from their latest release There is No Enemy. They followed with crowd pleaser “Distopian Dream Girl,” which solicited dancing and singing from fans. Front man Doug Martsch uttered “thank you” almost after every song. Mid-set, guitarist Brett Netson went into a political rant stating that “tonight is the 80th Anniversary of the American Stock Market crash, we’re in the second” while he pointed at the apartment complexes around the venue. He then said, “the next two songs are for the Texas Liberals.” The first of the two was “Wherever you Go,” a very jam and spacey melodic track off their 2006 release You in Reverse followed by “Planting Seeds” off of recent album There is No Enemy.


“We’re going to have to skip a song,” announced Martsch before going into “Big Dipper.” After finishing and thanking the audience, the band walked off stage only minutes to return to a crowding chanting “one more song, one more song.” “Stop the Show” from the band’s third album Perfect from Now On was the encore. The distorted chord progressions, swirly-psych riffling and upbeat drumming were a wonderful exit piece for a night of mind-blowing and eardrum busting music.

Why There Are Mountains is the independently released debut for indie rockers Cymbals Eat Guitars. Heavily reminiscent of Built to Spill, Pavement, and early Modest Mouse, Cymbals Eat Guitars encompass that familiar indie 90’s era with their slow disheveled strummed verses and loud boisterous choruses. Formed in 2005, the quartet hails from Staten Island, New York and consists of lead vocalist/guitarist Joseph D'Agostino, drummer Matthew Miller, bassist/vocalist Neil Berenholz and keyboardist/vocalist Brian Hamilton.

The opening Why There Are Mountains track, entitled “And the Hazy Sea,” erupts into an explosion of noise rock and screaming, but quickly defuses into a more passive melodic harmony only to skyrocket back into an outburst of guitar-saturated bombast. The song moves into a pattern of quiet, hushed moments followed by clamorous intervals. The back and forth bipolar roller coaster ride concludes with an intensely layered concoction of distorted guitars, almost inaudible vocals and gentle cymbal tapping. This track is also the album’s debut single.


“Indiana” features a Polyphonic Spree melody gracefully accompanied by D’Agostino’s nasally adenoidal vocals. This track is probably the most upbeat and “happiest” of the album with its poppy composition of soft piano and bubbly guitar. Despite being engaging and convincing, transitions between songs of the album are seemingly non-existent. While many of the tracks sound like they’ll lead flawlessly into the next song, they usually don’t and are often followed by a track which is completely different from the preceding.

The album’s closing track “Like Blood Does” starts off tranquil and slow-paced, but like most of the other songs mutates into an orchestration of loud vocal resonance, guitar distortion and prolonged reverberation. The crazy instrumentation lasts 40 seconds which is long enough to take someone for a ride mentally. The band is currently on tour with the Pains of Being Pure at Heart, and we heard they killed it at the Mohawk a few weeks ago. Pick up this self-released album at cymbalseatguitars.com.

• Cymbals Eat Guitars - "And the Hazy Sea"
• myspace.com/cymbalseatguitars