the bear coat
Brooklyn based duo, The Bear Coat, was spawned from the belly of a Buck Hunter machine and a bottle of cheap mezcal. Borrowing from the ubiquitous influence of The Beatles and The Beach Boys, The Bear Coat break away from obvious pop conventions by channeling the vocal absurdity of Frank Zappa, the uneasy sexuality of Tim Curry solo records, and the always appreciated late-era Elvis aspects. Delivered using the DIY sonic stylings of The Frogs and Elliot Smith, The Bear Coat feature complex vocal arrangements and avant textures that augment simple little pop songs that are so catchy you will eventually grow to resent the attachment.
rocking chairs
The Egocentrics are a project of Rob Tyson from Austin, Texas. This song is from an EP entitled The Westindian Street Affair. Rob Tyson has played in numerous bands in Austin, Texas and was the drummer for Charles Potts Magic Windmill Band for a short while.
jana hunter
Jana Hunter is a Baltimore based songwriter and musician. She was born in Texas. She is signed to Gnomonsong, a new record label run by Devendra Banhart and Vetiver’s Andy Cabic. Her solo debut album Blank Unstaring Heirs of Doom was the label’s debut release. Hunter has performed and/or recorded as a member of Jracula, Castanets, Matty & Mossy, Ejaculette, Unitus, and Krazy Nerds, and played in/recorded for Indian Jewelry, Matteah Baim, Metallic Falcons, Phosphorescent, and Cocorosie.
banjo
doctor clown
Doctor Clown is the project of Chad Hopper and Amanda Jones, who are perhaps better known for their roles in Austin’s rowdy toy band Night Viking. In contrast to N.V.’s rip-roaring chaotic clatter, which coalesces in miraculous moments tasting of polygonal sandwiches (absurd but tasty), D.C. is gender-balanced and spacious. Their self-titled debut CD-R is a 4-track exercise in simplicity/imperfection, covering the same range of emotions that one might feel during a battle with cancer or a trip to the circus.
james jackson toth
Wooden Wand is James Jackson Toth.
Toth’s fascinating artistic evolution continues when he, Jexie and friends hit the road: “We’re looking forward to doing it right this time. Some of this is going to be hard to recreate live, so we may try to change and adapt it, maybe do ‘Midnight Watchman’ loud and fast, then slow another number down. The idea that people merely want to hear a record recreated in a crowded, smoky room and pay seven dollars for drinks – I never understood that.”
You’ll know how to find Toth: his name will be on the marquee. And this strange and compelling world he’s brought to life will be waiting for you.
– Michael Hill
cavedweller
From the album “The Oldest Arm in 18 Parts”.
1995 was the year Cavedweller, born Dirk Michener, blew out of Denton with his molasses-rich, lo-fi ramblings. Initially an acoustic endeavor, Michener, who also co-founded the now-Austin-based Business Deal Records, surveyed the weird and the bizarre via his guitar, incorporating the best Sixties folk with a love of Sebadoh.
fishboy
Fishboy is a four-piece eccentric indie pop band from Denton, TX that began as the bedroom solo project of front man Eric Michener. He was given the nickname on a middle-school field trip after a dare to pluck and swallow a fish at the Dallas World Aquarium. Six years and several shoe boxes full of cassette tapes later, Michener moved from the suburbs to the Texas rock-and-roll Mecca of Denton with a handful of low budget recordings released by the close-knit Austin music collective Business Deal Records. This song is a Gene Defcon song covered by Fishboy recorded for the Asthmatic Kitty tribute to K Records.
hatti moss
Hatti Moss is living in Walla Walla, Washington (home of the magic windmills, sweet onions and prisons), doing the single mom thing and writing songs about my ex. That’s it.
windmill band
Unreleased song by the Windmill Band. This version was recorded in Washington State @ The Temple, but didn’t make the final record. The song is titled Dream Warrior for all of you who dream so aggressively.
Cave, Dizzy and Fishboy
Once upon a time, a long time ago, Cavedweller and Dizzy Spells Martian recorded this song. Here is that song.
dana falconberry
Dana Falconberry is a musical natural. Hailed by the Austin Chronicle as one of the city’s “most promising singer-songwriters” and “most arresting female vocalists,” her distinctive talents and singular creative vision find full and brilliant fruition on her debut full-length national album release, oh skies of grey.
monkeytown
The story thus far. After moving to Denton in 1997 i started a one man band called MonkeyTown. I released two albums on my own while living there MonkeyBlood & Departure. After coming back to Austin in 2001 i released three more albums independently Shut In, the Cubic Trilogy, and the Death of MonkeyTown. In 2005 Meandering Way released Anthems for a Numb Tomorrow. In 2007 my good friends Rhett Hubertus and Michael Barnes joined me as a three piece. We just finished recording our seventh album Still Life with MonkeyTown. It will be available in 2009.
This song is called “New Moon” from their 2004 Meandering Way release.
Cavedweller Tape Cover
About Cavedweller 1995:cavedweller recorded their first tape in a room while several people were sleeping. 1997: cavedweller played their first show @ The Argo in Denton TX. 2002: cavedweller moves to Austin, TX.
Cavedweller recently released a new 7 inch split with Shapes Have Fangs and will release a new tape of songs w/ Instincto Records. this month.
Mike and Smokey
From Chef of The Atlantic Sand Band:
“This song was recorded in close proximity, like a week before or after I think, to the song Rowdy Wolfpack. Recorded in my room on a shitty computer with protools. Same people pretty much as Atlantic Sand Band(Walt, Smokey, Gene, and probably Tim and Preston). Not sure who is playing guitar, either Preston or maybe even Dirk? I think Walt or Gene played keyboard.”
Knock Me Down
Years ago, Smokey Farris, Gene Defcon and Travis Catsull got together to record a number of songs in an apartment in Austin, Texas. All the material was quiet, lo-fi songs sang in a freestyle mood. Here is one of those songs.
Hard Rock Zombie
Hard Rock Zombie: from the bottom of my magic pump.. a coal lump.. to bury her favorite hole.. one thousand years later.. all we know is diamonds.. and shoveling trumps for mimes.. hanging out where the one world ends, turns out puna was the fuckin’ horizon…
Here’s a new song called, “Sold Them Bums”
Cavedweller
Cavedweller recently released a new 7 inch split with Shapes Have Fangs and will release a new tape of songs w/ Instincto Records.
karrie hopper
bands i’ve been a part of: the world went home woven warm and breathing axe in the wood
texas musicians i love: buttercup the night game antonio dionisio conspirare
sounds like watching a man and woman ice skate together
Karrie Hopper lives in Santa Fe, NM
Dizzy Spells Martian
“Heartfelt, honest, stripped back, real, quirky…call it what you want, Anti-folk captures something that a lot of more ‘mainstream’ music has lost. And Dizzy Spells Martian is a wonderful example of this. Like fellow Anti-folkster, Kimya Dawson, her performance is gentle, personal and deeply touching. It’s almost like we’re seeing inside her head. Like me it seems that Dizzy would rather like to live in another world. A much nicer world. And she brings to life one that I’d be quite happy to live in forever and ever and ever.”