Joe Pug & The Hundred Mile Band Live @ The Cactus Cafe on 2010.11.06 [Live Audio]

Joe Pug and the Hundred Mile Band closed out their $10 Tour in Austin at the Cactus Cafe to a young, packed room. Accompanied by Matt Schuessler on upright bass and Jordan Hamlin on electric guitar and accordian, Pug tore through a baker's dozen of his best compositions Saturday night before closing the show with a cover of the Low Anthem's "To Ohio". Of the Joe Pug shows I've seen, this was far and away the best.

If you missed it, never fear. LMA link to MP3s and FLACs and stream below. Enjoy.

http://www.archive.org/details/joepug2010-11-06.matrix.flac

Whitey Morgan & The 78s Live @ Lovejoy's On 2010.10.21 [Live Audio]

We figure we'll pile on the Whitey Morgan and the 78s love.

We confess. We haven't heard the new record from Whitey Morgan and the 78s. Our bad. But we have seen them live since the record came out and got to hear a bunch of the new tunes. And they did not disappoint.

From the opening of John Prine's Paradise, to the closing of Dale Watson's "Where Do You Want It?", they band sounded fantastic and looked to be having a great time in front of the regulars at Lovejoy's in Austin. Have a listen for yourself.

http://www.archive.org/details/wm78s2010-10-21.matrix.flac

[FairRetailRecordings] #0118 -- Mike & The Moonpies -- El Camino

#0118

Mike and The Moonpies is one of the best straight-up-country bands on the rise in Austin at this moment. We've got a couple of their tunes over the next few installments of the FRR. Check out their new record, The Real Country.

Artist: Mike & The Moonpies

Date: 2010.09.02

Venue: The Mohawk

Track: El Camino

Enjoy. And support your local music scene.

[FairRetailRecordings] #0117 -- Sons Of Bill -- Lost Loves And Indie Rockers

#0117

At the Old 97s show last night, I mentioned that there's nothing worse than ugly hipsters. This song addresses many of my hipster-centric concerns.

Artist: Sons Of Bill

Date: 2010.08.29

Venue: Emo's

Track: Lost Loves And Indie Rockers

Enjoy. And support your local music scene.

[FairRetailRecordings] #0116 -- The Gourds -- The New Way Of Grievin' And Smokin' > Promised Land > Grievin' And Smokin'

#0116

Artist: The Gourds

Date: 2010.05.28

Venue: Threadgill's South

Track: Grievin' And Smokin' > Promised Land > Grievin' And Smokin' (too large to email, click on the track name to download/listen)

Enjoy. And support your local music scene.

James Hyland -- Celestial Navigation [Buy This Now]

I've had James Hyland's Celestial Navigation on my iPhone since before it was released earlier this week but finally found time to give it a listen. I will say that I am glad I didn't let it go any longer and that I love this fucking album. I just started my third listen all the way through.

Hyland, formerly of the South Austin Jug Band, spent a good, long time crafting this record, honing the songs and the sound at places like Momo's, the Saxon Pub and the Mean Eyed Cat over the last two years in front of dozens of people (literally). The resulting record is nothing short of incredible. Cohorts Warren Hood, Willie Pipkin, Kim Deschamps, Robb Kidd, Chris Maresh and Dennis Ludiker lend their tremendous talents to Hyland's vision-brought-to-life very skillfully by producer Steven Doster.

Having seen Hyland live year after year in the various forms of the South Austin Jug Band and solo, I've seen these songs evolve and evolve (Come To Me, 2008.04.01) and I can say with some modicum of authority that the result is nothing short of perfection. The ten tracks on this record flow seamlessly from one to another and yet each is able to stand firmly on its own. There is not a low point on the record. IMO, that speaks to the strength of Hyland's songwriting and collective vision and execution between him and Doster and the players, known here as the Joint Chiefs.

"American Son", "21 Days 21 Towns", "Paint A Girl" and "Girls From Lake Ponchartrain" are my early favorites after three listens.

Please, please, please, do yourself a favor and go download this record from bandcamp:
http://jameshyland.bandcamp.com/

Hyland is employing the name your-own-price pricing tier which includes FREE. Whatever you can afford, it will be worth your hard earned greenbacks or silver to pick up this record. What the hell are you waiting for? Go. Buy. Download. Listen.

If you're interested, you can find some recent Hyland live performances over at the LMA:
http://www.archive.org/details/jameshyland2010-08-27.fm.flac [solo, radio show]





http://www.archive.org/details/jameshyland2010-07-10.matrix.flac [Joint Chiefs (band) show]

[FairRetailRecordings] #0114 -- The Gourds -- Chinese Variety Hour

#0114

Sorry, 114 and 115 got switched in the order they were mailed out. My bad. Enjoy The Chinese Variety Hour. Really give the lyrics a listen. Pure gold!

Artist: The Gourds

Date: 2010.05.28

Venue: Threadgill's South

Track: Chinese Variety Hour

Enjoy. And support your local music scene.

[FairRetailRecordings] #0115 -- The Gourds -- Shamrock Bound

#0115

Nothing quite like a song about growing a beard for a beard-growing contest on St Patty's Day.

Artist: The Gourds

Date: 2010.05.28

Venue: Threadgill's South

Track: Shamrock Bound

Enjoy. And support your local music scene.

[FairRetailRecordings] #0113 -- Jack Ingram -- Barbie Doll

#0113

To say the crowd is out of tune would be a disservice to how out of tune they really are. And you know it's got to be bad because (1) I wasn't singing along [bucket/tune/no carry] and (2) I am commenting on how out of tune things get on here.

At any rate, this is from a very fun Jack Ingram show we attended shortly after moving to Austin, back in the Second Age of Ingram. The First and Third Ages of Ingram pale in comparison to the Second, in my humble opinion. I'm hoping for good things from the Fourth Age of Ingram due out any decade now.

Artist: Jack Ingram

Date: 2005.03.02

Venue: The Cactus Cafe

Track: Barbie Doll

Enjoy. And support your local music scene.

Sons Of Bill Live @ Emo's On 2010.08.29 [Live Audio]

We had the good fortune to have the Sons Of Bill drop by Austin and play Emo's this past Sunday made for an unpleasant Monday (thanks to Jack Daniels) but well worth it. The crowd was sort of sparse but definitely were into the band. And the band definitely came to rock and rock they did.

Given our familiarity with only the Sons Of Bill's latest One Town Away, we were thrilled with the new tunes ("This Losing Fight", "Lost Loves And Indie Rockers", "Valley Of The Dead") and the ones from their previous effort, A Far Cry From Freedom ("Far Cry", "Roll On Jordan", "Whispering"). The cover Neil Young's "Unknown Legend" was what put the show over the top for us.

Come back soon, Sons Of Bill. We'll bring more people next time.

You can can download the entire show from the LMA here (or stream it below):

http://www.archive.org/details/sonsofbill2010-08-29.matrix.flac