SXSW DOWNLOAD: HEALTH - In Heat (Javelin Remix)

Javelin kind of pulled the short stick on this one, saddled with the unenviable task of revamping "In Heat," Get Color’s bruising, grating, noisebomb of an opener. Dudes take the difficult source material in stride though, finding a sweet spot somewhere between old school b-boy fodder and squishy nu-funk synth twinkling.

A Big Star Has Become A Black Hole

Over the past couple of weeks the Devil’s blog has taken on the appearance of an obituary column. Following the untimely death of Mark Linkous news of the death of Alex Chilton reached me yesterday.

I can’t think of a better tribute than Cry Like A Baby rest in peace Alex.

Band of Skulls + John and Jehn duet

I can’t work out if this is good or hideous, in the way that the bit on Later with Jools Holland when the bands all play together can often be a bit of an embarrassing trainwreck.

RIP Alex Chilton

 

SXSW DOWNLOAD: The Fresh & Onlys - Diamond In The Dark

Another mangy, heard-through-a-decades-old-radio guitar-pop nugget from San Francisco’s & Onlys">Fresh and Onlys, pulled from a new EP for Captured Tracks called August In My Mind. You can actually buy the wax in a discounted bundle here that also includes new 7-inches from Wild Nothing, Minks, and The Soft Moon–more righteous jams for your scratch, which is never a bad thing. The Fresh & Onlys are, naturally, ripping through Austin this week; their schedule for the next few days and beyond is after the click-through.

Nice Face

Jerking Off With Jesus

Any band backed by Sacred Bones Records deserves immediate attention and Nice Face is the latest from the label’s talented gene pool to capture my imagination. In the past the label has introduced me to Crocodiles, Moon Duo and Grass Widow.

Nice Face is the project of Ian Magee, a New York apartment dweller who discovered that you don’t need a garage to make garage rock; a shoebox apartment will do.

ARMS : ARMS EP

ARMS of Brooklyn have released a free EP that follows up their debut album ‘Kids Aflame’ and to handily coincide with a run of shows at SXSW this week. Fans of the trio’s cool melodic fuzz will know what to expect from the five tracks here, those that don’t will find a welcome introduction.

Official SXSW College Showcase

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They will also be giving away goodie bags to some lucky attendees that will feature original artwork from artist Lauren Gregg’s well-known Record Store Nerd.

SXSW DOWNLOAD: The Golden Filter - Hide Me

Unlike most folks in Austin, windswept electro-disco duo The Golden Filter actually have legitimate reason to be hoovering Lone Stars: they just announced their debut album, Voluspa (a spa of volume, perhaps?), is coming out on June 15 in the U.S and April 26 in the UK. No word on who’s releasing it Stateside, but Brille will be handling the overseas duties. Tejas residents/visitors have three opportunities to catch them this week (info after the break), all others can do like us and bliss out to the LP’s first single below.

We Are Like the Spider

It was a slow day in the Artrocker.com inbox, with one-man-one-dog wannabe-musicians from obscure countries playing noseflutes to try and gain some exposure making up the bulk. Luckily, included amongst it all was We Are Like the Spider, hailing from Missouri in the States. Once a lonely duo, they’re now a fully-fledged orgy of a foursome.