The Murdocks on KLBJ

Here is a very cool video of local trio The Murdocks performing a cover of The Turtle's "Happy Together" on KLBJ's Local Licks Live program. I know that this song has been covered 100 million times and even though it's one of the best pop songs ever written, it's usually boring as shit to see a band cover it, but this is a positively stellar take on the song. Just listen to those harmonies. Well done gents. Also, make sure to visit their Myspace page to hear some newish recordings of a couple originals.

School of Seven Bells

School of Seven Bells is a new band from Brooklyn that features some names you've probably heard of before. The group consists of Benjamin Curtis (formerly of The Secret Machines), Claudia and Alejandra Deheza (formerly of On!Air!Library!), and James Elliott. Currently, the band is on tour with Blonde Redhead and will be stopping by Emo's during ACL Fest opening for the aforementioned Blonde Redhead and The National. When I say that School of Seven Bells are a new band, I really do mean it. They have virtually no commercially available releases. As of my writing there is a 7" single for the song My Cabal, and a single they worked on with Prefuse 73 called Class of 73 Bells. According to a pitchfork interview with Ben Curtis, the band isn't sure when any more material will be released. Your best chance to hear their music is to either see them live or check out their Myspace where they have 4 tracks available. Do not expect this to sound anything like The Secret Machines, it does not. I honestly wasn't too blown away by the first few songs I heard but then I came across "For Kalaji Mari". Wow. Wow. Wow. One of the best things I've heard this year for sure. An absolutely beautiful song. This one comes highly, highly recommended.

• School of Seven Bells - For Kalaji Mari (warning, this is only 96kbps, best I could find)
  

9/15 @ Emo's w/ Blonde Redhead and The National (tickets)

New Pinback Video

Thanks to Stereogum for tipping us to the new video for Autumn of the Seraphs excellent first single "From Nothing To Nowhere". The video finds Rob Crow, Armistead Burwell Smith IV (Zach Smith to his friends) and co. playing to no one in particular out in the desert under a subtly trippy sky. Nothing groundbreaking here, but it's a cool visual accompaniment to the song.

Joanna Newsom show update

Here's a quick update on the Joanna Newsom show.

1) The show is a general admission seated show. First come, first serve. So plan on getting there early if you want a good seat.

2) Doors at 7pm

3) Here is the direct link to buy tickets

That is all.

Joanna Newsom with the Austin Symphony

Thanks to Austinist for tipping us off to a fantastic show happening here in town on October 27th. Joanna Newsom will be performing at The Riverbend Centre with the Austin Symphony. I've never been to the Riverbend Centre, but a quick trip to their website reveals that it's out on Capital of Texas Hwy. and it holds about 2300 people. Oh, and also it looks really beautiful. If you aren't familiar with Newsom's music (I assume most are) then it is highly, highly recommended that you check out both of her fantastic albums (The Milk Eyed Mender and Ys) immediately. Between her unique voice and the fact that she plays the Harp, Newsom's music is such a breath of fresh air. Sometimes it's nice to just listen to music that doesn't have amped up guitars and bass in it. Tickets go on sale tomorrow (Aug. 30th) for $35 at Frontgate. I have no idea if this show will sell out, 2300 seats is a lot, but all of Newsom's recent shows in Austin have sold out fairly quickly, so I wouldn't wait forever.

• Joanna Newsom - Emily (from Ys)

Okkervil River on Conan

Here's the video of Okkervil River on Conan last night. I have to say, I'm more and more impressed by this album and this band day by day. When I first saw them in 2003 or so Will Sheff couldn't sing and he couldn't play guitar. He tried to and he was better at it than I would have been, but jesus this band has come so far in the past 4 years. Some surprises, it seems, are still pleasant.

The Forms - s/t

It's been 4 and a half years since we last heard from Brooklyn band The Forms. In 2003 the band released their first album Icarus and their new s/t disc which comes out 10/23 on their own label, Threespheres, is the first official release in the subsequent 4 years. Icarus generated a decent amount of buzz at the time of it's release. It got a really good review on Pitchfork and the weird sequencing of the album got a lot of mention as well (the album has 7 songs spread over ten tracks, the first 3 songs are each split into two tracks with identical titles which flow seamlessly into each other). Over the past few years the band had seemingly dropped off the face of the earth. Then in March they were suddenly and unexpectedly all over Austin for SXSW. Rumors circulated of a new album in the works, and in a strange bit of weird unexpected Internet promotion Steve Albini (who produced both albums) talked the band up quite a bit in his impromptu Q&A on, of all places, the 2+2 poker forums. All of Albini's talk of the band led to a renewed interest in their work and what they were up to. Well, this new album is what they've been up to and it's pretty cool. The Forms doesn't break any new ground, but it didn't need to. I hear in this album, many of the same things that made Icarus a personal favorite when it was released, but the sound is, to use a rock and roll cliche, more mature than before. The Forms aren't afraid to take their time with things this time through. The pace seems less frenetic and the band seems confident in their sound and direction. I see good things for them in the future. Only one tour date currently and it's in NYC but hopefully we'll get a chance to check the band out soon enough.

The Forms - Red Gun (from The Forms)

Pre-order The Forms here (eventually, I would think anyway)