Gdrlv

My Morning Jacket - It Still Moves
moe. - Warts and All Volume 3
Sly and the Family Stone - The Essential
Grandaddy - The Sophtware Slump
Afghan Whigs - Black Love

The new MMJ album is absolutely fantastic. I loved Tennessee Fire and At Dawn, but they don't compare to It Still Moves. Wonderful album...probably the best I've heard this year.

QOTD: Any notable concerts on the horizon?

I leave for Austin Thursday night for the Austin City Limits Music Fest. So many bands I want to see during those three days...should be pretty incredible. These are the bands I'm currently dead set on catching...

Cody ChesnuTT, Particle, Liz Phair, the Charlie Hunter Trio, Galactic, Spoon, the Gourds, Old 97's, Dandy Warhols, Los Lobos, Drive-By Truckers, Robert Randolph and the Family Band, Bright Eyes, String Cheese Incident, Spearhead, Kings of Leon, the Shins, Soulive, G. Love & Special Sauce, the Polyphonic Spree, Yo La Tengo.

If anyone has any recommendations after looking at the schedule, I'd love to hear 'em.

C_Fletch

I think you missed the last days bands as they seem to be the best.

Absolutely DO NOT miss Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals. He's like a new age Bob Marley. Great slide guitar on his earlier work.

I think you'll also like Ian Moore and Jack Johnson.

woofman

Luce: S/T
QOTSA: Songs for the Deaf

QOTD: Slayer w/Hatebreed & ArchEnemy , Lamb of God, Juliana Hatfield (hopefully)

fallow

Angels of Lights, Everything is Good Here / Please Come Home
K Records Compilation, Invisible Shield
Do Make Say Think, & Yet & Yet
Olivia Tremor Control, Peel Sessions

AoTD: Here is my concert schedule through November; everything in bold is the reason why I'm going. I probably won't be going to any shows in December because of exams.

Sept. 25: Quasi, Hella and Dame Fate (Black Cat, DC)
Oct. 20: Enon, Irving and I Am the World Trade Center (Nanci Raygun, Richmond, VA)
Oct. 27: Lightning Bolt, USAISMONSTER and White Mice (TBA, Richmond, VA)
Oct. 29: The Electric Six, Junior Senior and Soft Complex (Black Cat, DC)
Nov. 7: Explosions in the Sky (Nanci Raygun, Richmond, VA)
Nov. 20: Q and Not U, A New Dawn Fades and Forget Cassettes (Nanci Raygun, Richmond, VA)

There are a couple others I'm *considering* - 90 Day Men, The Decemberists, Beulah, Prefuse 73, etc. I doubt I'll have the funding for those, though.

SAShepherd

I'm jealous. You'd think that since that's my hometown (and my mom still lives there), I'd have made one of the first 2 festivals. Alas, no. (That's what happens when you have a family of your own, I suppose.) In any case, in terms of recommendations for times you don't already have blocked out, I'd suggest "The Damnations" (kinda like the Gourds, or at least they've got some sort of relationship with 'em), the Mavericks, and W.C. Clark (Austin-area blues staple) on Friday. I've never seen any of them live, but I think you'd like the music. And there's R.E.M., of course, but you may be on your way out of town... Anyway, enjoy (and be sure to let us know how it went).

AOTD: I don't have any concerts on my horizon -- they all seem to be coming on weekends I'm out of town, though none of them are shows I absolutely have to see. Am going to the Twin Cities this weekend, so I'm tempted to go see the Jayhawks at First Ave., but don't know if I'll be able to swing it.

CDs:
Tift Merritt -- Bramble Rose
Fountains of Wayne -- Welcome Interstate Managers
New Pornographers -- Electric Version
Jayhawks -- Rainy Day Music
Nickel Creek -- Nickel Creek (playing at ACL the same time as SCI)

Gdrlv

I've gotta leave the festival at about 6 on Sunday to catch my return flight, so no go on Ben Harper. I've seen him a few times already though, so not too upset about that. Not a big fan of Jack Johnson's. Will try to check out Ian Moore though. Thanks for the suggestions.

Gdrlv

I'm going to try to make the Damnations' show...hopefully, I'll be able to make it to the festival by noon (I don't land in Austin til 10am on Friday). The Gourds' drummer used to be the drummer for the Damnations. When the original Gourds drummer was fired, the Damnations fired him as well. They knew he wanted to join the Gourds but was too afraid to ask them if he could leave the band.

I really want to see the Mavericks, but they're playing the same time as Galactic, one of my favorite bands.

As for REM, I'll be on a plane back to Vegas. Just saw them here last week (with Wilco opening). Pretty damned good show...

stevevt

Listened to:

Scout Niblett - "I Am"
Mates of State - "European Tour 2003"
Bedhead - "Macha Loved Bedhead"
Future Bible Heroes - "Lonely Robot"
Nina Nastasia - "Run to Ruin"
Bedhead - "WhatFunLifeWas"
Aisler's Set - "How I Learned to Stop Worrying"
Notwist - "12/Loup EP"
Gaze - "Shake the Pounce"

Notable shows I've recently missed:
My Morning Jacket
Q & Not U
Ted Leo

Notable shows I'm going to try to get to:
9/21: Pernice Brothers
9/24: Andrew Bird
10/1: Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players
10/7: Yo La Tengo/Aisler's Set
10/17 & 10/18: Death Cab for Cutie/Nada Surf
11/6: Songs: Ohia

fallow

Just found out that [[[[VVRSSNN]]]] is playing at an unconfirmed location on Nov. 3 in DC. Add that.

mike1978

Based on the reviews I read, I expected to love the new My Morning Jacket. Unfortunately, I don't like the vocals and absolutely HATE the production on the album.

Recent Spins:
Elvis Costello - "Get Happy!" reissue
My Bloody Valentine - "Loveless"
Unwound - "Repetition"

Q of the D:
As much as I love buying and listening to music, I just don't get excited about shows/concerts these days. I think Sonic Youth a few weekends back may have been my last one ever, or at least for a long time.

Alyoshka

The Thrills - So Much for the City

qotd: None that I've bought tickets for.

SAShepherd

So, Gdrlv, how was the ACL Festival?

Gdrlv

It was wonderful. Big compliments to the organizers and the City of Austin for organizing the most hassle-free music festival I've ever attended. 75,000 people there, and I walked right in all 3 days. Never waited for the restroom, and never waited more than 5 minutes for food or drink. Organized perfectly.

Oh yeah, and then there was the music... Some highlights...

-The Johnny Cash tribute with the Old 97's, Drive By Truckers, North Mississippi Allstars and Tift Merritt. Very emotional and wonderful to be there. They broadcast the video for "Hurt" on the screen right before it the tribute started...very surreal and powerful watching the video on a screen that big and a sound system so booming. If the NMS Allstars could sing, it would've been perfect.

-Robert Randolph. Alright, I've been a bit down on the guy lately, but he absolutely brings it live. He did a 30 minute Jimi Hendrix jam with Steely Dan that left my jaw glued to the rain soaked ground. Insane.

-The Polyphonic Spree. I've never seen more pure, unadulterated joy than these folks bring to the stage. They started with about 2 or 3,000 people watching them. Halfway through the show, my friend turned to me and said "turn around." There were at least 20,000 people standing behind me. I've never seen anything like it. Amazing show.

-Spoon. Great live band, and there were at least 30,000 people checking them out. Refreshing to know that music like this can draw a big crowd.

-String Cheese Incident. They purchased the Pink Floyd pig just to use at the festival, acknowledging that it was a lame idea and kicked ass at the same time.

-The Gourds. My favorite band. The first time I've seen them live. It was noon. I was hungover. It didn't matter. Killer show (and a great cover of the Stones' "Miss You").

-Drive By Truckers. I've liked these guys for a while, but they kick ass live. Biggest surprise of the weekend for me.

Anyway, I could go on, as the whole weekend was one big highlight. Great crowd, great music, great atmosphere. I can't say enough good things about it. I've been to similar huge festivals before and have never been to one that was such an absolute pleasure to attend. Musically, it offered something for everyone, and it was almost perfectly organized. Anyone who can make it to Austin next year this time, I promise you won't regret your trip. Some advice...a $20 camping chair would be an excellent investment. Sunscreen is essential (still paying for forgetting it on Friday). Bring comfortable shoes.

Anyway, I had a blast. I caught almost 30 bands in 3 days and missed over a hundred more. Worth much, much more than the $75 they charged for a ticket...