Jack Anderson

Masego: “Old Age” feat. SiR

Multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter and producer Masego is one of the most talented artists you may have missed until now. This young but hard working globe trotter has been slowly unfurling his unique style of soul music over the past year and just last week he announced the release of his debut album Lady Lady, coming out next Friday. The thirteen eclectic and instrospective songs on Lady Lady prove to be a crossroads of sounds ranging from jazz and R&B to soul and trap, all topped with Masego’s immaculate vocals.

Masego’s masterful musicianship has earned him a spot on Leon Bridges’ international tour, continuing this Saturday and Sunday at ACL Live at the Moody Theater. If you can’t score tickets for those shows, you can still do Tuesday right with a free download of Masego’s newest single featuring California singer SiR, “Old Age”!

Summer Magic: “Charles de Gaulle in the Afternoon”

Over the past decade Kevin Bachmann has become somewhat of a household name in the St. Louis music scene; he’s been a member of three well-known groups but he’s also recently taken the reins as frontman for his new project, Summer Magic. Bachmann’s talent is ever present but there’s no denying that Summer Magic is a considerable departure from the sounds he’s been associated with for years. Troubadour Dali was soaked in shoegaze, Lapush flirted with rock and pop, and Jon Hardy & The Public was straight up roots rock, yet Summer Magic is a completely different breed. Bachmann’s spent the past two years on “his baby”, the debut album from Summer Magic, Sharks and Other Dangers. These eight songs showcase Bachmann like we’ve never heard before: bright melodies, fuzzy guitars and compositions that aren’t just accessible, they’re catchy as hell!

Sharks and Other Dangers comes out on Friday! Treat yourself right with a previously unheard song from Summer Magic, “Charles de Gaulle in the Afternoon”.

Riders Against the Storm: “OverUnder”

If you’ve heard people saying “RAS Day” out loud but haven’t bothered to look it up, you may think everyone’s talking about some department store promotion…

Rest assured, RAS Day began back in 2013 when the City of Austin proclaimed August 29th as Riders Against the Storm Day. This dynamic husband-wife duo has been pushing their fierce, socially conscious hip hop for years now and in that time Chaka and Qi Dada have coordinated two regular (and popular) events: Body Rock ATX and RAS Day. This family-friendly festival celebrates its third year with a lineup that includes Saul Williams, Trouble in the Streets, and DJ Chicken George of Third Root.

It’s happening all day tomorrow, 3-11pm at Kenny Dorham’s Backyard, where you can also count on food tastings, interactive activities and more. Now, you obviously can’t have celebrate RAS Day without Riders Against the Storm! They’ll be kicking off RAS Day tonight with Body Rock at North Door, but let’s get started early with a new single (and corresponding music video) from RAS, co-produced by fellow KUTX favorite Walker Lukens, “OverUnder”.

Teddy Glass: “Carrion” [PREMIERE]

If local music lovers don’t already know what Teddy Glass is all about, that’ll be transparent by the end of the week.

Chief songwriter Peter Shults felt an extra special connection to his fellow Hello Wheels member Josh Halpern, who joined the group as a drummer and added an extra level of dynamics to Shults’ compositions. After that, it was only a matter of time until the musical chemistry between Shults and Halpern tempered itself into the psych-soul-fuzz duo that is Teddy Glass.

This palatable pair has been busy lately! Teddy Glass enjoyed a brief tour before returning for a boat-afloat album release party this past Sunday. They joined us in Studio 1A on Monday and just yesterday Teddy Glass continued their series of of single premieres on Billboard before a live set at Cheer Up Charlie’s. It’s all culminating in the release of their debut eight-track album Nights and Weekends, due out tomorrow. We couldn’t help but hop on the KUTX-clusive opportunity to break Teddy Glass’s last single before Nights and Weekends comes out, so kick back to the premiere of “Carrion”!

-Jack Anderson

Rubblebucket: “Annihilation Song”

When a romantic relationship ends in the middle of a musical one, there’s potential for both bad and good (lookin at you, White Stripes and Fleetwood Mac).

Multi-instrumentalists and vocalists Kalmia Traver and Alex Toth know this all too well; their nearly dozen-year-long relationship began when they formed Brooklyn-based group Rubblebucket in 2007 after meeting as fellow music majors at University of Vermont. Without getting into the nitty gritty, things have recently ended between Toth and Kraver as a couple but their bond through Rubblebucket has never been stronger. This bittersweet breakup and other significant life changes play into the personal nature of Rubblebucket’s most exceptional album to date, Sun Machine.

Rubblebucket is set to release Sun Machine this Friday in advance of a national tour lasting through December. Soak up the poignant but positive energy radiating from Sun Machine and with “Annihilation Song”!

Neil & Liam Finn: “Ghosts”

It’s nothing short of a musical family affair when it comes to New Zealand father-son duo Neil & Liam Finn. Both accomplished musicians in their own right, the blood bond between the elder Neil and junior Liam continues the Finn family legacy with their first ever album together Lightsleeper. The two Finns aren’t alone on Lightsleeper; Neil’s wife Sharon plays bass on two tunes and Liam’s brother Elroy lays down the drums on seven of the album’s eleven. Oh, and no relation to the fine Finns…but Mick Fleetwood makes an appearance on three songs as well.

The heartfelt, loving and truly magical Lightsleeper comes out this Friday and right now you can make your Tuesday a bit more spectral with “Ghosts”!

Tone Royal: “Late”

San Antonio’s Ray Villarreal spends a good portion of his on-mic time as a sportscaster, but he also moonlights as a hip hop emcee. Onstage and in-studio Villarreal goes by Tone Royal and lyrically he jumps between relaxed and aggressive like it’s nobody’s business. Tone’s been releasing music since 2015 and he put out his latest full-length Late this past February, joining us in Studio 1A not too long afterwards.

Tone Royal’s Birthday Bash is this Saturday at Swan Dive so let’s get the festivities started early with “Late”!

Mitski: “Nobody”

New York-based singer Mitski Miyawaki has become somewhat of an icon since she started her career in 2012. Well…somewhat might be somewhat of an understatement. Known onstage simply as Mitski, Miyawaki has a certain energy that’s both genuine and charming, something that’s landed her opening spots for The Pixies and Lorde.

With her fifth album, Be The Cowboy, Mitski explored the duality of fame and loneliness in an effort to reconnect with her emotions after an extended period of touring. It’s confident. It’s heartbreaking. It’s Mitski at her finest.

Be The Cowboy came out today so enjoy the full album when you have a chance. Appearing just past the halfway point on Be The Cowboy‘s fourteen tracks is the album’s lead single, “Nobody”.

Rosie Flores: “Drive Drive Drive”

RAS Day. Sweet Spirit Day. When the City of Austin names a day in honor of specific musicians, you know they’re a treasured part of the local community. There’s no exception with San Antonio native and current Austin resident Rosie Flores, whose career has spanned over four decades. Flores has covered a ton of sonic ground over the years, getting knee deep in punk before shifting to alt-country, rockabilly and beyond. Suspiciously missing from that list is blues, the target of her upcoming and appropriately-titled album Simple Case of the Blues. Co-produced by Charlie Sexton and recorded in Nashville, Flores has never sounded quite like this on record.

Friday, August 31st AKA Rosie Flores Day is going to be extra special in its twelfth year; Flores continues her ongoing weekly residency (alongside her eight-piece band The Rosie Flores Revue) at C-Boy’s Heart & Soul with a release show for a new single. This show (like the remaining Rosie residency shows) kicks off at 6:30pm and now you can get a head start on the album AND the weekend with “Drive Drive Drive”.

Nakia: “Hoodoo Party”

Seven years in the making, local blues bruiser Nakia has rejoined his faithful band for an exploration of his favorite genre! It’s been awhile since Nakia was featured on The Voice and only a couple years since his Blues Grifters blew us away with their cover of The Allman Brothers’ “Whipping Post”.

With his upcoming album, Nakia has doubled down on his backing band, paying tribute not only to the music that inspires him the most but indeed the band itself. The cover album Blues Grifter certainly takes what others have done well before him, but not without Nakia adding his distinct flair and making it his own. It’s been an exciting time for Nakia; he joined us for a My KUTX session last week, he’s putting on an in-store performance at Waterloo Records this Friday at 5PM and his official release show is 8PM this Saturday at Saxon Pub! Let’s get the party started right now with a bonus track covering Tabby Thomas – “Hoodoo Party”!

Gina Chavez: “Lightbeam” [PREMIERE]

The name “Gina Chavez” is already familiar to many KUTX listeners. Chavez’s bilingual folk pop has enchanted audiences for years now, but she’s recently taken an affinity for modern-day R&B, (not unlike her fellow Texas troubadour Leon Bridges). In pursuit of the new sound, this auspicious Austin songwriter has just announced her new album Lightbeam – due for release Friday September 14th!

Lightbeam serves as an ode to Chavez’s wife and a love letter to folks who need to crawl out of the shadows and shine in life. Chavez celebrates the release of Lightbeam at Antone’s September 15th for the Seventh Annual Niñas Arriba Benefit. Okay, enough dilly-dallyin’. Let’s scope some new Gina Chavez with a premiere of the title track from her upcoming five-song EP, “Lightbeam”.

in/PLANES: “Say You Want Me Too”

Marrying bass and guitar, American roots and vintage pop, and most notably husband and wife, in/PLANES is a beacon of musical matrimony. This Pueblo, Colorado duo create sparse but infectious compositions and evoke iconic songwriters of previous decades for an aural experience that sounds just as old as it does new.

in/PLANES continues their End of Summer Tour this Thursday at the Cactus Cafe with Longriver. No need to feel like a third wheel when listening to this married couple; check out something from in/PLANES’ latest record Radio Wave – “Say You Want Me Too”.

Rejoicer: “Purple T-Shirts” featuring MNDSGN

When you chop up breakbeats, jazz rhythms, funk and hip hop all together into one sound, you know heads will bob. Enter Tel Aviv producer Yuvi Havkin, AKA Rejoicer. As a key figure in Israel’s modern beat movement, Rejoicer puts equal stock into electronic instrumentation and jazz improvisation, and finds a narrative middle ground between visual and sonic storytelling.

At the end of the month, Rejoicer puts out his new album Energy Dreams, a record that explores the connection between asleep and awake mental states and just how malleable time  really is. Yesterday Rejoicer shared a new animated music video (one of many for Energy Dreams) for a single featuring fellow Stones Thrower MNDSGN – “Purple T-Shirts”.

The Beths: “Happy Unhappy”

What happens when you combine four jazz school graduates, ’60s pop vocal harmonies and ’90s alternative rock? You get Auckland-based quartet The Beths. Featuring chief songwriter Elizabeth Stokes at the helm, this Kiwi crew delivers with snappy hooks while flipping the script on gender norms with regards to vocal arrangements (lead vs. harmony).

Lyrically sincere but sonically light, The Beths sound like a midway point between Joan Jett, Courtney Barnett and Pavement, and tomorrow you can treat yourself to their first-ever full-length! The ten-track album Future Me Hates Me comes out Friday and right now we challenge you not to smile through one of the record’s singles “Happy Unhappy“!

Million Miles: “Ice Cream & Cigarettes”

French-British singer Sophie Baudrey has made a career out of moving around, aptly fitting her stage name Million Miles. Baudrey kicked off her musical career in Nashville before returning to her current home base of London with plenty of tunes in tow. Million Miles shared a new single a couple months back, but Baudrey’s cocktail of soul, folk and blues is best embodied (at least as of yet) on her 2017 debut EP, Berry Hill.

Among Baudrey’s tales of heartbreak, relationships and optimistic endings on Berry Hill you can find a pairing that ranks up there alongside orange juice and toothpaste, “Ice Cream & Cigarettes”.

 

Louis Cole: “When You’re Ugly” (feat. Genevieve Artadi)

In the past year alone, L.A. duo KNOWER has toured a big chunk of the world, and this week one half of the group releases a new solo album. Louis Cole has been releasing his own material pretty much since the beginning of KNOWER back in 2009, and if you listen to both, you can pinpoint Cole’s songwriting style right off the bat. As with KNOWER, Cole uses his formal music education and multi-instrumental mastery to create cocktails that are balanced parts jazz-funk, indie-electronic and just in general – fun. Cole has kept listeners busy with some spread out single releases the past couple years, and on Friday you’ll get to hear his third full-length album, Time.

Time is bursting with electro-funk features including Thundercat, Brad Mehldau and even a twenty-three-piece string orchestra. Cole’s better half from KNOWER, Genevieve Artadi, joins him on one of the album’s lead singles (and incredible music video) – “When You’re Ugly”.

Jonathan Something: “Happy Day” [PREMIERE]

Are you constantly blanking on people’s last names? No worries. Connecticut singer-songwriter Jonathan Something makes that easy to remember, even before you listen to the first downbeat. A master of many instruments, Jon Searles has been teasing this self-produced project with a few singles beginning in June. Today the anticipation finally ends with the release of Jonathan Something’s debut record Outlandish Poetica. The nine tracks behind Outlandish Poetica melt along a meshing of rock and roll, baroque pop and realism, where Searles takes the gravity out of his influencing genres, all the while showing off their best narrative and sonic attributes.

Check out Outlandish Poetica in its entirety when you get a chance, and make your Monday a bit better with a lil somethin’ somethin’  from Jonathan Something, “Happy Day”!

Photo: Gabby Jones

Steve Hauschildt: “Saccade” feat. Julianna Barwick

Electronic music lovers (such as myself) may already recognize the name Steve Hauschildt. Hauschildt was a core member of Cleveland trio Emeralds from their founding days til their dissolving in 2013, but he’s also been putting out his own solo material for the better half of the past decade. Today Hauschildt shares the modern-day electro 8-track, Dissolvi, mostly recorded in a windowless studio near his Chicago home. The final product is an album unaffected by the elements and reduced to thoughtful instrumentation with occasional abstract vocal features that leave plenty of room for interpretation.

Spacey atmospheres, subtle synths and head-bobbing drum grooves make Dissolvi an instant favorite! Check out the lead single featuring L.A.’s Julianna Barwick – “Saccade”.

Sudan Archives: “Pay Attention”

KUTX listeners (both avid and amateur) have certainly heard the fiddle funk stylings of Cincinnati-born Brittney Parks – better known as Sudan Archives. At twenty-three, this self-taught vocalist-violinist producer extraordinaire has shifted the topography of mainstream music with her fusion of R&B, electronic production and West African rhythms, most recently with the sophomore EP Sink.

Currently based out of L.A., Sudan Archives just announced she’ll be joining KUTX favorites Brazilian Girls and local room shakers CAPYAC September 26th out in Santa Monica for Twilight on the Pier. Sure, heading out to the West Coast for one show isn’t viable for most KUTXans but let’s cut to the chase. If “Nont For Sale” hasn’t convinced you to dive into Sink and explore the depths of Sudan Archives, you’d better “Pay Attention”.

Charlie Belle: “Growing Pains” [PREMIERE]

When you name your musical project after your great-grandmother, chances are family is pretty dang important. That’s undeniably the case with brother-sister duo Charlie Belle, who’ve been rockin’ crowd and filling headphones since their move to Austin ten years ago.

This year marks drummer Gyasi’s eighteenth birthday and guitarist-vocalist Jendayi’s twenty-first but don’t take age as an indicator of maturity or talent; Charlie Belle is already two records deep, with international acclaim and recognition at mainstream music festivals under their belt. The Bonds siblings’ natural chemistry speaks for itself and they’re keeping up with their indie-pop origins with ten new tunes! What started as their first-ever full-length was split into two five-song EPs: Looking For Magic releases next Spring and their third EP Like I Love This comes out September 25th. Charlie Belle kicks off a regional EP release tour tonight at the Mohawk with openers Hippo and Indoor Creature.

Rest assured you’ll be hearing some live snippets from Like I Love This and you can get a jump start on the new Charlie Belle right now with the premiere of “Growing Pains”!