Song of the Day

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July 10, 2024

Passiflora: “Backyard Birds”

By: Jack Anderson

Feeling the heat and humidity outside for just thirty seconds confirms it: we’re well past the season of birds and bees. Yet even as cicadas steal the atmospheric spotlight with that iconic, steamy soundscape of theirs, birdsongs never really go out of style – Cindy, ornithological vocalizations, or otherwise.

So let’s talk Passiflora. Having only released their debut EP eponymous last March, this Austin three-piece (who performs live as four with the addition of bass) is still only a nestling with a handful of tracks to their name. But their jazzy juxtapositions of neo-soul and alt-R&B (not to mention, all around just great hair) have made Passiflora into sensuous Central Texas vibe – one that we could easily see Erykah Badu getting behind.

And as we endure this summer’s early trials, Passiflora have teamed up with producer Rafi Rosenthal to incorporate something new into their aural aviary: synth. Passiflora’s resting up from last night’s release show at Community Garden, but their latest single, “Backyard Birds”, is only just now spreading its wings. And boy oh boy does it sure beat the raucous squawks of H-E-B Hancock’s ever-growing grackle plague. Over the course of this new tune’s four-and-a-half minutes, you might just dissociate enough to confuse the ground with the sky, thanks to subtle shifts from muffled MIDI programming to airtight physical drums, featherweight vocals (complete with some surprise processing), and guitar grooves that carry this musical migration all the way to the horizon.


Episodes

February 20, 2025

Persona 749: “Stereo Girl”

From the hockey rink of the University of Utah to the mean streets of New York City comes Persona 749. After being inspired through music heard at college parties, Landon Langenbrunner and Che Landikusic started writing music, but without real direction, they were making music from a place of fun, playing around in the sandbox […]

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February 19, 2025

Maddy Kirgo: “Spare”

New Orleans’s Maddy Kirgo writes music not only akin to the eclectic, all-embracing attitude of the Big Easy, but also to the sounds currently pouring out of its venues, or in her case, the buskers on the corner. To that end, her sounds simultaneously evokes the California country rock sounds of the nudie suit era […]

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February 17, 2025

MIEN: “Evil People” (Live In Studio 1A)

We all know that when an artist is featured on a song, it’s likely that they recorded it remote and sent the track to the main artist. But how does it work when you’re a quartet and only 2 of y’all live in the same place? To ask the members of Austin experimental psych band […]

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February 14, 2025

Kowloon: “Heart Begins With You”

L.A.’s Kowloon is truly a one-man operation. Songwriting? Him. Instrumentation? Him. Recording, production? Yep, all Kowloon. Backed by a full library of effects and music gadgets from various eras, Kowloon released a string of singles last year, demonstrating his affinity for the darkwave sounds of the 80s a la the Cure and Bronski Beat. Ahead […]

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February 13, 2025

Tommy Francisco: “Tommy’s Groove”

Even a piping hot bowl of tokontsu ramen can’t fully shake-off today’s bone chill, but maybe the headspace of partying on a yacht in Mallorca can. Austin native Tommy Francisco hit the scene in 2020 with “Fever,” giving him an international audience and proving his ability to blend his Latin and Indigenous backgrounds into a […]

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February 12, 2025

Serebii: “Verrans Corner”

Auckland, New Zealand’s Callum Mower, known as Serebii, has always focused on pushing forward. Forward musically, forward personally, and now, forward into naked vulnerability.   Serebii’s upcoming album Dime finds Mower at his most vulnerable. Historically, Mower has relied on his mastery of instruments and production with others, namely fellow New Zealander Arjuna Oakes, but […]

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February 11, 2025

Slept All Day: “Asteria”

Austin duo Slept All Day may be new on the scene, but don’t sleep on them. Together, the two create moving soundscapes a la Bonobo and Washed Out. And they use their vocals as an element of the scape instead of its driving force. And despite the electronic instrumentation and vocal effects, the music is […]

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February 10, 2025

Middle Satre: “Corrupted (Uncorrupted)”

Welcome! Today’s theme is vision and reimagining. After spending a childhood in Salt Lake City, Hunter Preuger moved to Austin to sow oats with his project Middle Sattre. The project quickly expanded into a six-piece…and then an eight-piece, and a year after the release of their debut album Tendencies, the experimental folk outfit returned to […]

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