austin music

After Prop Q fails, city leaders propose budget cuts

The Austin City Council will meet to start the process of making cuts to the city budget after voters struck down Proposition Q, a controversial property tax increase. These cuts could affect parks, public health programs, emergency medical services and more. KUT City Hall reporter Luz Moreno-Lozano shares more.

KUTX’s Maile Carballo has the details on the lease extension of iconic blues venue Antone’s.

Plus: We hear from singer-songwriter Judy Blank, KUTX’s artist of the month. Watch her KUTX performances here.

After Prop Q fails, city leaders propose budget cuts

KUTX’s Maile Carballo has the details on the lease extension of iconic blues venue Antone’s.

Plus: We hear from singer-songwriter Judy Blank, KUTX’s artist of the month. Watch her KUTX performances here.

Camp Mystic faces lawsuit from parents of flood victims

Four months after the deadly flooding that ran through Central Texas, lawsuits are being levied against the groups in charge of Camp Mystic in the Hill Country. Families of those killed in the flooding say the people responsible ignored warnings and years of past floods. We have the latest about the lawsuits.

Plus, we hear some music from students at the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired here in Austin.

The podcast This Is My Thing has highlighted a range of Austinite’s interests. Today we talk with podcast host Mike Lee on Fountain Pens!

Camp Mystic faces lawsuit from parents of flood victims

Plus, we hear some music from students at the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired here in Austin.

The podcast This Is My Thing has highlighted a range of Austinite’s interests. Today we talk with podcast host Mike Lee on Fountain Pens!

BONUS — Austin Artists Share What It Means to Play ACL Fest

What does it mean for Austin artists to take the stage at the city’s biggest music festival? This episode features conversations with SL Houser, Geto Gala, and Next of Kin as they share their journeys to Austin City Limits Music Festival, reflect on what it means to perform in their hometown, and talk about what’s next for their music.

Pause/Play is a listener-supported production of KUT & KUTX Studios in Austin, Texas.

You can support our work by donating at supportthispodcast.org.

How the Digital Equity Act helped before funding was cut

Organizations are working to bridge the digital divide in Texas and across the country, but that work has been made more difficult since the Trump administration withheld funds to assist programs aimed at getting underserved people online. Texas Standard’s Shelly Brisbin has more on how these groups and local governments are planning for a future without the financial aid.

Austin FC is partnering with We Are Blood for a community blood drive this week. Learn how you can participate.

And: Antone’s lands a deal to stay in their current digs for the next five decades.

How the Digital Equity Act helped before funding was cut

Austin FC is partnering with We Are Blood for a community blood drive this week. Learn how you can participate.

And: Antone’s lands a deal to stay in their current digs for the next five decades.

Do You Have To Support Rap To Be Good At Politics?

On this episode we discuss the proposed Verzuz between 50 cent and T.I. (FYI it’s not happening). We also discuss hip-hop’s role in electing progressive candidates and if it’s necessary. Hip-hop facts include SISQO BEING EXTREMELY YOUNG, Eddie Murphy, 2pac, and more. Fresh’s Unpopular Opinion is about LL Cool J being the one rapper to have a chance against Jay-Z.

Jane Leo: “Goldmine” [Live In Studio 1A]

After a year or so of releasing individual dance-pop candies, Austin’s Jane Leo released their sophomore album Creature of Destruction in September. One of the tracks on the album is “Goldmine,” a slightly more subdued song from the art-pop duo, but still dripping with energy and that funky “Imma dance here in my own little circle, in my own little world” energy. Bouncy, sexy, and more vintage than much of what we’ve heard in the past, “Goldmine” is a cheeky reminder that even if you go to Jane Leo show to dance with one foot in the future, they’ve got plenty of tricks up their sleeve to subvert expectations without losing an ounce of their allure.

Jane Leo stopped by Studio 1A to perform songs from Creature of Destruction ahead of their show tonight at Empire Control Room with New Constellations.

Her Mana: “Suena”

Perfect for the chilling temperatures is the latest from Austin world-folk duo Her Mana. Emilie Basez and Kate Robberson return with their latest single “Suena,” a slow, tender tune made for slow dances with long, locked gazes. Produced by Jim Eno and featuring the Ibiza String Ensemble to brighten the thoughtfully equipped negative space in the song and to elevate Basez and Robberson’s angelic voices, the new single is a delicate breadcrumb of new music leading to their show at the Paramount on Sunday, November 16th.

Rap Missing On The Billboard Top 40?

On this episode we discuss the aftermath of the No Limit and Cash Money Records Verzuz in Las Vegas. We also discuss the Billboard Top 40 not having in hip-hop songs on it since 1990 and the possible fall out from that. Hip-Hop facts include Outkast, Michael Jordan, Warren G and more. Fresh’s Unpopular Opinion is that causal hip-hop fans don’t care if an artist performs over their backing vocals or not.

Teethe: “Holy Water” [Live In Studio 1A]

It’s the last day of October, so it’s time for one final spooky toast to our October Artist of the Month. Teethe was formed up in the DIY music enclave of Denton, all students of the University of North Texas. Now, with streaming numbers on their side, a move to Austin, and a European and east coast tour filling out the rest of their year, the quartet is champing at the bit to keep their incisors sharp and their momentum growing.

While their debut album was an amalgamation of their individual songs synthesized together, their new album Magic of the Sale is wholly Teethe: a little no-wave; a little dark, dream pop; and a bit of that classic Denton DIY energy. Our Artists of the Month stopped by Studio 1A to perform songs from the new album, out now.

Skateland: “Wednesday, Baby!”

For years now, we’ve been in a bit of a cuffing season with former KUTX Artist of the Month Skateland‘s synth-driven dream pop that’s as delectable and ethereal as the roller rink of his stage name origins. It’s cozy, groovy, and hypnotic all at the same time. After years of breadcrumbing us singles, he’s releasing his debut album Heavenly Bodies, and he’s celebrating the album release tonight at 3Ten ACL Live with Holy Wire and Somebody Somewhere before climbing out of the covers and from under the warm, soft lights and kicking off a 10-day tour next month.

Michael Arizmendi: “Dependence”

Born and raised in Brownsville, TX, new Austinite Michael Arizmendi recently graduated from the esteemed Berklee College of Music in Boston. Principally a trumpeter, Arizmendi studied music production and songwriting, and he blends those skills with a passion for exploring and synthesizing different genres. His debut single “Dependence” blends sultry jazz and hip-hop showcasing both Arizmendi’s years as a jazz musician with his budding career as a lyricist and songwriter, journeying down the road paved by Digable Planets, The Roots, and a bit o’ Paul’s Boutique.

Our Favorite Moments In Hip-Hop

On this episode we discuss some of favorite, or most important, moments in hip-hop. We also discuss a proposed Houston hip-hop Verzuz between the Screwed Up Click and Swisha House. Hip-hop facts include facts about Warren G, The Alchemist, and Eddie Murphy. Fresh’s Unpopular Opinion this week is that no artist truly wants to be “anti-industry” that they claim.

The John-Pauls: “Eep Eep”

Yesterday, I watched a video of a guy unsuccessfully attempting to get a beached dolphin back into the ocean, and as luck would have it, today I get to write about a song from a dolphin’s POV. And a louche little devil they are. “Eep Eep” is the appropriately named title and single from the Austin quintet The John-Pauls’ new album, out today. While most of the album features the group’s brand of Texas post-punk, the single is a feisty, punk one-off. That dolphin has an agenda, or at least a lot of one type of feeling. Largely recorded live at Matt Gerhard’s (Spoon, !!!, Parquet Courts) studio in Lockhart, the group’s raw energy and notion for noisy descension is beautifully captured.

Moonkill: “Full Stop”

I’m not sure there’s a better way to say you’re basically a space punk band than to name yourselves MoonKill, and, hey, that’s exactly what this Austin quartet has done. But it’s not like floating-in-space post punk; it’s more like if the Thunderdome had a Tatooine location. They’ve been busy back in the studio working on their sophomore album (due out next spring), and in the meantime you can catch their high octane, power chord-forward energy this Thursday at Valhalla. Time your upstairs pit stop at Marinara Miracles appropriately.

“Full Stop” appears on 2024’s MoonKill.

D’Angelo The Great

On this episode we discuss the legacy of the late musican D’Angelo who suddenly passed last week at age 51. We also discuss the upcoming Verzuz between hip-hop labels Cash Money (Lil Wayne, etc) and No Limit (Master P, Snoop, etc.) and how it would look. Hip-Hop facts this week include facts about D’Angelo, UGK, 2pac and Lil Wayne. Fresh’s Unpopular Opinion is about how Lil Jon might not be the biggest fan of Three 6 Mafia in the overall legacy of crunk music.

Go Fever: “Amagosa” [Live in Studio 1A]

They’re back, baby! After a several-year hiatus, the Aussie-meets-Austin rock group Go Fever returns to retake Austin by storm. Known for putting out banger after absolute banger, their “vibrant jungle print, but in rock music” brand with earwormy hooks and lyrics that warrant an English-class close read have been profoundly missed across Austin’s stages.

With a little warm-up reunion a couple of months ago, courtesy of the DIY, underground music champion For Spite Creative, Go Fever plays an official reunion show tonight at Radio/East with Matthew Logan Vasquez and Magic Rockers of Texas. And as we gear up for what we hope is a new era for Go Fever, we’re taking a step back in time to their Artist of the Month Studio 1A session from 2021.

Briscoe: “Saving Grace” [Backstage at ACL Fest]

Austin duo Briscoe made their musical imprint back in 2023 with their coming-of-age in the Texas Hill Country debut West of It All. Now having toured extensively (“from Canada to Cancun”), their latest album Heat of July is a different type of coming-of-age output for the folk-rock duo, literally written on the road largely without any instruments within arm’s reach and steeped in metaphors of growth that happen with expanded horizons: larger arrangements, bigger harmonies, and waxing poetic on their stint with highways being the only constant. The roster on Heat of July is expanded too, wrangling in musicians from groups like Bon Iver, Houndmouth, and Hiss Golden Messenger.

Briscoe popped by our tent backstage at ACL Fest to perform “Saving Grace,” a love letter from the road sweetly extolling the strength and validation from your person back home who keeps you going through those low and lonely times on tour.

Briscoe kicks off their coast-to-coast US tour this Friday with a free show this Friday at Central Machine Works with Montclaire.