Doing The Attic Ted Shuffle

Attic Ted - Grady Roper w/guest electro noise maker Chad A: (Low Red Center)

A Recap of The Parlor Show (Friday, July 11th) - Part Two

I must admit to writing this review under the influence of painkillers, which makes my memory a bit fuzzy... But I'll try to be as coherent as possible.

Top contenders for diy artist/band of the month, San Marcos, TX experimental rockers Attic Ted had a good idea for a show in July. And like a lot of smart music lovers in Austin, TX, diy revolution was glad to help them bring that idea to the stage. We had it all set-up for the band with the good idea to headline last week, but due to unforseen technical/personnel difficulties [insert mock gasp of surprise here] NanoBangBang ended up being the icing on the cake. Regardless of the line-up shuffle, everyone had a good time at The Parlor. It was Attic Ted's first show in Austin since leaving on a summer tour (not counting a couple of wild house parties), and what an entertaining homecoming it was.

It was a pared-down version of the band last Friday at The Parlor: Grady Roper (vocals, organ, sampler) and Margie Osborne (cello) played tunes from a forthcoming release, including two songs featured on a new 7" - "No Regrets" and "My Turn Now". As predicted, there were a few people dancing despite the heat from the pizza oven. The warped organ grinding, warbled vocals meshed and clashed with the edge of sanity cello. Lance McMahan (electronic noisemaker/sampler) and Coby Cardosa (drums) were noticeably absent from the fray, but guest musician Chad A: filled in the beautiful chaos with controlled feedback. A few fans and Parlor patrons listening for the first time may have been confused by the extra feedback courtesy of ceiling acoustics, but I considered it an extra band member adding something special to the sonic milieu. (I've always wanted to use that word, "milieu".)

Attic Ted was one of the very first bands I reviewed formally, for local press. In 2005 Whoopsy editor Beky Hayes handed me Hemoglobin (Pecan Crazy Records), and I've been playing catchup with their scores of Austin fans ever since. I can't remember what I wrote, but I'm sure "music carnival freaks can dance to" might be a nice paraphrase. It's good music for the rest of us "normal folks" too.

Like most of the bands I enjoy listening to live, they've got a few tracks on MySpace available for download. That's free music for your personal enjoyment. "My Name Is Ed" (unreleased), "Tedland Suite", and "Climbing Up" (both from The Attic Ted Land Suite - 2006, Pecan Crazy).
Oh - and the new 45/7" is on sale @ myspace.com/atticted and pecancrazy.com too. Since I'm all about sharing internet info, here's the official Attic Ted site: www.atticted.com.

If you're lucky, you can also buy a copy of their releases dating from 2002 at your favorite local record shop, like End of an Ear or Sound on Sound. Or if you're really cheap, request them on KVRX.

~ diy danna

Tomorrow: NanoBangBang Comes Out with A Bang and Goes Pop!