Wednesday Showdown: Red Pony Clock vs. Dark Dark Dark vs. Gangster Rainbow Tonight

Free red 'Pataphysics pony clock with every bowl of spiked punch purchased at Club 1808 tonight! Not really... But the next best thing: Freak folk rockers Red Pony Clock from California ride into Austin today to play a show with Pataphysics and Spiked Punch. Not sure if there's a cover charge ($5 cover tonight), but there's usually free admission if you're 21 and older, and $5 for 18 and older at Club 1808. RSVP @ Facebook.

Described as a chamber folk group, Minneapolis and Brooklyn based indie music stars Dark Dark Dark  will be in Austin tonight, part of the indoor show happening with New Mexico folk music blenders a Hawk and a Hacksaw and earthy to ethereal pop quartet Pillars & Tongues. Advance tickets are $10, which you can buy via Mohawk Austin, and admission at the club's doors is $12. 

Austin's Gangster Rainbow and Friends - Handwritten, Lead Pipe, and Cat Wheelchair - combine lo-fi garage rock and experimental sensibilities for a show you won't want to miss. Not sure what the cover will be, if any amount, but Frontier Bar is a cool revamped music venue on the east side. RSVP on Facebook. 

Out of Town: Connect The Dots Music Festival in Beaumont, Texas

The live music capital meets home of Spindeltop. Get details about the inaugural fest here.

I was raised in Beaumont, so I can make fun of it. Most of my friends know my cute nickname for the home of the first big oil gush known as Spindletop. There are a few exceptions to the rule that nothing exciting happens in Boremont unless it's the fair or a refinery accident. But this weekend I have to figuratively eat the nickname of the town that lies 90 miles east of Houston. all thanks to Connect the Dots Festival.

One of the few cool music haunts in my hometown, The Vortex, is opening its doors for an exciting mix of Austin based acts, some which still have roots in Boremont - I mean Beaumont. (Some habits are hard to break.) he bar that boasts the best sound guy in the world, also known to me as fellow La Snacks fan Chad, welcomes 11 bands in 2 nights. Known for showcasing Southeast Texas indie rockers like the former Joe Jitsu, and touring Austin bands like Flametrick Subs, The Vortex coordinated the best new Texas music fest with some smart young man who has ties to Austin and Beaumont music scenes. It was easy to connect the dots, crossing styles and geography to deliver two nights of music I highly recommend.

You may click on the links to hear the bands, or visit the official Connect The Dots site for fest details:

Tonight, 22 August

La Snacks (1 am)
Pataphysics (12 am)
Sharks From Space (11 pm)
Meryll (10 pm)
Uptown (9 pm)
DJ Totally Trash (8 pm - Doors Open)

Saturday, 23 August

Ringo Deathstarr (1 am)
Transmography (12 am)
Molly Maguires (11 pm)
Daniel Francis Doyle (10 pm)
We Were Wolves (9 pm)
DJ Totally Trash (8 pm)

The price ($10) more than makes up for the price of gas if you're traveling from Austin. If you pack quickly and head out soon, you'll probably get to hear the first band. Advance tickets are still available through Frontgate, but you can pay at the door. If you can't make the music fest, check out the bands above anyway. Some offer mp3 downloads of music you can enjoy wherever you are.

~ diy danna

Pataphysics Local Addition to Ariel Pink Show @ The Mohawk - Saturday, 9 August 2008

"Ain't no party like a pop defects party..." - Anonymous Emcee*

Although the date is incorrect (it should be 8/9 Sat., not Fri. on the e-flier), the timing of this show is perfect! Besides Ariel Pink & Company (Los Angeles, CA) at The Mohawk being the perfect post to start our week (officially), it marks the day after the birthday of one of our favorite Austin entertainers - the frontman for the spasmatic dance inducing experimental pop band - Pataphysics.

You could call it a birthday gift to himself because Patrick Healy, a.k.a. Pataphysics, is a fan of Ariel Pink. A huge fan, according to our interview (INsite, January 2008). Healy's musical partnership with Pataphysics' lead guitarist Matt La Comette (Aunt's Analog, ex-Oblong Boys), was partly inspired by Ariel Pink's avant-garde pop solo shows. Both musicians are fans and thought Healy could start off with solo, acousmatic tape shows, then build the sound. And what a sound...The band includes Erich Ragsdale (ex-Oblong Boys) playing synthesizer, Dirk Michener (Cavedweller, Charles Potts' Magic Windmill Band) adding the bass lines, and Jason "Chef" Pittman (The Telephone Company, The Carrots) on drums, all adding depth of colors to the already decorative canvas of Pataphysics' sound.


Pataphysics @ Emo's 22/10/07. Photo © 2007 Danna Williams

You know it's going to be be a good time if you're rambling about the opening band.

Pataphysics' recent shows have more than made up for the truncated slap in the face performance last time at The Mohawk (8 December 2007), possibly in response to uncalled heckling after a technical defect with the stunning Yip-Yip (Winter Park, FL), which led to a cancellation of their performance. Pataphysics performance highlights in summer '08 include kicking off the Tangled Snark Summer Parties, and performing on KVRX's Local Live.

But their live performance at Mohawk this Friday is the Pataphysics event of the summer.



The official Ariel Pink Summer tour 2008 poster, and a work of art.

Headliners Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti is the solo artist's amazing band, on tour this summer, because that's the best way to earn money when greedy corporate labels control the marketing of commercial (payola) airwaves. (Feel free to correct me if I'm completely wrong.) he gets my respect for being a truly d-i-y artist/musician who records and produces his own music in limited release. Since I've already taken so much time with the show opener, I'll let the reader decide what Ariel Pink sounds like by mentioning the free mp3 downloads** currently available for your listening pleasure. For me, they're just teasers until the consummate live performance, but it could appease you for a few days.

I don't know much about Brooklyn, NY trio Chairlift, but from a doesn't offer a free sample of their recordings, but if you're the artsy type, you may get a kick out of their MySpace profile graphics. from what I've heard, their odd, haunting indie musings fit in perfectly with touring mate Ariel Pink. Pitchfork includes a review plus two previews (streaming and mp3) in a review of the album Does You Inspire You, now available for digital download. A hard copy will be available in late October.

Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti
w/ Chairlift
Pataphysics
Live @ The Mohawk - Austin, TX
Saturday, August 9th
RIYL: Animal Collective, Beck, Captain Beefheart, R. Stevie Moore, Frank Zappa, and music that makes you go "hmmm...".

For more info, including admission amount, ticket availability, and age limit, go to mohawkaustin.com. After-party with A Faulty Chromosome inside.

Thanks to Archbold for hipping me to this show last month!

End of transmission.


~ diy danna


*No, we just made that up...

** But this is true. We're certain you'll have to be logged into MySpace for the mp3 downloads to work.