Elliott Smith’s car (a retro 1999 Volkswagen Passat GLX) is for sale right here in Austin, Texas for $4,000. All proceeds will go to the SIMS Foundation.
About the Foundation:
The SIMS Foundation’s mission is to provide access to and financial support for mental health and addiction recovery services for Austin-area musicians and their families. SIMS was founded in 1995 by the friends and family of Sims Ellison, a talented young Austin musician, after his battle with depression ended in suicide.
Elliott’s own life ended in suicide from two self-inflicted stab wounds to the chest (that some still claim was a possible homicide). The talented lyricist left a simple goodbye Post-it note that read, “I’m so sorry—love, Elliot. God forgive me.”
Peaches and her opener Drums of Death will play a SOLD OUT show to an anxious crowd at Emo’s tonight (June 11th, 2009).
UPDATE- The Peaches show was canceled (the plane couldn’t land in Austin). More details to come about the reschedule date…
So far, everyone I have asked the question “Have you ever heard of Peaches?” to has answered my question with a question of their own:
1. No. Are they new?
2. Oh my god, are you kidding? I own all of her albums and I have seen her live 3 times!!!
For those of you that don’t know of the wonder that is “Peaches“, two lines from her Wikipedia page give a delightful summary of the artist: “Peaches is an electronica musician whose songs are notable for use of explicitly sexual lyrics but in a sort of 3rd wave feminist kind of vein. She plays her own instruments for her songs, programs her own electronic beats, and produces her own albums.”
Like Madonna:
Peaches has a large gay male following (when I hear the word “peaches”, whether in reference to the fruit or the artist, an image flashes in my head of my gay male (dancer) friend giving his own rendition of a Peaches video to the opening line of “F*** the Pain Away” …as I shyly “raise the roof” in my own attempt at dancing). Unlike Madonna:
Peaches has a large feminist punk girl following, who are a hell of a lot cooler than Madonna fans.
My questions for this evening are as follows:
1. Will Peaches follow tradition and spit a mouthful of venue-provided bottled water into a happy-to-have-Peaches-saliva-on-them crowd (as seen in the pic above)?
2. Will Peaches endrogenously dangle the mic between her legs during the intro to “Boys Wanna Be Her” (as seen in the vid below)?
3. Will Peaches reiterate the recent confirmations that “she’s still got it!” after all these years? (I’m predicting that this answer will be a definitive “yes!”)
(More to come after the show… If you’re heading that way tonight, don’t forget to catch the opening act Drums of Death. I’ve heard good things.)
Sonic Youth- The Eternal:
Probably the only active band in the world that was around to catch the Wipers the first time around. The Eternal catches retroactive influence from that band, and hits the mark as another late-period classic for the band.
J Dilla- Jay Stay Paid:
Hip-Hop is not known for posthumous triumphs, which makes this album from hip-hop’s greatest producer all the more welcome, and makes him all the more missed.
Gun Outfit- Dim Light:
Sounds exactly how you’d expect a band from Olympia to sound. This is a compliment.
Grey Anne- Facts and Figurines:
Adorable without being overtly precious or cloying. An under-the-radar gem from a multi-talented, multi-faceted Portland pop songstress.
Ducktails- Self-Titled:
Blissed-out, sunny day psych. The audio equivalent of a faded Polaroid of a family trip from when you were a baby.
Mos Def- The Ecstatic:
Mos knocks one out of the park with a hip-hop classic, like Be Kind Rewind– or his last two solo albums, for that matter– never happened.
Dirty Projectors- Bitte Orca:
Dave Longstreth returns with more of what he knows best: Knotty guitars, endless left turns in structure, and prodigious vocal arrangements. Couple that with two star turns from Angel Deradoorian and Amber Coffman, and you have a frontrunner for Album of the Year.
Eat Skull- Wild and Inside:
Hopefully, this lo-fi resurgence hasn’t jumped the shark for you just yet. If it has, you’re missing out on one of the scene’s best new-ish bands.
The Intelligence- Fake Surfers:
Surf music for city dwellers. Okay, okay; city dwellers on laced hallucinogens.
Frantic Clam, an Austin-based post-punk foursome, is presenting DJs and producers with an opportunity to be included in their upcoming album by remixing their single “Korean Beauty Queen“.
You can download stems and then upload your new rendition @: Frantic Clam Remix.
The band will accept submissions until August 15th, and one or more winning remixes will appear on their new album due out in October 2009.
- Analog Giant digs the recent hip hop collaboration between Machine Drum and Theophilus London called “Late Night Operation.” I must concur.
- I Guess I’m Floating provides a spot-on description of the queen of quirkiness Regina Spektor and her new track, “Folding Chair.”
- So Much Silence gives listeners the newest “You Don’t Wanna Know” track from Meanest Man Contest. Like they said…”It’s a doozy.”
- Salad Days Music summarizes the awesome new “Kids” video from MGMT in a one-liner= “The video basically consists of a bunch of scary monsters and creepy puppets terrifying the hell out of small children.” Perfect!!! What’s not to love?
Faster than the Speed of Light! is an original Sci-Bi-Fi musical written and produced by Stanley Roy (Little Stolen Moments) and Jeremy Roye (Fiction, Archibald Adams); directed by Kelli Bland (A Thought in Three Parts, The Bird and the Bee) and performed by local musicians and actors. FTSL! is Salvage Vanguard Theater’s first co-production as a part of a new movement to hone in on the talents of local and independent Austin theater.
Showtimes: May 28th-30th : 8:00pm
June 4th-7th : 8:00pm
June 11th-13th : 8:00pm
Grizzly Bear- Veckatimest:
Layers upon layers of incredibly detailed musical craftsmanship. Instant Album of the Year contender. City Center- Self-Titled:
Dude from Saturday Looks Good to Me tries his hand at avant-pop, with spectacular results. Black Moth Super Rainbow- Eating Us:
Not saying that taking drugs is required for listening to this album, but they help. John Vanderslice- Romanian Names:
It’s all about consistency, folks. Vanderslice is king at this. Bloc Party- Intimacy: Remixed:
Wait, so Intimacy wasn’t a Bloc Party remix album?
(photo from ‘Elliott Smith’ by Autumn de Wilde)
(photo by Kmeron)
