A Very LCD Valentine

As couple’s songs go, I have to admit I feel like mine and my boyfriend Zack’s is at the very top of the heap. We bonded over LCD Soundsystem’s “I Can Change” the day we met, and it’s always been ours, ever since. I wrote him a bit of an opus over at our shared blog, Rock Love Austin, and for Valentine’s Day, I also had some of our favorite local musicians cover our song for us. Here they are, in all of their fantastic, tear-jerking glory. Thanks for showing us the love, Austin!

Free Week Wrap Up

Free Week has come and gone, and this year’s was really quite glorious. Between our own showcase, new and exciting talent, and an old favorite back from the dead, I’d call it a riveting success. In case you were unable to participate, or if you did and were overwhelmed by choices, we’ve got picks below of some of our favorites.

Win a canvas of your photograph and decorate my home!

My lovely readers, some of you may know that I am about to move in with my amazing and also-music-writer boyfriend, Zack Teibloom from Festival Crashers. We are excited to share a space (and a bitchin’ vinyl collection) together, but we need some help with pulling together awesome stuff for our walls. Serendipitously for us, the fine people at Canvas Prints have offered to print out some concert photos so we can rockify our apartment.

This is where you come in. We are each hosting a separate contest for Austinites with concert photos, wherein we will pick winners and not only will your fabulous pics get put up in our place, but you, too, will take home a canvas of your winning photograph. The canvas the winner receives will be 14″x11″. Sound good? Read on for rules:

1. You’ve gotta do some ‘liking’ of Canvas Prints, because we like them for letting us run this contest. PLUS, by ‘liking’ them on Facebook, every single one of you gets 50% off of your next order, and free shipping. So no matter what, everyone’s a winner.
2. You’ve gotta submit a photo of one of these Texas bands, because – let’s be honest, we want our favorites displayed. (This is where the photo contests differ. Check out Festival Crashers for more winning.) Here are your choices:

• The Bright Light Social Hour
• The Black & White Years
• Little Lo
• Royal Forest
• Brazos (Old skool!/Extinct  )
• Sarah Jaffe
• The Boxing Lesson
• Spoon

The contest runs from now until July 15, the day before The Great Migration, and we’ll announce the winners post-move that Monday. Please email your entries to: caitlin AT austinwritesmusic DOT com. You can submit up to 10 photos, and make sure you link directly to your submission (not just your general photo site for us to peruse).

Also, for more chances to win free shwag, be sure to follow Canvas Prints on Twitter.

Mini-Golf and Muerta with the Boxing Lesson – Part 2

To read the first part of this piece, head over to FestivalCrashers.com.

10 [Par 4] – The band is collaborating with Frenchie Smith Records, and it’s a very loving partnership. When they were mixing Muerta, Chris “Frenchie” Smith told the band, “You are the best I’ve seen you. Keep going. It’s gonna happen.” Hopefully, it will happen for both of the up-and-coming local music groups.

11 [Par 4] – The inspiration for the Muerta EP came from the video for the song that was directed by Jonathan London. “The idea for the video was like Radiohead’s ‘No Surprises’ video,” Paul explained. “The effect is done by fans. I look like an electric eel.”

12 [Par 3] – On hole 12 during our interview tournament, Paul managed to hit his ball off the course and to the front fence, twice. On the second go, he even took down another player’s beer can. It almost seemed to happen in slow-motion, as Paul took his swing and the ball soared quickly through the air, tipping the beer can without so much as changing course. As the other mini-golfer ran to salvage his brew, he looked over at our team in amazement and yelled, “How does that happen?”

13 [Par 5] – Meandering from hole to hole with the Boxing Lesson, you immediately get a sense of their personalities. Paul is full of energy, excitement, belief in his art and love for his bandmate. Jaylinn is a firecracker, hilarious and equally supportive of Paul. Though Paul does a lot of the talking, as Jaylinn quipped after an impressive 2-swing first hole – “Do not rule me out.”

14 [Par 5] – Paul’s musical tendencies extend to his love of different recording formats. He had a love affair with cassettes, but explains, “Vinyl is my true love. I’m way into vinyl.” New Fortune is producing Muerta double EP 7”s.

15 [Par 4] – Now that Paul has taken over the managing role for the band again, he said he enjoys getting direct feedback about the band. “I’m never going to lose this – connecting with bloggers and fans.”

16 [Par 5] – When the Boxing Lesson’s drummer, Venny Nunez, first played with the band at the ripe age of 16, Paul and Jaylinn had to rub club stamps off on his hands to get the underaged musician into venues with them. Now, he’s 21 and Paul says, “We’re prolific together.”

17 [Par 5] – There’s a new full album in the works that Paul says Muerta transitions fans into. Still, there’s no rush these days. “At practice, we’re doing it for us again,” Paul said. “We’ll spin records, smoke pot, play for fun. Sometimes, we’ll just play a G for 45 minutes.”

18 [Par 5] – The Boxing Lesson are, more than ever, D.I.Y. Through their hardships, they’ve come full circle to make everything they do about the music again. “We’re like a high school band again,” Paul said. “I own all of my own music, I have Jaylinn, I have shows and friends. We’re starting again, and doing this for fun.” Sounds like a hole in one to me.

At the end of the game, Zack has blown everyone away with a 43, Jaylinn comes in second with a 53.5 (after being robbed and making a hole in two strokes but having the ball pop up out of the ground as if by magic, we gave her the .5 on the last swing), Paul is close on her heels at 55, and I play a gentlewoman’s 58. Everyone is all-smiles. You can share in the joy: the band will play an in-store at End of an Ear on Saturday at 6pm, rocking out the entire Muerta EP from start to finish, and offering up free downloads for anyone who comes. You can also pick up one of their new vinyl prints – there are only 250 to be had.

If you want to check out the band’s 101 Homegrown Live gig at the ND on Saturday, leave your name and e-mail in the comment section and we’ll pick a winner to be put on the guest list. For another chance to win, check out part one of this interview at FestivalCrashers.com.

Benefit for Japan at The Scoot Inn

A last-minute benefit has been put together by Bearded Allies featuring some awesome local bands at the Scoot Inn. On Saturday, blog favorites Little Lo, Ghost of Electricity, Lean Hounds and psych rockers The Boxing Lesson will perform, and the $5 cover charge will be donated to Mercy Corp’s Japan fundraiser. Doors are at 7:00p.m. Get out there for a good cause! More info can be found on Facebook.