Results tagged “buttercup”

Having changed its name from Volume to Mixx earlier this year, the spot that is 612 E. Sixth Street is now aiming to make the switch from dance club to live music venue. (Information for bands looking to play there can be found on the TwoGroove blog.) This Friday, the club takes a step in right direction by bringing in Rob Dickinson from Catherine Wheel for a solo set. The list of opening acts -- STEREO IS A LIE, Buttercup, and Lost Werks -- is not too shabby either. We fondly remember and still enjoy Catherine Wheel’s brilliant first two albums Ferment (1992) and Chrome (1993). The former contained gems like “Black Metallic,” “She’s My Friend,” and “I Want To Touch You” (which was included in The Brit Box, a Rhino collection from 2007) while “Crank,” “The Nude,” and “I Confess,” were some of our favorites on the latter. Three more full-lengths followed before Catherine Wheel hung up their boots after 2000’s Wishville, although there is no clear record of them officially calling it quits.

Hey gang. For today’s capsule reviews, we’re keeping things Texan. We have the fourth full-length release from San Antonio’s pop mavens Buttercup, a new release from Alan Paloma’s psych-dance experiment Neon Indian, and an LP from the similarly homegrown aesthetics of the Houston-based Hearts of Animals. Without further ado…

Jonathan Meiburg’s pristine voice makes incantations out of lyrics. With its disciplined swells and polished weight, Shearwater taps an almost medieval resonance, seemingly without anachronism. If you are thinking of going green but just haven’t found the energy, there is plenty of inspiration here.

Unlike San Antonio, Austin has so many more opportunities for musicians to play in actual venues attended by actual attendees, so at first glance the need for more private, unique places for bands to play seemed to be less of a necessity. But the deeper a person burrowed, the more they could uncover – with The Church of the Friendly Ghost, out on Pedernales street, standing in as the most odd and accommodating venue for which a music geek could wish. A former site of a real, honest-to-god church whose landlord was glad to rent it out to musicians and curators of The Church of the Friendly Ghost – a step above the wacky fundamentalists who had the space before – the Church had a distinction of being a welcoming place that also catered to fringe music for those in the know.