Fleet Foxes

As indie rock is going through its folk movement, Fleet Foxes are capitalizing on this new fad. Their soft woozy style brings back memories of legendary folk-rockers like The Band, Nick Drake, and Crosby, Stills, and Nash. 

With their self-titled debut album, Fleet Foxes mix what these acts have accomplished and created their own melodic sound that is easy on the ear. But their pleasant sound doesn't come without a price. The songs wash together without any real change of pace and their lack of intensity can cause a loss of interest after only a few songs. The songs individually are good but I would like to see them try and go outside of their comfort zone. 

I do like where the Fleet Foxes are going with this album and am interested in what they will do next. If you like The Band, you will certainly like this band.

B

The World United Music Festival and Radio Conference

Austin Music Fans, here's something that may of slipped under your radar, and it's coming up soon. In close by San Marcos, The World United Music Festival and Radio Conference is being held November 14, 15, and 16th of this year! For whatever reason, I had not heard of this massive music fest until a few weeks ago. 

I believe this is the first year of the festival, and it is set up similar to Austin City Limits. 150 bands, 8 stages, and 3 days. But the fest has two major differences to ACL. First, it is held in November, which means no dust and certainly no heat. And secondly, it only costs $70 for a weekend pass and if you only want to check the fest out for one day then it is mere $35 for a day pass! 

The festival doesn't have big names like Beck, Foo Fighters, or Gnarls Barkley. It is centered around independent groups and should be a good event to attend if you are looking for some new interesting music. 

Wilco: I Shall Be Voting

The new fad these days for musicians is trying different ways to get their fans to vote. Which I'm completely in favor for. Suffrage is a right that people have been fighting for throughout the history of this country, and the fact that people today have the right to vote and choose note to is incomprehensible to me.  

Wilco is another band trying out this voting tactic. They do it in a way that is at least appeasing to me, giving out a free song while "pledging" to vote. If you go to wilcoworld.net/vote and type in your name and email, you will get Wilco's cover of the Bob Dylan song "I Shall Be Released" emailed to you and ready for download. There is also a link at the bottom to register to vote for those who are not registered. 

Woody

Woody Guthrie was the original folk protest songwriter and has brought a heavy influence on later songwriters like Bob Dylan and Ramblin' Jack Elliot; by singing about fascists, unions, the Dust Bowl, and equality. His sarcastic wit in songs like "Mean Talkin' Blues," powerful voice in "Dust Bowl Blues," and day-dreaming reflections in "Ingrid Bergman," makes him one of the most diverse and creative songwriters of the 20th century.

Guthrie is from another time, making his lyrics and sound hard to relate for people in today's society. Today we're more worried about terrorists than fascists and hurricanes than dust storms. But Guthrie's ideals of freedom and love are something we should all relate to.

My advise for those who have not heard Guthrie before is to check out Wilco and Billy Bragg's collaboration called Mermaid Avenue, in which they cover many unreleased Guthrie songs with a more modern alt-country sound. There are two volumes released in 1998 and 2000. The sound is good, but what makes the album worth buying is Guthrie's words.

"Birds and Ships"

The birds are singing

In your eyes today

The flowers blooming in your smile;

The wind and sun

Are in the words you say;

Where might your lonesome lover be?

Birds may be singing

In my eyes this day;

Sweet flowers may blossom when i smile;

My soul is stormy

And my heart blows wild;

My sweet hearts rides a ship at sea.

-Woody Guthrie

The Red River Shootout

Now, like any lifetime University of Texas sports fan, I'm particularly excited for next Saturday's match up against the vile Oklahoma Sooners. With this being a bitter rivalry and given that both teams are highly ranked. One should expect this to be a game of epic proportions. Right?

Wrong, now this scenario seems to happen every year, both teams come in highly ranked and one dominates the other. Now granted last year was and exception (Oklahoma won 28-21) but that was the only time in the last ten years that the game has been determined by less than 10 points. Over this time OU has beat UT by scores of 63-14, 65-13, 12-0, 35-24, and 14-3. All in convincing fashion. Similarly UT has beat OU by scores of 45-12, 28-10, 34-3, and 38-28. 

Certainly, I will be watching the game next Saturday, and honestly I hope it isn't close and Texas blows out Oklahoma. But if your a neutral observer craving a good game, I wouldn't guarantee that this one will satisfy your hunger.   

Will The Cubs Ever Win?

Oh the Cubbies! The most depressing team in sports. 

You would think that this year would be their year. The best record in the National League, Sweet Lou Pinella as their manager, and if you superstitious this is the 100th anniversary of their last championship. 100 years! 

But no, the poor decrepit Cubbies have been blown out of their first two playoff games and are one game away from elimination. To make things worse, both of the games were at home and against the mediocre Dodgers who barely finished over .500 for the season. 

But there is still hope, and you know Cubbie fan has hope. Hell, just a couple of years ago the Red Sox broke their little championship slump being down 3-0 to the sinister Yankees. 

So anything can happen. But it is the Cubs, the team of infinite sorrow.

It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia

This FX T.V. series is without question the craziest and most ridiculous show on T.V., and I mean that in a good way. The show is centered around five people who work in a rundown bar called Paddy's in Philadelphia. "The gang" is what they call themselves. There is not an innocent character in the show, all of them are shallow, backstabbing, lazy, and genuinely repugnant. 

One of my favorite episodes is when "the gang" decides to start letting high school kids into their bar to "help keep them safe." So naturally the bar becomes packed with high schoolers and all "the gang" can't help but become swept up in all the high school drama. They start going to high school house parties and dating way to young high school kids. Eventually they all get asked to the prom except for one. Mac, a twenty something year old guy doesn't get asked so he decides to go to the prom stagnant. A grow man going stag to the prom, now that's funny. Eventually, they all get pathetically dumped and wind up not going to the prom at all. 

Their episode names are so properly titled "The Gang Goes Jihad," "Dennis Looks Like A Registered Sex Offender," or "Sweet Dee's Dating A Retarded Person." All of them are equally offensive an equally funny. 

Watch it for free here at hulu.com