Culture Greyhound

Mates Of State “Sway” from Barsuk Records on Vimeo.

Every Saturday, I post a 15-20 minute podcast featuring some tracks I’ve been jamming the previous week, as well as some commentary and random musings from yours truly. Enjoy!

This week is a quick homage to my weekend – Fun Fun Fun Fest 2011. Enjoy this quick playlist while you gear up for Day 2!

Tracklist:

Major Lazer – Keep It Goin’ Louder
M83 – Steve McQueen
Passion Pit – Sleepyhead
The Thermals – Liquid In, Liquid Out
Hum – Stars

Today is the first day of Fun Fun Fun Fest 2011, and I trust you are prepared for the multitude of fun you are about to digest. If not, might I suggest this playlist, a quickly thrown-together compilation of my picks for the weekend. Feel free to get psyched while you shuffle through. Who are you kids going to see?

Listen to the playlist on Spotify.

Fun Fun Fun Fest begins tomorrow – just typing that makes me so happy – and I’m sure you wild and crazy partiers have filled out your schedule and convened with fellow fest-goers. What you may not have done, however, is adequately prepared yourself to maximize the fun level. Here are some tips from an FFF veteran, myself, which will hopefully prepare you for the onslaught of awesome you’re about to digest.

1. Wear sunscreen and bring a jacket

Should be a given, but some people forget, and man oh man, when they forget, their weekend is ruined. I know all about it, trust me. The UV rays will be hitting hard because this is Austin, but it might get chilly in the evenings – sometimes we forget down here in Central Texas that it’s November.

2. You’re on your own with parking

Parking was so easy at Waterloo – there were three garages directly across the street. This isn’t the case with the Shores, so I recommend ponying up some cash for one of the downtown garages on 5th street. Since I live on the East side, I will be utilizing the free shuttle and walking down to Red River in the evenings. Neato!

3. Show up early if you want to see the band

Each stage is actually two stages, and they’re setting up one while someone’s playing on another, so I recommend standing near the front in the middle for the best vantage point. If you’re dying to see a particular band, get there early, find a good spot, and sit through the band before, who probably isn’t that bad. All the stages are genre-specific, so you might discover something similar that you like!

4. Make your money count

I know on Friday you’re gonna wanna get wasted and try all the vendors’ food and maybe buy your favorite band’s new record and a collector’s item screen-print FFF t-shirt. I will too. But we must remember that our cash has to last us three days this year, not two. So if you’re unable to partake in the third Fun on Sunday, it’s because you went overboard on the first Fun on Friday. Be wise with your monies. Because festivals aren’t cheap.

5. Stay hydrated

Being on a budget helps to prevent one’s self from consuming too much festival-priced alcoholic beverages. But sometimes, man, you just wanna rage! I wanna be buzzing for Major Lazer!, etc. I understand. Just plan accordingly. Check the time and judge your intake. If you’re getting embarrassing in the evening, make sure you drink plenty of water in the daytime.

Go here for more tips and rules and info about the fest, and I’ll see you there!

Don’t know if you’ve heard or anything, but this weekend is Fun Fun Fun Fest, and I am so pumped. And also swamped with work I’m trying to get done before the weekend arrives. So consider this a quick post. Tomorrow I will post survival tips, and Friday look for a picks playlist, as well as a themed podcast on Saturday. Told you guys I was stoked. In the meantime, today I’m delving into the FFF afterparties, or Fun Fun Fun Nites, as they’re calling them, and picking my recommendations. For the first time this year, the only way to get into these bad boys is with an FFF wristband, and if you got one of those, the admission is free. There’s so much to pick from it’s like another festival happening right after the one at the Shores. The hustle to Red River should be exciting each night; in the meantime, here are my picks for what you should do once curfew comes around.

Thursday:

I’m probably sitting this one out, I’ll likely be finishing up school work and waiting for traveling friends to arrive, and really the only pull here is at Mohawk, where the always awesome Ty Segall will be shredding. I would show up late, though, because the Coathangers are unbearable.

Friday:

By far the best night in the afterparty lineup – go hard this evening if you go hard at all. I’m watching Cold Cave for sure at Mohawk, then skipping over to the Parish for a headlining set from the Thermals. Also, Dead Confederate is rocking Deville, which is time well spent. Dead Confed put on a loud, loud show – kind of wish they were playing the fest as well…

Saturday:

I’ll probably get dragged to Mates of State at Parish, which I won’t mind, but my preference is Emire Automotive for the hipster-tastic Gorilla Vs. Bear party – Keep Shelly In Athens, Purity Ring, and a Neon Indian DJ set. If I enjoy Purity Ring at the fest, I might insist on this one, but if not, it’s whatevs.

Sunday:

The fact that I have class and will probably be exhausted at this point likely won’t stop me from attending Dom and Royal Bangs at Red 7 – another possibility is Thee Oh Sees at Beerland, as I will likely miss them at the Fest. Sunday night’s where the Red Bull comes in handy, among other things….

So what are your afterparty picks? Taking part in the festivities? Get at me.

Transmission keeps bringing the goods, and this year they’ve certainly increased the exposure for the finest little fest in ATX; Pitchfork announced yesterday they’re hosting the first-ever webcast for Fun Fun Fun. That means all you unlucky souls who can’t make it out to the Shores, or Austin, can still partake in one of the finest lineups ever concocted for this festival’s short life. All four genre-specific stages will be accounted for on the webcast, though Pitchfork hasn’t announced who exactly will be shown. A location change, an app with a taco locator, a lineup the size and stature of Texas, and now a webcast? Hosted by Pitchfork?! The McDonald’s of hipsterdom?! Looks like Fun Fun Fun Fest is on its way from the underdog to a major player. They keep this up, they might need a fourth Fun.

5. Packers Had a Bye Week

I’m going to chalk it up to boasting too much last week, because my most awesome weekend in sports probably ever was followed by one of the worst. And my only certain team, the Green Bay Packers, the only team that could have lifted my spirits, didn’t even play this week.

4. Dallas Got Embarrassed

After a great showing against the Rams, the Cowboys let themselves get torn up by a struggling Eagles team. Philadelphia dominated on both sides of the ball; Michael Vick threw for two TDs, and LeSean McCoy easily reached 185 yards rushing. They looked like the dream team everyone was talking about in Week 1. Tony Romo….well, he looked like Tony Romo. 18 of 35 passes, one interception, and one touchdown, the lone score for Dallas.

3. Texas Tech Got Embarrassed At Home

It seems like every time Tech gets a number by their name, they immediately blow their chances of that number getting any smaller. I mean, I’ve seen the Red Raiders too high off a big win, but wow….what a lousy game. By the first quarter, I didn’t want to watch anymore. It was just pitiful. Iowa State owned us. Is it obligatory for us to pull off an unlikely win and lose what should be a given every season?

2. Game 7 Was the Nail In the Coffin

See number 1 for the night before, but after that heartbreak, I knew we didn’t have it in us. Wash was shaken, and he made bad decisions. Where was Feliz? Why start Harrison, who has been pitching like crap lately? With the exception of Pujols superhuman Game 3, we were either neck and neck or completely dominating the Cards throughout the series. But on the night that it counted, we phoned it in. Too easy of a win for an unlikely Wild Card team.

1. Game 6 Was Fun to Watch Until the Very End, Then It Hurt Like Hell

Everybody’s already saying this might be the most exciting World Series game ever, and I don’t disagree. For St. Louis, it’s fulfilling. For Texas, well, we were the reason it was so riveting, but not in a good way. We gave up one pitch, and it tied the game for extra innings. Next inning, we did it again. And it couldn’t go on forever. When Joe Buck declared with his usual insufferable snark, “We will see you tomorrow night,” I had a gut feeling it was already over. You can’t come back from a loss like that.

Bonus: The Tebow Hype Machine Settles Down…For Now

Apparently everyone forgot the Dolphins are the worst team in the NFL, or at least they did when Tim Tebow manufactured a comeback against them last week. Tebow was hailed as Denver’s saving grace, but lo and behold, he and his same old offensive line choked hard this weekend against the Detroit Lions. Tebow completed only 18 of 39, threw one TD, one interception, and was sacked seven times. The Broncos lost 45-10, so maybe that will shut everyone up for a while. At least until next week if they win against Oakland.

JEFF the Brotherhood “Wastoid Girl” from Dustin Lane on Vimeo.

Rob Crow – Sophistructure from Temporary Residence Ltd. on Vimeo.

Every Saturday, I post a 15-20 minute podcast featuring some tracks I’ve been jamming the previous week, as well as some commentary and random musings from yours truly. Enjoy!

Tracklist:

Charli XCX – Nuclear Seasons
Trombone Shorty – Do To You (Star Slinger Remix)
Terius Nash – Ghetto (feat. Big Sean)
Coldplay – Paradise

A friend of mine and I were discussing the awesome awesome lineup for Fun Fun Fun Fest this year, and recently, they announced their schedule for our viewing pleasure. My friend was excited, but admitted he knew only a few bands. Where, he wondered aloud, could he find a comprehensive rundown of each band, a sampling of their musical chops, so he could further educate himself before the finest weekend of his year? I assume the Fun Fun Fun website has such a playlist, and they do, and it’s cool, but I wanted to make my own. So every Friday, from now until the fest (that’s nine weeks), I will be posting a playlist for your educational purposes for each stage and day, excluding the Yellow stage, which is mostly comedy.

This week’s playlist covers the bands playing on the Blue (Hip-Hop/Dance) stage on Sunday – Soul Khan, SPEAK, Bird Peterson, G-Side, Grimes, MNDR, Austra, Baths, Del the Funky Homosapien, Flying Lotus, Diplo, and Odd Future.

Listen to the playlist on Spotify.

My Stage Pick: Baths

Saw this guy last SXSW, and it was pretty phenomenal for just a guy, a laptop, and some knobby board thingy. Baths chops up his songs to a degree that make them constantly engaging, but still utterly danceable. His album Cerluean is one of last year’s best, and his live show is not to be missed.