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Featured News

New tapings: Queens of the Stone Age, Neko Case and Local Natives

The new tapings just keep on coming, and we’re thrilled to announce three more. Making their ACL debut on October 3 are Queens of the Stone Age. Founded in 1996 by guitarist/songwriter Josh Homme, QOTSA arose from the ashes of influential underground heavy rock act Kyuss, debuting with a self-titled album two years later. Working with a loose confederation of like-minded friends and guests, Homme and Queens have released a steady stream of LPs since, including the bestselling Rated R and Songs For the Deaf, and radio hits like “Feel Good Hit of the Summer,” “The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret” and the Grammy-nominated “No One Knows.” Now QOTSA comes to us on the heels of its much-acclaimed new record …Like Clockwork, which debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 and is their most diverse and varied collection yet. While Homme appeared on the show back in 2009 as part of the supergroup Them Crooked Vultures, he has never been on with the band he’s led for 17 years, and we’re excited to have them.

Called by NPR “one of the most memorable and seductive voices in music,” Neko Case returns to Austin City Limits on October 8. The Virginia-born, Washington-bred Case is, of course, no stranger to us, having first appeared on our stage in 2003 for a memorable performance that was eventually released on DVD. Since then, she’s released two more critically-lauded solo albums that demonstrate her mastery of “country noir” — Fox Confessor Brings the Flood and the Grammy-nominated Middle Cyclone (both on Anti-). She’s also continued recording and occasionally touring with Canadian power pop group the New Pornographers. Now Case is coming back to our fair town to both appear at the ACL Music Festival and to tape her second ACL episode, both in celebration of her latest LP on Anti- The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight, The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You. We welcome her back.

photo by Neko Case

Finally, we’re happy to bring ACL fans up-and-coming indie rock band Local Natives on October 10. After making a splash at SXSW, the Silverlake, California combo turned heads in 2010 with the shimmering, groovy folk-pop of its self-funded first record Gorilla Manor, which the BBC referred to as “a strong, striking debut that exceeds expectations” and Drowned in Sound called “a stirring album.” After touring with Arcade Fire and the National, the band became tight with National guitarist Aaron Dessner, with whom the Natives produced their second LP Hummingbird. Inspired by the death of keyboardist Kelcey Ayer’s mother and the departure of bassist Andy Hamm, the record contains, according to All Music Guide, “a more atmospheric and introspective collection of songs,” making up what Pitchfork calls “a thoughtful, lovely album with small gestures that provide great rewards.” We’re thrilled to showcase this acclaimed young band.

photo by Bryan Sheffield

Information on passes to these great shows will appear here a week before each taping. We hope to see you there!

 

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Encore Broadcast Featured News

Encore: Mumford & Sons and Flogging Molly

Mumford & Sons are featured in this weekend’s encore presentation of  Austin City Limits, airing November 17 on PBS. The British folk band with a huge stateside following are riding high with the bestselling Babel, one of the biggest releases of 2012. The episode, which originally aired in October 2011, finds Mumford & Sons making their ACL debut and is a must-see for fans and a primer for those new to the band’s cathartic live shows. Highlights include a performance of their current single “Lover of the Light,” which at the time had not been recorded. Viewers are treated to a high-octane night of contemporary music’s best folk rock practitioners, including a set by Celtic folk-punkers Flogging Molly.

Blending acoustic instrumentation, vocal harmonies and a tireless work ethic, Mumford & Sons have earned an international reputation as one of the best live bands, winning over audiences with their masterful, melancholy voices and musical skills. Mumford & Sons’ inspired set features tracks from their career-making debut Sigh No More, and the blockbuster follow-up Babel. The energy on the night of the taping vibrated the walls at The Moody Theater, and it translates directly to the screen. The band perform fan favorites “The Cave” and “Roll Away Your Stone” and poignant ballads “Timshel” and “Awake My Soul.” A highlight is an early televised performance of “Lover of the Light,” previously unrecorded, and now featured on Babel.

“The first time this show aired, Mumford & Sons did not have the biggest-selling record in the world (like they do now),” says ACL Executive Producer Terry Lickona. “But today they still capture the hearts and souls of young music fans better than anybody else around – and this amazing performance shows why. They do it the old-fashioned way, with authentic songs that speak to real life, and they play their asses off!”

Speaking of energy, Flogging Molly doesn’t disappoint in their ACL debut. The band storms the stage with tuneful melodies and puts on a magnificent show with their unique brand of Celtic folk/punk.  Tune in for lively renditions of “Requiem For A Dying Song,” “Tobacco Island,” and “Devil’s Dance Floor.”  Bandleader Dave King called their ACL taping “the most important live performance they’ve ever done.”

“A live Flogging Molly show is an experience as much as it is a show,” hints ACL’s Terry Lickona.  “When you’re watching, crank up the volume and buckle up for the ride!”

Check the episode page for more info, photos and clips. Click over to our Facebook and Twitter pages or sign up for our newsletter for up-to-date news on all things Austin City Limits. Next week: jazz bassist/singer/composer Esperanza Spalding.

 

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Taping Recap

The Black Angels’ Texas psychedelic tradition

While the West Coast got all the press in the 60s, music lovers often forget that psychedelic rock has its roots as much in the Lone Star State as in California, thanks to acid rock heroes the 13th Floor Elevators, who were the first band to apply the term “psychedelic” to rock & roll. As Eddie Contreras commented on Twitter, Austin’s own Black Angels “are keeping up the tradition of legends like Roky Erickson at #acltv right now – good ol psychedelic music from Texas!”

If any band could be described as being bathed in a sea of reverb, it’s The Black Angels. (Their record label is called the Reverb Appreciation Society, after all.) With a few whammy barred chords drenched in cavernous echo, the band launched into “The Sniper,” swirling together melody and drone. That blend defines the band’s aesthetic, which was in full flower on the ACL TV stage. The set leaned most heavily on the band’s later, more melodic work on Phosphene Dream and this year’s Indigo Meadow – gems like “Evil Things,” “I Hear Colors” and the overtly 60s-worshipping “Yellow Elevator” moved the band close to pop without compromising its essential psychedelic brood. But The Black Angels indulged in plenty of its signature drone rock, as the dark, propulsive brooding of “Mission District,” “You On the Run” and “Black Grease” (the song that put the band on the map seven years ago) set the controls for the heart of the sun. “Twisted Light” ended the main set with layers of guitar and organ compote.

For the encore, they kicked off with “Telephone,” the poppiest song in its repertoire, sounding almost like a lost Small Faces classic. Then it was into the sardonic drone of “Bad Vibrations,” before bringing it all back home with the mysterious and powerful “Young Men Dead,” the first song on their first album Passover. The Black Angels took Austin City Limits into the psychedelic heart of darkness and back out into the light. We can’t wait for our fans to see them in action this fall – stay tuned.

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Taping Recap

Dawes’ upward momentum

Here at Austin City Limits, we love to showcase artists on the rise. Dawes is definitely that – the Los Angeles quartet made waves almost immediately with its 2009 debut album North Hills, and has kept its upward momentum going since.

Taking the stage to a subtle organ bed, Dawes launched into “From a Window Seat,” the first single from its latest LP Stories Don’t End. The sharply melodic, harmony-rich tune set the standard for the rest of the set, which draws from the folk/country rock of the 70s. “If I Wanted Someone” and “Fire Away” rode a midtempo groove, emphasizing the song’s natural tunefulness, while “Someone Will” added a fingerpicked country & western vibe. “Just Beneath the Surface” added some classic pop melodicism, while “Most People” highlighted the brotherly harmonies of leader Taylor Goldsmith and drummer Griffin Goldsmith for some stunning counterpoint vocals. The band was at its best when it folded an epic feel into its songs – the widescreen “Time Spent in Los Angeles” and “When My Time Comes.”  The slow-burning “A Little Bit of Everything” brought the show to a close with a conversational saga that crossed narrative storytelling with stadium folk rock.

Though Dawes left the stage following that crowd-pleaser, it wasn’t done yet. Encore “From the Right Angle” multiplied the grandeur times ten, maintaining the epic feel and letting some unruly rock & roll take the performance into the stratosphere. The crowd understandably went wild. We can’t wait for the rest of you to see how Dawes got the audience fired up when this episode airs this fall. Stay tuned!

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News

Ticket Giveaway: Black Angels 8/28

* Giveaway is now  over. If you didn’t win passes, pleas not that we will live stream this taping on our YouTube channel starting at 8pm Central on Wednesday, August 28th.

Austin City Limits will be taping a performance by The Black Angels on Wednesday, August 28th, at 8 pm at ACL Live at The Moody Theater (310 W. 2nd Street, Willie Nelson Blvd).  We will be giving away a limited number of space available passes to this taping. Enter your name and email address on the below form by 9 am Monday, August 26th.

Passes are not transferable and cannot be sold. Standing may be required.

No photography, recording or cell phone use in the studio.

Categories
Encore Broadcast Featured News

Encore: Wilco

“When people ask what kind of music Austin City Limits stands for,” executive producer Terry Lickona says, “there’s one band that sums it up better than any other – Wilco!” Encoring this weekend, our fourth episode featuring this veteran modern rock band shows exactly why ACL holds Jeff Tweedy and company in such high esteem. Concentrating on its latest release The Whole Love, the Chicago sextet puts such stellar tracks as “Art of Almost,” “One Wing” and “Dawned On Me” through their paces with near-perfect poise. It’s not all the new album, of course, as the band also drops a few deep cuts like “Bull Black Nova” and “War On War” into the set. And as the icing on an already delicious cake, Wilco tour mate Nick Lowe drops by with his classic “Cruel to Be Kind,” backed by the boys themselves.

Tune in this Saturday, August 24, to catch all the Wilco action for yourself. Hit the episode page  for more info, and your local listings for exact airtimes. Keep up with your favorite music television show with Facebook and Twitter, and don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter. Next week: Mumford & Sons and Flogging Molly.