Is Austin really weird and progressive? the forum seems mainstream (sales, home)

[readymade]

Originally Posted by love roses

readymade...Thanks for naming some good bands. What's the name of your band so we can check you guys out too?

Also, check out Her Mitts. Very fun & dancy. And Automusik. Very... weird & fun.

My band is Crushes (crushesmusic.com). We're fairly experimental... trying to find that middle ground between straight-ahead noise & rock. It's not for everyone! I've found that generally people either leave after one song or come up to us after the show raving about how great we are. Obviously I prefer the second!

In any case, I've met a lot of great experimental bands over the past few months. There's definitely some interesting stuff out there.

Your Kisses Cause Crashes - Very moody & melodic (not experimental, but still very good)
Venison Whirled - Really interesting straight-ahead noise
Cry Blood Apache - I didn't like them the first time I saw them but loved them the second time! They make some crazy sounds.
Douglas Fergason - If you're into noise, this is your guy. Well, him & Venison Whirled.

My husband/bandmate & I are trying to bring experimental music more into the mainstream in Austin, booking shows at clubs like Beauty Bar, Mohawk, Room 710, etc... with like-minded bands. Not really sure how that's going, heh.

Also coming up is "Yeast By Sweet Beast" which is sort of the experimental version of "South By South West."

[wehotex]

Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady

I pretty much agree with the last sentence.

However, I disagree with the second sentence - Quite a few of us are still here, thank you very much!

Believe me!, I am soooo glad that you're still around!

[wehotex]

Originally Posted by carolinajack

thanks wehotex, i agree all over the country, progressive means elitest and expensive. so where would you say are the conservative areas or pockets of austin?

everywhere except central austin, east austin, parts of south austin. in fact, there are progressive ppl throughout the area, but there seems to be a higher concentration of them in the Univ area b/c of academe and the young student population which tends more progressive. i don't agree with you that progressive means elitist and expensive. in fact, i would say that most progressive folk are the opposite of that. i don't know why, but it seems that conservative folk always gravitate to liberal areas and take them over. that seems to me to be the case of austin. it was once a fairly inexpensive, progressive, laidback place. once it was "discovered" by the others, it has lost a lot of that progressive cache.

[mimimomx3]

Can you define what you mean by 'elitist'?

[love roses]

Isn't Stephen Fowler (wife swap) the new example of an elitist snob? I don't watch the show anymore, but the story was on my yahoo homepage so I read it then googled him. Stephenfowlersucks.com is the blog some people wrote about his behavior.

[love roses]

readymade...saw the myspace page. I love your stuff. I used to listen to a lot of that type of music back in Houston. Some of it was good, but a lot of it was just pure noise, no rhythm of sorts (I'm talking about some of the live stuff I saw in Houston ) There was one song on the list on your myspace that sort of reminded me of Love and Rockets. I just found a bunch of my old running buddies from Houston that now live in Austin. I'll have to get a group up one weekend and come see one of ya'lls shows.

[mimimomx3]

Originally Posted by love roses

Isn't Stephen Fowler (wife swap) the new example of an elitist snob? I don't watch the show anymore, but the story was on my yahoo homepage so I read it then googled him. Stephenfowlersucks.com is the blog some people wrote about his behavior.

I think he's more 'rude' or 'boorish' than 'elitist'.

[readymade]

Originally Posted by love roses

readymade...saw the myspace page. I love your stuff. I used to listen to a lot of that type of music back in Houston. Some of it was good, but a lot of it was just pure noise, no rhythm of sorts (I'm talking about some of the live stuff I saw in Houston ) There was one song on the list on your myspace that sort of reminded me of Love and Rockets. I just found a bunch of my old running buddies from Houston that now live in Austin. I'll have to get a group up one weekend and come see one of ya'lls shows.

Cool, I'm glad you like us! My husband is really into "pure noise" but I'm with you! I gotta be able to sing along (or drum along) with whatever I'm listening to. I'm actually really into new wave. And thus, our band was born!

That's what I like about the bands I listed. Most of them utilize noise or SOMEthing experimental in their music, but they're really fun to listen to (and watch) as well.

"Venison Whirled" & "Douglas Fergason" are both "pure noise," and I was actually surprised by how much I liked them! They do some crazy stuff.

Our Twange does some really great & interesting stuff, too! (I'm not going to post his URL, because I'm not sure he wants to be "outed" on this board)

[carolinajack]

elitist: thinking and believing that what one believes and what one does in life has greater values and views are more important than others. talking down to those who dont agree with them or have the same interest or awareness. progressive and i used to be one big time, in the northeast part of the country are pretty elitist with the excepting of the working class left

[readymade]

Originally Posted by carolinajack

Progressive and i used to be one big time, in the northeast part of the country are pretty elitist with the excepting of the working class left

Wow, that's a pretty insulting generalization and a very narrow (and somewhat elitist) viewpoint.

Unless you're considering "working class" as everyone who works? I think you'd find that's ALMOST everyone in the Northeast (and I include stay-at-home moms since they work harder than anyone).