KUTX put on its annual Map Jam Fest this past Saturday. ORANGE's Music Staff captured the excitement while indulging in the local live music hosted around East Austin.
With their colorful blend of carefree pop and driving guitar riffs, California natives Echosmith wowed a sold-out crowd at Emo’s on Feb. 15 during their U.S. tour.
Big Bill wants you to take a walk on the wild side. With their manic brand of “cartoon punk” and a mission to make even the biggest introvert cut loose, the band continues to win over new fans who they lovingly refer to as “Bill-ions.”
Now that the Grammys are over, it's time to stop worrying about last year's music and focus on what's to come in 2015. If the last two months are an indicator of what's to come, then it should be a great year. We've already got our eyes set on a handful of upcoming releases.
In an era dominated by digital downloads and music streaming services, the local record shop has gone the way of 8-tracks, flip phones and Atari game systems. But one local entrepreneur is bucking the industry trends by bringing a new record store to Austin.
Austin rockers Thieves are breaking all the rules. Whether they’re redrawing the boundaries of pop punk, or crawling across abandoned train tracks on government property in the dead of night while touring through Alabama, it’s clear that Thieves is well-positioned to steal the hearts and minds of everyone they encounter in 2015 and beyond.
With the music scene in Austin growing exponentially, there is a new band rising to the top almost every month. To make a mark in the overflow of talent, a group has to be capable of bringing a new dynamic to the table. Combining the smooth sound of jazz with the head-nodding rhythms of hip-hop, MODAL is a potential poster-child for innovative music in the “Live Music Capital of the World.”
After stumbling upon an art pop-up playing FKA Twigs’ videos in New York city this past August, I quickly declared my passionate love for the British talent. I don’t really know how to accurately underscore FKA Twigs’ value. She’s smart, her voice is the human version of church chimes, and she dances like a water bender. Also, her hair is like something you would see out of a Star Wars movie — in a good way.
Remember when MTV actually stood for “Music Television”? No? Well, the ORANGE Music staff does, and we’re still bitter about the change. At a ripe average age of just 20, we might be dating ourselves this week, but we consider these music videos game-changers in a field that is rapidly becoming a dying art.
Fame is fickle. Often the ones who are most worthy of the spotlight will go through their careers without ever reaching it. For some reason or another, these artists have yet to be embraced by the mainstream on the scale that we think they deserve. But at least we know they’re great, and our fingers are crossed.
Since 1994, local radio station KVRX has played local artists for college students’ listening pleasure. But if the station hopes to keep playing “none of the hits, all of the time,” as their motto proudly declares, they need to make some changes. The station has been running on the same transmitter for 20 years, and it could give out any day.
