Austin 2008 New Years Eve Party Round-up

The end of 2008 is only a few hours away and I’m already finding myself at a loss for which party to hit up first. This year was an amazing one for Earthbird Music. Thank you for supporting the various events we have promoted around Austin, as well as humbling this old blog of ours with a spot among your feed reader subscriptions. For our twits out there, thanks for the follow!

Now…. about those party details:

The house party circuit is in full effect tonight with the annual Ayers New Year’s bash featuring the Sangre del Sol fire troupe, Ohn, DJ Spilicious, and Griffa. It’s a private party, but run a quick search and it shouldn’t be too hard to make it to the guest list. Doors open at 9:00pm with a chill crowd until around 11pm, then the masses descend in waves. The party ends when the last guest goes home, though they encourage anyone to stay until they are safe to drive home. Food from Ararat MidEast (who have recently opened their new location!) will be available at around 12:30. Lights and sound provided by Big Medicine Sound and Lighting. This is a BYOB event.  $10 cover charge goes towards the entertainment.

Break thru Radio DJ Adi Anand (check our River Runs Red) is bringing in the New Year with another round of Indierokie at the Mohawk with music by Car Stereo Wars. “Who is that” you ask?” Check out one of our old ACL posts from September 2008 with the scoop on this slice of Mash-up pie (or just take a peek at his site by clicking here). Cover is only $5, which is an unheard-of price for a New Year’s party in downtown Austin. They could have charged more, but the DIDN’T. Why, because the Indierokie rawk! So if your lonesome tonight, stop in and sing about it.

The Mohawk is located at 912 Red River St. in downtown Austin.

And, if you listened to Adi’s last podcast on Break Through Radio, you would be already be familiar with the band(s) featured in the next stop on the New Year’s Eve party crawl. New to ATX, but mos def welcome with quality events and positive personality, Monday Night Alright promoter Navdo has the deets on a sweet deal at The Parish. $100 cover gets you into a massive party with Grupo Fantasma and Brownout (as well as access to a open, top-shelf bar, appetizers, and champagne toast at midnight!) Grupo Fantasma has been nominated for a Grammy! Enough said.

The Parish is located at . Click here for tickets. The Parish is located at 214 E. 6th St. in downtown Austin.

The DJ that needs no introduction… DJ Mel will be blowing up the Beauty Bar for a special New Year’s Eve party with the Strange Boys, Dans La Lune, Ugly Beats, The Boxing Lesson, and Petals starting at 9pm. Cover is only $5. Event starts at 9pm with a complimentary toast at Midnight. $10 gives you all access cover. I don’t know what that means, but as a girl that loves VIP rooms (and the Beauty Bar’s back stage chill room, I suspect it’s worth the price. With the recent closure of the Whiskey Bar, the staff will be working at the Beauty Bar for the night.

The Whiskey Bar was an amazing venue with an awesome staff. Drinks were always perfect, seats were comfortable, and the music was always top notch. Whiskey was the home ground for performances by The Thuslsa doom, as well as some amazing parties with Nick Nack during SXSW. It’s a real shame to see them close their doors. Bummer.

The Beauty Bar is located at 617 E. 7th St. near Austin’s Red River district.

And last, but not least, the nine-member dark electronica group Hipnautica dabbles in fanciful mystique and ambient beats to present a hypnotic live performance that inspires enchantment and desire. The group, lead by lyricist, composer, and percussionist Sky, has always been intriguing to me, simply because they have focused a tremendous amount of energy into creating a theatrical presentation out of their musical works.

On December 31st, 2008, Hipnautica hosts the Fantastique New Year’s Eve Masquerade Ball at the Copa Bar and Grill at 217 Congress Ave. in downtown Austin.

Thanks again for an amazing year. Be safe. If you to drunk to drive at the end of the night, reach out to Sober Ride/Tipsy Tow for free cab ride and free tow! (Thanks @keyetv for the info.)

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!!

Beat Freakin the Burleson

Westworld Productions is lining up a womp-fest at the Burleson compound For Beat Freakin Friday on December 26, 2008. As usual, promoters keep the underground status of the events in tact through an information pipeline that flows like a clogged one-hitter, but I don’t mind busting out a quick run-down of this Friday’s line-up… especially with Coordinated UK, Steel Grooves, and Black Tie Beats on the bill.

Westworld’s Atom West arrived on the Austin scene via a delicious studder of vocal samples and glorious drum triplets back in November 2007 from Houston. His Day and Night remix is massive and the simple fact that he cites Freaky Chakra among his influences is testament to his wicked taste. It’s not often that Freaky’s name gets play among electronica producers, but it should. When his album dropped in 2001, it was the soundtrack to a dream. Atom West will be performing alongside Nu Skool Florida breaks dropper ArObYsS.

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Nick Eazy took up the tables in 2003 and has sense been mastering an eclectic style backed by a pension for some serious sub-basstacular grinds. A mix says a thousand words, so click here to download his electro-hauss offering.

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Steel Grooves has been hammering out track after track, most recently celebrating the release of his remix of Kenyu’s Braindead on StarsTraxx’s Sound of Stars 01. Click here to check out his work with St. Jae on The Fuzz EP. I have yet to hear an original production that wasn’t spot on, and his DJ sets are just as juicy.

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And last but not least in this feature-o-rama, DJ Enumand and DJ Nate B of Black Tie Beats have been a personal favorite since I last ducked in for a listen a few months back. Separately, these two spin some great electro-house sets, but together – armed with only a few CD mixers and ancillary equipment, they prove that you don’t need a mountain of gear and a nest of MIDI cables to make a dance floor jump. Check out their Kage Breaks No Jutsu set from their site:

Beat Freakin Friday also features Anjlkllr, DJ OE (Treehouse Tribe), Ohno and Dick Clark, and DJ Danabus. The Burleson compound is located at 4700 Burleson Road in Southeast Austin.

HUMP! Christmas Disco Jam! with Brotha Jibril

This Friday, December 26th, Paco and Resinthol hosts a special Christmas edition of the HUMP! weekly party at Plush… It’s a HUMP! Christmas disco jam featuring Brotha Jibril (Straight No Chaser, Houston) with a special opening set by Joel Vasquez. Doors open at 9:00pm; show starts at 10:00pm sharp. Plush is located at the corner of 7th and Red River in Downtown Austin.

Also, be sure to tune into www.krtu.org on Saturday at 1:00pm for a the Diggin’ Deep Super Soul Shakedown radio show with J.J. Lopez, in promotion of the Soul Sensation party with Paco and J.J. this Saturday night at Limelight in San Antonio.

Bookmark the streams!
1st hour: http://stream.krtu.org/archive/128kb-mp3/1-Sat1300.mp3
2nd hour: http://stream.krtu.org/archive/128kb-mp3/1-Sat1400.mp3

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!

Unwrapped with DJ Jester – the Filipino Fist

I’ve been scanning the various forums and event listing sites for days trying to find something to throw into the mix for post-Christmas cheer. As the holiday season ramps up, the events around Austin settle down.

If you are anything like me, you watch as the city’s energy escalates to a frenzy by Christmas eve, then crashes hard under the weight of over stimulation and tryptophan. The next day, some of you will wake up still clutching your latest shiny toy with an eagerness to put all of its various settings to the test. Others, like myself, will look over at the newly gifted hot pink track suit with the words “Bite Me” hugged in a glorious ring of embroidered green ivy and realize that (A) your family is nuts, (B) you still love them, and (C) you really need to get out of the house before the geek with new camera immortalizes your expression in his 2008 Christmas photo album on Flickr.

So, after you’ve been beaten down from a day full of football, leftovers, and gift return lines, unwind with a little present from Richard Henry and his Platypus Promotion team. Friday night, December 26th, 2008, catch Henry and DJ Jester (aka the filipino fist) unwrapped for a special performance at Lambert’s.

From DJ Jester’s MySpace page:

When he wasn’t overseeing as Arts Editor of the school newspaper or freelancing for Houston’s now-defunct Urban Beat Magazine, Jester was manager/rapper of a band called Bucketfunk and a member of two of SA’s celebrated scratch dj crews, the Underdog Turntablists and Supa Brotha Scientists. Post-graduate panic led him to a crossroads so he accepted a job offer from Boca Foods, an all natural soy-based burger company as driver/server for the Boca Burger Mobile. His six month adventure led him all over North America. He met girls. He grilled burgers. He had fun. However, the two most important meetings on that journey were in Boston when he met like-minded turntable wizard, Kid Koala, and San Francisco’s Aquarius Records.

Check it:

Lambert’s Downtown BBQ is located at 401 W. Second St. in downtown Austin (across the street from City Hall). This unwrapped gift from the Platypus tribe is, of course, FREE!

Year-End Giving: UT Performing Arts Center

Tis the season for giving, as well as time to awaken your philanthropic side and support a variety of community causes that make this city great. For some it will make you feel warm and fuzzy inside. For others, it helps when the tax man arrives. What ever your reasons, giving is good. So give some up for the UT Performing Arts Center if you have it to spare.

From Cathryn Seymour Dorsey, Director of Corporate and Member Relations:

As you plan your year-end giving, please consider helping us ensure the legacy of the performing arts to university and secondary school students in our community.

In the coming season, through the support of donors like you, 2,900 area high school students will attend our special youth performance of the internationally acclaimed Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre.  Thousands of other students will experience the wonder of other music, theater, and dance performances with complimentary and vastly discounted tickets.

Your tax- deductible donation will help us share the arts with those who are not exposed to it in school and ensure that the performing arts can be a part of every student’s education.

Giving is simple.  Just follow this link.

Thank you for your continued support.

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