Austin Adventure

Austin, Texas is one of our favorite cities to lose ourselves in when we want to escape from all the stress and routine of our daily regimen.  There's just something about Austin that really gets us going.

Just don't ask if we go for the festivals.  We don't believe in music festivals.  We believe in enjoying music in it's natural state, not at a single location where everyone is crammed for space and everything is packaged together for you.  Do you go to the zoo and have the same feeling about the experience as you would a safari?

That being said, we love Austin because it has plenty to offer in terms of what makes us happy in life; food, music, drink and good company.  Our most recent adventure had plenty of the four, especially drink, which presented some challenges when documenting the trip.  Sometimes it's hard to take photos when you're too busy having fun.

Here's what was on our camera when we returned home:

The first restaurant we went to when we got in was Moonshine.  Here's the Beer Battered Asparagus.

Alison's Cornflake Fried Chicken Salad.  Too hungry to wait for the photo op.

Bob's Backyard Chicken Sandwich.

Look Mexico on stage at Emo's.  They were great live.  Unfortunately that was our last chance to catch a gig at Emo's since they are closing this location.

Mexican Coke time.  Why do they use cane sugar in Mexican Cokes and Corn Syrup in American ones?  Cane Sugar tastes so much better.

Al's Brisket plate at Iron Works BBQ.

Bob's Jr. Rib plate.  The regular rib plate was a lot of meat.

Nothing bets good BBQ and a cold beer.

Scott H. Biram tearing up the Continental Club.

We're directing the message to Austin.

Here's one of our favorite bartenders from this trip and one of our previous trips, Justin.  He keeps some pretty good tunes going and the Dizzy Rooster d-bag free during the day.

Bob's Chicken Fried Steak at Red's Porch.

Al couldn't wait for photos again before digging in.

Our last watering hole on the trip - The Horseshoe Lounge.

Note: One of our favorite discoveries on this trip was a house turned awesome bar called Icenhauers. There is no photographic evidence of us there because we sipped on pickle and jalepeno infused vodka cocktails all day with Rick the bartender and Matt the barback, who later took us out on the town. 

Tunesday: Playing Catch-Up

This is where I was about to write about how long it's been since I wrote a Tunesday update. I'm glad I didn't. Although I did. Man...

Even though I have been pretty lazy with keeping up to date in the writing department, I have still been buying new music almost on a weekly basis. There's been so much good stuff coming out lately and a lot of it is coming from one of my favorite labels / distributors, Suburban Home Records / Vinyl Collective. I found out about SH Records when I first started listening to Tim Barry and Drag The River, both of which are on SH Records. I first saw Tim and DTR probably about 4 years ago when they played Alex's Bar in Long Beach. Such a good show, I think I walked away with some merch from both bands.

I began buying more and more releases from Suburban Home Records. I started getting their newsletters and they were just putting out so many good records by bands like Tim Barry, Josh Small, Drag The River, Austin Lucas, Two Cow Garage, Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground, The Takers and more. I started falling down the rabbit hole.

I discovered SH Records was putting out 7-inch vinyl titled 'Under the Influence' where they find a set of bands or artists to do a cover version of a song that has influenced them and their music. Well, I didn't own a record player, but I had to buy one to hear these songs since they were only available on vinyl or digital download. Now, I have a problem collecting audio. I need the artwork. I need the physical copy, so here I am now with the whole first run of the 'Under the Influence' series (even multiple copies of some since there were some released in different colors of vinyl).

Now since I own the record player, the world is my musical oyster. To top it off, the dudes that run Suburban Home Records also run The Vinyl Collective where they sell tons of awesome vinyl. The most recent releases I bought were a couple of Jawbreaker records... so good.

All that ruthless plugging aside, I'd like to share with you some music from a few of the bands that have been on my turntable / in my CD player / on my itunes. Please pay close attention to the following:

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That's Micah Schnabel's (Two Cow Garage) solo record. I'm really impressed with the album front to back, and can't wait to see what he comes out with next.

Then dig this... the new Look Mexico record!

And... Tim Barry at Alex's Bar this weekend! With a true G, Possessed by Paul James:

Tunesday: Look Mexico

Check it out... Tunesday is back. Unless this is your first time reading The Tasty Morsel, then Tunesday never left.

Lately I've been tripping out on Look Mexico. These dudes do some magic with their instruments on their full length titled 'This is Animal Music'. I find the complexity of their playing and orchestration to be one of the most interesting things I've heard in a long time. Check out this pretty awesome video for a track off their full length:

Since I found out that they recently joined the lineup on Suburban Home Records, I am very excited to see what they come out with next and who they will hit the road and tour with. I hope you agree with me that Look Mexico is a pretty tight outfit.

Here's another video where the band eats cherry pie and drinks red wine... all while being served by a unshaven and unkempt metal version of Mario Batali.