by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Nick Waterhouse - Some Place (MP3)

Nick Waterhouse

Meet angel-faced, starched-shirted, vintage glasses-sporting producer and musician Nick Waterhouse, whose driver's license says he's 24 but whose record collection suggests he was born in 1942.

Amy Winehouse might be gone, but old-style soul and R&B lives on via musicians like Charles Bradley, Adele, Sharon Jones and L.A.'s Aloe Blacc. Now, here comes a kid from Huntington Beach with an ear for some of the rawest, most rug-cutting R&B ever pressed to vinyl, his preferred medium. "If I'm going to bother to use a real guitar," he says later, "I want a real sound wave.

He's just starting the first recording session for his debut EP on up-and-coming local label Innovative Leisure, which launched throwback garage-soul rocker Hanni El Khatib into the stratosphere. He's also in possession of a bevy of offers to produce and record, including with Weekly favorites the Allah-Las and a series of plum gigs, including an opening slot for Booker T. (of immortal soul band Booker T. & the M.G.s) and a spot at the Sunset Junction festival this weekend. He has a small but potent and quickly growing collection of fans, many of whom have become enraptured by his self-released 45 rpm vinyl single "Some Place," which sold out in an instant and now changes hands for almost $100 on eBay. [L.A. Weekly]

Nick Waterhouse's debut album Time's All Gone is out May 1 on Innovative Leisure. You can download "Some Place" from the album at the top of this post or stream it below. Around the same time, Nick hits the road with backing band His Tarots, a tour that rolls into NYC on May 19 at Mercury Lounge. All tour dates are below.

I caught a few songs at SXSW and he definitely had the joint jumping with his brand of in-the-red R&B.

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Allah-Las at SXSW 2012

At the same showcase I saw Waterhouse's fellow Angelenos and labelmates Allah-Las, which was one of my highlights of SXSW 2012, where I wrote:

12-string guitars, Vox bass, bolo ties, nehru collars... Los Angeles' Allah Las are a pristine recreation of '60s West Coast pop with great songs like upcoming single "Tell Me What's on Your Mind." Not pastiche, the real deal.

That single (produced by Waterhouse) came out this week and you can watch video below which is definitely in a mood with song (and slightly NSFW).

The Allah-Las and Waterhouse also share sides of a Record Store Day split single. It's an 8", which I suppose is the vinyl equivalent of "this one goes to 11." Gotta admit it looks pretty cool but good luck fitting it in your singles box.

Click through for Nick Waterhouse tour dates and track stream, as well as that groovy Allah-Las video.

Continue reading "Nick Waterhouse releasing 'Time's All Gone', touring in May, produced new Allah-Las single & RSD 8" (MP3, dates & video)"

The Fresh & Onlys @ Psych Fest 2011 (more by Tim Griffin)

The Reverberation Appreciation Society and The Black Angels have released the initial lineup poster for the 5th annual Austin Psych Fest. This year's fest, running from April 27th - 29th (in Austin), will take place at Austin's two newest big venues, recently opened Emo's East and the soon-to-be open Beauty Ballroom which is next door.

Emo's East is now the only Emo's since their Red River location closed on 12/30, and the Beauty Ballroom is (hopefully) having their rescheduled Grand Opening on January 27th (with Theophilus London and Treasure Fingers) and continuing on January 28th.

APF will feature around 60 bands over the three day, two room event. About 40 are included in the poster below, with another 20 or so to be announced in March. Announced bands include the Black Angels (who played Emo's East on New Year's Eve), the Black Lips, Brian Jonestown Massacre, Dead Meadow, Olivia Tremor Control, Wooden Shijps, and many more. Weekend passes go on sale this Saturday (January 21st) at 12pm CST at austinpsychfest.com.

Check out photos from the 2011 edition of Psych Fest (held at Seaholm Power Plant) HERE.

Chaos in Tejas, a different kind of Austin music fest that happens in June, also announced bands on their lineup today.

SXSW, which is in March, continues to announce bands all the time and recently posted their initial schedule.

Psych Fest 2012 poster, lineup and Bandcamp mixtape, below...

Continue reading "Austin Psych Fest annnounces initial 2012 lineup, new venue; SXSW posted their initial schedule"