The Useless Critic 2.0

Have you ever heard of matrimony rock? Me neither, until recently. Enter Austin's the Long Tangles , a band you need to hear/pay attention to. This is how the band formed, way back in January of 2010: Earl  and  Courtney  met on a sultry evening in New Orleans in a seedy bar. Neither one of them would have guessed that they would eventually form a rock band, especially by the way Courtney treated Earl with undeserved disdain. The Long Tangles formed in January of 2010 as a drums/keys/vox Indie Rock/Indie Pop/Matrimony Rock duo. God had other plans for these guys! (Or Xenu, if you're so inclined).  So I talked to Courtney of the Long Tangles recently about things to do if music doesn't work out, NOLA and SXSW. Also:  how precisely it was they came into being. read on! UC: So what were you up to in New Orleans? Courtney: We went to a friend’s wedding! We second line’d, ate a lot, danced a lot, and enjoyed the splendors of walking around the Quarter wi...

S ofia Talvik, dear friend of the Useless Critic, is currently touring the States in an RV in  support of her newest effort, The Owls Are Not What They Seem. In between things for all of us, we "caught up" with each other. It's a very exciting time brewing for Ms. Talvik as you will see!  UC:  What's life on the road been like?  Sofia:  It's been really fun. It's great to tour in an RV, because wherever you go you have your own bed with you and don't have to stay in crappy motels. But it's also been really hard sometimes. It's a lot of work, because we also do all our bookings and promo while on the road. So every other day or so we go to our coffice, as we call Starbucks, for a few hours and work on our computers to keep the tour going. UC:  How is the reception for the Owls Are Not What They Seem ?  Sofia:   Because I've been on the road since before it was released I haven't had a chance to do proper promo for it, b ut the re...

 They've up and done Lewis Carroll proud. All In the Golden Afternoon are the husband-and-wife duo of Carlos and Rachael. They've been touted by the AV Club and have performed for SXSW, among numerous other feats that are sure to increase over time. And they're in a band with their significant other. That in itself is cray-cray! They're based out of hipster central Austin, Texas and are bound to only get bigger than that. Yeah SXSW! INTERVIEW ITSELF So explain your musical philosophy! Carlos: Philosophy! I come from a very songwriter-oriented background, and it has been increasingly important to ensure cliches concerning the nature of songs are completely avoided. When rachel and i compose songs, we rarely bring a completed song to the table. Many tracks are improvised from inception to the point of completion, each of us adding whatever the song needs. I was drawn to this idea through the music of nature and cities, where each of the independent sounds can be tak...