Off the Record

The Countdown Continues

Top 10 National

1) Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!! (Anti-)

2) The Walkmen, You & Me (Gigantic)

3) Deerhunter, Microcastle/Weird Era Cont. (Kranky)

4) TV on the Radio, Dear Science (Interscope)

5) Metallica, Death Magnetic (Warner Bros.)

6) Spiritualized, Songs in A&E (Fontana Int'l)

7) Benoit Pioulard, Temper (Kranky)

8) Retribution Gospel Choir (Caldo Verde)

9) Hauschka, Ferndorf (Fatcat)

10) Erykah Badu, New Amerykah Part One: 4th World War (Motown)

Top 10 Austin

1) The Sword, Gods of the Earth (Kemado)

2) Alejandro Escovedo, Real Animal (Back Porch/EMI)

3) Harlem, Free Drugs

4) White Denim, Exposion (Transmission Entertainment)

5) Shearwater, Rook (Matador)

6) Balmorhea, Rivers Arms (Western Vinyl)

7) Grupo Fantasma, Sonidos Gold (Aire Sol)

8) Lions of Tsavo, [Firelung] (Ovrcast)

9) Leatherbag, Love & Harm (Super Pop)

10) The Black Angels, Directions to See a Ghost (Light in the Attic)

10 Locals from Off the Beaten Path

1) Sunset, The Glowing City (Autobus)

2) Hacienda, Loud Is the Night (Alive Natural Sound)

3) Mammoth Grinder, Rage and Ruin (Depleted Resource)

4) The Lovely Sparrows, Bury the Cynics (Abandoned Love)

5) Horse + Donkey

6) Brothers and Sisters, Fortunately (Calla Lily)

7) When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth, Not Noiice (Chalk Circle)

8) Pillow Queens, Kookoolegit (Monofonus)

9) Weird Weeds, I Miss This (Autobus)

10) Silent Land Time Machine, &hope still (Indian Queen/Time-Lag)

Nine Locals to Watch in 2009

The Wooden Birds

Elvis

The Eastern Sea

The Bubbles

Woven Bones

Sea Legs

The Great Nostalgic

A Giant Dog

The Sour Notes

By the Numbers

2008 proved to be another banner year for C3 Presents, despite pulling the plug on the Vineland and Big State music festivals. The local enterprise ranked No. 9 among promoters on Billboard's annual year-end list, grossing more than $50 million, only a fifth of which came from the 2008 Austin City Limits Music Festival. C3 Presents produced 839 shows (177 of them sellouts), nearly doubling its total from last year, thanks in part to the company's work with Emo's and expansions nationwide, for a total attendance of 1,213,110.

Taking Sides

The Chronicle Music Poll has followed the industry's paradigm shift into the Digital Age. Due to social networking sites such as MySpace, not to mention the local Land Development Code, Section 13-2-864 (see "Violators Will Be Punished," Sept. 12, 1997), the concert poster as advertisement has largely gone the way of the PDF, and the poll committee, with profound regret, has removed the category from this year's ballot. Other categories to get the pink slip include Novelty Band, Horn Player/Section, Strings Player/Section, and Instrument Equipment Store, though all of them are still in the running for the annual "Best of Austin" issue. Cast your ballot before Jan. 31. The remaining categories, with OTR's picks:

BAND OF THE YEAR: White Denim

MUSICIAN OF THE YEAR: Alejandro Escovedo

SONG OF THE YEAR: "Power to Change," the Black & White Years

ALBUM OF THE YEAR: Gods of the Earth, the Sword

NEW BAND: Mammoth Grinder

ROCK: The Black Angels

PUNK: Krum Bums

METAL: The Sword

INDUSTRIAL/GOTH: Cry Blood Apache

DJ: Table Manners Crew

INDIE: White Denim

JAZZ: Tina Marsh

BLUES: Gary Clark Jr.

HIP-HOP: Zeale & Phranchyze

INSTRUMENTAL: Balmorhea

EXPERIMENTAL: Weird Weeds

COUNTRY: Hayes Carll

BLUEGRASS: The Lost Pines

ROOTS-ROCK: James McMurtry

FOLK: Possessed by Paul James

LATIN TRADITIONAL: Grupo Fantasma

LATIN CONTEMPORARY: Ocote Soul Sounds

WORLD: Rattletree Marimba

COVER BAND: Acid Tomb

KID BAND: Fireants

NONE OF THE ABOVE: Silent Land Time Machine

FEMALE VOCALS: Dana Falconberry

MALE VOCALS: James Petralli, White Denim

ELECTRIC GUITAR: Adrian Quesada, Grupo Fantasma

ACOUSTIC GUITAR: Will Courtney, Brothers and Sisters

BASS: Steve Terebecki, White Denim

DRUMS: Hector Muñoz

KEYBOARDS: Marcia Ball

MISCELLANEOUS INSTRUMENT: Thor Harris, Shearwater (hammer dulcimer)

SONGWRITER: Randy Reynolds, aka Leatherbag

PRODUCER: Erik Wofford

NEW CLUB: Long Center for the Performing Arts

LIVE MUSIC VENUE: Mohawk

ACOUSTIC VENUE: Cactus Cafe

ALL-AGES VENUE: Emo's

RECORD STORE: End of an Ear

RADIO STATION: KOOP 91.7FM

RADIO MUSIC PROGRAM: Chillville, KROX

RADIO PERSONALITY: Andy Langer, KGSR

LOCAL LABEL: Western Vinyl

HALL OF FAME: The Dicks

The New Pollution

There's no taking the trailer out of Joey Thompson. The Archibalds' singer and multi-instrumentalist has an uncanny knack for capturing seedy characters, spinning voyeuristic narratives of ghetto blasters and junk culture that recall the slacker folk of Mellow Gold-era Beck. "I grew up in a tiny town of about 600 people," attests Thompson, an Alabama native. "I know all of these characters and have seen them firsthand. I approach them from that Randy Newman, third-person perspective, like here's these characters, and for whatever reason, you should know about them." Having backed emerging songwriters such as Hope Irish from the band's Superpop Records stable since forming in 2006, the Archibalds have positioned themselves as the Gourds' rightful next of kin on sophomore outing Easy Living, an eccentric and entertaining collection of off-kilter Americana, accentuated by the harmonies of producer/bassist Seth Gibbs. "I've always strived for us to be the Southern rock Beatles," Thompson clarifies, "as if the Beatles had grown up white trash in Alabama." The Archibalds unwind at the Hole in the Wall on Saturday with Leatherbag and Quiet Life.