New Austin Music Worth Your Bandwidth This Week

The Teeta working on mixed media piece "The Austin Chronicle," a visual timeline of his evolution as an artist and ode to his 2018 Chronicle cover "The Next Generation of Hip-Hop" (Photo by Ashton Williams / Courtesy of Keyheira Keys)

The Teeta World Exhibit

Cloud Tree Studios, April 24 – May 1

Register free: cloudtreestudiosandgallery.com

A walk through the Teeta's discography promptly reveals a region dear to his heart. So much so that the Northeast Austin rapper titled his next LP 24 in homage to his 78724 ZIP code.

"That's a big part of my identity," affirmed the first-generation Texan by phone. "It molded me. Coming from '24, we're laid back. Not super gritty, but we hold our own."

As one of the capital's leading hip-hop figures, the stylish designer of "pretty boy trap" withstood a decade's worth of obstacles to reach his current intersection of financial stability and local recognition. The Huston-Tillotson alum hopes to give back to his neighborhood with visual art exhibit "The Teeta World," which March's press release called an "engaging visual album." A reception this Saturday runs 6-9pm, features a live performance from the man of the hour, then a chat afterward with Aaron "Fresh" Knight of KUTX radio show The Breaks.

Although the opening doesn't require an appointment, attendees will have to book a 20-minute slot between noon-6pm to view the exhibit after April 24.

"We're going to have interpretative dance," he said while concealing spoilers. "We're going to have some complementary art pieces that act as a visual representation of songs off the [upcoming] album. I'm using it as an opportunity to show the relationship between visual art and hip-hop."

Teeta manager Moe Jane and Keyheira Keys curated the exhibit alongside the MC. A Community Initiatives Grant from the city of Austin and sponsorship via Treaty Oaks Distilling helped fund the endeavor.

"I want to bring people back together," he explained regarding the lack of an entry fee. "I don't want them to care about having to use their stimulus or whatever. I want them to come and enjoy it, be subjective, talk about it, and have some drinks."

Austin's self-proclaimed "premier hip-hop artist" responded to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic with renewed energy. The Quarantine and The Stimulus, two chic collaborations with nonstop locomotive Netherfriends, added luxury to his closet of trap. The Seventh Seal, a stellar project with Dallas rapper Willo, featured a heavy helping of reflective lyrical content.

Teeta remains purposefully ambiguous about 24, but a tentative midsummer release date appears in the works. – Derek Udensi

Alex Riegelman's "Animal Ending"

YouTube

Skewing the order of predator and prey, Alex Riegelman's whimsical "Animal Ending" video depicts an Elmer Fudd-like hunter pursuing an ambulatory pizza as deer, elephants, and owls – actually people in bodysuits – frolic in the woods and play music. Lyrically, the summery single feels both like a treatise for vegetarianism and the musing of an abstinent cannibal, contemplating in an honest tenor as the singer blurs the lines "between romance and true crime." Bassist for kooky art-punk quartet Big Bill, the local multi-instrumentalist exhibits a strange and sweet sincerity on "Animal Ending," all while crossbreeding casual indie-pop with untamed electric guitar solos and doo-wop backup vocals.  – Kevin Curtin

J.M. Stevens' "Further I Run" Video

YouTube

J.M. Stevens quietly released a beauty of a full-length bow with Invisible Lines to close out 2019, and continues breathing fresh life into the songs with a series of sparse but evocative videos directed by Marty Robbins. Latest clip "Further I Run" plays simply enough, tracking the Moonlight Towers frontman walking down a dirt road with his guitar while the shot slowly hues from black and white to full color, yet it matches the subtlety of Stevens' easy melodies and sweet intonations that tend toward Jayhawks' roots-pop. The song likewise swoons behind a crack band, including Marty Muse's steel and a harmonica rip from Benito "Ace" Acevedo. With brand new singles on the way, Stevens hits a stride riding solo that mellows the Towers' raucous sound while maintaining the heavy hooks.  – Doug Freeman

Lady Dan: I Am the Prophet

Bandcamp

Lady Dan's debut longplayer I Am the Prophet circles concepts of desire, independence, and self-sabotage, while its bold lyricism and flourishing instrumentation cut sharp angles into its themes. Colored with pedal steel, wailing orchestral arrangements, and ballooning, out-of-tune synths, the 11-track album balances festering worries with blunt declarations. "Do I want to be loved or left alone?" wonders Tyler Dozier (as Lady Dan) on the opener's Americana narrative. At her most emotionally shaved off, she dips into a Morrissette rage even amid lush sonic glitter. The Alabama native burns herself ("Paradox"), bites those who burned her ("I Am the Prophet"), and revels in momentary independence, soothing her own wounds ("Misandrist to Most"). Her ambivalence threatens these realizations with impermanence, but that doesn't soften their blow. Mourning lost opportunities in closer "Left-Handed Lover," Dozier's anxieties border on sublime: "There's so many different directions I could come from." Boosted by optimism and a wave of woodwinds, her cyclical questions spiral into subtle, realistic growth.  – Laiken Neumann

Sasha & the Valentines: So You Think You Found Love?

Bandcamp

Suspicion looms over Sasha & the Valentines' debut album, a velvety half hour of one-sided love songs. "We had some problems and we couldn't solve them," sighs Sarah Addi. "You try your best, but you'll probably hurt him again." Even the disc title condescends. Still, the singer wants to believe. Guitarist Alex Whitelaw, bassist JB Bergin, drummer Billy Hickey, and percussionist Tim Zoidis swaddle heartbreak in soft reverb, reveling in the curly-phone-cord, calling-your-crush-for-the-first-time kind of butterflies of an Eighties movie. Opener "Witches" balances glitchy synths and beached guitar in a midtempo groove, while pulsing keys propel pop highlight "Some Time." Later, R&B slow jam "Tinder" quiets to a glowing piano. Throughout these varied soundscapes remains relentless desire. "And I love you better than she can/ And I'd come through/ Even if you never have," coos the frontwoman on "Flower," a stop-start song of devotion. "I get those crazy eyes/ 'Cause ending up alone has got me terrified," she admits via the churning "Don't You Love Me." Despite these fears, Addi refuses to go dark. Romance remains fleeting, but hope endures on So You Think You Found Love?  – Carys Anderson

Calliope Musicals: Between Us

www.calliopemusicals.com

Opening their first release since 2019 with spritely violins, Calliope Musicals waste no time in launching listeners into electric pop mastery. Recorded at the Bubble and produced by Chris "Frenchie" Smith, Between Us explores the vast expanse of psychedelia employing synth rockets and sonorous progressions. Inspired by social evolution, the festive Austinites touch on topics ranging from personal tragedies to the complex emotions surrounding societal injustices. Out on homegrown imprint Spaceflight Records, the EP leaves you contemplating not only the richness of life, but the problems we as a nation currently face. Singer Carrie Fussell leads the eclectic musicians through each dip and wave, "This Means War" transporting listeners to the album's darkest corners through minor chords and haunting vocalizations. Finishing with an energetic Brothers Griiin (Flaming Lips) remix of "Fear This Body" from 2019's Color/Sweat, Calliope Musicals leave a simple yet empowering message behind: Don't doubt your power. – Alyssa Quiles

Kydd Jones & BoomBaptist, "What You Mean"

Apple Music, Bandcamp, Spotify, YouTube

Kydd Jones and BoomBaptist team together for an unexpected crossover collaboration on joint single "What You Mean." The two adept Austin musicians previously worked together on "Not the One" from the LNS Crew's self-titled 2012 mixtape. Neither Jones nor the Vapor Caves producer sound out of depth as the East Austin MC delves deeper into his bag of melodic goods over a beat buoyed by a solid combo of well-paced hi-hats and pianic punch. The two mesh well without committing the common error of trying to plaster one artist's sound onto the other's with the adhesive efficiency of Scotch Tape. "Congress barely conscious/ Keep it clear I found my sinus/ Fuck around, catch contact being behind us/ The way I'm rocking I look like I'm about to switch genres," boasts Jones in bars encapsulating the fun, yet measured tone of this welcomed convergence. Fat Tony of Houston's Third Ward completes the triumvirate of Texan artists by delivering a lyrical verse reassuring the need to remain focused on furthering his success.  – Derek Udensi

2xx Pheno: Hustlers Ambition

Amazon Music, Apple Music, Spotify, Tidal, YouTube

Austin rapper 2xx Pheno begins March LP Hustlers Ambition with "Intro," an opening that borrows from a tactic popularized by Philadelphia MC Meek Mill's motivational 2012 anthem "Dreams and Nightmares." An expected switch in mood segues into bars detailing perseverance and carries the predictability of made-for-television kids movies beginning with the melancholy piano that starts the track, but the street-hardened passion with which the Killeen native raps makes pressing skip a difficult option. That unwavering grit endures for 46 minutes across various trap beats, a soulful backdrop, and a couple of dives into the prominent drill wave. Pheno's fourth full-length demonstrates a formative leap from earlier releases thanks to a harnessing of previously uncontrollable emotion into furious flows that are enjoyably rough by nature, but much more fleshed out. Songs such as "8am in Cali" live up to the album's title as he nearly shouts verses while conveying an urgency to share his story.  – Derek Udensi