TT the Bear's days may be numbered, but the club certainly isn't planning on quietly closing its doors. Tomorrow nigt, June 16, Skyes (NY) will be treated to a warm Boston welcome from Florio and Pale Hands. This bill is full of can't-miss performances for fans of huge pop hooks and incredibly talented vocalists. I could go on and on about the bands' respective pop sensibilities, but you're probably better-off just going to the show. 8PM doors, $8 cover, 18+ (proper ID required).

For more info about the gig, presented by Lysten Boston, click here.

-Dan McMahon (@dmcmhn) 

We’ve been waitin’ to post this one y’all. Malik is a rising, top-quality Austin hip-hop artist that we brought you a bit about not too long back, and he’s also a nominee for our Artist of the Month, primarily because he’s on a goddamn high octane productive roll right now.

As part of said roll, Malik has been firing a veritable arsenal of creative endeavors out at the world, so far including the following:

A solid as hell single — “On My Own,” which we profiled in March
A mixtape — The Prerequisite, dropped last month and which has amassed over 6000 listens across its 8 solid tracks in that time on Soundcloud (that’s a big deal, most of the bands we post here barely get that in a year)
A fucking video game — The Chase, a pixelated chaser based on a dream by Malik and out for iOS and Android for absolute free
A soon-to-be dropped music video- “Breakaway,” from the new album and released July 5
An upcoming album — The Principium, primed and ready to be launched at the world on July 12

It’s rare for a local artist to drop even a couple things at once, much less content at this breakneck rate. I mean, who drops a damn video game as a musician? It’s a pretty simple runner game, but The Chase has a great style of pixelly desert goodness, and it also serves as a way to get an early listen to some of Malik’s music from the upcoming album. Produced with game creator and composer Emily Meo, The Chase is without a doubt one of the most creative and engaging ways to reach an audience that we’ve ever seen from any musician, much less a local one.

When it comes to the music, Malik is riding quite high at the top of the list of up-and-coming local hip-hop artists. His commanding baritone flow and deftness on the wordplay front ride over dynamic production (his own) that creates songs that mesh pop elements and true rap like it’s not a hard thing to do at all (it is). Malik uses his voice as more than just a word-purveyor, turning his bars into a percussive instrument like the best rappers do, but he never neglects the content. Malik also never slacks on making the beats something fun to listen to, as opposed to focusing too much on the words, and the result is track after track of unique sounds and perspectives on life that you just wanna keep listening to.

It’s frustratingly common for a young hip-hop artist’s early work to go too heavy on one single front while neglecting others; maybe the beats or the song structure are killer, but the rapping is weak. Maybe they’re too pop, or, on the other side, too heady or aggressive over a whole album. There can be too much focus on the rapper’s ego and not enough real, quality perspective, or there could be too much of the same sound from one track to the next. In these cases, there’s usually one good track and the rest is a bunch of fluff to fill out an album.

But not with Malik. Malik’s music makes no rookie mistakes. It’s damn enjoyable music from one track through to the rest of the entire mixtape, it’s good from beat to voice to structure, and it presents a picture of a young man who has worked to become an expert at every layer of hip-hop music, and whose shit you like and you want to hear more from. That is as rare as it gets for a young artist, and it’s why we’ve nominated Malik for Artist of the Month (that, and his insane productivity of late).

You can get a listen goin’ on The Prerequisite mixtape below, find his game in the Apple and Android stores, and you can get more Malik in yer ears on July 12 when The Principium drops. You can also vote to the right, if you think Malik deserves some e-recognition for his fine, hard work. Get listenin’ Austin music heads.

NXNE: Deli List, Here are our favorites!!

WED JUNE 17@The Painted Lady

Big Lonely

Teen Violence

WED JUNE 17@Coalition T.O.

Bike Thiefs

Catholic Girls

WED JUNE 17@Danforth Music Hall

Etiquette

WED JUNE 17@The Opera House

Anamai

WED JUNE 17@The Horseshoe

Blonde Elvis

For Esmé

WED JUNE 17@Lee's Palace

Doomsquad

Programm

ROLEMODEL

WED JUNE 17@The Drake

Prince Innocence

Bernice

WED JUNE 17@Bovine Sex Club

Mad Ones

WED JUNE 17@Handlebar

Murder Murder

WED JUNE 17@The Garrison

TWIST

WED JUNE 17@The Silver Dollar

The Corsets

Thursday June 18@The Horseshoe

Fake Palms

Bad Channels

Whimm

Thursday June 18@Handlebar

Walrus

Thursday June 18@The Opera House

Odonis Odonis

Thursday June 18@Smiling Buddha

Zones

Thursday June 18@The Cavern

Seraphic Lights

Thursday June 18@Silver Dollar

Comet Control

Elsa

Thursday June 18@The Garrison

Wrong Hole

Soupcans

Crosss

Friday June 19@The Garrison

Votiiv

Friday June 19@Lee's Palace

Fresh Snow

Friday June 19@Adelaide Hall

Zoo Owl

Friday June 19@Smiling Buddha

Foam

Friday June 19@The Silver Dollar

Dilly Dally

Pet Sun

Saturday June 20@The Bovine Sex Club

Terrorista

Saturday June 20@The Handlebar

Jaunt

Saturday June 20@Rivoli 

Sun K

Saturday June 20@The Silver Dollar

Mexican Slang

Beliefs

Dirty Frigs

Saturday June 20@Adelaide Hall

Greys

Das Rad

Saturday June 20@The Garrison

Darlene Shrugg

Michael Rault

Bile Sister

The days are getting longer and the weather dude is telling me the temperature isn’t going to dip below 80 degrees anytime soon, so this could only mean one thing, What The Festival 2015 is right around the corner! This year marks the festival’s fourth go-around, and the folks that put this shindig together are gearing up Oregon’s Wolf Run Ranch for another successful weekend.

This festival has a little bit of everything. It takes place on a gorgeous campground about 25 miles east of Mt. Hood. There’s enough room to walk through a (glow in the dark!) forest, lounge on plush sofas, benches, and any other designated or non-designated chill zones, dance in a splash pool with a stage that pumps out beats all day long. You can attend workshops, go to yoga and all that jazz. And to top it off, you get to witness a slew of the top producers and DJs in the game.

Names like Big Gigantic, Griz, and Seattle’s ODESZA top the list of a funkafied lineup, and there is also a number of local acts and up-and-coming artists that fill out the three day extravaganza. This event is held in Oregon for good reason. There is plenty of Portland influence, especially on the music side, here is a list of local flavor:

Indubious – Electronic reggae, or reggae with electronics. Somewhere in the middle of that is the hard hitting duo from Ashland. A live bass player and keys/and synths mix beautifully in front of beats will go off in psychedelic tangents, but always find their way back to the traditional reggae songs they’ve been making for years.

Hustle and Drone – Synth pop straight outta Portland. H&D has seen a large growth of success over the past year. The songs they write have an indie rock influence and always hold a danceable beat.

Ernest Lovers w/ Pete Krebs – Quite a bit of a different pace than the majority of the lineup, but these are local legendary song writers. They will provide a nice break from the chaos and give your brain cells a minute to rejuvenate with some slow and melodic honky tonk.

EPROM – Bass heavy with a little bit of hip hop. EPROM is one of the most notable Portland acts on the list and is set to have a big summer. He makes his beats with old school drum and bass influences and touches and dabbles of dubstep and trap. It’s damn near impossible not to dance for this.

Solovox – Piano extraordinaire and beat maker. Carl Solovox knows how incorporate his refined piano skills and put them to use on a synthesizer. He’s been known to remix some classic rock and roll (Johnny Cash, AC DC, the list goes on) and always creates a dance party of epic proportions.

Barisone – Master of silk and smooth. Barisone has become a household name in the Portland community with a steady working relationship with FAK Wednesdays and Bubblin. His music is grounded in hip hop and R&B and will change what you thought you knew about the word “sexy.”

Device Grips – straight up dance funk – full band! The (relatively) new Portland band, Device Grips are making their name quickly with blues infused horn-heavy funk with a little bit of rap n’ roll to create some of the liveliest music out there. Don’t be the person that has to tell people a year from now that you missed this set because you were trying to get a burrito (nothing against burritos, but trust me on this one).

Lovebomb Go-Go Marching Band – One of the most extravagant acts you’ll see, ever. This band hails from outer space, I assume, given their space helmets and vibrant clad of silver linings that make up their uniforms. Who knows what they’re going to pull out for a festival like this?

Other notable local artists include: Chrome Wolves, Lincoln Up, Mr. Wu, Takimba, Trashcan Joe, PRSN, Tyler Tastemaker, Deafmind, Octaban, Hal-V & Space Case, Quarry, Laura Lynn, Computer Pham, Diablo, and Montel Spinozza.

Moral of this story: Get your tickets to What the Festival and try and catch every one of these!

-Colin Hudson

Our current poll for Artist of the Month is in full swing, and that means it's time to get familiar with the nominees y'all! This go around, we're talkin' Taylor and the Wild Now, who sent a summer firework of a song up into the Austin air early this month, and who have been playing a ton of shows and appearances since to show this gorgeous new thing off.

A deep, sensual baseline and some island-soaked guitar are the unusual and welcome framework for the new pop-dubby track “Salt” by Taylor and the Wild Now, a crew known for their approachable indie sound with a roots bent that sometimes wanders into territory that may or may not be a step or two past the country music border (depending on where you personally mark it). This most recent track from the group after last year’s promising self-titled EP, which hinted of good oddness to come from Taylor et al., “Salt” is a move away from the more heavily country/folk-influenced sound and toward something all their own, and it's a move which sees them only growing as a truly unique (a quality that is pretty rare) and enjoyable feature in the Austin indie scene. Taylor might well (though almost certainly isn’t) be singing the chorus of “Salt” to those afraid to leave the beach of genre and swim out into that deep place where the currents of different sounds mix together into something new when she croons, “I don’t even care what you say/It’s gonna happen anyway.”

And goddamn are we glad it's happening, if by it we're referring to what's going on in "Salt" musically. All elements are on their game in this track, including a bassline that gives the song both its structural background and its considerable, moonlit soul, plus remarkably inventive guitar work that is unbound by genre. That last is a strength that the group has built on since their EP, and the dynamic, unique flavor of the guitar here may just put The Wild Now in contention for most interesting guitar sound in town. Add to those remarkable bits of instrumentation some siren vocals from Taylor herself that are somethin’ to swoon for, and you've got one hell of a shimmering summer track.

The smooth, beach-at-night trance that “Salt” coaxes the listener into should, if there is any justice for artists in this universe, be what puts Taylor and the Wild Now on blogs and playlists worldwide, and on the map in a big way in the indie music scene in Austin and beyond. We wouldn’t be surprised if it lands them in some pretty high caliber gigs quite soon, especially if there is more of this experimentation-done-right to come from Taylor and the Wild Now (that is to say, tracks that only allow thoroughly vetted and chosen elements to make it in). Get up into this newness at yon Soundcloud player below, and follow these rising stars on Facebook to be the first to hear when Taylor and co bring us more beautiful music. Oh, and if you feel the itch to help this group on its way to deserved major recognition in this city, get to votin' at the right side of the page.