Ol' Samuel's Music Emporium, Vol. I

We often speak of the immense amount of music that occurs in this town, and the depth of our local talent. Allow us to introduce our newest feature covering the local music scene, Ol' Houstonian's Samuel's Music Emporium. Come one, come all, and let us share with you some local music that we came across in the past week!

[Ed. Note: We decided we liked Ol' Samuel's better. You know, Samuel. Sam Houston. Work with us here.]

Note: This new feature is an attempt to expose local music of which we either weren't aware or hadn't listened to yet, accompanied by a few remarks about said artist. It is by no means an attempt at a comprehensive listing of local acts.

Volume I

Living Shred: Holy Moses. Where has this guy been hiding? We discovered Living Shred by clicking through a few MySpace friends, and were pleasantly surprised by the dance-inspiring wonderment that we came across. Other sites: MySpace, Soundcloud.

Hospital: Houstonist came across this ongoing project via their remix of a Fat Tony track that we posted in the latest Rock Talk recap. This electronic/dance/remix project features Michael Murland and Dann Miller, who comprised half of The Jonbenét lineup, so expect a few unorthodox sounds. We're pretty keen on their chopped n' screwed version of Eyes Without A Face. Other sites: Facebook, MySpace, Twitter.

The Wrong Ones: These punk-glam-garage rockers appear to be drawing from New York Dolls, The Buzzcocks, and The Clash with hints of T. Rex and a dash of classic rock thrown in for good measure.

// TENSE //: This dance trio embraces the synth-heavy sounds of the Eighties. It's fairly immediately evident, but by no means did that stop us from listening.

Twisted Wires: Involves at least some of Indian Jewelry, so we're automatically interested. Check this out if you're into the more soundscape/drone oriented sector. We're not quite certain how to describe it, but we like it. Recommended track: Oh Hell.

Raging Apathy: Buzz-style radio rock. We're betting that they play Scout Bar a lot, judging from their sound. Other sites: Facebook, Reverb Nation, Twitter.

Weston Brown Band: Alternative rock from the early 2000s - we gave it a listen and heard snippets of Nickelback, Blues Traveler, & Dave Matthews. Tell us if we're wrong. Other sites: MySpace, Twitter.

The Oracle Hysterical: Whoa. This duo consisting of Brad Balliet and Elliot Cole is fascinating. It's experimental, concept-driven, and slightly crazy - all ingredients that we like. Seriously though, they took a Stravinsky opera [The Rake's Progress] and retold it in hip-hop fashion over sampled beats, strings and other noise. We'll confess that we were guilty of pressing repeat after this one ended.

Photos: The Wrong Ones, Hospital