SA artists to deliver blizzard of tunes in the first quarter of 2012

January
Brandon Cunningham
LP
January 15 release at Sam’s Burger Joint
“Titles aren’t my strong suit,” Cunningham said. His winding, raw and emotive folk debut is the product of a weekend he put in with first-time collaborators and producer Edwin Stephens. Cunningham describes the music as being both “redemptive” and “hopeful, I think.” Preview at brandoncunningham.bandcamp.com

Ernest Gonzales
Natural Traits
January 17 release at Park North Alamo Drafthouse
“What if the sea had feelings of depression or gravity was jealous or the stars were lovers?” Ernest Gonzales (also Mexicans with Guns) asks. Personification of nature permeates his latest fanciful, home-friendly release (his third in less than a year). Release party pre-sale tickets available at antipop.net.

Disco Wasteland The EP
January 28 release at ArtSlam! at the White Rabbit
The EP started with a different, equally self-important title (Too Much Awesome), but SA’s clown princes of dance rock pulled it for a future project. “The EP sounds real raw,” said drummer Anthony Trinidad. DW will sell limited quantities of blank albums to be decorated by artists at ArtSlam!

February
We Leave at Midnight
We Leave at Midnight
February 4 release at The Limelight
The first full-length from the local indie quintet “brings justice to our compositions,” according to John Daily, creative center of WLAM. Produced by Morris Orchids’ Jaime Rader, the album promises a mélange of smarty canonical pop. Think Beach Boys harmony and Beatles melody colliding with the anti-swagger of Elliott Smith.

Whiskey Ships
Soft Enterprise
February (Tentative)
Guitarist/songwriter Mikey Chapa described Soft Enterprise as “difficult and risky” because “we have 11 children between the band members.” Familial logistical problems aside, Soft Enterprise will be pop sans borders, incorporating ideas from The Clean, Pavement, and The Jesus and Mary Chain with guesting by Nicolette Good and Jason Christopher Trevino.

SOOKO
Hardy Fixins
March 11
EDM maestro SOOKO (real name Noom Srisunakorn) follows last November’s The Wonder (EP) with his first full-length on Exponential Records. SOOKO is a quintessential SA artist, doing software quality assurance at USAA by day, crafting glitchy trip-hop and photography at night. Sample forthcoming work at soundcloud.com/sooko.

Lost Project
Where It Begins
March 23 at Hi-Tones
Where It Begins is far from complicated. “This first EP is a start to all the music we want to put out,” said guitarist/vocalist Jason Valdez. Expect ska, alt-rock, and punk to converge over songs about friends and love. “It’s easy for someone to hear us and relate,” he said.

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