ACL 2010 Bullets (10/1/10)

Okay, back to the matter at hand. Festival starts in seven days. Seven!

• Someone just asked me who I was most looking forward to seeing this year at ACL. I quickly said The Strokes. I saw them once, back in 2001, and it was an amazing show. After a few years off, I hear they're playing with purpose again. Chad Swiatecki of the Austin American Statesman gives us his ACL 2010 preview and tells us "why The Strokes hold up" on GoRockFest.com.
• The Sound Record is counting down to ACL 2010 in from ten to one with ten different short artist profiles like Dan Black, Gayngs, and Portugal. The Man.
• Wanna make the most of your ACL Friday? Aside from all the great aftershows, now there's music early too. Austin Music Source just reported that Spoon, Robert Randolph and others will be playing 30 minute sets from 9 AM to 1 PM on Friday, 10/8 at the Four Seasons lawn. Tix are only $5, and proceeds benefit Seton Shivers Cancer Center. No brainer. Go!
• On a totally different (but cool) note, an article in the Austin Business Journal shines a light on an overlooked aspect of ACL 2010: "ACL also means major gifts of tickets and cash donations to local nonprofits." The article talks about Austin's great Health Alliance for Austin Musicians (HAAM), and also highlights ACL fest producer C3 Presents' local generosity: "In Austin, C3’s giving spans health care, education, food banks, environmental, literacy and music/arts education charities." Read the whole article.
• Common theme among press in this year's build up to the festival: Who are the "sleeper bands" to go check out? Probably don't think of Austin's New Channel 8 as a source for tips of the sort, but if you're interested, go see who they recommend. My fave here: The Relatives.
• Live north of Austin? Z Delete Me (Star Telegram) offers up a list of ACL-bound bands to see locally in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area prior to the festival.
• The "Discover" series on the official ACL festival website has a spot on Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. What would you like to know? "A fictional and healing character created in [lead man Alex] Ebert’s mind, Sharpe is described by his maker to have been “sent down to Earth to kinda heal and save mankind…but he kept getting distracted by girls and falling in love.”
• One more rundown on who to go see. Trinitonian is gearing up for, among others, Gogol Bordello, Dawes and Chief, who they suggest we "keep our ears out for.
• Finally, here's a pessimist's take on how this year's ACL could be even worse than last year's "mudbath," courtesy of the Houston Press.