What It Was Like: Monotonix, The Breeders, Ra Ra Riot (again), Kid Sister, Chromeo

By Pete Freedman At 10:19pm Mar 17, 2008

Kid Sister, looking fly and keeping it tight. (Pete Freedman)

Saturday night was a freaking marathon, man. Throbbing feet, bleary eyes, sweaty brows. It was painful and pretty gross. Except for the music. That was cool. More specifically, here’s What It Was Like on S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y night…

Band: Monotonix, the craziest motherfuckers the Middle East has ever produced. OK, probably not. But they are freakin’ nuts.
Where: Bourbon Rocks Patio
What It Was Like: The craziest punk show you’ve ever been to. The Tel Aviv-based garage punkers didn’t speak English too well, but nothing was lost in translation when the band moved its set from the stage and into the circling pit beneath it. The band members then proceeded to crowd surf, play their instruments while riding the shoulders of crowd members, and to let the crowd play the drums as they raised the kit in the air. And the ruckus didn’t really even hurt the sound—these guys played on furiously and unfazed.
Verdict: Seriously, these guys put on one of the best live shows I’ve ever been to. In addition to the other antics, there was beer chugging, beer spitting, beer pouring (onto gleeful audience members) and trash can tossing. As much as SXSW is no longer really about discovering new music, Monotonix was pretty much THE discovered band of the week for me and the other critics I met at the fest. No other band built up more buzz for itself than this Israeli three-piece did over the course of the five-day music fest. The music itself is nothing to get too taken aback by, but the show alone makes these guys worth anyone’s while. Elevate this band to must-see status in your notebooks.
Random Note: These guys moved super fast. I tried catching some pics of them with the digital camera I was using, but they all came out too blurry. Granted, I’m hardly a professional photographer.

Read more "What It Was Like:..." >>

Tags: music, SXSW, What It Was Like, Fool's Gold, The Breeders, Ra Ra Riot, Monotonix

What It Was Like: Film School, The Acorn, A Place to Bury Strangers, Sea Wolf

By Pete Freedman At 06:36pm Mar 17, 2008

Saturday saw another slew of impressive day-time shows. I spent most of my afternoon at the Hot Freaks party at Mohawk, then made it to the Convention Center and, finally, found my way over to the Cedar Street Courtyard for the tail end of the Filter party. It wasn't has hot as Friday was--but it wasn't exactly chilly either. Anyway, here's What It Was Like...

Band: Film School, loud indie rockers from San Francisco
Where: Mohawk's outdoor stage
What It Was Like: Listening to a band that takes itself a bit too seriously. Maybe it's because it was hot out, or maybe that's just how this band is (I've never seen them live before), but Film School wasn't too exciting to watch on stage on Saturday afternoon. The bass was loud and the post-grunge art rock/shoegaze sound was fine. But it wasn't anything to go ga-ga over. Maybe if the band looked like it was having a little more fun up there, that would've carried over a bit to the crowd, who looked every bit as bored as the band did.
Verdict: Undecided, really. Film School doesn't have a bad sound--I've liked their recorded efforts so far. But their live performance wasn't really suited for an outdoor day-party, and the bass was too turned up on the sound system to really give this band's live show a fair judgment. At moments they were amazing, at others they were deathly boring. I'm still up in the air. (Note: I was so unsure I nearly hit the band's night-time performance at Bourbon Rocks, but backed out at the last second in an effort to see as many bands as possible.)
Random Note: It might not have been as excruciatingly hot on Saturday as it was Friday, but it seemed like enough of the audience had learned its lesson the day before. Wherever possible, the crowds packed into the shaded spaces beneath the tents at the outside venues.

Read more "What It Was Like:..." >>

Tags: What It Was Like, day parties, SXSW, music

What It Was Like: Basia Bulat, Foreign Born, Vampire Weekend, DeVotchKa, Robyn

By Pete Freedman At 09:31am Mar 15, 2008

So the all the hype caught up with me tonight; after fighting it and fighting it, I decided to give in to Vampire Weekend. Catching Helio Sequence during the day had something to do with it. So did those darn tarot cards. So was it worth it? Well, here's What It Was Like on Friday night...

Band: Basia Bulat, a Canadian Americana outfit with decent lead vocals.
Where: Antone's
What It Was Like: Like if the Dixie Chicks were more rootsy and if their vocals were trembly like Stevie Nix's Nicks'. This five-piece band from Ontario had a very Americana-influenced sound. Which begged the question: How do you classify a Canadian band that plays Americana? I'm going with "Canadiana."
Verdict: Not bad. But not great either. Here's the deal: If Basia Bulat were a band from Dallas, I'd probably dig them after a while--they sound like the type of act that grows on you. But for a Canadian act that, as the lead singer said, had never been to Texas before, it's not worth investing your time in them. Their set was decent, but not good enough to say that booking agents around the region are gonna be running around trying to get them to come this way again. If you're dying for female Americana or Texas Swing, check out Burleson's Quebe Sisters.
Random Note: You have to give the Basia Bulat folks credit for playing to their crowd. At one point, the band covered Austin legend Daniel Johnston's "True Love Will Find You In The End."

Read more "What It Was Like:..." >>

Tags: music, What It Was Like, SXSW, Vampire Weekend, hype

What It Was Like: The Black Keys, The Little Ones, Helio Sequence, British Sea Power

By Pete Freedman At 06:22am Mar 15, 2008

Oh, Friday. You weren't as hot as hyped weather-wise. But, musically, you were simply en fuego. Delightful stuff again, Austin. Here's What It Was Like on Friday afternoon...

Band: The Black Keys, the greatest blues rock duo to ever come out of Akron, Ohio.
Where: La Zona Rosa
What It Was Like: Listening to any Black Keys record. Seriously, these guys are tight live.
Verdict: It was entertaining stuff from this duo...to an extent. Maybe I'm jaded from seeing some 15 sets (or more? I've lost count...) over the past two days, but sounding like you do on the record ain't enough, fellas. You've got to be visually stimulating.
Random Note: The Keys' next album--Attack & Release, due in April--was produced by Dangermouse.

Band: The Little Ones, the poppiest little noise poppers in Los Angeles.
Where: Red Eyed Fly (inside)
What It Was Like: Rooting for the benchwarmers to score a bucket during garbage time in an NCAA tourney game. The Little Ones were having serious sound trouble--the sound system at the Red Eyed Fly's inside stage picked up only the slightest amount of this five-piece's lead vocals. Yet the crowd managed to remain entertained, enjoying the backing chorus efforts, the summertime/beach pop and the effort lead singer Edward Nolan Reyes gave in spite of the technical difficulties. It was tough not to root for them to do well, given the circumstances.
Verdict: The sound stuff was a drag, but it could've been worse for these guys. I still dug their vibe--and the fact that they ended their set with the super catchy, super poppy single "Lovers Who Uncover". If only every wannabe indie pop group produced such sugar-y tracks...
Random Note: I just noticed that "Lovers Who Uncover" is up for download on the band's Myspace page. Get to it, folks.

Read more "What It Was Like:..." >>

Tags: music, SXSW, What It Was Like, day parties

What It Was Like: The Remolon, Florence and the Machine, Wild Lights, MGMT, Drug Rug, Yeasayer

By Pete Freedman At 08:02pm Mar 14, 2008

Last night brought some of the best performances I've seen yet at this festival. Here's What It Was Like on Thursday night...

Band: El Remolon, a two-piece electronic dance act from Buenos Aires
Where: Ninety Proof Lounge
What It Was Like: Stepping into an Argentinian dance club (without very many people there, though--hey, it was only 9 or so). And that was the idea (minus the lack of a crowd), actually. This showcase of all Buenos Aires-based electronic club acts at Ninety Proof Lounge was thrown together by Grant Dull, a former San Antonian who moved to Buenos Aires five years ago to open up a club called Zizek. This Thursday night show was a showcase of the acts that rotate through the club's Friday night performance schedules.
Verdict: El Remolon wasn't bad, actually, although their use of electronic bongos as their back beat was somewhat over the top--but when isn't it in world dance music? Honestly, I kinda dug it and thought it'd be a great soundtrack for a sweaty, people-filled dance-club. Unfortunately for El Remolon, unlike all other SXSW venues, this room wasn't very sweaty or people-filled. So I moved on.
Random Note: The crowd, too, was pretty much all Argentinian, except for a film producer from LA who was there in hopes of Dull allowing him to use some of this music (Dull also runs the Zizek label) for an upcoming feature.

Band: Florence and the Machine, an act from the UK with an amazing female vocalist, a guitarist and a whole lot of piped in sound (hence...the Machine).
Where: The Rio
What It Was Like: Butter, baby. Florence has a voice tailored for old-time AM radio soul and she knows how to use it, updating her sound to showcase flirty, dangerous lyrics. It'll hit me later exactly who she sounds like. Her set saw her drumming away with a snare drum in front of her as she howled away into the mic stand.
Verdict: Dug. It.
Random Note: This was the first of three acts I saw this evening as part of BBC 6's showcase at the festival.

Read more "What It Was Like:..." >>

Tags: music, Brooklyn bands, New England bands, SXSW, What It Was Like

Village Voice Media @ SXSW

Village Voice Media @ Twitter

Follow Village Voice Media at twitter.com

Archives