South by Southwest in six words or less

At 01:10pm Mar 20, 2008

We’re still recovering from last week’s SXSW festivities. Too much beer, too much sun, too much beer in the sun. The one thing we didn’t get too much of was all the music happening in Austin. But with thousands of bands performing over four days at hundreds of clubs, there were only so many places we could be at one time.

Thankfully, some guy from The Morning News listened to more than 750 bands that played the music fest and wrote six-word reviews on all of them. We’re still regretting we didn’t make it to Vampire Weekend’s Friday-night showcase – we were at the Merge Records showcase or, more accurately, we were stalking Zooey Deschanel – but thanks to The Morning News recap, we’re so glad we skipped the Paul White Quintet’s concert: “My old jazz teacher’d love this.” -- Michael Gallucci

Tags: SXSW, Music

Jon Hardy & the Public, Tim Easton, Sarah Borges, Tommy Womack and more at SXSW

At 04:22pm Mar 18, 2008

RFT freelancer Roy Kasten helped us blog from SXSW. For more coverage visit Living In Stereo. All photos by Roy Kasten.

In their eighth year, the Twangfest day parties (now co-presented by KDHX) have built their own momentum and following. (Full disclosure: I’m a Twangfest volunteer and KDHX programmer.) They’re always a South By highlight, and this year drew label reps from Anti-, No Depression honcho Grant Alden and NPR critic Ed Ward. It really is true you can go to Austin every March, skip the wristband or badge expense, hit the free shows all day long, and still see and hear more bands than ought to be humanly possible.

Down at Jovita’s Mexican restaurant on Thursday the line-up included Amy Lavere, Th * Legendary Shack Shakers, Deer Tick and St. Louis’ own So Many Dynamos and Gentleman Auction house; Saturday was the better-attended day, however, with the Waco Bros., Chuck Prophet, Kevin Gordon and Blue Mountain drawing ridiculous crowds inside.

Tim Easton:


I hung and “stage-managed” outside, where unknown-to-me alt-country band the Whipsaws (from Anchorage, Alaska) kicked off the afternoon with pure Bad Co. and Skynrd southern rock, then backed up Joshua Tree-based troubadour Tim Easton, who looked weathered in shades and graying hair. It’s hard to think of Easton becoming one of the wise old veterans of alt-country, but such is time, and Easton can still churn through Dylanesque blues as well as anyone of his generation.

Tommy Womack:


Tommy Womack followed, looking even more grizzled and more spaced-out than usual, and seemed just a little bit tired as he led his band through a 40-minute set in the sunshine. (As the weekend progressed, the climate in Austin just got sweeter and sweeter.)

Sacramento’s Christian Kiefer and band took their time setting up (apparently he couldn’t see his tuner in the sunlight), and though Kiefer’s Undertow debut Dogs and Donkeys gets by on poetic ambition, the meandering tunes don’t really translate live. Kiefer lost the crowd after about 10 minutes.

Jon Hardy and the Public:


But St. Louis’ Jon Hardy and Public, in their usual sharp suits, pulled the audience back just as quickly. This was the band’s first Austin gig, and they didn’t mess around. Even without the horn section so vital to last year’s Working In Love, Hardy delivered every song like it would be last time he’d sing them in the sun.

Sarah Borges:


After a quick back-line changeover, Boston’s Sarah Borges & the Broken Singles quadrupled the crowd on the patio, churning through their slightly twangy pub-rock until a speaker cable blew in mid-set. After a failed attempt at an instrumental, Borges stepped into the crowd and sang-out sans microphone. The frazzled sound guy finally fixed the PA and she wound up her set with a smart Tommy Womack cover and a version of the Reigning Sound’s “Stop and Think It Over.” If the crowd had its way, she would have played til sunset.

From Nashville, Aaron Robinson (another Undertow artist; if you’re sensing a pattern here, thank Chris Grabau) followed as a last-minute add. Although only a handful of folks stuck around for his folk-pop set, he played with both wit and grace, even if it was rather late to get much, if anything, out of the tip bucket.

Tags: sxsw, music, jon hardy and the public, sarah borges, tim easton, tommy womack, christian kiefer, jovita's, twangfest, kdhx, aaron robinson

Bonus MP3: British Sea Power -- "Waving Flags (Live at The Mohawk - SXSW 2008)"

By Pete Freedman At 02:07pm Mar 18, 2008

[So we decided to try our hand at some live recording this weekend at South by Southwest. We did it on the same equipment we tape our interviews on, so the quality ain't gonna blow you away. But the crowd noise and whatnot do make these taped versions pretty fun in our book. Enough reading. Knock yourself out and download that sucker. -- Pete Freedman]


British Sea Power -- "Waving Flags (Live at The Mohawk - SXSW 2008)"

Tags: British Sea Power, mp3, music, live recordings, SXSW

Bonus MP3: Vampire Weekend -- "M79 (Live at Antone's - SXSW 2008)"

By Pete Freedman At 12:35pm Mar 18, 2008

[So we decided to try our hand at some live recording this weekend at South by Southwest. We did it on the same equipment we tape our interviews on, so the quality ain't gonna blow you away. But the crowd noise and whatnot do make these taped versions pretty fun in our book. Enough reading. Knock yourself out and download that sucker. -- Pete Freedman]


Vampire Weekend -- "M79 (Live at Antone's - SXSW 2008)"

Tags: music, SXSW, Vampire Weekend, live recordings, mp3

Southbyscurvy: The Best of SxSW

At 11:04am Mar 18, 2008

By Niki D'Andrea

Well, I managed to survive another fun and frantic SxSW festival. While I'm laid up at home recovering, I thought I'd bring you some of the highlights from this year's fest.

Best Local Buzz Band: What Laura Says Thinks and Feels (Tempe)

Several solid artists from our great desert metropolis performed at SxSW this year, but it seems like everywhere I turned, people were talking about WLSTaF. Here are just a couple examples of the word on the street:

From Soundcheck magazine’s “Label Alert: The 411 for Lovelorn A&R Reps” section: “I don’t know what it is about Arizona. The entire state seems to have really stepped up in the past couple of years, producing a veritable army of truly remarkable musicians – and this year, they are invading SxSW. On the frontlines of this musical onslaught is What Laura Says…, a band that hates commas and haircuts, but loves crafting sunny melodies that fall somewhere between freak-folk and indie-pop. Some of their songs sound like Elton John fronting the Super Furry Animals; others sound like Devendra Banhart covering Sondre Lerche; still others sound like Ben Folds on a bender with Ariel Pink. Regardless of what bizarre combinations you might hear in their music, one thing is certain: they will slay you. But instead of using swords and guns, they use irresistible harmonies. And instead of dying of sharp force trauma and exsanguination, you will die of pure, unadulterated happiness.” – Emily Strong.

From the blog of Arielle Castillo, music editor at Village Voice Media sister publication Miami New Times: “First cool random discovery was What Laura Says Thinks and Feels from Tempe, Arizona; a bunch of shaggy, long-haired types with a really pleasant, tripped out, fleshed out psych-ey sound. Kind of like Devendra Banhart but not quite as weird, and with a big backing band. Awesome, creepy harmonies.”

Word to the label reps: What Laura Says…is currently UNSIGNED. Hurry up and check ‘em out, because I have a feeling they won’t be available for pickup much longer.

Check out the band’s MySpace page here.



Best Promo Swag:
Cube Services, Inc. and Sprint

Cube Services, Inc. is a company that manufactures backstage passes and crew credentials for touring acts. Their promo boxes included a slew of collectible backstage passes from everybody from Prince and Aerosmith to Luciano Pavarotti and Tim McGraw.

Sprint was giving out 1GB flash drive fobs. Mine came in handy right away, when my Internet connection crapped out at the hotel and I had to transfer photos from the Dax Riggs show onto my friend’s laptop.

Best Nickname for the Illness People Brought Home:
Southbyscurvy. I’ve been seeing the phrase on various social networking sites all morning. Apparently, a lot of people brought back more than promo swag from the festival (including myself). That sort of thing tends to happen when you’re on the streets until 4 a.m. with tens of thousands of people coughing into the air, and most of them are running off nothing but three hours of sleep and a six pack of beer. I’m going to the doctor today for my official diagnosis. It probably won’t be “Southbyscurvy,” though.

Best Celebrity Sightings:
Michael Stipe in the VIP section of the Rhapsody day party, Sia outside Rio Grande Restaurant

Best Potential Celebrity Sighting That Never Happened:
Billy Bob Thornton, who was allegedly staying at the same hotel as me.

Best Musical Discovery:
P.D.A. If you haven’t checked out my blog and video clip from this Oklahoma hip-hop artist’s incredible performance at SxSW, hit it here. You’ll be seeing his name a lot more next year.


P.D.A.

Best Free Booze:
The BMI/Billboard Acoustic Brunch: Free mimosas, bloody marys, beer, and wine. I couldn’t beat my hangover with a stick, but the mimosas helped.

Musician’s Atlas’ homemade honey vodka: I took two shots after realizing I had caught the Southbyscurvy. I’m pretty sure it burned all my phlegm away, but I was too buzzed to care either way.

Best Overheard Statement:
“We wish we could be lesbians.” (overheard twice at two different shows throughout the week)

Tags: Music, SxSW, What Laura Says Thinks and Feels, Cube Services, Sprint, Musician's Atlas, P.D.A., Billboard, BMI, Michael Stipe, Sia, Billy Bob Thornton

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