“Woke up hungover to sun (finally) in Baton Rogue after a four-hour bloodbath at the Spanish Moon featuring The Subjects, Titus Andronicus (Titties Androgynous) and Marnie Stern.”
“…Was feeling pretty down on the Woodstock v2.9 vibe. Clusterfuck doesn’t really even graze the tip of the shitty iceberg. Prolly just 2 much coffee, tho.”
“[I] just want to wail on my big muff and get mumblecore.”
“Finally took some mushrooms and snuck into ‘posh’ (the british r cumming) hotel downtown and drank their iced lemon water and ran on their treadmills.”
“The sun is not the friend of acoustic guitars.”
“Austin is lines.”
“Playing three shows in a day is stupid. I’m stupid. Started the day off with a transgressive showcase outside. Lovely people, free beer, dick sound guy.”
“Wish I had more twitter followers so I would ‘never b alone again.’”
“Indie kids r dicks.”
When accepting lifestyle tips, you’ve got to consider the source. After checking out Lemonade’s lushly tropicalized techno-pop, we feel ready to trust the San Francisco trio’s opinion on most anything related to partying, chilling out and/or making music. Luckily, the band was kind enough to offer us laypeople some advice—gleaned from its first trip to SXSW—on those topics and more:
“Since this was our first time attending SXSW (late bloomers), we learned much about music industry events. Here is a li’l glossary that might impart some knowledge that we have gained.
*FOMO: Or fear of missing out. Only goes away once you are too exhausted to care.
*Free alcohol: Everywhere.
*Free food: Elusive. We saw dirty plates in the trash, but no food, despite constant rumors. This resulted in us eating our first meal at like 4 or 5 after one or two shows and several beers and/or Sierra Mist cocktails.
*Free clothes: Thanks, Urban Outfitters! Alex got sunglasses somewhere that Elliot Aronow described as making him look like ‘Vin Diesel’s weed dealer.’
*British people: Talk a mean industry game.
*Schmoozing: Not as shameful as it seems. just inevitable.
*Tex-Mex: Weird
*Meat shakes: The condition you suffer after eating at famous BBQ pit ‘The Salt Lick.’
*Sleep: You will yearn for it.
*Boobs: Everywhere. Distracting.”
Ra Ra Riot really came into its own with last year’s The Rhumb Line and has harnessed an impressive live show (the group plays Webster Hall April 4) that it took down to Austin for SXSW. Here’s a cut from the recent record “Can You Tell”:
What we can tell from bassist Mathieu Santos’s correspondence is that he had quite a time down at SXSW, complete with an emergency-room visit, collaborations and Devo:
“To me, SXSW is like some great cosmic event during which time and space temporarily cease to exist; an event that, before recorded time began, would come as surely as the changing of the seasons, thereby giving structure and rhythm to the greater passing of time…
The excellently pedigreed School of Seven Bells is a New York band through and through, as you can see from the city-streets-centric video below. But like every other indie-rock band in Christendom, the trio—descended from Secret Machines and On!Air!Library!—made the trip to Austin this past weekend. Proceed past the jump for a nicely reflective SXSW account courtesy of band member Benjamin Curtis.
“SXSW is over. Yeah, I’ve been before; maybe five times in the last ten years. To be perfectly honest, after every one, I’ve always asked myself, Why?…
Here at TONY, we like to play the “sounds like a cross between” card only when absolutely necessary. Cue up “It Gets Your Body Movin’” at the Suckers’ MySpace page and we think you’ll agree that there’s no better way to describe the local quartet than as a beatific blend of Grizzly Bear and Animal Collective. Read on for SXSW recaps courtesy of oddly named Suckers fellows Pan and Quinn.
Biscuits and brisket: Suckers experiences at SXSW
“Our first show took place at Club 1808, supposedly dead center in the most questionable district of Austin according to everyone we talked to. A friend of ours was told by her cab driver that she had better have brought a gun. The most memorable occurrence that night was being approached by a jolly local named Mike, who quickly befriended all of us and plotted a scheme to pretend he knew one of our songs well and come to the stage to request we perform it. Everyone from the neighborhood went wild and after the show we invited him to participate in a Johnny Knoxville–funded documentary being shot by three crazy babes. I also asked a lovely lady by the name of Cassandra Brooks if she knew how to do the latest dance craze, ‘The Stanky Leg,’ and sure enough she did. Now I do too.”—Quinn
“Our third show was at Red 7. We finished the show and rushed off to get our equipment that we had lent to another band from the IAMSOUND/’Sup magazine Party we played earlier in the day. Strangely enough, as we were caught in SXSW traffic, we were asked to play another set at Red 7 and fill in for a missing band. Awesome! An even bigger and more excited crowd; of course we will play! We jumped at the opportunity and did our best to make it in time. Finally, after sweating it out through crosstown congestion, we arrive to the venue only to see our drummer Brian accompanying his little brother Scott on stage as Etta Place—a full, anxious crowd hijacked by our crazy drummer and his little brother. They managed to sneak in the open slot and play their acoustic songs to a mass audience.”—Pan
The Strange Boys were one of the first bands I caught at SXSW this year, but their, well, strange sound has stuck with me. Singer Ryan Sambol’s shriek is something that you will probably either love or hate right off the bat.
See which side you come down on with video from the first song (”Woe Is You and Me”) from the Austin band’s first LP, And Girls Club:
Kris King, the drummer from Violens, writes in about his SXSW experience and notably quotes a man who accuses drunk reporters of giving bad reviews to bands. Outrageous! We weren’t drunk when we gave them this stellar show preview, and were only mildly buzzed when we caught them down in Austin and dug their stuff. What say you now, mysterious man from the elevator?
Decide for yourself (even if you’ve been drinking beer all day) before you read on:
And now for Kris’s wrap-up:
Well, folks, sorry about the delay on Saturday’s recap, but you’ll have to forgive me: I boarded a flight in Austin at six in the morning yesterday (at which point the airport’s population was straight out of Night of the Living Dead) and have been in and out of consciousness since. Nevertheless, I did catch some groovy tunes on the last (real) day of SXSW.
My fourth marathon in a row started out over in Waterloo Park for the third annual Mess with Texas shebang. They had a stacked lineup for the free show and, after dusting off a couple of tacos, I stumbled on over to the Vivian Girls. I haven’t been a huge fan of the Girls’s fuzz and scuzz in the past, but the band’s outright disorganization just felt right under the Texas sun.
The young Brooklyn trio was followed by a set from a more experienced trio, The Thermals. I had already seen them once at SXSW, but it was hard to break away when Hutch Harris & Co. were busting out everything from the first song on the band’s first disc (”It’s Trivia”) to tunes from the forthcoming Now We Can See. It was the Thermals’ last set of the fest (after a whole buttload of ‘em), but the three still had energy to spare…
Semi Precious Weapons frontman Justin Tranter (left) offers a pictorially enhanced recap of his Austin experience.
“This was our third year at SX. I’m gonna be real honest, SXSW is a lot more fun when people have actually heard of your band. WooHoo! We got to open for Juliette Lewis, play the Rachael Ray party with the New York Dolls, and headline the Roxy Theater/Viper Room show where Perez Hilton introduced us just because he was there! Ooo, we also got gifted fancy things. This was new to us.… You walk into a room and people shoot pics of you taking free shit. Fabulous. Most importantly I saw my new favorite band, the Emeralds, from Japan.”
More photos after the jump.
Our first—and unfortunately only—SXSW recap from a hip-hop artist comes to us courtesy of brainy Bronx rapper Mickey Factz.
“Wow!!!! Where do I start? Do I talk about my bags getting mixed up at the airport? (United sucks) Or should I speak about how my friends were no-shows to stay at their place? How about talking about catching a cold after my first two shows? Or being overly exhausted after four exciting shows on Friday? Wow what a weekend!!! I wouldn’t trade this weekend for the world, it was amazin’. I vibed with artists, my fans, video games, great food and great music. Sixth Street is chaos. Kinda reminds me of Mardi Gras. Haha. It was great to be a part of SXSW. I’m keeping a tradition going on. In 2007, Flosstradamus brought out the Cool Kids. In 2008, the Cool Kids brought Mickey Factz. I upped it all. I brought rising hip-hop star CurT@!n$ from Brooklyn out. The dynamic duo known as FKi from Atlanta and the Rockstar antics of Curtis Santiago and Mikey Mike from Canada. I did a variety of shows. Some purely hip-hop. Others purely dance/electro. I love dancing on stage and bringing girls up with me. That’s the highlight of my set. I like to see how far I can take it ahaha. I pick ‘em up, dance with em, rub hair, smack booty and go absolutely crazy. The fans love it. For the hip-hop shows, pure lyricism at its finest, and they love that too. I’m multitalented so me being able to reach each genre means a lot to me. Today is my last day and I have one show, a photo shoot, two video game events, and I finally wanna check out some acts, like Janelle Monae and Theophilus London. Wish me luck with that! Signing out for SXSW ‘09, Itz Mickey!!!!!!!!”
Here’s a BlackBerry-style—read: fragmented yet charming!—SXSW recap courtesy of Lissy Trullie, the ultrastylish songstress we profiled back in February, and her bandmates. Up first, our favorite track from Trullie’s debut EP, Self-Taught Learner.
“Regrets:
*not seeing metalica play *eben- what I did friday night (??he won’t spill it)
*we haven’t eaten any BBQ*eben, josh, and ian - eating iHop 4x (I don’t eat that shiiit)”
“Story:
Ian Fangle (our bassist) fell deathly ill, in a desperate attempt to get better quick ian downed a bunch of theraflu AND Robitussin while Lissy, eben, and josh ventured out to go see amazing baby, black lips w/ the GZA!!! And the new york dolls. fast forward a couple hours ian wondered out for an over the counter drug induced shopping spree, here is what he woke up with this morning:12 pairs of underwear + undershirtsSeveral pairs of long johns (it’s 80 degrees here)2 bags of oranges The twilight book series2 stainless steal mixing bowls11 reeses peanut butter cups… Ian is feeling much better today and is half way through twilight.”
Our next SXSW recap comes from Brooklyn art-punk trio These Are Powers. Check out our recent TAP show preview here, stream a track below and read on for some thoughts from guitarist-vocalist Anna Barie (on the right).
These Are Powers SXSW highlights
By Anna Barie
Bird flu
The grackles of Austin are like a cross between Dickensian street urchins and swaggering pirates that boldly swipe food off occupied café tables or clot telephone wires. Unlike our New York City pigeons, grackles fascinate me, because their iridescent feathers make them look sleeker, and their yellow eyes seem more calculated than those of their East Coast counterparts. Plus they make sounds like guitar feedback.
Supper club
Immediately upon arriving in town, we pull our dirty van into the parking lot of the Lamar Street Whole Foods. Pat has to disconnect the battery because the air-conditioner blower keeps working even when the van is off. Sure, you can eat BBQ, pizza and truck tacos, and drink free festival beer in abysmal plastic bottles, but the salad bar at this 80,000-square-feet holistic theme park tends to be a good alternative. And it’s easy for hungry musicians to be creative in how they pay for pricier items—or so we’ve heard.
Mapei
One of the most inspiring performances we see all weekend is Mapei at our Biz3 Showcase at Club de Ville. Bill runs back to the merch table to tell us we have to get a closer look at this awesome Brooklyn via Stockholm via Providence female MC. She looks like Betty Davis decked out in sexy kneesocks and high-waisted shorts, but more importantly, she sounds like a tsunami. It feels great to get schooled by this talent.
Myopenbar Four Square Punk Show
It’s hard to pick favorites among the shows we play, but the biggest friend fest is our afternoon spent trading songs with Ponytail, Pterodactyl and DD/MM/YYYY in a dusty outdoor four-stage round robin. We try to make it a friendly battle, but our softball chants go unmatched. However, everyone does have a blast, the weather is gorgeous, and there is a skating rink to boot.
Why get exhausted and sunburned in Texas, when you can catch the cream of the SXSW bands here in NYC? We tipped Micachu and the Shapes in this week’s issue, and having stormed through a few Austin shows, the band plays three dates here this week, starting at Cake Shop tonight. The young London trio couldn’t sound any younger, or more London, if they tried. Check out their “Just in Case” ditty for evidence of this; the way lead singer Mica Levi speak-sings her words is akin to chatting to a petulant, braces-wearing teen in the lunch queue at school. In a really good way.
Rather go pop?
Our next SXSW guest recap comes courtesy of Marco Benevento. Click here for TONY’s recent review of Me Not Me, the latest from the jam-jazz-pop keyboard whiz, and check out Benevento’s loopy reading of Deerhoof’s “Twin Killers” below. Read on for the man’s reflections on SXSW ’09.
“I flew into Austin, Texas, the day of my gig at the Elephant Room, which not coincidentally is the only club in town with a piano. After BBQ at Stubb’s, we took a ride through Texas hill country for some inspiration and elevation. The gig was extremely high energy, and there was something about the crowd that made me feel like they were somewhat relieved to be listening to the music that we played in a different environment than most venues in town. Maybe it was the intimate space.
“This was my third time performing at SXSW in Austin and was definitely my favorite. One of the main reasons why it was so memorable was what happened after the gig. Me, Marc Friedman (bassist from the Slip), Jeremy Black (drummer from Apollo Sunshine), Bo Koster (keyboardist from My Morning Jacket) and a handful of fearless freaks went to this amazing house party outside of town hosted by this cat BT from Australia. There were red Christmas lights on the mailbox and that was the only thing to let you know you’d arrived. Dan Auerbach from the Black Keys was playing in the backyard. He was backed by Patrick Hallahan from My Morning on percussion and this young band Hacienda from San Antonio. The music they played was incredible! It was this visceral mixture of blues, soul and newer-sounding riff rock; like a cross between Booker T., Cream and the Black Keys. The party was perfect! There was a bonfire down the hill, a deck that squeezed in 200 or so grateful musicians and fans. There was food, beer, and lots of open ears and minds listening and absorbing this new but very familiar sound. I felt like I was in high school at a keg party! No one needed a SXSW badge to get in. It was so chill and one of the best places to take in some good music. There were trees all around and lots of space for people to wander.
“Speaking of all the goodness happening after the gig, the next morning, after about an hour of sleep, me and my band went to KUT, Austin’s great local radio station, to perform three songs and do an interview. Guess who came to listen for the whole thing? David Fricke from Rolling Stone and Raoul Hernandez from The Austin Chronicle. I’m thankful that their ears are swallowing up the songs I’ve been playing.
“So there’s what we managed to do in less than 24 hours in Austin. Go SXSW!! What an unforgettable year!!”
In addition to sending two of our own expert scribes to SXSW this year, TONY also enlisted the guest-blogging services of several of our favorite local artists. Our first dispatch comes from the compelling avant-folkie Sam Amidon. Check out his extremely graphic (literally) festival recap and a performance below.
It’s so perfect that the Spinto Band hails from Delaware, one of the smallest states in America, given the diminutive stature of its six members. They each all look about 15 years old, so it kind of beggars belief that they’ve released five albums already. And maybe it’s their sheer exuberance that makes the band seem so young and, well, boingy.
A roasting afternoon at the Red House pizzeria, just out of town, found the boys playing favorite cuts including “Oh Mandy,” while jumping, harmonizing, running on the spot and, in the case of the singer, playing a kazoo that he’d fixed around his neck using a wire coat hanger, an improved version of the harmonica head brace.
Sheesh. I’m getting pretty burnt out down here, I gotta say. Nevertheless, onwards and upwards!
As a Colorado native, I felt compelled to stop by the Mile High Fidelity showcase, an exhibition of CO bands. I was there for Meese, which was a little too emo/Dawson’s Creek–soundtracky for my taste. Nevertheless, Colorado is the best place on the planet. Deal with it.
I jumped on over to the Pitchfork day party where WAVVES was playing for the 1,000th time this week, and there was a 1,000-person line to get into the Dirty Projectors show. So I said “peace” to that business and ended up over at the Insound Party for The Hold Steady.
Now, I straight up do not like the Hold Steady’s “music.” I say “music” because Craig Finn does not sing notes. He says words. As an aside, I went up to Mr. Finn the other night and introduced myself as a fellow Boston College alum. I was wondering where he was going to watch our NCAA tournament game (which we subsequently lost). I know it can be annoying when slobbering fans are all over your shit, but I was just trying to be nice. He was not. He mumbled something and turned away to talk to someone else. So, yeah, the Hold Steady is painfully overrated as a band and Craig Finn is a dick. Bring on the hate comments.
[Deep breath]
I had been fortunate enough to stumble across an Uglysuit set at CMJ this past fall, so I knew that I had to catch the band’s Southern jams down here. Fortunately, the hairy, hairy Oklahoma City dudes played a show sponsored by Touch and Go Records and our sister mag, Time Out Chicago.
Suffice it to say, this band’s massive, epic songs never seem to end and when they do, it’s disappointing to everyone in attendance.
More pics:
The Volume Music news of note
Own This City Life in New York
The Feed Eating and drinking
Upstaged The world of theater
