• SXSW 2008 (Finally)

    23 Abr 2008, 4:00 de RiverSylphide

    SXSW Music 2008

    Now that it’s been more than a month since South by Southwest, I figured I should commit my memories to (e-)paper now or else I’ll never do it. Better late than never I guess, or something.

    There’s very passionate love/hate relationship with SXSW here. The festival has truly ballooned to enormous proportions. Just in the time that I’ve been attending (my first being in 2003), the crowds have seemingly doubled every year. There have always been naysayers, but they have been particularly disgruntled/vocal the past two years. Some of the complaints are completely understandable: the crowd, the traffic, the trash, the local bands that deserve some of the spotlight but are denied showcase spots. Accusations of money-mongering, iron grips on what happens on the fringe of the festival (i.e. the smorgasbord of free, unofficial day shows), and political whatnot have been flying, which in my opinion is just to be expected with something as massive as SXSW. …
  • The SXSW post

    19 Mar 2008, 15:04 de sunburntkamel

    Wed 12 Mar – SXSW Music 2008

    Mad Props to last.fm's Band Aid, for helping sort out which shows to go to. I did nearly miss stephen brodsky, because he likes misspelling his name, and david bazan, because he's not pedro the lion anymore, and get briefly excited about Sleep, who are in fact, still broken up, since Sleep of Oldominion were mislabeled by SXSW. Day by Day:

    Wednesday
    The Forms, Why?, Roky Erickson/Okkervil River
    Thursday
    The Shout Out Louds, Jens Lekman, The WeakerthansHigh On Fire
    Friday
    Division Day, Cloud Cult, Why? again, Stephen Brodsky, Clouds (the Boston ones), Goat the Head
    Saturday
    The Gaslight Anthem, David Bazan (nee Pedro the Lion), Cassettes Won't Listen

    Read the Full post on archGFX, as always
  • SXSW Wrapup

    19 Mar 2008, 14:57 de dave-tx

    SXSW Music 2008

    In brief, the best parties were (as last year) the New West day party at Club Deville, and the Fuck By Fuck You party at the Typewriter Museum.

    Favorite shows included Monotonix, Wooden Shjips, White Denim, and of course The Pillows.

    The total breakdown:
    Wednesday 3/12
    Two Gallants (Little Radio/Noisepop party @ Red Eyed Fly)
    White Denim (Little Radio/Noisepop party @ Red Eyed Fly)
    Octopus Project (Little Radio/Noisepop party @ Red Eyed Fly)
    Abigail Washburn & the Sparrow Quartet w/ Bela Fleck (Guitartown/Conqueroo party @ Mother Egan's)
    The Silos (Guitartown/Conqueroo party @ Mother Egan's)
    Sunburned Hand of the Man (Thirsty Nickel)
    Hopewell (Bourbon Rocks)
    Earthless (Bourbon Rocks)
    Witch (Bourbon Rocks)
    The Dodos (Mohawk)
    The Big Sleep (Mohawk)

    Thursday 3/13
    New West Party @ Club Deville
    Tim Easton w/Whipsaw
    Buddy Miller
    Old 97's
    The Drams
    Black Angels (Little Radio/Noisepop party @ Red Eyed Fly)
  • SXSW 2008- Recap

    18 Mar 2008, 18:12 de ruby_s0h0

    Wed 12 Mar – SXSW Music 2008

    Dizzee Rascal's set was too short, Lykke Li = somewhat uninteresting, White Williams blew fucking everyone away, Kevin Barnes looked too cute with his hippie chick on the streets both days, John from HEALTH knows how to hook it up & i <3 him, Anthony Green... is better off with playing minor heartfelt melodies w/ Circa and shouldn't be kissing boys on stage, The Whigs make good backdrop music in 21+ clubs, Yeasayer is way different than I had been (not) anticipating, the line for the Clipse/CoolKids/HeartsRevolution/etc. showcase was waaaay too long and made me realize hey I guess I'm not the only one grind-INGGG , Ms. Bea's is in a very unreasonable location down 6th, security obviously isnt as tight as they make it seem (aka you dont need a wristband for shit), Chromeo was fucking tight, seeing an ex NSYNCer at a tex-mex restaurant was not fucking tight... just creepy..., I wish I couldve made it into IHeartComix showcase w/out getting kicked out for having those damn faded Xs on my hands…
  • Bob Lefsetz: Build Community Around Your Music Online, But Disregard Community…

    17 Mar 2008, 5:03 de spcoon

    http://farm1.static.flickr.com/230/472907642_c1b2185fe3_m.jpg
    (originally uploaded by Ben Brown)

    Bob Lefsetz: SXSW

    Can an unsigned band get noticed? And, do we even bother to use that term anymore, "unsigned". Do you want to get signed?

    I mean what are the chances that the cognoscenti are going to care about your band when R.E.M. and even Van Morrison are shilling for attention. Oh, it makes you feel good, to rent a U-Haul, sleep four to a room and perform a set no one cares about. The same way it makes you feel good to send a CD to me! It’s amazing what people will do to make themselves feel good, make them believe they’re making progress.

    [...]

    Don’t worry about the short term money. If your music is good, if you play well live, the money will come. But sending me a CD or schlepping your equipment to SXSW isn’t going to make your music any better. If it’s good, put it on the Web, energize your fans, they’ll spread the word. But you probably suck and are looking for the easy way out. …
  • There is a band called my name.

    13 Mar 2008, 3:57 de Stoeszface

    So I'm reading about SXSW tonight, and I come across a band called What Laura Says Thinks And Feels.

    so of course I have to listen to them. and they sound like candy. delicious non-twee candy, with the voice of Anathallo and the aspiring guitar of Wilco. Weird? yes. delicious? absolutely. exactly what I say, think, and feel? Debatable. Especially in their rejection of the Oxford Comma.
  • SXSW08!

    10 Mar 2008, 3:56 de stellarlux

    Yay. SXSW is only a few days away. As is my birthday. Did I mention R.E.M. is playing on my birthday? (See charts to reference how much I enjoy said band.)

    Also, my company (Super Deluxe) is sponsoring a showcase & party:
    Make Funny Not War & Mess With Texas 2
    (The line-ups for both are incredible.)

    I will be in Austin March 11-16.
    Give me a call if you want to grab a drink! 917 512 3650