Photos: SXSW Day 2 - 3-13-08 in Austin, TX

Genghis Tron








Holy Fuck












Phosphorescent












Evangelicals












Bon Iver

SXSW 2008 Day 3: Friday

I started out my Friday trying to catch Bon Iver again because my camera ran out of batteries the night before right after they started and I wanted to get some videos, but I arrived at Emo's too late to get anywhere near the front, so i just enjoyed some more of their stuff and moved on to the next venue. I caught the end of another Kaki King set, wich was cool because I missed the very end of the set i caught Wednesday night.



After that it was time to catch Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin. One of the guitarists had broken his amp, so they played as a 3 piece instead, and it really sounded to me like something was missing, so I left after a few songs.



After getting a great steak and brie sandwich at some weird biker bar, I went to see Evangelicals again. It was hard to hear the vocals in the particular spot I was in the night before, plus I really love this album, so I was very happy to catch them do another stunning show. That is another cool thing about this festival; If I want to see a band I love multiple times, it is no problem. Here is some live videos:







I stuck around to catch Cloud Cult next. Between this set full of new stuff and the tracks floating around the internet so far, I don't think I like the new material as much as I loved The Meaning Of 8 stuff, but they are still pretty good.







After that, we made our second attempt to catch Akron/Family. It was again a failure, and if there is one regret I will have about this fest, it is not seeing them. Although the party they were at had them listed in the biggest font, they played first. We did not figure that out until enduring a wanna-be Panda Bear act and some French dude who thought we was from the South with a puppet of himself. The upside was that the show was in a furniture store and they were serving free booze.





We dedicated the rest of the night to hanging out at the Ecstatic Peace party, Thurston Moore's record label. It was easily the best total party package of the fest so far. First we caught Northampton Wools, a noise project duo featuring Thurston. It was such an unbelievably awesome set, and there were only like 40 people in the room for it. If you can't tell from the alias I use on here, Sonic Youth is one of my favourite bands and living in Atlanta, I 've never got the chance to see some of the non-Youth stuff Thurston does live, so I feel so blessed to finally catch it.



The next band I caught that I really dug was Black Helicopter. They do good, hard stoner-rock, and I'm always a fan of that stuff.





The next great band I caught was Tall Firs. They were probably the closest thing to the Sonic Youth spectrum of all the bands I saw here, and they were damn good. Their newest album comes out Tuesday and their set was packed full of those tunes, so I'm pretty excited to hear it.





Next up was Be Your Own Pet. I had got their first album, and I had not really loved it, but they were so much better live than on record. Total old-school punk, thrashing around the stage like crazy. Nathan Vasquez's bass was stained with blood. The set got interrupted by a power outage, but it did not deter them as front-woman Jemina Pearl Abegg held a question and answer session for the crowd while the generators got refueled, and then they commenced the rock again.





The night kept getting better as J Mascis did a solo set. He blasted through his greatest hits and jammed out long and hard, ending with a 10 minute solo-fest. No matter how many times I catch him and in whatever incarnation, it is always a great show.



The night would end with Thurston Moore and his band (featuring Steve Shelley) doing a set comprised of pieces from his Trees Outside The Academy. It was everything I could have hoped for and more. There is really nothing I can say to describe how much I enjoy what Thurston does, so we'll just leave it at that. He did two encores, including a Velvet Underground song.



SXSW just doesn't stop amazing me. I have one last day and then it is over, so I'm gonna go live it up while I have the chance. Some time late next week, I'll post my Day4/Wrap-Up post. Biggie C has taken billions of beautiful pictures that will start showing up here soon and I still have a bunch of videos to upload, so stay tuned.

SXSW 2008 Day 2: Thursday

Yesterday I started my day at Emo's, but it was so crowded and I wasn't really digging the bands I heard so, I dipped out across the street to the Brooklyn Vegan party at Emo's Annex (there are about 700 different Emo's venues) because the BV party the night before was so much fun. I caught a band called WHY? that was pretty good.



After that, I decided to just walk up and down the main strip and listen to the music coming from each bar and try to discover some bands I hadn't heard of. Outside some Irish pub I heard a really intriguing band, so I went inside to check them out. It was a band from Dublin, Ireland called Delorentos. They were total dance-rock, like Bloc Party before they started getting all soft and lame. I got a live video, but Google video is acting hella lame today, so I can't post the plethora of vids i took yesterday until a later date. But I did manage to find their official video(although I don't think it is their best song):





After some more walking around I heard another band that sounded promising from a dive called Agave. The Brooklyn, New York trio Appomattox rocked really hard, doing loud post-punky rock.



After that it was time to head back to the Annex, where I caught Men, members of Le Tigre doing the laptop DJ thing. The day before, me and Biggie C were discussing this new trend where bands go DJ and how most of the time they aren't that good at it, but this was an exception as they rocked the dance floor hard.



After that, it was time for Phosphorescent, one of the artists I was most excited about seeing at SXSW. He put on a great performance, doing much heavier versions of his stuff than I would have guessed considering how soft and low-key the album is.







Near the end of the show, I noticed Matthew Houck kept looking at someone in the crowd and cracking up laughing. I finally heard someone screaming stuff at him and turned around. It turned out to be Miles Seaton of Akron/Family acting like he was an obsessed fan. For the Phosphorescent finale, he came down into the audience and sang to the Akron/Family boys:



After that, we stuck around and caught Holy Fuck. I'm not much of a dancer and these days it takes something really special to get me to throw down, but Holy Fuck is just the perfect combination of dance music and noise for me to get really into it. You ATLiens who will be around town on Monday really need to go down to The Drunken Unicorn and catch them playing with A Place To Bury Strangers and Atlanta's badasses All The Saints.





After a short break in the onslaught of great shows, I went and caught Islands. They played almost nothing but new material, and it sounds great. I took a ton of videos, so expect those to show up here sometime in the next few weeks.











After that, it was on to Mohawk's patio to catch one of then night's best line-ups. I got there just in time to catch the end of another Phosphorescent set, where he closed with a 10 minute vocal looping jam. After that, I discovered another great act from California called Bodies Of Water. Really cool stuff with lots of vocal harmonizations. They will be at The Earl Monday night with Sons And Daughters so there is another hot Atlanta St. Patty's Day show you can catch.





Then it was time for Evangelicals. I have been in total love with their new album, so I had been really hyped up for this show. They did not disappoint. They came out with massive blacklights and a fog machine, dressed in a style that was half goth, half candy-raver, and went through songs off the new record. Again, expect many live videos to pop up around here in the near future.



Next up on the outdoor stage was Bon Iver. They went through a handful of the beautiful songs on For Emma, Forever Ago, and wow did they sound good. If you have yet to pick up this album, you are missing out.





After that, we switched up things entirely by seeing Indian Jewelry. I would describe their sound as Liars meets Atlanta's Subliminator. It was a spectacle of strobe lights and minimalist percussionists that were there more to dance than to make music. Very interesting show.



We closed out the night at Emo's Outside stage. I got there just in time for the end of Islands' set, but this time they closed with the amazing "Swans (Life After Death)". Unfortunately, the one dark moment of the entire festival came as some sound guy walked out on stage with a few minutes left in the song right and the PA shut off. They actually cut off their last song. Nick Thorburn found a microphone that was still hooked into the PA and yelled "Fuck SXSW!" Everyone started booing, it was a crazy scene.

After that debacle, We ended our night with an awesome set from Austin's The Octopus Project.



It's on to more music, so I'll holla at you later.

What The Hell Am I Listening to?!?

Evangelicals (Norman, Oklahoma)



I think right now if I had to pick my favourite album to come out this year, it would probably be Evangelicals' second album, The Evening Descends. It is so psychedelic and so operatic. This is one of those albums where I get excited as each new song begins. The kaleidoscopic sonic journey certainly gives a nod to fellow Oklahomans The Flaming Lips as well as many other folks, but the last thing you could accuse this band of is being unoriginal with its mix of influences. If you haven't rocked this one yet, don't delay any longer:

Skeleton Man


Party Crashin'




Evangelicals Myspace

Buy The Evening Descends Here


Beck (Los Angeles, Ca)



Beck is one of my favourite musicians and every time I return to one of his albums, I fall in love with what he does all over again. I recently picked up a copy of the Deluxe Odelay, and have been partying like its 1996. I have really enjoyed the Deluxe reissues I have picked up over the years as they are always full of fun extras, but I have to say this may be the best Deluxe album version I've got yet in terms of bonus material. Very much worth purchasing:

Brother


Strange Invitation


Beck Myspace

Buy Odelay (Deluxe) Here