Merrill Garbus is a living, breathing musical instrument who played before a sold-out crowd in San Francisco Tuesday night. For once, I had the good sense to buy tickets in advance. And I’m damn glad I didn’t miss out. Here are a few snapshots from the show:
Congratulations to LCD Soundsystem for playing their LAST SHOWS EVER this past week/end at Terminal 5 and Madison Square Garden. With that said, did you deserve a victory lap? The band has been steady releasing albums and singles since 2002, but as the casual listener what piece of work stands out? Nothing. I kept giving LCD Soundsystem a chance over their full length releases. I even put “Daft Punk Is Playing At My House” in my own dj sets circa 2005, never to the reception the track’s title sets up. I know I’m opening myself up for the hipster attack but, MORE…
I’ve heard the grumbling from veteran attendees that SXSW has jumped the shark, gone too corporate, gotten too overexposed. Well, haters they are going to hate. And perhaps for good reason. Maybe I’m out of my element. Maybe I have no frame of reference. But my first time was a great time and I definitely wanna do it again next year.
As for 2011, the post-festival analysis has been dominated by Odd Future this and James Blake that. I didn’t get to catch either of them, though I might’ve liked to. It’s logistically impossible to see everything you wanna see, which can be frustrating. And yet, this is precisely what I liked about SXSW. As music blogger We Listen For You so aptly tweeted, it’s a “build your own adventure festival.” Everyone makes their own SXSW.
My SXSW was crammed into two short days, and in those two days many Sophie’s choices had to be made. I’m not at all disappointed in the performances I ended up choosing, but I do feel a slight twinge of pain at the performances I had to miss. Here are three examples:
Friday, March 18 @ 2:30pm
What I Saw: Small Black at Club de Ville
Seeing Small Black was like what I imagine seeing New Order would have been like in 1985. I just love their synth-heavy 80s throwback sound. Solid show. Search Party by Small Black
What I Missed: Baths at East Side Drive-In
Not only did I miss more than one opportunity to see this laptop whizkid at SXSW, I also blew a chance to see him at the Rickshaw Stop in SF the week before the festival. Shame. On. Me.
Friday, March 18 @ 5pm
What I Saw: Deerhunter at Club de Ville I love everything Bradford Cox does and I’d been wanting to see Deerhunter for a long time. Given reports of Cox’s stage antics of the past, I was a wee bit nervous standing as close to him as I was. But, thankfully, nobody fellated anybody and it turned out to be one of my favorite performances at SX.
What I Missed: James Blake at French Legation Museum
This is actually a well-produced live video (with clean audio) of Blake’s performance at the Other Music Lawn Party. After watching it once, I became genuinely bummed that I didn’t see him. He deserves the hype.
Saturday, March 19, 11:15pm – 1am
What I Saw: Dirty Beaches/Dum Dum Girls at the Longbranch Inn
Hands down, my favorite (unofficial) showcase of the entire festival was the Austin Imposition at the Longbranch Inn, way up on East 11th Street. This is where I got to see first-hand the Elvis-like swagger of Dirty Beaches and the always amazing Dum Dum Girls (along with a couple other unknown young bands that I actually enjoyed). I was drunk, my feet were achy, but the room was electric and I didn’t want the night to end.
What I Missed: Gary Wilson at Lambert’s
Gary Wilson has managed to stay weird all these years, and for that, I am grateful. I was really hoping I wouldn’t have to pass up the opportunity to experience his unique brand of sleezy electro-funk. But, alas … The video posted above is actually from a different SXSW performance (that I also missed). All I can say is, he is unsettlingly strange. But man, I really wanna see him live someday.
The music fest officially starts today, but I won’t be in Austin til Thursday and I’m getting antsy. So many bands, so little time to see them all! I’ve narrowed down the list but still have lots of conflicting events on my calendar. I’ve also been warned that, as a non badge-holder, I shouldn’t get my heart set on getting into a particular venue. Guess we’ll just have to see how this schedule I’ve made for myself pans out.
I do find it interesting that out of the kajillion artists on tap, many the ones I hope to see are from my home turf, the Bay Area. What does this say about me? Not sure. But I suppose, to paraphrase Dorothy, that if I ever go looking for new music, I shouldn’t look any further than my own backyard. The bright side to having SF bands on my SXSW list is that even if I don’t catch any of them in Austin, I’ve got a pretty good shot at catching them back in the Bay. Here are just a few:
Do a Google search for “Sandwitches” and the new song by those punk-ass LA rappers Odd Future will undoubtedly come up. But I’m talking about THE Sandwitches. This all-girl, jangly folk-pop trio is probably the musical opposite of OFWGKTA. They’ve got a new album called “Mrs. Jones’ Cookies” coming out at the end of the month and I really like what I’ve heard so far. The Sandwitches are not an official SXSW band, but they are playing a few unofficial events around town.
The Fresh & Onlys
Fun facts: One of the founding members of the Fresh & Onlys still keeps his day job at Amoeba Records and two of the members of the Sandwitches were formerly back-up singers for the Fresh & Onlys. So, you know, everything’s connected … man. I’m loving this new track from their forthcoming EP “Secret Walls.” It’s due out in April. Jeez, they just put out a full-length record last October. Slow down, guys. I can’t keep up.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. They’re already on their fourth record (“Fading Parade”), they’re signed to Sub Pop and they’ve been touring with Beach House. So the Papercuts are already popping off and I’m late to the party. But better late than never, I always say.
Give it up for a man from Da Town! Oakland’s Seth Bogart, aka Hunx, will be representing at SXSW once again with his Punx (or is it Punkettes?). If you were in a gay motorcycle club in the 50’s, this is the kind of music you’d hear. I really can’t overstate the gayness. And I’m not too young to be in love with the title track to his forthcoming album, “Too Young To Be In Love.” I don’t think anybody is.
If not, let the Alabama Shakes remind you. They’re selling out shows across the country and their debut album isn’t even out for another couple months. I managed to see these blues-infused soul grabbers play a jam packed show at the Indy in San Francisco last night. Best overpriced scalped ticket I ever bought! Don’t [...]
Continuing work on my best of heard in 2011, next up is M83 “Midnight City”. My complete spotify playlist can be heard here. Separating the fact that this song is used in a Victoria’s Secret commercial. it’s still pretty great. It was produced by Justin Meldal Johnson who also produced my favorite Big Sir remix [...]
Oh, hey there, East Coast! Looks like you had a bit of an earthquake, huh? Don’t worry, I’m not gonna razz you about it. You’re ill-equipped for the tremors. A big quake would be way more catastrophic there than it would be here. You’re right to be a little jumpy about it. Well, I’m no [...]
Beastie Ad Rock remixes Gangsta with generous amounts of SP12 It will appear on a 12″ single release September 12 in the UK and September 27 in the U.S. via 4AD Did You Share That?
From the first beat of “Rolling in the Deep,” the first track on Adele’s new album, “21”, it is clear that even at such a young age (all of 22 now), singer/songwriter Adele continues to be a force stronger than she may know. As “21” dips into the style of the country South with a [...]
I like a young American band that makes vintage-sounding reverbalicious melodies. Specifically if those bands are Crystal Stilts, Vivian Girls or Dum Dum Girls. Call me a nationalist but I just happen to prefer their take on fuzz pop to that of their Danish predecessors, the Raveonettes. Which is not to say I dislike the [...]
I love everything Bradford Cox does and I’d been wanting to see Deerhunter for a long time. Given reports of Cox’s stage antics of the past, I was a wee bit nervous standing as close to him as I was. But, thankfully, nobody fellated anybody and it turned out to be one of my favorite performances at SX.
Photos: tUnE-YarDs at Great American Music Hall 4/26
Merrill Garbus is a living, breathing musical instrument who played before a sold-out crowd in San Francisco Tuesday night. For once, I had the good sense to buy tickets in advance. And I’m damn glad I didn’t miss out. Here are a few snapshots from the show:
You can see the full spread here.
-Eternal Pamnation
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