SXSW - Thursday/Friday Report

Still beat from the weekend. But more for my own edification than yours, gentle reader, I am trying to reconstruct the list of SXSW bands from the photos on my camera:

Came in late afternoon on Thursday and met Pete and Tim at a shack outside of downtown called Ms. Bea's for:

some pseudo ska punk band.

Dark Meat. Fabulously weird Denton, TX freakout collective. This was a very good way to start the fest on a crowded backyard listening to rambling hard rock guitar riffs accompanied by a full and freaky horn section---everyone with capes and painted faces. There were about 20 folks on stage, plus the guy behind the scenes pelting the crowd with handfulls of plastic animals (I saved my dove and alligator...), beach balls, toilet paper, and who knows what.

On to Habana Calle 6 annex for some random Cali white guy trying to dance and rap. Perhaps the most energetic act we saw, definitely the worst. We did not stay long.

At the Ale House, a cool room that can only be accessed from the alley (making it feel even cooler), we caught a not so cool band from Oakland---The Heavenly States. Too earnest. Boring.

Onwards to an off 6th Street coffeehouse, the Hideout for three acts. Melissa St. Pierre's lame keyboard noodling almost made me leave.

But I stayed to see Collections of Colonies of Bees. Lame name. Great band. Post rock finally made it to Milwaukee. Tortoise would smile at this other collection of instrumentalist old guys.

Megafaun has the country twang that their Grateful Dead looks imply---but they bring their sound is far more indie rock despite the great backwoods harmonies. Really enjoyed this show. It was helped by the great venue. Why would a coffee shop have a blackened stadium-style seating theater in back? Who knows, but it was great.

Thurston Moore came out next. He noodled, twiddling his guitar strings without any of the thunder of his Sonic Youth days. Boring. We left.

On to the Red Eye Fly outdoor stage for current Pitchfork darlings, Fuck Buttons. Great name. They did not do much for me---but Pete and Tim liked them. Odd, I am the one far more predisposed to liking these knob twiddlers' electronic dance beats but I found them boring and repetitive.

But I loved El Guincho who has a similar aesthetic. The Spaniard from the Canary Islands had really interesting primitive drum/bird/watery loops over which he banged a drum and yelped enthusiastically. Sounds not good---but he had the entire room jumping including the metal heads who seemed to be lost. One of the most fun shows of the weekend and a great way to end the night (well, almost end, burritos first).


First Full Day - Friday - 14 hours of music with day parties starting at noon straight through until collapsing in the hotel room at 3 a.m.

Started at Emo's Jr. to see The High Places---one of the many hype bands I wanted to check out to see what all the hubub was about. These guys were a mixed bag for me. Electronic drummer using really interesting sounds triggered from his pads---gamelons, steel drums, full band sounds with a very ethereal sounding singer. In the end, it would make for good background music, but little else.

Coconut Coolouts. Had no expectations for this Seattle garage band. Tons of fun. A portable party people. They played a very energetic show for us and 5 other people...

There is no way I can describe the mayhem at the Vice Party when Israel's craziest metal band, Monotronix, came out. The eschew the stage, playing on the grass in the midst of the crowd. The guitar assault is basically just background music for the singer to throw himself around and play the fool. Not hard with his stereotypical 70s metal mustachio-ed look and willingness to cover himself with any and all liquids around. Beer was spilled. Water drenched him. Pete and Tim were turned off when he dumped the contents of a 40 gallon trashcan on his drummer (who kept playing without a pause). I think they worry I might get ideas... But I just thought it was hilarious...

On to the lovely French Legation where I was absorbed by my Blackberry and worked through a boring acoustic set by Portastatic.

One of my all-time favorites followed with a fantastic set. Yo La Tengo played semi-acoustic with a quiet set that was not too quiet. There are always shows where you feel energized after the last chord has rung out. This was the case here---a jolt of endorphins and excitement. I've seen Ira and company play many, many times but this was truly one of the best performances I've been lucky enough to witness.

I would not want to play after that, but Bradford Cox's new band Atlas Sound was a revelation. Cox's previous band, Deerhunter, was short-lived but brilliant. The shocker here was that while Cox seemed a bit like an afterthought in the other band, he proves that he was the touchstone. Atlas Sound has a very similar aesthetic of beautiful ghostly vocals and shimmering guitar that clearly resides with him, not the other players...

Another day party (at a Design within Reach?) and we catch El Guincho for a minute. I hug and thank him.

Then we watch Tim's friend play the puppeteer behind French troubadour Hermann Dune (just like in his video). Very creepy...as you can see from the pic. I'd be bothered if some guy was mocking me from behind in effigy...

After a pause for a quick bite to eat we were outside of Bourbon Rocks for New Zealanders, The Ruby Suns. Lots of hype. Interesting...but nothing special. No drummer. Though one of the keyboardist/singers did have a great Flintstones bone necklace.

Back to the coffee shop for Tim's friends, Mittens on Strings. Good stuff, fun video, bad banter.

Emo's Jr for Slim Cessna's Auto Club a Denver band that could be confused with a revival show or A3 without the drugs.

Shortly after Akron Family started, I moved to Emo's Main for some hip hop catching a DJ set before Chicago's own Kid Sister danced onto stage. I like her. Fun, light (but not vapid) poppy hip hop reminiscent of the late 90s.

Stuck around for Clipse. Crazy to see skinny white indie kids trying to get down to gangsta rap. Interesting, but I had had enough of re-up talk after a while...

More burritos and bed.

Saturday recap will post tomorrow.

Another long list.

Bet you can't wait...