The Current Music Blog: March 15, 2008 Archive

Feeling your inner walleye

Posted at 9:55 AM on March 15, 2008 by Christina Schmitt

We all went crazy for the bartender's t-shirt at the Modern Radio SXSW showcase yesterday. It was yellow, retro, said "Minnesota" in big letters and had a fish on it. "Do you think he's being ironic?" my friend asked. No, I found out, he was just an ex-Minnesotan feeling his inner walleye.

The showcase started a little after noon with the Nuggets-inspired party of Private Dancer. It was fun watching all these Minnesota bands come rolling in for the party - STNNNG, Birthday Suits, His Mischief with 12 cases of beer donated by Summit. The crowd was a little sparse - no surprise since the party was on the other side of the Capitol from the rest of the festival. Thank god for the Dillo - the free trolley bus that runs up Congress Ave and is air conditioned. It took us coolly back to the festival for the afternoon, which was well on its way to 90 degrees.

I met up with Sarah Askari at the Village Voice party to see the Black Keys. Those guys can make a lot of good garage rock for just two guys. Then we hussled over to the Spin party to see X! It was super cool to see reunited and looking like they were having fun. Was there still a romantic spark there between John Doe and Exene? Nope.

Later in the night, I caught an early set of P&#@%ed Jeans at the Sub Pop showcase. Their music is so messy - cool like Flipper - but I wasn't expecting them to be good looking. Hot! Then I trekked over to see Telepathe - girl group avant electronic band. Kind of snoozy. I then saw Be Your Own Pet--fun times like the Tyrades. But the PA gave out on them, and delayed the show. I just couldn't make it until the J Mascis set. Will I get to see him and Thurston Moore before we leave Texas? It's a cliffhanger. Stay tuned.

Sizzlin Saturday @ SXSW

Posted at 1:31 PM on March 15, 2008 by Lindsay Kimball

This is Mark Wheat, stealing Kimball's ID! First I want to give a huge shout out to her, and all the behind the scenes people who have made this possible. It's a wonderful crew of people to work with under stressful conditions, putting on so much live music to a tight schedule in this heat. I hope you're enjoying the results!

A scorching set from The Heavy just started my day...yeah I know it's early afternoon but I had a long night! These guys are one of the big buzz bands of the whole festival and now we all know why, check out their sampling of "I Put a Spell on You" on the archive of the sessions. Another delight was their attitude, full of joy and energy and very grateful to be playing even though their schedule, like many here, is jam packed.

I had some glorious highlights during my gig hopping last night :
The Ruby Suns from New Zealand had a few 'technical difficulties' but managed a wonderful sense of improvisation. The 3 members swapped instruments punching samples in and out, bashing on stand up drums intermittently and furiously strumming their various guitars. They convinced me they were making it up as they went along until their final song 'Tane Mahuta' which we've been playing from their debut.They nailed it as tight as could be!

We all seem to agree here that 'Does It Offend You, Yeah?' is one of the best new band names. So I thought I would check them out at the legendary venue Emo's which is two rooms linked by an L shaped outside area. The place was jammed to witness some nearly death defying dancey rock grooves. The lead singer was swinging from the rafters and throwing himself around the stage crashing into equipment . He knocked both the keyboard and a mike stand into the crowd. If you like the Rapture or even Prodigy, check these guys out, they're not just a good name band!

I camped out towards the end of the night at a venue with a cool name, Red Eye Fly!
So many of the shows get too packed to get into late in the night and I didn't want to miss CLOUD CULT after hearing the new album last week. It might sound bizarre to go to see a local band amoung 1600 groups from all over the world, but because of my schedule on the air, I hadn't seen these guys in a long while. The only disappointments were the shortness of the set, and the fact that I couldn't bid on the painting that they made while they played, it wouldn't fit in my suitcase!

Another tradition here seems to be bumping into band members on the street and finding out about small shows that have been added since the official schedule was released. So I'm shooting off now to catch Earl Greyhound after bumping into Matt of the band who immediately recognised me as the guy who was on the video clip with them, recorded last time they came thru the cities. They promise to have new hooj tunes, I can't wait...see our appetites are still not sated, crazy huh?!?!?

Seeya back home next week, stay safe and be peaceful to each other!

This is a public service announcement.. with Guitars!!

Posted at 2:54 PM on March 15, 2008 by Mary Lucia (1 Comments)

Friday afternoon's broadcast made me high for hours.
Billy Bragg had many of us in tears, (the good kind.)
laughs, hope and a powerful message.
It was one of those beautiful moments in rock where you look out at the crowd and realize you aren't the only one feeling a certain way. Wicked.
Darondo and Nino Moschella were funked up!!
At 60 something, trust me the dude was working the 5 teeth he had left.
Rounding out an excellant afternoon of music were Carbon Silicon, my mouth was so dry and my hands were shaking.
With anticipation at a fever pitch, there was a huge crowd gathered, some major Clash fans had driven from Canada just to see our Carbon Silicon Broadcast.
The band stayed on their tour bus until the last minute and believe me there was a bit of a Cheech and Chong cloud.
Truth be told not alot of people rattle my cage, I've been in radio for 15 years and have met a lot of musicans but I couldn't help it, suddenly I was sitting on stage as the14 year old Mary Lucia.
The Clash changed my life, made me want to rock and question everything.
I remember as a kid staring at the cover of "London Calling" Paul Simonon smashing his bass, thinking this is so IT.
To be on stage with Mick Jones an actual member of "the only band that matters" ??
I'll never forget it.

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"You are the pain in my neck..."

Posted at 4:50 PM on March 15, 2008 by Mary Lucia (7 Comments)

So Bill Deville is finishing up a 7 hour (!!!) show here at SXSW
We have likened him to Jerry Lewis at the end of a telethon.
John Doe just played the "Golden State" live and I sang along in the front like a huge dork.
Thanks Texas you were charming hosts, keep it classy Austin!

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