The Current Music Blog: March 19, 2009 Archive

SXSW round one... Wed night's roundup

Posted at 8:37 AM on March 19, 2009 by Jim McGuinn

Our first night is in the books... and while it wasn't a great SXSW night, it was a fun start to the weekend. After the typical arrival, check-in, badge procurement, random long-distance friend sighting, Melanie and I went to a fun dinner with some friends from LA, NY, and Boston where MEAT was the order of the day. They sure know their meat here in Texas. Finally at around 9:45pm we headed out to start seeing the rock. Here's my rundown of what I saw:

Port O' Brien: Folky rock music from Alaska. Definitely a good band, but not exactly "woo, we're here at SXSW let's rock."

Black Cherry: I had put them on my list of bands to *maybe* see, but honestly couldn't remember why, other than the fact that they'd toured with the Wombats, one of my favorite bands from last year's SXSW. But walking past the club, their road manager was in the street with a megaphone coercing people to come check them out. Caught a few songs... was kinda like what if Santogold fronted a punky indie rock band (which she actually did a few years ago, they were called Stiffed).

Robert Gomez: Atmospheric indie chamber pop - maybe a Texas version of Andrew Bird. Interesting lineup - keys, cello, violin, acoustic, French horn, and on one song - manual typewriter - the woman that played it was definitely the Hendrix of the typewriter...

Juliette Lewis: Still a better actor than rocker, and not that great of an actor.

Echo and the Bunnymen: Trench coats and sunglasses, even though it's 70 degrees and dark out in Texas - YES - that's what we want out of our rockstars!. Actually sounded great, especially compared to most of what passes for cool in indie rock these days. I stood next to Bobbie Gillespie of Primal Scream rocking out for this set - and they were great, probably better live than they were back in the '80s. Good times.

Delta Spirit: Tried to get in to see Ida Maria, but it turns out she hadn't made it to Austin - not sure if she got stopped at immigration or what, but she was a no-show, so booked over to catch the last song of Delta Spirit, and gotta say, it was the highlight of the night. Intense, involved, engaging for the band and the crowd, I wished I'd caught their entire set - but at least I was able to end the night on a high note. When these guys come back to the Twin Cities, try to catch them.

Minneapolis sightings: Well, since I'm still pretty new around here, it's a bit harder for me to recognize who is from the Twin Cities since I haven't met everyone in a band (yet!), but I did run into the band The Invincible Kids on the street, and wound up standing next to Gary Louris and Mark Olson at the Driskill bar at 2am... much much more rock Thursday...

Jim McGuinn at SXSW

Song Of The Day Info - Bell X 1 - 03/19/09

Posted at 10:26 AM on March 19, 2009 by Barb Abney

Song Of The Day Info - Bell X 1 - 03/19/09
Today on our Song Of The Day Podcast we're featuring Bell X 1 with the tune "The Great Defector" from their fourth studio album, Blue Lights On The Runway.
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Live Blogging 03/19/09

Posted at 10:32 AM on March 19, 2009 by Barb Abney

1:45 p.m. Animal Collective
They're plaing First Avenue on May 20th.
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1:25 p.m. Neko Case
She's playing State Theater with Crooked Fingers on April 26th.
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1:10 p.m. Franz Ferdinand
They're playing First Avenue on April 28th.
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12:50 p.m. PJ Harvey and John Parish
Their latest, A Woman A Man Walked By will be released on March 31st.
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12:30 p.m. Lady Sovereign
Her sophomore release, Jigsaw will come out on April 7th. She's playing The Fine Line Music Cafe on May 16th.
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12:25 p.m. Local Music - Ed Ackerson
He recently released a three-sided single from his latest, Ackerson 2.
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12:20 p.m. M. Ward
He's playing First Avenue on April 25th.
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12:05 p.m. The Asteroids Galaxy Tour
The release date for their debut album, Fruit has been pushed back until May. However, they have released The Sun Ain't Shining No More EP and you can get it through iTunes NOW!!
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11:45 a.m. Silversun Pickups
SWOON will hit the shelves on April 14th.
Pre-order it now for an extra single.
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11:40 a.m. Ida Maria
You can still grab the tune "I Like You So Much Better When You're Naked" for free on our Song Of The Day Podcast page. It's taken from her debut album Fortress Round My Heart.
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11:10 a.m.. CD Of The Week - Morrissey
Years Of Refusal is our CD Of The Week.
He's playing State Theater on April 6th.
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10:50 a.m. Local Music - His Mischief
The Perfect Lover will be released on April 7th.
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10:45 a.m. Andrew Bird
He's playing State Theater on April 11th.
The Austin City Limits performance that he taped live at SxSW last night, will air later this fall.
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10:25 a.m. Death Cab For Cutie
They're playing Roy Wilkins Auditorium with Cold War Kids and Ra Ra Riot on April 15th.
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10:20 a.m. the Thermals
They're playing The Triple Rock Social Club on April 26th.
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10:15 a.m. Yeah Yeah Yeahs
It's Blitz! will be released on the 31st.
Their only scheduled appearances in North American are the Coachella, Sasquatch and Bonnaroo music festivals.
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My 3 Songs 03/19/09

Posted at 12:23 PM on March 19, 2009 by Barb Abney

My 3 Songs 03/19/09
Britni Snow from Wayzata picked this set because..

"These songs all meant a lot to me when I lived in California and my boyfriend lived in Minnesota. Each one is special to us as each one explores the feelings of being apart."

Bon Iver - "Skinny Love"
My Morning Jacket - "Thank You Too"
Coconut Records - "West Coast"

Make your "My 3 Songs" requests here.

SXSW where Live music Lives

Posted at 1:45 PM on March 19, 2009 by Jim McGuinn (2 Comments)

Ok, first thing first: The weather is amazing. It's about 80 degrees and sunny and man oh man do we feel pale. Hate us if you want, or just be green with envy, but it feels gooooood!

The iPhone is struggling. I read somewhere that AT&T has trucked in mobile mobile towers to help with all the traffic. The iPhone really dominates the music industry (for obvious reasons) and all that usage in a concentrated time and space has completely overloaded the network's resources. It's slowed us down a ton in our coverage as well - what worked quickly and efficiently when we tested it in Saint Paul the other day is creeping if working at all here in Austin today.

Dayparties rule. It used to be back in the day that you came to SXSW and had one shot to see a band play - at their showcase. Nowadays, the hottest and hardest working bands end up being invited to gig non-stop day and night, to be seen by as many audiences as possible. When you look thru the official and unofficial dayparty schedules, you really see who is in demand - and suddenly you have 8 or 10 chances to see School of Seen Bells or Handsome Furs or even the Hold Steady, who have been harped on for playing Rachael Ray's dayparty (haha!) but are playing about 5 other gigs this week while they are here. And if you are a band and you can't get extra gigs, it almost becomes not worth it to come here at all. In fact, many bands these days get passed by the official SXSW screening committee but show up anyway and if they can play a bunch of dayparty and extracurricular events make it worth their while.

Although it's crowded at times and a little hipster elite beyond belief in places, there really is something special about SXSW... for a huge music fan it's like the universe is perfect for these few days - great bands are playing in front of huge crowds of appreciative music fans, beer and bar-b-q is flowing freely, and everyone you meet likes great music too. One of my favorite things is asking other friends what they are looking forward to seeing that night - invariably it's something you've never heard of or that's far from your radar - but equally cool, and that's how you learn - you grab a friend and go to one of their picks and take them to one of yours. There is no way for one or two or even ten people to totally cover all that's going on - it's that massive an orgy of music happening non-stop from noon till 2am.

We're finally about to dive in for the day - look for more updates from Melanie and I on the Current's Twitter page, and another audio update and series of blog postings sometime between the end of the dayparties and dinner!

Jim McGuinn at SXSW

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SXSW Day 1 1/2: What happened last night?

Posted at 1:50 PM on March 19, 2009 by Melanie Walker (1 Comments)

What happened last night? That's how I usually wake up every morning in Austin, TX at SXSW. Waking up at 8am today, I was brutally reminded by my aching head and sore feet that I went to bed around 3am! Yikes! But, five hours of sleep is actually more of a luxury at this conference than most nights. Having my usual breakfast of champions, two Advil and a cup of joe, I'm here to spill the beans to you about all my adventures down here at SXSW!

SXSW for me, as a Music Director, is not just a place to come hang out and have a good time it's also a place that I come to discover new music and meet new people in the music industry. I work hard down here to find our audience the best new music for the coming year and to hopefully establish great relationships with record labels and band managers. Remember last years band The Heavy? We found them right down here in Austin. The year before that was The Young Knives from the UK who are now one of my all time favorite bands! Who will be this year's band? Stick around because I'm sure there will be more than a few new discoveries that will become staples of The Current's playlist of 2009!

Last night I saw The Decemberists who were fantastic! Shara from My Brightest Diamond does guest vocals on the record and basically, stole the show last night! She was really phenomenal. Hopefully, she'll be coming out with her own solo release this year as well! I also saw Heartless Bastards, The Avett Bros and These Arms Are Snakes who are this crazy punk rock band from Seattle. The show was insane and the perfect way to cap off my first night in Austin around the wee hours of 3am...yikes!

Today, I'll be hitting up a load of day parties and hopefully seeing some of my picks for this years up and comers BLK JKS, Dirty Projectors, Glasvegas, and Ida Maria!

Other SXSW blog posts:
SXSW Day 1 1/2: What happened last night?
SXSW where Live music Lives
SXSW round one... Wed night's roundup
SXSW here we come!
We are getting ready for SXSW...

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SXSW Day 2: It's a scorcher!

Posted at 5:32 PM on March 19, 2009 by Melanie Walker (1 Comments)

Mix crowds, beers and rock and roll and you've got a scorcher of a day! It's hot here in Austin, TX! 80 degrees + but with the crowd factor it feels like 120! The stench of sour beer and urine can get incredibly overwhelming and you must be careful walking and texting as you might slip and fall on a slice of pizza thrown in the street from last nights escapades....

Today I wandered around quite a bit at some of the day parties and showcases. I was able to catch one of my picks for this year, a band called BLK JKS! What do they sound like you ask? Well, I kinda hate pigeon holing a bands sound but I'd guess they sound a bit like TV On The Radio mixed with what Vampire Weekend wished they could pull off! They are totally unhinged live! The drummer was insane! He had these crazy dreadlocks that were their own entity! It was awesome!

Next band I saw was another pick, Glasvegas straight from Glasgow, Scotland! I love this band. I think you either love them or hate them. They sound a bit 1950's Ramones mellowed out, plus they have a chick drummer which I love!!! They were fantastic! poor dudes were super sunburned but having a blast all the same!

I also caught a bit of School Of Seven Bells, Blitzen Trapper and Mark Olson and Gary Louris... Tonight my picks are Wild Beasts, Primal Scream, Orbits, and whatever other adventurous sounds that come my way!

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