clare & the reasons 03/13/08

Clare & the Reasons was the very first show we witnessed at SXSW this year, and it was also one of the best. Up there in the top 3 with Lykke Li and the Akron Family. It was definitely the most sublimely beautiful show we saw.

We wrote about Clare Muldaur a few months ago - and her record "The Movie". With a few months gone, we can safely say that "The Movie" was our favorite record of 2007. It's still played constantly around here.

The live show was as equally impressive. Clare probably has one of the most perfect female voices on the planet, reminiscent of some '20s flapper singer, and her musicians are top notch. The band featured, violin, viola, cello, keyboards, bass, guitar and the occasional toy instrument.

My one disappointment was that they didn't play my favorite track (Nothing, Nowhere) BUT they did play 2 new songs that weren't on "The Movie" as well as a brand new cover of Tears For Fears "Everyone Wants to Rule The World", which... well... ruled.

All in all the best start to a SXSW ever. Enjoy.

Live MP3 MP3s:
Removed per Label Request

Labels: austin, dirty dog, indie, live mp3s, soundboard mp3s, sxsw

posted by lullabyes at 7:44 AM 5 comments

holy f*ck 03/13/08

Lullabyes is pretty much a PG-13 blog. Family friendly, if you will. Occasionally, a band will force into "hard" PG-13 territory by using profanity in their name. Guess it just comes with the territory.

For HF I almost think it's a shame, as it pretty much guarantees a lack of commercial radio play, and these guys are amazingly catchy. Even as pure instrumentals, the songs possess so much dynamic, unique character that you easily witness and throughly enjoy their live 30 minute set.

These guys played all over Austin during SXSW, with a stop at the Brooklyn Vegan day party (fantastic line up) that was going down at Emo's Annex. Their live sets are a fairly interesting experience - 4 guys rocking out on a series of keyboards, effects, cool toys and even the occasional piece of silverware. The kicker? No loops, no laptops - all played out in real time.

If you need a starting point, go with the single - Lovely Allen.

Live MP3 MP3s:
Intro
The Pulse
Milkshake
Bontempi Latin
Royal Gregory
Choppers
Tone Bank Jungle
Frenchy's
Super Inuit
Lovely Allen
Outro

Labels: austin, emos, indie, live mp3s, soundboard mp3s, sxsw

posted by lullabyes at 9:01 PM 5 comments

lykke li 03/15/08

Quick post! I won't get to post again til Wednesday, and wanted to get at least one more SXSW show out there!

This was one of our favorite shows this year - definitely in the top 3. It didn't hurt that we'd had Lykke Li's record, Youth Novels, on repeat for the last week. Hearing the record, then seeing her live, you just know that this artist is going to make it big. Last year it was Amy Winehouse at SXSW. This year, we're betting that Lykke blows up in Europe and the States.

If you haven't heard any of her studio tracks be sure to head over to her MySpace and check them out. You can also buy her record here.

Amazing set - Lykke's performance and voice was just spot on, and the live interpretations of the studio tracks were inspired, especially the odd "toy" instruments, and ultra-simple drum set up.

I'm personally hoping more Lykke set's show up from SXSW. Enjoy!

Live MP3 MP3s:
Intro
Dance Dance Dance
Let It Fall
Hanging High
Little Bit
Window Blues
I'm Good, I'm Gone
Outro

Labels: austin, Club De Ville, indie, live mp3s, soundboard mp3s, sxsw

posted by lullabyes at 3:43 AM 6 comments

walter meego 03/14/08

200th Post! Wooot!

Okay, setting the minor milestone aside, it's time to get back to SXSW.

As mentioned yesterday, we got to see a lot of shows over the course of SXSW. Here's a quick recap!

March 13th -
Clare & the Reasons
Johnathan Rice
Emmy the Great
Lucas Haas
Holy F**k
Dr Dog
Joseph Arthur
Mark Kozelek
My Morning Jacket
Yo La Tengo
My Morning Jacket
Thurston Moore
Lou Reed & Moby
N.E.R.D

March 14th -
Nicole Atkins & the Sea
The Dodos
The Duke Spirit
She & Him
Limbeck
Le Loup
Akron Family
El Guincho
Herman Dune
Walter Meego

March 15th -
Frankel
Jealous Girlfriends
Bodies of Water
Dave Monks (Tokyo Police Club)
Kevin Barnes
White Rabbits
David Bazan
White Hinterland
Lykke Li

There were lots more 10 minute stops around town - but these were the full set or near full set acts that we saw over the last few days. The feet and lower back officially hurt, and there are definite signs of farmer tans.

Great, great times. We mostly stuck to day parties this time around and took in more of Austin in the evenings.

One killer showcase was put on by Everloving records at the Design Within Reach furniture store. We were fairly surprised the store allowed the showcase (and were especially surprised at the free beer that was being handed out) as the furniture pieces were all "designer", "unique" and very, very expensive.

Still, hanging out on a $4k coach and watching some great music is never a bad thing.

We had never heard of Walter Meego before they played, but we were nothing short of impressed by this Chicago band's European flavored, Daft Punk-esque and dancy tunes, that were overlaid with pop-meets-indie vocals. They were also fairly impressive musicians, nicely using an array of keyboards and even switching back and forth to electric guitars.

Enjoy!

Live MP3 MP3s:
Girls
Forever
Through a Keyhole
Got Me Going
Lost
Romantic
Everything Is Meant To Be

Labels: austin, design within reach, indie, live mp3s, soundboard mp3s, sxsw

posted by lullabyes at 9:46 PM 2 comments

kevin barnes (of montreal) 03/15/08

Austin during SXSW 2008. Fantastic.

We got to see a couple of dozen bands at some great parties over the last few days, including memorable stops at the Nylon Guess shows at their 5th Floor pool party, Hot Freaks at Club de Ville/the Mohawk and Everloving at the ultra-swank furniture store, Design Within Reach.

One of the beautiful aspects of SXSW is that you never actually know what you're going to get from the bands. Today a guest 30-minute DJ set from "List Christee" aka Kevin Barnes, lead singer from Of Montreal turned into a surprise live performance at the Hot Freaks show at Club de Ville.

Intended to be an acoustic set, Kevin ended up borrowing an electronic guitar from the band White Rabbits, who were next up on the bill, after technical issues forced him to set aside his acoustic.

An eclectic set, Barnes played a new one-minute track (which in lieu of an official title, we've labeled "Why Am I"), a couple of cool MIA and Grateful Dead covers and an Of Montreal staple. He also played a song he attributed to Bob Dylan. After a couple of listens and some time with Google, it seems that the track may have been a spontaneous creation, with Barnes making up the lyrics on the spot. Any corrections would be appreciated!

Enjoy

Live MP3 MP3s:
Intro
Why Am I
Jimmy (MIA)
Heimdalsgate Like a Promethean Curse
Shakedown Street (Grateful Dead)
Matchbox Cars

Labels: austin, Club De Ville, concerts, indie, live mp3s, soundboard mp3s, sxsw

posted by lullabyes at 10:31 PM 7 comments

de novo dahl 03/16/07

Happy Labor Day weekend! Shut down the PC and go out and play.

Quick post before I do just that - De Novo Dahl just released a new EP - Shout! (buy it here), and announced a new fall tour.

Here's the dates - and their extremely fun show from Hot Freaks! during SXSW.

Speaking of Hot Freaks! - they just announced another 2 day event (read about it all over the web, including here and here) that coincides with another large festival in Austin in the middle of September. Can't wait to see it!

Tour Dates:
De Novo Dahl Tour Dates
Sep 1 Grimey’s New & Preloved Music Nashville, Tennessee
Sep 1 Mercy Lounge Nashville, Tennessee
Sep 2 Download Festival - Charter One Chicago, Illinois
Sep 14 Red Rocks Ampitheatre Morrison, Colorado
Sep 18 Commodore Ballroom Vancouver, British Columbia
Sep 20 Sugar Victoria, British Columbia
Sep 24 Wonder Ballroom Portland, Oregon
Sep 26 Soma San Diego, California
Oct 1 Gothic Theatre Englewood, Colorado
Oct 3 Fine Line Music Cafe Minneapolis, Minnesota
Oct 4 Vic Theatre Chicago, Illinois
Oct 5 St. Andrew’s Hall Detroit, Michigan
Oct 7 Club Soda Montreal, Quebec
Oct 8 Kool Haus Toronto, Ontario
Oct 10 Higher Ground Burlington, Vermont
Oct 11 Paradise Rock Club Boston, Massachusetts
Oct 14 The Theatre of Living Arts Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Oct 15 Rams Head Live! Baltimore, Maryland
Oct 17 CenterStage Atlanta, Georgia
Oct 18 The Social Orlando, Florida
Oct 19 Culture Room Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Oct 20 State Theatre St. Petersburg, Florida
Oct 22 Meridian Houston, Texas
Oct 23 Emo’s Austin, Texas
Oct 24 Granada Theatre Dallas, Texas

Live MP3 MP3s:
Soundcheck
Sky Is Falling
Shout
Sexy Come Lately
Subject Of The Kill
Dance Like David
Wishful Thinking
Make Some Sense
Be Your Man

Labels: austin, live mp3s, mohawk, soundboard mp3s, sxsw, tour dates

posted by lullabyes at 8:17 AM 5 comments

g love 09/29/02

Hadn't rummaged through any of the older recordings in some time when G Love's performance of Rodeo Clowns, from his performance at ACL back in 2002, came up in the shuffle. Love that song. It reminded me of that I was introduced to Jack Johnson (one of my favorite artists) through G Love.

This was the first time I heard G Love - great show at the first Austin City Limits festival.

Live MP3 MP3s:
Intro
Harmonica Intro
Small Fish
Rodeo Clowns
Contact
Baby's Got Sauce
Blues Song
Unified
Dreamin'
This Ain't Living
Free Style
Cold Beverage

Labels: austin, live mp3s, soundboard mp3s

posted by lullabyes at 4:58 PM 3 comments

asobi seksu 03/17/07

Asobi Seksu's newest record, Citrus dropped last week in the UK - "an evocative mix of dreamy shoegaze and zesty Japanese electro pop."

I think that says it all. I couldn't understand a word lead singer, Yuki Chikudate sang during their set at Hot Freaks! during SXSW this year, but there was no denying the powerful instrumentation that accompanied her cutesy vocal melodies.

Check out more Asobi Seksu photos from the Hot Freaks! party at Staciaann's Flickr account.

Live MP3 MP3s:
New Years
Strawberries
Pink Cloud Tracing Paper
Strings
Nefi & Girly
Walk On The Moon
Thursday
I'm Happy But You Don't Like Me
Moses

Labels: austin, live mp3s, mohawk, soundboard mp3s, sxsw

posted by lullabyes at 7:47 PM 4 comments

sxsw live 2007

I just got back from a lovely little vacation and arrived home to a stack of new goodies to watch and listen.

First and foremost is the official SXSW 2007 DVD - the first ever DVD release of the Austin based festival.

So SXSW is spread out over dozens of clubs - so I was curious on which performances had been released. Rather than mess with the logistics of getting capturing good performances at the various venues around Austin, SXSW and Blaze TV custom-built two clubs where performances were captured in multi-camera HD with 5.1 surround sound. The Lone Star Lounge had a traditional Texas feel, while The Bat Bar was designed as more of a modern music club. Both clubs were built from the ground up inside the Austin Convention Center.

During the Festival, Shout TV broadcast the performances on DIRECTV - a three day 24 hour live concert event. Nice. The "best" performances were selected for the DVD, along with exclusive artist interviews and backstage footage.

SXSW Live 2007 Performances
Live From The Bat Bar
THE BRAVERY “Honest Mistake”
PETER BJORN & JOHN “Young Folks”
OZOMATLI “City Of Angels”
THE AUTOMATIC AUTOMATIC “Monster”
AQUALUNG “Pressure Suit”
RICKIE LEE JONES “Nobody Knows My Name”
BOWLING FOR SOUP “1985”
POLYPHONIC SPREE “When The Fool Becomes A King"

Live From The Lone Star Lounge
MARC BROUSSARD “Home”
RACHEL FULLER W/ PETE TOWNSHEND “Sunrise”
ROCCO DeLUCA & THE BURDEN “Colorful”
ANNUALS “Complete Or Completing”
RAZORLIGHT “In The Morning”
MANDO DIAO “Long Before Rock n Roll”
LEE “SCRATCH” PERRY “Kiss The Champion”
STARS OF TRACK AND FIELD “Movies of Antartica”
KRAAK & SMAAK “Money In The Bag”
JOE PURDY “White Picket Fence”

Streaming Video Links:
The Bravery “Honest Mistake”
Peter Bjorn & John “Young Folks”
Ozomatli “City of Angels”
Polyphonic Spree “When The Fool Becomes A King”

A must have for SXSW fans. Buy it here.

Labels: austin, DVD, sxsw, video

posted by lullabyes at 9:01 PM 1 comments

The Low Stars 03/16/07

Jude keeps a little blog going over at his official site - and it stays interesting by always being slightly off the wall.

Yesterday he announced he'd left his side project, The Low Stars - the CSN&Y inspired "supergroup" consisting of Dave Gibbs of the 90's band Gigolo Aunts, Jeff Russo from Tonic. Chris Seefried of various things, and Jude of... Jude.

I got to see them in Austin at SXSW, quite randomly. I didn't even know they were playing till a few hours before the show. It ended up being a fairly frustrating evening. The venue was having serious issue's with their PA's and they couldn't get the monitors to work. All in all, an hour got wasted trying to fix the audio system. Eventually the guys played 3 songs and called it quits.

The good news - one of the three songs was a cover of Rage Against the Machine's Bulls on Parade. Hilarious yet still good.

Live MP3 MP3s:
Intro
Bulls On Parade (Rage Against The Machine)
Just Around the Corner
Calling All Friends

Labels: austin, canvas bar and gallery, indie, jude, live mp3s, soundboard mp3s, sxsw

posted by lullabyes at 8:38 AM 3 comments

sea wolf 03/16/07

Fantastic photo from Dansays' Flickr account - here.

Very quick post tonight - here's a lovely little set from Sea Wolf. I actually wasn't in the room while this was being recorded. I'd left one of my little taping devices plugged into the board at the Mohawk during Hot Freaks! while I wandered around Austin taping other bands (Bonde do Role, etc).

Imagine my suprise a week later when I listed to the sets I'd missed at the Mohawk - Sea Wolf, De Novo Dahl and Briertone - and realized that all three were amazing.

Enjoy!

Live MP3s:
Soundcheck
World We Live In
You're A Wolf
I Made A Resolution
Ses Monuments
Black Dirt

Labels: austin, concerts, indie, live mp3s, mohawk, soundboard mp3s, sxsw

posted by lullabyes at 7:56 PM 2 comments

art in manila 03/17/07

Since I just posted Maria Taylor's set, I thought I would follow up with a "companion" recording of Orenda Fink's new band Art in Manila. Little snapshots of what the Azure Ray girls are creating these days.

Whereas Maria has taken the path of Pop, Orenda seems to have gone to a more etheral place. Soulful and with a significantly darker edge - Art In Manila's songs really remind of The Doors. Maybe its just me.

Be sure to keep an eye out for Art In Manila's first record, coming out next month.

(Found this shot of Orenda and co at SXSW on Clark Patrick's site on Flickr - check out more of his photography here)

(mp3s removed at the request of Art In Manila/Saddle Creek)

Labels: austin, beauty bar, concerts, indie, live mp3s, soundboard mp3s, sxsw

posted by lullabyes at 7:10 PM 4 comments

menomena 03/17/07

I've wanted to see Menomena for years.

I remember the first time I heard their music - it was on October 22nd, 2004. Rilo Kiley was touring and had just wandered through Texas. I had seen them the night before in Austin, and had wandered on to Dallas to see their in-store performance at Good Records. I had arrived a few hours before the show and was checking out the store (it was also my first time in Good Records). Whoever was working the store had the Menomena record on (this was the self released version of their first record, I Am the Fun Blame Monster!).

I was completely blown away.

The musical cynic in me always wonders if I'm ever going to hear something "new" again, rather than a reworking of familiar elements. I remember thinking that Menomena was a ray of experimental sunlight amidst the familiarity of cloudy days.

Enjoy.

Live MP3s:
Intro
The Pelican
Weird
Twenty Cell Revolt
Mucle'n Flo
Wet and Rusting
Evil Bee
Rotten Hell
Outro

Labels: austin, concerts, indie, live mp3s, mohawk, soundboard mp3s, sxsw

posted by lullabyes at 7:14 PM 6 comments

young knives 03/17/07

Got to catch the Young Knives at the Hot Freaks! showcase at Club Deville on the last day of SXSW. It was the first day we had visited Club Deville and were really enjoying the vibe. Great raised stage in the corner of a large outdoor patio, beautiful day - and really strong drinks.

One of the challenges with recording at SXSW is the uneven sound mixing. Since there's no real opportunity to sound check, and since most bands use the "house" sound guy, there's a lot of room for mixing "error." In defense of the sound people, they usually have not heard of the dozen or so bands they are going to be mixing for on any given day. This in turn leads to some off mixing since they don't have a sense of how loud the guitar should be versus, say, the xylophone.

With that said - all praise to the Club Deville (and for that matter, the Mohawk) Sound Guys. Great mixing all day long.

One of the benefits of recording outside is that you usually get better recordings than shows that were played inside a venue. Simple reason for this - when a band plays outside, you have to mic every instrument to compensate for the "open air." When a band plays inside they don't necessarily mic every instrument at the same level. If a guitar is cranked up through the amp, the venue doesn't need to pump that through the venue speakers at the same level, thus causing "quieter" guitars in a soundboard mix.

Why the ramble? It's just a prelude to say that this show (and the upcoming Menomena show that will get posted tomorrow) sound really, really nice. ;)

So, onto the Young Knives. I've mentioned before that this years SXSW was a personal smorgasbord of musical stylings, and Young Knives filled the "post-punk" piece of the SXSW pie. Not only did they play a fun, rocking set - but they brought a very dry, self-deprecating, and British sense of humour to the stage with them.

Oh and I really liked the tweed outfits. Enjoy.

Live MP3s:
Part Timer
The Decision
Mystic Energy
Brochures
Loughborough Suicide
Fit For You
Weekends And Bleak Days
Here Comes The Rumour Mill
She's Attracted To

Labels: austin, Club De Ville, concerts, indie, live mp3s, soundboard mp3s, sxsw

posted by lullabyes at 9:08 AM 2 comments

ana laan 03/15/07

Of the 30+ shows that I saw at SXSW, Ana Laan had to take the prize for most gorgeous vocals.

Falling under the broad category of "World Music", Ana seamlessly incorporated Spanish and English vocals over carefully plucked guitars and the occasional keyboard part to create short stories that were posing as songs. Though I loved Ana's songs, I definitely think that the subject matter was more oriented towards the women in the crowd. In the words of my lovely bilingual girl (who undestood every word Ana sang) - "It's like she picked around my brain and wrote songs about what she found there!"

Bringing something new to every song, some of my favorite moments of the show revolved around "looping" vocals. Ana had two mics set up on stage - one was used for the main vocal parts - the other was plugged into a series of delay effects. Ana would sing a melody or riff and then "loop" it, she would then sing additional parts over the original part to create mini-Ana choirs of harmonies and counter-melodies. When she had built up a "bed" of vocals, she would switch back to the regular mic and sing over her creation.

Hailing from Spain, here's a little tidbit from her bio -

The startling, romantic voice of singer Ana Laan was born in Madrid and matured in Stockholm, Sweden. The daughter of a Spanish professor of literature and an American mother, Ana was raised in a home where learning was revered and multi-culturalism was the norm.

Ana Laan has learned to personalize the modern human condition in a very intimate way.

Yes she has. Enjoy.

Photo found at Don's Flickr - for more click here

Live MP3s:

Blanco
Oregano
Viene
Para El Dolor
Intro to...
Paradise
Intro to...
Odana Road
Intro to...
Low Tech Lady
Ex
Me Echaras
Blanco (Reprise)
Outro

Labels: austin, concerts, indie, live mp3s, soundboard mp3s, sxsw, visions

posted by lullabyes at 5:06 PM 4 comments

aqueduct 03/15/07

While I was planning for SXSW this year I wanted to try and stay away from seeing bands that I had seen before and focus on brand new live experiences. Well, that thought went right out the window when I found out that Aqueduct was playing.

I saw them at SXSW last year (listen here), but I've known these guys forever. David Terry, Aqueducts lead singer, used to front a band called Epperley back in the mid 90s. I LOVED Epperley, and used to see their live shows all the time. I managed to track down an old Epperley track - Jenks. America. Check it out below - great stuff.

Coming back to Aqueduct - David's kept alot of the power-pop influences from his older bands, while incorporating fun electronic aspects, making Aqueduct a more sonically interesting experience.

With that said - this show was very guitar-heavy - I think the soundguy had turned down the keyboards, creating a very different mix than what I captured last year. Either way - great set, poppy songs and an Aqueduct that was at the top of their game. On a side note, the guys covered the Walker, Texas Ranger theme song. How cool is that? Good to know that Chuck Norris was being represented at SXSW this year.

Enjoy.

Studio MP3s:
Epperley - Jenks. America

Live MP3s:
Intro
Walker, Texas Ranger
Who Wanna Rock
Livin' A Lie
The Suggestion Box
As You Wish
Intro to...
The Way I Are
Tension
Split The Difference
Keep It Together
Growing Up With GNR
Hardcore Days & Softcore Nights

Tour Dates:
at 04/21/07 Iowa City, IA The Picador
Sun 04/22/07 Omaha, NE Sokol Auditorium
Tue 04/24/07 Denver, CO Hi-Dive
Wed 04/25/07 Salt Lake City, UT Urban Lounge
Thu 04/26/07 Boise, ID Neurolux
Sat 04/28/07 Seattle, WA Crocodile Cafe
Sun 04/29/07 Portland, OR Doug Fir Lounge

Labels: austin, buffalo billiards, concerts, indie, live mp3s, soundboard mp3s, studio mp3s, sxsw, tour dates

posted by lullabyes at 8:01 AM 0 comments

danielia cotton 03/17/07

Here's another show from an amazing artist that I had never heard of before I perused the 700+ strong SXSW MP3 torrent.

Clicking through dozens and dozens of simply terrible songs can be disheartening, but nothing compares to finjavascript:void(0)
Publishding a hidden gem in there - and being absolutely blown away. With Danielia Cotton that song was Make You Move. Right away the pounding beat, sweet guitar licks, and multi layered vocals reached out and grabbed my attention. Familiar elements that came together to create something scorching and new.

Playing at the Ale House, a hidden little spot nestled in an alley way behind 6th Street, Danielia blew away a completely packed house with her piercing voice and unabashed classic rock influenced tunes. Evoking the spirit of the 70s and marrying it with a dash of soul and gosbel, I really thought she was going to break out some Led Zeppelin for the closing tune. I was not disappointed when she pulled out a completely faithful rendition of AC/DC's Back In Black.

Live MP3s
Intro
Devil In Disguise
Bang My Drum
Natural
Try
Take My Heart
Make You Move
Back In Black

Labels: ale house, austin, concerts, indie, live mp3s, soundboard mp3s, sxsw

posted by lullabyes at 7:54 PM 5 comments

margot & the nuclear so so's 03/17/07

So occasionally you have to make hard, hard choices.

Hard choices like - should I watch Polyphonic Spree or Margot & the Nuclear So So's? Since I had seen Margot just 3 days before at the North By Northwest show in Dallas, I opted to go see the Spree. The choice was made easier by the knowledge that my trusty microtrack was capturing the whole show.

And I'm glad it was - Margot not only played the best tracks off of Dust Of Retreat, including perennial favorite Skeleton Key (one of the most played track on my iPod in 2006) but they also featured 3 brand new (and excellent) songs - Don't You Cry, Broadripple is Burning and Tall As Cliffs. If anyone knows the real title of "Don't You Cry", please let me know. In the absence of official documentation I had to pick something.

Oh, and if you'd like to read a post on Margot at the Mohawk from a blogger who was actually there - check out Chromewaves.

Live MP3s:
Intro
Don't You Cry
Tall As Cliffs
Broadripple Is Burning
On A Freezing Chicago Street
Skeleton Key
Vampires In Blue Dresses
Intro to...
Quiet As A Mouse
Intro to...
Barfight Revolution, Power Violence
Outro

Labels: austin, concerts, indie, live mp3s, mohawk, soundboard mp3s, sxsw

posted by lullabyes at 7:04 PM 6 comments

bishop allen 03/16/07

Darting around town, we were constantly racing againt the clock to make it to the next must-see show. One particularly close call involved Bishop Allen - we managed to make it from the Bonde do Role show at the Victory Cafe, back over to the Hot Freaks! show at the Mohawk, with about 4 minutes to spare. There was a reason our legs felt like they were going to fall off at the end of each day. Back to the story, the good news was that band was beginning to sound check as we walked back, and we sighed in subdued relief.

Putting on a great show, Bishop Allen featured an expanded line up of six members, up from the four piece I saw when they come through Houston a few years ago (listen to that show here). They'd also clearly grown as artists with a subtantialy more musically varied set list. Castanets was definitely the highlight of the show for me.

Our friend Matt at You Ain't No Picasso gave a great recap of this show last week - check it out here.

More great photos of Bishop Allen at the Mohawk can be found at Staciaann's Flickr account - here.

In other Bishop Allen SXSW news - check out My Old Kentucky Blog with an interview with Justin Rice, lead singer of Bishop Allen.

Live MP3s:
Intro
The Monitor
Busted Heart
The Same Fire
Click Click Click
Castanets
Little Black Ache
Chinatown Bus
Flight 180
Butterfly Nets

Labels: audience mp3s, austin, concerts, indie, live mp3s, mohawk, soundboard mp3s, sxsw

posted by lullabyes at 8:07 PM 8 comments

creature 03/15/07

So my beautiful girl and I spent our Thursday night at SXSW show hopping, catching various sets up and down 6th Street. One fun venue was Maggie Mae's - which was hosting the Canadian Blast showcase. 2 stages featuring diverse sets from lots of fantastic bands from across the border. We wandered in during Call Me Poupée, and also managed to catch Karkwa. We really, really regret not getting to tape either of those bands. The good news? We got to see and tape Creature.

What do Creature sound like? Here's my favorite part of their bio -

Creature includes 2 foxy girls (CowBella and Anastasia) and 2 wicked guys (Kim Ho and Sid Z). They fuse new wave, pop, hip-hop, punk and disco with his & her vocals to create a sound uniquely monstrous…

Agreed. What this fails to tell you is that they brought some serious ass-shaking to Maggie Mae's rooftop - channeling the best of Prince, and fusing it with some B-52 sensibilities, the Creature kids know how to have a good time.

Listen. Rawk. Shake.

Check out more cool Creature photos from SXSW at Rain City Studios Flickr account - here.

Live MP3s:
Soundcheck
Intro
Alive!
Pop Culture
Bridget Bardot
Love
Kandahar
Pay Up

Labels: austin, concerts, indie, live mp3s, maggie maes, soundboard mp3s, sxsw

posted by lullabyes at 6:40 PM 2 comments

page france 03/17/07

So Michael Nau and the rest of the Page France kids definitely put on my favorite show at SXSW. (I've said it before, I'll say it at least 10 more times before I'm done. Go Hot Freaks!) There were other SXSW shows that totally blew my mind - either from a performance aspect (Creature, Polyphonic Spree) or musically (Ana Laan, Daniella Cotton) - but Page France is just one of my favorite bands - and nothing beats singing along for 30 minutes to fantastic performances of some of the most oft-played tracks on your Zune/iPod/Zen Micro. So here we are!

Great, great set - lovely mix of tracks from Hello, Dear Wind, Pear/Sister Pinecone and their upcoming disc - ...and the Family Telephone, dropping on May 8th. The mix included some of my favorite tracks - Weatherman, Section 3 (never expected to hear that one!) and Everybody Knows. Other highlights include a killer version of Antartica (love the horns) and Beehive State, a Randy Newman cover (thanks Matt from You Ain't No Picasso, for that lovely tidbit of info!) Last but not least, they played the brand new track - Hat and Rabbit. Good stuff.

If you'd like to hear various tracks from the new record - check out Hype Machine, all sorts of new tracks floating around out there.

Live MP3s:
Intro
Junkyard
Beehive State (Randy Newman)
Antartica
Elephant
Hat and Rabbit
Everybody Knows
Weatherman, Section Three
Chariot
Outro

Labels: austin, concerts, indie, live mp3s, mohawk, soundboard mp3s, sxsw

posted by lullabyes at 7:40 PM 9 comments

land of talk 03/17/07

We'd never heard of Land of Talk before we walked into Club De Ville - Page France had just wrapped up at the Mohawk, and we had wandered over to tape the Young Kvives who were scheduled to go on next at De Ville.

As we walked in, and heard Land of Talk blitzing their way through their song, Death By Fire, we realized we were missing something seriously good. Picking it up a notch, we dashed over to the soundboard and dangled some cables in front of the sound man, and gave him a slightly pleading (yes, perhaps a tad pathetic) look. The good man shrugged, and plugged me in.

The good news is we managed to tape two killer rock songs, or as we like to look at it, something is better than nothing! We should also point out that one of the two is a brand new track, Young Bridge.

If you've never heard Montreal-based Land of Talk, you should definitely check them out - lead singer Elizabeth Powell's wrought vocals bring an almost desperate urgency to the band's songs, which in turn grab you and don't easily let you go. Straight up rock - honed to perfection.

(We got the great photo of Elizabeth from Kathryn's Flickr account - here - check it out for other great SXSW photos)

Live MP3s:
Intro
Young Bridge
Speak To Me Bones

Labels: austin, Club De Ville, concerts, indie, live mp3s, soundboard mp3s, sxsw

posted by lullabyes at 9:33 PM 7 comments

the rosebuds 03/17/07

Quick post tonight!

The Rosebuds have been getting much love in the blogosphere lately, and rightly so - their show last week at Club De Ville (go Hot Freaks!) was off the hook a indie-pop met some dancy beats. Roaring through ten tracks - The Rosebuds led several hundred of SXSW prettiest people in a dancing frenzy, culminating in an all out free-for-all as a couple of dozen fans got on stage to close out the set.

Even though the bulk of the songs were from their upcoming record - Night of the Furies (dropping April 10th) - you wouldn't have known it from the reaction of the crowd.. Enjoy.

Live MP3s:
Hold On To This Coat
Cemetery Lawns
Hold Hands And Fight
Waiting For The Carnival
I Better Run
Get Up Get Out
Leaves Do Fall
When The Lights Went Dim
Boxcar
Night Of The Three Furies

Labels: austin, Club De Ville, concerts, indie, live mp3s, soundboard mp3s, sxsw

posted by lullabyes at 7:25 PM 17 comments

bonde do role 03/16/07

Definitely the most amusing show we witnessed at SXSW. I wasn't exactly sure what we were going to get when we headed over to the Vice Party over at the Victory Grill to see Bonde do Role, but it defintely wasn't 3 Brazilian kids MCing their way through a set of remixed, chopped and/or screwed 80's hits. Oh, and Marina, their lead singer definitely took the award for most-suggestive-moves-at-sxsw. Seriously good times - and the performance was just absolutely killer to boot.

Oh and to top it off the Austin Ice Cream Man gave us free ice cream during the middle of the dancing craziness that was the show. In and of itself, the free ice cream may make this the best show ever.

If you want to see lots more fun photos of Bonde de Role from SXSW - check out MediaEater's set over at Flickr. He perfectly capture the spirit of the band.

Live MP3s:
Danca Do Zumbi
Ventvinha
Vitiligo
Solta O Frango
James Bonde
Office Boy
Ricota
Jabuticaba
Tieta
Tabaco
Outro

Last, but not least, check out this setlist, it's a total piece of art. Definitely my favorite set list ever. This is what you get when a hot Central American girl asks a guy in a band for the setlist - pretty little stars next to the song names. Perfect.

Labels: austin, concerts, indie, live mp3s, soundboard mp3s, sxsw

posted by lullabyes at 9:25 PM 7 comments

the pipettes 03/17/07

So, with about 30 SXSW show options to choose from, picking a starting point was a fairly tough decision, but when I woke up this morning humming, "your kisses are wasted on me!" the choice became clear - the end would be the beginning.

The Pipettes were the very last show we saw at SXSW - and even though we were absolutely, positively exhausted and barely able to stand - the girls still managed to bring some amusement into our lives - as well as some fairly awful dancing to the hordes of fans around us.

Sporting matching polka dot dresses, choregraphed finger-wagging, and super-sexy (and very proper) British accents - the Pipette girls managed to bring the house down at their very last SXSW show at the Beauty Bar patio.

Live MP3s:
Soundcheck
Intro
ABC
Your Kisses Are Wasted On Me
Why Did You Stay
Because It's Not Love (But It's Still A Feeling)
I Love You
It Hurts to See You Dance So Well
Tell Me What You Want
Guess Who Run Off With The Milkman
One Night Stand
Judy
True Love Waits Patiently For A Miracle
Pull Shapes
We Are the Pipettes

Labels: austin, beauty bar, concerts, indie, live mp3s, soundboard mp3s, sxsw

posted by lullabyes at 8:56 PM 10 comments

sxsw (wrap-up)

3 days. 31 bands taped.

My legs feel like they are about to fall off. GREAT times. Best SXSW I've ever had. In retrospect going through all 700 or so MP3s from the SXSW bittorrent really helped me figure out who I wanted to see, rather than just rely on the buzz. There will be all sorts of bands coming up that you've probably never heard of, but who blew me away when I heard their MP3.

Check out these fine web sites for various live performances from SXSW
The Current
WOX