Another SXSW 2009 set from Austin Texas, this time from Los Angeles based rockers, Great Northern, featuring vocalist/guitarist Solon Bixler (formerly of 30 Seconds to Mars) and vocalist/keyboardist Rachel Stolte.

I'd had the pleasure of seeing Great Northern play at Good Records in 2007 (set here) and was a big fan of their first record, Trading Twilight for Daylight, especially the track "Low Is A Height" which I still think is one of the most beautiful tracks of the last five years.

Their SXSW set exclusively featured tracks from (at that point in time) their forthcoming record, Remind Me Where The Light Is... After all SXSW is primarily intended to be showcases for press, distributors, etc.

Enjoy!

Great Northern Live MP3 MP3s:
Intro
Story
Houses
Fingers
Snakes
Warning
Numbers
Mountain
Outro

Labels: austin, cedar street courtyard, great northern, indie, live mp3s, soundboard mp3s, sxsw

Here's the companion show to the N.A.S.A set from this year's SXSW set. Another sweet afternoon DJ set from the Filter showcase at Cedar Street Courtyard.

Flosstradamus (as you can see from the pic) are two DJs from Chicago - J2K (Josh Young) and Autobot (Curt Cameruci). It was a fun set - about 10 minutes in a spontaneous circle formed in the crowd and a couple of guys started break dancing, fairly impressively I might add. Not something you see often in Austin at SXSW... at least not at the shows I attend!

Flosstradamus Live MP3 MP3s:
Flosstradamus SXSW 2009 Cedar Street Courtyard Set

Labels: austin, cedar street courtyard, flosstradmus, live mp3s, soundboard mp3s, sxsw

N.A.S.A (North America, South America) is heading out on a US mini tour this month (see tour dates below) and so I thought I'd post their Austin Texas SXSW set at Cedar Street Courtyard from earlier this year.

As I'm sure you can guess from the photo above - the set was awesome, and hilarious, all at the same time. I can safely say that I have never, ever been to a show before where a couple of girls who were covered in green make-up, in bikinis, gyrated on stage to a couple of DJs mixing and mashing tracks on stage.

Oh, and it all starts off with one of the greatest sci-fi samples of all time. Nice.

Live MP3 MP3s:
N.A.S.A SXSW 2009 Cedar Street Courtyard Set

Tour Dates:
8/11 Reno, NV @ Nikki Beach
8/12 Los Angeles, CA @ El Rey
8/13 Salt Lake City, UT @ The Gallivan Center
8/14 Denver, CO @ Beta w/ Hollywood Holt
8/15 San Francisco, CA @ The Independent
8/20 New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom

Labels: austin, cedar street courtyard, indie, live mp3s, N.A.S.A, soundboard mp3s, tour dates

Got to run out to more SXSW shows, but here's one more recording for you from yesterday.

Other Lives from Stillwater, Oklahoma. Dark and moody, the piano and cello with more traditional guitars, bass and drums evokes a cinematic experience - like every song is scored for a film. A gorgeous set. Enjoy.

Live MP3 MP3s:
Intro
Don't Let Them
End Of The Year
The Partisan (Leonard Cohen)
Speed Tape
Paper Cities
Outro

Labels: austin, cedar street courtyard, indie, live mp3s, other lives, soundboard mp3s, sxsw

It's always interesting to see each day at SXSW turns out.

You print out pages and pages of information showing what bands are playing where, you underline and make notes on potential schedules, you try and figure out what the optimal parking spot is so you can make it to the various venues and you use Google maps to figure out if its even possible to make it from Venue A to Venue B in X minutes to see that next band.

And then you show up and realize, meh - maybe i'll just do something totally different.

So we arrived in Austin today planning on seeing Whispertown 2000 as one of our first bands. As luck would have it we got into town early and since they we were just a few blocks from Cedar Street Courtyard (one of the best venues in Austin) we wandered over to check out the Filter showcase.

We caught the last few minutes of Zee Avi and figured we'd hang around to check out Hockey (who we'd never heard before.) We were glad we did. They put on the most rocking showcase of the day. Hailing from Portland, Oregon - these guys reminded me a lot of Jet. That sort of British rock n roll sensibilities, with hammering riffs and almost dancy beats.

Good stuff and a great way to start SXSW - show up at a random showcase and enjoy!

Live MP3 MP3s:
Intro
Work
Too Fake
Learn To Lose
I Want To Be
Song Away
Put The Game Down
Outro

Labels: austin, cedar street courtyard, filter, hockey, live mp3s, major, soundboard mp3s, sxsw

I'd never actually heard of the Honeydogs prior to them taking the stage at the Cedar Street Courtyard showcase during SXSW 2004. I remember I had gone to the show to see Michael Penn and Jesse Malin, but to be honest I think I most enjoyed the Honeydogs set.

Featuring ultra-catchy and hummable songs, the Honeydogs have no shame in their inherent indie pop flavor. Every song in this set has solid hooks that draw you in and have you bopping your head by the 1st chorus. And the best bit? They're seriously talented musicians. No three-chord stupidity here.

If you need a place to start go with Poor Little Sugar.

(Mr Strange, this one's for you.)

Live MP3s:
Intro
10,000 Years
Rumor Has It
Dead Stars
Test Tube Kid
The Rake's Progress
Ms. Anne Thrope
Poor Little Sugar
Panhandler's Serenade
Outro

Labels: austin, cedar street courtyard, concerts, indie, live mp3s, soundboard mp3s, sxsw

It's been entirely too long since I posted. Can I be honest? I've been watching Stargate SG1. A lot. A lot, a lot. It may be the most distracting show I've ever gotten into. Sigh. If it wasn't so good (and if there weren't so many damn seasons) it would be easier to tear myself away.

Anyway, back to the music. Michael Penn. Have you noticed my love of singer songwriters? They remind me of SG1, I can't stay away.

I actually got into Michael Penn through Amiee Mann. I saw Magnolia. If you've never seen it pick it up - it's brilliantly disturbing, has a stellar cast (including Tom Cruise in what may be his best performance ever), and has a heart-wrenching soundtrack that was primarily written by Aimee Mann (with smatterings of Michael Penn).

From there I transitioned into Michael's records - very smooth and easy to listen to. Oh and they are very very hummable. Lucky for me, I managed to see his fairly amusing SXSW performance back in 2004. Like many of my older 2003 and 2004 shows, I hadn't listened to this one in a while, but have had it on repeat for the last couple of weeks (when I haven't been watching SG1.)

If you want to get a sense of Mr Penn's lovely song-writing skills check out Brave New World - then work backwards.

If you like what you hear, be sure to check out his new best-of compilation, Palms and Runes, Tarot and Tea: A Michael Penn Collection - which is due out in mid April.

Live MP3s:
Intro
Millionaire
The Singing Entertainer part 1
On Automatic
High Time
The Singing Entertainer part 2
Denton Road
Me Around
Don't Let Me Go
Bad Sign
The Singing Entertainer part 3
Brave New World part 1
Brave New World part 2

Labels: austin, cedar street courtyard, concerts, indie, live mp3s, soundboard mp3s, sxsw

New York mainstay, Jesse Malin's releasing his new record, Glitter in the Gutter, in late February in the UK, and late March in the US.

Featuring a seriously impressive list of guest stars including Ryan Adams, Jakob Dylan and the Boss himself, Bruce Springsteen - Glitter's rounding up to be Malin's most accessible to date. You can check out a few new songs over on his MySpace.

I saw Jesse Malin almost 3 years ago at the 2004 SXSW music festival in Austin. I can't remember whose showcase it was, but it was a great venue - the Cedar Street Courtyard. The Courtyard is this gorgeous open-air, sunken space between two bar/restaurants. It's got a stage that sits at the far end of the Courtyard, facing the street, and even has trees growing between the stage and street. Great acoustics to boot.

This is one of my favorite Jesse shows, really showing off his talent for writing endearing, almost alt-county, rock songs. A good setting for what was a chill evening, with most of the bands playing more relaxed, acoustic sets. Enjoy.

Live MP3s
Opening Music
Intro
Brooklyn
Wendy
Cigarettes and Violets
Mona Lisa
Hotel Columbia
Swingin' Man
Since Your In Love
New World Order - false start
New World Order
Riding on the Subway
Outro

Labels: austin, cedar street courtyard, concerts, indie, live mp3s, soundboard mp3s, sxsw