Quick note for the evening.

This was an extremely random but welcome recording. We were walking between venues at SXSW in 2009, and my wife wanted to pop into Design Within Reach, an extremely nice (and pricey) furniture store.

Being that it was SXSW, there was a singer-songwriter playing an acoustic guitar in the store, and while my wife wandered around to look at furniture, I recorded local Austin artist Mandy Rowden performing her track, Sweet, that came out quite well!

Check out Mandy at her website and hope you enjoy the song.

Live MP3 MP3s:
Sweet

Labels: austin, live mp3s, mandy rowden, sxsw

Quick post on the 2009 SXSW set from O+S, the Birmingham, Albama based band from Orenda Fink (of Azure Ray, Little Red Rocket, Art In Manila) and Cedric LeMoyne (bassist from the still amazing, wish-they-would-get-back-together Remy Zero.)

I'd had previous, extremely pleasant, encounters with both Orenda (check out this Azure Ray recording from 2004) and Cedric at previous live shows (in fact if it wasn't for Cedric, one of my favorite live recordings of all time wouldn't exist... listen here), and was pumped to hear they had formed a new band, O+S (O plus S) whose record was going to come out the week after their SXSW performance - buy it here.

To be honest, I would have much preferred to hear them at another venue at SXSW, as the club they played at was extremely dark and didn't have the best set up - but they still managed to play a great set, and I wouldn't have missed it (in fact we had to catch a little bicycle cab to make it the 10 blocks from Cedar Street Courtyard to make the show).

Here's my favorite track from the show.

Side note - the picture above is one of my favorite photos that I took at SXSW in 2009.

O+S O plus S Live MP3 MP3s:
Lonely Ghosts

Labels: austin, indie, live mp3s, o plus s, o+s, soundboard mp3s, sxsw

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

Occasionally you find bands that simply blow you away with their uniqueness. Occasionally you find bands that blow you away with their uniqueness, and who are amazing to boot.

Wildbirds and Peacedrums fall into the latter category, and we managed to catch two partial shows at SXSW this year before we saw a full one and loved every minute of all three.

The band is a duo from Sweden - Mariam Wallentin and Andreas Werliin. Andreas plays (or rather, beats the living crap) out of the drums and Mariam primarily sings and also plays an assortment of instruments including the steel drum.

Now I listened to the studio tracks at MySpace, and they are pretty damn good - but in no way do they capture the sheer intensity of their live shows. Mariam channels the finest female singers of all time, including two of my favorite - Bjork and Nina Simone. She stomps, dances, wails, Jim Morrison's the mic and basically transcends into the performance. Andreas clearly loves every second as well. Setting aside Dave Grohl, I've rarely seen someone hit their drums harder. They are a truly magnificent pair.

I managed to get an audience recording of a couple of their songs - and again, though good, they aren't soundboard. If anyone out there has some soundboard recordings, let me know - I'd love one.

In the interim, check out these recordings and their MySpace. I especially love My Heart as it's pretty representative of the live experience and features Mariam plowing into the steel drum and vocally channeling some Post-era Bjork (Hyper Ballad comes to mind). If they come by your town, GO SEE THEM.

Live MP3 MP3s:
My Heart
Doubt Hope

Labels: audience mp3s, austin, indie, live mp3s, side bar, sxsw, wildbirds and peacedrums

Here was the most unexpected set we witnessed at SXSW, a solo and serene set from Nathan Williams aka noise-pop guru, Wavves. Expecting a serious amount of rock we were extremely surprised when Nathan got up on stage and starting playing his guitar with a clean chorus effect.

I'd never heard it before, but hearing the tracks in this setting (especially So Bored) really made me think of similarities to the earlier Nirvana songs from Bleach and Nevermind.

Enjoy!

Live MP3 MP3s:
Intro
To The Dregs
So Bored
...Tried to Stop Me
Wavves

Labels: austin, french legation museum, indie, live mp3s, soundboard mp3s, sxsw, wavves

I first heard about Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson about a year ago - right before his self-titled debut record came out. I think I had to check out the link because its just not that often that a guy with four first names comes along.

I was immediately impressed, there was a certain weight that came along with the songs - lyrically strong, Miles carved out a space as a storyteller and his gravelly voice only complemented his Dylan-esque style. I've been hoping he would tour, and was pleased to see a SXSW showcase show up on the radar.

The showcase was at the outdoor gardens of the French Legation Museum, one of my favorite SXSW venues, the Museum is just a great, relaxed getaway from the crowds of 6th Street.

Miles opened the set with a false start as he decided that he wanted to relive a childhood birthday party and go swing at a Pinata. To pass the time, his band mates treated the crowd to a fairly amusing rendition of Beyonce's Single Ladies. A lot of new songs made the set along with Buriedfed, one of the strongest tracks from his debut record, as well as a cover of Otis Redding's classic - Sitting On The Dock Of the Bay.

Here's a few highlights from the set. Enjoy!

Live MP3 MP3s:
Single Ladies (Beyonce)
There Will Be Mud
Buriedfed
Trembling
Sitting On The Dock Of The Bay (Otis Redding)

Labels: austin, french legation museum, indie, live mp3s, miles benjamin anthony robinson, soundboard mp3s, sxsw

SXSW on Friday.

Got to see a bit of Bishop Allen, Theresa Andersson, The New Wine, These Are Powers, Wavves, Wildbirds and Peacedrums, Marnie Stern, The Tallest Man on Earth and Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson.

Best show of the day was Theresa Andersson. Another example of right place, right time, on complete accident. She was playing the Swedish Showcase at Habana Calle 6, and we'd run over to checkout Wildbirds and Peacedrums. She was playing next and I vaguely remembered listening to some MP3s last year when her last record, Hummingbird, Go! was released.

We decided to stick around, and it was a good thing we did. She played solo with a host of looping pedals and it was a good of a pairing as you will ever get. She had around a dozen instruments on stage, including drums, guitars, records, violins, and dulcimers. She'd play a part, loop it, and play something else over it. Slowly but surely she would build a crescendo of instrumentation and then sing a multiple of vocal parts of her instruments. Just beautiful - and it didn't hurt that her voice was gorgeous.

Be sure to check out this set.

Live MP3 MP3s:
Intro
Oh Mary (Don't You Weep)
Na Na Na
Birds Fly Away
Hi-Low

Labels: austin, habana calle 6, indie, live mp3s, soundboard mp3s, sxsw

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

Fantastic. Exhausting. Day.

Our first day of SXSW 2009 is over - and it was (as expected) fantastic.

Managed to catch Whispertown 2000 and some of Wildbirds & Peacedrums at the End of the Road Festival showcase, saw Hockey, Other Lives, Great Northern, Annuals and some of Zee Avi at the Filter Magazine showcase at Cedar Street and wrapped up the day shows with Cotton Jones at Twangfest. Good times.

Hockey probably took the prize for most rocking showcase (and we didn't even know who they were before we showed up at the showcase!) but definitely the best moment of our day was getting an exclusive recording of the Whispertown gang performing a stripped down version of "Time Will Welcome Anything" on the street at the corner of 3rd and Lavaca.

Lead singer Morgan Nagler sat on a bench, played an unplugged electic guitar and sang while Vanessa, Tod and Casey sang back up and banged out rhythms. It was an amazing performance and reminded me that there's nothing quite like Austin and SXSW. Pedesterians, bicycles and city buses rushing by while a band closes their eyes and plays their heart out on the sidewalk.

Enjoy!

Live MP3 MP3s:
Time Will Welcome Anything

Labels: austin, indie, live mp3s, morgan nagler, sxsw, whispertown2000

SXSW Week! Before I go figure out which bands I'm going to see this week, I thought I'd post another show from last year - the Dodos playing a short yet rocking set at Mohawk's outdoor stage at the Hot Freaks! party.

Check out Hot Freaks! line up for 2009 here - I'm personally looking forward to Bishop Allen...

Live MP3 MP3s:
Intro
Fools
No More Patient
It's That Time Again
Jodi
Red And Purple
Outro

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

So South by Southwest is coming up next week and its usually about this point each year that I realize I still have various recordings from the previous year that I never got up! And this last year I was particularly slow - I think I've got over a dozen shows that I need to post. It'll all happen eventually!

Still, I'm pretty excited about next week - as always there's a hundred great bands and the challenge is trying to figure out how to be in at least 3 places at the same time.

But - that's next week! As a mentioned a few months ago I got to catch and record numerous mini-shows at the SXSW Free Yr Radio Broadcast Corner including She & Him playing one of their first ever gigs (their sixth...) and Dave Monks of Tokyo Police Club playing a spur of the moment (and unexplained) acoustic gig.

Now I liked She & Him at the time, I'd heard bits of the record and enjoyed what I heard. I'd seen M Ward several times before and always liked his music, and it doesn't hurt that Zooey Deschanel is beautiful to boot - but it wasn't til about 6 months later that I saw the movie Elf, and specifically heard Zooey sing Baby, It's Cold Outside that I woke up and realized what an amazing voice she had.

I ended up downloading the Elf soundtrack later that night to get the studio version of the Christmas classic, and wandered back to this show and the She & Him record for more listens and to rediscover something I'd already heard, all over again.

The good people at the Current were also hanging out broadcasting the whole thing. So if you want more you can listen to the whole show over their site here - and check out a couple of my favorite tracks from the show below.

Live MP3 MP3s:
Black Hole
Change Is Hard

Labels: austin, live mp3s, she and him, soundboard mp3s, sxsw

Got a chance to see several cool little shows at the SXSW Free Yr Radio Broadcast Corner this year, including She & Him and Dave Monks of Tokyo Police Club playing a spur of the moment (and unexplained) acoustic gig.

Seeing Dave acoustic was a clear contrast to the almost dancey vibe of the full band Tokyo Police Club experience. Though the songs stood strong as acoustic tunes, it was interesting to note how much of texture the band brings to the songs, and at times I found myself singing along with the missing guitar parts.

All in all though that's what I love about SXSW, you never know what you're going to get, but it's going to be special. Check out my favorite track from the session, Tessellate, below.

The good people at the Current were also hanging out broadcasting the whole thing. So if you want more you can listen to the whole show over their site here.

If you'd like some more acoustic Tokyo Police Club check out their recent AOL Spinners session here.

Now as much as I enjoyed the acoustic session, I'm looking forward to seeing the full band opening for Weezer later this month, in support of their new record, Elephant Shell. Check out tracks at their MySpace.

Live MP3 MP3s:
Tessellate

Tour Dates:
Tue-Oct-07, Salt Lake City, UT, E Center
Thu-Oct-09, Portland OR, Memorial Coliseum
Fri-Oct-10, Vancouver, BC, GM Place
Sat-Oct-11, Seattle, WA, Key Arena
Mon-Oct-13, San Jose, CA, Events Center
Tue-Oct-14, Los Angeles, CA, The Forum
Fri-Oct-17, San Diego, CA, Cox Arena
Sat-Oct-18, Phoenix, AZ, Arizona State Fair
Mon-Oct-20, Austin, TX, Frank Erwin Center
Tue-Oct-21, Dallas, TX, Nokia Theater
Thu-Oct-23, Houston, TX, Reliant Arena
Sat-Oct-25, Atlanta, GA, Gwinnett Arena

Labels: austin, fr yr radio corner, indie, live mp3s, soundboard mp3s, sxsw

Welcome to your weekend (or weekday of your choice if you read this later!). Its been a great week around here, we got to see The Faint & Shy Child on Tuesday (more on that tomorrow) and Cary Piece & Patrick Ryan Clark last night (at a Border's opening no less), and we've got Bitter:Sweet coming up tomorrow.

And for those of you in the Dallas, DFW or North Texas area, don't forget that its KRLD Restaurant Week. A chance for you to take out your loved ones for a lovely 3 or 4 course dinner at some of the best restaurants in the city - and 20% of what you pay goes to charity.

But, enough of the present - here's a lovely little show from Casey Dienel, aka White Hinterland at the Hot Freaks! set at The Mohawk during the SXSW festival from earlier this year.

White Hinterland brought the most creatively-titled and diversely themed songs to this years Hot Freaks show. White Hinterlands fairly difficult to categorrize, but Casey's vocals invoke Regina Spektor and sit atop a bed of electronic piano, bass and drums to create preeminently jazz-flavored ditties. Good stuff - be sure to check out her latest record, Phylactery Factory to hear studio perfect versions of most of these tracks, on if you're in continental Europe, you can see her on tour this October.

Photo Credit: Gorilla vs Bear

Live MP3 MP3s:
Intro
Lindberghs + Metal Birds
The Destruction of the Art Deco House
Dreaming of the Plum Trees
Intro to...
Calliope
Hung on a Thin Thread
Napoleon At Waterloo
Vessels
Outro

Tour Dates:
10/02/08 Dudingen, Switzerland Bad Bonn
10/04/08 Geislingen, Germany Rätschenmühle
10/05/08 Zurich, Switzerland El Lokal
10/06/08 Frankfurt, Germany Mousonturm - Studio
10/07/08 Wien, Austria Szene
10/08/08 Munich, Germany Rote Sonne
10/12/08Berlin, Germany Cafe Zapata
10/13/08 Hamburg, Germnay Knust
10/14/08 Amsterdam, Netherlands Paradiso
10/26/08 Brussels, Belgium Ancienne Belgique

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

I'm not sure I actually need to write anything about this one, considering the spectacular amount of coverage it received. I've never been a huge Lou Reed fan, but it was crazy cool to see a dozen bands cover his songs, in their own styles, ranging from stripped down acoustic sets, to jam-band stylings, to noise rock.

Nothing beat the finale - seeing the man himself get up on stage, with Moby, to show everyone how it's done, and to play one of his best known tracks. Good times in Austin.

Live MP3 MP3s:
Intro
Femme Fatale
Intro to...
Walk On The Wild Side
Outro

Labels: austin, lievi fader fort, live mp3s, soundboard mp3s, sxsw

Okay, before I write about Johnathan Rice a quick announcement.

I'm adding word verification for comments on the blog. I remember the good old days before spammers figured out how to create fake Blogger accounts. Now, every day I get at least 5 comments that are nothing more than advertisements for online gaming crap. I've spent several hours now just deleting this dreg and yet every day there's more. The frustration has mounted and I've given up. The spammers seem to be especially drawn to the Magnet show from SXSW 2005, I have no idea why though Im sure it relates to some sort of highly searched term that they are targeting.

ARGH. Can you tell im frustrated? If anyone knows how to get rid of these leaches, please let me know and I'll turn comments back on. In the interim, feel free to drop me notes via email. Are we going to introduce some sort of capital punishment for spammers?

Now that I've gotten that off my shoulders onto something that actually brings joy into my life. Music.

So.. back to SXSW. I still have a bunch of shows from the 2008 SXSW festival that I need to get up. I've been working my way through them, mastering, cutting up, MP3ing, tagging - and through that I'm getting to revisit each one of these shows, and its reminding me how good they were!

Johnathan Rice played a couple of shows at SXSW, he opened up for REM at their show at Stubbs BBQ, then opened the Nylon Guess Lounge party the next day. It was an extremely cool psuedo-venue, with Nylon Guess setting up on the top floor of a downtown apartment complex.

Technically it was above the parking garage, where the resident pool was located. Fantastic views of the downtown Austin sky line, free drinks, free Guess jeans and sunglasses, all sorts of VIPs wandering through and lounging coaches everywhere. If you can't tell we had a great time, and wandered away with hundreds of dollars of free goodies courtesy of the sponsors.

Oh, and Johnathan Rice was awesome. I'd been been a big fan since I got his first EP, Extended Player 24-26 which basic served as a sampler for his first full length, Trouble Is Real. I'd waited patiently to see him live - and got to finally see him open for Ben Gibbard last May. Of course, the SXSW was much more intimate, in fact it was the first time I'd ever seen an artist while lounging on a couch, pool-side. (I love SXSW.)

Johnathan's set consisted of tracks from his second record, Further North - a much more Americana record which is a complete departure from his earlier more acoustic "old soul" singer songwriter styles. Of course, who enjoys bands who put out the same record over and over again? Though initially surprising, Further North grew on me after several listens, and I thoroughly enjoyed the rocking live versions. I just wish the show had been longer!

Photo Credit: Ryan Russell

Live MP3 MP3s:
Intro
Change In The Weather
Further North
The Ballad Of King Coyote
We're All Stuck Out In The Desert

Labels: austin, live mp3s, major, nylon guess, soundboard mp3s, sxsw

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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