3/28/07

Slate asks, "Are CDs dead?"

So does tinymixtapes.com- here.

If you live in Austin bookmark this page NOW! Planning my SXSW schedule was so much easier this year, thanks to Austin showlist.

This is very cool- "iConcertCal is a free iTunes plug-in that monitors your music library and generates a personalized calendar of upcoming concerts in your city."

3/27/07

Links

Stylus Magazine's Top 50 one hit wonders feature began today.

Of Montreal will play Conan O'Brien April 12th. That is just a few days before their "karaoke concert."

Streaming NPR Audio of SXSW performances:

Andrew Bird: 2007-03-15, Austin

Apples in Stereo: 2007-03-15, Austin

Beirut: 2007-03-16, Austin

Fujiya & Miyagi: 2007-03-15, Austin

Okkervil River: 2007-03-16, Austin

Peter Bjorn and John: 2007-03-15, Austin

The Stooges: 2007-03-16, Austin

SXSW 2007 Day 3

Day 3- Taking it easy

SXSW 2007 Day 3- Started the day at the Mean Eyed Cat for the Mojo magazine party. Free swag galore- Pok-e-jo’s BBQ, nice concert posters, t-shirts, good ice-cold tea. Even though this was part of the U.K band series the first band was the Polyphonic Spree, who I was excited about seeing despite not really caring about their last release. I saw them years ago at the Cat’s Cradle and was blown away, so I had high hopes- which they met. The percussionist was the definition of controlled chaos and had another guy whose primary job was to pick up all and repairing everything that this guy knocked over. And somehow he didn’t miss a beat. The band played some new and old songs as the sun beat down on my free beer-filled body. Detroit ’s Blanche followed and featured a guy from the Raconteurs on the banjo.

We decided to completely avoid the downtown 6^th street area today and went over to an art gallery on the east side for the Asthmatic Kitty party. On a grassy yard, we recharged while the Weird Weeds played some sparse, mellow tunes. The day ended with a local band- Peter and the wolf, who featured a choir and a few hand-made stringed instruments. I will definitely be heading out to see them again next chance I get.

All in all, this is my favorite of all 3 SXSWs I have experienced since moving to Austin. I don't think I will be buying a wristband next year.

SXSW 2007 Day 2

Day 2- Goal for day 2: get into the Beirut performance at the ACL studios- a 300 capacity venue…

…but that’s not until 7pm so I’ll get back to that.

I arrived at Waterloo at 2:30 for a 3 o’clock Peter Bjorn and John set that didn’t actually start until 3:25. Thank goodness for free beer. Again, Waterloo played the band’s album in the store right before they came on. Not a good idea when they’re delayed and you hear nearly the entire album before the band actually starts. PB&J played some of the more “shoe gaze” songs off of “Writer’s Block.”

I was happy and kinda wanted to stick around but had to leave early head downtown for YACHT- Jona from the Washington band The Blow. Finally found the lucky lounge (I could’ve sworn that the streets change from East Blahblah to West Blahblah at I-35 but it turns out they change at Congress Ave. and always have. I must've walked past it twice. Duh!

Anyway-YACHT was great and super high-energy. Jeni and I headed to catch the last few Elvis Perkins songs at the No Depression magazine party. He was great and continues to look like Suess’ the cat in the hat. His album “Ash Wednesday” is definitely one of my favorite discoveries of the past year.

After that we moseyed on over to the Habana annex for a rest stop of free beer and food before making our way to the KEXP showcase at the ACL studios. We were an hour early which turned out to be great b/c besides getting front row seats we got to eat burgers and witness an on-air interview with “The Good, the Bad, and the Queen,” featuring Damon Albarn of Blur and Gorillaz fame, and the bassist from The Clash. I got my picture with Damon after the show. How cool is that?!

Beirut came out and played nearly an hour of amazing music to a packed house. Zack Condon released his spit valve more than anyone I’ve ever seen play the trumpet. I left as satisfied as I have ever been.

The wristband-free SXSW experiment is a smashing success. Time for rest before the final day!

SXSW 2007 Day 1

Day 1- The beginning of my first wristband-free SXSW experience:

Day 1 turned out much better than expected when I got off of work at 1:30 and rushed downtown. I drove straight to Waterloo to see the future Mrs. Testa- Lily Allen (who, incidentally, sang and secretly dedicated all of her songs to ME! :)

Lily Allen did a short small band, acoustic set- keys, drums, acoustic guitar. Oddly, they played her album on the speakers at Waterloo right before she went on, which was strange because I was certain she would play 2 of the first 3 songs- “Smile” and “LDN”- and, of course, she did. At least she played slightly reworked versions of both, the sweet “tiny things” from her album and 2 covers- “heart of glass” by Blondie and “Naïve” by the Kooks. Both were nice and the crowd loved it. Then- she was gone. Got to leave them wanting more, I guess. And, boy did I!

I walked down to the 6th street area, which was buzzing. The weather was perfect- high 70s and sunny- a great day to be in Austin. Sights on the way—that weird “naked cowboy” guy who goes around in his tighty whiteys with a guitar& cowboy hat, “Leslie”- an Austin institution, first with a pink thong on, then covered by an acid-washed skirt, and later in a thong again.

Went to Emo’s to see what was going on. The Onion was having a party and Andrew Bird was to come on at 5:20 so I had an hour or so to kill. The Onion promoters gave me a free drink pass for some reason, which turned out to be a good way to pass the time… Emo’s annex had RJD2 doing a live band set which I caught the very end of. I missed Elvis Perkins who played right beforehand but I plan on catching him tomorrow. Went back to the main Emo’s and then over to “Bourbon Rocks” to see who was playing. It looked like a band was about to start so I went in. The Walkmen came on so I watched a few songs. That singer’s voice, while tolerable on album, was grating live and A. Bird was about to come on so I went back to Emo’s. Andrew Bird was great and did some interesting live sampling loops with his violin. Someone yelled “play something that RAWKS!” right after a really great “rocking” song. We all shrugged and smiled. There’s one in every crowd.

I went inside to catch a few minutes of Michael Showalter (from the insanely funny “Wet Hot American Summer”) doing stand-up and telling a story about Michael Ian Black falling asleep driving.

Walked up to meet Jeni- who picked me up a few blocks down and we crawled through downtown traffic over to S. Lamar to catch the Rosebuds at Bird’s Barbershop. My usual barber was drunk and I let her get in front of me in line to the bathroom.

Ivan from the Rosebuds was behind me so we chatted and lamented the closing of King’s Barcade in Raleigh, NC. The Rosebuds were next and played a lot of new stuff with a disco feel- it still had the Rosebuds sound though, so my worries about the next album were calmed somewhat. Kids jumping in a moonwalker RIGHT next to the stage- better than any smoke or lights I’ve seen, as far a creating a high energy mood for the show. A strange man in a UT football jersey broke it down with insane dance moves like the “duck and spin” at inappropriate moments during the songs. He was sure having a good time and so was I.

Overall- it was a great day and beginning to SXSW 2007. I think wristband-free SXSW may be a success!