gurzil (![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} gurzil) wrote,@ 2007-03-21 13:17:00 |
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SXSW report
So, a report on what I actually ended up seeing, with some comments.
Tuesday:
---------
Starting early! Free show at Emo's. I think this was the only time I went to Emo's (main room) because of the hilarious stupid long lines.
@ Emos
Ume - She has a great voice, and can play fast guitar lines while thrashing about madly.
When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth - 2 drumers, 2 guitars, 2 singers, and one bass player. If they had another bass player, they could make two bands, that were both just about as good... which wasn't very. They seem to be in a direction I would like, but it seems like they don't actually get there.
Wednesday
--------------
@ Opera House
Numerators - I did not intend on seeing this band, but the Opera House actually had no stage manager. Or I would have been complaining about how bad of a job they did.
Anavan - Hockey helmets with microphones built in.
@Zero Degrees
Scratch Bastid - good skills, lots of double disc stuff, but eventualy he would work himself up to the point of totally losing the beat, and it was annoying.
Jern Eye - "If you love hip hop say HO-OH!" Some em-cees go a bit to far with bugging the crowd. He makes an art of it.
Omni - He still pestered the crowd, but was much better, and so, excusable. Just wish I could have heard the backing tracks. Will get the album, A++ would see again.
@Blender Balcony
Power Pill Fist - Noisy abusive bombastic 2600 hackery. Quite nice.
@Lava Lounge
CPC Gangbangs - I want to like a good new punk band. This isn't that band.
@Mohawk
The Twilight Sad - forgettable...
Rob Crow - I was looking forward to this. Unfortunately I don't think the live show lives up to the record (which I got, and am enjoying greatly).
@Unkle Flirty's Lounge
Callisto - Slow metal. They were very good musicians, and I enjoyed it, but it doesn't seem to be my thing.
@Blender Balcony
Experimental Aircraft - meh. there is no gnarl here.
Black Moth Super Rainbow - They had a DVD playing a strange collection of animation that went with the music very well. If it was synchronized with their set I would have been seriously impressed. Without the synchro, it was only "awesome".
Thursday
---------
@Mrs Beas
Rafter
Liam Finn?
Macromantics - Took a couple of songs for her to get warmed up. I feel conflicted on liking this because they are pure poppy candylike hiphop. Enjoyable, but not too much nutritional value.
@Scoot Inn
Matt & Kim
? - This punk band in which the overweight singer strongly desired to take off his shirt. Bonus points for having a freshly shaved patch in the middle of his chest for a tattoo. I am still unsure what the shirt off thing is about.
@Rio Rita
Short Stack - A country-esqe band, but there was a double bass player and they played a Captain Beefheart song, so it wasn't all a loss.
Knife in the Water - Andrew wanted to see them. They are normally a larger band, but in this case were a duo of electric piano and guitar. Even Andrew was a unimpressed.
@Parish
Gray Kid - I was looking forward to seeing him again. He had a few new songs and also sang songs off of the mix tape released for Thanksgiving. Chatted with him a bit and he recognized me from last year. His performance was pretty great, he was being quite energetic for the video crew. He was at a couple of unofficial parties, but I was unable to see him again. I recommend him to just about anybody, he does a great combination of hip hop and pop.
@Spiros
Telephone Jim Jesus - He had such a hideous live set up, I had to stop watching him to enjoy what he was playing.
@Emo's Annex
Old Time Relijun - The recording on the SXSW page was much more interesting than all the other song they played, which seemed like vamps on single notes. I may give them another try though.
@Spiro's
? - some other hip hop mc..
Junk Science - There is some good hip hop out there. This was not it.
@Parish
Dragons of Zynth - Just a random sighting turns into one of the best bands of the week. They were pretty wild on stage, and their music is a not quite punk, not quite mellow, not quite TV on the radio. Looking forward to their album.
Aa - Interesting in theory, less so in practice.
@Room 710
Don Caballero - I will need to give them some more listening time. They seem to be doing mathy metally rock with originality and strength, tinges of Pell Mell hiding back there...
@Elephant Room
? - ugh.
Shot x Shot - I hardly remember this... Was I there? I think I just stopped in for a sec, and was underwhelmed. Headphone music for me. I ran away to go see...
Cadence Weapon - Incredible delivery and speed from this mc. Great backing tracks. The energy of a nerd on a caffeine high. And stage banter including "Everyone who likes puppies say YEAH!" I will find and buy any and all albums I can.
These Arms are Snakes - the guitar amp failure did little to mute the singer's desire to crowd surf. He liked picking out anyone who he thought was not paying enough attention to land on.
Friday
---------
@Creekside Lounge
Ume - She was losing her voice already at this point in the week, but that would not stop her guitar.
Dan Deacon - Don't fuck with Dan Deacon or he will make you dance! He has the best stage banter ever.
Storm Shadow
Loxsly
The Laughing
The Spent Years ?
Macromantics - Also on the injured list. She apparently cut her foot open the previous night. Didn't see her again to see what other injuries were collected.
@Spiro's
Blues Control
Mark Deutrom - experimental? no.
@Flamingo
?
Yip yip - fun video game inspired IDM.
@Zero Degrees
Eliot Lipp
Listener
Daedalus - Joyous, even if it is 'just' great live techno. The album I got at the show is much more trip-hoppy. Both are good.
@Ale House
Luminous Orange - Glad to catch them again, and they had some new songs. No new merch, and I would have bought all that they had..
@Flamingo
Monotonix - There is no place in the club that is safe from Monotonix. There is nothing on the bar that is safe from Monotonix. There is nothing that will remain dry after Monotonix. Nobody is going to use that microphone, after Monotonix.
@Spiro's
Boris - You mena Mono? No, Boris. Same thing. They are great musicians, but they don't excite me.
Oxbow - The definitive violent event of the year. The singer refused to correct a wardrobe malfunction so they shut down all stage power. when the bouncers went to restrain the drummer, the singer got involved. No blows were thrown until the bouncers got pissed at the crowd, and started beatin them, er, us, up. They threw a patron at me, but missed. Spiro's: home to violence, every year.
Saturday
----------
@Friend Island
Burning Star Core - If I had known before, I would have gone to see him in the evening as well. This is actual experimental music, indeed.
Slaraffenland - they all(most) play woodwinds (melodica does not count) on some well crafted songs.
@Snake Eyes Vinyl
Yip Yip - not as exciting the second time around.
@Mrs Beas
Dynasty Handbag - I don't understand really.
Green Milk from the Planet Orange - we ran away.
Cheesburger - maybe this is the cheesy punk band I need? Didn't pay close enough attention, as we were relaxing at the time, but they seemed to be fun.
Dirty Projectors - Not sure why I had preconceptions about this band, but they were much mellower than I had imagined.
Dragins of Zynth - This was the second time seeing them, and it seemed like the week had taken its toll. The sound system at Bea's was horribly insufficient. I ended up taking off after three songs.
@Blender Balcony
Daniel Francis Doyle - Cathartic and sparse guitar sampling with drums.
Health - Strangely, when the music itself is rambunctious, the band doesn't need to be. Health was both, and awesome.
Jello Biafra - I had never seen him in person, so it was nice to catch the tail end of his talk. It is almost too easy to complain about Bush these days though, leaving me with a bit of "yes, and?" feeling.
Bloodhag - I think they go beyond their schtick, and are a good death metal band. Picked up the album, but haven't had a chance to listen to it. Live, it is hard to make out some things, like... notes.
@Elephant Room
Keith Killgo Jazz - Not an intended visit, just getting there early for Hiromi. "New" fusion jazz, pretty straightahead. It actually was pretty enjoyable, and the bass player had an NS Design as well.
And NO FUCKING HIROMI. "Snowed in". Fuck fuck fuck.
@Emo's Annex
Two Ton Boa - Two bass players, a great singer, and a drum kit augumented with hubcaps and trash can lids. Reminded me some of Live Skull (which is a good thing).
@Elysium
65daysofstatic - Metal/rock plus keyboards, but tending almost towards overly dramatic power metal.
At this point we were thinking of seeing Frog Eyes or Balkan Beat Box, but, we were tired. We cut and run before 1am to Magnolia.
Sunday
-----------
Not many shows, and none I wanted to see. Instead we hit Karaoke Underground and I sang the empanadas edition of "Gimme Gimme Gimme".
60 or so bands. The week was a lot of fun, and somehow less exhausting than last year. Perhaps we were more prepared to seek out seating at all possible locations. Yes, I will be there next year, and the badge decision still lingers. I'll eventually see Aesop as he seems to be here every year. I am most whiny about missing Saul Williams on Wednesday. Just didn't hear about it or see it on the site. It is too easy to miss some great bands at SXSW, so who knows what else I missed. I'll try and get a few spare bodies for next year.
So, a report on what I actually ended up seeing, with some comments.
Tuesday:
---------
Starting early! Free show at Emo's. I think this was the only time I went to Emo's (main room) because of the hilarious stupid long lines.
@ Emos
Ume - She has a great voice, and can play fast guitar lines while thrashing about madly.
When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth - 2 drumers, 2 guitars, 2 singers, and one bass player. If they had another bass player, they could make two bands, that were both just about as good... which wasn't very. They seem to be in a direction I would like, but it seems like they don't actually get there.
Wednesday
--------------
@ Opera House
Numerators - I did not intend on seeing this band, but the Opera House actually had no stage manager. Or I would have been complaining about how bad of a job they did.
Anavan - Hockey helmets with microphones built in.
@Zero Degrees
Scratch Bastid - good skills, lots of double disc stuff, but eventualy he would work himself up to the point of totally losing the beat, and it was annoying.
Jern Eye - "If you love hip hop say HO-OH!" Some em-cees go a bit to far with bugging the crowd. He makes an art of it.
Omni - He still pestered the crowd, but was much better, and so, excusable. Just wish I could have heard the backing tracks. Will get the album, A++ would see again.
@Blender Balcony
Power Pill Fist - Noisy abusive bombastic 2600 hackery. Quite nice.
@Lava Lounge
CPC Gangbangs - I want to like a good new punk band. This isn't that band.
@Mohawk
The Twilight Sad - forgettable...
Rob Crow - I was looking forward to this. Unfortunately I don't think the live show lives up to the record (which I got, and am enjoying greatly).
@Unkle Flirty's Lounge
Callisto - Slow metal. They were very good musicians, and I enjoyed it, but it doesn't seem to be my thing.
@Blender Balcony
Experimental Aircraft - meh. there is no gnarl here.
Black Moth Super Rainbow - They had a DVD playing a strange collection of animation that went with the music very well. If it was synchronized with their set I would have been seriously impressed. Without the synchro, it was only "awesome".
Thursday
---------
@Mrs Beas
Rafter
Liam Finn?
Macromantics - Took a couple of songs for her to get warmed up. I feel conflicted on liking this because they are pure poppy candylike hiphop. Enjoyable, but not too much nutritional value.
@Scoot Inn
Matt & Kim
? - This punk band in which the overweight singer strongly desired to take off his shirt. Bonus points for having a freshly shaved patch in the middle of his chest for a tattoo. I am still unsure what the shirt off thing is about.
@Rio Rita
Short Stack - A country-esqe band, but there was a double bass player and they played a Captain Beefheart song, so it wasn't all a loss.
Knife in the Water - Andrew wanted to see them. They are normally a larger band, but in this case were a duo of electric piano and guitar. Even Andrew was a unimpressed.
@Parish
Gray Kid - I was looking forward to seeing him again. He had a few new songs and also sang songs off of the mix tape released for Thanksgiving. Chatted with him a bit and he recognized me from last year. His performance was pretty great, he was being quite energetic for the video crew. He was at a couple of unofficial parties, but I was unable to see him again. I recommend him to just about anybody, he does a great combination of hip hop and pop.
@Spiros
Telephone Jim Jesus - He had such a hideous live set up, I had to stop watching him to enjoy what he was playing.
@Emo's Annex
Old Time Relijun - The recording on the SXSW page was much more interesting than all the other song they played, which seemed like vamps on single notes. I may give them another try though.
@Spiro's
? - some other hip hop mc..
Junk Science - There is some good hip hop out there. This was not it.
@Parish
Dragons of Zynth - Just a random sighting turns into one of the best bands of the week. They were pretty wild on stage, and their music is a not quite punk, not quite mellow, not quite TV on the radio. Looking forward to their album.
Aa - Interesting in theory, less so in practice.
@Room 710
Don Caballero - I will need to give them some more listening time. They seem to be doing mathy metally rock with originality and strength, tinges of Pell Mell hiding back there...
@Elephant Room
? - ugh.
Shot x Shot - I hardly remember this... Was I there? I think I just stopped in for a sec, and was underwhelmed. Headphone music for me. I ran away to go see...
Cadence Weapon - Incredible delivery and speed from this mc. Great backing tracks. The energy of a nerd on a caffeine high. And stage banter including "Everyone who likes puppies say YEAH!" I will find and buy any and all albums I can.
These Arms are Snakes - the guitar amp failure did little to mute the singer's desire to crowd surf. He liked picking out anyone who he thought was not paying enough attention to land on.
Friday
---------
@Creekside Lounge
Ume - She was losing her voice already at this point in the week, but that would not stop her guitar.
Dan Deacon - Don't fuck with Dan Deacon or he will make you dance! He has the best stage banter ever.
Storm Shadow
Loxsly
The Laughing
The Spent Years ?
Macromantics - Also on the injured list. She apparently cut her foot open the previous night. Didn't see her again to see what other injuries were collected.
@Spiro's
Blues Control
Mark Deutrom - experimental? no.
@Flamingo
?
Yip yip - fun video game inspired IDM.
@Zero Degrees
Eliot Lipp
Listener
Daedalus - Joyous, even if it is 'just' great live techno. The album I got at the show is much more trip-hoppy. Both are good.
@Ale House
Luminous Orange - Glad to catch them again, and they had some new songs. No new merch, and I would have bought all that they had..
@Flamingo
Monotonix - There is no place in the club that is safe from Monotonix. There is nothing on the bar that is safe from Monotonix. There is nothing that will remain dry after Monotonix. Nobody is going to use that microphone, after Monotonix.
@Spiro's
Boris - You mena Mono? No, Boris. Same thing. They are great musicians, but they don't excite me.
Oxbow - The definitive violent event of the year. The singer refused to correct a wardrobe malfunction so they shut down all stage power. when the bouncers went to restrain the drummer, the singer got involved. No blows were thrown until the bouncers got pissed at the crowd, and started beatin them, er, us, up. They threw a patron at me, but missed. Spiro's: home to violence, every year.
Saturday
----------
@Friend Island
Burning Star Core - If I had known before, I would have gone to see him in the evening as well. This is actual experimental music, indeed.
Slaraffenland - they all(most) play woodwinds (melodica does not count) on some well crafted songs.
@Snake Eyes Vinyl
Yip Yip - not as exciting the second time around.
@Mrs Beas
Dynasty Handbag - I don't understand really.
Green Milk from the Planet Orange - we ran away.
Cheesburger - maybe this is the cheesy punk band I need? Didn't pay close enough attention, as we were relaxing at the time, but they seemed to be fun.
Dirty Projectors - Not sure why I had preconceptions about this band, but they were much mellower than I had imagined.
Dragins of Zynth - This was the second time seeing them, and it seemed like the week had taken its toll. The sound system at Bea's was horribly insufficient. I ended up taking off after three songs.
@Blender Balcony
Daniel Francis Doyle - Cathartic and sparse guitar sampling with drums.
Health - Strangely, when the music itself is rambunctious, the band doesn't need to be. Health was both, and awesome.
Jello Biafra - I had never seen him in person, so it was nice to catch the tail end of his talk. It is almost too easy to complain about Bush these days though, leaving me with a bit of "yes, and?" feeling.
Bloodhag - I think they go beyond their schtick, and are a good death metal band. Picked up the album, but haven't had a chance to listen to it. Live, it is hard to make out some things, like... notes.
@Elephant Room
Keith Killgo Jazz - Not an intended visit, just getting there early for Hiromi. "New" fusion jazz, pretty straightahead. It actually was pretty enjoyable, and the bass player had an NS Design as well.
And NO FUCKING HIROMI. "Snowed in". Fuck fuck fuck.
@Emo's Annex
Two Ton Boa - Two bass players, a great singer, and a drum kit augumented with hubcaps and trash can lids. Reminded me some of Live Skull (which is a good thing).
@Elysium
65daysofstatic - Metal/rock plus keyboards, but tending almost towards overly dramatic power metal.
At this point we were thinking of seeing Frog Eyes or Balkan Beat Box, but, we were tired. We cut and run before 1am to Magnolia.
Sunday
-----------
Not many shows, and none I wanted to see. Instead we hit Karaoke Underground and I sang the empanadas edition of "Gimme Gimme Gimme".
60 or so bands. The week was a lot of fun, and somehow less exhausting than last year. Perhaps we were more prepared to seek out seating at all possible locations. Yes, I will be there next year, and the badge decision still lingers. I'll eventually see Aesop as he seems to be here every year. I am most whiny about missing Saul Williams on Wednesday. Just didn't hear about it or see it on the site. It is too easy to miss some great bands at SXSW, so who knows what else I missed. I'll try and get a few spare bodies for next year.
