Damn, damn, damn. I did this last time, and I'm doing it yet again, I'm afraid -- running late in mentioning the latest Bandcamp/Bandcampus deal, going on today, Sunday, February 28th. (In my defense, I was up way, way too late last night & just couldn't bring myself to get back on the computer when I got back, ears & head ringing, from the Festival at the Mink; goddamn, White Rhino are looouuuuud...)

At any rate, the focus this time out is on "SXSW Prep," which means that the idea is to help bands get ready for making the drive up to Austin and trying to make themselves look good in front of the largest potential audience they're likely to ever see (well, most of 'em, anyway).

Today's Bandcampus deal will pair up attending musicians/bands with good-hearted volunteers who'll help 'em get a promo pack together -- both real-world and online -- which is pretty much a must for something where you're facing craploads of label and press people who maybe, just maybe, might think you're pretty cool and want to know more about you.

This afternoon the Bandcampus gang (led, as always, by the seemingly never-sleeping Matthew Wettergreen) will also announce the bands/musicians who'll be playing Houston@SXSW, a cool party that'll be held 3/15 at some place called Hudson's. Unfortunately, I'm afraid the deadline for nominations to play the dang thing has already passed, this past Thursday (just saw it, sorry!), but you can vote on the list of nominees from now until, oh, about a half-hour from now -- voting closes today at noon. To vote, get on over here: http://micropoll.com/t/KDrkEZBCok. You get to pick three bands, and it's one voting session per IP, so don't bother trying to blast the thing w/votes for yourself, eh? And yes, it's a damn tough list to pick the top three, 'cause they're all good...

Anyway, Houston@SXSW should be a good show -- I'll try to get more info up here about it as I get it -- and the SXSW preparatory stuff is good either way. (Hell, in my book it's good even if you're not playing SXSW, but that's another discussion...)

Details time: the thing's today, as I said above, from 2-4PM this afternoon, naturally up at the Caroline Collective. Matthew's not just looking for bands to attend, btw -- volunteers are needed to help out w/the graphic design, the Web stuff, writing band blurbs, and pretty much anything else promo-related. Get on over to the Collective if you want to help out.

Labels: Free Stuff, H-Town News, Musical Crap, Public Service Announcements, SXSW, Things To Do

gaijin || Link || E-mail || 0 comments

[Ed. Note: And here, a few days late -- sorry about that, y'all -- is the last installment of SXSW coverage by SCR/Houston Calling writer David A. Cobb. As before, all photos are David's.]

I had an early start to my last day at South By Southwest, catching up on email and loading up on coffee before meeting a friend and heading off to the Aussie BBQ and catching short sets by The Boat People and Red Ryders. Both bands were excellent and worth checking out. A short walk later, we watched The Warlocks play to a sparse crowd upstairs at Maggie Mae's Gibson Room. While the band sounded excellent and put on a good show, it was obvious that not only is its music meant to be heard in the dark, but that the band members probably hadn't seen daylight in quite some time. The Warlocks played a new song or two from the band's upcoming May release, which thankfully sounded much better than anything on its last album.

By the time we picked up our coveted passes to the SPIN party and made the trek yet again out to the Filter magazine party at Cedar Street Courtyard, I was exhausted. Two full days of running around in the Austin sun had me beat, so we got some lunch and just relaxed a bit before catching a couple of songs from Manchester's The Whip and then heading to Stubb's for sets by Glasvegas and Echo & The Bunnymen. While I had heard good things about Glasvegas, I wasn't completely sold on their album (although "Lonesome Swan" is a good one). Their live set was solid, but the "rock star" persona was a turnoff. It could be me, but the lead singer's kisses and hand-over-heart gestures seemed a bit contrived. Regardless, I enjoyed their set and would see them again if given the chance.

Echo & The Bunnymen played a much better set than when I saw the group during SXSW a couple of years ago. I am a long-time fan of the band and have kept up with its career over the years, so it was interesting and a bit surprising to see people of all ages getting into the band's music and singing along to what amounted to a "greatest hits" set (along with a couple of new songs that will be on the group's next album). From "Villiers Terrace" to "Lips Like Sugar," the band kept the crowd engaged throughout their short set.

After leaving Stubb's and running into the line for that night's rumored Metallica show, I decided to try my luck in line to see what would happen. After being told by a doorman that I'd never get in, I foolishly left the line (my friend Chip did not -- see his video here: www.atomicned.com) and after a meal with a friend and a couple of songs from White Lies' set at Cedar Street Courtyard, I spent the rest of the night trying in vain to get into various shows. Due to the lines and my mounting impatience -- not to mention a very early impending flight -- I called it an early night, my ears ringing and still humming Glasvegas' "Geraldine."

Labels: austin, Musical Crap, Out-of-Town Stuff, Pseudo-Reviews, SXSW

gaijin || Link || E-mail || 0 comments

[Ed. Note: The second installment e-mailed-in by SCR SXSW correspondent David A. Cobb; all photos by him...]

Unfortunately day two didn't get off to a great start. Smacked in the head and guts (and feet) with the fact I am not, in fact, 25 years old anymore, I was in hell for the better part of the morning and early afternoon. I have only myself to blame -- well, mostly. I began the day by attending a blogger's panel at the convention center, which featured (among others) Robert Duffy of DoneWaiting.com. Afterward, I met up with a friend and headed to the Filter magazine party at Cedar Street but sat at an Irish pub for an hour or two while I recovered. At the Filter party, we ran into Blake Smith (The Prairie Cartel), who was hanging with a friend and Samantha Barnes of Filter. We had a great time with them and caught a great set by Los Angeles band Great Northern, who played songs from its upcoming album, Remind Me Where The Light Is.

Arthur Yoria played one of his trademark solo sets at Vintage Lounge, which is always good to see. I bought a couple of copies of his latest album, 281, which I plan to give away on the street today. We followed up Yoria's set with a few songs by energetic Houston pop-punk band American Fangs at Darwin's on 6th Street, and capped off the afternoon at the Justice Records party at Lucky Lounge to see ...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead. My ears are still ringing.

I kept the evening light, and watched impressive sets by Meat Puppets (Stubb's), former Death From Above 1979 drummer Sebastien Grainger (El Sol y La Luna), and Sleepercar (Club DeVille). By far, Sleepercar's set was the most impressive, and even front man Jim Ward seemed surprised by the crowd's response. Much of the packed crowd knew all of the band's songs and played sing-along throughout the set. It was a perfect ending to a great day of music.

Labels: austin, Musical Crap, Out-of-Town Stuff, Pseudo-Reviews, SXSW

gaijin || Link || E-mail || 0 comments

[Ed. Note: David Cobb's been running nonstop since getting up to Austin, not too surprisingly, so I'll be posting his emailed-in updates in his stead. All photos were taken by David, too...]

The first day of South By Southwest always starts with travel of some sort. This one was a cheap, early bird flight to Austin from Houston. After some time at the hotel, an old friend and I headed to the convention center to check in, and then headed to the Fader party grounds to get a jump on the wristband line.

I had wanted to check out Wild Moccasins at Club 1808, but after seeing how far it was we decided to keep it around the general 6th/7th street area for a while. After an entertaining set by DJ Ceeplus Bad Knives at the Austinist party (and apparently just missing a Levi Johnson sighting), we headed to a RealAle party at Lovejoys. Free beer at noon should have been an omen but we've never been that good at decision-making, so we binged for 45 minutes and then took a cab to the "Texadus" Houston band party at Co-Lab to see Benjamin Wesley.

Unfortunately, the Austin fire marshal had beaten us to the show and shut it down before it even started due to the lack of proper permits. Thankfully, Reggie, Gretchen, and the rest of the gang were very accommodating and let us hang out a while and partake of their free Tito's and Chipotle. Free Tito's and Sweet Leaf tea, that is. Crazy... But we met some great people and had a good time for the hour and a half we were there.

Of course, SXSW is about more than free food and drinks. It's about the music, and the rest of the day/night was a blur of great musicianship. Austin Collins & The Rainbirds played a stellar, much-too-short, set out at Saxon Pub. However, The Damnwells' set at Threadgills South ruled the afternoon. After great opening sets by The Winterpills and KaiserCartel, the band -- which features Houston musician Matt Hammond on drums -- played essentially a greatest "hits" set, including songs from its latest album, One Last Century (which is free at www.thedamnwells.com).

Next, I got back to the rock with a packed set by Ume at Maggie Mae's. Lauren and the gang absolutely killed it, and watching her work the stage makes me think that Ume will have a very successful career. The entire room was captivated by the band's set, which was highlighted by "The Conductor" from its new Sunshower EP.

Unfortunately, due to scheduling issues I arrived at the Young Mammals' showcase as the band was packing up its gear. Sucks, but I got to talk to the guys and grabbed a copy of their new album, Carrots. Next, I made the trek out to The Tap Room at Six to see Johnny Goudie and The Little Champions. It has been years since I have seen Johnny Goudie and he did not disappoint. The mostly female crowd was in love with his music, which was culled from the band's new album, El Payaso (which you can get on emusic or iTunes). His set was cut short (not an unusual occurrence during SXSW), and he wasn't happy about it but I couldn't blame him. Don't most bands save their last song for the big one?

Zolof The Rock'n'Roll Destroyer -- a band I have heard about a lot over the years but have never seen live -- played a great set at Maggie Mae's. A heavy blend of synth-pop and hard riffs, the trio isn't breaking any new ground but singer/keyboardist Rachel Minton has a Veronica Mars thing going on that only enhances her stage presence. Cute doesn't begin to describe her. Similarly, I met Kelly Ogden, the singer from The Dollyrots, on 6th Street in line for pizza.

Austin instrumental rock band My Education played an impressive, ear-shattering set at Soho Lounge. This was the second time I have seen the band live, and wasn't disappointed in the least. It was the perfect time for moody, instrumental rock, and the two songs I saw next by Athens' Maserati were big stunners as well. While I could watch Maserati all night long, The Damnwells were playing another set -- and who knows if the band will ever play again -- so a friend and I headed to Vintage Lounge for the set. The band again played a great set, punctuated by front man Alex Dezen's trio of solo songs to end the night.

Labels: austin, Musical Crap, Out-of-Town Stuff, Pseudo-Reviews, SXSW

gaijin || Link || E-mail || 0 comments

Well, we're just about there -- the lucky, non-work-having bastards among us, that is. Yours truly blew all his time off flying to London & back earlier this month, so he's once again going to have to miss the SXSW shenanigans once again...I'm gonna make it there one year, I swear (still working on the press pass).

Luckily, others are more fortunate than I, and so if all goes well SCR will be ably represented by roving correspondent Lance H. (of Tambersauro/Esotype Recs/Golden Cities infamy), who'll be trawling the parties and shows and whatever while he's not actively on-stage drumming, writing up his thoughts, and blogging 'em here. He'll be joined, hopefully, by fellow kind volunteers Brigitte Z. (of Hater) and David C. (of Houston Calling), with other guests maybe popping up, besides. Got my fingers firmly crossed, y'all...

So, as I'm stuck here in SCR's well-fortified mountaintop HQ, what better way to pass the time than giving you a little advance warning of things H-town-centric that'll be going down in the general vicinity of Austin this week. Yeah, I'm going to be pretty Houston-focused, still, when it comes to the SXSW stuff, despite all the cool non-Houston people playing (That Petrol Emotion, woo!) -- sorry, but H-town needs the spotlight from somewhere, dammit. The exceptions are going to be groups that're putting on a bunch of shows, some w/Houston bands, some without, like the Human Party Virus crew; I'm going to list all of them, in the interest of solidarity, yo.

Houston-area bands are listed in puke-y yellow/green where possible, and linked where possible to reviews & whatnot, as well. Oh, and I'm attempting to list the bands playing in order from first to last, but I'm skipping the schedules -- if you want the specific times, go to whatever the link is, eh?

NOTE: I will be attempting to update this thing as the days roll on, so if you hear/see anything H-town-related that's not on this list, definitely let me know ("gaijin" at "spacecityrock dot com"), and I'll add it as soon as I can. Anyway, here's what I've at least heard about that involves Houston bands:

Human Party Virus

Wed., 3/18/09 @ Third Base (1717 W. 6th), 1-10PM:

Warbler

Grandfather Child

Cedar Boy Bailey

Framework

Giant Princess

Woozyhelmet

Your Kisses Cause Crashes

Bad Credit No Credit

Narreme

The Always Already

Golden Cities

Inoculist

Wed., 3/18/09 @ Natrix Natrix House (3222 John Campbell's Tr.), 7PM-1AM:

Tyvjk

XYX

Ratas del Vaticon

Eat Skull

Psychedelic Horseshit

Talk Normal

Thurs., 3/19/09 @ Monkeywrench Books (110 E. North Loop), 11AM-3PM:

No Mas Bodas

Rozi Plain

Hurray for the Riff Raff

Bad Credit No Credit

Best Friends Forever

Thurs., 3/19/09 @ Cherrywood Cafe (1400 E. 38th 1/2 St.), 12-10PM:

Convair

500 Megatons of Boogie

Wood & Felt vs. Wall With One Side vs. Convair

Narreme vs. Warbler

Benjamin Wesley

Female Demand

The Goods

The Living Kills

Hollywood Black

Gretchen Schmaltz

Golden Cities

Jay vs. Colin Swietek

Alana Amram

Thurs., 3/19/09 @ Natrix Natrix House,7PM-1AM:

Pictish Trail

Charlie Mcalister

Buxton

The Wild Moccasins

Real Estate

The Yuppies

Fri., 3/20/09 @ Monkeywrench Books, 11AM-3PM:

Pariah Beat

Your 33 Black Angels

Viking Moses

Golden Ghost

The Shivers

The So So Glos

Fri., 3/20/09 @ Cue House (1106 E. 30th St.), 12-7:30PM:

Phil and the Osophers

Huge Sally

Drew Danburry

Wood & Felt

Michael Jordan

One Happy Island

Warbler

The Goods

Technicolor Victrola

The French Inhales

Fri., 3/20/09 @ Natrix Natrix House, 7PM-1AM:

Chris Paddock

Jay vs. David Israel vs. Phil and the Osophers

The Shivers

Jana Hunter

Steve Burns & The Struggle

Fri., 3/20/09 @ The US Art Authority (2908 Fruth), 10:15PM-2AM:

The Downside Up

The NY Howl

Bad Credit No Credit

Sister Suvi

The So So Glos

Sat., 3/21/09 @ Club 1808 Outside (1808 E. 12th), 11AM-8PM:

Buxton

Stalkers

Asa Ransom

Golden Cities

Franz Nicolay

The So So Glos

Bad Credit No Credit

Narreme vs. Warbler

Woozyhelmet

Michael Jordan

Jana Hunter

Moth!Fight!

Ume

The Wild Moccasins

Young Mammals

David Israel

LIMB

Tambersauro

Sat., 3/21/09 @ Carousel Lounge (1110 E. 52nd St.), 9:30PM-1AM:

Low Red Center

The Mathletes

Asa Ransom

Spider Problem

Bad Credit No Credit

Sun., 3/22/09 @ Barcelona (209 E. 6th St.), 12-6PM:

American Sharks

Warbler

You(genious)

Moth!Fight!

The Faceless Orchestra

Benjamin Wesley

Wall With One Side

Wood & Felt vs. Convair

SXSW Texadus: Movement of the Honky

Wed., 3/18/09 @ Co-Lab Space (613 Allen St. -- RSVP!):

TheART

Female Demand

Benjamin Wesley

Stereo is a Lie

B.B. Mercy

The Steps

The Western Civilization

listenlisten

Papermoons

Sleepy Horses

The Dry Season

The Steps

Pink Snowflakes

Anarchy at SXSW! (A Silence Production & Thy Old Murkville Forest)

Thurs., 3/19/09 @ Rancho Relaxo (3402 Merrie Lynn), 12PM-12AM:

Doctor Jones

Florene

Buxton

Rozi Plain

Pictish Trail

Golden Ghost

Viking Moses

Peter and the Wolf(!!!)

Dana Falconberry

Fight Bite

listenlisten

Samamidon

Via Audio

The Black

Micah P. Hinson

Drug Mountain

Native America

Vega

Casa de Gallo Party

Thurs., 3/19/09 @ Casa de Gallo (2604 Diaz), 1-10PM:

B L A C K I E

Giant Princess

Elaine Greer

Buxton

News on the March

Papermoons

The Eastern Sea

Bart Davenport

Bolt

Fri., 3/20/09 @ Casa de Gallo (2604 Diaz), 1-10PM:

Elaine Greer

The Wild Moccasins

Tiny Animals

News on the March

Something Fierce

Bolt

Mount Righteous!

The Unbearables

One Hundred Flowers

Local Natives

Indiehouston.org Day Party

Fri., 3/20/09 @ Co-Lab Space (613 Allen St. -- RSVP!):

Muhammid Ali

B L A C K I E

sIngs

Future Blondes

Welfare Mothers

Jana Hunter

News on the March

The Riff Tiffs

Paris Falls

The Watermarks

Fat Tony/B L A C K I E

Ghormeh Sabzi

Kristine Mills

The Tontons

Buxton

The Wild Moccasins

Giant Princess

Young Mammals

The McKenzies

DD/MM/YY

Tambersauro

Japanther

High Five! Party Party! II

Fri., 3/20/09 @ IONA Handcrafted Books (RSVP!)

Abby Birds

The Seas

The Watermarks

Palomar

Hightide Blues

Little Fish

Whitman

Your Kisses Cause Crashes

Gliss

The Pons

The Boxing Lesson

Halloween Town

Built By Snow

Roxy Epoxy and The Rebound

DJ Czech One

GRRRL Parts

Ryan Pardey

Ceeplus Bad Knives

Too Much Cake: New Performances

Sat., 3/21/09 @ Co-Lab Space (613 Allen St. -- RSVP!):

Patrick Doyle

Christian Ochoa

Cody Ledvina

Misc. Diskette

Frank Olson

Julia Wallace

Aisen Chasin

Bunnyphonic

Daniel Adame

David Waddell

Michael Anthony Garcia

James Beard

Balls Deep

Emcee Eats

Load Records/Dull Knife Showcase

Sat., 3/21/09 @ The Independent/501 Studios (501 35N/5th):

Balaclavas

White Mice

Rusted Shut

Indian Jewelry

Six Finger Satellite

Bizarro house party?

Sat., 3/21/09 @ 505 E. 50th St., 6PM-???:

Welfare Mothers

Battle Rifle

Guitars

Muhammid Ali

Ghettobird

Vorvordoss

Manstamp

Mos Fuk Dupp Day Party

Sat., 3/21/09 @ Co-Lab Space (613 Allen St. -- RSVP!):

Kaylan Rexer

Silent Alarm Activated

Abby Birds

The Blind Pets

The Upper Echelon

Oh No Oh My

Guitars

The Western Civilization

Sarah Jaffe

Boom Boom Box

I Love Math

Halloween Town

Your Kisses Cause Crashes

Shilpa Ray & Her Happy Hookers

Built By Snow

The Boxing Lesson

Gliss

The Pons

Random SXSW-Related News:

• 3/19: Heard from correspondent David C., who reported that sadly, yesterday's H-town-focused "Texadus" party at Co-Lab (feat. Benjamin Wesley, The Western Civ, & other cool folks) got shut down by the fire marshal at about 2PM. Damn. I've heard reports, though, that all the permits'll be obtained in time for the other Co-Lab-hosted shows, so keep yr fingers crossed.
• Chatted the other night with Chris from the much-beloved Buxton, and sadly, while his band is indeed playing all over the freakin' place at SXSW, he's missing the fun due to illness. Damn. Luckily, he's found an able temp replacement in the form of Brett from By the End of Tonight & sIngs, but still... Get better soon, man!

Labels: H-Town News, Musical Crap, Public Service Announcements, SXSW, Things To Do

gaijin || Link || E-mail || 0 comments

Hello, dear devotees of Space City Rock. My name is Lance Higdon (Grammaticus in my professional high-school-Latin-instructing life), itinerant drummer and laptopper for Tambersauro, Golden Cities, Narreme & Wall With One Side respectively. The Editor-In-Chief has asked me to contribute to the stream of information trickling out of Austin and back to our own beloved metropolis. I'm also a humble drone of Houston label Esotype records, which in turn is part of the 1 Day 1 Hour Indie Coalition, comprised of ourselves, Mia Kat Empire, Soda Pop Sounds, Natrix Natrix Records & Stikibel NY. With that full disclosure made, it may come as no surprise that most of my observations will revolve around our involvement with the Human Party Virus day party series that is running all week. Nonetheless, i intend to roam the flyer-littered, single-digit streets of Austin and relate whatever weird or wonderful things might cross my path.

And so i shall begin with yesterday's events. After successfully negotiating a tire blowout about thirty miles outside of Austin, i drove into downtown for a Golden Cities set during the "Houston @ SXSW" day party, thrown jointly by Matthew Wettergreen of Caroline Collective and Grace Rodriguez of Ayn Brand. As i arrived on St. Patrick's Day, i was unsure whether the verdant masses crowding every crosswalk were stragglers from the Interactive portion of SXSW or simply Austinites eager for their share of green Budweiser.

Whatever their intentions, said revellers guaranteed that parking was scarce and costly; i paid 10 dollars to secure a spot that remained open mostly because of the horrible parking skills of the adjecent parkees. Happily my bandmates were able to secure my gear at the door of GRUV, a bar with the unfortunate lack of foresight to stock up on Guinness and Bailey's in anticipation of the holiday (to their credit, i didn't see any green beer either). Matthew was playing selections from Dave Wrangler's Houstonocentric mash-up mix Heads Up Houston, bringing together the likes of Jay-Z & Biggie Smalls with Tha Fucking Transmissions, Beyonce, and even the fleeting wobble of a dubstep bassline. I'm holding out for B L A C K I E to make the cut on volume 2.

"Houston @ SXSW" purported to get the jump on the music portion of SXSW (which seems to have passed from an abbreviation to a shibboleth in its own right) with a clutch of Space City's finest. Friendly faces from The Western Civilization and Wayside Drive dotted the room, along with a cadre of cheerfully tipsy ladies shaking their collective leg to Wrangler's mix. We were preceded by Houston-by-way-of-Buenos Aires rock en espanol band named Espantapájaros ("Scarecrow" for us Spanish illiterates), who cut their Santanaesque jams with a healthy dose of blues-seared Texas swagger. Golden Cities' set was beleaguered by guitar malfunctions and poor monitor mixes, but was well-received.

After tearing down, i wandered the block for a few minutes. Aside line for the Decembrists' free show that wrapped around the block, it could have passed for another boozy night on 6th Street. We packed out and repaired with The Quietist's Wade Allen (now sadly relocated to Austin) to an undisclosed location for Irish Car Bombs, celebrating my blowout survival & the formal beginning of a week of unknown sonic delights.

Labels: Houston, Musical Crap, SXSW

Grammaticus H. || Link || E-mail || 0 comments

Attention all band folk -- want to play South By Southwest this year, but you didn't get the coveted nod from the festival organizers? Well, don't get too down on yourself, 'cause relatively few (23 in total, I'm told; see the full list here) of your H-town compatriots are; not sure if that means fewer Houstonians put themselves in to the hat to play or if SXSW has reverted to its seeming anti-Houston bias from before the last few years. It's a damn shame, either way, because I honestly think there are more fucking incredible bands playing 'round town right now than any time since I first made this place my home 18(!) years or so ago.

But y'know what? Fuck 'em. One thing that defines Houston's scene more than anything else, to my mind, is its unwillingness to just shrug and take what it's given. If bands, labels, zines, and whatever else in this town don't get invited to the party, so to speak, they give 'em the finger and make their own.

So, with that in mind, it makes perfect sense that there're a bunch of SXSW Houston-centric showcases being set up right now for the Austin musical love-fest. I'll get to the others in a later post, but first and foremost (and most critically, the good people behind the Bandcamp series of workshops is busily booking three free daytime parties to showcase H-town talent -- two for music, I believe, and one for Houston filmmakers & tech folk.

They're giving any and all Houston-based bands to play at their parties, which is very cool, but there's a catch (albeit a relatively painless one): if you want to play, you have to show up to the Bandcamp: SXSW PREP workshop going on today, Sun., March 1st, from 1-3PM over at the Caroline Collective (4820 Caroline). This session of BC will focus on getting bands prepped for playing SXSW by creating a real-live press kit to promote themselves to all the hungry label- and media-type people who'll be meandering around Austin later this month.

And trust me, this is a good thing -- as I've ranted about before, there's nothing more frustrating to me as a writer about things musical to not be able to easily find info on a band or musician I'm interested in. The harder you make it to find out about yourself, folks -- who's in the band, your band's history, what you sound like, where you're headed next, etc. -- the more likely it is that press and record label folks won't bother, no matter how mind-blowingly awesome you might be.

Success in this business is one part talent, three parts hard-ass work marketing and playing out, and two parts pure blind luck. By promoting yourself well, you can tilt the odds in your favor considerably, and the Bandcamp crew is willing and able to help you with that. Take them up on it. And again, if you want to play any of the day parties, you have to get your ass on up to Midtown this afternoon. The Bandcamp folks will be selecting bands to play from the attendees...

(Oh, and if you'd be up for helping out with the press kits -- whether you're a writer, graphic designer, web developer, or whatnot -- please, please, please get on up there, too, and donate a few hours of your time, eh? It's for a darn good cause.)

Labels: Charitable Things, H-Town News, Musical Crap, Public Service Announcements, SXSW, Things To Do

gaijin || Link || E-mail || 0 comments

SXSW defeated me. For the past two days I've hardly been able to get out of bed (by which I mean floor) my bones have ached so completely. My brain hurts, my body hates me, and I'm sad because it's over. And churches are stupid. Anyway, my last day in Austin for this year's sxsw was great. And, once again, I want to thank Jeremy for giving me the opportunity to contribute to his blog. It was an amazing four days.

Saturday started in a garden. I don't actually think I saw any acts in the garden (I faintly remember some music playing, but for the life of me can't remember if it was in my head or not), but I do remember that there was $1 Pabst and a lot of flowers. The reason I went to the garden (technically it wasn't just a garden--it was the French Legation museum) was to see what time Okkervil River was playing, but I got sucked in to the moment and had to sit down next to some bluebonnets. After about an hour I decided it was time to leave to catch Two Gallants at Waterloo park but on my way out I ran into the guys from Noah and the Whale (yep, them again) and had a chance to talk with them for a while. I told them that they're becoming huge in Houston (that's up to you guys--make it happen) wherein they promised to play a gig here next time they tour. I wish I could apologize for promoting this band as much as I have the past few days, but I just can't. I'm in love.

Giddily, I left (Is giddily a word? Whatever) the garden, and walked a short 16 blocks to Waterloo Park to see what was going on at this, how in the hell they pulled it off I have no idea, free to the public Austin City Limits style festival a block or so away from the capital. It was almost perfect--75 degrees, slight breeze, free music and cheap snow-cones. What else is there, right? So I got to see Grand Ole Party (how perfect is that so close to Georgie's old haunts?), Darker My Love, and then Two Gallants. They were two of the happiest hours of my week; nothing, at this point, was going to faze me. Until that stupid stupid church.

I left to go back to the garden party to see Okkervil River but they were running behind schedule so I got to see She & Him (Zoey Deschanel and M. Ward), and they were suprisingly good. Seeing M. Ward play backup guitar to an actor turned singer was a little weird, but Zoey put on a great show. She sounds very similar to Jenny Lewis (old Jenny Lewis, not Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins Jenny Lewis, and that's a good thing). The crowd was huge, too, which was, huh? So after about an hour Okkervil came onstage and Will Sheff is a fucking maniac. He's one of the most confident, I don't give a shit what you think of me performers I've ever seen, and never has Okkervil been more on than they were Saturday afternoon. It was loud, it was fast (sometimes it was slow), and it was just what I needed to start the night. $1 Pabst rules.

Which brings me to church. Shit. The Okkervil show ended at around 8:30 and I decided that I would wait for an hour so I could get a good seat to see M. Ward and Jim James at St. David's. Yeah, it didn't work out. By the time I got there the church was already at capacity and there was a line 200 people deep with people who had the same idea as me. The sxsw volunteers (who are, for the most part, total dicks) made it clear that, no matter how long we waited, none of us were getting in. But I waited anyway. Futilely I prayed (it was a church so I thought what the hell), but my wishes went unanswered. And then I thought, what's up god, why can't you just invent more pews and throw that shit down here so we can all get in? What I don't understand is how the planners of this year's festival didn't assume M. Ward and Jim James would bring more than 250 people (the capacity of the church). And these were all badge holders (or so the volunteers told me), which makes me a little, sort of a lot, angry and confused. The point of having a badge is to be guaranteed admission into every show, and then something like this happens? There was more than a little rage walking away from church Saturday night. And the sign on the door said "All are welcome here." Bullshit.

So it was on to plan B. Luckily I still had time to get to the Dirty Dog Bar to see the Saddle-Creek showcase. Three of my favorite bands were playing back to back to back so it made the night a little less of a downer. First it was Washington D.C. natives Georgie James, then Saddle-Creek's only rock and rock and rock and roll band, Neva Dinova (the lead singer moves his hand so fast while playing guitar it looks like a strobe light is shining on his fingers), and finally Two Gallants (I know, twice in one day, they're fucking good, ok?). If you haven't seen these guys live, you shoudl try your best to catch them if they ever come back to Houston (and thanks to our ultra-friendly cops who love to taze 14 year olds, they probably won't), because they put on one of the most fantastic live shows I've ever seen. There was a lone crowd surfer during "Las Cruces Jail," which made me wonder is this fucking Warped Tour or something?

Finally it was time for the last show of the week, Matt and Kim at the Mohawk. I had only listened to them a few times and had never seen any live footage, so I didn't really know what I was getting myself into, but it turned out to be the only way I could have ended the festival, really. The show was the most danceable, kicked in the face five timesable show I've ever been to, and I loved every second of it. It lasted only 35 or so minutes, but those 35 minutes are ones I'll never forget. Walking out of the venue, I could hardly move I was so sore (and I think with two less ribs in my body thanks to a dude with big black leather boots and his crazy Karate Kid style dance moves). But it was all worth it. The show ended what was the best four days I've had in years, and if I could start it all over tomorrow, I wouldn't even think twice. Only 362 days to go.

See you next year...

Labels: Musical Crap, Pseudo-Reviews, SXSW, Things To Do

Brandon Hernsberger || Link || E-mail || 0 comments

Thank god for tap shoes. But more on that later. Day three at sxsw was fucking strange. I've been trying and trying to think of ways to capture it for you guys, but I'm afraid I'm going to come up a bit short. Words won't do it. I'll try anyway. I know each day I come on here and complain about how awful it is to try and find a place to park in Austin (and it is awful), but yesterday something happened. I found a space within earshot of at least a dozen venues and I didn't have to pay one single cent for it. Let me back up. I didn't actually go downtown to see any day shows Friday--I spent my afternoon finding acts to see around town, which made the day show experience so much better, not having to deal with the crazy lines and crazier people (I'm talking to you, frat dude passed out in the street at 1:00 in the afternoon trying to score a free burrito). Anyway, I went over to Guadalupe (or Gwaudaloop if you want to sound Austin) to see a show which was originally supposed to be Two Gallants at Urban Outfitters (huh?) but ended up being Tall Firs (who?) at Cream Vintage. The point of this story is not the band, because I've already forgotten what they sound like--it's all about that parking space. It was literally fifteen or so feet from the venue (and part time vintage clothes store I assume--there were a lot of clothes and hangers and the what not), and get this; there were like two hours still left in the meter so I didn't have to make the long reach into my pocket to search for a dime. Score. And there was free beer, tons of it. Oh, and the port-a-potties smelled like popsicles. It was a very good way to start the weekend, and a good break from the chaos.

I went to see Noah and the Whale again at 5:00; they were playing at a small coffee shop on South Congress called Jo's. The show was, as you probably could have guessed, fantastic. I know this is the second time I've talked glowingly about Noah and the Whale, and there is a purpose for that. Go listen to them and you'll see why. I haven't been this excited about a band in years, and this afternoon show didn't dissapoint. They covered Daniel Johnston's "Devil Town" in front of what looked to be at least six or seven people deep. Why people are ignoring this band at this year's sxsw is confounding me. There will be regrets.

My day show schedule ended there, and now it was time for me to wait in line for Vampire Weekend. Here we go. I got there (Antone's) at around 6:45 (the first band didn't go on until 8:00; Vampire Weekend til 11:00) and there was already a line. There were people waiting there since three in the fucking afternoon. And it was 97 degrees yesterday. For Vampire Weekend. Yep. So finally I got in and found a spot in the front row middle. And then I waited. And waited. And then oh yeah, waited. The first band, Bear in Heaven, began promptly at 8:00 and ended promptly at 8:40. It's a shame a band that interesting has to open for a band where it seems like every member of the audience is just waiting for them to leave. It was sad, because Bear in Heaven is really good. It seemed, though, that the entire day and night was just about waiting for Vampire Weekend so I'll move on. Basia Balat was next, and again--so good. Lead singer Basia Balat (I'm pretty sure that's here name--she's adorable) sounds eerily similar to Tracy Chapman (though, I must admit, I don't know how that reference will be received, but whatever--she was good). Basia Balat covered Daniel Johnston's "True Love Will Find You in the End," and it made the wait for Vampire Weekend a little more tolerable. At 10:00, Foreign Born took to the stage and they were foreign boring so I won't say much about their guitar guitar vocal vocal blah blah performance. The lead singer did have wicked nice teeth, though, so that's something.

And then there was Vampire Weekend. The wait was over. They got on stage and it was like the fucking Beatles, I swear to god. I don't know how to describe the scene, but in all the years I've been going to shows and festivals like this one I've never seen anything like it. Ever. And it was mostly 13 or 14 year old girls screaming at the top of their lungs, knowing things about the guys in the band that probably shouldn't be known. It was surreal. I knew that these guys were big, I just didn't know they were this big. I don't want to sound like one of those cynical music writers that seems to hate whatever's big at the moment, but for real, come on. Really? The show was good, but not great. Certainly not worthy of the hype, and absolutely positively not worthy of the six hour wait. I could go on for pages and pages about this show and about how confused I am about this phenomenon, but I'll save that for another time. I have a few theories about it, but I'm still trying to work out the kinks. It seems, though, that America has its Arctic Monkeys. Sigh.

Which brings me to the tap shoes. I went to see Tilly and the Wall at 1:00, ending my night. I've seen them probably ten times over the past three years, and I think it's impossible for them to give a performance that's not memorable. They're energy is infectious, and Jamie (the tap dancer) makes the audience go crazy with her akimbo arms and pony-tailed smile. Tilly and the Wall saved the night for me after the Vampire Weekend out of control extravaganza.

And then I didn't get to sleep until 5 in the morning because I didn't really have a place to stay until a friend of mine saved me by offering me his floor. And it smelled like garlic.

I'm off...See you Sunday.

Labels: Musical Crap, Pseudo-Reviews, SXSW

Brandon Hernsberger || Link || E-mail || 1 comments

Wow; that was probably the best night's sleep I've ever had. But more on that later. I'm halfway into this year's sxsw and already I feel like I'm taking advantage of the festival--I know a badge seems like a ton of money (and when I get home and see my electric bill then look in my wallet and realize oh shit, I might be singing a different tune), but right now it feels like I've paid for it a few times over. Yesterday was that good.

It didn't start out that way, though, and I had my doubts that this year's fest would live up to the ones I've been to in the past. I was wrong. First, the bad stuff.

I arrived downtown at around noon and resigned myself to thinking that I'd pay the $10 it costs to park semi-close to the goings on, but the closer I got to 6th St the more and more of an Austin bad ass I felt like, so I said fuck it, these streets can't defeat me--I'm not paying for shit. They not only beat me, I almost died from walk exhaustion. For those of you familiar with Austin, I had to park like a block from Riverside (and I'm staying on Riverside for god's sake), and the venues that host the shows are at least twenty-three miles away (rough estimate, of course). So my day started with feet aches. It was okay, though, because I was about to see the Shout Out Louds at my favorite place in Austin, The Parish. The line was tangled-Christmas tree chord long, and I had to wait at least an hour to get inside the door. So I saw two songs. Good songs, but two songs.

Thursday was becoming frustrating. But I didn't let it faze me; I was about to see Destroyer (of New Pornographers fame) at some little place I've never heard of and for the life of me can't remember the name; it starts with a V, though, and I think has two syllables. He went on at 2:00 and by 2:20 I realized that he really really didn't want to be there--his vocals (the best part of the band as far as I'm concerned) were off, the guitars sounded bored and the audience seemed like they belonged at a Jansport convention or some shit. Yeah, it seemed like all of them were wearing backpacks and all of them were standing right in front or behind or next to me, bumping me with their carelessness. Which brings me to my sxsw proposal:

Anyone, regardless of age, sex, race, religion, or opinion on how shitty Nickleback is--will, upon second backpack wearing offense, be promptly killed.

I don't know if it'll stick, but here's hoping.

In any case, after Destroyer I was all hyped to Vampire Weekend, back at The Parish. I should have known. Only people on the "the list" were able to get in. I assume this "the list" was a "the list" of all the American Apparel hipster 16 year olds in the Hill Country, because that's who got in. Whatever.

So instead of Vampire Weekend, I went to Cedar Street to see Be Your Own Pet. Again, failure. I don't know where they were or what they were doing, but they were supposed to go on at 4:00 and I ended up leaving at 4:30 without hearing one song. A friend of mine bought me a beer, though, so that ruled. By this point my day seemed almost lost. I really had no plans for an hour, so I made my way over to Emo's because maybe I'd see someone I knew there and score another free beer. When I saw Los Campasinos at Emo's, Jr I could feel my luck starting to change. They're one of those bands that I've been hearing a lot about but for some reason never had the time to listen to, but my god they're fun. A seven member band from Wales who play xylophone, violin, guitars, drums, and probably more who sound very very similar to Architecture in Helsinki. But that's okay; Architecture in Helsinki is a good band to copy, right? And they're from Wales, not Australia. So there's your difference.

From there I went to Emo's outside to see the sxsw '06 superstars Tapes 'n Tapes. I know these guys are sometimes scoffed at and sometimes maligned, but seriously, they're great. They played crowd favorites "Insistor" and "Cowbell" on top of maybe eight new songs, and they all sounded as if Tapes 'n Tapes is ready to be discovered again (I'm not sure they went anywhere, but still). Their new record is gonna get cha, I know it. The day shows were over. On to the night...

The first show I saw (after having a very good garden burger with my new best friend Ryan Jewell from Pink Reason and Psychedelic Horseshit, what up best friend Ryan Jewell...) was Noah and the Whale at Friends. This was, without question, the highlight of the festival so far (until a few hours later). There's always that one band at sxsw who always grabs me and makes me realize this is the reason I shell out the money every year to come to this festival. It was Tapes 'n Tapes two years ago, Beirut last year. This year it's Noah and the Whale. If you haven't seen the youtube video for their song "Five Years Time," you should probably stop reading this and go watch it. Now.

The rest of the night was good but not great; I mean, I saw some bands I love (Wussy, Man Man--who sound like Tom Waits would sound twenty years ago if he loved to dance and not drink whiskey and not smoke a pack and a half a day, which is a good way to sound, obviously, and a set of trashcan drummers who sounded interestingly like Animal Collective, playing outside on 6th St.).

But the night came to a transcendent stop when I saw Mark Kozelek (from Sun Kil Moon and Red Housepainters) at Central Presbyterian Church. It's hard, really, to put into words exactly how moving his performance was, so I won't even try. It feels like I'd be doing a disservice to the music if I used merely words to describe it. It did feel as if the entire frenzy of the festival came to a quick halt when the 100 or so of us in attendance heard him sing "Pancho Villa," which was the first song of his set. It was like living in a different musical world than the rest of the sxsw attendees. I honestly forgot where I was for a few minutes, the music covered me so completely. That moment alone was worth the price of admission. And there was an encore. An encore at a show at sxsw not taking place at Stubb's is a very rare thing, but it seemed natural here. It's sort of painful to try and write about it--I'm never going to have that moment back for the rest of my life, you know? The first time I heard the first note sung by Mark Kozelek. It sounds obsessive, I know, but what else is there?

See you again tomorrow...oh, and about the best night's sleep I've ever had. I got to sleep on a real couch last night and not a floor with dogs trying to chew my ears. I want to say it's because Mark Kozelek's voice is so amazing but that might be a jump in logic.

See you tomorrow...

Labels: Musical Crap, Pseudo-Reviews, SXSW, Things To Do

Brandon Hernsberger || Link || E-mail || 0 comments

Greetings, spacecity-ers. I'm here in Austin at the annual music orgy that is sxsw, ready to embark on the monumental task of trying to remember my days. I want to first say thank you to Jeremy for allowing me to contribute to his blog and for giving me the assignment to be the first ever space city rock sxsw correspondent. The week is already getting crazy.

I arrived here yesterday optimistic that 11:00 a.m. was early enough to find a decent parking spot downtown but my optimism quickly turned to dread, as I should have expected. The first few moments of sxsw are always the most exciting; that feeling you have Christmas morning when you know you're getting Super Nintendo, remember? It's always so great going into the Austin Convention Center to pick up your badge and then making your way downstairs to pick up your overstuffed goody bag which this year featured a toy soldier asking us all to put down our guitars and pick up a gun, we're going to Iraq. What the...

In any case, Wednesday morning found roughly 5,000 people (could have been like 15,000--I'm bad with numbers) all waiting to feel important, and I waited amongst them for 30 or so minutes until I finally got my badge. I was now official. I first went to see David Dondero at the Austin Convention Center Day Stage, which was an altogether uneventful 20 minute set other than the fact that he sang "Rothko Chapel" to start the fest. A song about Houston's own little non-denomintational whatever it is; this year's sxsw seemed made for me.

The free day shows every year are oftentimes more exciting than the night, and this year seems to be living up to that--most likely, I wanna say, because of the free alcohol and/or free chips. I made my way over to the Red Eyed Fly to see Two Gallants at 2:50 where I was greeted with a free Dewer's and gingerale that not surprisingly, wasn't all that good. The show, though, was amazing. I've seen Two Gallants about eight or so times, and never in all these years have they sounded as full as they sounded Wednesday. Adam (the singer) and Tyson (the drummer) seemed to be in perfect step the entire 50 minute set. What a perfect way to start my week. After the show I hopped across the street to catch ex-Broken Social Scene-er Jason Collett (and was promptly given a free Lone Star and a big plate of chips and salsa; thanks, Capitalism!). The drink and food were the best part of the show and end it there. Oh and a side note, never take a beer on the street in Austin--the fuzz'll get you every time. I, ahem, saw it happen to someone. Moving on...

I had like an hour to kill so I ducked into some little bar (can't remember the name of it, it's right next door to Spiro's. Anyone?) and saw maybe the coolest three dudes ever to dawn wicked scary horse masks while playing confusing electronic music on what looked to be a homemade synth noise machine that made arcade sounding beats with merely the flick of a wrist. No joke. It was beautiful and terrifying at the same time. Rubber Robot, look em up. Went back to the Convetion Center to catch Saul Williams' sing about the affair between Frida Kahlo and Josephine Baker in between his sometimes moving, always brutally honest poetry. This time it was all moving. I wanted to cry. Then it was time for the night shows.

Oh and a note of promotion for the Mongolian BBQ restaurant across the street from the Convention Center--try the fried tofu with garlic sauce; it'll make you see god.

Wednsday night at sxsw is notrious for waiting around til late to see the acts worth seeing, and this Wednesday was no different. I didn't get to see my first "official" sxsw show until 10:00, but things'll pick up. It gave me a chance to shmooze with the local celebs on hand (by celebs, of course, I mean artsts waiting outside venues until it's their turn to go on). Caught a glimpse of the good life when I saw Dan Deacon (with a beard!) outside Emo's and Derek Presnall of Tilly and the Wall (sweet, sweet hair cut) and Jamina Pearl Abegg of Be Your Own Pet sort of trying to avoid eye contact with their fans. I understand, though, guys, you're big time. Anyway, Peter and the Wolf played their brand of jangly jang kids' music (or I suppose what could be called kids' music if the lyrics weren't about tying up girls to the ground with electrical tape) at Central Presbyterian Church on 8th Street--which is, I've gotta say, one of the coolest venues I've ever seen a band perform. Those church-ies sure know their acoustics. After the set I stepped foot outside and thought, what the fuck is it 40 degrees for, this is Austin. I guess that's neither here nor there, though, so whatever. My next stop was Emo's Lounge to see Kimya Dawson. Never in a milion gajillion years did I think Kimya would get this big but thanks to fucking Juno I had to stand behind a post. Other than that, though, she was as great as you would imagine.

Elf Power was next (at Spiro's)--one of the shows I was looking most forward to this year. I'm too sad to say anything about it other than I left after three songs. Shit. The last show of the night was back at Emo's Lounge--The Blow. By this time my feet were seriously about to fall off from my 16 miles of walking the streets of Austin, but it was great. The highlight of the set was Khaela Maricich's super duper cool cover of "Sweet Child of Mine" (woah woah woah). And then Wedneday was over. This week is just getting started, and let me just say; the belly of the beast tastes good.

Til tomorrow...

Labels: Musical Crap, Pseudo-Reviews, SXSW, Things To Do

Brandon Hernsberger || Link || E-mail || 1 comments