SXSW 2011 News

If I’m not going to post anything about SXSW, I’d just as well abandon this blog.  Buuuut, I’m not quite ready to do that.  So I’ll be posting links to a plethora of info and insights stemming from this year’s SXSW gathering; including news from Film, Interactive and Music.  Aren’t you excited? 

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AdAge  :::  Live From SXSW, the Death of the Social Check-in

Which social check-in companies are in Austin and what they are doing to catch attendees’ affection.

ScreenCrave  :::  Conan O’Brien Documentary Strikes Unique Distribution Deal At SXSW

We are bound to hear more about Conan’s doc covering his comedy tour while between shows and networks last year.  Don’t you love sweet revenge?

Paste Magazine  :::  Paste’s 100 Bands At SXSW

Meh.  Was hoping for a preview to bands, but this will be updated throughout the fest.  Should be good coverage, tho.

Spin/HP collaboration :::  Every Passion Has A Road  (series)

Showcase of upcoming bands attending the music fest.

The Guardian  :::  The Internet is Over

Not quite, but there are some serious querries to consider the future of computing in this article.

PC Mag  :::  Google Circles Social Network? Don’t Hold Your Breath

Most sources are saying Google has backed off for now.

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And if you like to follow numbers and trends you must check out The Guardian’s SXSW Band Tracker – real-time trending of bands playing and who’s literally the talk of the town!

TWR’s SXSW showcase companion pt2

 What a great broadcast from The Waiting Room last night…will catch the 2nd installment on podcast as it’s NCAA Tournament time today /tonight.  This is why I don’t have as much time to list out deets as my earlier post.  But you can find their music as well as interviews for many of the artists.

Thanks again, TWR for keeping us upon part of the giant SXSW picture! 

The Chapman Family – Interview 

Middleman – Interview 

St. Deluxe * – Interview

The Crookes – Feature 

Rose Elinor Dougall (former Pipette) – Interview 

The Law * - see previous blog post

Polly Mackey & The Pleasure Principal - Interview 

Dan Black – Interview 

Fangs * – Interview 

The Boxer Rebellion  – Interview 

Twin Atlantic * – Interview

Smoke Fairies – Interview 

Johnny Flynn & The Sussex Wit - Interview 

Kill It Kid  – Interview 

Tommy Reilly  * -Interview 

Allo Darlin’ – see previous blog post

Jackie Oates   :::   The Wave Pictures    :::   Angry Vs. The Bear   :::   Malachai   :::   Gemma Ray   :::   Zun Zun Egui   :::   Let’s Wrestle   

TWR’s SXSW showcase companion pt1

There is a great program showcasing new music on WOXY.com called “The Waiting Room.”  This week they will feature UK acts appearing at SXSW 2010.   Original airing is tonight for Part I and details can be found here.  I’m really looking forward to both lineups.  If you miss it, check out the podcast. 

I’ve created a companion to go with the broadcast.  You can go directly to each artist’s MySpace page to listen to their music.  And for a few bands I’ve included a description,  links to a random album review and interview if you’d really like to know more. 

Race Horses – Debut album released this year, “Goodbye Falkenberg”.  Very poppy.  Reminiscent of 60′s bands.

Interview  |  Album Review

Standard Fare – “The Noyelle Beat” will be released the end of this month.  They list influences like Belle & Sebastian, The Lemonheads and Fleetwood Mac.

Interview  |  Album Review

Fyfe Dangerfield – The Guillemots frontman has an album out called “Fly Yellow Moon” which he recorded between projects.

Interview  |  Album Review

Best Fwends – Think Beasties and you’ll get the idea.  “Krusher” is a tour EP which includes some other bands.  They are now living in the States.

Interview  |  Album Review

The Jim Jones Revue – These guys remind me of a Jerry Lee Lewis revival with fuzzy feedback and a heavy dose of the blues.  Kind cool combo.  Lead guitarist, Rupert, is Beth Orton’s brother.  This band has several big-name fans like Mick Jones and Bobby Gillespie and have supported The Dead Weather.  Album name:  “Here to Save Your Soul”

Interview  |  Album Review 

The Lovely Eggs – Male/female duo that plays what I personally consider 90′s style indie music.

Interview  |  Album Review

Christopher Rees – “Devil’s Bridge” is Americana-style, country tinged storytelling.

Interview  |  Album Review

Cate Le Bon – “Me Oh My” is the album title and Cate has worked on the Neon Neon project if you’re familiar with that. 

Album Review

Marina & The Diamonds – Not a band, but rather a solo artist.  And from what I gather, she’s comparable to Florence + The Machine though I haven’t heard enough to say that’s true vocally.

Interview  |  Album Review

Codeine Velvet Club * – Self-titled album to be released next month.  This is Jon Fratelli’s new project if that gives you an indication of what to possibly expect.  I’ll leave it at that!

Interview  |  Album Review 

Allo Darlin’ – Imagine writing a song with Henry Rollins in the title accompanied by a ukulele and making it work?  You get the idea.  Though from reading the review below (which is a great review, btw) it sounds as though some songs on their eps haven’t made it to the full length.

Album Review

The Unthanks - Mercury Prize nominee 2008  :::  Toy Horses   :::  Sweet Baboo  :::  Broadcast 2000  :::  Fanfarlo  :::  Slow Club (Album Review)  :::  Trembling Bells * :::   Broken Records *  :::   We Were Promised Jetpacks *  :::   Band Of Skulls   :::  Colin MacIntyre aka Mull Historical Society *  :::  Frightened Rabbit *

* indicates artist is from Scotland

The Law – ready for a beatdown?

They hail from Dundee and you may already know their music. In case you don’t I have a feeling you will.  Think invasion.  Get this – they have more than SIX SXSW gigs slated!

Now this is one of the things about the yearly music conference that bugs me. In the last ten years it’s morphed. I think anyone who follows SXSW has heard how it’s much less about unsigned bands. That’s a shame. But now bands get slated at multiple gigs which just makes things crazier. Yes, it lets bands gain more exposure, but does it help gain buzz? I’m not convinced. [/SXSWrant]

At the same time, it’s a good opportunity for The Law to introduce themselves stateside. Here are a couple videos:

This track was featured in the movie ”The Men Who Stare at Goats” and I think a TV show has recently picked up another album track.

And here they are performing another track I like live (Television Satellite).

Their album, A Measure of Wealth gets a US release in May. And I have to give props to their manager as their website ( http://www.thelawmusic.com ) is a dream. Very well thought out. They also promoted their album in unique ways. They had a series of podcasts leading up the the album release and each on included a round of Pub Trivia against other bands. Totally clever!

SXSW Band: Bear Hands

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SXSW 2009 – Bear Hands

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From: Brooklyn, NY

Website: www.myspace.com/bearhandsband

Showcase:  Village Voice party (Mar. 20)

Talk about a solid bill, this Brooklyn band will be playing with Cursive and M. Ward to kick a string of SXSW gigs.  If you’re an Indie radio regular you may already know them.  They’ve only been around a couple years, but have stayed the course and been playing live to a growing number of fans.

There’s a little similarity to British Sea Power in case you want to get to know them better.  And next week they’ll play live in the WOXY studios, so be on the lookout for them!

Buildup to SXSW 2009

The Big 12 basketball tourney began today.  Know what that means?  Yours truly will be glued to the TV set and/or net for the next few days.  I luv this time of year! 

It also indicates that the next SXSW fest looms just around the corner.  I’ve tried to fit my share of music and basketball together while in Austin, but will be sitting on the sidelines this year. 

I can’t think of a better way to prepare for the fest than NPR’s Austin 100: SXSW Mix.  Whether you’re going or not it should pump you up.

SXSW 2009: Electronic preview

Since we’re knocking on March’s door, let’s take a look at some of the artists booked for this year’s SXSW.  Here are a few of the Electronic acts with links to their MySpace or check out the daily SXSW schedule.

Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip  (UK) 

Afghan Raiders  (Las Vegas)

N.A.S.A.  (Los Angeles)

Skibunny (Belfast)

Bomba Estereo  (Bogata)

We Have Band  (London)

Sugar & Gold  (San Francisco)

Sonpub  (Toykyo)

Jon Kennedy  (UK)

Getting a jump on SXSW

I know it’s early but have you heard a few artists have been confirmed already? If this doesn’t get your blood pumping in the middle of winter I don’t know what will:

Friendly Fires
Ra Ra Riot
Courteeners
Gabriella Cilmi
Pete & The Pirates

But the BIG news is PRIMAL SCREAM! Can u believe they’ll be touching down on U.S. soil?

SXSW catch-up

     What a craz-ay weekend.  You would have thought I’d traveled to both SXSW and come back for the Big XII championship game.  Maybe I just lived it all without having to be there physically, but wow do I feel like a bus ran me over.  (That, and work is just a bite right now.)

     So I slacked on my SXSW duties.  I think I got a little hacked off by the Thursday list of ’sleepers’ by the Chronicle.  They actually listed Yeasayer and The Weakerthans as ‘sleepers’ – yeah, whatever.  But they did get one right that I hope some new folks were turned on by:  Wussy.   

WOXY.com has given the Cincy band some exposure.  We’ll see if their SXSW appearance will boost their profile a little more.  So let me go back and highlight a few more bands that played late last week.

From the Friday sleeper list:

• Sia
• The Cool Kids
• The Rascals
• White Rabbits

From Saturday’s sleeper list:

• Georgie James
• Tiny Masters of Today – a band we previewed on Randomville
• The Singles
• Ha Ha Tonka - This name caught my eye on the list as it’s a State park in Missouri (which I’ve visited).  How can you not check out a place called Ha Ha Tonka State Park if given the opportunity?  Just a little reference for ya – I’ve linked you to a blog that talks about the mansion and its ruins…pretty wild when you’re actually there to imagine how they got all the supplies to that remote location!

SXSW day two overview

• Eye Weekly reviews the bands they saw (including Yeaysayer, who the Austin Chron. posted as a ‘Sleeper’ band yesterday…HELLO>>>>>
• Listen to NPR’s webcasts of SXSW concerts including Yeasayer, The Whigs, Vampire Weekend and REM
• While in town, REM also taped a show for Austin City Limits
• Times Online SXSW Diary

….more to come