Austin Sound

Bon Iver
Photo by John Laird

In addition to our SXSW picks and Show Previews, we’ll be bringing you short reviews of what we saw, what we liked best, and things we caught on camera. We’ll be checking in with all our local contributors, including John Laird who keeps his own blog, Side One Track One.

Here’s what we were up to on Thursday.

Shout Out Louds Photo: J.M. Cassetta

I love NPR, so when I heard they were putting on a show at The Parish, one of my favorite venues in town, I knew where I was going to be Thursday. I forced myself to get downtown early and got into the line which by noon had nearly wrapped around the block. Come showtime, they let us in slowly, 25 people at a time. I made it inside to catch the last few songs from The Shout Out Louds, one of my favorite “pop” bands. They even played the two songs I wanted to hear, “The Comeback” and “Tonight I Have To Leave It.” Sure they’re kind of sappy, and their lyrics aren’t exactly Top of the Pops, but they sounded great and were having a good time. That’s all I really ask for at SXSW.

Next on was Jens Lekman, who played what was essentially a solo show, accompanied by a violin, a cello, and bongos. I ate it up. Quite frankly, it made me wish he made his records that way, as I’ve always been a little put off by the rest of it. (John Michael Cassetta)

When a rather gawky man, employing a guitar and a harmonica around his neck, approached the Parish stage, the concentrated crowd that was drawn out by the NPR-sponsored day show continued to talk. When that same man, A.A. Bondy, played, the audience felt the full force of his Bob Dylan-esque performance, with a little country twang. Most surprising, however, was Bondy’s voice - raspy, dynamic vocals with a southern drawl that was as much of an instrument as his guitar and harmonica. (Abhinav Kumar)

When I see a band bring a Nord Lead on stage, I get a little excited, mostly because I love cheesy synth lines. But Yeasayer, who I’d never really heard before, were anything but cheesy. Their music was incredibly complex for having only four people on stage, but it was still coherent and very enjoyable.

Bon Iver
Photo by John Michael Cassetta

Bon Iver stole the show for me. I was worried that their solemn and intimate music would be lost on a crowd that numbered more than one, but I’ve never seen an audience so into a performance like this one. There was hardly any noise, except when the band invited us to sing along to “The Wolves” at the end. When the time came, the room practically shuddered with the slow call of the whole crowd sining “What might have been lost…” and the descent into chaos at the end of the song. The band created an inescapable atmosphere with their music like I’ve never seen. It may have been the free Shiners talking at this point, but this performance blew the rest of my SXSW away.

Vampire Weekend were mediocre, and they kind of looked like tools. Yeah, we all know you went to Colombia, you don’t have to wear it on your sleeve. Their self-titled release is a great pop album and all, but you can’t follow up Yeasayer and Bon Iver with an uninspired sample of your new album. I tried to talk to lead singer Ezra Koenig afterwards and he didn’t even look at me. So I went and talked to Bob Boilen (of NPR’s All Songs Considered) about how great Bon Iver were instead. (John Michael Cassetta)

Castanets
Photo by Doug Freeman

Thursday once again started on the eastside for me. I love spending a decent portion of SXSW away from the downtown madness – the crowds are smaller, the sets more intimate, the artists more relaxed and less hurried. Case in point was Ms. Bea’s, which was hosting New York indie promoter Todd P’s shows this year. The shows were running behind when I arrived, but no one really cared, and I was able to catch the end of the Castanets set. Ray Raposa was thickly bearded and hoodied, which fit the psychedelic drone that the band unleashed. Having seen the Castanets and various Raposa lineups many times, it’s always interesting to see what you might get, and the highlight of this set was a minimalized and droned out version of Hank Williams “Weary Blues from Waiting.”

Deer Tick
Photo by Doug Freeman

Deer Tick followed, which was what I came for. It was my first chance to catch John McCauley, and the short set didn’t disappoint. The cover of John Prine’s “Mexican Home” fit perfectly with McCauley’s gritty, nasal croon, and “Diamond Rings” from his debut, War Elephant on Jana Hunter’s new Feow! label, sparkled. (Doug Freeman)

Trotting back downtown, I caught Phosphorescent at Emo’s Annex, where I first saw Matthew Houck and crew two years ago at SXSW. Opening with a cacophonous fury, though unfortunately minus his Christmas light vest, Houck’s off-kilter Mangum-isms and crackling voice swelled through songs from last year’s Pride, even jumping down from the stage to serenade among the fans.

Holy Fuck
Photo by Doug Freeman

Holy Fuck followed unleashing their insane electro-chaos, pummeling beats and thrashing across the stage. It was a great show and Holy Fuck are definitely at the top of the whole electronic/guitar maelstrom that so many bands seem to throw out these days, and which I have to admit I’m fairly sick of. I can enjoy the insanity and energy of the live shows, but really, I only need about three of these types of bands in my life. I’ll put Holy Fuck on that shortlist any day though.
(Doug Freeman)

Most Serene Republic at Emo’s

Most Serene RepublicPhoto by John Laird

Well, the second official day of SXSW actually did kick my ass. I don’t know what it is, but this year seems more exhausting than all of the other times I’ve attended combined. Anyone else feeling this way?

Anyhow, the first act that I saw yesterday was at the AV Club’s party at Emo’s, and it was the Most Serene Republic. I’ve been a fan of the band for a really long time, so it was nice to finally seem them play. I had always kind of imagined them as a band that doesn’t do much jumping around or anything, but surprisingly they were all over the place and full of energy. Too bad the crowd was a bunch of stiffs. (John Laird)

Noisettes at the Lone Star Lounge/Bat Bar

The NoisettesPhoto by John Laird

Last year I discovered the Lone Star Lounge/Bat Bar setup in the convention center and thought that it was a pretty cool idea because of the great lighting and sound. So, this time around I made sure to mark my schedule with at least one performance, and it happened to be the Noisettes. Their shows are always high energy and a good time, but yesterday’s was particularly memorable because of the fact that they played What’s The Time, Mr. Wolf? in its entirety. Good stuff, right?. Though, I will say that I would have liked to have heard some of the new material they’ve been working on. (John Laird)

Ever since I saw Grand Ole Party open for Rilo Kiley a few months ago I’ve been wanting to see them play again. Fortunately, they didn’t disappoint, and this was despite an inattentive, chatty crowd that was concerned with nothing but free drinks. I mean, not that I blame them or anything, but I just don’t understand how this band doesn’t immediately grab your attention when they start playing. I blame TV.

Be Your Own Pet

Wow! What a world of difference not playing at Emo’s and being a little tired makes for Be Your Own Pet. I didn’t mind their performance the night before, but as I indicated yesterday I also thought that their penchant for destroying their material live was a little bizarre. However, at the Filter event they came out, cited being tired and then proceeded to play a set based solely on recommendations from the crowd. Which, meant that while they still got to keep the wing-it mentality the people in attendance got a show that wasn’t just thrashing noise. It makes me wonder if they’re always either crazy or just right.

Robyn

Robyn’s set can probably only be described as a joyful disaster. There was a ridiculously long setup time that saw people walking around aimlessly and unable to fix the problems with the machine that was used to play the backing tracks. So, because that piece of equipment wasn’t working she was not able to do Konichiwa Bitches or any of the other songs that sound similar. Instead she did the more quiet, pure pop numbers in her catalog, which despite the circumstances, actually ended up being really neat. I’d even go as far as saying that hearing Show Me Love was one of the highlights of the day. Maybe I can see her again some time when there are less issues. (John Laird)

The night showcases started with the Body of War set at Stubb’s, which was pretty fantastic, though would have been much more so if Eddie Vedder had shown up as rumored. The only special guest was Billy Bragg, who, though I love him, seems to be the predictable special guest to any political show that he’s near. I can’t seem to avoid this guy – but that’s not really a bad thing. What was awful was Serj Tankian, whose three songs were simply absurd, both in his woeful operatic piano attempts and ridiculous lyrics, ie. “Honking Antelope.” Ben Harper was amazing, however, one of those artists that you just can’t help but be impressed by, even you’re mom probably feels the same way. And Tom Morello destroyed and riled up the crowd as only he can, getting the entire Stubb’s audience to jump up and down through “This Land is Your Land.” Kimya Dawson followed, who I dearly love, but feel bad for with all the attention she’s gotten recently from the Juno soundtrack. She is not made for the spotlight, nor is her music really meant to be embraced by the mainstream press, so while I hope she’s made a ton of money, it will be nice when folks move on and stop bashing her for doing the quirky anti-folk what she’s always done so wonderfully. (Doug Freeman)

Billy Bragg

This show will stick with me for a long time. His performance of “Levi Stubbs’ Tears” was just amazing. In fact the whole set was amazing and I was lucky enough to be in the front row at what was a very intimate affair to start with. Think, this was literally his third show today, two scheduled and one surprise gig. Plus his witty banter rating this evening was off the charts, and I do love witty banter! A gem. (Josh Dilworth)

As so often at SXSW, I found myself in church, this time for the Retribution Gospel Choir and Mark Kozelek. The RGC unloaded a fury in the sanctuary, almost too much for the supple acoustics there, but by contrast, the Central Presbyterian Church was perfectly suited for Mark Kozelek’s hushed intimacy as he worked through some old and new Sun Kil Moon material, set for release in April. (Doug Freeman)

White Hinterland

To kick off my time at the Jagjaguwar/Dead Oceans/Secretly Canadian showcase I caught two half sets by Phosphorescent and White Hinterland. It’s hard to get an exact feel when you’re only seeing a tiny bit, but in my opinion I thought they were both great, especially White Hinterland. I hope she tours soon. (John Laird)

Bodies of Water

Evangelicals

Bodies of Water have one of those “epic” sounds that I attributed to the 4-part vocal harmonies that were spot-on the entire set. I’m almost positive that the booming “These Are The Eyes” could be heard all over Austin that night. John and I, who were both at this show, agreed that we can’t wait to see them again. (John Michael Cassetta)

Evangelicals are not a band that I can say I’m that fond of. I don’t necessarily have a reason as to why I feel that way, but that’s just how it is. With that being said though, I adored their set last night. They had a tough act to follow in Bodies Of Water, and yet they still strolled out and laid down the fury. It was impressive enough to actually get me excited about the next chance I may have to see them. (John Laird)

Jens Lekman

After seeing both Jens Lekman and Bon Iver earlier, I was interested to see how Jens would be with the whole band, and how Bon Iver would do playing to a capacity crowd at The Mohawk. As it turns out, I was lucky to have made it to the NPR show at The Parish, because this night show didn’t quite live up to it.

Jens Lekman had the whole band there, but as I said earlier, I much liked his solo-ish show better. For one, it took him a lifetime to set up. They integrated the samples into the songs well, and Jens hadn’t lost his quirky intimacy, but I still felt a little let down by the performance.

Where The Parish audience was almost totally focused on Bon Iver, and singing whatever was asked of them, The Mohawk crowd was not. I started the show from the upper balcony, where I could barely hear the band over the two guys in front of me yelling at their friend for cigarettes. I tried to make my way down and fought towards the front of the stage, but the best position I could find also featured a group of people shouting about politics next to me. The band may have played a fantastic show, but I couldn’t really hear it. When they asked the audience to sing along, there was maybe a 40% participation rate. I felt like I let them down, which was disappointing. Still, they’re a great band. (John Michael Cassetta)

Black Mountain

I sort of have mixed feelings in regards to Black Mountain’s performance. One hand hand I thought they sounded as great as they always do, but on the other their infinitely long setup allowed them only 30 minutes of play time. That just isn’t enough for a band like theirs. Also, they didn’t play Tyrants, which was 65% of the reason I was in attendance. Bummer. (John Laird)