Austin Sound

Following the Roller on the Black stage, fellow local heavy hitters the Pack of Wolves sounded downright melodic. Extra points for Trey Ramirez’ guitar, which was as wild as the quartet themselves. And make no mistake, these boys could fillet some riffes, ripping into almost speed metal at times as they rallied behind debut Betrayer. [...]

Just like Ume impressed at last year’s early afternoon Fun Fun Fun Fest slot showcasing a huge growth, this year’s early contender for most improved and to make an impact locally over the next year is the Laughing. Playing the indie orange stage, the group retained some of their classic jittery dance-punk rhythms and vocals, [...]

See now, this is the problem with booking the nostalgia ticket - they start backing out. We blame the Alzheimer’s, mostly. Sadly, Sonic Youth appears to be headed to the trashheap of the ACL lineup cancelations, a rumor that’s been bubbling all week and that the Chronicle just reaffirmed with news that their ACL taping has been canned. It seems that ACL is beginning to look like high school not only in its aesthetic this year, but also its drop out rate. They should get Lil Wayne on that shit! Anyway, the reason for the pullout is apparently that Lee Renaldo broke his wrist, which sucks, but we suspect this is really just the catty kind of shit that happens when start hanging around with those damn Gossip Girls. Sonic Youth is currently still scheduled to play Sunday night from 7-8, right before Pearl Jam’s headlining set and opposite Dan Auerbach and Girl Talk. C3 refuses to confirm, because they’re like the damn New England Patriots when it comes to announcing status updates. We’ll keep you posted.

Daytrotter has been impressively mining Austin talent for a couple of years now, ever since connecting with Sound Team back in the day to set up at their Big Orange studio for SXSW. While in town, Daytrotter makes sure to record as many local acts as they can, and have also been welcoming to a number of Austinites touring through the website’s Midwest home base. Case in point of how tuned in to the local scene Daytrotter remains is this weekend’s posting of Leatherbag’s recent set. The band recorded four tunes, all of which are excellent, and we posted up an mp3 of the unreleased tune “Maria” below. It’s a haunting, lovely tune, hearkening back to Leatherbag’s earliest songwriting sound with shades of both Springsteen and Townes Van Zandt.

And that’s a wrap folks. Great SXSW this year. Now rest up for next year!
Posted via Email, live from SXSW2009.

T.A. at club de ville incredible ending to the fest. And they give a shout out to locals the Midgetmen.

Posted via Email, live from SXSW2009.

Fuck yeah! Floor stage at headhunters patio and those guys slayed! Damn!
Posted via Email, live from SXSW2009.

Seriously, what a squeaking, squawking mess. With all due respect to PJ, who is awesome, that set was a miserable experience.
Posted via Email, live from SXSW2009.

We know, Kanye, we know. Go back to making platinum albums out of other people’s platinum albums.
Posted via Email, live from SXSW2009.

And Rolling Stone editor David Fricke. Expect to see them in the mag soon!

Posted via Email, live from SXSW2009.