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Event: |
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South By Southwest 2008 - Day 2 |
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Date: |
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Thursday.13.March.2008 |
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Location: |
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Austin, TX |
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Artists: |
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Ravens and Chimes, Scouting for Girls, Cadence
Weapon, Billy Bragg, The Hunnies, Jukebox the Ghost, Someone
Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, Peel, My Education, Our Lunar
Activities, Melissa St. Pierre, High Places, The English Beat |
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Reviewed by: |
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PostLibyan and Tracers
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Photographs by: |
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PostLibyan |
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Review
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PostLibyan: |
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By the time we got back to the hotel room and readied for
bed, it was almost 3 AM, and we were both still revved up from
seeing Naked Raygun. So things started somewhat later than
normal for the EvilSponge team on Thursday.
People in these orange Rock N Rights jumpsuits
were all over the festival,
sweating and looking orange.
Around 1 in the
afternoon, armed with coffee, we wandered over to the convention
center and walked through the Vendors Area. We picked up
random samplers for ourselves and for the European writers
of EvilSponge, who could not make it all the way to Austin
. We stopped by the Convention Center Day Stage, and stood
and watched a couple of songs by a twee act called Ravens and
Chimes.
This is light music with strings, keys, female voices
in harmony with a male lead, and light rhythms. The music
was cute and non-threatening, but not awful. |
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Tracers: |
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Raven and Chimes were a bit too precious for me, in a very
twee sense. The harmonies were nice enough, and nothing dominated
too much, but I really felt they would have been better suited
to some soundtrack to a cute little Indie movie as opposed
to live on a stage. Certainly, at that point, I wouldn't have
spent several minutes going, "Is that girl playing a Flute?
That can't be good." |
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PostLibyan: |
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They made no real impression on us, so we decided to wander
back over to the hotel coffee shop to grab a nice cup of steaming
hot poorly made coffee, and sit watching the people mill about
on the street.
Over in Brush Square, just across the street from the Hilton,
it was British Music Day at the tent. Some band was playing,
and they weren't bad from where we were sitting. I guess it was
standard Britpop. They did have one interesting moment: the song
they ended with featured the chorus "I wish i was James
Bond, just for the day." According the magic of Google,
the band who sings this is called Scouting For Girls. None of
the rest of what they played, and i am pretty certain i heard
their whole set, left any impression with me. But this song,
with it's clever lyrics and nice guitar hooks stood out. I guess
it also helped that they got the whole crowd singing along. I
guess this is their single, and really was a decent tune.
He
headed back inside to the Day Stage in order to grab a spot
to see Billy Bragg. Mr. Bragg is a long-time favorite of The
EvilSponge Team, and we had managed to miss him two years ago
when he was in Austin. This time, a Day Stage spot was just perfect.
When we got there, a rapper and a white guy in dread locks were
making hip-hop. According to the schedule this was Cadence
Weapon. The rapper bounced around like a fool, screaming more
than singing, and the dreaded DJ bounced around and scratched
like crazy, making a noisy beat. I suppose they were interesting.
I mean, for rap.
They cleared out real quick and Billy Bragg
took the stage. He's looking none the worse for wear these
days, and armed with just an electric guitar proceeded to play
several tunes from his new record. He chatted with the crowd,
made a few jokes, as he is want to do, and ranted against "the
culture of cynicism". He ended with a song he calls Old
Clash Fan Fight Tune, which was loud and noisy and
did succeed in invoking the spirit of Joe Strummer.
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Tracers: |
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It was quite nice to see the Day Stage area pack out once
Billy Bragg was ready to play. In fact, I believe at one point,
the SxSW staffers had to stop more folks from stuffing their
way inside. It did clear out a bit, once he pointed out he was
only going to play new songs. But I enjoyed the new material,
as it was just Bragg and his guitar, which is still some of the
most compelling music around.
Billy Bragg is not looking for New England anymore.
He's been to Boston at this point...
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PostLibyan: |
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Good stuff from Mr. Bragg. If those songs are on his new
record, then i need to pick up a copy at some point.
Our next
show was at The Hole In the Wall, a small, dingy club up near
the north end of the university, so we climbed into the rental
Focus and drove off. It took us a while to find parking, but
by the time we got there a band was playing. They were a local
Austin 4-piece called The Hunnies. They were a two male, 2
female band. Most of their music was standard indie pop, which
wasn't bad, but they stood out on the two songs where the two
girls sang old school girl group harmonies. I'm talking about
them standing there singing "Doop Doop
Ooh Ooh" type of stuff, over a catchy beat and some nice
guitarwork.
The Hunnies.
In general, they were fun. They appeared to be
a young band, but they have some interesting ideas. I will
keep my eye out for more from them. |
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Tracers: |
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The Hunnies were actually sort of fun. It was clear they
were a little awkward on the stage, but as their set progressed
and they got more confident, the music began to resonant more
and become more fully realized. In particular, I liked some
of their later tunes, which featured really nice backing vocals
behind the man's somewhat nasally voice. |
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PostLibyan: |
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Now, theoretically at this point Someone Still Loves You
Boris Yeltsin was supposed to play. However, the manager of
the club came over and asked if we were "that Boris Yeltsin
band". Hmmm... no. So where are they? Local act Peel,
who we saw last night and enjoyed, were setting up, but otherwise
we were waiting, presumably for "that Boris Yeltsin band" to
show up. |
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Tracers: |
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As this was all going on, you could see the club manager dragging
out his cell phone and begin to make call, ostensibly to determine
if the band was even coming, or were they terribly lost. I didn't
hear much of the resolution, although one member of Peel commented
that he heard the other band were on their way.
The Hole In the Wall proudly serves Real Ale.
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PostLibyan: |
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We sat at a table chatting, when suddenly the bartender
yelled, "Oh shit!" and ran to the wall behind us,
over the jukebox. Water was pouring from a pipe in the ceiling,
creating a steady drizzle onto the wall. She ran over and turned
off a neon light, and then wrestled a trash can onto the jukebox
to catch the water. The manager showed up and said that indicated
the air conditioning was overflowing...
In and around this
ruckus, we could hear music coming from out back. With Peel
waiting, we stepped out onto The Hole In the Wall's patio.
Through the fence, we could see a three-piece piano pop act
performing on the back patio of Slices and Ices, next door.
In fact, the band was Jukebox the Ghost, a DC band who we
actually saw at The Drunken Unicorn, opening for Winter Sounds
sometime last autumn. What are the odds?
Jukebox the Ghost, seen through the wrought iron fence between
bars.
They make a Ben Folds-ish piano pop, all catchy rhythms and
quirky vocals. To be honest, i think they came across really
well playing outside. I enjoyed the 15 minutes i saw of them
today much more than i enjoyed the 40 minute set they played
months ago. Catching them was a lucky coincidence. |
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Tracers: |
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I didn't really care for Jukebox the Ghost the last time
I saw them. I think it was mainly because their music didn't
really fit it with the milieu of the evening. Seeing them without
expectation, though, I thought they were a pretty fine piano-based
based, accented by some nice guitarwork. |
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PostLibyan: |
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When they were done, we stepped back inside. No use sitting
in the sun if you don't have to. Peel were more or less set
up, but word was that "that Boris Yeltsin band" was
on the way. So we had to wait.
Around 5:40 or so, they showed
up -- three tall, lanky, young-looking guys. They hurriedly
set up their gear on the back stage at Hole in the Wall, and
with a quick apology "We wrote down 6 PM
for this show!" they tore into a brief set. |
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Tracers: |
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Since it appeared a fair number of the few folks at The
Hole In the Wall were there to see Someone Still Loves You
Boris Yeltsin, I maintained my seat at a table, sipping my
beer. I could hear the music perfectly, and I got to listen
to Peel plan out their set as well as their evening plans.
Overhearing them talk, it struck me just how likable they all
seemed as people. They were laidback and didn't seem irritated
by the unavoidable delay; in fact, they rather reminded of
any number of local Atlanta bands, good to hang around and
fairly easy going. |
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PostLibyan: |
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They opened with Modern Mystery, a song
from their forthcoming album that i was familiar with from
their
excellent Daytrotter Session a few months back. This
is an insanely catchy song, with the whole band bellowing "whoa
oh" during the chorus over a head-nodding rhythm and crunchy
guitars.
Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin,
even though they have
no scheduling skills. They played two more songs from their upcoming sophomore
record, and both were equally catchy. Good to know that the
new stuff is as good as their debut record. Even though i
only saw three songs, i thoroughly enjoyed each. I look forward
to seeing them when their tour brings them to The EARL in
a few months.
A few minutes after "that Boris Yeltsin
band" were
done, Peel took the front stage. Well, the front stage is actually
really tiny, and there are 5 members of Peel, including two
big keyboards, so they took the front stage and the space near
it, along the wall. The bassist and the vocalist had to stand
on the floor. But that's okay, as there were only 5 or 6 people
in the room anyway.
Peel spill off the stage.
We had just seen them last night, but today
they played some different tunes. Some were noisy, the small
red-headed guitarist really cutting loose with his distortion
pedals. A couple of the songs were slow, moving at a waltzing,
country-ish pace. The rest of the tunes were their standard
indie pop.
I like that Peel have a lot going on. The keyboards
(which sounded great today), are doing one melody, while
each guitar is doing a different melody. And yet all three
combine remarkably well. I think it helps that they have a
powerful rhythm section to help hold it all together. Even
though this was the second set i saw by the same band in less
than 24 hours, i found that it held my attention. Thoroughly
enjoyable... |
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Tracers: |
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Peel were a little more revved up, it seemed, than they
had been the night before. that's not to say that they were
sloppy or overblown, but rather that they had energy to spare.
Certainly the music was a bit more noisy than it had seemed
at the showcase (the different venue must have helped), and
they were playing more loosely than before. Perhaps it was
the fact that I inadvertently spend a good part of the afternoon
in the same place as the band, but I could just feel their
good humor oozing out of the music, and it left me particularly
cheery and eager.
Side view of Peel.
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PostLibyan: |
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As soon as they were done, however, we bolted out the door.
Delays caused by "that Boris Yeltsin band" and their
poor scheduling skills made us late for dinner. Not that we
had reservations anywhere, but rather that i was building my
day around getting food at about 6 PM. At 6:30, i was rather
hungry, so we headed quickly back to the car, and sped off
to Zen.
Zen in a chain of Japanese fast food places in Austin.
I got noodles, veggies, and tofu fried in a spicy sauce,
all thrown together and served to me in 5 minutes. Why the
heck don't we have these in Atlanta? Specifically, i need a
Zen franchise in downtown Decatur, within walking distance
of my condo...
After that very satisfying meal, we grabbed
a coffee and headed over to The Creekside EMC at the Hilton
Garden Inn to catch the first act of the evening, Austin
post-rockers My Education.
Before i talk about My Education,
i need to mention this venue. The Creekside EMC is a conference
room. In a hotel. In fact, the hotel staff were there, in Hilton
name tags, with an improvised bar. The room was set up with
rows of comfy hotel chairs, and there were wall sconces and
hotel-type generic art on the walls behind the stage. It was
surreal. I kept expecting someone to pull out a Powerpoint
and start talking about "the
direction our firm is going in" or "ROI in Indie
Rock: How Many Pedals Does a Band Really Need?" or something
like that. It was, however, by far the cleanest venue i have
even seen a band perform in. Ever. The hotel cleaning staff
did a wonderful job...
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Tracers: |
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I was a bit taken aback by the "venue", such as
it was. Like Postlibyan, I expected to see a presentation.
And I think his suggestion for a "ROI in Indie Rock" panel
would have been rather entertaining. In fact, that would have
been almost as entertaining as the crochet cat that hung off
the front of one of My Education's amps. Ah, you can't go wrong
with musicians who are cat people.
This cat travels with My Education, to all
of their gigs.
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PostLibyan: |
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Okay, so, in this conference room, My Education played some
post-rock. They did not have a Powerpoint presentation, which
i have to admit was a minor disappointment. They did play wonderfully
though.
My Education discussing their lack of Powerpoint.
My Education are a five-piece band consisting of a
bassist (who is the band leader, and introduces the songs),
a violinist, two guitarists, and a drummer. They make long,
complex songs with layers of melody that wander in an out
of focus, almost dancing with each other. I guess it is pretty
standard post-rock, but it well done. They are very professional.
My Education rock the conference room.
On one song the guitarist on stage right sat down and played
pedal steel, using it as a droning accompaniment to what the
violin and other guitar were doing. A lovely use of an instrument
i normally despise.
My Education demonstrate the correct use of pedal steel.
They also played their epic, Thanksgiving,
which is a violin-driven number that grows into a nice, furious
explosion of sound. |
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Tracers: |
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I have a strong appreciation for post-rock, especially if
it involves sitting in a comfy hotel chair. Seriously, sitting
down in a semi-dark room is the only way to really enjoy a
meandering instrumental band. It allows you to mentally follow
the tonal changes and melodic wandering which characterize
the best of post-rock. It also lets you appreciate the beauty
of their creation, in a way you sometimes can't in a crowded
dank club. Either way, I thought My Education put on an excellent
show, and I was happy to hear them once again. |
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PostLibyan: |
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Once again, i thoroughly enjoyed a My Education performance.
If you have the chance to see this band, and the thought of
violin-driven post-rock appeals to you, then you need to make
the effort. You will not be disappointed.
Brits dominate at Latitude 30.
So we left the conference
room and headed out into the night. Next stop, "The British
Music Embassy" at Latitude
30. When we got there a very young-looking 4-piece act was
on stage. They played some decent Britpop. Then they introduced
themselves, or, rather, tried to. With some effort i was able
to gather that they are Our Lunar Activities, and are from
Scotland. Really though, Scots need to be subtitled for us
Southerners -- i find their accents completely incomprehensible. |
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Tracers: |
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As Our Lunar Activities began, I immediately thought, "where
the heck is the closed captioning for this club? I honestly
couldn't understand a word that those tiny little folks on
stag said, although I was able to parse out the fact that their
real gear was in fact elsewhere. |
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PostLibyan: |
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They also explained that even though they were in Austin,
their gear was in Boston. Or some place that sounds like Boston
but is not Austin, i can't be sure. They were borrowing someone
else's gear, and were trying to make do. As they played, their
sound became more confident, and a little more ragged at the
edges. The between song banter became increasingly more frustrated,
as the young lads with their incomprehensible speech felt that
they were blowing a big chance, all because some airline had
lost their luggage.
Our Lunar Activities: the airline lost our translation device!
Tough break, really, but to be honest i
thought that they played better the more frustrated they got.
The lead guitar had an almost Big Country feel to it, all high-pitched
whirring sounds. The singer has an adequate voice, and the
rhythm section did it's job well. Their last number they introduced
as a song called Little Finger (or maybe
Little Spider -- it's really hard for me to tell)
and this was a damned fine tune. The bass riff played off of
Evil by
Interpol, and the vocalist wailed his frustration. I really
enjoyed that song, and i don't know if it was the edginess
caused by their frustration or what, but it really worked.
If they can focus that uneasiness on their records, they will
go far. Overall, i would say that i enjoyed what i saw, and
was impressed with the last song. Not bad at all. |
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Tracers: |
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I actually enjoyed Our Lunar Activities set quite a bit.
It was clear they were angry about the events, and they seemed
to cut their set short, which was disappointing. But like Postlibyan,
when they clicked into their last song, I could hear what the
band was capable of, and I wanted to tell them that really,
the sound had not been that bad. Although I have to wonder
what they might have done had they not been winging it. |
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PostLibyan: |
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And after that brief stop (they played for about half an
hour) we headed out for ... weirdness. Sometimes you have to
seek it out, just to keep the weird at bay. And sometimes when
the going gets weird, you have to fling stuff back at the monkey....
We walked up sixth street , through the rampaging hordes of
drunk revelers, to Congress, and then up to The Hideout.
This venue is a coffee shop that, apparently, features drama
and movies at night, so in the back there is a theatre. A real
theatre, with stadium seating! We chose a spot about halfway
up, and sat to watch the proceedings. |
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Tracers: |
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Like some of our other musical selections, we decided to
see Collections of Colonies of Bees more or less do their name
(although I kept shortening their name to "colonies of
bees" or even "that bee band). I had no expectations,
but we decided to go kind of weird, so I was up for almost
anything going in. |
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PostLibyan: |
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A trio set up. There was a girl with one of those portable
piano thingies that we had seen with Novelift at The Other
Sound Festival last year, a guy with a laptop and some sort
of mixing gear, and tall guy kneeling in front of a floor tom
on which he had set various percussiony things.
Collections of Colonies of Bees. Melissa St. Pierre and band.
They started
their set early. Shocking -- a venue which actually ran about
10 minutes ahead of schedule? Gotta love those avante-garde
artists. And this was avant-garde music. The laptop churned
out drones and beats, while the percussionist beat on various
things and made a clattering sound that was oddly rhythmic.
Complexly rhythmic -- he wasn't keeping 4/4 time over there,
but it still worked. And then there was the piano, which
plinking along quite nicely.
Ms. Melissa St. Pierre, as we were to learn later.
Tracers remarked that the music
was "oddly engaging",
and i think that sums it up pretty well. The band was called
Collections of Colonies of Bees, and we went to see them for
the name. They played for about 20 minutes, perhaps 4-pieces
that were all vaguely similar, yet unique enough to stand out
on their own. After their set, the three musicians stood up
and took a bow before the clapping crowd.
Ms. St. Pierre's laptopper recieved a very interesting email
halfway through the set.
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Tracers: |
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I really think it was the live percussion that did it for
me. I don't care how droney or pianoy you want to get, if you
had some live percussion, you're always going to sound better
(at least in my book). And the combination of the bleeps and
scratches from the laptop combined very nicely with the piano
work and the percussion to create something sort of weird,
but weird in a way that I found enjoyable. I even would have
liked to hear more beyond that 20 minutes. So, I guess this
means I like my ambient a little on the strange side, huh?
I am proud of this nice shot of Ms. St. Pierre's drummer in
action.
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PostLibyan: |
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We picked Collections of Colonies of Bees just because of
their name. We enjoyed what we heard, but hadknew nothing about
the band. Well, in doing research for this review, i looked
up the Collections of Colonies of Bees MySpace page, and they
are a quartet, all male. Looking back at the schedule, i have
concluded that the show was actually running late, and we saw
someone called Melissa St. Pierre. Huh. This confusion could
have been prevented if anyone had bother to introduce the band!
Anyway, Ms. St. Pierre and her friends
did a fine job. They are doing some interesting things, and
i like the way that their songs sort of grow as they progress.
Then again, at 20 minutes nothing had time to get old and/or
annoying. Maybe i wouldn't like them in longer doses, but
i enjoyed what i saw here.
Deciding to stick with the weird stuff,
we trekked all the way back to the other side of the music
festival to the Habana Annex Backyard. Really, this venue
is a parking lot behind the building across the street from
the Cuban restaurant. We were going to see another band with
a name we liked, Death Sentence: Panda! What a great name. |
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Tracers: |
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All week long, every time we saw the name "Death Sentence:
PANDA!", I couldn't help but giggle a little. Any band
that can get that kind of chuckle out of me has to be worth
seeing right? Even if I have no clue about their sound, right? |
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PostLibyan: |
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Alas, things at the parking lot were running a bit behind
schedule and we were early anyway, so we got there in time
to see the entire set by the band before Death Sentence: Panda!,
an act called High Places.
High Places move fast as they perform.
This was a duo consisting of a guy
with a table of electronics as well as an electronic drum
kit, and a girl who sang and shook percussion instruments.
The drummer beat on the electronic kit with those loose sticks,
you know, the kind which look like they are a handful of kebab
skewers bundled together with electrical tape.
After this set, he is making kebabs!
This gave an
odd effect to the electronic drums. Coupled with that was
a sort of rave beat coming from the gear, and the shaking of
bells and the like from the vocalist. All of these elements
combined to give High Places a sort of tribal feel. As if
this is the music that our indie rocker forebears danced to
as they hunted and gathered across the planes, hunting the
mighty wooly mammoth, in those days long ago, back before even
cassette tapes!
The vocalist had a lovely voice, a soprano i think,
and she danced lightly as she sang and chanted through some
echo. This gave a sort of otherworldly feel to the proceedings.
It was made even more surreal by the fact that the singer
is a natural redhead, with skin so pale it looked like marble
under the blue stage lighting...
The palest girl at the festival.
All of these elements, taken
by themselves, are okay. They combined to make something
really engaging. I found myself drawn in by their sounds, by
the driving, almost primitive rhythms, and by the plaintive
voice. I am not even sure how long they played, because i was
entranced the whole time. This unknown band definitely made
an impression on me. I wonder if they tour much?
Yes, that is a D.R.I. sticker on the front of High Places gear
case. Hardcore!
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Tracers: |
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I wasn't sure what PostLibyan would make of High Places.
It was one of those bands that, once they start, I just knew
he would like. but I've been horrifically wrong on that front
before. For my part, I was totally involved in the electronic/percussive
display as well as how the vocalist's ethereal soprano just
sort of meandered over the music. It was a strange combination
of the driving low end rhythms versus the lilting chanting
vocals that made it seem like High Places had emerged from
a different realm of existence. Certainly, I had never seen
anything like it before, and I rather enjoyed it. |
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PostLibyan: |
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After their set, we stood around waiting for Death Sentence:
Panda!, and we chanced across Dakota Smith and Allison Moore
of the band Peel, which we had seen perform twice. We had a
nice conversation with them about music, and touring, and Dakota
writing the music for Neal Pollack (whose writing i dislike,
but who is a friend of Mr. Smith...) It was a pleasant time,
but cut short because we had somewhere to be at midnight, and
reggae bands to see. |
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Tracers: |
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I was really sad to leave. I could tell Death Sentence: Panda!
was almost set up, and I was intrigued as I saw a saxophone,
a clarinet, and a couple of guys in suits as well as woman in
a suit dress take the stage. I had no idea what there music would
sound like, but if they were to follow High Places, I suspected
it would be interesting. However, my misspent youth was beckoning
me away, so I never did get to hear them. |
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PostLibyan: |
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So we headed across to Smoking Music. This venue is an open
building in the ruins of a place that burned down a few years
back. I have some pictures of the burned out wreckage, and
here it is reborn as a club run by the Santa Fe Natural Tobacco
Company. To complete their theme, there were smoke machines
mounted on the roof, pouring forth a steady swirl of smoke
into the night sky. It made it easy to find the club, and of
course you were not allowed to smoke inside the club, due to
Texas health codes. That must chaff the Santa Fe Natural Tobacco
Company's hide, but i am honestly surprised that a tobacco
company was even allowed to sponsor something. It seems as
if the prevailing societal attitude is to ignore smoking, restrict
it heavily, and maybe it will go away. Like that worked so
well with all of the other addictions that society dislikes...
Anyway, we went to this place to see The English Beat. I love
The English Beat, in fact, Mirror in the Bathroom had
been running around in the back of my brain for the past two
days at this point, so i was really looking forward to the
show. |
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Tracers: |
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True confession: I wasn't a huge fan of The English Beat
back in the day. In my younger years, my musical tastes ran
more towards X and The Pogues and less towards the ska. But
in the intervening years, my appreciation for them has grown
and I looked forward to this set, albeit without the excitement
of PostLibyan. |
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PostLibyan: |
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Well, the disappointing thing is that it looks as if the
only original member still in the band is Dave Wakeling.
Dave Wakeling still has it.
All
of the others look like young hired guns brought in flesh
out the sound. That's okay, i guess. And the young guys did
a heck of a fine job. And Wakeling still has it, his voice
is still vaguely gravelly, but not too much so.
Play that English Beat sax!
They played a great
set: Twist and Crawl, Tears
of a Clown (and i always thought Wakeling did Smokey
rather well), and Mirror in the Bathroom all
in the first 20 minutes. And after Mirror in the Bathroom half
of the crowd left. I guess that is the song that they wanted
to hear, and to be honest that was fine with me as the club
was rather packed during the first half of the set. After the
casual listeners headed out, the rest of us had room to get
our groove on, and that was much needed. They played a great
long version of Ranking Full Stop, with
the new toaster really working it, and then Wakeling said, "If
you rest on your laurels long enough, you end of squashing
them. So here's a new song." Point well taken, sir. Even
though the people here did come to see you play your old hits,
i understand your need to continue to create. And the new song
wasn't bad. Not on the level of any of his hits, but not without
its charms. |
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Tracers: |
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Having spent the first 20 minutes of The English Bear's
set trapped in a small place between two garbage cans and up
against the wall, looking at the back of numerous heads. I
was happy to see the crowd begin to clear a little. I could
enjoy the music more, and it seemed like the remaining folks
were so totally into the music that the energy was infectious. |
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PostLibyan: |
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And then Wakeling pulled out a surprise for the crowd and
performed Tenderness, his hit with the post-English
Beat band General Public. I had forgotten how much i liked
that song, and made a mental note to drag my old General Public
vinyl out when i returned home. Well done. They then tore into
a blistering of Save it for Later, and got
the whole club bouncing and clapping and singing. It was a
wonderful time, and it seemed over all too soon. Intellectually
i know they played a 45 minute set, but when it was all done
and the house music started, i felt cheated, as if it were
all too brief. Usually, that is the sign of a good performance,
and i have to admit that if The English Beat came to Atlanta
on tour next week, i would go and see them. |
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Tracers: |
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Wow! Tenderness. Now that was totally
unexpected, and very well received by the entirety of the crowd.
In fact, I think at times I could hardly hear Mr Wakeling over
the singing from around me on both that tune as well as Save
it for Later. But Wakeling seemed to appreciate the
enthusiasm in the room, and even offered a couple of broad
smiles, as if to signal his approval. In some ways, this was
one of those great moments when the band is totally together
and happy to be present and the crowd devours up what's being
offered. Those moments are few and far between, and should
be savored, as we obviously did. |
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PostLibyan: |
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Still, by this point we had been at gigs non-stop for almost
6 hours, and had walked all over town. So we sauntered out
of Smoking Music with Tenderness imprinted
on the brain, and headed back to hotel. Day 2, done, and quite
nicely ended at that. |
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Related Links:
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Read the entire SxSW08 review:
Day 1 featuring Clay
Leverett, Madeline, God Is An Astronaut, We vs. the Shark, Elfpower, Sean Hayes,
The Wedding Present, Yellow Fever, Phil and the Osophers, Call Me Lightning,
Delorean, Peel, Dub Trio, Naked Raygun
Day 2 featuring Ravens
and Chimes, Scouting for Girls, Cadence Weapon, Billy Bragg, The Hunnies, Jukebox
the Ghost, Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, Peel, My Education, Our Lunar
Activities,
Melissa St. Pierre, High Places, The English Beat
Day 3 featuring Magic
Bullets, Yacht, Meneguar, Parts and Labor, Joan of Arc, Spring Tigers, Antietam
, Say Hi, Cloud Cult, Kurt Vice, My Dad is Dead
Day 4 featuring David
Monks, FM3, Magic Bullets, The High Strung, Record Hop, Oh No! Oh My!, Tally
Hall, Colour Music, The Autumns
Band links for today:
Ravens and Chimes: http://www.ravensandchimes.com/
http://www.myspace.com/ravensandchimes
Scouting for Girls: http://www.scoutingforgirls.co.uk/
http://www.myspace.com/scoutingforgirls
Cadence Weapon: http://www.cadenceweaponmusic.com/
http://www.myspace.com/cadenceweaponmusic
Billy
Bragg: http://www.billybragg.co.uk/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Bragg
http://www.myspace.com/billybragg
The Hunnies: http://www.myspace.com/hunnieshunnies
Jukebox the Ghost: http://www.myspace.com/jukeboxtheghost
Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin: http://www.myspace.com/boris http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Someone_Still_Loves_You_Boris_Yeltsin
Peel: http://www.myspace.com/peel
My Education: http://www.myeducationmusic.com/
http://www.myspace.com/myeducation
Our
Lunar Activities: http://www.myspace.com/ourlunaractivities
Collections
of Colonies of Bees: http://www.collectionsofcoloniesofbees.net/
Melissa St. Pierre: http://www.myspace.com/melissastpierre
High
Places: http://www.myspace.com/hellohighplaces
http://hellohighplaces.blogspot.com
The English Beat: http://www.myspace.com/officialbeatspace
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beat_(band)
Dave Wakeling: http://www.davewakeling.com/home.asp
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