SXSW Saturday: Cool As Ice

Walking home from seeing Liars at Antone’s Friday night, it occurred to me that the full body exhaustion caused by SXSW is really only comparable to that experienced after skiing. The caveat being that it’s usually not that cold during South By. Well, until Saturday. With high winds and temperatures in the 40s, outdoor day parties suddenly seemed far less appealing.

While a huge line of people were trying to get into the Black Keys/Broken Bells/Demolished Thoughts (some purported Thurston Moore and Andrew W.K. collaboration – what?) show at Mohawk, I slipped into the cozy confines of Red Eyed Fly for the Coffee No Pants party. While there wasn’t any coffee and plenty of people were wearing pants, I wasn’t the only one curious about the name – the lead singer of Free Energy commented on it, saying, “I’m not sure why it’s called Coffee No Pants, but I will take my pants off.” When someone whistled, he added, “Apparently you’ve seen this show before.” Their upbeat pop-y songs got plenty of people moving, most especially the singer himself, who excitedly jumped about. Inside, Avi Buffalo was much more subdued, playing Ra Ra Riot-ist sort of lo-fi indie pop, punctuating tunes with tambourine and kickdrum.

Later in the afternoon, still trying to avoid the wretched cold, I snuck into the basement of Max’s Wine Bar for the Black Iris party. With the stage set on the ground, it wasn’t possible to see the seated Best Coast, but the lead vocalist sounded similar to Emily Haines, so I imagined that’s what she looked like too. With super-catchy drums, the LA band brought out their best lazy surf tunes. But the party didn’t really start until another LA outfit, Fool’s Gold, got the entire room dancing to “Surprise Hotel.” It only escalated from there, with folks breaking out their best moves, and the band conga-ing through the audience playing the sax and banging the cowbell. If it was freezing outside, it was a sweaty indie dance party inside – which is the best kind.

With little time left for Saturday night shows, and only a few more years where I’m allowed to publicly enjoy dance music, I headed to Beauty Bar to polish off the evening with Oakland’s Wallpaper. Ricky Reed – nee Eric Frederick – was doing his best Justin Timberlake by way of Prince impression, rocking a trendy hat, hipster glasses, and gloves adorned with working lights (great for night biking). Opening with “T-Rex,” Frederick let his quirky lyrics loose, and busted out a cover of “That Girl Is Poison” that was surely enjoyed by everyone.

So, that’s it, SXSW 2010. Eugene Mirman count: 3. Most irritating drunk vagrant: that one outside Mohawk. Best t-shirt: the dude at the Tanlines show who’d written “I came to get down” on his white shirt in marker. Amount of second-hand smoke inhaled: I don’t want to think about it.

Bang Pop - Free Energy

When I'm With You - Best Coast

Surprise Hotel - Fool's Gold

T Rex - Wallpaper

SXSW Friday: Best In Show

In a quest to spend the most time possible at the Mohawk, at 1pm I went to see Scotland’s We Were Promised Jetpacks at the Onion AV Club’s party. While their song composition and lyrical style seemed to resemble Tokyo Police Club, their brand of uptempo music was most adequately summarized toward the end of the set by the lead singer who said, “We have a couple more Scottish teenage post-punk emo tunes for you.” Take that music critics. Next door at Club DeVille Nicole Atkins Featuring Future Clouds and Radar played the Brooklyn Vegan party, Atkins’s powerful voice besting her petite frame.

On the other side of I-35, folks sprawled out in the park at the French Legation. In the back tent Mayer Hawthorne brought their 60s throwback tunes replete with button-down sweaters, collared shirts, and ties. With a little bit of funk and a dash of Jamie Lidell, they rounded out their set with a bit of reggae and the chorus of Biz Markie’s “Just A Friend.” A sure way to get the crowd singing and dancing along.

At 4pm, back at the Mohawk, Everybody Was In The French Resistance was attempting to explain that they were a “concept band.” As soon as the explanation took at detour into deconstructing Kayne West’s “Gold Digger,” it was pretty unclear what the concept was. The band’s musical elements had merit, but the singer’s style and reliance on “humor” in his lyrics seemed an odd match. “In Switzerland we sang, ‘Everybody was in the French resistance – except for you,’ ” he explained. An hour later another Scotch band, the great Frightened Rabbit took the stage, introduced by Eugene Mirman. Their passionate rock was definitely worth sticking around for.

Knowing that Band Of Horses was playing the intimate Central Presbyterian Church, a night after playing a packed house at Stubb’s, I rushed up early to get a spot in a pew. This would be the ultimate SXSW coup – seeing a big band in a smaller venue with great acoustics and getting to sit for two hours. Tyler Ramsey, one of BOH’s guitarists was doing a solo set, crooning beautifully in the quiet church. As his heartfelt tunes faded, South Carolina’s Company moved to center stage. “I hear there’s another band playing after us,” the lead singer said. He winked toward the audience and the band played a great warm-up.

At 9pm the church was full and by two songs into their set, Band Of Horses’ Ben Bridwell was “sweating like a ...” well, he didn’t finish that sentence. We were in church, after all. Starting off with the title track to their forthcoming album “Infinite Arms,” the more rock-influenced sound of their new stuff turned into fan favorites, with “Ode to LRC,” “Funeral,” and the delicate “No One’s Gonna Love You.” While the crowd was happy to stay seated and very hushed throughout the performance, they were equally glad when Bridwell prodded them to stand for the closing tune, “General Specific.” With a standing audience clapping and a wonderfully jazzy piano elevating the song, it felt like being at a revival. A-men.

Quiet Little Voices - We Were ...

Maybe So, Maybe No - Mayer Haw...

Coal Digger - Everybody Was In...

The General Specific - Band of...

SXSW Thursday: The In-Crowd

If SXSW feels different this year, it may be because of the unadulterated amount of free stuff. Exclusive badge-only events have all but been pushed inside in favor of free-for-all events that are often just that. The Fader Fort, the Pure Volume House, even Rachael Ray and Perez Hilton’s parties are all free, open, and in larger venues to accommodate the masses.

That’s why Thursday night I went in search of the most exclusive party I could find – the badge-only showcase at Lustre Pearle. Outside an old house near the freeway, kids stood behind the gates trying to get a look at what was going on inside – which was mainly people participating in random hipster activities like ping pong and talking about whether their band could be as good as the Temper Trap.

Inside the back tent, London’s The Boxer Rebellion played a brand of “Hot Fuss”-era-Killers rock, their lead singer looking like Zachary Quinto from afar. The alternately flashing red and blue lights created a hallucinatory effect, like wearing old-school 3-D glasses, while the tambourine kept time to “Watermelon.” If their energy was high and their sound was good, Australia’s The Temper Trap did them one better.

Taking the stage with heartily blaring guitars, I had to check the schedule to make sure I was in the right place. While The Temper Trap’s album has an element of softness to it, their performance replaced that softness with fire, evidenced from the very first song, “Rest.” Working trough “Fader” and the brilliant “Love Lost,” by the time TTT got to their biggest hit, “Sweet Disposition,” the lead singer was really into it, and so was everyone else. The set only escalated from there, working up to a total guitar rockout before wrapping with “Science of Fear.” Could your band be as good as The Temper Trap? Probably not.

By 12:30 I’d finagled my way into the less-exclusive patio of the Mohawk and stood wondering why my intestines were shaking. With a packed house and GZA and half the Wu-Tang Clan (okay, there are a lot of people in that, so maybe a fourth of the Wu-Tang Clan), one would think that all of this bass would get absorbed before it got to where I stood in the back. I was there to see London’s The XX, the ethereal indie kid faves. The boy/girl duo, both with close-cropped dark hair and all black outfits looked nothing like I’d imagined them. Their beautifully low-key tunes dispersed into the ether, and, escaping the crowded house, I did too.

Flashing Red Light Means Go - ...

Rest - The Temper Trap

Crystalised - The xx

SXSW Wednesday: The Wackness

Walking into the dark front room of Red 7 Wednesday afternoon, the odd harmonies, curious mixing, and occasional bhangra beats of Toro y Moi filled the space. While esoteric sounds wove themselves together, they were complicated by the addition of a guitar, which Toro y Moi tried to play while still mixing, and which ultimately just created noise.

Hours later at Club DeVille, Brooklyn’s Here We Go Magic played a subdued set of dreamily forgettable rock with a sound comparable to San Francisco’s Film School. If their set left something to be desired, Australia’s The Middle East made up for it. A seven-piece band with more instruments than a pawn shop, The Middle East worked banjo, flute, guitars, drums, harmonica, accordion, and mandolin into their mellow sound. At one point the seven members were playing 10 instruments, with one guitarist also playing harmonica, the keyboardist picking up a flute in places, and the accordion player wielding a trumpet and a rain stick. The addition of whistling on the closing song, “Blood,” added in another layer to their already nuanced sound.

If I wandered into Beauty Bar under false pretenses (Sufjan Stevens was not there, it turns out), I stayed only because the eclectic combination of a dude dressed as an MC (hipster glasses, backwards cap, trendy t-shirt, ever-present microphone) and a woman in a Renaissance fair-style dress seemed to have potential. Indianapolis’s Jookabox was happy to rock out in their outfits – the Renaissance fair woman merrily banging the keyboard and a drummer pounding away in the background. While I have no idea what songs like “Glyphin’ Out” are about, they seemed to be having a good time.

Talamak - Toro Y Moi

Fangela - Here We Go Magic

Glyphin' Out - Jookabox

SXSW 2010

It is very much that time of year again -- when South by Southwest Interactive shuts down and Music starts up -- everyone's pants get a whole lot tighter and nerdy glasses make the move from essential to ironic.

Walking down 6th Street Tuesday night however, Interactive and Music blended together. Did I see a grown man in khaki slacks riding a mechanical bull? Yes, I did. Was I asked what "hip-hop" was? Yes, I was.

At 10:45 Austin's The Black and White Years played an up-tempo set at the Parish, clapping and sounding like a pop-y Yeasayer mixed with a heavy dose of Of Montreal.

Across the street at Maggie May's around midnight, DJ Mike Relm played the YouTube party -- doing real-time mixing to the integrated video projected behind him. While he mixed "Purple Haze," video clips of the Air Guitar World Championships played in synch. Relm also did a back-to-back mix of the "O face" segment of "Office Space" followed by the diner scene in "When Harry Met Sally." A high-concept climax to the set.

By 1am at the Mohawk, folks were ready to dance, even just to the random assortment of sounds DJs like to play with late at night. Sometimes, it just sounds right.

To Modern Science - The Black ...

Everytime (feat. Del The Funky...