Archive for March, 2008

Sunday, March 23rd, 2008

SxSW XXI IV – Sound & Vision


Photo by Frank Yang

The Jealous Girlfriends (Brooklyn, NY)
Photos: The Jealous Girlfriends @ Club DeVille – March 15, 2008
MP3: The Jealous Girlfriends – “Something In The Water”
MP3: The Jealous Girlfriends – “Machines”
Video: The Jealous Girlfriends – “How Now”
MySpace: The Jealous Girlfriends
– Their self-title album is out May 6 and they’re at the Opera House opening for Nada Surf on April 7.

The Acorn (Ottawa, ON)
Photos: The Acorn @ The Mohawk – March 15, 2008
MP3: The Acorn – “The Flood, Pt 1”
MP3: The Acorn – “Crooked Legs”
MySpace: The Acorn

A Place To Bury Strangers (Brooklyn, NY)
Photos: A Place To Bury Strangers @ The Mohawk Patio – March 15, 2008
MP3: A Place To Bury Strangers – “To Fix The Gash In Your Head”
MP3: A Place To Bury Strangers – “I Know I’ll See You”
MP3: A Place To Bury Strangers – “My Weakness”
Video: A Place To Bury Strangers – “I Know I’ll See You”
MySpace: A Place To Bury Strangers

Peelander-Z (New York, NY)
Photos: Peelander Z @ The Mohawk Patio – March 15, 2008
MP3: Peelander-Z – “Me Gusta Lucha Libre”
MP3: Peelander-Z – “S.T.E.A.K.”
MP3: Peelander-Z – “Champion”
Video: Peelander-Z – “S.T.E.A.K.”
MySpace: Peelander-Z

Lykke Li (Stockholm, Sweden)
Photos: Lykke Li @ Club DeVille – March 15, 2008
MP3: Lykke Li – “Tonight”
MP3: Lykke Li – “Everybody But Me” (Rocca Mix)
Video: Lykke Li – “Little Bit”
MySpace: Lykke Li
– Lykke Li is at the Mod Club on May 11.

Duffy (Nefyn, Wales)
Photos: Duffy @ Stubb’s – March 15, 2008
Video: Duffy – “Rockferry”
Video: Duffy – “Mercy”
MySpace: Duffy

Okkervil River (Austin, TX)
Photos: Okkervil River @ Stubb’s – March 15, 2008
MP3: Okkervil River – “Our Life Is Not A Movie Or Maybe”
Video: Okkervil River – “Our Life Is Not A Movie Or Maybe” (YouTube)
MySpace: Okkervil River
– Okkervil River play the Phoenix on April 9.

Georgie James (Washington D.C.)
Photos: Georgie James @ The Dirty Dog Bar – March 15, 2008
MP3: Georgie James – “Need Your Needs”
Video: Georgie James – “Need Your Names”
MySpace: Georgie James

Full reviews for the day here. For an ongoing list of torrents, MP3s and streams from SxSW 2008, visit Largehearted Boy.

And that’s it. SxSW 2008 coverage is officially CLOSED. Yay.

Sunday, March 23rd, 2008

SxSW XXI III – Sound & Vision


Photo by Frank Yang

Nicole Atkins & The Sea (Neptune City, NJ)
Photos: Nicole Atkins & The Sea @ The Mohawk Patio – March 14, 2008
MP3: Nicole Atkins – “Maybe Tonight”
MP3: Nicole Atkins – “Party’s Over”
Video: Nicole Atkins – “The Way It Is”
Video: Nicole Atkins – “Neptune City”
MySpace: Nicole Atkins
– Nicole Atkins tells The Daily Tarheel that Letterman owes her a steak, is welcomed back to her one-time home by The Charlotte Observer and calls Philadelphia Weekly from an IHOP

Blair (New Orleans, LA)
Photos: Blair @ The Mohawk – March 14, 2008
MP3: Blair – “Androgynous”

The Dodos (San Francisco, CA)
Photos: The Dodos @ The Mohawk Patio – March 14, 2008
MP3: The Dodos – “Jodi”
MP3: The Dodos – “Fools”
Video: The Dodos – “Fools”
Stream: The Dodos / Visiter
MySpace: The Dodos
Daytrotter has a session for download and San Francisco Weekly talks to The Dodos, who are at the El Mocambo on April 9.

Cadence Weapon (Edmonton, AB)
Photos: Cadence Weapon @ The Mohawk Patio – March 14, 2008
MP3: Cadence Weapon – “Real Estate”
MP3: Cadence Weapon – “Sharks”
MP3: Cadence Weapon – “Black Hand”
Video: Cadence Weapon – “Sharks”
Video: Cadence Weapon – “Black Hand”
MySpace: Cadence Weapon
The London Free Press, The Toronto Star and The Independent talk to Cadence Weapon, whose Afterparty Babies is out now and will be at the Danforth Music Hall on April 25.

Cameron McGill (Chicago, IL)
Photos: Cameron McGill @ The Mohawk – March 14, 2008
MP3: Cameron McGill – “Not On My Side”
Video: Cameron McGill – “Depression Glass”
MySpace: Cameron McGill

Bowerbirds (Raleigh, NC)
Photos: Bowerbirds @ The Mohawk – March 14, 2008
MP3: Bowerbirds – “In Our Talons”
MySpace: Bowerbirds
The Daily Collegian talks to Beth Tacular of Bowerbirds.

Jens Lekman (Gothenburg, Sweden)
Photos: Jens Lekman @ Club DeVille – March 14, 2008
MP3: Jens Lekman – “The Opposite Of Hallelujah”
MP3: Jens Lekman – “Friday Night At The Drive-In Bingo”
Video: Jens Lekman – “Sipping On The Sweet Nectar”
The Stranger rattles of five or six things it knows about Jens Lekman. Number seven could be that he plays the Music Gallery on April 7 and 8.

British Sea Power (Brighton, England)
Photos: British Sea Power @ The Mohawk Patio – March 14, 2008
MP3: British Sea Power – “Waving Flags”
MP3: British Sea Power – “No Lucifer”
MP3: British Sea Power – “Atom” (edit)
Video: British Sea Power – “Waving Flags”
MySpace: British Sea Power
The Des Moines Register, QRO and Aversion interview British Sea Power. They’re at Lee’s Palace on May 16.

Portastatic (Chapel Hill, NC)
Photos: Portastatic @ The Parish – March 14, 2008
MP3: Portastatic – “I Wanna Know Girls”
MP3: Portastatic – “Sour Shores”
Video: Portastatic – “Song For A Clock”
MySpace: Portastatic

Wye Oak (Baltimore, MD)
Photos: Wye Oak @ The Parish – March 14, 2008
MP3: Wye Oak – “Warning”
MP3: Wye Oak – “Regret”
MP3: Wye Oak – “Family Glue”
MP3: Wye Oak – “Obituary”
Stream: Wye Oak / If Children
MySpace: Wye Oak
Splice Today interviews Wye Oak, who release If Children on April 8 and play Sneaky Dee’s on May 2.

Radar Bros. (Los Angeles, CA)
Photos: Radar Bros @ The Parish – March 14, 2008
MP3: Radar Bros. – “Warm Rising Sun”
Video: Radar Bros. – “When Cold Air Goes To Sleep”
Stream: Radar Bros. / Auditorium
MySpace: Radar Bros.
– The Radar Bros talk to Harp about the making of their new video.

Shout Out Louds (Stockholm, Sweden)
Photos: Shout Out Louds @ The Parish – March 14, 2008
MP3: Shout Out Louds – “Tonight I Have To Leave It”
Video: Shout Out Louds – “Tonight I Have To Leave It”
Video: Shout Out Louds – “Impossible” (YouTube)
Stream: Shout Out Louds / Our Ill Wills
MySpace: Shout Out Louds
The Village Voice hangs out with the Shout Out Louds.

She & Him (Los Angeles, CA)
Photos: She & Him @ The Parish – March 14, 2008
MP3: She & Him – “Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?”
Stream: She & Him / Volume One
New York Magazine and Time Out: New York talk to M Ward and Zooey Deschanel.

Destroyer (Vancouver, BC)
Photos: Destroyer @ The Parish – March 14, 2008
MP3: Destroyer – “Dark Leaves Form A Thread”
MP3: Destroyer – “Foam Hands”
Stream: Destroyer / Trouble In Dreams
Paper talks to Dan Bejar about Trouble In Dreams. Destroyer is at Lee’s Palace on April 19.

Full reviews for the day here. For an ongoing list of torrents, MP3s and streams from SxSW 2008, visit Largehearted Boy.

Sunday, March 23rd, 2008

SxSW XXI II – Sound & Vision


Photo by Frank Yang

Minipop (San Francisco, CA)
Photos: Minipop @ Red-Eyed Fly – March 13, 2008
MP3: Minipop – “Like I Do”
Video: Minipop – “Like I Do”
Video: Minipop – “Fingerprints”
MySpace: Minpop

Sons & Daughters (Glasgow, Scotland)
Photos: Sons & Daughters @ Free Yr Radio Broadcast Centre – March 13, 2008
Photos: Sons & Daughters @ The Mohawk Patio – March 13, 2008
MP3: Sons & Daughters – “Dance Me In”
MP3: Sons & Daughters – “Johnny Cash”
Video: Sons & Daughters – “Gilt Complex”
Video: Sons & Daughters – “Darling”
MySpace: Sons & Daughters
– Sons & Daughters play Lee’s Palace this Wednesday, March 26.

Clipse (Virginia Beach, VA)
Photos: Clipse @ The Mohawk Patio – March 13, 2008
Video: Clipse – “Mr Me Too”
Video: Clipse – “Grindin'”
Video: Clipse – “What It Do”
MySpace: Clipse

The Brother Kite (Providence, RI)
Photos: The Brother Kite @ Habana Calle 6 – March 13, 2008
MP3: The Brother Kite – “Get On, Me”
MP3: The Brother Kite – “I’m Not The Only One”
Video: The Brother Kite – “I’m Not The Only One” (YouTube)
MySpace: The Brother Kite

The Coast (Toronto, ON)
Photos: The Coast @ Wave – March 13, 2008
MP3: The Coast – “Nueva York”
MySpace: The Coast
– The Coast have a CD release show for Expatriate, out April 1, on April 18 at the Horseshoe.

Emmy The Great (London, England)
Photos: Emmy The Great @ Latitude 30 – March 13, 2008
MP3: Emmy The Great – “Easter Parade”
MP3: Emmy The Great – “MIA” (live from Black Room Sessions)
MP3: Emmy The Great – “The Hypnotist’s Son” (live from Black Room Sessions)
Video: Emmy The Great – “Gabriel”
Video: Emmy The Great – “Easter Parade”
Video: Emmy The Great – “MIA”
MySpace: Emmy The Great

Bon Iver (Eau Claire, WI)
Photos: Bon Iver @ The Mohawk Patio @ – March 13, 2008
MP3: Bon Iver – “Skinny Love”
Video: Bon Iver – “Wolves”

The People’s Revolutionary Choir (London, England)
Photos: The People’s Revolutionary Choir @ Creekside EMC at Hilton Garden Inn – March 13, 2008
MP3: The People’s Revolutionary Choir – “Do You Feel Like I Do?”
Video: The People’s Revolutionary Choir- “The Breeze That Blows”

The Wombats (Liverpool, England)
Photos: The Wombats @ Maggie Mae’s Rooftop – March 13, 2008
Video: The Wombats – “Moving To New York”
Video: The Wombats – “Let’s Dance To Joy Division”
Video: The Wombats – “Kill The Director”
Video: The Wombats – “Backfire At The Disco”
MySpace: The Wombats

Full reviews for the day here. For an ongoing list of torrents, MP3s and streams from SxSW 2008, visit Largehearted Boy.

Sunday, March 23rd, 2008

SxSW XXI I – Sound & Vision


Photo by Frank Yang

The Mae Shi (Los Angeles, CA)
Photos: The Mae Shi @ The Fader Fort – March 12, 2008
MP3: The Mae Shi – “Run To Your Grave”
Video: The Mae Shi – “Run To Your Grave”
Video: The Mae Shi – “Megamouth”
MySpace: The Mae Shi

Catfish Haven (Chicago, IL)
Photos: Catfish Haven @ The Creekside Lounge – March 12, 2008
MP3: Catfish Haven – “Crazy For Leaving”
MP3: Catfish Haven – “Please Come Back”
Video: Catfish Haven – “Tell Me”
MySpace: Catfish Haven

Curumin (Sao Paolo, Brazil)
Photos: Curumin @ Emo’s Annex – March 12, 2008
MP3: Curumin – “Esparanca”

Frightened Rabbit (Glasgow, Scotland)
Photos: Frightened Rabbit @ Emo’s Annex – March 12, 2008
MP3: Frightened Rabbit – “Head Rolls Off”
MP3: Frightened Rabbit – “The Modern Leper”
Video: Frightened Rabbit – “The Grey”
Video: Frightened Rabbit – “Heads Roll Off”
MySpace: Frightened Rabbit
The Midnight Organ Fight is out April 15.

Shearwater (Austin, TX)
Photos: Shearwater @ The Mohawk Patio – March 12, 2008
MP3: Shearwater – “Rooks”
MP3: Shearwater – “Red Sea, Black Sea”
MySpace: Shearwater
– Shearwater are at Lee’s Palace on May 11 with Clinic, Rook is out June 3.

The Wedding Present (Leeds, England)
Photos: The Wedding Present @ Emo’s Annex – March 12, 2008
Video: The Wedding Present – “I’m From Further North Than You”
MySpace: MySpace
CMJ reports that the Wedding Present’s new album, El Rey, will be out May 20.

Zambri (New York, NY)
Photos: Zambri @ The Parish – March 12, 2008
MP3: Zambri – “God”
MySpace: MySpace

Wild Light (Boston, MA)
Photos: Wild Light @ The Parish – March 12, 2008
MP3: Wild Light – “Red House”

Papercranes (Gainesville, FL)
Photos: Papercranes @ Stubb’s – March 12, 2008
MP3: Papercranes – “Treasure”
MySpace: Papercranes

Dead Confederate (Atlanta, GA)
Photos: Dead Confederate @ Stubb’s – March 12, 2008
MP3: Dead Confederate – “Goner”
MP3: Dead Confederate – “Get Out”
MP3: Dead Confederate – “The Rat”
MySpace: Dead Confederate

R.E.M. (Athens, GA)
Photos: R.E.M. @ Stubb’s – March 12, 2008
Video: R.E.M. – “Supernatural Superserious”
MySpace: R.E.M.
Billboard Q&As Michael Stipe, The Los Angeles Times interviews the whole band and the video for “Living Well Is The Best Revenge” by La Blogotheque is available for free at iTunes and is totally worth the download. Accelerate is out April 1 and the band is at the Molson Amphitheatre on June 8.

Trespassers William (Seattle, WA)
Photos: Trespassers William @ The Hidehout – March 12, 2008
MP3: Trespassers William – “Safe Sound”
MySpace: Trespaassers William
– Trespassers William’s Ross Simonini blogs SxSW for The Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Full reviews for the day here. For an ongoing list of torrents, MP3s and streams from SxSW 2008, visit Largehearted Boy.

Saturday, March 22nd, 2008

Dead Sound


Photo by Frank Yang

Curious thing about The Raveonettes. Though they’re largely defined by their aesthetic – Spector-meet-Everly Brothers pop songs wrapped in JAMC fuzz – the further away they move from that, the more I like them. For example, I found their live show last October rather tedious, partly because I was unfamiliar with the material and partly because my misfortune to be standing right in front of Sune Rose Wagner’s guitar amp made the white noise even whiter. And yet after hearing their latest album Lust Lust Lust, I found much to like since the balance between noise and melody was much better controlled and their pop sense and the vocal interplay between Wagner and Sharin Foo was in clearer focus.

And so it figures that their in-store at Sonic Boom yesterday evening, in advance of their proper show at the Opera House, would leave me with the most favourable impression of the band yet. With nary a distortion pedal in sight and the only feedback coming from the PA, Wagner and Foo put on a show that really emphasized how tight and sweet their vocals are together, as well as how simple and effective their songwriting is. Some of the material took on an unexpected doom-folk dimension when played on the acoustic guitars that could well be a direction worth investigating for the band. Before they began, Wagner said they’d never done something like this before – I definitely think they should do it again.

AOL Music Canada has rounded up a number of featurettes and interviews with the band.

Photos: The Raveonettes @ Sonic Boom – March 21, 2008
MP3: The Raveonettes – “Dead Sound”
MP3: The Raveonettes – “Aly, Walk With Me”
Video: The Raveonettes – “Dead Sound”
Video: The Raveonettes – “You Want The Candy”
Video: The Raveonettes – “Aly, Walk With Me”

Marissa Nadler returns to Toronto on June 23 for a show at the El Mocambo. Full tour dates at Pitchfork.

NPR has a session and interview with Tift Merritt available to listen to. Merritt is in town on April 1 for a show at the El Mocambo.

The Boston Herald talks to the Drive-By Truckers.