Calling forth the crowd to come closer, I think it's safe to say that Pete And The Pirates was being first introduced to a majority of the crowd that day, and it would probably be even safer to say they converted a good deal of them into fans that day. With a friendly, easy set, the British quintet caused a ruckus of rock employing stage antics and the audience participator that is handclapping. The crowd was intent on listening and greeted every fin with hearty applause. Expect to hear more about Pete And The Pirates here on Both Sides in the future.

Various Songs From Pete And The Pirates (all songs are right click - save as):
Eyes Like Tar
Mr. Understanding

Learn more at their site.
Be their friend!

Labels: Retrospective, SXSW '09

The Danish sextet dubbed as Efterklang took to stage at the scenic French Legation Museum. As one of my picks of bands to see at the fest, I had high expectations for Efterklang, and thankfully so, they matched up to those expectations to a tee. With their bells, trumpets, violins, flutes and xylophones, Efterklang is an orchestra that drowns you in their elements. The crowd was enamoured and bespectacled with this Copenhagen-based band as they led beautiful, effervescent pieces. Translated over, Efterklang means "reverberation" or "after noise", and it couldn't be any more appropriate. For such an ambient sound, there's a powerful effect that lasts and mulls you over and over. Watching this group is both a current and retrospective experience that culminates into an almost meditative experience.

Various Songs From Efterklang (all songs are right click - save as):
Mirador
Cutting Ice To Snow

Learn more at their site.
Be their friend!

Labels: Retrospective, SXSW '09

With a morning that found me once again wandering Paste's Radio Room, the synthing keys of New Villager slowly called people into the tent out back. The dreamlike call sifted through the groggy morning air slowly buzzing people to start their day. It amazes me that such an unpretentious twosome could freely call towards it such a large crowd at such an ungodly time (noon is early here). On stage stood the nonassuming duo - a towering, spectacled man and his average height colleague brought in a good crowd in the first few minutes of their siren's call. With one at the keys singing low, secret-filled whispers, the other stood at the edge of the stage swinging high pitched vocals while his hands motioned the sound flow, a conductor of sorts. Despite the resistance to dance so early in the day, New Villager slowly infused into us the need to move - a sway, at first, slowly working into heavier gestures. Like we'd be able to help it. With such a right sound rich enough to take us down, New Villager encompasses a sound that plucks everything from everywhere to make a groove-heavy, instantly-likeable sound.

Various Songs From New Villager (all songs are right click - save as):
Rich Doors
Ghengis On

Learn more at their site.
Be their friend!

Labels: Retrospective, SXSW '09

March is definitely one month I always look forward to, and I contribute that entirely to SXSWeek - Austin's favorite time to show some love to film, music, and technology. Buried into that schedule are four days dedicated to music, and it is in those four days that I truly live. Given here is my perspective of South By Southwest.

SXSW One Helluva Recap: Day Two (artist name leads to site & all songs are right click - save as):

Labels: Retrospective, SXSW '09

I can't use anything but the divine providence of God to explain how it is I came to watch the likes of Andrew Bird on this day. A few months earlier, I was a bit in late in getting tickets for his show at the Paramount Theater, so having my name drawn out of a raffle to watch an intimate showing at the KLRU studios for a taping of Austin City Limits seemed a little too much like someone trying to make things right. I'm going to try my best to recall this experience, but there are very few words that can describe just what watching Andrew Bird is like. Entering the cavernous space of the studio, a twinkling backdrop of Austin at all sides, the gramophones greeted us with their presence. There was no mystery as to who those gramophones served.

With a quiet, demure entrance, Andrew Bird stood at the mic amidst the sound of hearty applause and cheers, but the second his bow touched the strings of his violin, silence was abound. Being a man of the loop pedal, the shoes on his feet stayed on for only so long before the green-striped demeanor of his socks revealed themselves to better ease his fancy footwork. We watched in amazement as this lonely man on stage crafted his music, and it's a thing of wonder that he knows just where he is in terms of the elements being played and looped, coalescing into the songs we know and love. Working solo, Bird whistled, plucked, played and sang, and we were enthralled. Eventually, others joined walked onto the stage, and Bird played with the backing of a full band that included the likes of Martin Dosh on drums. While it was a treat, everyone was still completely enfatuated with only one man, and all focus was on Mr. Bird even when a monster of a creation, a double-headed gramophone, swung about morphing a chord into a single note. Between songs, he was awkward, yet comfortable, company entertaining us with song anecdotes. A mesmerizing experience, one can really see that Bird is a concentrated performer. At times it seems like he almost struggles with just how much talent flows out of him - stretching, shaking. It would be no surprise to me if he's a savant that sees the world in musical notes. Bird just knows, understands music, and he epitomizes the modern showman.

Various Songs From Andrew Bird (all songs are right click - save as):
Way Out West [Live]
Spanish For Monsters [Live]
Oh, Sister [Bob Dylan Cover]

Learn more at his site.
Be his friend!

Labels: Retrospective, SXSW '09

I had the pleasure to have the Chicago-based septet Anathallo start off my South By last year, so I couldn't see any more appropriateness in this group starting things off once again for me this year. Stuffing the stage with their instruments, let alone their sheer number, the group set up before taking to a small, tight circle - a meditative concentration, a pow-wow. The thing about Anathallo that I most love is the fact that watching them is truly an experience. Yes, that can be said about a lot of bands, but Anathallo, in particular, refuses to let you watch through the glass, from the outside looking in. From their circle, they slowly opened up to include the crowd. Taking to their instruments, you could really see the vast experience this group had to offer. Harmonicas, xylophones, trumpets, trombones - hell, they even used bricks. If it was capable of making a noise, you can be assured these guys used it or at least are capable of using it in their arsenal of instruments. Instruments in hand, Anathallo streams through the speakers a powerful sound deserving of the experience they deliver. An ambient sound bubbled the tent into it's own private world, and in this stew of sounds, Anathallo stirred things around with gallant beats and prophetic vocals. I'm not one to use hyperbole, but watching this group live is downright religious. They may not be exorcising the demons of dance, but considering the way their sound surrounds you, something inside you gets lifted. And it's in this nirvana that you watch and observe everything. A brilliant start to South By...

Various songs from Anathallo (all songs are right click - save as):
Italo
Dokkoise House (With Face Covered)
Hanasakajijii (Four: A Great Wind, More Ash)

Learn more at their site.
Be their friend!

Labels: Retrospective, SXSW '09

March is definitely one month I always look forward to, and I contribute that entirely to SXSWeek - Austin's favorite time to show some love to film, music, and technology. Buried into that schedule are four days dedicated to music, and it is in those four days that I truly live. Given here is my perspective of South By Southwest.

SXSW One Helluva Recap: Day One (artist name leads to site & all songs are right click - save as):

Labels: Retrospective, SXSW '09

You're probably wondering what the hell all those letters mean. Kicking off my South By Southwest coverage this year is a massive mix for a massive fest. There's been quite a bit of material I could have covered before the fest officially goes down, and the operative phrase there is "could have." Undoubtedly, it's a gargantuan amount, and the time I've had lately has been minuscule...and I've been lazy. When situations like this arise, a blogger's best friend, mix, comes into play, and so I present this. Returning from last year is the People To Get Excited About If You're Going to SXSW But Would Like Anyway Even If You Weren't Going Mix. The product of me quickly skimming through that list of artists and jotting down names that had me getting all giddy. SXSW Music starts tomorrow kiddos! For those of you going, I tip my hat and remind you to prepare for a crazy, crazy time...

NOTE: Turns out one of my posts got in trouble again, and it was part two of this mix series. On the one hand, I love the idea that those keen copyright Big Brothers (that don't read disclaimers for polite requests of removal first) are keeping a close eye on me, but at the same time...well it's just not amusing. Here's an edited version, and since I don't know what got me in trouble the first time, I just winged it with removing whoever I thought was the burden.

The PTGEAIYGTSBWLAEIYWG Mix Pt. 2 (artist name leads to site & all songs are right click - save as):
KaiserCartel - Season Song
Great Northern - Bleeding Hearts
Grizzly Bear - On A Neck On A Spit
Haley Bonar - Captain Captain
I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness - When You Go Out
Kevin Devine - Just Stay
Little Ones - High On A Hill
Matt & Kim - Good Ol' Fashion Nightmare
Pete and the Pirates - Mr. Understanding
Project Jenny, Project Jan - 320
Rod Thomas - Same Old Lines
Sally Crewe & The Sudden Moves - Pane of Glass
Sky Larkin - Somersault (Notes!)
Slow Club - Me And You
The Soft Pack - Nightlife
Voxtrot - Rise Up In The Dirt
White Denim - ShakeShakeShake
White Lies - To Lose My Life

Labels: Mix, SXSW '09

You're probably wondering what the hell all those letters mean. Kicking off my South By Southwest coverage this year is a massive mix for a massive fest. There's been quite a bit of material I could have covered before the fest officially goes down, and the operative phrase there is "could have." Undoubtedly, it's a gargantuan amount, and the time I've had lately has been minuscule...and I've been lazy. When situations like this arise, a blogger's best friend, mix, comes into play, and so I present this. Returning from last year is the People To Get Excited About If You're Going to SXSW But Would Like Anyway Even If You Weren't Going Mix. The product of me quickly skimming through that list of artists and jotting down names that had me getting all giddy. SXSW Music starts tomorrow kiddos! For those of you going, I tip my hat and remind you to prepare for a crazy, crazy time...

The PTGEAIYGTSBWLAEIYWG Mix Pt. 1 (artist name leads to site & all songs are right click - save as):
Anathallo - Hanasakajijii (Four: A Great Wind, More Ash)
Andrew Bird - Oh, Sister [Bob Dylan Cover]
Annuals - Brother
As Tall As Lions - A Break, A Pause
Au Revoir Simone - Sad Song
Beach House - Master of None
Benjy Ferree - The Dogkillers
The Besties - 79 Lorimer Song
Bishop Allen - Dimmer
Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears - Boogie
Camera Obscura - Let's Get Out of This Country
Casiokids - Togens Hule
Colourmusic -Circles
Cut Off Your Hands - Oh Girl
Dappled Cities - Holy Chord
The Decemberists - Summersong
Elvis Perkins In Dearland - Without Love
Fanfarlo - Harold T. Wilkins
Gil Mantera's Party Dream - Elmo's Wish
The Grates - 19-20-20

Learn more about South By Southwest at the official festival site.

Labels: Mix, SXSW '09

Just to put this night into perspective - I woke up with a Charley horse; I did so much dancing, it classified as strenuous exercise. I also woke up with a headache, but no need to share what got me to wake up with that.

Jumping onto stage first was Brooklyn duo Project Jenny, Project Jan. Now, getting people to dance when there's a cold front coming in isn't that hard a task - it warms things up and before you know it, the jackets are coming off. When it comes to Project Jenny, Project Jan though, I'm pretty sure more than jackets came off that night. These guys can get people to dance in the heat of hell, and lead Jeremy Haines, the only man that can probably possess the devil himself with the need to move, spread his gyrating witchery over a crowd that, at that point, was anything but stagnant.

Now to be honest, I was expecting my review of Fujiya & Miyagi to include the phrasing "I didn't expect a group of guys just standing there to..." somewhere. At first, I was a little worried thinking Fuyija & Miyagi's entire set would be a downplay of activity after something as active as Project Jenny, Project Jan, but how quickly that idea got thrown out the window. When Fujiya & Miyagi took to stage, we were granted a two song intermission to cool our joints, and after those two songs, we were dropped right back into a dance party. To my surprise, Fujiya & Miyagi's discography takes on an entirely different demeanor when played live. Streaming from a stereo, you have a set of subdued, characteristically cool-as-Fonzie tracks, but live, those songs slam the jukebox and really get things going. They're certainly adept to play live affairs, and they carry a certain degree of symbiotics that maintain the fluidity essential to their tracks. The bass, the treble - you can really feel the sound with these guys, and as expected, it just injects into you so effortlessly that you won't even notice you're moving to it. By this point, it was naturally a hot, sweaty dance box, and the encore that followed only made the place a hotter, sweatier, dancier box. Joined on stage by the men of Project Jenny, Project Jan, the incredibly infectious "Pins & Needles" began to play and the place just turned into a zoo. Fujiya & Miyagi, along with Project Jenny, Project Jan, make for an incredibly, incredibly dance infectious night and is highly, highly recommended.




From Project Jenny, Project Jan ft. Fujiya & Miyagi (all songs are right click - save as):
Pins & Needles ft. Fujiya & Miyagi

From Project Jenny, Project Jan:
320

Get more at their previous post.
Learn more at their site.

From Fujiya & Miyagi:
Uh

Get more at their previous post.
Learn more at their site.
Be their friend!


Otherwheres - Ultra8201 gives a great heads up on a number of great South By activities including a Decemberists showing sponsored by IFC...

Otherwheres - I caught John from Side One: Track One over at the F&M show, but it looks like none of us will be seeing him at South By - anyone around to give him hints on great things to catch in Japan?

Otherwheres - Matt over at YANP has your Monday bootleg of Grizzly Bear with the Brooklyn Philharmonic...

Labels: Emo's, Retrospective