The Listen

Yes, yes, I know that this is a tad late, but well, I got married right after SXSW, quit my job and moved to the East Coast (Brooklyn that is) shortly thereafter, so I’ve been a little busy and delayed in getting to this post.  I’m sure you were holding your breath the whole time, so I’m letting you know you can stop holding it if you’re still alive, which if that’s the case, why are you reading this blog….you should be capitalizing on this pretty awesome if not superhuman talent.  But now that you’re here and you’ve been holding your breath, just read my review of this past year’s SXSW.

As with every SXSW, there were plenty of hype bands buzzing around all the kids.  This year’s was primarily about Amy Winehouse and there was no shortage of seeing her…..she played a show or two EVERYDAY (or at least was scheduled to, but bailed on a couple) of SXSW and that still wasn’t enough for some people (you know who you are).

I had my usual excel spreadsheet to help me navigate the schedule and maximize my exposure.  I saw a little over 40 bands including Amy Winehouse, which I enjoyed, but felt the hype was more than the actual performance. These are the bands that left an impression on me and I’m still thinking about 2 1/2 months later:

• Sunshine Underground- super catchy and amazing live performance; their first U.S. Show
• Holy F#@k & Friends
• Jamie T- Arctic Monkeys with a reggae beat
• Ra Ra Riot- Click here to read about their upcoming EP
• Elvis Perkins
• Cold War Kids-worth the hype and covered "Change is A Comin’" with Elvis’ band, which totaled 15 people on stage and was AMAZING! a revival of sorts
• The Gossip -The White Stripes if Jack White sang like Patti LaBelle mixed with Janis Joplin- the lead singer eventually took off her dress…..she’s very comfortable with her body even if she is a little heavier
• 
  Datarock- dressed in all red jumpsuits….looked like the posters for Human Giant, electronic rock with that Norwegian touch
• 
  Human Giant (ahem, sadly not in red jumpsuits for their party)
• The Watson Twins- there’s a reason Jenny Lewis made an entire album with them….a sound from a simpler time
• Nicole Atkins
• Bill Callahan- an amazing voice…very calming and reminiscent of West Virginia). 
• And of course the old favorite The Faint…..great as always.  I can’t wait for their new music!

I also must make mention of a couple of panels that I attended that were highly entertaining.  First, David Byrne discussing the future of record labels.  He is just kooky, but in a very endearing way.  He was extremely prepared with a powerpoint presentation, but a little Mad Hatter in his explanations of what they meant. 

I also attended the panel called "What do you want out of life" with Britt Daniel, Tom Morello, Taylor Hanson, Matt Hale (Aqualung), Dave Faulkner (Hoodoo Gurus), and Corey Rusk (Co-founder of Touch & Go Records).  It was interesting to get mainly artists’ perspectives on the ups and downs of their careers and the state of the business.  Brit was tight lipped as per usual, but overall, everyone had a bit to say. 

The last panel I attended was the interview with Iggy Pop and The Stooges.  And while their last album may leave something to be desired, their interview was everything I had hoped for and more.  They discussed their beginnings and gave all of these great stories of living together and being pretty much a commune and eating, sleeping, and breathing music.  Plus, interesting factoid about Iggy that I was unaware of was that in his late teens he was a hired drummer for blues and jazz bands in Detroit and played something like 3-5 sets a night, 5 days a week.  What discipline!

Overall, it was a good experience (how can it not be when you’re in Austin and surrounded by bands from all over the world) and I walked away having checked out a ton of bands I wanted to see live. 

Now, get out there and go use this holding your breath talent for good.