SXSW 2011 Recap: Day 3, March 17

Today, I was listening to the WTF podcast with Marc Maron from SXSW - which was seriously hilarious; I totally wish I was there - and I thought to myself, “Didn’t I start doing a recap of MY experience at SXSW?” Why yes I did. Then I realized it is now two months later and I haven’t finished the damn thing. There are still plenty of photos, videos, and stories I would still like to share with you few lucky readers. I know I left ya hanging but I’m still finishing it - wanna fight about it?

Anyway, my third day at SXSW was to be one of the most frustrating days of the festival. The morning was filled with incredible sets brought about by the Exploding in Sound showcase at Friends of Sound Records. However, the night was filled with epic fails as I tried to see big name acts. The whole experience was definitely a learning process of what to do and not to do during SXSW. This particular day did involve some of my more memorable and hilarious adventures as you will soon read.

SXSW 2011 Recap: Day 2, March 16

The second day of SXSW was much more enjoyable: I actually got sleep the night before; I was more prepared for how to get around; and I didn’t forget my camera. Not only was I in good spirits because of these things but it was also the day where I would see many of my most anticipated sets.

SXSW 2011 Recap: Day 1, March 15

A little over a month ago, I made the fateful decision to drive to Austin, TX for SXSW 2011. I decided it was high time I finally sat down and wrote about my experience. The week before SXSW, I had been mentioning that I was seriously considering making the trek down to Austin but that I would have to drive in order to be able to attend the festival due to money and planning constraints. On Sunday the week of SXSW, my good friend Dan Goldin from Exploding in Sound gave me a call to say that if I were willing to drive, he would accompany me. After not-so-careful consideration I decided that I would do it even though it meant leaving a few hours after making the decision. I had a “last supper” of sorts with my roommates, prepped my car, and was off.

New Track Rundown

No, this is not an April Fools' joke; I am actually updating this blog. As usual, I bailed right as it was gaining momentum. I am also still running on a 56k modem and it takes me 24hrs to upload one song and if someone picks up the phone I have to start all over again. This time I actually had another excuse as I traveled halfway across the country to this year's South by Southwest festival and it was one hell of a treat. I should have some updates about the event posted over the weekend. Be patient, I will be posting day by day and I attended six days of nonstop music.

In the meantime, I present another New Track Rundown. I have scoured the internet to catch up with everything I had missed in March and compiled my favorite 40 tracks (35 songs, 5 videos). This list covers everything from extremely anticipated releases (TV on the Radio, Battles, Man Man, Okkervil River, Fucked Up) to artists I previously hadn't heard of (A Grave with No Name, Niteflights, Luke Rathborne, Angel Olsen, Tristen). Needless to say, there is quite a range of stuff to explore. Above is the cover for TV on the Radio's Nine Types of Light which is slated for release on April 12th. Go buy that shit when it comes out! It's good and they put on one hell of a show at SXSW. The music is below along with dates when you can catch the artists in the Boston area. Enjoy!

Benjamin Grenville Back in Roman Traffic

Roman Traffic made the announcement this week that singer Benjamin Grenville is back with the band. I always had a hard time picturing Roman Traffic without Ben so I am excited to see the immensely talented vocalist is now back in the fold. Best of all for you readers, their material with Ben is available for free download at their bandcamp site. You can also stream some tracks below. This also gave me the opportunity to dig up a demo for their track "Breach" which I recorded with the band back in 2007 as some pre-production work. You can hear my questionable recorded skills below. As typical, I didn't have to ask for many takes from Ben; the vocal tracks speak for themselves.

Marnie Stern and Tera Melos Finger Tap Their Way Through The Middle East

On March 6, I had the privilege to see one of my favorite modern guitarists when the lovely and talented Marnie Stern played The Middle East Upstairs alongside Boston up-and-comers Drummers and insane technical wizards Tera Melos. It was to be a night of mind-blowing guitar wielding and complex musical arrangements. This was not one to see if you were looking for a typical show or accessible music. Most of what was presented that night would probably make the casual listener uneasy but it sounded ideal to my ears.

Rival Schools Teach Brighton Music Hall How to Rock

Around the time of its release in 2001, United by Fate, the debut from supergroup Rival Schools, was my absolute favorite record; I couldn’t get enough of it! As the years went by, I was left waiting for the follow-up and subsequently my listening habits took me away from the group. A decade later, Rival Schools have finally released their sophomore record, Pedals. It is an excellent return to form and besides contributing new favorites to my rotation, it had me revisiting the excellence of United by Fate. When I heard that the band would be touring, I knew I had to catch their live show when they came to town on March 5 to play at Brighton Music Hall. I almost skipped the show since I didn’t have a ticket and I was kicking ass at pool next door at The Silhouette but I decided I would see if there were still tickets available at the door before their set. I could not be happier that I did. 

Grass is Green Rock Sidehatch and Release Chibimoon

On March 4th, I had the chance to catch Grass is Green when they performed at Sidehatch’s complex for a pre-SXSW party. The group was hot off their east coast tour and you could hear that they were now a road tested band. They played a tight set of tunes from their debut, Yeddo, which was one of my favorite releases of 2010, but the highlights came from watching them perform new songs from their recently released record, Chibimoon. Below is a video of the band performing "Ste 007" from Yeddo as well as a stream of Chibimoon. You can catch them at SXSW this year if you are lucky enough to be making the trek down to Austin, TX. God knows, I wish I were going...

Out from the Inbox: DOOMSTAR!, RIBS, The Devil Whale, and Eksi Ekso

I've largely ignored the inbox associated with this blog (sorry, bands and PR folk!). Today, I took the time to skim through what I have been sent thus far in 2011 and there is some excellent stuff that needs to be heard (and a lot of crap that I'm ignoring - sorry again, bands and PR folk!). Below are some up-and-coming bands that I think are worth giving a spin. The image above, which I find to be quite awesome, is the cover to Eksi Ekso's new album, Brown Shark, Red Lion.

Cave In Strip Down at Great Scott

Keeping with the theme of seeing my all-time favorite bands performing special sets, I had the extremely rare opportunity to watch Cave In play a stripped down set at Great Scott on February 10. They were a last minute, surprise addition to the Wino / Scott Kelly show but they definitely stole the spotlight for me. This was quite the treat since they played "The Calypso" and "Everest" from the Tides of Tomorrow EP. These are songs that I never thought I would see live since the band returned to their metal roots and never play material from that era, which is much more accessible. The delicate versions of the aforementioned songs sounded incredible and the group did an excellent job of creating a full and captivating sound with the minimal approach. The set was preceded by a short, three song set by frontman Steve Brodsky. He began with an impressive cover of Still Life's "Sometimes". He then played an excellent new song called "Muddy Jar" and a Willie Nelson cover before bringing the band on stage. Videos of the event are below.