Friday night followed my unintentional afternoon trend of mixing old favorites with new sounds. My preference at South-by is to see almost entirely new-to-me bands, especially during official showcases, but there were just too many favorites to stick to my guns on a day like this. Sue me. In that respect, Friday night truly provided […]
SXSW 2008 – John’s Friday Afternoon Highlight: Los Campesinos!
My Friday afternoon was largely about Filter magazine’s Showdown at Cedar Street party. This was day two of what was a three-day throwdown hosted by Filter this year, and it was a lineup that (for me) couldn’t be beat, not even by the SPIN party, for which I turned down a pass generously offered by […]
SXSW 2008 – John’s Thursday Night Highlight: Jens Lekman
The highlight of my Thursday night occurred straight out of the gate in the 8 o’clock showcase time slot, but it was hardly all downhill from there, as a “bonus highlight” also awaited me during the witching hour. I’ve had a few tracks by the Swedish singer-songwriter, Jens Lekman, for a couple of years now. […]
SXSW 2008 – John’s Thursday Afternoon Highlight: Old 97’s / the New West Party
The party of the day on Thursday was –as tends to be the case– the mighty New West soiree at Club DeVille. This was certainly the place to be for the Twangville crew, as all four of our intrepid correspondents posted this invitation-only affair. After all, with a bill featuring likes of the Drams, Old […]
SXSW 2008 – John’s Wednesday Night Highlight: The Playing Favorites
SXSW 2008 – John’s Wednesday Night Highlight: The Playing Favorites My third showcase of the night on Wednesday was when I struck gold for the first time “officially†this year, and I knew it almost as soon as the Playing Favorites began their set. The Playing Favorites are a supergroup of sorts, featuring members of […]
SXSW 2008 – John’s Wednesday Afternoon Highlight: Matthew Ryan
With apologies for the tardiness of the appearance of this, the beginning of my 2008 SXSW highlights reel, we’re off to the races now. This post is the first in a nine- (possibly ten-) part series which will be coming your way regularly over the coming days, so please don’t be shy about chiming in […]
Jackie Greene + More, Releases 4/1/08
JACKIE GREENE, Giving Up The Ghost (429) Official Site | MySpace | eCard ‘Giving Up The Ghost’, the fourth release from San Francisco based Jackie Greene shows a steady maturation of one of the biggest up and comers in American music. Reminiscent of Dylan, the Stones, and to a lesser extent Springsteen, Greene is keeping […]
Mayer’s Playlist for February 2008, A Video Companion
What’s a monthly playlist without a video companion? This month we start and finish with a pair of incredible acoustic performances by the Jones Street Boys. In between we’ve got clips from Tift Merritt, Nada Surf, Butch Walker, Joe Jackson and Greg Trooper, among others. Don’t miss the haunting J. Tillman & Emily Loizeau duet […]
Mayer’s Playlist for February 2008
ALBUMS OF THE MONTH: Another Country, by Tift Merritt After 2004’s classic Tamborine, Tift Merritt escaped more than her record contract — she fled the country. Relocating temporarily to Paris, she found an apartment with a piano. The record that emerged is a travelogue of a different kind, a search for identity and assuredness. Merritt […]
Sarah Borges & The Broken Singles, On the Run
A short stay in Austin for SXSW 08 didn’t afford me the opportunity to catch any performances by Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles but we did catch up briefly at the Guitartown party at Mother Egan’s on the first day of the music festival. This is one of the hottest acts around. Do yourself […]