I first heard Los Angeles-based garage rockers the Shys on Little Steven’s Underground Garage, where they were featured as the purveyors of The Coolest Song in the World with their insta-garage classic, “Never Gonna Die.†That fuel-injected selection was the second song of their Saturday night set at Prague, their final South-by performance this year, […]
John’s SXSW ’09 Day Party Highlights: Glasvegas
I’ll just come right out and say it: As far as I’m concerned, the eponymous debut album from these Scots is the album of the year so far. (Yes, yes, I know it was released in the UK last year. I don’t live in the UK, OK?) Brilliant songwriting by frontman James Allan, who crafts […]
John’s SXSW ’09 Showcase Highlights: Cut Off Your Hands
Elemeno P, my favorite New Zealand band (since discovering them at South-by ’07), unfortunately canceled their appearance this year, but their fellow kiwis in Cut Off Your Hands more than ably stepped in to fill the gap, proving that the spirit of the mighty Flying Nun Records artists doesn’t only resonate in Elemeno P. I’d […]
John’s SXSW ’09 Day Party Highlights: The Takeover UK
Credit for my discovery of the Takeover UK goes to my friend Erica (whose gorgeous photos I’ll be appropriating, with her kind permission, for use in my own South-by scribing whenever possible), who put me onto them a few weeks prior to South-by. As with my initial Wild Light listening experience, I liked everything I […]
John’s SXSW ’09 Showcase Highlights: The Riverboat Gamblers
The Riverboat Gamblers are a band whose .mp3 jumped out of the South-by torrent and practically punched me in the face 2-3 years back, so knocking me out with their Misfits-by-way-of-Austin sound that I knew I just had to see them live. Alas, as it turned out, my seeing them live wasn’t destined to occur […]
John’s SXSW ’09 Day Party Highlights: Wild Light
It’s a tad ironic that I first saw Wild Light perform at a party hosted by Paste, since it’s Rolling Stone, the grande dame of rock rags which I have to thank for putting Wild Light on my radar. Since Wild Light wasn’t one of the bands that chose to include an .mp3 on the […]
John’s SXSW ’09 Highlights: I Wanna Be Where the Bands Are
The South-by countdown clock reset around 2 a.m. on the morning of Monday, March 23, as the last chords of Alejandro Escovedo’s traditional closing night South-by show at the Continental Club rang out. The wake concluded with a typically majestic reading of “Sway” (a song that Al stole from the Rolling Stones many years ago […]
The Legacy of Townes and Sir Douglas
Spring brings us two phenomenal releases honoring the legacy of Texas music pioneers Doug Sahm and Townes Van Zandt. The recently released Keep Your Soul: A Tribute to Doug Sahm (Vanguard Records) pays tribute to San Antonio native Doug Sahm. Sahm established himself in 1965 as leader of the Sir Douglas Quintet, a band whose […]
SXSW: My ears and heart are full
This festival has been amazing and overwhelming, in a very good way. I’m barely alive (among other things the Hold Steady nearly killed me last night, two shows from them in one day) so what I can offer right now is a look through my lens these last three days. Words to follow when I […]
Elvis Perkins, midnight church, and redemption
Elvis Perkins just restored in my faith in the hot-blooded beating heart of music, in a cavernous church sanctuary in the middle of Austin tonight. Playing a midnight set with his impassioned band Dearland, he left me reeling in the front pew as he wailed and pounded and jangled through his heartbreaking song catalog. I […]