I gotta be honest I’m still burnt out from SXSW to really come up with something witty today. All those bands, all those panels, all those parties - it was exhausting.
Oh wait I wasn’t in Austin, but it kind of felt like it from the wall to wall coverage detailing every second of the action. Since there are pages and pages of blog posts on the festivities I’ll point you in the direction of Muzzle Of Bees who do a nice job of streamlining their coverage into one tidy wrap-up of their favorite moments. Why read 100 posts when you can read one?
Finally the fine folks over at Matador have made their free Intended Play music sampler available for all to via a nifty zip file download. The playlist features the likes of Cat Power, Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks, The New Pornographers and more. Thanks guys!
SXSW has finally wrapped up in Austin, and sadly Hidden Track didn’t have any correspondents on the scene. Luckily, almost every single blogger and their brother attended the schmoozefest, so there were plenty of reports from Texas. The Daily Swarm did the best job of rounding up the important news each day with their comprehensive You’re Not There features.
Let’s see what else happened this weekend:
Finally, we were sad to hear that Martin Fierro passed away late last week. The fiery saxophone player is best known for his brilliant work with both Legion of Mary and Zero. Our friend Brian Bavosa wrote a beautiful eulogy for The Meester.
I don’t know about you guys, but I’m really glad that SXSW is finally underway since I’m pretty sick of reading the scores and scores of previews that every music blog except this one has been posting (maybe next year Papa Glide will send us so we can get in on the act - hint, hint).
If you are going to be in Austin though enjoying tasty BBQ, cold beer and more music then you could fit on one of those new fangled 160 gig iPods then who better to turn to then Pitchfork for some advice. The arbiters of indie-cool have put together their guide for the ‘08 fest that tells you which showcases and panels you need to be at.
Finally with Spring Training under way and we all gear up for our Fantasy Baseball drafts who better to turn to than former Pavement front man Stephan Malkmus for advice. The current Jicks band leader - who won his league last year - recommends drafting plenty of Milwaukee Brewers.
We’re getting awfully close to the long-awaited release of My Morning Jacket’s new album. MMJ played in Houston on Monday night, and Breakfast On Tour was on hand to capture a few of the new tunes. Unsurprisingly, I’m already smitten with the new songs. Especially the gorgeous I’m Amazed.
Let’s see what else is goin’ on this week:
If you couldn’t make it down to Austin for SXSW, at least you can download the music featured at the event. Check out this link for access to 3.5 gigs of free legal music from the showcase artists. Sweet deal!
Here’s a fun who-knew fact we never would have guessed: The annual South by Southwest festival now brings in more revenue for the Tejas capital than either Austin City Limits or the full schedule of University of Texas home football games. We’re sensing an epic showdown between Bevo and Devo.
And now you can take it home with you: On August 21st, Shout! Factory will release SXSW Live 2007, the first ever DVD release of the influential and continually growing music festival in Austin, Texas. The DVD contains exclusive artist interviews and performances from The Bravery, Aqualung, Peter Bjorn & John, Razorlight, Rachel Fuller with Pete Townshend and many more.
Now, as part of our recurring Everybody Wins When I Plug Something And In Return We’re Offered Free Shit To Give Away Contests, we’re proud to offer a free copy of this DVD to one lucky fan. So sound off in the comments section below with your thoughts on which one of the ever-increasing number of music festivals and/or conferences is your favorite and why…in eight words or less.
Not convinced of the coolness? Let’s check out some preview footage:
And click here to either buy the DVD or check out the list of other SXSW Live 2007 performances on the disc
One of us hit the first night of the Allmans’ 94-show Beacon run and one of us practiced, practiced, practiced up to Carnegie Hall for Gilberto Gil’s show last night. We’re tired monkeys today, so pour these links into your morning coffee:
A Guitar Hero robot? That just may be the coolest thing we’ve ever heard.
From the extensive Over Before It Started files, it now appears the upcoming Van Halen 2.0 tour will not proceed as planned. Hey, at least this one lasted longer than the last reunion. At this point, we’d sooner pay to see these bat-shit crazies fight to the near-death on Pay-Per-View than play an actual show.
What else is happening on this fine, fine Wednesday morning?
I’m an admitted Silver Jews newb, but I’ve finally come to the realization that the best opening line to any album I own belongs to American Water’s “In 1984, I was hospitalized for approaching perfection.” Talk about a lure, that’s it.
For all the David Berman fans out there, Pitchfork is reporting a new documentary called Silver Jew will premiere at SXSW before moving on to film festivals in Sarasota, Nashville and Boston (with DVD plans in the works).
Here are the pertinent details about the flick for your perusal:
Director Michael Tully captures the Middle Eastern leg of the Jews’ tour in the new documentary Silver Jew, following Berman, his wife Cassie, and the rest of the band– keyboardist Tony Crow, drummer Brian Kotzur, and guitarists Peyton Pinkerton and William Tyler– around at two Tel Aviv gigs and a trip to Jerusalem. The 51-minute film, edited by Jane Rizzo and produced by Matthew Robison for Nashville’s Walter O. Robison Productions, premieres at SXSW in Austin (March 9-17, exact screenings TBA). –Pitchfork
Previously on Hidden Track: SXSW: An Exercise in Band Names (lineup)
Anyone else think today’s initial artist announcement containing the lengthy list of 1,000 acts that’ll perform at the March 14-18 SXSW festival in Austin serves more as blatant comedic fodder than it does to build excitement?
I’m not taking anything away from the lineup by any means, it’s just that one quick glimpse of the roster…shit, the list has four bands from three different countries with names based on the word Panda, there’s Child Abuse, Dead Child and Children Collide, Psychedelic Horseshit, Holy Fuck and Holy Shit!, Lesbians on Ecstasy, and my personal favorite, This Moment in Black History.
What? SXSW couldn’t snare Womb Raider, Third Hand Smoke, Stabbing Monica Seles, Schlongstein & the Well-Hung Jews, or Pontius Pilate & the Nail-Driving Five? You know, a snarky music blogger could probably trek down to the Tejas capital, eschew the recognizable names, see only bands with clever monikers like those above and come away with the absolute best review of the festival. Hmm.
A bit more seriously, the list of performers is as impressive as it is long. It’s gonna be a helluva week down in Austin, 60 stages of every genre imaginable. Read on for the complete list of bands in today’s initial artist announcement…
The fine folks over at Austinist have done some world-class spelunking through the hellish depths of the cyberweb, and they’ve compiled an initial list of bands supposedly playing this year’s SXSW festival in March.
I’d lie and say it looks like a “totally tubular and bodacious lineup,” but you’d see right through that charade. I only recognize about six and a half names on this list, and that includes Pete Townshend, who I heard was only invited by organizers to moderate the tricky How To Troll MySpace For Teenage Beef Curtains panel.
If the list is accurate, Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter will be in Austin that week, the first festival step to her expected rise to prominence in 2007.
We’ll leave you with a quote from Bob Lefsetz about SXSWÂ in his 2007 Predictions letter: “Will continue to be the preeminent circle jerk, promoted by established players and the mainstream media as important even though those truly in touch know that by time it reaches Austin all those with a clue ALREADY KNOW!”
