Out the Other

Make Out With Violence soundtrack and the Let's Get Awesome EP

What killed me a little about 2009 is that one of the greatest things I heard all year was something that wasn't released, and truth be told wasn't even an album.  It was a collection of songs that soundtracked the film Make Out With Violence, and it was floated to me as a folder of mp3s from a friend who knew people associated with the film.  I basically fell in love with everything in that folder, and when I finally saw the film during Next Big Nashville last September, I sat rapt in the theater, loving every minute of music that made its way to my ears.  The film was great too, but the music.  Seriously.

So one of the greatest pieces of news I've heard so far this year is the announcement that the Make Out With Violence soundtrack will get an official release, as a 44 song, double disc soundtrack.  This release will coincide with the film's participation in the SXSW film festival this year, which is pretty awesome for everyone involved, considering the fact that the film has literally been years in the making. It will be screening as an "Emerging Visions" selection on March 14, 17 and 21, and you can see the screening locations and times here.

As a teaser for the soundtrack, a five-song EP called Let's Get Awesome in now available the Make Out With Violence website as a FREE download.  Yup, free.  And it includes my #6 favorite song of 2008, "Sweet Eleanor," along with these two gems:

"No Means No"
"Frozen Tongue"

Go download the EP now.  Since it's free, they're accepting donations that will be used for the full soundtrack release as well as future DVD pressings.

And if you're not familiar with my praise and adoration of The Non-Commissioned Officers and this project, go check out my mini-interview with Eric Lehning from last fall.  And believe me, I'll let you know the minute you can pick up your own copy of the sountrack.  I haven't heard the whole thing yet, but it has quickly become one of my most anticipated releases of 2009.

The rest of SXSW

I've been back in Nashville for two days now and I STILL feel like I could sleep for a week.  But I'm at least rested enough to finish running down the rest of what we saw last week:

Thursday night

I already went on and on about the NPR party we caught at the Parish - suffice it to say it was amazing.  Afterward, Becky and I caught up with Ryan from Muzzle of Bees and his friend Jake, and the four of us headed over to the Rio early to catch MGMT's official showcase.  The setting was definitely bizarre - the Rio is a Mexican/margarita joint, and they had turned what felt like a little tiled indoor patio area into the stage and dance floor, complete with adjacent fountain.  The first two acts on the bill were Florence & the Machine (pretty powerful female vocals - they opened up with a Cold War Kids cover which was kinda bizarre and cool) and Wild Light (I completely honestly do not remember much about them at all).  MGMT was good in a really crazy way - I haven't listened to them that much and their stuff was way more psychedelic and proggy than I expected, with vocals that kept reminding me of Rush, but people were going berserk during the more rock-out parts of the set and there was even some moshing.   I think if I wasn't experiencing a beast of a midnight hangover (drinking all day + stopping drinking + beer and strawberry margaritas = feeling awfully crappy) I would have loved it a hell of a lot more, but as it was the band left me vaguely impressed and vaguely bewildered.  Our attempts to get into the Wombats showcase afterward were foiled, so we went to bed.

Friday

If Thursday was the best day of the festival, Friday was the absolutely marathon.  The day started off HOT - the first show we hit was White Williams in a parking lot at the Free Yr Radio stage, and even at 11 a.m. it was sweltering.  Just the fact that a week prior we had snow in Nashville and now I was experiencing 95 degree temperatures was pretty ridiculous.  White Williams sounded pretty good, although they're probably more 11 p.m. music than 11 a.m.  I think the other 10 people who were in attendance probably would have agreed. 

Becky and I pretty much decided to lay off the booze until late afternoon and hit up the a/c as much as possible, and we started off with The Dodos and Ola Podrida at Hot Freaks.  Both were excellent, although The Dodos were a bit less engaging than I expected; while they sounded great they were pretty stationary on the stage (the lead singer was sitting with his guitar).  I love Ola Podrida's album and it was great to hear some of the songs live; I would love to see the band come to Nashville and play somewhere like the Basement.

The Wombats were our next target, so we hustled off to the Cedar Street Courtyard for the Filter Party, where we found out that the schedule had been shuffled a bit and the band was in a later slot.  So it was off to the Next Big Nashville party across the street to cool off and catch a great set by our very own local boys Pico vs. Island Trees.  I'm becoming bigger and bigger fans of theirs, and hopefully I'm going to get them on the show sometime soon.

Back at Filter, we got to see a bit of The Pigeon Detectives (who I had  embarrassed myself in front of at SXSW last year) while we were waiting for the Wombats to take the stage.  THAT's when I saw a familiar face next to us in the bar, and after two quickly-pounded drinks and a lot of freaking out, Becky and I finally approached our favorite helicopter pilot.  Pretty. Damn. Awesome. The only thing that could have topped that was a ridiculously long overdue and rockin' set by The Wombats, which was exactly what we saw next.  I saw a lot of great bands last week but The Wombats were probably the most fun - and I'm so glad I finally got to track them down.

The rest of the late afternoon/early evening was Nashvilletastic - a set by American Bang at Next Big Nashville, then dinner with my friend Michael from Yewknee and his friend Jamie at a white tablecloth-ed restaurant that made me feel like the dirtiest festival-goer ever.  The setting was weird, but the crepes were delicious. 

With Vampire Weekend, Jens Lekman, White Williams and Frightened Rabbit all checked off of my "must see" list, that just left White Rabbits.  So Becky and I paid our way into their official showcase at Club de Ville, and decided to wait it out until the band took the stage at midnight.  I'll admit I was struggling for the first part of the night - booze and a long day of fresh air had me ready for a nap - and The Builders & the Butchers and Bobby Bare Jr. didn't do much to wake me up.  But Langhorne Slim was a completely unexpected surprise - for some reason I expected his set to be a snoozer (is a lot of his recorded stuff kinda slow, or did I imagine that?), but instead it bordered on being a crazy party.  The other thing that helped me wake the hell up was that as Becky and I were sitting there, I saw someone short and dark-headed walk into the crowd and stand directly in front of me.  Frodo freaking Baggins.  Yup - Elijah Wood is apparently Langhorne Slim's #1 fan, and he rocked out for the duration of the set.  We didn't want to interrupt his rocking and he booked during the last song (when half the audience was invited onto the stage) so we didn't get to say hi, but I was still thisclose to a HOBBIT.  Damn.

White Rabbits were next and they ABSOLUTELY exceeded my expectations - which were even higher than they usually are for a new-ish band I love, since I've been dying to see them for almost a year now.  Which means I'm already crossing my fingers for a Nashville date, because I'd love to see them again pretty much immediately.  I would also love to describe their set with terminology that goes beyond "awesome," but looking back I think I was pretty drunk.  White Denim wrapped up the showcase, and their stuff is well-suited to drunkenness - it's insane and messy and rock of the face-melting variety.  It was an excellent way to wrap up 14+ hours of live music.

Saturday

Saturday was pretty much the day when my body really decided to hate me.  Becky and I were trapped in our parking garage by shitty traffic until 3:30 or something ridiculous like that, which put bedtime somewhere in the realm of 4:30 - and despite the fact that it was the last day of the festival, we really couldn't suck it up and get out of bed before 11:30 a.m.  Instead of heading immediately downtown, we decided to head to the UT campus to check out Tacks, The Boy Disaster at a KVRX show, which was a perfect and soothing way to start off the day - with sunshine, a cool breeze, pretty phenomenal acoustics for an outdoor concrete courtyard, and a set of songs that sounded even better than they did when I caught Tacks at Grimey's last year.  Please come back to Nashville, boys.  Please.

Oh, and while strolling around that neighborhood, we even saw some protesters in front of the Church of Scientology.  Apparently they were part of a global picket, and while they were initially kinda intimidating (they were all wearing some scary masks) they were actually pretty entertaining and got WAY psyched when people honked as they were driving by.

We took it easy for the rest of the afternoon, and cabbed it downtown around the time most of the day parties were ending.  Then Becky and I met up with Lee and Tracy from the Scene for what Becky dubbed "Meatfest 2008" - the second-best meal I ate this year in Austin (sorry, the chicken-fried avocado was totally #1).  There's nothing like four girls putting away a ridiculous amount of ribs.  And almost dying in a pedicab on the way there.

For the very last show of SXSW, Becky and I decided to hit up Buffalo Billiards to see Delta Spirit.  We also saw Oh No! Oh My! (I've seen them before, they were okay this time but we were pretty far back for their set) and Tally Hall (they were all over the place and kinda meh, although they played a crazy cover of "Praise You," the Fatboy Slim track, that was kinda fun).  Delta Spirit, who I got to see open for Cold War Kids last year, were officially my final band of SXSW. I've been listening to their album Ode to Sunshine more and more lately, and definitely falling in love with the band.  While their set wasn't the crazy packed, sweaty jam that the Mercy Lounge show was, it was absolutely the perfect note to end the festival on.

Remember, more pictures are over on my Flickr.

NPR Music @ SXSW - Shout Out Louds, Jens Lekman, A.A. Bondy, Yeasayer, Bon Iver and Vampire Weekend

I gushed a bit about this show while I was still in Austin, but now that I've been home for a little bit and look over the entirety of last week at SXSW, the NPR Music day show at the Parish - Music For the Right Side of the Brain - remains the best show I saw during the festival.  Like I said before, it had absolutely the best lineup - Shout Out Louds, Jens Lekman, A.A. Bondy, Yeasayer, Bon Iver and Vampire Weekend - not to mention excellent sound, free Lone Star (and then Shiner), free food, super accessible and relatively clean bathrooms (this is a big, big deal) and a cheerful and enthusiastic audience.  All in all, pretty kick ass.  And today, stuck back in my cubicle and kinda wishing I were still in bed, it's been amazing being able to relive the afternoon by streaming all of that afternoon's sets online.  Here you go:

Stream the Shout Out Louds set

Stream the Jens Lekman set

Stream the A.A. Bondy set

Stream the Yeasayer set

Stream the Bon Iver set

Stream the Vampire Weekend set

Jens Lekman and Vampire Weekend were hands-down the best two of the afternoon, but that's like saying they were the most delicious pieces of chocolate in a shiny gold box of Godiva - all six of the acts were pretty phenomenal.  I've told you many times before how much I love Shout Out Louds, and they sounded particularly perfect as we walked into the dark venue (to the shouts of "free Lone Star!" coming from the bartender - gotta love that).   A.A. Bondy was quiet and subdued and definitely faced a challenge following the uber-charming Jens Lekman, but I enjoyed his set that day and I'm enjoying the recording of it even more.  Yeasayer was actually one of my biggest surprises of the festival - I was somewhat familiar with their stuff before we headed to Austin but live they sounded incredible, and I'll definitely be digging back into their album soon.  Bon Iver also sounded breathtakingly gorgeous in the Parish, and while we used the duration of the set to kind of chill out, I will forever associate his music with the blissed-out feeling of perfection I had on that afternoon.

Sorry no pictures - but hopefully NPR will send me a few so I can post them!

SXSW 2008 in pictures

I spent almost all of yesterday either cleaning, doing laundry or napping, so when it came time to sit down and get to business on the computer, I was just about ready to call it a night.  Organizing and uploading my photos alone took quite a bit of time, so I don't have any additional recaps to post (although I've at least started working on them).

But, at least now you can check out my SXSW 2008 photoset - it's not really a complete record of our adventures (I tend to take a bunch of pictures and then completely forget about my camera), but I think it'll indicate how much fun we had.  I included two of my favorites here - up above is Phosphorescent at The Mohawk, and down below is a picture of Becky, our new friend Angus and me (I'm the blurry one).

Day 2

Sorry about the short updates - I've decided that hotel time is better spent sleeping, so you're going to have to wait for the lengthy SXSW recaps until I'm back in Nashville and ready to catch up.  I have to say though, day 2 of SXSW was THE day to beat - and I'm not sure that it's going to be possible to have more fun than I did yesterday.  Becky, my friend Lee and I got into the NPR day party at the Parish, which proved to absolutely be the place to be - the crowd was relatively small, the beer was free, and I'm pretty sure the lineup was the best of the entire week, at the entire festival.  We saw Shout Out Louds, Jens Lekman, A.A. Bondy, Yeasayer, Bon Iver and Vampire Weekend, all in one afternoon - all in one spot.  The capacity of the venue was even kept pretty low, so things weren't crowded and the entire audience was pretty nice and equally excited to have scored a spot at the show of the week.  Oh, and the Parish also had the best sound I've ever heard in Austin.

As for the bands - I'm sorry Phosphorescent, but Vampire Weekend and Jens Lekman are now the two highlights of this year's festival.  As I said, I love Jens Lekman's album, but I really wasn't prepared to be charmed into falling madly in love with him after one set.  Not only does the singer (backed up simply by bongos, a violin and a cello) sound just as incredible live, but he peppers his set with stories about his tiny hometown, his hairdresser, and the triumph of successfully printing google directions to help him leave Kortedala for the last time. And hey - you can actually listen to the entire set yourself - it's archived over at NPR Music.

As for Vampire Weekend... so many things have been said about this band, that I think everyone is pretty much beyond the point of listening to anyone's two cents.  Like I have said before, I love the band's album, and I had just been hoping that they'd be a fraction as fun live as they are on record, though last week's SNL performance didn't bode very well for what the band is like live.  Well - they were AWESOME.  Sure, I was seven free beers into the afternoon, and I adore their record, and I'm apparently a sucker for a preppy boy with a guitar, but they sounded absolutely incredible in the Parish, the audience was bopping and dancing and singing along, and the band was just as tight as they are on the album.  Overall they blew away my expectations, so if you have any chance of seeing them in the near future, just take a gamble and go see them yourself.  You can also stream their set on NPR's website.

Seriously though - just go stream all of yesterday's sets over on NPR Music - they were all great (particularly Yeasayer too, who kicked some ass). I also got to sit down with Stephen Thompson, the producer of NPR's Song of the Day, before the show, and I'll have more on that when I have a little more time later this week. 

Speaking of which - it's time to go.  White Williams is playing in an hour, and it's going to be 90 today!

Day 1

Wow, I COMPLETELY forgot how sleepy drinking for 6 hours in 80 degree sunshine can make you.  I have to say, we completely wussed out last night and bailed on most of the evening stuff, but we still got to see a LOT of great music (and take a lot of silly pictures).  My set for the first day of the festival is up on Flickr if you want to check it out.

Highlights for the day included:

- The Bleedin Bleedins - the first band we saw at the Austinist party at the Mohawk, which was our first stop of the day.  They were from Boston and the lead singer used to be the manager of the bar where I spent every Thursday night as a 19 year-old in college.  Small world.  Oh, and they were great - in a dance-y, Bravery-ish (but way better) kinda way. 

- Frightened Rabbit - despite the ear-splitting volume in the Emo's Annex tent, Frightened Rabbit absolutely lived up to my expectations and played a fantastic set at the IODA party.

- Phosphorescent - almost as amazing as the show I saw in Murfreesboro, and with a much bigger audience, which was great to see.  And they played a cover of Dire Straits' "So Far Away," which is currently the highlight of this entire trip.

And now that we're all kinds of well-rested, we're off!

And so it begins

Becky and I got into Austin safe and sound yesterday around dinner time, and quickly unpacked our stuff before heading out for the night with our uncle, who happened to be in town for business.  Dinner was that blurry awesomeness above, which happens to be a chicken fried avocado (the best idea EVER - a bunch of chicken and cheese shoved into an avocado and fried... YUM) from Doc's.  Then it was quickly off to the Hole in the Wall for a NYC band called Spottiswoode & His Enemies - my uncle had spent the better part of yesterday stuck in the airport with the band so we decided to go see them play.  The band was as great as the band members were friendly, though the Hole in the Wall didn't really live up to its name - the shadiest thing in the bar was the tandem toilets sitting side by side in the one-room women's bathroom.  Very strange.  Oh, and Peter Buck was there.

Then it was off to Emo's, where we caught the Hard Lessons (very good, very smoky) before the blistering rockfest of White Denim (I told you they were great).  I don't really want to repeat bands that much this week because there's SO much to see, but I could really stand to see that Austin band play again in the next few days.  Once again, their entire set seemed to be teetering on the edge of a trainwreck, which makes everything exciting and unpredictable and really damn rockin'.  At one point my uncle said "one of them could walk off the stage and I just really wouldn't know if that was part of the show."

So that was last night - along with a bunch of Shiner and some new Scottish friends. We were in bed at a decent time because the real craziness starts today.

That said, I better get out of here.  Just a few things you might want to check out if you're in Austin (or if you're not):

- Nashville bands at SXSW - I meant to do a post on this but totally ran out of time, but the Nashville Cream did a great job collecting the info for your show-going pleasure.  Nashville rocks, and SXSW is your chance to learn that for yourself.

- SXSW from the comfort of your own home - also meant to do a post on this.  There are a LOT of radio stations/websites broadcasting and streaming live from the festival, so if you aren't here in Austin, you can hear some of these bands from the comfort of your own home (or cubicle).  Definitely check out NPR Music - they're broadcasting R.E.M. tonight and a killer Vampire Weekend/Jens Lekman/Shout Out Louds bill tomorrow.  There's also the Free Yr Radio broadcast via The Current, WOXY's live coverage, KEXP and even more.  If you know of more broadcasts, leave 'em in the comments.

SXSW Preview: a few more top fives

My sister and I are en route to Austin as we speak - we left yesterday afternoon, and after a long drive and an unexpected detour we ended up spending the night near Arkadelphia (man I love the town names in Arkansas).  Hopefully by the time you read this we'll already be in Texas, and since I'll be spending the better part of the day in the car, I thought I'd recruit a little SXSW previewing help for today's post.

Yesterday I shared the top 5 bands I'm looking forward to seeing at this year's festival - today you get some top fives (and sixes) from friends who are also headed to Austin this week.  After the jump, check out their lists...

SXSW Preview: the top 5 bands I'm looking forward to

The other day I did an interview about "going commando" at SXSW - um... not in the "traditional" sense, but in the wristband and badge-free sense.  Once again this year, my sister and I are hitting up the festival as unofficial attendees - which is completely possible and incredibly cheaper than ponying up the several hundred bucks that a real badge will set you back.  The way I see it (and the way I said it in the interview), despite my careful scheduling and best intentions of seeing as many of the 1,600 bands as possible this year, there are shows I won't be able to get into, and chances are I'll abandon my agenda anyway after few beers and just start wandering toward whatever sounds good.  At the end of the week, my experience will probably be pretty similar - badge or no badge - but the difference is I'll have gas money to get home and enough left over to have a pretty awesome St. Patty's Day (if my liver is still intact).

That said, there are still some bands I'm DYING to see.  But my #1 tactic for SXSW without a badge is to keep my expectations within reason.  Last year, I picked a handful of bands that I desperately wanted to see at the festival, and made every effort to see each of them play (and I succeeded, thank you very much).  Everything else was delicious icing on the cake, but focusing my efforts on seeing the top 5 was an attainable goal and kept me from going completely insane trying to see every band in Austin. 

This year, I'm doing the same thing.  And, I've asked a few of my friends for their top fives as well - I'll share those lists shortly.  But here are the top 5 bands I'm looking forward to seeing at this year's SXSW:

Frightened Rabbit

I've been loving Frightened Rabbit since I took a closer look at Sing the Greys last year during my second attempt at the 30 Days, 30 albums project, and in the past few months I've been spending a fair amount of time listening to the Scottish band.  There's pretty much no chance that they'll be stopping in Nashville at any point in the near future and their upcoming The Midnight Organ Fight is one of my current most highly anticipated albums, so I really really want to track them down in Austin.  (myspace - official showcase - mp3:  "The Modern Leper")

Jens Lekman

I've been immensely bummed to see that Jens Lekman keeps consistently skipping Nashville on his tours - particularly since I'm head over heels for last year's Night Falls Over Kortedala.  Fortunately, Jens is playing quite a few shows at SXSW, so hopefully he'll be easy to check off of my must-see list.  (official showcases - mp3:  "A Postcard to Nina")

Vampire Weekend

What can I say?  Yup, Vampire Weekend is probably the band to see at this year's SXSW - either because you've been obsessively listening to their self-titled debut for the past few months or because you're completely unimpressed by the ridiculous hype surrounding the buzz band and would like to be able to say you saw them and they sucked.  Either way, I think a lot of people will be checking this band out simply to see what all the fuss is about.  Personally, I want to see them because I think if their live show is anywhere near as fun as their album, they're worth tracking down.  (myspace - official showcase - mp3: "Walcott")

White Rabbits

Man, I keep forgetting how excited I am about the prospect of FINALLY seeing White Rabbits live - the band was scheduled to play here in Nashville with the Kaiser Chiefs last year, but unfortunately the tour was canceled.  Fort Nightly was one of my favorite albums of 2007 (again, I'm referencing that list that doesn't really exist) and I've been dying to see them play for more than a year now.  (myspace - official showcase - mp3: "While We Go Dancing")

White Williams

Now that I'm thinking about it, I really haven't heard much about what White Williams is like live, but I listen to Smoke pretty constantly and was pretty excited when I spotted this name on the list of artists performing at this year's SXSW.   And considering the fact that "Violator" spends at least 5 minutes stuck in my head almost every single day... yup, you could say I'm psyched to see White Williams in person.  (myspace - official showcases - mp3: "Violator")

SXSW Preview: New to me

So over the past few weeks, I've been spending a fair amount of time slogging through the list of bands playing this year's SXSW - checking out the free mp3s provided on the official website and crossing my fingers that I'll discover something delightful.  I'm particularly intrigued by the bands I've literally never heard of before - really you never know when you'll find something new and exciting, and then have a once in a lifetime opportunity to see them at a little hole-in-the-wall bar in Austin.

First up, I tackled the international acts, because really I can't exactly expect a relatively unknown band from the UK or Taipei to make the trek all the way to Nashville any time soon.  So here are a few of my "discoveries" - bands I hadn't heard of before that managed to catch my attention with one little mp3.

Album - "Stab You"

This "eclectic electronic rock quartet" is from Monterrey, Mexico and they are officially the most google-resistant band I've ever been faced with.  Fortunately for them, I quickly became obsessed with "Stab You" - a delicious bit of shimmying electronic-tinged awesomeness - and was determined to learn more about the band.  And there's a pretty big reward if you manage to track down their myspace or website - most of their releases are available for free downloads, based on their belief that "music is not necessarily a product, and can be transformed into a powerful promotional tool."  While most of the other stuff I've heard is a little more experimentally odd than "Stab You," it's still tantalizingly interesting and probably worth digging through. (myspace - official showcase)

Carlis Star - "Hereby No One"

This one is all pop - caffeinated guitars, a bouncing beat and swirling, chorused vocals, the whole thing dropping in and clocking out before the three minute mark.  Some of the other songs on their myspace almost remind me of The Rentals, but Carlis Star actually hails from Manchester in the UK.  Can't say I know too much more about this group, but I certainly want to hear more.    (myspace - official showcase)

Fanfarlo - "Fire Escape"

Fanfarlo is a six-piece out of London, and despite the fact that they seem to have gotten a little bit of blog coverage in the past year, I'm shocked that everyone isn't all over this band.  They play exactly the kind of lush, folkish indie rock that music fans have been devouring lately - the kind of stuff that incorporates a myriad of instruments like trumpet, glockenspiel, mandolin, banjo and violin.  "Fire Escape" sounds so familiar I would swear I had heard it before and forgotten it - but I'm pretty sure it's impossible to forget a name as fun as "Fanfarlo." (myspace - official showcase)

I Was a Cub Scout - "Pink Squares"

The way this song starts off, I initially thought it would turn into an overly-'80s, dance-y, synthy cheese-fest.  But then the vocals kick in, with a kind of little-boy sweetness that turns the tune into something entirely different - something I want to listen to about 50 times in a row.  I Was a Cub Scout is a two-man synthpop band from England, and if their other tunes are as good as this one, I'll bet we're all going to be hearing a lot more about them soon.  (myspace - official showcase)

KbN - "0.7"

Usually instrumental stuff isn't exactly my thing - especially in a live setting - but seeing Errors at SXSW last year convinced me that I shouldn't discount anything just because vocals aren't involved.  This slightly trip-hoppy tune by KbN, an electronic act out of Taipei, Taiwan, stuck out in a sea of unimpressive mp3s one day a week or two ago, and I spent a relaxing hour with the track on repeat.  Hopefully this one sounds just as amazing live.   (myspace - official showcase)

Bo Pepper - "Blinkandyou'llmissit!"

There's something deliciously Metric-like about Bo Pepper - and it's not just that lead singer Dolly's voice has the same sweet edginess that made me fall in love with Emily Haines and her band.  No, this four-piece from London employs the same formula that works so spectacularly for Metric - catchy, kind of danceably poppy indie rock juxtaposed with slightly tough-sounding female vocals.  I love every song on the band's myspace - and I particularly love the fact that their mascot is a cute-ass puppet who frequently appears in photos in lieu of the actual band.    (myspace - official showcase)