SXSW: Thursday [Dave Maher]

The Duke Spirit [Cedar Street Courtyard; 3:15 p.m.]

It's amazing how much a magnetic singer can do for a band. When you only want to look at the person out front humping the microphone, the rest of the group is pretty much off the hook to just chill out and play. That was the case with the Duke Spirit's afternoon set. They started almost half an hour late, but singer Liela Moss made up for that with a heap of stage presence. She was constantly striking poses, which cut both ways: the show seemed a little pre-fab, but her charisma made it fun to watch.

Robyn [Cedar Street Courtyard; 5 p.m.]

Robyn rounded out the Cedar Street bill of platinum blondes (as Be Your Own Pet's Jemina Pearl noticed; check out Paul Thompson's diary to read about their set), and from the start, her set was plagued with technical difficulties. The soundcheck took forever, and when Robyn appeared on stage, there were still plenty of kinks to work out. As Paul pointed out, such glitches are especially debilitating for someone like her, whose whole formula is "voice + beats."

However, the obstacles allowed Robyn to showcase just how much of a pro she is. She's an excellent singer, which seems in part a product of the era in which she originally came up (i.e. teen pop, where labels encouraged artists to do things like take voice lessons and learn how to dance). And speaking of Robyn's past, the tech problems resulted in a rearranged setlist that included an unplanned appearance of "Show Me Love" as well as a piano-only version of "With Every Heartbeat", both of which were treats.

Phosphorescent [Mohawk Patio; 8 p.m.]

Secretly Canadian/Jagjaguwar/Dead Oceans really know how to pick these early evening showcase openers. Last year, it was the Besnard Lakes, who seemed to usher in the beginning of summer, and this year it was Phosphorescent. Frontman Matthew Houck started off the night by saying they would drag their feet for the people who weren't yet inside the venue, which established a tone for the entire set. Houck comes off as ready to unhinge at any moment onstage, but behind him is a solid country band playing lilting waltz-time tunes-- hard to get worked up about, but blissful when you can just let the music wash over you.

My Morning Jacket [Austin Music Hall; 11 p.m.]

A solid My Morning Jacket show is a bankable commodity at this point, and the band delivered with its evening set at Austin Music Hall. Most of the night was occupied with material from Z and debuting new songs, and from what I could tell, the new material has a noticeable r&b bent to it. It's a little hard to process when one of your favorite bands decides to focus on playing new stuff, but when Jim James and co. returned to something from It Still Moves or At Dawn, it was just as shiver-inducing as ever. As an unexpected bonus, the lights at this show were awesome, tasteful and complementary at every turn. That Dave Matthews money is well spent.

Dizzee Rascal [Scoot Inn; 1:15 a.m.]

It was strange to watch Dizzee Rascal play such a traditional SXSW rap show. Instead of the eccentric cowering on the cover of Boy in Da Corner, fans were treated to a talented MC with a crew who likes shout-outs and shoes. His set drew as much from excellent early material as it did from Maths + English, and the high-BPM beats kept the show flowing and energetic. Dizzee looked older than he does in pictures, which was cool to see: a prodigy aging well. He made sure to plug the April 29 U.S. release of Maths + English, which comes courtesy of showcase sponsor Def Jux.

SXSW: Wednesday [Amy Phillips]

Peter Morén [The Parish; 10 p.m.]

Sure, I'm as sick of "Young Folks" as the next guy, but I don't hate on Peter Bjorn & John. Writer's Block is a pleasant enough album, and I feel like any sort of overly strong negative emotion towards these guys is kind of like getting mad about those Once people winning an Oscar. What's the point? They mean you no harm, and you can bring them home to Mom.

Peter Morén opened his set completely solo, singing along with a Magnetic Fields-like backing track. It was cute and catchy, exactly the kind of hooky indie pop PB&J specialize in.

After that, things went downhill, slowly and gently. Most of the material Morén played, accompanied by a keyboardist and string trio, lilted along like a summer breeze. Lovely and refreshing at first, but then just kind of there. Nothing to get worked up about (either positively or negatively), but nothing to get excited about either.

Morén is quite a charming character, though, which might end up being the saving grace of his forthcoming solo album, The Last Tycoon. His banter about faking a hearing problem to avoid serving in the Swedish army (before "Reel Too Real") and how students are more well-behaved than teachers ("Social Competence") provided minor blushes and giggles, and it's possible there's a lot of wit in his solo songs' lyrics that I just wasn't able to make out in the live setting. So I'll give him the benefit of the doubt, for now.

After announcing that he would be playing a different cover at each of his SXSW performances, Morén brought out Adam Olenius of Shout Out Louds for a duet on A-Ha's "Take on Me". Their voices harmonized perfectly together. Peter Bjorn John & Adam anybody?

The Mae Shi [Mohawk Inside Stage; 11 p.m.]

Like Dan Deacon, the Mae Shi squeeze every last drop of joy from the marriage of spazz-punk and kiddie pop. On the tiny Mohawk stage, surrounded by amped-up fans who seemed to be soaking in Red Bull from the atmosphere, the Los Angeles band exploded with good cheer. They've got the energy, sure, and the stage moves (audience invasions, guitar hero poses, gimmicks like spreading a sheet out above everybody's heads), but unlike so many noise bands that are all about confrontation, the Mae Shi have the songs to back it up. Their latest album, HLLYH, is one of the most enjoyable listens of recent months, its hooks hitting pleasure centers deep in the brain, and its vibe one of boundless creativity. And like the album, their SXSW set (the first of many they are scheduled to play before the festival is over) was short and sweet, refusing to overstay its welcome.

Frightened Rabbit [Maggie Mae's Rooftop; 12 a.m.]

Over the past few weeks, I've become perhaps unhealthily obsessed with Frightened Rabbit's forthcoming second album The Midnight Organ Fight (out April 15 in the U.S. on FatCat). I can't explain why this band's jangly, anthemic indie pop hits me harder than everybody else's jangly, anthemic indie pop, or why such terrible-on-paper lyrics as "you're the shit and I'm knee-deep in it" and "it takes more than fucking someone you don't know to keep warm," sung by a guy who sounds like the twee Scottish version of Adam Duritz, come across as so profound. I just don't know. But it works. I can't stop listening to this album.

Maggie Mae's Rooftop is not an ideal music venue by any stretch of the imagination. The "stage" is situated on a patio in front of the bathrooms, resulting in a steady stream of people walking right in front of the band in order to go do their business. And as is typical of most SXSW venues, which aren't usually devoted to live music performances, the sound was shite, all overdriven feedback and static hum.

But Frightened Rabbit were so wrapped up in their own little sound-world, they didn't seem to care. Singer/guitarist Scott Rabbit's outbursts and convulsions were all the more dramatic in contrast to the overwhelming averageness of the band's appearance. You just don't expect such emotion from a guy who looks like he should be playing Scrabble down at the local coffee shop.

Have I mentioned how much I love this band? I love this band.

The Tough Alliance [Karma Lounge; 1:15 a.m.]

If you've read our past Tough Alliance coverage, you know that Eric Berglund and Henning Fürst are just as interested in the theories behind the performer/audience dynamic as they are in the show itself. But never mind that. These guys put on a hell of a mindfuck, whether you knew what was going on or not.

The pair took the stage enveloped in fog and strobe lights, bearing nothing more than a video projection screen, a pair of maracas, two microphone stands, and seriously determined expressions on their faces. The screen intercut scenes from blinged-out hip-hop videos with idyllic images of dolphins and beaches. The maracas were quickly tossed aside. The mic stands were wielded like baseball bats, guitars, batons, and various other phallic symbols/weapons, much to the chagrin of the Karma Lounge staff. Very rarely were they used as things to actually sing, or even lip-sync, into.

The seriously determined expressions never wavered, though, with the guys staring off into the middle distance, fixated on a point just above the small but enthusiastic crowd's heads. They looked as if they'd ingested a potent cocktail of ecstasy and steroids, blissed out but ready to punch in the face anybody who didn't share their happiness.

The glistening synth-pop of songs like "Silly Crimes" and "First Class Riot" sounded great blasting from the club's sound system, all pre-recorded and unencumbered by any live embellishments. Did two baby-faced Swedish boys just completely destroy the entire concept of the live musical performance? Maybe.

It was all over in less than 20 minutes.

SXSW: Wednesday [Tyler Grisham]

Jeremy Jay [Emo's Lounge; 9 p.m.]

The almost-hidden space underneath Emo's on 6th Street, the cavernous Emo's Lounge, provided a perfect setting for one of SXSW's rather hidden new artists. K Records signee Jeremy Jay, looking like a very young Thurston Moore with his shaggy blonde mop and hunched shoulders, brought a traditional four-piece and hopped, pranced, and strutted across the stage for his set's 45 minutes. Debuting mostly new material-- neither from his well-recieved 2007 EP Airwalker nor his soon-to-be-released LP A Place Where We Could Go-- Jay even galloped along to a tune whose chorus went "Giddyup horse, giddyup."



The mostly sedate crowd finally got the message in the middle of the set, when he played EP track "Airwalker", and began moving their heads in tandem with his campy sway. He sounded less like Thurston and more like Bowie, but every time he brushed his hair out of his face or arced his shoulders around the mic stand, there was a pretty eerie resemblance. But not quite as eerie as what happened next.





Bjørn Torske [Thirsty Nickel; 10 p.m.]

Heading over to the Smalltown Supersound showcase just a couple blocks away, the real Thurston Moore was standing outside the Thirsty Nickel, like a silent clarion inviting in-the-know folks to the night's hippest show. He had been there to see Sunburned Hand of the Man, whose set had just finished, and after hanging around a few minutes looking dapper in a white fedora, he disappeared to quietly endorse some other showcase.



That didn't stop a nice crowd from gathering to hear Scandinavia's greatest DJs in one of the unlikeliest bars in the world-- on an ordinary night you could imagine a cowboy-hat-clad group of line dancers or Longhorn frat types filling the Thirsty Nickel-- but on Wednesday night, all it took was another shaggy blond pelt and Ableton to gather a mix of all shapes and sizes. Bjørn Torkse whipped up a few "live" tracks, looping some homemade percussion (read: taking a drumstick to a block of wood), a carrot-shaped shaker, and a banjo. A minor glitch in the sound system aside, he warmed up the crowd nicely for his fellow Norwegian Diskjokke.





Diskjokke [Thirsty Nickel; 11 p.m.]

Eschewing his labelmate's kitchen-sink looping tricks, Diskjokke's setup was simple and clean, with just a laptop and some basic controls, but the bass-heavy disco sound he unleashed actually got the Texas crowd to do some strutting without thumbing their belt buckles. Halfway through his set, the Nickel was nearing capacity and a crowd had begun gathering around the windows behind the DJ booth on the sidewalks outside. Who needs Thurston's seal of approval when you have blisteringly loud space disco to entice passers-by?





Lindstrøm [Thirsty Nickel; 12 p.m.]

But of course the night's big draw was Hans-Peter Lindstrøm, the Norwegian DJ whose collaborations with Prins Thomas and Solale have garnered him wide praise. The "space disco" pioneer debuted his first proper solo album in its entirety and, well, suffice it to say, if you liked It's a Feedelity Affair, you're gonna love Where You Go I Go to, arriving on June 2 on Feedelity/Smalltown. Expanding his airy interstellar sound, the italo synths and their icy chords are still there, but the sound is much more massive, and the crowd reacted in kind. Unable to control themselves, the audience was nearly falling over the railing in front of the DJ booth, trying to snap a shot or just dancing without care.

SXSW: Wednesday [Dave Maher]

The Cansecos [Habana Calle 6 Patio; 9 p.m.]

When the Cansecos took the stage, it was a pleasant surprise to see the Canadian quartet made up of dudes who didn't look like they were in a band, the drummer's bolo tie aside. They kicked things off with an astral, Daft Punk-y tune before settling into their own danceable groove; unfortunately, their singing was hit-or-miss during the entire set, but the bass player was working overtime with a constant accompaniment of bubbling lines. Overall, they were at their best when they kept things tight and not, as they proclaimed themselves before their multi-part closing song, "epic."

Peter and the Wolf [Central Presbyterian Church; 10 p.m.]


There's something about churches. Peter and the Wolf played Central Presbyterian, and the minute I walked into the sanctuary, everything just felt calmer. While a space can determine the tone of a performance, Red Hunter and his chorus of note-perfect backing vocalists did a damn fine job of establishing a mood themselves. Hunter was relaxed and conversational, repeatedly referring to the choir as his friends and practically including the audience in that designation.

For the most part, the songs went by so quickly that I felt like I missed one if I spent too much time breathing. The biggest exception was a rousing, fleshed-out version of "Safe Travels"-- the group took their time building it, and the result actually swung. Like "Safe Travels", quite a few Peter and the Wolf songs have themes of movement and/or city-dwelling, so as Hunter sang about the fast pace and isolation of modern life, the delicateness of the performance provided a lovely counterpoint.

R.E.M. [Stubb's; 12 a.m.]

There was no way people weren't going to love R.E.M. Their set was one of this week's Big Shows, and I was honestly expecting not to get in. An hour beforehand, Stubb's was surprisingly easy to enter, but it was plenty packed once I got inside.

Michael Stipe opened by saying, "Children of South by Southwest, come to me," and he followed that with plenty of stares, smiles, and open-armed gestures throughout the night. R.E.M. are professional entertainers, in the best way, but the amount of energy they put into their performance was inspiring for a band that's going on three decades (!) of existence.

The flipside of being around for so long is that you amass a catalog so big you can't possibly please all your fans with a single SXSW set. This show consisted of an unfortunately small number of the band's biggest classics (though superfan favorite "Fall on Me" made an appearance), but people ate it up anyway. My favorite moment of the set, however, occurred when Stipe explained, "That was a new song" and a fellow show-goer responded with, "Now play an old song."

The Lemonheads [Emo's Annex; 1 a.m.]

The Lemonheads, on the other hand, celebrated the old songs, playing the entirety of their underrated 1992 album It's a Shame About Ray in order. The record's a small-scale affair, a compact set of tunes about things like getting high, liking girls, being (drug) buddies, and eating cereal (at least I think that's what "Ceiling Fan in My Spoon" is about, unless it's about drugs). And for this show, Evan Dando and co. left the record pretty much intact; he freely added falsetto throughout, changing things up just a bit, but songs this good didn't need anything extra.

SXSW: Wednesday [Paul Thompson]

Phosphorescent [Mohawk indoor stage; 3:45 p.m.]

In between flying, arriving, checking in, registering, getting the lay of the land, bumping into J. Mascis and a giant chicken-man on the same block, marveling at the sheer amount of paper people waste on flyers at these things, and dealing with the looming feeling that the next big thing is two clubs over, the first few hours at South by Southwest can leave you a bit restless. But opting for Phosphorescent's brief, mostly hushed set at the Austinist/Gothamist party at Mohawk proved a good balm for the looming chaos, as a crowd of maybe 75 stood in the dimly-lit back room to catch Matthew Houck and company ramshackle their way through some of their ramshackle country-inflected drone-folk.

Bogged down a bit by a weird mix, Houck nevertheless managed to throw that sweet old voice of his all over a half-dozen or so tunes-- including an off-the-cuff sounding cover of Dire Straits' "So Far Away"-- in a relaxed manner that seemed about as far removed from the roving packs of publicists and industry types trudging past the window behind them as could be. "A Picture of Our Torn Up Praise", lovely as can be on last year's underappreciated Pride, grew even lovelier when Houck's vocals are allowed a little more room to breathe, and the thunderous drums of "At Death, A Proclamation" took on a bit of a punk edge in the live setting. Or, as my showgoing companion Dave Maher said, "that dude really looks like Zeus." He sure does.

Earlimart [Austin Convention Center Bat Bar; 7 p.m.]

Upon hitting the back of a surprisingly long line to the Austin Convention Center's Exhibit Hall 4/Bat Bar, I was approached by a very nice lady in a DirecTV polo shirt who inquired about my television service back in Chicago. We chatted innocuously enough about the advantages of satellite and how in the world I can live without a DVR, but when the line started to move and another very nice lady posted at the door told the camera around my neck "no pictures!", I realized I was walking into a trap.

I didn't go to SXSW last year, but I did sit on my couch and fiddle with the remote a bit, and I recall seeing a few very slick productions of mostly middling bands "live from South by Southwest" on one of those channels way up in the hundreds. This, it became quite clear upon almost getting smacked in the face by a camera crane, was that. I must've stood for about 15 minutes snapping photos (which were, it turns out, no problem before the broadcast began) watching Earlimart frontman Aaron Espinoza crack wise with the crowd and exchange incredulous looks with cohort Ariana Murray. That they shared my sense of the ridiculousness of this thing was the set's main saving grace.

We were told to clap on cue as the set began and the band rolled through their pleasantly gooey but largely forgettable pop tunes, including a pretty mess from their forthcoming Hymn and Her LP. They're not a bad band, really, there's just not a whole lot that they do that one can latch onto: Their first few records had moments, but their most recent stuff is so pleasant as to be unpleasant, if that makes sense. People tuning in at home: The Bat Bar isn't so much a bar as a stage and an elaborate series of neon signs, with a little enclave to the side where beer is served. And, in a town with a ton of real bars hosting a ton of rock bands, the facade of this thing was a bit hard to shake, even, I suspect, for Earlimart. Still, that's a lotta channels for $54.99 a month.

These New Puritans [Antone's; 9 p.m.]

"We're These New Puritans," frontman Jack Barnett mumbled in the middle of the band's way too short set, "and we'll play our songs now." So they did. These New Puritans deal in reserve, not blunt force. But damn if I wasn't pummeled anyway by their almost scarily powerful set at the Domino showcase at Antone's. These kids wielded that wiry post-punk energy like a weapon, giving the songs plenty of room to fly around inflicting their art-damage. Jack Barnett exuded an eery confidence with his mumbled/shouted vocals, wearing a menacing gold-feathered vest. The rest of the band alternated between tumult and near-lethargy, creating a perfect medium for their detached yet debilitating tunes. Yeah, with their chanting vocals and nervy hooks, they sound a lot like Liars in their dance-punk days, but Liars never had a pop tune as good as "Elvis", and "Elvis" is a pretty friggin' menacing pop tune. It's a little scary how much These New Puritans get out of so little, and I left wishing I could see them again right off.



Times New Viking [La Zona Rosa; 10:30 p.m.]



I've often wondered why no one can get a convincingly raucous photo out of the convincingly raucous Times New Viking, but then again, I'd never attempted it myself 'til tonight. Sure, their set was the same glorious shit-pop muck they've learned to cultivate and we've grown to love, but they do it with such ease, it's as spooky as Jack Barnett's collected menace. Beth Murphy stands in place at the organ, occasionally bending a bit at the knee. Guitarist Jared Phillips holds the axe like a rifle and fires with the confidence of a master marksman, rarely letting the blowback lift his wrist. Adam Elliott gets a little wild behind the trapset, but as often as their music threatens to spin out of control and become unbearable noise, these kids are in total control.

The set was typically great, with Present the Paisley Reich's "Imagine Dead John Lennon" serving as the highlight amidst a lot of fine ones, mostly from Rip It Off. "This goes out to anyone born in the early 80s, or Paul McCartney," Elliott chimed in before tearing into another one, giving me further ammo for my claim that Times New Viking are the Beatles of noise rock. Cut some of the murk (and the live show does remove their fourth instrument, the tape hiss) and they're writing some of the catchiest songs going, and, hey, those Beatles had nifty little numbers about drugs and teenage lust, too. Though perhaps Mariah, not Ringo, ought to be the one watching the fuck out for this lot: John Norris from MTV News was in the wings, looking on appreciatively.



Bun B [Fuze; 1:15 a.m.]



I met Joel, a SXSW volunteer from Austin taking a break from his duties at a club across downtown, outside the Bun B show at Fuze. Despite the badges around our necks and the "Badges Only" sign on the door, neither of us were allowed in, though no one was manning the door and not a single official from SXSW showed in the half hour or so we were waiting in a formless line outside the club. Miffed, we went and grabbed a late-night Shiner together, and Joel explained to me that, after the recent death of Bun's UGK partner Pimp C, he'd all but given up on listening to rap music.

Bun was the dude I wanted to see more than any other at SXSW, and I guess that means I should've stood in the line I saw forming outside the club around 7:45. Those folks probably saw Bun B last night, but Joel and I weren't among them. And, though a glance into the side door lead me to believe it was a capacity issue, no one could say for sure. The scene outside was electric with confusion, and the pair of bicycle cops who showed up just as we left only added to the static.

It was a nice night, all told, but it's not the kind of night you're supposed to have at SXSW. You're supposed to see Bun B if you want to. As Dave Maher, who caught UGK's showcase last year kept telling me, rap shows at South by Southwest are a little different. Now, why is that?

SXSW: Wednesday [Matt LeMay]

[Photos by Christine Tadler]

Pattern Is Movement [Mohawk Inside Stage; 2 p.m.]

As the Mohawk's inside stage cleared out after A Place to Bury Strangers (who, at least from across a crowd of people, I didn't really get at all), singer/keyboardist Andrew Thiboldeaux of Philadelphia two-piece Pattern Is Movement announced, "we're a happy band." They certainly delivered on that claim, playing a brief set of music driven by the contrast between spare, ambient keyboards and thunderous, complex drumming. A cover of Radiohead's "Everything in Its Right Place" recast the song's mantra in much less menacing terms-- a kinda goofy move for sure, but well in keeping with the band's stubbornly positive stage energy. Case in point: Thiboldeaux applauded for drummer Chris Ward after every single song, emphasizing both the band's good-naturedness and the musical rapport shared by its two members.

Shearwater [Mohawk Outside Stage; 4 p.m.]

By the time Phosphorescent took the stage at 3:45, the inside room at the Mohawk was totally packed; we opted to move outside and get a good spot for Shearwater's performance. This was my first time seeing the band, and while I loved Palo Santo, I was completely unprepared for their impressive live show. Jonathan Meiburg's voice is a thing of beauty, and his band's just-so-slightly atypical arrangements (Thor Harris's teeny-tiny hi-hat cymbals and crackly, busted-sounding snare drum in particular) flatter the nuances of Meiburg's performance and songwriting.

I have trouble letting myself be moved by a band if I get the sense that they're trying to pull something on me, or to elicit a specific reaction via means outside of their music, but I was entirely won over by Shearwater's earnestness and ease. I was so enthralled by Shearwater's set that I didn't even notice the construction on adjacent Red River street until Meiburg pointed it out.

Upright Citizens Brigade [United States Art Authority; 8 p.m.]

After dinner, we got word that three of the founders of Upright Citizens Brigade were going to be doing one of their famous A.S.S.S.S.C.A.T. improv shows at an artspace near the UT campus. With so many big-name comedians in town, many with ties to UCB, there was talk of a star-studded performance. The show turned out to be just Matt Walsh, Matt Besser, and Ian Roberts, but it was far from disappointing-- lack of celebrity cameos notwithstanding. Breaking from the show's protocol, Walsh, Bessner, and Roberts engaged the crowd constantly, polling its male members as to how many shave their junk and soliciting stories from the audience at large.

The Judy's [Austin Music Hall; 9 p.m.]

Finallly, we headed down to the newly renovated Austin Music Hall to catch the Austin Music Awards. And it was a weird, weird combination of David Lynch-esque Americana surrealism and the kind of cultural grandstanding (WOOOO WE GOT A BIG, TEXAS-SIZED MUSIC SCENE) that makes me kind of hate Austin. On the stage, local cult heroes the Judy's were playing what I believe to be their first show since the early 1990s. I've heard and enjoyed their recordings, which sound like a more straightforwardly power-pop take on the B-52's kinda jokey new wave, but I was pretty distracted by the band's decision to trot out thematically relevant items (TVs, water) for each song. Prop rock? Really?

Okkervil River [Austin Music Hall; 11 p.m.]

From there, the night only got weirder. Roky Erickson was presented a lifetime achievement award by ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons, Spoon was presented pretty much every major award, and acceptance speeches ran long and gratuitous. It was well after the scheduled time of 11 when Okkervil River took the stage, but the wait was worth it; the mood at the front of the auditorium changed drastically when the band launched into a stunning set of three songs from last year's excellent The Stage Names. The band's on-stage presence reminded me of a more sharp-focus Arcade Fire, more attuned to the ebbs and flows of individual songs than to broader, grander gestures.

Roky Erickson with Okkervil River [Austin Music Hall; 11 p.m.]

After Okkervil closed their set with a stirring rendition of "Unless It's Kicks" (my fave!), they were joined on stage by Texas psychedelic music legend Roky Erickson. I'm more familiar with Erickson's back story than I am with his music, but I was struck by how Okkervil's backing highlighted the power of Erickson's voice and the melodicism of his songs. It was a pretty great end to a very odd night.

SXSW: Wednesday [Matthew Solarski]

Laura Barrett [Emo's Jr.; 12:15 p.m.]




Laura Barrett is that quirky, crafty, half-hip/half-nerdy friend who miraculously managed to escape puberty with her imagination fully intact and who never ceases to charm you with her wiles and whimsy. Like one Joanna Newsom, she's embraced an atypical instrument (the kalimba), she has a serious childlike streak, and her songs have a certain emotional swoop to them that belie their innocent qualities. Yet unlike Newsom, whose ambitious compositions have found a comfortable home in orchestra halls by now, Barrett's tunes seem custom made for house shows and gatherings of friends. They didn't mingle so well with the strangers packed in at Emo's Jr., but then again, who or what does mingle well on a Wednesday just after noon?

Planningtorock [SESAC Day Stage Café; 3 p.m.]

Of the 13 or so performances I witnessed on Wednesday, the most eye-opening by far belonged to Planningtorock, who spent the entirety of this brief afternoon set perched on a table, with avant-garde video projections behind her and a pair of homemade space helmets beside her that she would occasionally don.

Taken together, her status as a British expatriate in Berlin, penchant for ridiculous headgear, and tendency to do unusual things with her voice all tempt me to brand her a female Jamie Lidell, though she's too willfully eccentric and stylistically unhinged to cultivate an audience on his level. As performance art, however, this was pretty exciting stuff.

The Russian Futurists [Habana Calle 6 Patio; 11 p.m.]






Early in this set Russian Futurists mastermind Matthew Adam Hart accused the audience of being a bit "static," though the same charge might have been leveled at him. While Hart is more or less solely responsible for the infectious, effervescent pop found on the Russian Futurists' three excellent albums, live he has a guitarist, keyboardist, and drummer conjuring most of the music, leaving him to twist a few knobs and sing.

It would have been nice to see Hart take advantage of this relative freedom and just let loose some more, to really inhabit the frontman role that I'm sure he's more than cut out for. We got glimpses of what might have been in Hart's steady stream of between-song wisecracks ("Okay guys," he quipped late in the set, "we have one more and it's called 'We Just Got to Austin and We're Looking to Buy Drugs Right Away'"). I'd love to see that sort of mischief manifest itself in the performance.

But we'll cut the guy some slack; this gig marked the Canadian band's first Stateside appearance since being turned away at the border during a Caribou/Junior Boys tour in 2005, and they were probably on their best behavior (apart from soliciting the audience for drugs, of course). Also, they hit pretty much all the RF catalog high points-- "Let's Get Ready to Crumble", "Paul Simon", "Precious Metals"-- and even whipped out a (okay, a little goofy) cover of Sally Shapiro's "I'll Be by Your Side"!

Gowns [Habana Calle 6; 12:10 p.m.]






Like Gowns' fantastic 2007 album Red State, this set was positively charged with desperate energies and highlighted by moments of profound focus and clarity. During those brightest moments (light and brightness being a leitmotif of Red State) it feels as though Gowns are grasping at some quintessential truth, and in so doing, tottering at the edge of oblivion. And then oblivion always wins. Dear world: Please produce more bands like this one. Love, Matthew.

Silje Nes [The Velveeta Room; 1 a.m.]




There's something oddly fascinating about watching someone take the electric guitar-- the instrument that brought popular music performance out of the parlor-- and use it to create delicate percussive effects and faint resonances, all of which fly in the face of the instrument's traditional macho and phallic associations. Silje Nes here essentially turned the electric into a parlor instrument like its forbearer, creating an intricate sound-cocoon that felt a million miles away from the chaos raging just outside on 6th Street. That's pretty goddamned punk rock, if you think about it.

Additional Photos:

Radar Bros. [Emo's Jr.; 1 p.m.]


Mala Rodriguez [SESAC Day Stage Café; 2:30 p.m.]


Shearwater [Mohawk Patio; 4 p.m.]






The Wedding Present's David Gedge and Terry de Castro [Emo's Annex; 5:15 p.m.]


Abigail Washburn/Sparrow Quartet (featuring Béla Fleck) [Mother Egan's; 6:30 p.m.]

Pitchfork Music Festival Tickets ON SALE NOW

Ladies and gentlemen, start your web browsers! Tickets for the 2008 Pitchfork Music Festival-- bringing music lovers the world over to Chicago's Union Park July 18-20-- are available right now for the purchasing via TicketWeb.

As in past years, we have ticketing options for people of all festival-going persuasions. Gunning for that one cherished act? The $30 individual day pass is the one for you. Weekend warrior? Opt for the $50 two-day Saturday/Sunday pass. In it for the long haul? Stretch your dollars for all they're worth with the $65 three-day full festival pass.

In case you need a reminder, here are 13 reasons to get your tickets RIGHT NOW:

Friday, July 18:
Pitchfork Music Festival and All Tomorrow's Parties present Don't Look Back

Public Enemy performing It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back

Saturday, July 19:

Animal Collective
!!!
Vampire Weekend
Dizzee Rascal
No Age
Atlas Sound
Fleet Foxes

Sunday, July 20:

Spiritualized
M. Ward
Boris
Extra Golden
El Guincho

Pitchfork's Guide to SXSW 2008

Hundreds of millions of bands playing hundreds of millions of venues* in Austin, Texas over four nights-- you didn't think we were going to send you into that mess without a little guidance, now did you?

So here we are again with a primer/handbook/tipsheet/what you will for the 2008 South by Southwest Music Conference and Festival, which begins today (Wednesday, March 12, yo) and runs through Saturday, March 15.

We're ignoring the innumerable day parties here (Pitchfork does not condone partying, after all) and focusing exclusively on highlights from the official nightly music showcases and daily panels.

Naturally, we can't cram every last deserving act into this thing, so consider the SXSW Music website your friend as well. Festival organizers have assembled a thorough and fairly straightforward list of showcases here (try sorting by day), and many performing artists have bios, photos, and free mp3s available for download. Poke around a bit; you never know what you might find.

The Pitchfork news staff is headed down to Austin early this morning, so regular news updates will be suspended until Monday, March 17. We'll be posting daily SXSW diaries though, so watch this space.

With that out of the way, we now take you to Pitchfork's SXSW guide:

* not actually hundreds of millions bands or venues, but it sure feels like it

Wednesday, March 12:

Day Stage

Planningtorock, A Place to Bury Strangers, Akron/Family, Ra Ra Riot, Saul Williams

Showcases

** Domino Records: Simian Mobile Disco, These New Puritans, Lightspeed Champion, Sons & Daughters, the Kills, White Williams - Antone's
** Austin Music Awards: Okkervil River featuring Roky Erickson - Austin Music Hall
** Ola Podrida, Bowerbirds, David Karsten Daniels, Peter and the Wolf - Central Presbyterian Church
** Shearwater - Club de Ville
** The Slits - Elysium
** The Lemonheads performing It's a Shame About Ray - Emo's Annex
** K Records: The Blow, Kimya Dawson, Saturday Looks Good to Me, Mahjongg, Jeremy Jay, Karl Blau - Emo's IV Lounge
** Knitting Factory: Dan Deacon + Jimmy Joe Roche's Ultimate Reality, Japanther, Free Blood, Wizardzz, Meneguar - Emo's Jr.
** The Black Keys, Autolux, Be Your Own Pet - Emo's Main Room
** Bun B - Fuze
** Stones Throw / Duck Down: Percee P, Kidz in the Hall, Guilty Simpson - Habana Annex Backyard
** Cardboard Records: Parts & Labor, Gowns, Ecstatic Sunshine, Pterodactyl, Shooting Spires, These Are Powers - Habana Calle 6
** Paper Bag/Upper Class/XLR8R: Cadence Weapon, the Acorn, the Russian Futurists, the Cansecos - Habana Calle 6 Patio
** Modular: The Tough Alliance, Cut Copy - Karma Lounge
** Van Morrison - La Zona Rosa
** Free Yr Radio: Simian Mobile Disco, Yeasayer, Times New Viking - La Zona Rosa
** eMusic: Bon Iver, Frightened Rabbit - Maggie Mae's Rooftop
** Frenchkiss: The Dodos, the Big Sleep, the Plastic Constellations, Fatal Flying Guilloteens - Mohawk Patio
** Almost Gold / Fenway Sessions: Peter Morén - The Parish
** Naked Raygun - Red Eyed Fly
** Orange Twin: Dark Meat, Elf Power - Spiro's
** Steve Reich showcase, hosted by Steve Reich - St. David's Church
** R.E.M. - Stubb's
** Smalltown Supersound: Lindstrøm, Kim Hiorthøy, DiskJokke, Bjørn Torske, Sunburned Hand of the Man, Arp - The Thirsty Nickel
** Afro Punk/Matrix Saul Williams - Vice

Thursday, March 13:

Panels

Keynote: Lou Reed - Austin Convention Center
Interview: Seymour Stein (Sire Records founder) - Austin Convention Center
Interview: Steve Reich/Thurston Moore - Austin Convention Center
Panel: "Through the Lens: Photographers on Musicians" with Michael Azerrad, Autumn de Wilde, etc.
Panel: "The Moment of Truth" with Superchunk/Portastatic's Mac McCaughan, Nada Surf's Matthew Caws, Hanson's Taylor Hanson, etc.
Panel: "Widening Hip Hop's Global Reach" with Sway, etc.

Day Stage

The Hood Internet, Cadence Weapon, Murs, White Williams, the Cool Kids, the Blow

Showcases

** Spoon, Del the Funky Homosapien - Auditorium Shores Stage
** NPR: My Morning Jacket, Yo La Tengo - Austin Music Hall
** AM Only/IHeartcomix/Deaf Dumb and Blind: Beauty Bar Backyard: Working for a Nuclear Free City, Boyz Noize, Thieves Like Us
** Anti/Utne Reader: Man Man, Islands, DeVotchKa - Cedar Street Courtyard
** Caldo Verde/Proxy Media: Mark Kozelek, Retribution Gospel Choir - Central Presbyterian Church
** Ninja Tune/Counter: Ghislain Poirier, TheDeathSet - Elysium
** Relapse: High on Fire, Genghis Tron, Vverevvolf Grehv - Emo's Annex
** We Are Free: Yeasayer, Indian Jewelry, Ponytail, Pit Er Pat, Le Loup - Emo's IV Lounge
** Swami: The Night Marchers, Dan Sartain - Emo's Jr.
** Kork Agency: Jens Lekman, Islands, Howlin Rain, the Octopus Project - Emo's Main Room
** Upset the Rhythm: No Age, High Places, Gowns - Habana Annex Backyard
** Table of the Elements: Northampton Wools (Thurston Moore) - Hideout
** Secretly Canadian/Jagjaguwar/Dead Oceans: Black Mountain, Jens Lekman, Bon Iver, Evangelicals, Bodies of Water, Phosphorescent, Parts & Labor, Citay, the Explorers Club, Throw Me the Statue, White Hinterland - Mohawk and Mohawk Patio
** El Guincho, Fuck Buttons - Red Eyed Fly
** The Social Registry: Blood on the Wall, Sian Alice Group, Psychic Ills, Samara Lubelski - Room 710
** Def Jux/Dirtee Stank: Dizzee Rascal, El-P, Devin the Dude & the Coughee Brothaz, Jammer, Newham Generals - Scoot Inn
** Siltbreeze: Times New Viking, Psychedelic Horseshit, Blues Control, Pink Reason - Soho Lounge
** Jay Reatard, Fucked Up, the Raveonettes, Dark Meat - Vice
** NME: YACHT, Holy Fuck, Dan le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip - Wave Rooftop

Friday, March 14:

Panels

Interview: Mick Jones (The Clash) and Tony James present Carbon/Silicon
Panel: "Resolving Webcast Fees"
Panel: "The Blog Factor" with Sleater-Kinney's Carrie Brownstein, Matador Records' Gerard Cosloy, etc.

Day Stage

The Slits, El Guincho, Lykke Li, Lemonheads, Bodies of Water, Cut Copy, Kim Hiorthoy, Georgie James

Showcases

** Constantines, Vampire Weekend, DeVotchKa - Antone's
** Sub Pop: No Age, Blitzen Trapper, Fleet Foxes, Handsome Furs, the Helio Sequence, Pissed Jeans, the Ruby Suns, Grand Archives, Kelley Stoltz, Sera Cahoone, Love as Laughter - Bourbon Rocks and Bourbon Rocks Patio
** Bowery Presents: Tapes 'n Tapes, Rogue Wave, the Little Ones - Cedar Door
** Bug Music: Lyrics Born - Cedar Street Courtyard
** Asthmatic Kitty and friends: Castanets, My Brightest Diamond, Cryptacize - Central Presbyterian Church
** Big Shot Touring: White Rabbits - Club de Ville
** Kill Rock Stars: Mika Miko, Panther, Telepathe - Emo's IV Lounge
** Leafy Green Booking: Akron/Family, the Dodos - Emo's Jr.
** Biz3 Publicity: Clipse, Kid Sister, A-Trak, the Cool Kids, Flosstradamus, Crystal Castles - Emo's Main Room
** Super Deluxe: Human Giant, Eugene Mirman, Todd Barry, Janeane Garofalo, Brian Posehn - Esther's Follies
** Panache/Lovepump United: The Mae Shi, HEALTH, Old Time Relijun, Apes, RTX, Mika Miko - Flamingo Cantina
** Ernest Jenning: Dälek, O'Death - Friends
** Polyvinyl/Team Love: List Christee (Kevin Barnes of Of Montreal), Tilly and the Wall, Headlights, Aloha, Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin - Habana Calle 6 and patio
** FM3 - Hideout
** M for Montreal: Krief, Nadja, Plants and Animals - Maggie Mae's
** The Great Escape Festival: Lykke Li - Maggie Mae's Rooftop
** Ecstatic Peace: Thurston Moore (with band and with Northampton Wools), J. Mascis, Be Your Own Pet, Sunburned Hand of the Man, Sightings, Samara Lubelski, Leslie Keffer - Mohawk and Mohawk Patio
** Sway - Molotov Lounge
** Rob da Bank and Friends: Lykke Li, Born Ruffians, Dan le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip - Ninety Proof Lounge
** Billboard: Robyn - Pangea
** Merge: Destroyer, She & Him, Shout Out Louds, Radar Bros., Wye Oak, Portastatic - The Parish
** Atlas Sound, White Rainbow, Valet, Fuck Buttons, Jana Hunter, Knyfe Hyts - Prague
** It's GRIM Up North: Enslaved - Red 7 Patio
** Solid PR/Sailor Jerry: Man Man, Fucked Up, Paint It Black - Scoot Inn
** WFMU: Half Japanese, Citay, Evangelista, the Homosexuals, Lexie Mountain Boys, Psychedelic Horseshit, Gary Higgins - Spiro's and Spiro's Amphitheater
** N.E.R.D., Santogold - Stubb's
** X, Daniel Lanois, Dizzee Rascal - The Bat Bar
** Super Deluxe: Human Giant, Janeane Garofalo, Todd Barry, Eugene Mirman, Brian Posehn - The Velveeta Room
** A Place to Bury Strangers - Wave Rooftop

Saturday, March 15:

Panels

Interview: Ice Cube and DJ Pooh
Interview: Daryl Hall
Panel: "It's Not Easy Being Green" (environmental issues in music)
Panel: "Vinyl Revival"
Panel: "'16' Magazine and the Birth of Music Journalism" with Taylor Hanson, etc.

Day Stage

HEALTH

Showcases

** Jarboe, Nadja - The Ale House
** Ice Cube, Jean Grae, Pete Rock, Talib Kweli, Lyrics Born - Auditorium Shores Stage
** David Banner, Murs - Austin Music Hall
** Summer Lovers Unlimited: The Tough Alliance, the Homosexuals - Beauty Bar
** Indie 103.1: A Place to Bury Strangers, Neon Neon - Cedar Street Courtyard
** Jandek, Christina Carter (Charalambides) & Shawn David McMillen, the Weird Weeds - Central Presbyterian Church
** Saddle Creek: Tokyo Police Club, Two Gallants, Georgie James, Neva Dinova - Dirty Dog Bar
** Oya Festival / Oh My Rockness: Shining, Hanne Hukkelberg, Videohippos - Emo's Jr.
** X, the Raveonettes - Emo's Main Room
** Tomlab/Anticon: Why?, Hey Willpower, Thee Oh Sees, Son Lux, Misha - Lamberts
World's Fair: Maggie Mae's Rooftop - British Sea Power
** Free Agency / Todd P: High Places, Ecstatic Sunshine, Matt & Kim, These Are Powers, Ponytail - Mohawk and Mohawk Patio
** DFA/Metromix.com/GBH: Still Going, Holy Ghost!, Digitalism, Planningtorock - Pangaea
** Arts & Crafts: Los Campesinos!, Constantines, Jason Collett - The Parish
** Load: Clockcleaner, Sightings - Scoot Inn
** Cock Rock Disco/Deathbomb Arc: Jason Forrest - Scoot Inn Inside Stage
** Jim James, M. Ward - St. David's Church
** Soundexchange/Mojo: Roky Erickson, Okkervil River - Stubb's
** URB/Squeak E. Clean/Vans/Soundexchange: GZA, Wale, NASA - Stubb's
** Graveface: Black Moth Super Rainbow, Laura Gibson - The Thirsty Nickel
** Fool's Gold/Matrix: Chromeo, A-Trak, Kid Sister, Flosstradamus - Volume
** NME: Crystal Castles - Wave Rooftop

The Wrens' Charles Bissell Joins Okkervil River
Okkervil River backing Roky Erickson tonight in Austin

Wrens photo by Matthew Solarski, Okkervil River photo by Akmal Naim

Big doings in camp Okkervil River. Tonight at the Austin Music Awards, taking place at the Austin Music Hall, they'll play backing band for the legendary Roky Erickson. That will kick off a series of four SXSW appearances, which will be bittersweet for the band: they're the last shows Okkervil River will play with guitarist Brian Cassidy as a full-time touring member.

See, Cassidy and his wife Megan are expecting their first child, and Cassidy has chosen being a dad over being a rock'n'roller. (Probably a wise decision). Okkervil frontman Will Sheff said in a press release, "All the sadness we're feeling about Brian's not being able to tour with us for the foreseeable future is outweighed by our happiness for him and his family."

Cassidy's replacement? None other than Charles Bissell of the Wrens! Well, for now at least. Bissell will accompany Okkervil River on the road throughout the spring and summer, including on their spring trek with the New Pornographers.

In the fall, Okkervil River will look for a permanent replacement. Which means the Wrens can finally get back to work on their new album. Right guys? Right?

(P.S. If you tune in to WNYC today around 2 p.m. Eastern, you just might hear Will Sheff on "Soundcheck", chatting about SXSW with some dork from Pitchfork News, provided her plane arrives on time.) [MORE...]

White Rabbits Become Radiohead's Labelmates on TBD
Dave Matthews becomes their boss

Joining the likes of Radiohead, Underworld, and, you know, Radiohead at ATO subsidiary TBD Records are none other than Columbia, Missouri-born, NYC-bred White Rabbits. The band, whose Fort Nightly gained a good following around these parts circa its release in May of last year, will release their second album on their new digs in early 2009.

Impressive company, sure, but the Rabbits are used to that sort of thing by now. Peep, if you will, this giant list of tour dates they've got lined up for the next quarter, with shared bills aplenty with Spoon, the Walkmen, Guillemots, and Loney, Dear. [MORE...]

Cloud Cult Feel Good About New Album, Tour

Though April 8 marks the official release of Cloud Cult's sixth LP Feel Good Ghosts (Tea-Partying Through Tornados), let me help you help yourself. If you want to, you can order the disc via Cloud Cult's website and listen to it right this very second. Or, you can skip on down to your local record mart April 8 and greet these Ghosts head-on.

Whether you opt for patience or haste, your (physical) copy of the Cult's follow-up to last year's The Meaning of 8 will arrive via the band's eco-friendly Earthology imprint. And, of course, it will be full of the kind of genre-skipping electronic-tinged symphonic swell these Minneapolitans have made their own over the last five LPs. So it's win-win!

In the most environmentally-friendly way they possibly can, Cloud Cult are on the road, sharing a bill with My Brightest Diamond before a spate of shows at SXSW and a full-blown tour in April and May. Just make sure to mind the splatter: Cloud Cult are known to perform with a live painter. [MORE...]

Do you have a news tip for us? Anything crazy happen at a show you attended recently? Do you have inside info on the bands we cover? Is one of your favorite artists (that's not somebody you know personally) releasing a new record you'd like to see covered? You will remain completely anonymous, unless we are given your express permission to reveal your identity. (Please note that publicists, managers, booking agents, and other artist representatives are generally exempt from this rule, but will also be granted anonymity if requested.)