SXSW, day four

When I woke up and realized it was Saturday, my last full day in Austin, I couldn’t believe time had passed by so quickly. Though I had managed to assemble rough plans for the previous days, I had run out of time to make an itinerary for Saturday, so I hastily jotted down some addresses and set times and set out. (Man this would all be so much easier with a smart phone.)

After ducking into the BV day party for a little while, I decided to leave for a while to check out the band Mutual Affection, but when I arrived at the park where they were scheduled to play, I quickly realized that it probably wouldn’t be happening. The scene resembled a photo shoot more than anything else. The band members were climbing an old, knobby tree and hoisting up their guitars/bass. Though it looked pretty awesome to see a group of guys playing from a tree, back on the ground, the music back barely even audible, so I left somewhat disappointed.

But on the way back to the Swan Dive, something odd happened. I spotted a band unpacking gear from their van. A small piece of paper in the window notified me that it was the group Typhoon, a group that Bob Boilen at NPR Music had just recommended to me the day before. Convinced that it was meant to be, I followed the large group into a venue and caught their lively 12-person set.

Typhoon - RIYL Lost in the Trees (photo courtesy of artist)

Typhoon clip:

Following this pleasant happenstance, I headed back over to Swan Dive and caught Austra for a second time (yes, totally worth it), Malajube, and Little Scream before darting out once again to see the High Highs. It was a fast-paced 90 minutes, running back and forth between venues, but I’m glad I had the chance to see the High Highs, one of the few bands that I had awarded the highly selective 5-star rating in iTunes. Though their music wasn’t terribly memorable in the grand scheme of the week, I remember being fairly impressed by what I heard – especially for a band that hasn’t even released an EP yet.

High Highs RIYL Smith Westerns, Surfer Blood (photo courtesy of artist)

High Highs clip:

Though I would have liked to stick around Fado’s to see ARMS play, the timing wasn’t right, so I headed back to Swan Dive to see two more acts: Mount Kimbie (how much of that was live and how much, samples?) and the consistently impressive Owen Pallett. After stumbling into Bob Boilen again at Owen Pallett, I decided to pall around with him for a while and saw Fang Island, The Felice Brothers, and Bright Eyes (in addition to briefly meeting Wild Flag’s Carrie Brownstein, which was pretty sweet.)

Though I was tempted to go see the captivating Norwegian singer-songwriter Silje Nes, I decided I should close out the week with a handful of new artists, which led me to The Parish Underground for a pleasant, low-key line-up with The Deer Tracks, Indigo Tree, Foxes in Fiction and His Clancyness. More on the Swedish group Deer Tracks soon. (I actually got to hang out with them for a while after their set, which was pretty fun.)

The Deer Tracks RIYL Cold Cave (photo Petra Salmi)

The Deer Tracks clip:

Though I was intrigued by the rumors circulating about a late-late night show with Bon Iver and Jay-Z, I decided to call it a night.

Daily band count: 14

Fun at the waterfront – rain and shine

Xiu Xiu and Deerhoof + Why? + Fang Island + Pictureplane – Williamsburg Waterfront – July 11th

Given the names on Sunday’s bill, I was afraid that the waterfront for the season’s first free show would be swamped, but when I arrived at around 3:30, I was delighted to see that I didn’t even have to wait in line to get in. That said, the sights and sounds till offered plenty of stimulation. The Williamsburg waterfront is made for people watching. People paraded around in strange outfits and meticulously managed hair. At the far end of the park, a guy played dodgeball wearing a dress shirt, vest, and bow tie. I only wish I had had my camera to catch the action.

Williamsburg Waterfront (Photo Lauren Farmer)

When I arrived, I surveyed the stage only to see a woman wearing some kind of flesh-colored fat suit cavorting around to the music of Pictureplane.

By the time Fang Island took over, a modest crowd had accumulated on the sun-drenched cement pit at the foot of the stage.  A light rain began to fall over the grateful crowd, but luckily the stage was covered so the show went on. I was shocked to see that two of the five members of Fang Island were wearing short-sleeve hoodies (one more comfortably than his sweat-drenched bandmate).

Fang Island put on a fun show, but things really picked up when Why? frontman Yoni Wolf took the stage. Thanks to Yoni’s sick dance moves, clever (and oh-so-decipherable) lyrics, and a full-band sound, Why? proved to be the highlight of the day for me – even if the rain did pick up a fair amount during the performance. Why? offers an intriguing blend or hip-hop and whimsical indie-pop, complete with lyrics that are astute and deeply confessional. He has a real knack for drawing in an audience, which is quite a feet given the distracting nature of the Williamsburg waterfront. My only regret was not having a video camera to capture Yoni’s dance moves. When confined to the mic stand, he used his hands animatedly. Then as soon as he had a few beats, he pulled out the high kicks, flips, and spastic arm movements – even if the instrumental interlude was only a few seconds long.

Why?

Take a listen to an excerpt from Why?’s last song, “Hollows”:

Of course, it’s worth pointing out that none of the Jelly-sponsored pool parties would exist this year without the support of Senator Chuck Schumer, who of course was present at Sunday’s show and had this to say before Xiu Xiu and Deerhoof performed:

Senator Chuck Schumer at a 2009 Pool Party (Photo Amanda Hatfield)

As you can probably tell from the clip, Schumer’s mic kept giving out (almost as if to limit Schumer’s speech and keep him from getting into politics too much), but for the most part he was still met with enthusiasm.

Xiu Hoof (Deer Xiu?) (Photo Jason Persse)

Next up: the main event. Apparently, this wasn’t the first time Xiu Xiu and Deerhoof have partnered to cover Joy Division’s Unknown Pleasures, but I really wanted to see what it was like with my own eyes.

Take a listen to yourself of back-to-back clips of “She’s Lost Control” – first of Sunday’s show, followed by the original by Joy Division:

Overall, it was a decent show. Like Joy Division’s Ian Curtis, Xiu Xiu singer Jamie Stewart has an undeniable intensity when he performs (even if their presentations are rooted in different types of urgency). A major highpoint came during the last song when I realized that recent Xiu Xiu convert Angela Seo was throwing wine glasses into a metal garbage can in time to the music and bashing the broken glass with a metal pole in order to create some pretty sweet effects.

Here’s a clip (listen carefully for the smashing glass):

Sadly, I won’t be able to attend the majority of the summer’s free shows since I work on Sundays, but check out the schedule for future shows here: