W♥M (Archive)

Great Scotts!

Fratellis US/Canada 2014 Dates poster Read More The Fratellis After a five year absent from the music scene, The Fratellis are back with a brand new album We Need Medicine. The Scottish band is currently in the middle of a tiny, tiny U.S. tour in support of it, and basically selling out every …

THE FRATELLIS
thefratellis.com

We were lucky enough to have caught The Fratellis at their sold-out tour in 2013. The Scottish band just announced new 2014 North American tour dates. Buy your tickets now (if it's available for advance tickets), because based on their previous sold out status at smaller clubs, these shows will likely sell out as well:

02/21: Atlanta, GA @ Hell Stage
02/22: Orlando, FL @ The Social
02/26: Vancouver, BC @ VENUE
02/27: Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile
03/01: Toronto, ON @ Phoenix Concert Theatre

The Fratellis' latest album is called We Need Medicine and it is out now on BMG Records.

Stay tuned for more news from The Fratellis coming soon!

Bonus section: The Ceremonies aren't from Scotland, but we saw them in Chicago with the Fratellis.

They seem to like Scottish bands, because they've just announced a Winter 2014 tour date with Scottish indie-rock band Glasvegas. We previously mentioned the Glasvegas tour dates here, but in case you missed it:

02/16 Washington DC Rock N Roll Hotel (All Ages)
02/17 Philadelphia, PA North Star Bar
02/18 Boston, MA Great Scott (18+)
02/19 New York, NY Mercury Lounge
02/20 Brooklyn, NY Rough Trade
02/22 Toronto, ON Mod Club
02/24 Chicago, IL Schubas
02/25 Minneapolis, MN 7th Street Entry (18+)
02/28 Seattle, WA Columbia City Theater
03/01 Vancouver, BC The Venue
03/02 Portland, OR Doug Fir Lounge
03/04 Los Angeles, CA The Echo (18+)

The Ceremonies debut self-titled EP is out now on Atom Factory Music/Capitol Records.

E Rey - Live in Philadelphia FatCat Read More We Were Promised Jetpacks Thanks to motormouth for sending in some information and upcoming tour dates for We Were Promised Jetpacks. Jetpack's latest album, These Four Walls was released earlier this month, their upcoming tour schedule …

WE WERE PROMISED JETPACKS
wewerepromisedjetpacks.com

We Were Promised Jetpacks will be returning with E Rey - Live in Philadelphia, an album that was recorded at Philadelphia's Union Transfer. The live album will be out February 25th via FatCat and follows up We Were Promised Jetpacks critically acclaimed sophomore album In The Pit Of The Stomach.

I previously saw We Were Promised Jetpacks at SXSW 2009 at the Scottish Showcase, and they were so very happy to have such a crowded audience (especially showing up early for the opening band), and mentioned on stage that no one gave a "sh***" about them in their hometown.

Looks like the band is back in the U.S. to tour around SXSW this year:

02.21 - Los Angeles, CA @ The El Rey
02.22 - San Francisco, CA @ Bimbo's 365 Club
02.24 - Portland, OR @ Doug Fir
02.25 - Seattle, WA @ Neumo's
02.28 - Minneapolis, MN @ Triple Rock Social
03.01 - Milwaukee, WI @ Shank Hall
03.02 - Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall
03.03 - Cleveland, OH @ the Grog Shop
03.05 - Cambridge, MA @ The Sinclair
03.06 - Wilmington, DE @ Arden Gild Hall
03.07 - Washington, DC @ The Black Cat
03.08 - New York, NY @ Webster Hall
03.09 - Richmond, VA @ The Camel
03.11 - Chattanooga, TN @ Rhythm And Brews
03.14 - Austin, TX @ SXSW
03.15 - Austin, TX @ SXSW
03.16 - Mexico City, Mexico @ Pasagüero

Read More Jarvis Cocker Sally, joins us once again to talk more Britpop! Is there a britpopcast in the future? Talks centers around Jarvis Cocker and Pulp, Suede. Pulp started in 1978 …

EVERYTHING IS NEW
everythingisnewproject.com

'Everything is New' is the international outreach project created by Scottish arts community Transgressive North in aid of Dalit "untouchable" children in southeast India, now has over 1,000 contributors, all working for free. Proceeds from the project go to the charity Scottish Love in Action which feeds, clothes, houses, educates and provides medical care for over 500 children by funding the Light of Love Home and School in southeast India.

Coming out next week, January 20th, are two releases:

[1] Marram's Sun Choir, featuring Jarvis Cocker (Pulp), Owen Pallett, doseone, White Hinterland and Margaret Bennett

[2] a compilation called BOATS, featuring exclusive tracks by Four Tet, Dan Deacon, Bear in Heaven, Califone, Deerhoof, El Guincho, Gang Gang Dance, Lucky Dragons, Julian Lynch, Max Tundra, No Age, The Ruby Suns, Rustie, Son Lux, Sun Airway, A Sunny Day in Glasgow, Taken By Trees, Jamie Stewart (Xiu Xiu), YACHT, and many more.

On both releases, you can hear the voices of Light of Love Children's Choir, which is made up of the voices of the children from the Light of Love Home and School.

In further support of the project, Transgressive North released Marram feat. Jarvis Cocker and Margaret Bennett's "Falling From The Sun." You can hear it on Soundcloud.

Celtic Connections celticconnections.com Read More Mogwai This is the best part, the entire soundtrack was created by instrumental Scottish band Mogwai. They are more shoegazy or mathrock, but for the soundtrack, which was released February 25th …

CELTIC CONNECTIONS
celticconnections.com

Taking place in a few days is Celtic Connections music festival. Over 200 musicians from around the world is playing in Glasgow between January 16th and February 2nd, 2014.

I looked over the map, it seems like there are over 10 different concert venues participating in this three-week event.

Some of the artists schedule to appear are:

Del Amitri, Imelda May, Capercaillie, Bobby Womack, Mahotella Queens, Salsa Celtica, Amadou & Miriam, Lúnasa, AR Rahman & Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Mogwai, Peatbog Faeries, Julie Fowlis, Elephant Revival, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Manu Dibango, Treacherous Orchestra, Shawn Colvin, Nicola Benedetti, Stockton's Wing, The Gloaming, Lau, Suzanne Vega, Seth Lakeman, RANT, Boban Marković Orchestra, Alkinoos Ioannidis, The Olllam, Bill Callahan, De Temps Antan, RM Hubbert, Lloyd Cole & the Leopards, Kathleen MacInnes, Tim Finn, Dick Gaughan and The Stray Birds.

Fatherson Tour Dates poster

FATHERSON
fathersonband.co.uk

Scotland's Fatherson recently sold out their Glasgow show with over 500 people singing every word, indicating that they have strong hometown support. The band new album I Am An Island will be coming out April 7th on A Modern Way.

In the meantime, they're set to open up for Lonely The Brave:

01/26/14 Glasgow, King Tuts *
01/27/14 Manchester, Deaf Institute
01/28/14 Leicester, Academy 2
01/30/14 London, Cargo
01/31/14 Aldershot, West End Centre
02/01/14 Nottingham, Rock City Basement
02/04/14 Southampton, Joiners
02/05/14 Leeds, Cockpit
02/07/14 Norwich, Open
02/08/14 Cambridge, Junction 2

* Ross Leighton acoustic set

Vladimir: Come Over soundcloud.com

VLADIMIR
facebook.com

Vladimir is "the noisiest band in Dundee [Scotland]", according to Daily Record.

The four-piece young band (everyone is 18 years old) is known for their "excessively loud chaotic live shows", opening up for such bands as Peace, The View, Pigeon Detectives, The Twilight Sad and Wet Nuns.

Their last release was "Come Over", which came out November 18th, 2013. You can hear the track on soundcloud.com. The track is free to download.



The band was recently on "Vic's 25 Scottish Artists to Watch 2014". The list is in alphabetical order, so take that as you will with Vladimir ending up last because of the 'v'.

vu () ♥ weheartmusic.com

W♥M125: SXSW 2012

W♥M125 (51 mins) W♥M125

Brody stopped in to talk about SXSW 2012. What's in store for him?

March 13
Girls, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Fanfarlo, and Young Man at Fitzgeralds in Houston, Texas

March 14
Sydney Wayser at Betsy’s Bar (12pm)
Sydney Wayser at Rusty’s (1:45pm)
Radio Day Stage Austin Convention Center: Michael Kiwanuka (3pm), Alabama Shakes (4pm), Honeyhoney (5pm)
Warehouse: Blondfire (8pm), Tribes (9pm), fun. (10pm), Twin Atlantic (11pm), Neon Trees (12am), Kasabian (1am)
Tennis at Red 7 (10pm)
Pomegranates at Trinity Hall (11:30pm)
The Drums at Stage on Sixth Patio (1am)

March 15
Cedar Street Courtyard: Twiilite (11am), Coldair (11:30am), Paula i Karol (12pm), Zulu Winter (1pm), Reptar (2pm), Band of Skulls (3pm), Kaiser Chiefs (4pm), Keane (5pm)
Club de Ville: Sarah Jaffe (8pm), Hundred Visions (9pm), Fanfarlo (10pm), Tennis (11pm), White Rabbits (12am), Youth Lagoon (1am)
Spectrals at Swan Dive (8pm)
Jonquil at Latitude 30 (10pm)
Miike Snow at Lustre Pearl (12am)

March 16
Flat Top Burger Shop: Education (12pm), The Wedding Present (1pm), Spectrals (2pm), A Classic Education (3pm), Literature (4pm), The Spinto Band (5pm), Treetop Flyers (6pm), Dutch Uncles (7pm)
Fanfarlo at Radio Day Stage Austin Convention Center (2pm)
Cedar Street: Graffiti6 (4pm), Fanfarlo (5pm)
Easy Tiger Patio: Leftover Cuties (8pm), Sydney Wayser (9pm), D E N A (10pm), Ximena Sarinana (11pm), Alabama Shakes (12am), Girl in a Coma (1am)
Of Monsters and Men at Stubb's (9pm)
Tribes at Maggie Mae's Rooftop (1am)
Treasure Island: The Riff Raff (11pm), All the Young (12am)

March 17
Flat Top Burger Shop: Seapony (12pm), The Brute Chorus (1pm), Django Django (2pm), North Highlands (3pm), Jonquil (4pm), Wild Moccasins (5pm), The Staves (6pm)
Latitude 30: Clock Opera (9pm), Django Django (10pm), Maverick Sabre (11pm), Slow Club (12am), Toddla T (1am)
Sony Club at Red 7: The Twilight Sad (11pm), We Were Promised Jetpacks (12am), Star Slinger (1am)
Lissy Trullie at Clive Bar (12am)

Song of the show is The Cribs' "Come On, Be A No One".

The Cribs are on tour:

04/03 - Portland, OR – Holocene 04/04 - Seattle, WA - Crocodile Café 04/07 - Minneapolis, MN - 7th Street Entry 04/09 - Chicago, IL - Schubas 04/10 - Pontiac, MI - The Pike Room 04/11 - Toronto, ON - Lee’s Palace 04/13 - Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg

04/14 - Boston, MA - Brighton Music Hall 05/07 - Nottingham - Rock City 05/08 - London - The Troxy 05/09 - Bristol - O2 Academy 05/11 - Glasgow - Barrowlands 05/12 - Manchester - Academy 05/13 - Eastbourne - Winter Gardens

BONUS: Jordan from Howler dissed the Minneapolis music scene, in particular calling out 4onthefloor as "crap". Howler is the hot-new-buzz band at the moment. Plus, Prissy Clerks.

Also, WHAT??? There's a second part to this show??? An unexpected Sally & Dave appearance:

Their band, still unnamed. Possible names: Phonebook Inspector and All Talk

Australian Idol

Clem Snide's "Don't Stop Believin'" in sad, sad ukulele

2 Broke Girls

Extras

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____
Archive of this show at archive.org. More information on podomatic.com

vu () ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ podcast.weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic ♥ +W♥M

News: Lily Allen and Mason Proper Remixed, Beastie Boys are old, Gossip & Jetpacks Tour

Not Fair (Dr Rosen Rosen Rx)

Lily Allen - Not Fair

Here's a roundup of some music news that's come across news.weheartmusic.com.

I don't know how this is entirely legal, but LA-producer Doctor Rosen Rosen remixed Lily Allen's album, It's Not Me, It's You and made it available as a free download on his website, doctorrosenrosen.com. The only thing that he claim to have lifted is Allen's original vocal tracks and that all the background and mix is completely original.

Clearly the man is in love with Lily Allen. He admitted to first seeing the video for "Smile" in "a crappy hotel room" while on tour in Iceland. Ever since then, he's been a fan. He reached out to her record label to see if they were commissioning remixes for her new record, but of course, they weren't interested. But that wouldn't stop a man obsessed, right? So what we have here is an un-endorsed, unofficial release of a "darker" remixed album of It's Not Me, It's You.

While I think this is a good marketing ploy to expose non-fans to Lily Allen, it's also great exposure for this producer/mixer Doctor Rosen Rosen as well. Unfortunately, I think the lawyers won't agree on my views.

Mason Proper - Safe For The Time Being (The Paronomasiac Remix)

Safe For The Time Being

Speaking of free downloads, goldestegg.com tells me that the new Remix EP from Mason Proper (official/myspace/W♥M) is available for free. The link I'm given is zShare. You get "Safe for the Time Being" remixed by The Paronomasiac and Wallpaper. (I recently mentioned his remix of Das Racist, calling it "d-u-m"). What's cool is the EP also includes a video for "Safe for the Time Being".

Mason Proper is currently on tour:

Jul 30 The Casbah San Diego, CA *
Jul 31 The Troubadour Los Angeles, CA *
Aug 1 Slim's San Francisco, CA *
Aug 3 Doug Fir Portland, OR *
Aug 4 Chop Suey Seattle, WA *
Aug 11 Frederik Meijer Garden Grand Rapids, MI (w/ grrRoPoLis)
Sept 16-19 Pygmalion Festival Champaign-Urbaba, IL (w/ Iron & Wine, Lucero, Ra Ra Riot)

* w/ Stellastarr* and Wild Light

Beastie Boys - Body Movin'

Beastie Boys

There's no doubt about it, the Beastie Boys are old. Even Triumph the Insult Dog pointed this out at their recent Bonnaroo appearance.

You've gone from "Check Your Head" to "Check Your Prostate".

Apparently Adam ("MCA") Yauch was diagnosed with "cancerous tumor in his left parotid (salivary) gland". It's treatable, but unfortunately it affected MCA's vocal chords... as a result, Beastie Boys canceled all upcoming concert appearances.

From a video statement on Beastieboys.com:

I just need to take a little time to get this in check, and then we'll release the record and play some shows. It's a pain in the neck (sorry had to say it) because I was really looking forward to playing these shows, but the doctors have made it clear that this is not the kind of thing that can be put aside to deal with later.

- Adam Yauch

Gossip - Pop Goes The World

Gossip

Since I am a fan of Gossip (official/myspace/W♥M) and my review was done prior to their US tour dates (they were at the time doing promotional touring in the UK, where you have to admit Europeans loves Gossip more than Americans). So here's the US Tour dates, courtesy of sonymusic.com:

October 7 Washington, DC 9:30 Club
October 8 Philadelphia, PA TLA
October 9 New York, NY Terminal 5
October 11 Boston, MA Paradise
October 15 Detroit, MI Majestic Theater
October 16 Chicago, IL Metro
October 17 Madison, WO Orpheum
October 19 Denver, CO Bluebird
October 20 Salt Lake City, UT Urban Lounge
October 23 Seattle, WA Showbox
October 24 Portland, OR Wonder Ballroom
October 25 San Francisco, CA Regency Ballroom
October 26 Los Angeles, CA Henry Fonda Theater
October 29 Austin, TX Emo’s
October 30 Little Rock, AR Vino’s

We Were Promised Jetpacks - Quiet Little Voices (Radio Edit)

We Were Promised Jetpacks

Thanks to motormouthmedia.com for sending in some information and upcoming tour dates for We Were Promised Jetpacks. Jetpack's latest album, These Four Walls was released earlier this month, their upcoming tour schedule:

09.13 Morrison, CO @ Monolith Festival *
09.14 Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge *
09.15 Boise, ID @ Neurolux *
09.16 Seattle, WA @ Neumo's *
09.17 Portland, OR @ Musicfest NW @ Dante's *
09.18 San Francisco, CA @ The Independent *
09.20 Los Angeles, CA @ Knitting Factory *
09.22 Tucson, AZ @ Plush *
09.24 Austin, TX @ The Mohawk *
09.26 Birmingham, AL @ Bottletree *
09.27 Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade *
09.28 Tallahassee, FL @ Club Downunder *
09.29 Orlando, FL @ The Social *

* All dates with Frightened Rabbit

More information about Jetpacks and Twilight Sad on news.whm.

Hype Machine Popular (7-20-09)

Elizabeth & the Catapult - Race You

Finally, W♥M made some news, however minor it was. One of our tracks for Elizabeth & The Catapult became wildly popular on The Hype Machine! It peaked at #10 on the popular list, which are ranked when a Hype user marked the song as "love". As soon as the track hit the top 20, the "love" number grew quickly to 170 (just to give you an idea, average 'loved' W♥M tracks are about 1 to 5).

After three days, The Hype Machine dropped the song off their ranking.

 07/23/2009 03:14:34 ♥ vu () ♥weheartmusic.com♥twitter.com/weheartmusic♥news.weheartmusic.com

SXSW: Summary

(This is a re-post from the archive.)

>>>
SXSW: SUMMARY
You know, the festival is only four days, but it really seem like weeks.

While having every band in the world merge at one place might sound like a great idea... sometime their appearance conflicts with other artists that you also want to see. So one of the biggest problem I had was sacrificing who to see.

Music happens from daylight (probably closer to 10am start) until two in the morning, or even later.

I usually started my day around 8am, working out my schedule for the day. Sometime it's logistics, sometime it's time-issues, but usually I have a full day's worth of stuff to do. I don't follow my schedule to a T, but there are certain items that I absolutely cannot miss (scheduled interviews takes priority over shows).

Camera Obscura - Setlist (3-19-09)	The May Fire - Set List (3-18-09)
Proclaimers - Set List (3-19-09)	Glasvegas - Set List, La Zona Rosa, Austin TX (3-20-09) - From Bob
Late of the Pier - Set List, Austin TX (3-21-2009)	Crimea - Set List, Austin TX (3-21-09)
Superdrag - Setlist, Guero's (3-19-09)	Wave Machines - Friends, Austin, TX (3-18-09)
Jay Jay Pistolet - Friends, Austin TX (3-18-09)	May Fire - Havana, Austin, TX (3-18-09)
Meiko - Cedar Door, Austin TX (3-19-2009)	Superdrag - Guero's (3-20-09)
Primal Scream - Austin, TX - Photo from Bob	Ed Harcourt - Cedar Door, Austin TX (3-19-2009)
Kate Tucker - Cedar Door, Austin TX (3-19-2009)	Diane Birch - The Garden Party, Austin TX (3-21-09)
The Gin Riots - Rio, Austin TX (3-21-2009)	Goldielocks - Rio, Austin, TX (3-21-2009)
Crimea - Austin TX (3-21-2009)	Babies Loves Jeremy Jay - Austin, TX (3-21-09)
Jeremy Jay - Club de Ville Austin, TX (3-21-09)	Melissa Auf De Maur - The Garden Party, Austin TX (3-21-09)
Camera Obscura - La Zona Rosa, Austin TX (3-20-09)	Solid Gold - Beauty Bar, Austin TX (3-20-09)
Laura Marling - The Garden Party, Austin TX (3-21-09)

WHAT WORKED
- Offline gmail. This worked! I read/did most emails offline and when I was connected, all emails were sent, marked as read, etc.
- iPod Touch, worked like a charm. I was able to grab onto various (free) wifi to receive emails or websurf (maps), etc.
- Austin Convention Center's SXSW wifi stayed up most 99% of the time. Wonderful!
- Cash (ATM) availability
- Blocking off 6th street for pedestrians

WHAT SUCKED
- AT&T Network, apparently everyone in Austin had an iPhone
- Walking......
- Sony Memory Stick not supported on my laptop
- Bands playing 30 minutes or less
- Badges are ridiculously expensive ($600-$700). I think they should make it more affordable, especially since most places don't bother to check for a badge and/or were free. If there was a cover charge, it is usually under $10.

I guess my problems are not really that bad.

DAY ZERO (Tuesday)
Travelling… nothing too exciting. My least favorite state was the one with the road tolls (I think this was in Oklahoma). We did stop in Oklahoma City to see Blackwatch Studios (myspace). We got to hear a few songs from Minneapolis' Cedar Avenue (official/myspace) band from their forth-coming long playing record. The few songs we heard were incomplete, but it sounds really layered with a variety of tracks.

By the way, if the name Cedar Avenue sounds familiar to you, it is because Kristin reviewed their debut album a while back.

DAY ONE (Wednesday)
Getting my barring was hard. I didn't know where any of the streets were. So when people text me: come over to (name of venue), I replied and ask what the cross streets were. Since walking around was my main means of transportation, I ended up crossing out outlier venues immediately.

Wednesday was evening-only, so I mostly went to see some British acts over at Friend's. These guys were all from the London area, with the exception of Liverpool's Wave Machines (official/myspace). These guys creeped me out with their masks that they wore on stage - however, due to heat and comfortableness, they took them off half way into their short set. Also caught a bit of Jay Jay Pistolet (myspace), whose singing voice is very peculiar... it's like he sounds like he's sing out the side of his mouth.

When Mumford & Sons (myspace) took the stage, it was very, very, very crowded. The audience loved them and it's apparent that these guys are going to blow up this year.

The Havana Bar had some Spanish showcase, featuring mostly Mexican bands such as Songs For Eleonor (myspace), Satin Dolls (official), Cosmopolitan (myspace), and Los Fancy Free (myspace). With the exception of The May Fire (official/myspace) and Spain's Capsula (official). We like Spanish acts, so be sure to read more Mexican Summer and my coverage of Los Fancy Free.

DAY TWO (Thursday)
I think this was the big press day, I got to meet & greet Victoria who setup the interview with Solid Gold (myspace). She was kind enough to have me in the Myspace Music event, featuring some artists that I really enjoy: Kate Tucker, Meiko and Ed Harcourt.

To kick off the party was The Real You (myspace), a power-pop band from Seattle, Washington. According to their biography, they've been on constant tour since forming in early 2007 - so I'm sure you'll run into this young band eventually.

I haven't been keeping up with Kate Tucker (official/myspace), but apparently her latest project is with a band called The Honeydove (myspace) - who debuted at SXSW! Unfortunately, I had prior commitments, but I would've liked to have seen her new band play at the Beauty Bar.

Anyway, the nicest bit about her set was that she wanted everyone at the event to get a copy of her last album, "I want to give you my music!"

So if you weren't at the event, you missed out. Hey, maybe you can stop in and say hi to her in Washington:

04/05/09 Sunset Seattle, WA
05/21/09 Chop Suey as honeydove Seattle, WA

Read more Kate Tucker & The Sons of Sweden on W♥M.

Meiko (official/myspace) had a guest trumpet player on for most of her set (she requested him on for the rest of show because I guess she felt more comfortable with having someone else with her). She actually started her set with "Piano Song", which ironically just her and her guitar... She made some funny comments, such as "I've never played to a bunch of porta potties before".

You get the impression that she was happy to be there, and maybe it's yellow-iest dress combined with her orange/red dyed hair, but she looks gorgeous.

Ed Harcourt (official/myspace) was very engaging…. During "Until Tomorrow Then", he got down to the audience and walked around, singing and putting his hands around people while everyone was filming and taking pictures. Enclosed is a video evidence.

Harcourt is releasing a new six-track EP called Russian Roulette out on May 5^th, but SXSW audience were privy to some of his new songs courtesy of Dovecote Records and Directv. Pay close attention to "Caterpillar", as this is a personal song about his newborn daughter being placed in an incubator as they helpless sit and wait.

Went to an open-door new talent showcase, this was not an official sanctioned SXSW event (you'll find that there are many, many unofficial events), so I don't have a listing of who played at what time. They were all giving away their CDs, but I couldn't bother to pick them up (this would require me to carry around stuff, and I didn't have a hand bag ready). Reminder for next year: bring a man purse.

Also went over to check The Elevaters (myspace) and Rumspringa (myspace) at the Hi-Lo venue. While Elevaters were fun and energetic, it seems the drums/guitar duo of Rumspringa had a lot of problems with their equipment. They had to cut their southern-sounding melodic set short after four (?) songs, quote from the singer, "my shit ain't working."

DAY THREE (Friday)
The busy day. Walked all over town basically. My only out-of-the-way venue was at 3 o'clock to see Superdrag (official/myspace) at Guero's, which I thought was far walking there. I ran into one of our RV family, who we'll call Rose because she looks like a pint-sized Pippettes, complete with dress and all. We walked back across the river so I can make it to my Asteroids Galaxy Tour (official/myspace) interview (this was delayed because of some miscommunication).

Afterward, headed over to Beauty Bar to see Solid Gold play, mustache and all. I can tell the audience was having a good time, especially the girl at the backstage.

Then snuck over to see this punk(ish) band that MTV was covering. I didn't catch their name, but it sounded something like Dirty____ Something. The singer had bleach blonde hair and eye shadows.... and likes to walk around with no shirts on.

Evening was spent mostly at the Scotland show: We Were Promised Jet Packs (myspace), Dananananaykroyd (official/myspace), Camera Obscura (official/myspace), The Proclaimers (official/myspace), Glasvegas (official/myspace), Primal Scream (official/myspace). I was in-out so I did end up missing Glasvegas & Primal Scream, but thanks to Bob for sending in some pictures.

DAY FOUR (Saturday)
Saw a few bands in the daytime at the Press Here Garden Party at the French Legation Museum across the Freeway (this is actually closer than it sounds). The walk there was interesting, and I discovered a no-seating Wendy's on the right side of 7th Street. Yep, I ended up having dinner there since they were making these chicken things that's not available in Minnesota.

I got to the Garden just in time to see Jeremy Jay (myspace), and enjoyed the most of the day with The Soft Pack (myspace) and Diane Birch* (myspace) before heading over to 900 Red River to see Jeremy Jay again.

Listened to Camera Obscura afterwards with those Peelander-Z, as I previously mentioned.

Headed back to the Garden to see Melissa Auf De Maur (official/myspace), who started her set with three cover songs: Nancy Sinatra's "Bang Bang", Danzig's "Devil's Plaything", and The Smiths "Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before". Although the first two went off pretty well, she totally messed up on "Stop Me" - which is understandable because that song has a lot of Morrissey's lyrics and also they had only practiced it the night before in their hotel room.

It wasn't long before people started filling up the seats at the Garden to see Laura Marling (official/myspace). She was joined on stage by Marcus Mumford, I think. He played percussions and sang backup, although I have to say that Marling would've done just fine with her lovely voice and acoustic guitar.

Saw Late of the Pier at the Bat Bar later that night. Since it was being broadcast live on Directv, I think the pressure got to the band and it was just embarrassing to watch. Towards the end, they seem to not be so nervous, and the (rather long) setlist ended with men in death masks coming on stage to carry the band offstage. I don't have Directv, is there a way for non-subscribers to watch this?

Honey Ryder (myspace) was really happy to be Austin, I think this was their first ever US appearance or something. I believe also that their name came from a James Bond girl ? I don't know much about them, but they seem to have a wider audience and following in the UK, where their single "Fly Away" entered the UK Top 40 at #31.

GoldieLocks (myspace) is 75% English and 25% Swedish from Croydon (South London). She raps to DJ Sports (?), who is wearing this Skeletor T-shirt. After the show, she wanted to give everyone in attendance her EP, which actually went pretty fast. As I previously mentioned, keep an eye on this one.

There's no denying that The Gin Riots (myspace) have quite a few hardcore fans here, as evident by a bunch of Gin Riots T-Shirt in the audience.

It's been a few years since The Crimea (official/myspace) toured in the US, so I was happy to be there for them on their second and last SXSW appearance. They were the last band on my list, so it was kind of a relief when it was all over.

And as corrected by superfan Christopher, Tara Blaise shared the stage to sing backup for the band.... Highlight of the show was then Davey Macmanus stepped down and sang in the center of the audience.

* A note on Birch is that she has these incredible legs, but too bad they were well-hidden behind her piano on stage.