Idgy Vaughn: Austin, TX
We caught her short set at Ruta Maya on Saturday and were drawn in by her delicate voice and tasty instrumentation (Austin mainstay Will Sexton accompanied her on a reverb’d out dreadnaught acoustic). Turns out her folky story-songs are autobiographical- in a nutshell: midwestern girl ends up working at a truckstop in Buda, TX; a customer finances her album after winning the lottery; instant success is marred by a bitter custody battle for her daughter that leaves her estranged from her family. Its the stuff country music is made of…KUT did a nice audio-story on her here>
Liam Finn : New Zealand We had already attempted to catch Liam, the eldest son of Neil Finn (lengendary leader of Crowded House and Split Enz) Thursday at The Ale House - but like I said 10 times this weekend, “if you’ve heard of them, the line’s too long.” Luckily, we had another chance Friday at the Paste/Stereogum Party. Armed with electric guitar, drumset, two Line-6 delay pedals, and one talented female sidekick, Finn proceeded to floor the 200 or so in attendance. Great hooky songs (instantly Finn-like) that build into layered sing-along anthems. The drumset was probably his most impressive talent - pulverizing finales over looped grooves / I suspect the album sounds very different- which makes his live act even more a MUST SEE.
just 1 night down at SXSW, but here’s 2 very good bands we stumbled onto:
Afenginn : Copenhagen, Denmark
We caught them by chance while grabbing dinner at Rio Grande - the brisket taco’s were bland, but these bad ass gypsy pickers brought the Danish Sabør - very melodic and inventive klezmer jams. And their bass player is disgusting/
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The Aggrolites : Los Angeles, CA
It was nearing 1AM, and the Black Keys showcase had an absurb line outside, so we took a chance on the Flamingo Cantina - IMHO the most reliable venue on 6th street. The Aggrolites dropped our jaws immediately with their air-tight Ska/Reggae/Funk stew- like The Specials meets James Brown in East LA. They had this vato on the B3 just rippin it up…really impressive live band/
we like to do SXSW the cheap way around here.. even better yet - the FREE way.. you can catch us at numerous unofficial events this week. its all about doing your research and then getting out there in the mix, unafraid to poke around in search of the triumverate of slacker gold - free music, free booze, free food! here are some links that will help you do SXSW renegade style:
Pastor Al’s heroes, the mighty gods of rock, Led Zeppelin reunited its 3 surviving members (plus late drummer John Bonham’s son Jason) today at London’s O2 arena for one of the most anticipated rock concerts in history. The whole thing was a benefit for their late friend and music industry pioneer Ahmet Ertegün. you better believe we’ll be scouring the torrent world for the bootlegs, but until then, here’s the first review from NME, or better yet, David Fricke’s account for Rolling Stone, and some nice flickr photos.
update: Just found a pretty good clip of Kashmir from the audience…
Behold the setlist:
Good Times Bad Times
Ramble On
Black Dog
In My Time of Dying
Trampled Under Foot
Nobody’s Fault but Mine
No Quarter
Since I’ve Been Loving You
Dazed and Confused
Stairway to Heaven
Song Remains the Same
Misty Mountain Hop
Kashmir E: Whole Lotta Love, Rock n Roll
So I’ve always been a big fan of the Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey (jfjo) - mostly because of their bass player, Reed Mathis. He blows my mind, and not in a technical, Jaco-sense (though he’s got serious chops), but because he’s one of the few bass players that can tap into the soul and visceral power of the music almost at will. Melodies and grooves literally spill out of his hands like he’s got a fuckin T1 connection straight into the great pipeline of thick musical crude being pumped from the nucleus of all creation by God himself. In other words- the dude can fuckin jam.
JFJO has always teetered on the outskirts of the party-festival jam scene, while also managing to gain some much-deserved respect as modern jazz pioneers and master improvisers…each camp has its pitfalls and purists to navigate. So, when Reed announced this week that he’d be filling the Bass role for San Francisco’s Tea Leaf Green- a semi-successful hippy jamband complete with hula hoops and patchwork- that’s when the grumblings began. The message boards sprang to life with jfjo fans exclaming their various opinions on Reed’s new gig. Posts like: “Plus, they’re no where near the level that Fred is on…..I would think he would get bored playing their generic, mediocre jamband music…”
SO leave it to Reed himself to set the record straight and impart some perspective on the situation. enjoy this:
Subject: My thoughts on the matter….
Posted by: “reedmathis23″ reedmathis23
Date: Thu Nov 15, 2007 3:23 pm ((PST))
Posted by Cabeza De Taco |
Nov 7, 2007
· Filed under Music, Random Ramble
A random google search on “texas taco” came up with these gems:
1. Here’s a band called TEXAS TACO, unleashing their thunderous fury on the interwebs. This anthem is entitled Dreams Will Come True. Yes they will, boys.
2. Rosemary’s Texas Taco - Patterson, NY: a whacked-out taco dive owned by a cazy vampire lady from Houston. There’s an article about the joint here that marvels at a wonderful invention known as a taco serape – a crisp taco shell encased in a soft taco shell (thus solving the breakage and spillage problems), loaded with meat and/or bean filling, cheese, and lettuce. And here’s a little bit from her myspace page:
…Some describe walking into Texas Taco as if it is like stepping into a vortex to another dimension. But don’t be shy! It is the last bit of culture we have around. Rosemary Jamison (of Houston, Texas) is the creator, and owner of The Texas Taco…It is also the home of Chico the parrot and Pepito the cat.
Denial, denial
Denial, denial
Your ears should be burning
-House of Cards (In Rainbows)
Take that, music industry. This will turn out to be a historical touchstone in the evolution of the record business.
Why Radiohead? Because they have all the ingredients to spearhead this revolution.. They know that their art has value.. and that it lives on its own without the need for a marketing machine or a billboard chart. This is not pop music.
Its the dawn of a new age, where good ideas travel on their own. The internet has evolved to a point where grass roots comminication can trump the boob tube. Hype comes from the streets, to the forums, to the blogosphere, and then to the mainstream. The inherent nature of the process acts as a filter - it weeds out the crap. Read the rest of this entry »
wooo! the festival life.. its like a microcosm brah…day 2 was stellar.. highlights were Toubab Crewe at the campground stage.. these guys are amazing musicians with a very unique sound..they are the real deal.. check’m out at all costs..i was pretty much blown away… RAQ whipped their cock-rock out at the Revival tent and we had a good time.. Galactic was their usual funky selves. .and had a little help at the end by JJ from Mofro.. sympathy for the devil i believe. Ben Harper put on an amazing set.. he was really into the performance and its awesome to see him when he’s on fire like that.. he ripped some sick slide guitar and sang his heart out..
this morning, we were treated to Wild Boar Breakfast Tacos courtesy of Brad.. who runs the camp chuckwagon here at Probing Station 51.. dems was good!
im writing to you from my shady tent here at Wakarusa music fest.. day 1 was a long one…we pulled into the fest at 5am on a straight 12hr drive from Austin ..early bird gets the worm.. and we scored a great camping spot and let the festivities begin..things didnt wind down until 24hrs later the last late-night show concluded..
highlights were Pnuma Trio in the revival tent.. a hippy rave complete with lasers and projections.. pnuma is a young band, quickly proving themselves as live-tronica masters.. great stuff from their keyboard player especially.. killer tones and he is able to cover 2 and 3 separate parts of a song, making the music powerful, tight and deep..deep funky grooves…
the last jam of the night was Green Lemon with Charlie Hitchcock of particle sittin in on guitar…shredfest 2007!
we’ve been eating good thanks to Brad’s cooking….another report tomorrow…theres still time to get down here and see the next 3 days!
The name of the band is !!! (pronounced ‘Chk Chk Chk’ or any three repetitive sounds). They’ve been putting on a serious live show around the Sacramento, CA area since 1996, releasing a slew of 7″ records, and singles- including the Magnetic Fields’ Take Ecstasy With Me in 2005, but they’ve left their fans hangin’ for a proper album release. The various members have since dispersed throughout the US, but they’ve reunited for this long overdue studio project recorded in a big empty house in Nashville.
Behold Myth Takes!!!Now make a random one-syllable sound and repeat 3 times…now continue reading… Read the rest of this entry »
Idgy Vaughn : Austin, TX
Liam Finn : New Zealand
we like to do SXSW the cheap way around here.. even better yet - the FREE way.. you can catch us at numerous unofficial events this week. its all about doing your research and then getting out there in the mix, unafraid to poke around in search of the triumverate of slacker gold - free music, free booze, free food! here are some links that will help you do SXSW renegade style:
2. Rosemary’s Texas Taco - Patterson, NY: a whacked-out taco dive owned by a cazy vampire lady from Houston. There’s an article about the joint 
