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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AND

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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/

-cabeza

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:

• Show List Austin - a list of non-wristband shows
• On the Cheap - an article about how to do SXSW Cheap
• SXSW Baby - free event listings
• Top 10 Free SXSW Concerts - from austi360

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.

Need proof? just download this classic JFJO Show from the Ole Point Bar in 2002 or stream this amazing Steve Kimock show w/ Reed on bass. Or peep this Reed Mathis tune, HOVER for some octave-bass goodness…

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))

wowsers!

here’s a few things i’d like to say:
Read the rest of this entry »

!!! (CHK CHK CHK)
Myth Takes
Warp Records 2007
iTunes • website

Taco Rating: 82%
Rating:

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 »

A storm of hipsters quickly closing in on our quiet town…Some names that caught my eye for this years SXSW Festival.. Apostle of Hustle, Antibalas, Bassnectar, Mofro, Kaki King, Les Claypool/Electric Apricot, Lily Allen, mogwai, thurston moore, Toubab Krewe, MSTRKRFT, Moe., Galactic, Albert Hammond Jr., Andrew Bird, Beirut, Aqualung… heres the full 1300 name lineup..

Instrumental Dissent
by The Motet (2006)
Rating:
The latest release from the Motet IS VERY GOOD. Imagine if Fela Kuti and Weather Report recorded a jam session full of tag-team grooves, then Thievery Corporation remixed the whole thing, complete with trancy dancefloor bombs a DJ-style song transitions. Then, have a modern day jam-band learn the CD note-for note and play it back with a trump-tight but organic energy only possible with in-the-moment performance. Read the rest of this entry »