San Francisco Music Blog

Our intrepid reporters in Austin are losing sleep and hearing, but not the faith.

Case in point: Lady Sovereign's still got it.

Booze and Black Lips (and the mighty King Khan) get Austin tipsy.

Indie kids revel in the Passion Pit.

Roy Kasten

Thursday coverage of the big music marathon in Texas.

Highlights include: Austin Music Awards, Peter Bjorn and John, M. Ward, Black Joe Lewis, and more.

Also see: Wednesday photos.

Texicali Roads: Keelay & Zaire

We're still checking whether it's possible to ghost-ride a tumbleweed (we'll get back to you on that), but here's one thing we do know: Bay Area hip hop will be in the, er, prairie, at SXSW. MYX label artists Keelay & Zaire perform at four--count 'em--showcases during the annual music conference, so it's safe to say the production duo ain't playing.

The festivities begin Thursday March 19, when K&Z are joined by Jern Eye and Fortilive for an afternoon show at the Firehouse Lounge. Once they've warmed up, they'll head over to The Marq for the "official" Bay Area Hip-Hop Showcase, also featuring Zion-I, the Grouch, and Mistah FAB. From there, it's over to the ABB Records "A-List 2.0 Mixer," where Junior Reid (and other unannounced guests) share the bill. The assault on the Lone Star state concludes Saturday March 21 at the Okay Player showcase, also featuring 88 Keys, Blu & Exile, LMFAO, U-God, Res, & B.O.B. That's a pretty busy schedule, so we're just hoping Keelay & Zaire find some time to sample some Tex-Mex food, save the Alamo, and hang out with Lil' Keke and Pimp C.

EKAphotography

See You in Austin: Bart Davenport

If you're going to Austin, Texas' annual music festival SXSW, remember the date March 20. On that day, SF-based indie Talking House records is throwing what it calls a "14-hour rager" featuring "a ton of the Bay Area's most interesting bands" at the Wave nightclub in Austin. Co-sponsored by Live 105, the event features a free day party and an official SXSW showcase in the evening.

Without even the hint of local bias (okay maybe just a hint), this showcase looks like one of the best combination of buzzworthy and noteworthy bands at the entire festival, and one you won't want to miss if you're making the trek to Texas. Scheduled to perform: the Morning Benders, the Matches, Vetiver, the Lovemakers, Scissors for Lefty, Loquat, the Botticellis, Or the Whale, the Federalists, Dizzy Balloon, When Girls Collide, LoveLikeFire, Sleepy Sun, the Stone Foxes, Maus Haus, Bart Davenport, and Trainwreck Riders. Admittance to the day party is free, but you either need to RSVP or have a SXSW badge to get in - and there's free drinks as well. You can RSVP here.

The tentative show schedule for our company SXSW party at La Zona Rosa is up:

1:00pm - 1:30pm: Bear Hands
1:45pm - 2:15pm: Crystal Antlers
2:30pm - 3:00pm: Cursive
3:15pm - 3:55pm: Gomez
4:15pm - 5:00pm: M. Ward

Just left my final Austin bash for this year's SXSW -- Dark Meat once again (this time at the Vice afterparty) but man what a finale. The band of 18 or so Southern Rockin’ hippies looked like they’d taken twice their dose of acid this time, the girlfriend of one of the horn section dudes running around the crowd swiping orange paint on people’s faces. Once again, the air was full of streamers, confetti, glowsticks, beer, members of the band flying off the stage, and general exhausted revelry. Diplo especially seemed to dig the scene—the DJ was right up front (with the crowd, not in the band), launching beach balls and climbing the light rigs. Hilarious, ridiculous, colorful, fun, and man what a way to end a week of music insanity.

(David Banner at the Fader party)

Today was all about David Banner. I’ve seen a good half dozen plus acts since waking up but nothing even begins to compare. Banner had two DJs, a full live band, and the intensity of a boxer about to clean out his worst opponent. Dude was fierce. He got on stage late but turned the Fader party into a mosh pit, kids going crazy while he rapped hard about throwing elbows and 9mms. In between he was flexing his pecks, jumping on a photographer’s shoulders, putting a stage-hopping chick on his shoulders, running out into the crowd and up into the bleachers, and my favorite part -- doing backflips.

Today's entry's a short one...I'm still sick damnit, only today I couldn't pretend to be feeling better. Sleeping won out over checking out all the bands I want to see (although I've got to see Monotonix before I go...not only does one of the dudes look like Borat, they also have by far the wildest word of mouth rep of any act playing Austin). A couple hightlights for Friday nonetheless: Wandering into the Convention Center mid-afternoon and catching a sweet set from Dizzee Rascal and Footsie. Killer accent, bass to rattle you down to the marrow, and raps about the "G.H.E.T.T.O" for a buncha white folks with badges and baseball caps. Hey, it all worked. Can't wait for Dizzee to tour the states again.

I can’t say I’ve ever had a day that started with Motörhead and ended with Moby (shouldn’t it be the other way around, first of all?) but that’s SXSW for you. Motörhead headlined a huge day party at Stubb’s courtesy of Vice Magazine – the mag taking over the space usually reserved for Spin’s big bash (that mag is hosting Vampire Weekend at Stubb’s today).

Lemme brought all the pasty heshers and hipsters into the hot sun, playing all the hits and ending with a call of “Do you guys like Thin Lizzy?” before launching into short medley ending with “The Cowboy Song.”

From there I hit Sons and Daughters and Clipse at the Rhapsody party -- neither one of which I was feeling. Sons and Daughters are pretty much yer standard, well-behaved indie pop act, despite their cover of the Stooges “I Wanna Be Your Dog.” And while Clipse had the hard delivery and the coke references down, the songs started to blend together after a while.

(Fucked Up)

3 a.m. Back at the hotel room bleary eyed and ears ringing from a DJ set by Moby (???) at an afterparty for Playboy. Full report on the day after a good night's sleep but favorites of the day included an 18-piece Southern Rock act from Athens called Dark Meat; an Am Rep-riffing punk band from Toronto that lived up to its Fucked Up name; and MGMT's Ziggie Stardusted glam rock. All this and a Carson Daly and Lukas Haas sighting to boot. More soon. First sleep. -- Jennifer Maerz

Got into Austin yesterday with a plane full industry heads and my head full of cold medicine. I’m just gonna pretend that damn SF flu virus isn’t in my system because it is impossible to nap here knowing that every second of shuteye means a good half dozen bands missed. Already I was too sluggish yesterday to hit everything I wanted (Tyvek, Earthless) and I can’t let that happen again.

That said, though, I’ve already had my first SXSW “moment”—that point in the night when all the overly loud drunks and terribly hype bands fade to the background and you see something truly special.

(The Dodos)

It's the most wonderful time of the year...for music heads. This year's South by Southwest festival is in full swing, and we've got lots of great local acts repping our hood like whoa. Check out Jennifer Maerz's SXSW Bay Area picks, which includes hometown faves like The Dodos, Lyrics Born, and The Heavenly States. -- ASD Staff Report

Scissors For Lefty by Jason Odell

Next week most of the country's bloggers, bands, booking agents, party promoters, and coke dealers will book into every last Austin hotel room and hunker down for SXSW. The Texas music marathon is legendary for turning a medium-sized American town into Candy-Band Land, a place where music comes out of every van and venue for a good 30 miles. The industry hope with the whole bash is that writers and deal-makers won't be so wasted that they'll actually pick up on and push the next big thing, but the parties have gotten so out of control over the last five years it's enough just to stay hydrated and awake, let alone remember what you’ve heard.