Wednesday, March 11, 2009

The international music, film, and interactive festival South by Southwest begins this weekend, but the music part invades nearly every venue in the city exactly one week from today.  SXSW has long been known as an breakout opportunity for indie rock bands who want to get signed, noticed, or famous, but hasn’t really been used to showcase hip hop acts until a few years ago.

The genre has gradually gained in representation in the past few years, and the line up this year is an amazing one.  There’s a complete line-up of hip hop shows at the excellent blog Austin Surreal, but I’m willing to do some of the dirty work for you and recommend some shows and provide some preview tracks.   So, besides the awesome time you’ll have at the two days of A Blog and a Band, you may consider these acts at night.

(On a more critical note, the strict timing of the festival means that hip hop shows are much more, let’s say, "attendable," with no unchecked openers who often are not near the quality of the headliner, and sometimes only prove to frustrate fans.  In the case of the shows I’ll write about today, there are no real throwaway openers: all acts are worth seeing and appreciating).

Wednesday, March 18th

On Wednesday, the big party’s at the Back Alley Social Club at 303 West 5th St, where the Agency Group presents a lineup containing some of the best groups to show up to SXSW, including many cited in my previous columns: Zion I (Oakland, CA), Brother Ali (Minneapolis, MN), Blue Scholars (Seattle, WA), Blu And Exile (Los Angeles, CA) and Common Market (Seattle, WA).  These, having been featured as some of my favorites both here and via my radio show, probable need no more recommendations.  Some at this show that you may not know about, however, are:

 
Grouch And Eligh are two parts of the Living Legends out of L.A., and have their own release called Say G&E! dropping on April 7.  They’re on this track in a traditional "this is how we came up" track combined with a "we’re best friends" track and doing it quite well.  If you’re not familiar with the Living Legends, I’d recommend downloading their Legendary Music Volume 2, which they’re offering for free right here.

:Grouch And Eligh - Say G And E!:


The collective Doomtree is based out of Minneapolis, and the rotating group includes P.O.S., Sims, and Dessa, among other MCs, and works with producers Paper Tiger, Lazerbeak, and others.  This introspective, wordy track is pretty characteristic of their style.

:Doomtree - Dots And Dashes:


Also on Wednesday, the Mohawk features really surreal avant duo of Doseone and Jel out of Oakland, as well as Restiform Bodies, in a good second option if you can’t get into the Back Alley Social Club. 

:Restiform Bodies - Foul (Wallpaper Diss Remix):

Thursday, March 19th

Thursday has a lot of worthwhile shows going on (why did I say that? Of course they do; it’s SXSW!), but there are a couple you should do your best to get to:


Rhymesayers Presents at Habana Bar Backyard (708 E 6th St):  This show includes all your favorite Minnie-apple acts except Atmosphere, so if you’re dying to see P.O.S, Brother Ali, Jake One, or Abstract Rude, this may be the show for you.  Also featuring one of my favorite duos, Eyedea And Abilities (crossing fingers that this means they’re coming out with an album soon).

:Eyedea And Abilities - Kept:

Video: Jake One Brings The Truth

Blu is performing in two shows on Thursday, if you’re interested in catching that L.A. phenom.  He’ll be with producer Exile and Busdriver at the Independent (510 N I-35) and alone, but in a showcase with Jean Grae(!), Talib Kweli, and Hi-Tek at the Scoot Inn on East 4th.

:Blu And Exile - Blu Collar Workers:


Thursday during the day, while you're on the east side at Club Primos for A Blog and a Band, you might also check out the new Birds Barbershop on East 6th where they're celebrating with emo rapper Astronautalis, NASA, and Busdriver starting at 3PM.

:Astronautilus - Skeleton (Everybody's Favorite):
 

Friday, March 20th

My main pick for Friday has to be the Canadian Hip-Hop Allstars at the Music Gym Outside at 815 East 6^th.  Not only does it feature Shad, about whom I’ve raved already on this blog, but also includes such illustrious great white north acts as Josh Martinez and remix masters Keys N Krates.

:Josh Martinez - Goodnight Sweetheart:

Video: Shad Freestyling

Friday also has the very attractive nerdcore showcase at Prague at 4th and Congress, featuring MC Lars, Austin’s Terp 2 It, and famed nerdcore progenitor MC Frontalot.  Here he is embracing his nerd base with an excellent cut from his late-2008 Final Boss.  And, yes, he does get nerdier.

:MC Frontalot - Tongue-Clucking Grammarian:
 

Saturday, March 21st

The big pull of Saturday night might sound like the Austin Music Hall’s line up of Dead Prez, Kidz in the Hall, and Bun B, but I’d recommend instead the very politically conscious show at the Back Alley Social Club.  The show promises to take no prisoners, and let no one off the hook, with acts like Mr Lif (Philly), Pigeon John (L.A.), Austin’s own Blacklisted Individuals, and Truth Universal (New Orleans.)

TU’s release last year, Self Determination was a well-crafted and fluid one, that consistently riffed on political themes: the Angola 3, freedom, and African American culture.  I like this one about cops, for obvious reasons.

:Truth Universal - Serve And Protect:


If you’re not feeling particularly political, I’d suggest the Strange Famous showcase at Scoot Inn, with Sage Francis (Providence), Buck 65 (Halifax), Dan le sac vs. Scroobius Pip (England), and one of my top five artists from last year, Prolyphic (Providence).

:Dan Le Sac VS Scroobius Pip - Letter From God To Man:
 

And so there are my recommendations for squeezing the most and most awesome hip hop out of SXSW next week.  Please consult a doctor before dancing all night, and if you see me, you’re at the right show!

- Leah Manners -



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