For the
sixth time in my life, SXSW, and all the fun,
exhaustion and craziness that makes it up, has come
and gone. However, where I'm usually ecstatic
about the four days of music-oriented adventures
that it always delivers, I'm left feeling a little
bittersweet about the 2011 version of the festival.
SXSW has long been known as and felt like an event
driven by "industry" people, but over the last two
to three years it's really progressed to the point
of being a giant mess of corporate sponsored parties
and secret shows headlined by massive, well known
stars like Kanye West, the Foo Fighters and many
more. I realize that such a statement puts me
in a position of sounding like a crotchety old
SXSW-goer who would rather "things return to how
they were in the good old days," but I just don't
understand such an odd shift in philosophy.
Why totally devalue badges and wristbands, which
people actually buy, and overshadow the much
smaller artists that the festival was originally
created for? Anybody? Oh well.
Here's hoping that next year this takes a step back
towards what it used to be.
Regardless of my opinion on how SXSW is run, I did
see some great stuff this year. Below you'll
find the five artists that made the biggest
impression, and then below that 20 of my favorite
pictures (that I took) await you. Enjoy.
- 5 Best Bands From SXSW 2011 -
:Wild
Flag:
I'm listing this first because it was by far the best set
that I saw at SXSW this year, and because I'm still so
damned excited that I saw Janet Weiss and Carrie Brownstein
(both formerly of Sleater-Kinney, in case you don't know)
back on a stage again. If you like seeing ladies sling
around the sort of music that is the pure definition of
indie rock, then you need to see Wild Flag as soon as
possible. On a related note, I really wish they would
put out an mp3 already.
:Menomena
- TAOS:
Surprisingly, this was the first time that I had ever seen
Menomena perform live. They didn't disappoint.
In fact, I'd say they actually impressed me more than I
thought they would. They're all obviously super
talented, and watching them piece together their already
interesting music was just fascinating.
:Le
Butcherettes - New York:
Before SXSW I said this seemed like the one band that would
attempt to kick my teeth in, and I turned out to be correct.
The singer is crazy intense on stage ... and off it, as I
witnessed whenever she would decide to stage dive into the
unsuspecting and mesmerized crowd. Witness Le
Butcherettes at least once in your life.
:Yuck
- Coconut Bible:
I kind of figured this band wouldn't let me down.
Their take on 90s slacker rock is just too good to not work
live. Or, at least that's what I kept quietly telling
myself up until they played a song and proved my assumption
correct. Now if only the frontman didn't have such a
weird, semi-creepy look.
:Braids
- Glass Deers:
This band has slowly been taking over my life. A
couple of weeks back I noticed that I had missed the boat on
their new LP, and then I had that thought made even more
evident after the really cool set I saw them put on.
If you haven't been doing so already, pay attention to
Braids.
- Honorable Mentions -
To be honest, I
didn't see anything bad this year. So, to be fair to
all the super solid acts I did catch, I'm at least going
throw out a name mention (please imagine me giving an
enthusiastic thumbs up as you read the list).
Beach Fossils, PS I Love You, Surfer Blood, Generationals,
Weekend, Toro Y Moi, Tune-Yards, Grooms, Eternal Summers,
Pepper Rabbit, Tennis, Young Man, TV Girl, California Wives,
Las Robertas, Say Hi, Black Joe Lewis, Wye Oak, J. Mascis,
Head And The Heart, Reading Rainbow, Yellow Ostrich, Thao
And The Get Down Stay Down, the Submarines, Okkervil River,
Smith Westerns, TV On The Radio, Big Boi, Venice Is Sinking,
Nicole Atkins, Casiokids, Asobi Seksu, Someone Still Loves
You Boris Yeltsin and Starfucker.
Extended List Rambles:
:White
Denim - Drug:
I've seen these guys so many times now that it would be
silly to list them under the best stuff I saw at SXSW.
Still, I would really like to point out that they've become
my favorite live band on the entire planet Earth.
You, me and everyone in existence should never miss one of
their shows again.
:Maps
And Atlases - Solid Ground:
It's admittedly a total cop-out for me to describe Maps And
Atlases as essentially Menomena-light, but it is how I see
them. On the bright side, I do totally mean that as a
really nice compliment. Can't wait to see them again.
- 20 Favorite Pics From SXSW 2011 -
Wye Oak
Okkervil River
Asobi Seksu
Tune-Yards
Generationals
Casiokids
Big Boi
TV On The Radio
TV On The Radio
Yellow Ostrich
Nicole Atkins
Thao And The Get Down
Stay Down
Smith Westerns
The Submarines
Wild Flag
Wild Flag
Braids
Yuck
Le Butcherettes
Le Butcherettes
- John Laird -
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