straightforward country but then did a gorgeous spaghetti western song, basically a more country coherent version of Dirty Three, think it was mostly the pedal steel guitar, otherwise not really my style

head-banging long-curly-haired thrash metal and very serious about it – classic lead singer posturing: he regularly held his microphone out to an imaginary crowd for them to finish his lyrics or at least scream – as always, I quickly tired of the screaming vocalizing – don’t these boys worry about their vocal chords? Not to mention their necks!

suddenly I missed When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth – a lone tower of a man playing sludge metal – all by his lonesome – Why? Why would you be a one-man-metal-band?

I gave them a second chance and did they ever come through: definitely a top SXSW show – they and I are kindred spirits on some unrealistic level – in appearance, the men in the band are composed professionals in their little black suits but I was attracted to the burgeoning chaos and deviltry and insane genius expressed in their lanky loping (the guitarist) and the blue eyeliner of the glimmering and leering lead singer with a comfortable voice – there were two other guys (drummer and keyboardist?…sorry! this was my very last show of SXSW and I was a zombie) and a totally disparate gorgeous blonde swanky girl who also sang – they reek of Britain and they reek of drug history – technically, their sound is not outrageous but the twists therein are delicious – they lyrics are also smart and creative – as I said, I pursue them because they are the creators of one of my favorite songs of 2008: “Lottery Winners on Acid” (which they closed with) but they genuinely have a free-wheeling chamber pop sound that is smart and world-weary but hopeful – I really really like this band

Detroit MI – I was very disturbed by this show – it was a white female in a boy haircut, baseball cap and baggy clothes – the point is, of the few showcases that highlighted genuine rap, all the SXSW officials could come up with was some little white girl????… reeks of racism to me – not to downplay her – she could flow, as they say, and had intricate lyrics – far more political than the act before her – similar hardcore but minimalist style – but in reality, her voice was pretty weak – she also had a lot of technical difficulties with her CD/DJ which probably wasn’t her fault – I enjoyed her more when she was joined by a black guy with a resounding voice – was really at this showcase to see Pigeon John but they were running late and I had places to be : (

Ann Arbor MI – yummy! – totally different crowd and totally different sound – young black boy with arm extended pumping and stage roaming – had a sidekick rapper and a DJ – it was intelligent/political hardcore rap but minimalist/old-school style – he was good but the sound in the venue didn\”t allow him to shine as he might have elsewhere

wrong band! wrong time! wrong audience! wrong place – maybe they’re good but maybe they’re not – I couldn’t get out of that audience of 60 year old guys bobbing their heads fast enough – typical 1960s jangle pop band – should you be proud that you’re decent after 40 years of practice?

so tight and hard, they almost approached math metal – in addition to this, they were distinguished by their “fun” take on the whole serious rock/metal thing: they started with a “dance party” that really made you want to dance and had audience participation which is atypical for this sort of music – eventually played songs that approximated rockabilly/metal if there’s such a thing – would call them dancepunk if hard-pressed – I keep wondering why there was so many Japanese bands at SXSW? Or was this just a Dara experience? – this was one of my favorite shows at SXSW and I was moved DESPITE extreme weariness

this venue immediately transports you to another place with irregular stadium seating, Mai Thai drinks, open-aired roofing, and the sweet smell of pot – the world of dub, ska, rocksteady and things reggae-beautiful – I was immediately soothed but was scrunching my brows once the music started – it was sounding like Lenny Kravitz to me which was not what I was looking for – UrbanBiker, a far more savvy consumer of the genre, stated in flat disdain “this is not reggae! this is a Jamaican singer/songwriter!” – all he needed to say, “singer/songwriter” is the death knell no matter where you’re from – he islanded it up a little bit as songs progressed but never approached escape.

I LOVED it – reminded me of the sounds of the rave scene in Vegas in the late 90s – all spare electronic sound with the intense build-ups and break-downs of DJ Jean’s “The Launch” – seemed to just be one guy on a computer but the crowd was hyperkinetic like ants

really solid – chamber pop – Radiohead-esque but lighter and goofier – distinguished by a plinking xylophone (? – maybe… we were looking for a place to rest our weary feet at this point… but this was a band that was on my list through hearsay only) – had the look of British lads but looked them up and they\”re California surfers which I\”ll accept as fact

we hated it and left after a couple of songs but keep in mind that 4 days of 12 hours of music will make you a tad intolerant of average-joe rock – UrbanBiker described it as music for the 20- to 30-year-old female – heartfelt! emotional

really bad Japanese punk-pop, dull as all get out

I’ve seen her before in The Knitters – suppose I developed an affection for her because of Rockboy’s minor obsession and because I am fascinated by people who traverse from the world of punk (X) to the world of country (The Knitters) – the crowd was a lot of late-middle-aged men with badges. ech – Exene looked ancient – maybe 60? – she had attitude in abundance in demeanor and speech but her music was just blah – singer/songwriter with a slight country-folk twang – we left for hotter waters

much better than last band – have a 90s alt rock sound – like Toad the Wet Sprocket but harder – sound in this venue was so bad that it was difficult to judge – moved into anthem rock too

hell, screamo metal

the show I won’t forget – I recognized their name but knew nothing of them – first and only band who was actually introduced by a SXSW official (I guess) – he said that they were the only band who was asked to return to SXSW because they “bring it” when they perform – top-notch showmen with costumes, stunts, antics, acrobatics, lame jokes, and general insanity – and then they made me think, why do all of these bands NOT put more effort into their shows!!?! – they bill themselves as comic punks in their fluorescent spandex outfits – the guitarists were guys and we thought the drummer was a girl (either way s/he was adorable with spunky grin throughout the show) – they climbed on top of their speakers, into the 2nd floor crowd, on top of the tarp covering the 1st floor crowd – they flashed cardboard signs that said “healthy,” “steak,” and just nonsense – everything they said in their Japanese accents was nearly unintelligible – they created a bowling alley in the middle of the crowd with their bodies as the ball and the pins – this all would have begun to annoy me if they didn’t also have the music but they did – it was this insanely tight, intense dance punk, actually similar to other Japanese rock bands at SXSW

vaguely remember liking them several years ago – the sound was really good at this venue but it had an outsdoory festival feeling which was too un-SXSW to stay – dark sonic indie rock – nuanced – nice vocals too

I didn’t recall at the time why I was so committed to seeing this band but I was surprised when I saw the audience members who ended up being the band members: the freaky guy with a bald head with the exception of a stringy shoulder-length curtain of hair along the rim of his skull AND in a truly awful shirt with wide white and pink stripes underneath an old suit jacket AND those I-want-to-molest-you yellow-mellow 70s eyeglasses – otherwise, the drummer and bassist were cute young people and the other band members were average-joe older people – they’re from Detroit which is instant cred – despite my misgivings, they were instantly much more exciting than the last band – a stomping drum was matched with dark psych-infused garage rock – the freak’s vocals were particularly interesting a distinctive ponderous progression almost spoken or stumbling – I was not surprised at all that I had some memory remnant of really liking them – unfortunately, as usual, they were running late and I had to run and only saw a couple of songs – but I looked them up upon arriving home and these are the two songs that had led me to being subconsciously committed to them: “You’re Not a Nice Girl” and “A Song for Someone Sometimes”

Montreal – came to this showcase for Outrageous Cherry but also because I have discovered I am a girl immediately smitten by the sound of garage rock which was the theme of the showcase – this band was young and idyllic – they were a more melancholy version of The Beach Boys – they were quite good but I\”m always annoyed by young freshness in rockers – on a happier note, the music played in between sets was fantastic: all old garage I instantly recognized and an indication I was in the right place – BUT the crowd was ALL OLD MEN which was a clear indication I was in the wrong place

people in the bar were excited for this band – I categorized them as some crazy mix of Southern rock and metal – they also had a distinctively 80s metal sound to me, i.e., they were technically good but not my style – they even threw in a bit of old-school screamo – their conversations with the audience were entirely cuss words – maybe Motorhead?

this band was distinctive in a quiet way – there was a girl on guitar and singing in a slinky glittery dress of large black and gold stripes – she had on black nylons and no shoes – there was a clean-cut cute urban-looking boy in black on guitar – there was a drummer in something – their music was a gothy sort of dance-rock almost approximating a poppier Bauhaus which is a pretty dramatically positive comparison to make but there you have it – they both had good voices – too low key to go crazy over – oh and they were part of a Swedish showcase

this band was gripping and totally up my alley but WomanInCharge insisted on moving on – Sabbath-riffing stoner metal… blah blah blah… but with a Renaissance looking girl with wild long red curls as lead vocalist – from Canada – will look into further

I have an extreme fondness for this band’s vocal harmonizing and general sound (please see “Shake Our Tree”) quirky fun indie pop with interesting lyrics – very unfortunately, the Mohawk’s sound system totally failed the band and underplayed the voices and highlighted the less interesting instrumentation – additionally, in what I saw (a lot), they did not play my song – I think it’s possible they’re solid song crafters and it’s just a matter of being better on album than live – their physical appearances were interesting enough though that I suspect the Mohawk is to blame

this band was a Rolling Stones looking and sounding band – nothing wrong with that – their one notable moment was when they activated the smoke machine in the dead of outdoors midday harsh light – too funny – I can’t lie, we were there for the free beer from the grand Deschutes Brewery of Bend, Oregon – if you don’t pursue this band, please do pursue the very fine Mirror Pond Ale from Deschutes Brewery

I woke up weary from the second 12-hour day of SXSW but was stirred by the thought of seeing one of my newest favorite bands, The Black Angels – I confuse them with The Black Keys (whom I love too) and The Black Lips and The Black Keylips – it gets complicated – but I had pretty much straightened out that the Keys were garage while the Angels were gorgeous lovely sonic psych metal – anyway, I hustle over to this bookstore at something like 11:30am and am discomforted by the sight of about 8 disheveled young-hipsters, as I’ve taken to calling the femme boys and mottled girls who make up our new generation of “with-it” youth, because this is not the size or the composition of the crowd I would expect for my favorite band. I am patient because this is required at SXSW! especially when you’re groggy and unable to think of a better course of action to take – I am further discomfited by the young goofy look of the young-hipster band themselves, who are five feet from me setting up – I am comforted though by an exchange between two of the disenchanted alienated 21 year olds: “who are they?” “they’re our friends from New York” “are they any good?” “no! no, just kidding” [in a low confidential voice] they’re really good” – anyway anyway, they start and it’s not my band, not even close – they’re alt-country-rockers – in typical band fashion, they throw out their name and I hear something in addition to “The Black Angels” – I wait until the song finishes and hustle out only to arrive home and figure out I had neglected to look at the preceding line of my webpage schedule and thus the beginning of the band name in all of my SXSW fervor – in all fairness, they were a very decent band and it was all my fault

she was the rapper I’d come to see (part of the British grime scene) and she wasn’t quite what I expected – I pictured a wannabe type gangster girl, more pretty than tough, but she was far more “legit” than the two female rappers before her: small intense-looking white girl in baggy clothes, baseball cap, snarly rapping, etc. – you can’t help but be totally sucked into her world: Eminem-like phrasing and attitude, cockney accent, and total stage dynamism and mastery – lots of silly posturing but I loved her – she could rap fast and plays in interesting twists with her words and her voice – her DJ samples a lot, including American music, and can go from kooky noises to harder synth walls – am currently considering my rapper potential

all-class sultry deep-voiced black girl rapping over groovy electronic big-bass DJ tracks – another bad ass – her music was harder and she was better than Amanda Blank – girl power begins to surge in the room

swanky white city girl who raps like a bad-ass boy – she was all swishy smooth black hair with a pretty girl gold necklace – she held her microphone close to her mouth with forearm extended straight and covered in a mass of tiny gold bracelets – she had a DJ backing her with hardcore party rap – big crowd – I quite enjoyed her oooh, just looked her up and she’s associated with a party rap band from Baltimore whom I have really been liking: Spank Rock! even better and she’s apparently “dirty rap” though I totally missed that

I had an idea that they were a Belle and Sebastian type band but not a bit of it – they’re an electronic-sounding indie rock band who apparently have an illustrious producing career though that may have been bad information from people near me – from Sweden and it’s not a guy named Peter Bjorn and a guy named John but rather three guys I’d be annoyed if I were Bjorn

this band has a gorgeous reggae-pop sound that I’ve come to crave – probably because of the touches of dub – singer’s voice is also a husky high-pitched delight – although my drunk compatriots were a bit of a distraction and my view was often blocked, the band did not disappoint a bit – music and lyrics can move from fun to more soulful and melancholy – they were a group of 3 to 5 clean-cut nice-looking white and black people – “Where’s your soul gone to?”

three girls with long lank brown hair on three keyboards in a row – standing and singing in little girl voices – about as exciting as you\”d imagine – they weren’t bad but so innocent they made me feel dirty just looking at them