SXSW 2011 – Austin, Texas, USA – Day 3
4/5
By: Dan Monsell
It's day 3 now, and we somehow manage to beat the jetlag effects and sleep past 8am - providing more than the three or four hours sleep that the last few days have brought. Suddenly we have bags of energy for walking and all the bloody booze that's just everywhere at SXSW. Certainly not complaining.
We make our way in to town in time to catch the beat wunderkid Baths playing to a packed crowd at the outside Drive In Space at the Pitchfork stage. His inventive sketches of futuristic pop songs are deeply creative, yet very accessible, and it's great to see him getting such recognition in front of growing crowds in the ‘States. We happen to catch-up with him later at the festival as he's about to embark for a 2 day drive on his own with backpack full of electronics to Vermont from Austin. The lonely life of a one man band.
[THE SOFT MOON]
From here we see a little of the dark and whirling world of The Soft Moon in another outdoor tent in the sun. An act better suited to a dark club, the band's El Guincho meets Suicide rock n roll is nonetheless hugely compelling. We look forward to welcoming them over in the UK for their first UK show in May.
We dash to the Thrasher All Ages event in the beating sun to see SXSW's real buzz, and the arguably the most exciting thing in new music, and definitely hip hop, for some time, Odd Future. As expected, we're not the only ones to try and do this, especially as this is an unofficial show so Austin's kids are out in full force. All this means we don't actually make it in proper to the complex. Strangely, you can see from outside, but whilst we witness a Swag-chanting crowd whipping themselves into a crazy frenzy getting ready for it. Tyler The Creator and co are an hour late, and it's so damn hot in the sun that we move on, as we will definitely see them tomorrow.
The sun being so intense, we find some reprieve up at the glorious Dig For Fire lawn party. We see the very end of Americana banjo toting troubadour Sam Amidon, eat tacos with BBC "Ambassador of Awesomeness" (she actually got the BBC to put that on her Radio 1 business card) and sometime Rockfeedback writer Jen Long, and meet Michael Azarad, author of one of the best books written on music, and especially punk rock, Our Band Could be Your Life.
[JAMES BLAKE]
All this and the ton of hype in the UK over James Blake means that we know he has a lot to live up to, following our last hour or so of fun. Luckily for him (and unlike what others have said about his incredibly long soundchecks and short, strained sets at SXSW otherwise), Blake is fantastic in this horrendously packed marquee. Live it's clear that he's absolutely nailed the combo of Bon Iver's progressive American folk, and the British post dubstep soundscape. Ultimately it's just great soul music, but the actual sounds themselves are very much forward-facing, rather than retro in any manner. Well done Blakey.
We move into town to the NPR party for The Antlers. With their 3rd album Hospice, they made an introspective minor classic full of sadness and beauty. Their new EP sees them take their "indie-soul" to wider and perhaps less introspective heights. Their bold decision to showcase their new album in full today is a splendid one, and it's without a doubt one of the most accomplished and heartstring-pulling sights for us at SXSW this week. There's no reason they won't be the size of The National by their fifth album and we're delighted that our sister label Transgressive will be releasing this new album in the UK.
[PAPERCUTS]
The night descends from here, and the margaritas start flowing as our pals Pulled Apart By Horses get involved. We move to the Sub Pop party and take a nice bath in the woozy dream pop of the excellent Papercuts to ease them in. Whilst it's easy to draw comparisons between other Sub Pop acts Fleets Foxes and Beach House, the band are very much their own beast. New album Fading Parade is a delight, and they play these tracks live with the quiet sophistication we hoped that they'd provide.
Finishing the night at a free drinks blowout housed within the Green Label Sound party we mildly recall Chromeo sound-tracking our descent into a thick crowd of people as the hours became small. However we don't feel quite qualified at said stage to rate them based on this. Either way, those two Miami Vice type synth toting dudes know how to bring the party and get the club jumping etc. Or something like that. Day three well and truly done.
Artists in this article: Baths, The Soft Pack, Papercuts, James Blake, The Antlers, Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All, Sam Amidon, Chromeo
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