I’m kicking up the dirt to day 2 of SXSW and I need to catch y’all up to what I’m doing. Well, that won’t happen until tomorrow because I’m about to kick the streets again in search of tunes. Tune in soon to hear about Duran Duran and some tasty Korg music gear. Cheers, Mate!
Pop music seems to infiltrated by fake-hard rappers and limp voiced acoustic guitar jammers. If that’s not enough, you have to deal with manufactured mainstream shooters too well known to mention here. That’s fine. There’s room in this great big world for everybody. But when I want to hear some authentic pop music, I don’t have to look no further than Empress Hotel. They’ll be at SXSW this year and I will use them as my replacement for the 5-hour Energy Drink.
It’s going to be warm soon, so to better help realize how fresh ‘Here Comes the New Challenger’ sounds, I’m going to recommend listening to this at a temperature of at least 70 degrees. The keys are almost Victorian in sound and the cadence brings me back to the playground where this fat, chunky kid’s claim to fame was a rugby toughness. Hey kids play and they play hard. Empress Hotel plays just as hard.
[audio:http://146.190.132.255/audio/Empress_Hotel-Here_Comes_the_New_Challenger.mp3]
I was never a big fan of the Pretenders but it’s hard to say that now that I’ve listened to Shilpa Ray and Her Happy Hookers. Yes, I get the Misfits feel for this band but it’s not as crystal clear as one would expect. Shilpa Ray keeps the band at bay with her shrill and beautiful voice, with Andrew Bailey, John Adamski, and Nick Hundley bending to her will. Oh they will be at SXSW and oh, they will rock out hard.
Do me a kindness and crank up ‘Venus Shaver.’ The comparison to Chrissie Hynde is way to obvious. What I like is that they pull the epic move much like the Yeah Yeah Yeahs in middle of this jam. I mean at the peak of the chorus you can feel the ethereal tear at your bones when Ms. Ray rips into it with her voice. I’m still trembling. Still trembling.
[audio:http://146.190.132.255/audio/Shilpa_Ray__and__Her_Happy_Hookers-Venus_Shaver.mp3]
Even in Sweden, you can have alternative, grungy sounding music. Just look at The Soundtrack of Our Lives. Now they are not head banging type grunge, but something I like to call Swedish Grunge. Yes, Swedish Grunge, where one can get lost in the sound of harpsichords and bemoan wistfully about lives and days gone by. The Soundtrack of Our Lives, led by Ebbot Lundberg, will be at SXSW supporting their first greatest hits album this year.
When one listens to TSOOL, as they are known by the TSOOL-oupies, they can’t help but come square down on the conclusion that they are also the Swedish version of Muse. Which is the newer British version of Pink Floyd. Not unlike the American version of Tool, which found its progressive roots pulled from the foundation of American grunge. It’s all there in black in white. Listen to ‘Second Life Replay’ to hear a Nirvana/Pink Floyd mix blowing up to the Muse/Tool mix. Are we clear?
[audio:http://146.190.132.255/audio/The_Soundtrack_of_Our_Lives-Second_Life_Replay.mp3]
Now I’m stoked to be heading out to SXSW during spring break and all but I’m also mega stoked that I will be there during St. Patrick’s Day. Now, there will be plenty of Irish representatives there in Austin this year, including Flogging Molly, but I want to talk about RAMS’ Pocket Radio. Peter McCauley pretty much does everything for this electric outfit. That would be drums, piano, singing, and songwriting. He does it all.
Check out ‘Dogs Run In Packs.’ The piano bangs with attitude while McCauley’s voice tries to keep it cool. I want to say it’s an Irish version of The White Stripes, but RAMS’ Pocket Radio feels more melodic to me. Maybe it’s the piano that washes around the rough edges of the rest of the song. At any rate, I’ll plan on jamming out to these guys (or this guy) while trying to think I’m cool. Maybe it will work. Just maybe.
[audio:http://146.190.132.255/audio/Rams’_pocket_radio-Dogs_Run_in_Packs.mp3]