Category Archives: SXSW

SXSW

Bathing In Baths

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So I’m keeping up with my SXSW theme this year by talking about Baths.  Baths is the brainchild of Will Wiesenfeld.  The California native took his young love for music (he started at the age of 4) and grew into what we call Baths today. The aptly named Baths washes over me in some minimalist beats and low-fi white noise.  You may call this experimental or ambient, I just call it the next evolution of smart music.

Listening to ‘Hall’ off of the “Cerulean” release, I get the sense that the audio tape of Basil Exposition calling Austin Powers somehow melted in the sun.  All the while, Will drops in concise beats and some tender vocals.  It’s California electronic music.  Baths is on my shortlist, as hopefully the weather will be warm and dry enough the take me back to Cali.

[audio:http://146.190.132.255/audio/Baths-Hall.mp3]

SXSW

Gallops Away

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Nowadays you’re seeing synthesizers that replace vocals in bands. Gallops is another case. Together Dave Morait, Mark Huckridge, Brad Whyte, and Paul Maurice make up the collective that is Gallops. Hailing from Wales in jolly ole England, Gallops combines the grungy rock of a Deep Purple with the synth edge of Nine Inch Nails or Gary Numan. Once again it’s all sounds and no vocals and that’s okay with me. The big theme I’m getting from SXSW, which Gallops will be playing at this year, is electronic bleeps. It seems every band layers some sort of eclectic click here and there to complicate a straightforward sounds.

The “Gallops EP” follows right along. From their main jam ‘Miami Spider’ to some lesser known songs like ‘Defbox,’ Gallops drops in electronic blankets to warm up the already harsh sound they bring. Going back to my Deep Purple reference, I get the feeling that they are conjuring up the ghost that band (whom still tours by the way) and then blow it up by adding video game like sounds on top. It’s as if Mega Man dropped his arm cannon and went for the guitar axe. Check out the EP below.

[soundcloud params=”auto_play=false&show_comments=true”]http://soundcloud.com/gallops/sets/gallops-ep/[/soundcloud]

SXSW

The Novocaines Numb My Pain

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Sometime you just need your ass kicked to feel better. Sometimes you need a cup of coffee. Welp, The Novocaines provide both and they will doling out the doses at SXSW this year. These Aussie blokes follow in the footsteps of other rock bands like AC/DC and bring their power rock to the states in headbanging fashion. Although they do have a sweet side, I’m anxious to see their bitter side. Led by brothers Corey and Jay Mariott, The Novocaines look to cure hangovers by giving or taking headaches away.

Just take a moment to listen to ‘A Cup Of Coffee’ and I think you’ll know what I’m getting at. In my own personal experiences, I’ve screamed that out in my while groggly meandering through the morning just trying find the time to actually wake up. But let’s not take the song so literally. Again I’m feeling some Jon Spencer Blues Explosion up in here. Maybe I’m jonesing for a comeback? I don’t know, I just know that I’ll be getting a dose from the Novocaines in Austin.

[soundcloud params=”auto_play=false&show_comments=true”]http://soundcloud.com/thenovocaines/02-cup-of-coffee-mp3[/soundcloud]

SXSW

Omar Rodriguez Lopez Group or Quintet or Quartet or just Solo

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The trick to doing SXSW right is finding the side projects of great bands and/or artists and getting to see them up close.  Last year, my girlfriend was skeptical about seeing the Street Sweeper Social Club.  After I revealed to her that Tom Morrello of Rage Against The Machine was leading it, she went and had a kick as time.  This year, I’m going to provide the same kind of sweet access by checking out the Omar Rodriguez Lopez Group.  Omar Rodriguez Lopez is, of course, the force behind The Mars Volta.  Welp, he formed this group way back in 2005 and have been releasing material under that moniker, or other forms of it like the Quintet, Quartet, etc, since then.

Listening to ‘Un Buitre Amable Me Pico’ off soon to be released “Telesterion,”  I can’t help but feel embarrassed.  “Telesterion” is a compilation of works spanning Omar Rodriguez Lopez’s entire career and boy is there many an album.  I hear Mars Volta all the way in this song and nothing else.  Rodriguez Lopez has his own compositional voice and I love jacking into it.  That’s why I’m embarrassed.  I missed out on so much.  I need to go back through all of this mind-blowing and brain-melting material.  This may be my number 1 Showcase for SXSW.

[audio:http://146.190.132.255/audio/Omar_Rodriguez_Lopez_Group-Un_Buitre_Amable_Me_Pico_.mp3]

SXSW

De Staat is Where it’s At

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I can’t count how many times I’ve missed out on some good, heavy, and slow rock music.  Clutch happens to be one of my favorite bands but I’ve missed them the last 3 times there were in Kansas City.  Hopefully, I’ll fix that later this week but until then I can peg down De Staat to help fill that void.  De Staat is a Dutch rock group and will be at SXSW this year.  They’ve been around since 2006 and will celebrate their March 4th release ‘Machinery.’

I jammed out hard to ‘Sweatshop.’   I sense a taste of Southern Culture on the Skids, but the Dutch version.  Both Clutch and Jon Spencer Blues Explosion makes its way into the song all thanks the lead singer Torre Florim.  A good low swaggerin’ voice  keeps this song swinging from beginning to end.  This is the kind of song that you dance-walk too down the street while everyone around looks at you funny.  No ha ha funny, but weird funny.

[audio:http://146.190.132.255/audio/De_Staat-Sweatshop.mp3]