Floating Action is actually the new moniker of musician Seth Kauffman. Kauffman wrote and played most of the material and his supporting band mates take over on the road. Hey, you can’t do everything on the stage. These guys will trot on down to Austin, Texas for SXSW 2010. This laid back dude sounds perfect for the chill portion of the music showcase.
So I’ve been accustomed to saying “this is the English version of this” or “this is the Swedish version of that.” Welp it’s time to turn it around a bit. This is the AMERICAN version of The Band of Bees. The Band of Bees are a laid back Spanish group that goes out to left field and hangs out there for a couple of hours until it gets hungry and comes strolling back. So Floating Action are like that, except these guys are from Black Mountain in the good ole USA. Check out “50 Lashes.”
The Law doesn’t come from the books, it comes from Dundee, Scotland. These scrappy chaps got together using their love for Joe Strummer and The Clash to glue them together. It’s a fairly young band, with most of their material showing up last year. Already, though, they are building up steam, unlike the dormant volcano from which they got their name. The Law will be making their way to Austin, Texas next month for SXSW 2010.
You know how some things end up being catchy and no matter how hard you try to figure out why, you still can’t put your finger on it? Yeah. It’s that with a Scottish Rock flavor to it. There’s a hint of Supergrass with a strong scent of Jimmy Eat World in there somewhere. I could be completely wrong. It doesn’t matter, my toes are tapping by the end of each song. Check out “The Chase.”
I checked out Winterfest last night. It was put on by Banzai Magazine, which would be the first time I’ve heard of them. The GF grew up with the folks in Zenith Farm so that’s why I was there. The Uptown somehow housed 4 stages inside and I have to say it was a very interesting experience. Some bands rocked, some bands really sucked. All in all it was worth the 10 bucks I dropped for it.
Walking inside, the familiar sights of the Uptown Theater befell my new spectacles (it borders on black frame, indie geekness but I tread the line slowly). The merch is always up front and the bar usually has some kind of music rocking. We surveyed the land, both far bar reception area, and near bar side room swankiness. The Winterfest spread it snowy wings across 4 separate stages. Needless to say, this Yeti like music fan was quite impressed.
The talent on the stage, however, wasn’t so impressive. Reading a line up and not knowing any single act is a great indicator for the level of greatness represented. I only recognized one band: Zenith Farm. To be fair, I spied them at the Record Bar a couple of months ago and am very familiar to their comedy/country brand of bluegrass and blue balls. Thank you again, GF. If you want a great show and a great laugh, check them out. The Ustream tells some of the story.
The rest of the bands were lukewarm to weak. Hey, that’s cool, we got quantity over quality for some very cheap tickets. High (or low) lights include a guy alone on one stage singing through karaoke versions of Tool songs. The hip hop area had some good stuff, but other stuff was majorly week. A Nickelback-esque like sighting almost made me puke. The metal was truly represented with enough death metal and screamcore to deafen even the oldest of music fans.
Speaking of which, I really enjoyed the Hand of Midas. They were straightforward heavy metal dudes that had a nice tight set on the main stage. The lead singer also looked like a friend of mine, Old Dude. When I was jamming out to them, I couldn’t help but think of heavy metal gods like Pantera and Kyuss. They lead singer needs to grow his hair out a little more for some better headbangitute. At any rate, check this guys out and prepare to have your asses blown off.
Winterfest didn’t blow us off. Whether the acts were great or not, the one truly special quality of this event was the mix of different music genres. Before the concert kicked off, I predicted heavy metal down the line. I didn’t guess that the whole show would be a mish-mash of different music types (except Techno, guys get it on there for next year). Even better, the type of people who enjoyed the different types genres were intermixed. Toothless, old, grizzled rednecks rocking out to some pregnant, high heeled, short skirt hoochie mama is a magical sight to see.
Serious Sam Barrett hails from Yorkshire, England. He will be hopping across the pond for SXSW this year to jam out on some of his blues inspired folk music. Barrett will be ultra close to one of his main tributaries of inspiration: the Delta Blues.
You know, England has always been a fan of blues. Ever since John Mayall’s Blues Breakers, Eric Clapton, and so on the blue bloods pump the blues. So when Serious Sam pumped through my headphones, I had to relish in the one tiny moment when I thought that is was a Mississippi bluesman and not some lanky dude with bad teeth. I’m looking forward to seeing him pluck and twang his way through some classic songs. Check out “Cocaine Blues.”
Trespassers William hails from Seattle by way of Southern California. Anna-Lynne Williams and Matt Brown bang out some low sounding, ambient music that seems more northerly than southerly. They will be at SXSW this year and hopefully they will open things up for their showcase spot to clear the palate for the conference attendees. Why?
This is very haunting music. The eerie sounds and quiet voice of Anna-Lynne Williams pulls me in harshly and then nudges me gently about the sonic landscapes they lay out. It’s beautiful and sad defined. And deep. A deep ocean of tones. Check out “Lie In Sound” and let us know what you think.
