Tag Archives: SXSW

SXSW

The Bees Knees

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I remember back in the day, when I was budding computer programmer and a budding (still) musician.  The college scene led me to some tasty underground and overseas scenes.  One of the destinations was a group called The Bees.  Their first album, “Sunshine Hit Me,” I actually owned in CD format and I wore a hole in the cd player listening to it.  Welp, the magic continues at SXSW this year as The Band of Bees, their American name, will showcase their talents for thirsty young peeps like myself.

The Bees were Blitzen Trapper before Blitzen Trapper was Blitzen Trapper.  And I’m not talking about the Super Bowl Sunday.  Their earlier stuff sound much like “Silver Line” except it was harsher and more Spanish.  I’m reminded of dirty hammock on the beach with a half empty beer (not Corona) jamming out to The Bees and watching the sun going down.  The blizzard I’m knee-deep in right only makes me long for that time and place more.  There’s always a sliver lining and in this cased, it’s The Bees and “Sliver Line.”

[audio:http://146.190.132.255/audio/The_Bees_-_Silver_Line.mp3]

SXSW

Yuck, Not So Much

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Back again with another SXSW Music 2011 Showcasing act that I’ll do my damnedest to see.  This time it’s Yuck.  Yuck is a bunch of blokes from London, England.  Two of them used to be a part of Cajun Dance Party, Daniel Blumberg and Max Bloom to be exact, but they got tired of the band and left in late 2009 to form Yuck.  Maybe they got their inspiration for the name by thinking about their time in Cajun Dance Party?

At any rate, they are coming out with a new album and will be in Austin to support.  Check out this B-Side called “Cocunut Bible.”  These guys sound like a lo-fi retread of some great early to mid 1990’s alt bands.  I’m thinking My Bloody Valentine or Sonic Youth.  Yuck got the touch of NPR from its latest All Songs Considered podcast so I would expect the inevitable 90’s alt rock revival to happen anytime now.  I, for one, welcome it.

[soundcloud params=”auto_play=false&show_comments=true”]http://soundcloud.com/yuck/coconut-bible-1[/soundcloud]

SXSW

A-Trak Attacks

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SXSW is coming up in March and once again I’m heading out there to catch all things music.  Leading up to it, I’m gonna curate the ginormous list of acts showcasing the event and talk about the ones you should see rightcheer.  First up, we got ourselves a legendary, but still somewhat unknown, A-Trak.  A-Trak won all, and I mean, all of the DJ competitions out there in the mid 90’s.  He did so at the age of 15 (and up).  Fast forward to today and we have a career that saw him be Kanye West’s tour DJ as well as a handful of original albums.  Check out his official web site for up to date deets on this guy, but head out to Austin to see his skillz up close and personal.

[soundcloud params=”auto_play=false&show_comments=true”]http://soundcloud.com/a-trak/robyn-indestructible-a-trak-remix[/soundcloud]

Announcements

I’m Not Dead Yet

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Yeah, it’s been awhile but I’m back.  This is the time of the year when I have more time to dedicate to music.  So with that in mind, I’m kicking off 2011 with what I have planned coming up.   Here’s just a few things:

  • There’s a bunch of gear I acquired in the last year that I will sit down and review.  I love me some knobs, keys, sliders, and buttons so I will go over the new ones I have in my setup.
  • With great hardware comes the need for software to put it all together.  I made a couple of purchases in that realm which I will wax poetic about as well.
  • Once again, I will be attending SXSW so look for previews leading up to and some live updates during the 25th anniversary of this tasty Austin conference.
  • My day job includes some hefty programming tasks so I will use that talent to start building/researching VSTs.  What’s a VST? It’s a plgin for digital audio workstations that runs on its own framework.  Yes, there are a couple of other frameworks out there, but in the interest of learning how to code for pro audio, I will be shooting the biggest target first.
  • With all of this gear, software, and love for the music, you know I will be actually creating some.  Look for some snippets to show up here and there.
  • I’ll be hitting up more concerts around the Kansas City area and will review as necessary.  Look for me at The Decemberists show in February.

There’s a couple of other surprises up my sleeve but I will reveal it when it’s necessary.  Until then, just keep tuning in.

Music, SXSW

It Came From SXSW 01: Hold-Up Records Sampler

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Yeah I’m still bangin’ on how I went to SXSW and will be rubbing it in just a couple of more times.  Not because I’m a bastard (well maybe just a little), but also because I grabbed some free music down there and want to talk about what I found.  So to kick this off I will talk about the Hold-Up Records sampler mixtape found from the mountain of schwag.  Basically, it’s a label from San Diego and they rap over some original and sampled beats.  What caught my ears, however, was a great little mix of lyrics, techno, and the Postal Service of all bands.  Dat Boy Sid spits on the mic for about half of the song and then the Postal Service takes over while a different mix of  ‘Such Great Heights’ glues it all together.  Take a listen for yourself.  It’s actually fairly endearing.

[audio:http://146.190.132.255/audio/HoldUpRecords_DatBoySid_GreatHeights.mp3]