Signs of Life 2008: Best Music
Leona Naess - "All is Fair"
the everybodyfields - "Worth Keeping"
The Low Anthem Covers All the Bases
Album Stream: Listen to Mindy Smith's Christmas album My Holiday
Click above to watch "Inside a Boy" from My Brightest Diamond's new record A Thousand Shark’s Teeth, out now on Asthmatic Kitty Records.
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Review: My Brightest Diamond - A Thousand Shark's Teeth
News: My Brightest Diamond tours, offers exclusive .mp3
Perhaps you were under the impression that making balloon structures was an act best suited for birthdays and Bar Mitzvahs. But like we discovered with the accordion, it turns out there's a whole lot more to it than what you might expect.
The Delta Spirit can cross off "put out record," "perform at a magazine/blog party" and "tour like hell" from its New Year's resolution list. The group, set to release its debut Ode to Sunshine later this year, has already opened for Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Dr. Dog and Cold War Kids.
South by Southwest can be more than a little overwhelming, so we did the work for you this year. By our powers combined, the Paste staff compiled an hour-by-hour schedule jam-packed with our suggestions for the must-see acts visiting Austin this week.
(Yes, smartypants, we realize that some hours have more than one act listed. But frankly, there is just too much great stuff to choose from. Also, you'll notice that sometimes a bigger group in a particular slot is backed up by a lesser-known band as an alternative. If you've ever stood in a SXSW line that wraps around an Austin block, then you understand.)
Of course, we suggest you stop by one (or all three!) of the day parties we're hosting with Stereogum, but we'd be foolish not to highlight some of the countless other acts playing this year.
We've already started our ongoing SXSW blogging—complete with Paste's first MTV celebrity sighting of the week!—in earnest over at Festivus, with much more to come both there and at 1,000 Words, Paste's photo blog.
Speaking of the b-word, if you're at SXSW and would like to trumpet your picks for favorite festival performances, drop us a note at news@pastemagazine.com. We'll be compiling the responses in a future Festivus post, so be sure to make it snap. Or clap.
Without further adieu, behold! The official, hour-by-hour Paste music recommendation guide for SXSW 2008:
Wed. March 12
12:45 p.m. - Anathallo (Mohawk) - Awesomely quirky and soul-searching orchestral-rock with lots of cool instruments—especially bells and velcro—from this Chicago-by-way-of-Michigan collective that lives on the border where folk rock meets post-rock. You might recognize the song "Yuki! Yuki! Yuki!" from a recent Vicks commercial.
1:45 p.m. - Headlights (Emo's Jr.) - In a word, Headlights are "charming." Think dreamy, nostalgic road trips at night, like Broken Social Scene in a good mood. The Illinois-based group recently stopped by the Paste studio to play a few songs; watch for the clip on our Video of the Day blog.
2 p.m. - Curumin (Emo's Annex) - Brazilian "samba-funk" artist Curumin creates electro-pop music that amalgamates a varied blend of styles, and his last album, Achados e Perdidos, has some sharp mixing and a plethora of Portuguese lyrics (check out his website for English translations).
3:20 p.m. - AA Bondy (Creekside Lounge) - This is one of those names that we've heard whispered here and there, popping up in the strangest places. Now on Fat Possum and scheduled for tour dates with Dr. Dog and The Weakerthans, Bondy seems intriguing. His lyrics swirl with Southern consciousness, religious imagery and smoke ("Sweet, sweet devil / Won't you be all mine / Set this tired land to flame / it ain't worth a dime").
3:45 p.m. - Phosphorescent (Mohawk inside) - Phosphorescent spills worlds of oil and watercolor from its earthy sonic palette—fuzzy, droning slo-rock soul with Otis Redding horn swells, drunken mariachi waltzes, and pedal steel cascading like the feathery hair of some sad-eyed princess time forgot. All quivering, daydreamy vocals and scattershot charm. Read our BOTW piece for more.
4:30 p.m. - Akron/Family (SESAC Day Stage Cafe Austin Convention Center) - In the absence of Animal Collective, we suggest you give these bearded weirdos a try—the Brooklyn hippie-sters put on an explosive show and play more instruments than you can count. Watch out, though; they sometimes literally crawl up the walls.
5:05 p.m. - The Blow (Emo's Outside Stage) - Witty, literate and heartfelt synthpop from Portland-based Khaela Maricich. Plus, she’s adorable. We really can’t recommend this girl enough.
6 p.m. - Blue Mountain (Mother Egan's) - These sultry Mississippi blues-rockers recently reunited for the first Blue Mountain shows since the '01 dissolution of band leaders Cary Hudson and Laurie Stirratt's (sister of Wilco bassist John Stirratt) marriage. But as the band's website says, "the past is water under the bridge."
7 p.m. - Van Morrison (La Zona Rosa) - It's always a marvelous night for a moondance.
8:30 p.m. - Bear in Heaven (Maggie Mae's Gibson Room) - We strongly recommend checking out the entire Hometapes showcase. These guys are good people. Plus, according to our research, it's a good time to be a bear.
9:15 p.m. - Shellshag (Elysium) - One man + one woman + one guitar + one minimal drum set + true love = an unbelievably fun amount of noisy, straightforward punk rock. The husband-and-wife duo of Shellhead and Jen Shag compellingly perform standing up and facing each other; think The Ramones, but at a house party—and with a lot more smiling.
10 p.m. - Mahjongg (Emo's IV Lounge) - This recent Band of the Week has gone through some line-up shifts in the last couple years, but its live show is reportedly still mindblowing. Calvin Johnson loves these dudes; you should too.
11 p.m. - Okkervil River feat. Roky Erickson (Austin Music Hall) - Two of the the town's finest songwriters—Roky Erickson, the reclusive frontman from the 13th Floor Elevators, and Okkervil River's Will Sheff—will unite for "Rokkervil" (nice one, Austin Chronicle), turning their collaborative headlining slot at the annual Austin Music Awards showcase into a slightly unhinged but decidedly cathartic explosion of raw rock 'n' roll.
12 a.m. - R.E.M. (Stubb's) - Don't know if you've heard of this group, but apparently it's about to break into the bigtime.
12 a.m. - The OaKs (Wave) - It's refreshing to come across a band that wants more out of its music than just MySpace friends. This Orlando sextet writes thoughtful alt-folk tunes heavily indebted to the lush, multilayered work of Sufjan Stevens. Lead singer Ryan Costello spent several years in Afghanistan doing humanitarian work and that global-consciousness greatly informs his songwriting (but in a way that's not nearly as pretentious as the phrase "global-consciousness" implies).
1 a.m. - Dark Meat (Spiro's) - Drawing inspiration from the free jazz of Albert Ayler, this over-the-top 20-plus Athens, Ga., ensemble will celebrate its recent signing to Vice Records with some serious freak-rock.
1 a.m. - Shearwater (Club de Ville) - Almost impossibly beautiful songs led by the high-flying histrionics of Jonathan Meiburg's ethereal voice and grounded by the band's impeccable timekeepers, upright bassist Kim Burke and drummer Thor Harris. Shearwater's second Matador album will arrive in June; trust us, you oughta catch this band now.
[Thursday] [Friday] [Saturday/Sunday]
Thurs. March 13
10:30 a.m. - SXSW Keynote: Lou Reed (Austin Convention Center) - Reed is best known as the guitarist and principal songwriter of the Velvet Underground. He began his solo career in 1971, and has continued ever since. He's at SXSW to promote a screening of Lou Reed's Berlin, a documentary film by Julian Schnabel. (Fun fact: Austin's own Okkervil River is one of Reed's favorite bands!)
11:45 a.m. - SXSW Interview: Seymour Stein (Austin Convention Center) - Legendary record honcho Seymour Stein co-founded Sire Records, the label where he signed pioneer artists such as The Ramones, Talking Heads, The Pretenders, Madonna, Depeche Mode and The Smiths. He's still the President of Sire Records and is also Vice President of Warner Bros. Records. Stein's wisdom (not to mention his thoughts on the future of the rapidly-changing music industry) should be more than worth dragging yourself out of bed before noon on Thursday.
12:10 p.m. - The Builders and the Butchers (Yard Dog Gallery) - This Portland collective has been stacking up the blog raves for its crowd-involving, revival-tent neo-gospel. The band regularly passes out fun percussive gewgaws to the crowd, and drummer Ray Rude sports a tambourine on his ankle. If that description isn't doing the trick, perhaps it's time to ask yourself: do you hate fun?
1:30 p.m. - The Hood Internet (SESAC Day Stage Cafe Austin Convention Center) - Who needs lunch? Mash-ups are so much better than mashed potatoes. Especially when DJs ABX and STV SLV leave their respective New York and Chicago homes to unite for hours of mindblowing combinations (like last year's R. Kelly/Broken Social Scene masterpiece, "I'm A Flirt (Shoreline)"). Hipsters who secretly love cheesy popular music and bustin' a move, this is YOUR SHOW.
2 p.m. - Destroyer (Paste party @ Volume Night Club) - Dan Bejar is one of the most distinctive and mesmerizing songwriters in contemporary music, although damned if we know what he’s talking about half the time. (Well, other than girls, the music industry, and Destroyer).
3:30 p.m. - Yeasayer (The Parish) - These Brooklynites put on a frenetic show, rearranging their earthy, tribal songs (like last year's amazing "2080") to the point that they're nearly unrecognizable.
4 p.m. - Be Your Own Pet (Cedar Street) - Bouncy, girl-shrieked teen rock that gets the grown-ups jumping, too. Lead singer Jemina Pearl captures what was always good and destructive about the punk genre. Angst-ridden odes about the transition into the life of a twentysomething should make for an energetic show, regardless of whether or not audience members are still in that stage.
5 p.m. - Vampire Weekend (The Parish) - Don't believe the hype...or the anti-hype. Confused? So are we. Anyway, we like "Oxford Comma" and suggest any fellow grammar nerds with sweater fetishes get in line early for this one (or just head over to Waterloo for some furiously flying words, courtesy of Rollie Pemberton a.k.a. Cadence Weapon).
5 p.m. - Cadence Weapon (Waterloo Records) - Rollie Pemberton's latest, Afterparty Babies, is an early contender for best indie hip-hop album of the year. Catch him now, before everybody else finds out that Cadence Weapon spits the catchiest, most clever rhymes this side of the year 2000.
6:15 p.m. - Dead Confederate (Trophy's) - The Athens, Ga., band spoons out some Southern-fried Dixie grunge with a live show that's so Nirvana it hurts—but in the best way possible.
7 p.m. - Del tha Funkee Homosapien (Auditorium Shores Stage @ Lady Bird Lake) - Not only a great rapper, his live shows are especially crazy because of his swagger and moves. Del is a legend, show the man some respect.
8 p.m. - Shepard Fairey (Barcelona) - Fairey is the outsider-turned-insider artist behind, most famously, the "Obey Giant" stickers that first started appearing around the globe nearly two decades ago, in 1989. He'll be DJing at Barcelona, but maybe someone will have a few of his soon-to-be-iconic Obama posters up for grabs.
8 p.m. - Spoon (Auditorium Shores Stage @ Lady Bird Lake) - Britt Daniel returns from Portland, triumphant behind the massive success of last year's unstoppable chart- and year-end-list topper Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga. Minimalism, schminimalism—Spoon is fun and funky, so get to shakin'.
9 p.m. - Priscilla Ahn (The Parish) - SXSW can be hard on the ears. So go see Ms. Ahn, whose pillow-soft music will leave you refreshed, like an afternoon nap.
9:30 p.m. - Yo La Tengo (Austin Music Hall) - There is a reason this band has been around for over 20 years. Bonus: These folks are hilarious!
10:30 p.m. - Jay Reatard (Vice) - Do not be late to this Memphis punk rocker's set; he likely won't play for more than 20 minutes. But that's handy, because...
11 p.m. - Bon Iver (Mohawk Patio) - According to the world's #1 all-star Bon Iver fanatic, Paste intern Julia Reidy: "For Emma, Forever Ago is hands-down the best album of the year. It's only March, I know, but I challenge anyone to make me change my mind come December. If he can fill your car the way he does, imagine what he can do with the performance space in a bar."
11 p.m. - My Morning Jacket (Austin Music Hall) - Have the Kentucky barnstormers in My Morning Jacket ever put on a bad show? Logic and statistics may say yes, but we certainly haven't seen any. Thursday will be one of the first chances for fans to hear new jams from the upcoming Evil Urges.
12 a.m. - Mark Kozelek (Central Presbyterian Church) - The low-key, heart-piercing singer/songwriter behind Sun Kil Moon, Kozelek is touring behind the upcoming Sun Kil Moon release, April, out next month on his own Caldo Verde Records. With material spanning from the Red House Painters oeuvre to covers of John Denver to the present, this artist's great body of work is not to be missed. P.S. Bring a hanky.
12:15 a.m. - Zion I (Volume) - The best Bay Area hip-hoppers out there right now; the group's MC Zumbi is featured on the recent Amplive Radiohead In Rainbows remixes.
1 a.m. - The Drams (18th Floor @ Hilton Garden Inn) - Catchy and rewarding Springsteenesque rock from the remnants of Texas' Slobberbone.
[Wednesday] [Friday] [Saturday/Sunday]
Fri. March 14
12 p.m. - Port O'Brien (Urban Outfitters) - This Californian group, whose forthcoming debut, All We Could Do Was Sing, was composed primarily on the tiny Alaskan island of Kodiak, creates rickety, instantly engaging junk-shop pop.
1:30 p.m. - El Guincho/Ida Maria (SESAC Day Stage Cafe Austin Convention Center) - Spanish genre-buster El Guincho's chants-and-samples-filled debut, Alegranza, is one of '08's best, and Ida Maria's journey to Austin began in the tiny village of Nesna, Norway, but there's nothing quaint about her—she's absolutely crazy on stage, disguising heart-wrenching ballads as fifth-beer sing-a-longs.
2 p.m. - Fishboy (1024 East 44th St.) - The native Texan's show is a complete performance from beginning to end of his fantastic 2007 record release, Albatross: How We Failed to Save the Lonestar State With the Power of Rock and Roll. It's a twee rock opera (and a brilliant album). Apparently there's even more story inserted when they play it live.
2:15 p.m. - She & Him (Free Yr Radio Broadcast Corner) - This new collaboration between indie-folker M. Ward and vocally mesmerizing singer/actress Zooey Deschanel is gorgeous, sighing and innocent, as if plucked from a classic mid-to-late '60s pop record. Listening to She & Him is like talking to a really nice friend. Except that our friends don't make music this charming.
3 p.m. - Atlas Sound (Emo's) - Deerhunter may be on hiatus, but don't think for one second that Bradford Cox is resting on his laurels. This afternoon slot will serve as a perfectly relaxing zone-out.
4:30 p.m. - Jens Lekman (Club DeVille) - This skinny Swede conjures up both Jonathan Richman and The Magnetic Fields. He'll also crack you up with between-song banter.
4:45 p.m. - Cloud Cult (Emo's Annex) - A direct quote from Paste music sales director Nate Douglas: "Feel Good Ghosts (Tea-Partying Through Tornadoes) is the best album I've heard so far this year." This man listens to dozens of CDs daily, so we'll just let his opinion speak for itself.
5:30 p.m. - WHY? (Emo's Annex) - Because this indie-hop band is so damn good, that’s why.
6 p.m. - Tulsa (from Mass.) (Flipnotics) - Tulsa (one of two Tulsas at this year's SXSW) combine slinky, reverbified guitars and swirling vocals that land just on the safe side of hippie/indie folk drone. So which side is the safe side? Not sure, but Tulsa's definitely on it.
7 p.m. - Cut Copy (Salvage Vanguard Theater) - Distant Australian cousins of LCD Soundsystem, Cut Copy is an indie electronic group that crosses synth-y dance beats with a pop sensibility.
8 p.m. - Eagle Seagull
