Sxsw '09
The very first time we headed to Club 1808 was on the official Day 1 of SXSW (our Day 2). We’d done our exploration during the day and decided to unwind at the free Moshi Moshi Records party, where the line-up was pretty solid. The Champs were doing their funny dance when we got there. We caught Slow Club, Dark Meat, Casio Kids, Suckers and The Mae Shi in a span of few hours, and that was just our night. The Mae Shi seems like an awfully hard-working band, and they get super pumped on stage. They closed their set with the anthemic “Run to Your Grave”, for which they had their friends Slow Club and Kid Static on stage, dancing their hearts out. It was ridiculous fun! Here is the video.
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Download “Run To Your Grave“
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When Suckers arrived in Austin to play their first SXSW show, they’d just come from New Orleans and were wearing Mardi Gras beads around their necks. That show was at Club 1808 (in “Crack Central”), where after their set some local women grabbed the microphone and told them they were all very sexy. There was one Brooklyn expat who had come specifically to see them (but seemed to know little about them), and there were others who asked us excitedly during the show, “What is the name of this band?“. When we told them what it was, the word “Suckers” spread out in a wave of whispers and giggles. The next day, we got into their Malverde show very last minute. The party was “All that Sparkles”, and sure enough there were balloons covering the floor outside the bathrooms, that’s how much it sparkled. The venue was in a slightly more posh area, and the stage was a balcony several floors up, looking out to other tall buildings and down on the streets. When we were running late and walking very fast towards the venue, we were able to identify a tiny figure of Quinn Walker, way up on the balcony, from all the beads he had on.
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Download “Easy Chairs“
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Here’s part two of The Tallest Man on Earth’s set at Club 1808 in Austin, Texas, when the town was bustling with SXSW festivities. You can also watch Part 1 of this video, in case you missed it. Tallest Man will be playing Union Hall on April 14 and Bowery Ballroom on April 15. I’ll be posting a SXSW set of Tune Yards next Monday.
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Download “King of Spain”
(If re-hosting or re-posting this mp3, please link back to this page out of kindness and all around goodheartedness!)
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England’s Slow Club are the boy-girl duo of Charles Watson and Rebecca Taylor, whose playful singing in their live sets were accompanied by a guitar and parts of a drum set. They played quite a few free shows while in Austin, and I caught at least two of them. The first time was at Club 1808, when the day was dwindling into a festive night, and the second time was the very next day at Red House Pizzeria, when the morning was still fresh and everyone was still waking up to the smell of coffee. I’ve included two video clips here: the first is from Red House Pizzeria, and the second is the end of their set at Club 1808, where they sang an unamplified song amongst the audience.
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Download “Because We’re Dead“
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The Tallest Man on Earth is just a band name, and it belongs to Sweden’s Kristian Matsson, who has adopted a heritage of American folk music as exemplified by Bob Dylan and his peers, the result of which are a collection of fervent songs teeming with raw energy on the jangly acoustic guitar, and lyrics that are amongst the most simple yet piercingly romantic and thoughtful. Seeing him at the “inside stage” of Club 1808, which was basically a small floor space by the bar, was one of the highlights of my trip to Austin, and not managing to see him multiple times, though I did try, was one of my regrets. I filmed the entire set, of which Part 1 is presented here, and Part 2 will be posted next Monday, April 6 is now up.
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Download “The Gardener”
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Day 6 was March 22, 2009. When we were about to eat breakfast, we ran into Brooklyn’s own Sharon Van Etten in the eastern part of town. She was playing a show only four blocks away, so we decided to go.
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Day 5 in Austin was March 21, 2009. The morning began with a ride to the northern part of the eastern town, where five members of Balmorhea, an instrumental six-piece from Austin, were waiting to play a few songs for our video series, Secret Garden.
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Day 4 in Austin was March 20, 2009. We rolled into downtown by Mohawk, which was one of the places where the much talked-about Hot Freaks party was happening. There was a huge line outside.
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Day 3 in Austin was March 19, 2009. We headed to Red House Pizzeria to meet with England’s Fanfarlo and shoot a Secret Garden video nearby.
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Day 2 in Austin for me was March 18, 2009, which was the first official day of SXSW. After much determination that I wouldn’t make my daily plans around bands I already like, I went to see Drink Up Buttercup’s 2PM set at Beauty Bar anyway. Pretty & Nice were playing when I got there.
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