SXSW 2015 Recap

Quick post of bands seen.  Really fun year.  Much more laid back.


Wed. March 18th:
@Lamberts:
Blank Range
@Cedar Street
Catatonic VR movie
Avid Dancer
Skinny Lister
Geographer
@Shiner's Saloon
The Lonely Wild
July Talk
Dinner @Austin Ale House
@Lucky Lounge
Charlie Overbey and the Broken Arrows
Jake LaBotz
Lucette

Thursday
@GSD&M Bloody Mary Morning
Kristin Diable
Anderson East
Max Frost
@Threadgills
The Deslondes
Nikki Lane
Buxton
Daniel Romano
Lilly Hiatt
Giant Sand
Luther Dickinson
Dinner @Zax

Friday
@Hotel San Jose
Kaleo
@Home Slice
Water Liars
@Frontgate
Clear Plastic Masks
Bee Caves
@Gingerman
New Madrid
Mandolin Orange
Dinner @Frank
@Stephen F's Bar
Shawn James
The Dove and the Wolf
David Longoria

Saturday
@Waterloo
Twin Shadow
@Whole Foods
Cardboard Kids
@Woodrows
Smallpools
The Wind and the Wave
Civil Twilight
San Cisco
Hey Marseilles
Tameca Jones
Dinner @Whole Foods

SXSW 2015: Lucette

I'm still trying to figure out where to go Saturday.  South Congress was chaos last year so we may want to try somewhere else.  Waterloo/Whole Foods/Woodrows/Brew Exchange all have pretty good bands throughout the day so it may be worth it to hang around there.

If we do go to South Congress this singer is playing St. Vincent DePaul at 1:30pm.  She's also playing the Wednesday night showcase at Lucky Lounge which has some good Americana bands.  She was highlighted on Esquire's "40 Bands You Need to Hear at SXSW".  If that's not enough check out her video which includes Sturgill Simpson in one of the roles:

Bobby Reid

SXSW 2015: Carl Barât and the Jackels

South Congress on Friday has some decent bands playing and there's no worries about not getting into a venue.  If the weather is nice it is an option since I have a feeling Rainey Street is going to be insane.  Hotel San Jose has a good mix of new and old bands.  Times aren't listed yet but they'll go in this order starting at noon:

Joseph

Kaleo

Tigertown

Carl Barat/Jackals

Broncho

Houndmouth

The Zombies

Merchandise

Gang of Four

I've already mentioned Joseph and Kaleo, two bands I definitely want to see at some point.  We saw Broncho at the F1 Fan Fest and I thought they had potential.  You didn't like them.  Very Ramones sounding.  We loved Houndmouth at the Heartbreaker Banquet a couple years ago.  This could be their breakout year.  

Carl Barat is from the Libertines and this is a side project.  This sounds like the Clash.

Glory Days

SXSW 2015: Christine and the Queens

Another day party on Rainey on Friday, this one by Neiman Marcus:

4:30pm: Meg Mac
5:05pm: Christine and The Queens
5:40pm: Melanie Martinez
6:15pm: Milo Greene
6:50pm: Marina and The Diamonds

Female-focused sets.  Christine and the Queens is the moniker of Héloïse Letissier, from Paris.  She'll be touring with Marina and the Diamonds this year.  She's compared to Lykke Li.  The song "Christine" is in French and is being released in the U.S. in English with the title "Tilted".  It sounds better in French to me.

Christine

SXSW 2015: Talk in Tongues

Another Friday show on Rainey St. is at the Blackheart:

Indoor Stage
12:30: Chadwich Stokes
1:30: Jesse Harris
2:30: Gill Landry
3:30: Surfer Blood
4:30: Talk In Tongues

Outdoor Stage
12:00: The Family Crest
1:00: Doomtree
2:00: The Lighthouse and The Whaler
3:00: Charlie Belle
4:00: Max Jury
5:00: Royal Teeth

Talk in Tongues is a psych-rock band out of L.A.  A little Tame Impala, a little Mazzy Star maybe.

Still Don't Seem to Care

SXSW 2015: Happyness

On to Friday's day shows.  One option is to hang around Rainey Street.  Very indie pop/rock.  Here are the sets:

Bar 96:
3:00pm: Happyness
4:00pm: Torres
5:00pm: Little Simz
6:00pm: Carl Barat

Container Bar:
1:15pm: Repel The Robot
2:00pm: Martian Hill
2:45pm: Public Service Broadcasting
3:30pm: Black Pistol Fire
4:15pm: East India Youth
5:00pm: Mew
6:00pm: The Vaccines

Clive Bar:
2:00pm: Lindsay Perry
3:00pm: Coldfronts
4:00pm: Circa Waves
5:00pm: On An On
6:00pm: Vacationer

Happyness is a trio out of South London.  I like this song.

Montreal Rock Band Somewhere

SXSW 2015: Tobias Jesso Jr.

Another Thursday option is to hang around the East side and hit the big brand day parties.  The Hype Machine hasn't announced their times yet but they have lots of good acts playing.  Youtube is at the old Copper Tank but no times listed yet, either.  Here is Spotify's list:

12:00 PM Twin Shadow
1:00 PM James Bay
2:30 PM Tobias Jesso Jr.
3:30 PM Ibeyi
4:30 PM Big Data
6:00 PM  Mister Wives

I've posted about James Bay, Big Data, and Mister Wives. Twin Shadow is doing acoustic.  Tobias Jesso Jr. is a singer-songwriter out of Vancouver that has his first album coming out this year.  Lots of online hype but apparently he's the real deal, especially live.  If we don't make it to Spotify we may want to keep an eye out for some other shows.

This is a good song.

Hollywood

SXSW 2015: The Wind and the Wave

101X is taping sets at Buffalo Billiards all week, I guess for broadcast.  I'm not sure how long each set will be but one band I'd like to check out at some point is playing there at 3pm on Thursday.  This is a duo from right here in Austin.  They just played this on KUTX.  They're also playing in the KUTX studio at 3pm and at Emo's tonight.  I'm sure we'll be hearing a lot more from them going forward.

With Your Two Hands

SXSW 2015: Mathew E. White

Another Thursday option is the Under the Radar day party at Flamingo Cantina with an international bent:

12:00pm: Pompeii-Austin
12:45pm: Matthew E. White-Virginia
1:35pm: SOAK-Ireland
2:25pm: Jacco Gardner-Holland
3:15pm: East India Youth-England
4:05pm: Mew-Denmark
5:00pm:  of Montreal-Athens, GA

I mentioned SOAK and East India Youth already.  Matthew E. White is from Richmond, VA and plays orchestral pop.

Rock and Roll is Cold

SXSW 2015: Milky Chance

Thursday has lots of options during the day.  If we want to see the Next Big Thing we can try the Universal Music Group party at the Palm Door on Sixth.  Always packed and wild but it's where we first saw Vintage Trouble, Passion Pit and Of Monsters and Men.  Bands with major label backing that are on the verge of breaking big and this year is no exception.  I've already previewed quite a few of these this year:

INDOOR STAGE
12:00 PM - ON AN ON
12:45 PM - CIRCA WAVES
1:45 PM - KATE BOY
2:45 PM - CLAIRITY
3:45 PM - HALSEY
4:45 PM - SPECIAL GUEST ARTIST

OUTDOOR STAGE
12:30 PM - YEARS AND YEARS
1:30 PM - URBAN CONE
2:30 PM - MILKY CHANCE
3:40 PM - SAM HUNT
4:30 PM - BEST COAST

Milky Chance is a folk/pop duo out of Germany that are huge in Europe and are about to try to replicate that success over here.  They already have a head start thanks to the chart-topping song "Stolen Dance" which has 125M views on Youtube.  Wow.  Here's another song of theirs which only has 5 million views.

Flashed Junk Mind

SXSW 2015: Avid Dancer

It looks like Wednesday is going to be spent around the West 6th area.  There's the usual good stuff at Dogwood, this year with Ray Wylie Hubbard and Jimmy Lafave.  I figure start at Lamberts and maybe move over to Cedar Street for a bit, then maybe Dogwood.  KEXP still doesn't have their schedule out so that's an option assuming they come this year.

Here's the Cedar Street Wednesday lineup:

1:00pm: Avid Dancer

2:00pm: Skinny Lister-one of their few shows in town

3:00pm: Geographer

4:00pm: Carl Barat &The Jackals

5:00pm: Frank Turner

Avid Dancer is the moniker of Jacob Dillan Summers, a former drummer in the U.S. Marines Drum and Bugle Corp who now resides in L.A. His first album is coming out in April.  One site compared his sound to Belle and Sebastian and another to the Kinks.  Could be worth checking out.

All Your Words Are Gone

SXSW 2015: Kaleo

One more from the C3 party.  This band is out of Iceland and recently played a sold-out show at Lamberts.  I think they're in town for awhile.  Peter Blackstock tweeted at the Lamberts show that they could be the next band to blow up.  He compares them to Fleet Foxes but I hear some Bon Iver in there, too.

This song was apparently a hit on iTunes.  I like it.

All the Pretty Girls

SXSW 2015: Hippo Campus

Another band at the Wednesday C3 day party at Lamberts is a group of teens that just graduated from high school in St. Paul.  Reminds me of Vampire Weekend.

Little Grace

SXSW 2015: Blank Range

Time to start looking at the day parties.  The Wednesday day show I always seem to enjoy is the C3 party at Lambert's.  This year they have another nice lineup:

Blank Range
Hippo Campus
Kaleo
Night Terrors of 1927
Public Access T.V.
Walking Shapes
Will Butler

No times yet so I assume Blank Range is first at noon.  Originally from Illinois and the mid-west but now in Nashville, this 5-piece band won the contest to play at Bonnaroo last year.  They're also playing the San Jose day party on Thursday.  No new album out yet so I assume something new is coming out soon.  Not bad to get picked to play the C3 party.

Last Crash Landing

SXSW 2015: Phill Veras

Second on the Friday night showcase at Departure Lounge is a young singer-songwriter from Brazil.  More mellow stuff.  Nice song.


Sorriso Au Sono

SXSW 2015: Andy Schauf

One more Friday choice.  This is at the Departure Lounge, which is in the building on the corner of 6th 5th and Guadalupe across from Republic Square.  I think it was a private club at one point.  Could be a good spot to see a band.  Mostly singer-songwriters so probably pretty mellow:

8:00PM Andy Shauf
9:00PM Phill Veras
10:00PM ELE
11:00PM Delaney Davidson

The first musician is from Regina.  Wonder if he knows Roxanne.  He's getting some praise from the blogs and has just started his tour.  Nice folk tunes.

Hometown Hero

SXSW 2015: The Dove & the Wolf

A third option for Friday night is at the Stephen F bar.  Mellow singer-songwriter stuff, including Austin-based David Longoria and Zookeeper as well as Germany's Talking to Turtles, who we saw a few years ago during SXSW at the Tap Room:

8:00PM Shawn James
9:00PM The Dove & the Wolf
10:00PM David Longoria
11:00PM Demi Louise
12:00AM Zookeeper
1:00AM Talking To Turtles

The 2nd band is a female duo from Paris.  Nice mellow song.

The Words You Said

SXSW 2015: Cleopatra Degher

Another option for Friday night is at Lamberts.  May not be too easy to get into given that local buzz band The Painted Redstarts is playing but I like the venue.

8:00PM Cleopatra Degher
9:00PM The Painted Redstarts
10:00PM Girl Pilot
11:00PM Hunter Sharpe
12:00AM The Digital Wild

First up is a singer/song-writer originally from San Diego who grew up in Sweden.  Reminds me of Kathleen Edwards.  She recently played in Austin at Lambert's and Strange Brew to start her U.S. tour. The Austin Chronicle did an article on her.

Good song.

California Forest Fire

SXSW 2015: Daniel Romano

Another act on the Friday Continental Club showcase is a musician out of Ontario.  His albums have been nominated for the Polaris Prize.  Here's a good article on him: "Daniel Romano makes country music for people who don’t like new country music".  A good title.  Very reminiscent of Gram Parsons and Buck Owens style country.

This song has the Gram/Emmylou dynamic going.

Just Between You and Me

SXSW 2015: Buxton

On to the Friday evening showcases.  The goal is to find a venue we can get into which typically excludes anything near Red River/6th Street.  One option is the Americana-heavy showcase at Continental Club.

8:00PM Giant Sand
9:00PM Daniel Romano
10:00PM Buxton
11:00PM The Deslondes
12:00AM Luther Dickinson
1:00AM New Madrid

We saw Buxton a couple years ago for an abbreviated set at St. Vincent DePaul.  They have a new album out that is getting good reviews.  It's on New West.

Icebreaker

SXSW 2015: Madisen Ward and the Mama Bear

One more act playing the Thursday St. David's showcase that is also on the NPR 100.  This is a son and mother duo from Kansas City that is blowing up.  They just played Letterman.  All the music press is talking about them.  They have an album coming out on Glassnote Records, home of Phoenix, Mumford and Sons, Chvrches, and Temper Trap.  Good company.

Silent Movies

SXSW 2015: Luluc

Another act on the Thursday St. David's showcase and on the NPR 100 is a duo out of Australia.  They're signed to Sub Pop and were produced by The National's Aaron Dresser.  They're compared to Nick Drake, Fleet Foxes, and Bon Iver.  Nice mellow stuff.

Small Window

SXSW 2015: Big Phony

NPR has put out their Top 100 list for SXSW here.  I've posted quite a few but there's more if you want to explore.

The Thursday night showcase at St. Davids' Bethell Hall includes 3 of the bands on that list, along with Joseph who I previewed earlier.

7:30PM Big Phony
8:30PM Luluc
9:30PM Joseph
10:30PM Madisen Ward and The Mama Bear
11:30PM Grace Weber
12:30AM Low Roar

First up is an artist/musician originally from New York but has lived in L.A. and now resides in Seoul.  He's compared to Elliott Smith and Beck.

I Love Lucy

SXSW 2015: Hugh Bob and the Hustle

Another option for Thursday night is the Lucky Lounge:

8:00PM Hugh Bob and The Hustle
9:00PM SUSTO
10:00PM Berkshire Hounds
11:00PM Jonathan Tyler
12:00AM Austin Lucas
1:00AM Somebody's Darling

You liked SUSTO.  The first band is out of Wisconsin and plays more traditional country.  Some of their songs are typical country about drinking and bars.  This is the one I liked most.

Butternut

SXSW 2015: Jack + Eliza

Sandwiched between the two female-led folk bands on Thursday is a male-female pop duo from Brooklyn.  Childhood friends that actually grew up in Brooklyn.  They're still in college (NYU and Columbia, respectively) so I guess they tour between semesters.  Good thing it's Spring Break.

One blog compares them to the Shins.  They're also compared to She and Him and the Mamas and the Papas.  I'm sure we'll hear more from them after they graduate.

Hold the Line

SXSW 2015: Good Harvest

First up at the Stephen F bar on Thursday is a female duo out of Sweden that plays folk/Americana.  They don't have a full album out yet.

Nice mellow song.

Bottom Dollar

SXSW 2015: The Accidentals

We know the first choice for Thursday so here are some backup options.  The Stephen F bar is a nice spot to hear music and relax.  The showcase has some good folk/Americana bands early that could be worth checking out.

8:00PM Good Harvest

9:00PM Jack + Eliza

10:00PM The Accidentals

11:00PM Count This Penny

12:00AM Oxford & Co.

1:00AM Marie Miller

At 10pm is a band out of Michigan.  They're just out of high school.  Two female vocalists so it reminds me of First Aid Kit. 

The Silence