Gardens & Villa

I already mentioned how Saturday is stupid with scheduling conflicts.  Well 2:00 on Saturday is when the crazy goes up a notch.  All four bands playing are worthy of your time.  I'll start with Gardens & Villa, a band out of Santa Barbara.  I previewed them before SXSW and we got to see them live.  It was a fun show.    Even if you don't like the music it's worth seeing them live to check out their lead singer.  He plays the flute but he has like 10 flutes he carries in what looks like an archery quiver on his back.  He's jamming along with his guitar then reaches back into his quiver and pulls out the appropriate flute for that song and starts fluting away.  (Is that the appropriate term?)  Not your typical rock star maneuver but it's totally cool.

I really like these guys.  They're whole album is good.  Worth checking out.

Black Hills

Zola Jesus

The other act playing at 1:15 on Saturday is Zola Jesus, the moniker of Nika Roza Danilova.  Her music is much better suited to 2am at Elysium than 1:15pm on a Saturday.   I don't think her fanbase is even awake by 1pm.  

This is where I have to admit a little secret:   despite my exterior americana/folk music tastes and white-bread WASP personality, I'm a closet Goth music fan.  In college it was Joy Division, Siouxsie and the Banshees, and Sisters of Mercy.  When I moved to Dallas I discovered The Grey Zone on KNON from midnight-4am on Friday nights.  DJ Stereotype introduced me to bands like My Life with the Thrill Kill Cult.  When he passed away in 1991 Cyberina Flux carried on the show as Rocket Radio.  Here's a good article on the show's history.  I've kind of drifted from that music over time but then another band comes along that makes me wax nostalgic.

Zola Jesus suits this genre even though some of her music is fairly straightforward pop.  She was here for SXSW and I previewed her then, but we didn't get to see her.  It won't be the same in the middle of the day but I definitely want to check it out.


Vessel

Bombay Bicycle Club

Saturday at 1:15 has two bands worth seeing.  I'll be at the band I'll post tomorrow but some of you may enjoy this one.  It's composed of 4 nice lads from Crouch End, North London.  I assume they're nice.  They could be cads.  They have a sweet light folk-pop sound, though.

Ivy and Gold

Wheeler Brothers

Playing ACL at 1pm Saturday on the Austin Ventures Stage is a local Austin band.  Kind of folk/pop, we saw them at Blues on the Green opening for Rhett Miller.  I enjoyed them.  Laid back Americana sound.  A good Saturday afternoon band.

Portraits

Civil Twilight

Back to Saturday at ACL.  The next band on the schedule is Civil Twilight at 12:30.  It consists of brothers from South Africa.  They cite Radiohead as an influence.  I can also hear some Muse and U2.  The other bands opposite them are Dev, a rapper influenced by Eminem, and Native Run on the BMI stage.  I'll start with these guys and give them a shot.

Letters from the Sky