SXSW - Day 2; Texas Fever

JULIETTE LEWIS GETS ROMANTIQUE WITH DIRTY DOG

GALLOWS BRIEF MOMENT ON STAGE

"ARE YOU FROM AUSTRALIA?"

IT'S ALL ABOUT LISTS ON DAY 2

I CHOO CHOOSE CHOO CHOO

The problem with sleeping in during SxSW is that for every hour you snooze you miss approximately 200 bands. True. So, with 1900 acts playing at this year’s festival, you may feel like you’ve wasted quality gigging time by rolling out of bed, hunting down a bus-stop, crawling into town on public transport surrounded by feral punks (and their dog) and then hopping it to the Aus showcase only to be confronted by Guy Sebastian. Holy hell. Lesson learned: no more sleeping in.

Normally it’s hard to run in the stifling Austin spring heat but the dash away from this ex-Idol putting the arse into soul was easily done. The doors to the Dirty Dog Bar sprang open to welcome me into the arms of Hollywood crazy Juliette Lewis and her new band Juliette & The New Romantiques – here, Lewis takes on the role of rock star Juliette. Lewis plays it well: one-part psycho; one-part Cherie Currie; one-part Hollywood crazy-turned-rock-star. And when the gig is over the band haul their own gear… except Lewis, she immediately flees backstage (not sure if she packed her own mic up first or not).

Headlining over the New Romantiques were UK metallic punkers Gallows. Frontman Frank Carter moves straight into high-octane mode. He is the new king of punk – it’s just that us peasants need to catch up. Pissed off with the small size of the audience (which he also describes as “eighty percent industry wankers”), Carter takes the show off stage and into the crowd. He clears a stage-size space on the floor by racing back and forth, mic stand dangerously in tow – fans know to move back fast. Songs crank out ferociously as Carter relocates all the Gallows, bar drummer Lee Barratt (he remains alone on stage), to play between the stage and the front bar. Audience mingle with band; heads bang; thumbs break (or so Carter claims); band members dispute (Carter doesn’t want to play a song but his brother insists); cameras flash non-stop. Gallows know how to get premium coverage even when numbers are low.

A quick stop back at The Pita Pit (see yesterday’s entry) for a bite and dining inside is one of The Matches who asks if I’m from Australia… I run. Perhaps the t-shirt with “Australia” emblazoned across it was the giveaway. Out on the street Oakland lad Steve Taylor has gathered a crowd playing organ in the middle of the road (but not ‘middle-of-the-road’) with just a drummer accompanying him – a nice jazzy jam distraction before being KB’d at Emo’s Annex where the Gig Of The Night is kickin’ off (Little Boots and NASA are playing there later) so bottom-of-the-bill Micachu (& The Shapes) is (are) viewed from outside the containment area. Cute as buttons, the playful Brit trio steal sound ideas from ‘90s dance and churn it into chirpy leftfield pop. And, oops, people begin to form a line behind me mistakenly believing my not-good-enough-to-get-in position is the queue for entry… sorry.

Back to the Aus showcase at Friends, now in evening mode, and Sydney rock’n’roll duo The Fumes are doing their garagey thing, showing Texans, and other international visitors, that Mr Sebastian is not best on offer from Down Under. Phew. Next door at BD Riley’s it’s time for Swiss foursome Choo Choo to be officially deemed Highlight Of The Day. Their perky new wave power pop more than makes up for later arriving at The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart gig and finding it sold out. Lesson #2: Get to bed early, try again tomorrow.

SXSW - Day 1; Something Grows In Texas

THE LEWIS SISTERS AT PITA PIT

THE STREETS OF SXSW

THAT PETROL EMOTION AT THE DOG AND DUCK

MY DISCO AT SOHO LOUNGE

SXSW DAY ONE BOOTY

QUEUING FOR DEADLY FOOD

It felt very Texan to cut my arm on a cactus upon arrival at the Austin hotel that will be home for the duration of SxSW. But it’s okay, the arm survived. By morning (Wednesday, day one of the SxSW festival’s music component) there was barely a scratch to show from the cactus attack but let’s just say that it must have been the reason for the disorientation that caused the inability to find venue one of the day and miss The Homosexuals… ah well, the old punkers are playing again during the fest. However, it meant there was time to find food and the closest place not boasting cheese melted on everything was The Pita Pit (what is this American obsession to put that nuke-orange cheddar on EVERYTHING?). What was found there was what everyone had promised about SxSW… an unexpected musical treat. Coz not only were there good wraps in the Pit but here also was my first band of the day; a band that I hadn’t circled on the schedule but blew me away nonetheless. Here were sweet country harmonies from three sisters of Goodlettsville, Tennessee (though they introduced themselves as being from Nashville – maybe it’s close by…), The Lewis Sisters. Today they were accompanied by drummer Tom Strother, drum kit-less but keeping time on a cajon. A quaint start to proceedings and one CD purchased.

Having had time to scour local street rag The Austin Chronicle as well as consult maps and timetables, the next gig on the circled schedule was easily located at The Dog And Duck. Taking place here was a performance by cult ‘80s Irish pre-grungers That Petrol Emotion. Featuring two ex-members of legendary punk outfit The Undertones, the band reunited last year having split in ’94. None of their spit’n’fire has been lost and their politically-revved lyrics seemed perversely apt to these shaky economic climes. And “hit” 'Big Decision' is still as ridiculously catchy as it ever was. Best of all, you could buy TPE buttons from the band themselves after the show…

Spotting fellow Melbots T-Rek and Infusion on the streets of Austin was inspiration enough to see what fellow Melburnians My Disco could do to this Texfest. Intense as ever, the unassuming-looking but unforgivingly-intense musicians wound up the Soho Lounge with a barrage of rib-crushing tones. It must have been good as one of uber-hip heavies Atreyu sidled up to ask who was playing and gave them the thumbs-up. However, I was too slow to get a pic of me posing with the certified rock star before he slipped away to get closer to the front. Bah.

One of the Top 100 buzzzzzzz bandzzzzzzz of the night was Parenthetical Girls. They were playing the YouTube party, of course. At the appropriately-named Beauty Bar (wall-to-wall cool cats and hip hombres), a bit of confusion led to waiting for the Girls in the front bar rather than in the backyard… Thankfully, this brought about unexpected musical treat #2 for the day: Rafter. This San Diego band are freakin’ wonderful. Funkily-structured wonky disco – with the best use of vocoder since Fox’s 'S-s-single Bed'. It’s love – four Rafter CD’s purchased.

After Rafter, it was time for gettin’ Girls out the back. Was it just tonight or do Parenthetical Girls’ live hipster troubadour wailings seem rather more twee than their cute recorded equivalents? Ah well, the room was packed so my presence wouldn’t be missed slipping out to the front again where Indiana’s DM Stith was holding a smaller audience entranced with his nubluze meanderings. Ah, thank you, Mr Stith (or however you prefer to be addressed) as now my day ends as quaintly as it began.

Loin Brothers - Death Mix

"Two men in their mid-to-late twenties were brutally mauled by a tiger at Sydney's Taronga Zoo late last night. It is believed the pair, who police have identified as members of the '70s tribute/comedy band "Loin Brothers", had attempted to photograph themselves in the tiger enclosure. Police are as yet unsure how the duo managed to scale the 2.6 metre fence surrounding the enclosure. A blood-stained photo of magicians Siegfried & Roy, with their white Bengal tiger, found at the scene is believed to be the inspiration for the tragic event. Police are continuing with their investigation."

'Death Mix' by Loin Brothers (direct link)

TRACK LIST:
Monsuier Erotique - 'Handsome Stud' unreleased
Babe Ruth - 'The Mexican (Loin Edit)' unreleased
Frederic Sinful - 'Crater Sand' (Discograph)
It's A Fine Line - 'Woman (A Makhnovshchina Repo.)' (History Clock)
Loin Brothers - 'Heavy Helmet (Radio Edit)' (Future Classic)
Willy DeVille - 'Heat of the Moment' (CBS)
Mark Almond - 'Riding Free' (EMI)

Loin Brothers' debut 12" 'Heavy Helmet' is out now on Future Classic.

Les Savy Francisco

So I was sitting in my motel room in Canada (yep, I'm taking a long route to SxSW in Austin from Australia) and, like everyone else in North America, I've been watching Jimmy Fallon stumble through his first week hosting Late Night - luckily he has recruited The Roots as his house band coz that makes it worth returning for). Anyway, after Late Show on came Last Call With Carson Daly where he spent a half-hour showcasing the Noise Pop Festival in San Francisco - hailing crap hoppers NASA as the festival highlight. Bah - just coz NASA are well-connected and can pull MIA and Tom Waits onto their debut recording doesn't make them good, let alone the highlight of the festival. It just so happened that I stumbled onto the festival last weekend and there is no doubt that alt.punkers Les Savy Fav playing at the Mezzanine were the highlight. Not only did the singer get up to all his usual ADD antics (taping himself to an audience member, surfing an armchair down steps, etc) - pictured above balancing off a banister right above my head - but their songs have matured into adventurous melodic shakedowns that are odds with the screaming vocals as often as they are perfectly placed. Pffft - compared to that NASA are just two boffins being boring behind some dinky toys.

Neighbourhood Watch - Harmon

Harmon has just released a brand new EP called 'Trees'. A follow-up to 2007's 'Grass EP', this new EP is already one of my favourites of 2009. Five tracks of psyched-out jazz/funk.

Harmon feat Victoria Jones - 'Thunderstorm' (zshare link)

If you're in Melbourne, you can buy 'Trees' from Hear NOW and Northside Records. Otherwise, head on over to Harmon's website and grab a copy.

A man of many talents... Harmon has also just dropped a new club track ('Breakdancer') on his MySpace player, and a new club single ('Get Up') with Paz on Freakshow Disco Productions. Phew*.

Junji Masayama - Death Mix

A brand new 30min disco mix from Melbourne producer/vinyl junkie/DJ-extraordinaire Junji Masayama.

'Death Mix' by Junji Masayama (direct link)

TRACK LIST:
Dogs Of War - 'Future Jungle' (Generation Records)
The Love Symphony Orchestra - 'Let Me Be Your Fantasy' (Talpro)
John Gibbs - 'Trinidad' (Jumbo Caribbean Disco)
African Suite - 'Grass' (MCA Records)
H.Manfredini & M.Zager - 'Theme From Friday 13th Pt 3' (Gramavision)
True Image - 'Keep Me Dancing (Junji edit)' CDr
Little Scotty - 'Shout At The Disco' (Sound Of New York)

Keep an eye out for Junji's debut 12" 'Green Circle', due out March 16th on UK label Bear Funk.

Good Vibrations 09 - Melbourne

Good Vibrations (last Sunday) was a nice day-out in the sunshine... the indoor disco/hip-hop/tent action was lots of fun too!

(hover your mouse over the pics for details)