me::title_else
From March 15-20, thousands of musicians, industry folk, media, and insatiable fans will descend on Austin, Texas, for South by Southwest, the annual music conference that showcases the bands bound to break out of obscurity in the coming year, and a few beloved veterans promoting their latest efforts. Since there's no way to see even a fraction of SXSW's 2,000 performers, SPIN editors have combed the extensive band listing to select this year's can't-miss acts. And whether you're going to Austin or not, you're bound to discover something new on this list. And to stay on top of everything SXSW-related, be sure to follow @SPINsxsw on Twitter, as well as our mothership Twitter handle, @SPINmagazine.
Web: www.spin.com/gallery/spins-35-must-hear-...My Schedule
6:00 PM
to 7:00 PM
The Mix at Six presented by SapientNitro
338 schedule::attendees
Location
Venue 222
eventtype Party, Interactive
event::about SapientNitro returns to host the always anticipated, never duplicated Mix at Six Party, where they’ll raise the tent on their freakishly entertaining, technologically mesmerizing Carnival of Convergence. Festivities include a live performance from The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, as well as DJ Spider spinning deep into the night. An open bar, appetizers, and amazing sideshow complete this unique experience.
event::tags 21+, Party, #mixatsixsxsw
8:30 PM
to 9:30 PM
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
157 schedule::attendees
Location
Venue 222
eventtype Music
event::about
SXSW Interactive badge needed.
SapientNitro invites 2011 SXSW Interactive attendees to kick off their festival experience at the longest Mix at Six party ever. Our Carnival of Convergence will bring together the technologically mesmerizing with the freakishly entertaining. Another reason not to miss? The Pains of Being Pure at Heart will take the stage at 8:30, and starting at 10pm, DJ Spider will keep you dancing into the late, late night. Games, prizes, sideshows, appetizers...and open bar (like we'd forget the importance of that at SXSW).
10:00 PM
to 11:00 PM
11:00 PM
to 12:00 AM
Fences
98 schedule::attendees
Location
The Bat Bar
eventtype Music
Artists Fences
event::about FENCES www.sadcastle.com Christopher Mansfield is Fences. Don't let the brevity of that sentence deceive you; it contains universes. Fences is not merely the recording alias of the Seattle songwriter. It is the distillation of Mansfield's entire aesthetic. "I've tried to take everything in the world that I love, and turn it into this thing that's Fences," says the straightforward 27-year-old. Fences starts with Mansfield's life experience to date, and ends… well, when he says so. Hopefully not for a long time. Because right now, Fences is just coming into its own, with the release of a stunning debut album, entitled, naturally, Fences. The ten-song set was co-produced by Sara Quin of Tegan & Sara, who Mansfield credits not only with helping him sculpt the most fully realized expression of his music to date, but also giving him impetus to forge ahead before they'd ever collaborated artistically. "I was just working as a breakfast cook, spending my money at the bar, and playing songs with my friends in my kitchen. It was no big deal. And then when she contacted me, I remember thinking, Whoa! My life might be a little different from now on." Not to exaggerate the impact of her interest—this isn't The Blind Side, folks—but encouragement from an established recording artist went a long way towards making Mansfield take his music more seriously. "Everything that Chris writes, melodically and lyrically, has that rare balance of patience and urgency that I love in honest, haunting pop songs," says Quin. And she did her homework before arriving at that laudatory conclusion. Prior to recording Fences, Quin requested that Mansfield send her everything he'd written to date. From those forty selections, they winnowed the choices down. "Both of us wanted to capture the most potent Fences, the thing that sums it up as a whole, song-wise—especially since this was a debut." Fences is the culmination of Mansfield's songwriting to date, stretching back to the project's inception in the Boston area circa 2004, and continuing right up to songs written shortly before recording. "Hands," carried by hypnotic finger picking and a gauzy vocal performance, is among the oldest selections in Mansfield's catalog, while "From Russia With…" and "Sadie"—a standout that stakes out the treacherous terrain between emo and Americana with quiet confidence—are newly minted. Longtime fans will find polished renditions of concert favorites "The Same Tattoos" and the musical dialogue "My Girl The Horse," the latter's haunting refrain "neither one of us will make it down this hill alive" lingering long after the fade. Mansfield jokes that he traffics in "wussy pop music," and his full-band live performances are more upbeat than novices might anticipate, but as Fences attests, beneath his sing-along hooks and charismatic performances are songs with a steel core. Fences summarizes Mansfield's music in succinct, compelling fashion—no simple feat, considering that his sound doesn't fit neatly in any single box. He speaks with audible affection of '80s innovators like the Cure, Kate Bush, and Morrissey, icons who created a consummate, all-encompassing aesthetic, just as he aspires to do with Fences. A close listen to the rhythm tracks on several cuts also underscores Mansfield's love of down-tempo classic country. An anthology of Johnny Cash's Sun Records sides was one of his constant soundtracks while working as a dishwasher. "The tempo of that material just has a unrelenting drive," he reflects. "It carries the lyrics from start to finish before you even realize what has been said." Further enriching his sound, Mansfield also has a powerful affinity for jazz, citing John Coltrane, Miles Davis, and Wayne Shorter among his favorites. "Sometimes that music is just so chaotic, which is what growing up feels like," he observes. "I always wondered why more confused teenagers didn't listen to jazz. The girl you're in love with doesn't love you back? Go home and put on Charlie Parker playing 'Embraceable You.'" Later he studied at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. Sometimes Mansfield's jazz background is reflected in something as simple as augmenting a minor chord with a major seventh, but Berklee also sold him on the value of commitment and discipline. Hence Mansfield's laser-like focus on achieving his goals. "I appreciate the workmanship, the dedication required to get the art to where it should be." Like the aforementioned Morrissey, Mansfield's involvement in Fences extends well beyond the music, to the accompanying record sleeves, promotional photos, and videos. The cover of his self-released 2008 Ultimate Puke EP may have seemed better suited to a sludge or speed metal band, with it's well-executed cartoon of a grizzly bear regurgitating a half-digested Fences logo, but Mansfield commissioned that imagery for specific reasons: "That EP was a mix of all these demos and shit on my computer," literally purged from his hard drive. Plus he wanted a sleeve that eschewed the obvious visual vocabulary a comparable artist might've chosen. "You wouldn't expect that kind of art to accompany this sort of music, you'd expect maybe a cute little bird on the cover." On the other hand, for the more thoughtful Fences, he chose a personal talisman, a found photograph (of a young girl covered in Christmas tinsel) he'd long used as a bookmark. "I wanted this album to look slightly mature and beautiful, but you still can't categorize exactly what that might be. If you just saw that art, you wouldn't really know what the music sounds like." But you would definitely be intrigued, and your curiosity would be rewarded. Or watch the video for "Girls With Accents." Despite a lyric that has been misconstrued out of context, Mansfield navigates a confusing landscape—labyrinthine houseplants, kitchen chairs stacked to the rafters, and the layered look taken to ridiculous extremes—while feeding his dog, putting away the dishes. In the clip's maelstrom of seeming insanity, he stays centered… just as his music feels rooted on terra firma no matter how unpleasant or odd the circumstances that inspired it, or how noisy the buzz surrounding it continues to grow. Chris Mansfield is Fences. And Fences is just the first taste of great things to come.
event::tags 21+
1:00 AM
to 2:00 AM
Gold Panda
169 schedule::attendees
Location
Emo's Jr
eventtype Music
Artists Gold Panda
event::about A culmination of years of work spent refining his sui generis sound, Gold Panda’s eagerly awaited debut album is finally here. An artist at ease traversing genre boundaries in search of new auditory frontiers - whether mixing dissected Hip Hop beats or the pulsating flourishes of minimal Techno - this apropos release will cement the foundations laid by previous output and visions whilst expanding his canon to unparalleled limits. As electronic music gradually arcs into a period of unprecedented successes, Lucky Shiner pits GP firmly at the forefront of a new wave of artists unafraid to challenge preconceptions of what music can be. Mixed by Simian Mobile Disco’s sonic veteran James Shaw and recorded in two session spent in the shady retreat of the English countryside - at his Aunt and Uncle’s Essex home - after, as GP explains “they went away over Christmas for two weeks and asked me to look after their dog. I’d walk Daisy in the morning and then make tunes till she pestered me to take her out again, I’d bounce down what I’d done, stick my headphones on and walk her; get ideas and repeat the process.” The end result is an album as influenced by family as it is by the quickly flashing topography that stretches out of train windows. GP’s mesmerising attention to sound and detail means each beat resonates as past, reflects the present and looks forwards to the potential futures of the individual; listener and artist alike. Originally hailing from Chelmsford, Essex, and having spent the early part of his career as remixer du jour for the likes of Bloc Party, Health, Telepathe, Little Boots and Simian Mobile Disco, Gold Panda’s ascent to the forefront of contemporary electronic music has been steadily meteoric. Nominated as one of the BBC’s sound of 2010 nominees, shows around the world with Caribou, Health, SMD and more to come on his own in the UK and the US with Autolux, a cover star in Japan, three sold out E.P’s and a raft of praise and hyperbole from the mouths that matter (Pitchfork, NME, The Guardian amongst them) only tells half the story however. Lucky Shiner's the piece that completes the picture. Originating in crystal clear vision, the nuance and frenetic cadence of life and the mind’s constant disequilibrium means its final realisation stands as a product that’ll provoke thought as much as enjoyment; pathos as much as praise. “Lots of factors affected the way it came together.“ Gold Panda explains, “touring, mixing, moving house and splitting with a girlfriend. Family, friends and lovers related, places I‘ve never been”. Decamping to an idyllic retreat also means the album bears trademarks of a pastorally hued Englishness, whist’s also coloured by GP’s two years spent studying Japanese culture, language and history at the School of Oriental and Asian studies in Japan. ‘You’, ‘Parents’ (featuring a field recording of GP helping his grandma push a wheelbarrow in the garden ), ‘Marriage’. Lucky Shiner overflows with life. Disengaging with the need for vocal, GP intimates, makes intimate idea’s immeasurably expressive and does so whilst always retaining an unfettered ear for melody. “I didn’t want to write ‘beats’” he says about the album, “I didn’t want bangers. I wanted songs with structure.” With, as he say’s, “two tracks made from a broken Yamaha organ bought for 99p off Ebay. A lot of the drum sounds just vinyl crackle turned really loud”, and one featuring almost solely guitar, “I don’t play guitar”, the album’s a concrete introduction to an artist willing to slip mercury like through constraints of genre, form and concept. And the title’s origins? “Lucky Shiner is my grandmothers name. Sometimes I think she knows exactly how I feel without me even mentioning anything to her.” Deeply personal then, Gold Panda‘s at odds to express that unequivocally on the album. Instead, he say‘s it “would be nice if people could hear the tracks and attach their own significance to them”. Over forty tracks eventually extricated into eleven, cohesion found through the unified fragments that “went together. I wanted a beginning, middle and end” - feelings eventually became sounds, visions graduated into awareness. Do what the artist wants and attach your own significance, if meaning is in nature indeterminate, personal experience can do ought but help.
event::tags All Ages
12:00 PM
to 5:00 PM
eMusic at SXSW
270 schedule::attendees
Location
Beauty Bar
eventtype Unofficial Party
Speaker/Artist(s) Info
12:30 - Hurray for the Riff Raff (eMusic Selects)
1:15 - Grass Widow (Kill Rock Stars)
2:00 - JEFF the Brotherhood (Infinity Cat)
2:45 - Ty Segall (Goner)
3:30 - Obits (Sub Pop)
4:15 - The Pains of Being Pure at Heart (Slumberland)
event::about
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart & More at eMusic's SXSW Day Party
Beat the mad rush and hear the week's best bands early at eMusic's SXSW Day Party. We've got a Beauty Bar bill custom-built to amaze.
Space is limited, so inclusion on the guest list will be first-come, first-served. RSVP now! The list closes Tuesday, March 1st. We'll send a confirmation by March 4th.
From 12-2PM, we'll have free food and drinks for you and your guest, plus surprises and eMusic swag. More importantly: you'll get to hear some of the most exciting bands in independent music.
Must be 21 years or older to attend.
12:00 PM
to 7:00 PM
IODA Opening Day Bash
258 schedule::attendees
Location
Emo's Annex
eventtype Unofficial Party
Speaker/Artist(s) Info
12PM: Withered Hand (Absolutely Kosher) - Edinburgh, Scotland
12:20PM: Geographer (Tricycle Records) - San Francisco, CA
12:45PM: Queen Sea Big Shark (Modern Sky) - Beijing, China
1:15PM: Fredrik (The Kora Records) - Malmö, Sweden
1:45PM: Weekend (Slumberland) - San Francisco, CA
2:30PM: Aphasia (White Wabbit) - Taipei, Taiwan
3:00PM: True Widow (End Sounds) - Austin, TX
3:30PM: The Bewitched Hands (Look Mum No Hands/Sony) - Paris, France
4:15PM: Typhoon (Tender Loving Empire) - Portland, OR
5PM: Beach Fossils (Captured Tracks) - Brooklyn, NY
5:30PM: Gold Panda (Ghostly International) - London, UK
4:00 PM
to 5:00 PM
Jessica Lea Mayfield
147 schedule::attendees
Location
Radio Day Stage Austin Convention Center
eventtype Music
Artists Jessica Lea Mayfield
event::about The 21-year old from Kent, Ohio first performed with her family band One Way Rider at the age of 8. At age 15, she recorded her first album White Lies in her brother's bedroom, printing only 100 copies. One of those copies fell into the hands of Dan Auerbach (The Black Keys). After an introduction, Mayfield and Auerbach hit the studio, laying the foundation for her debut album "With Blasphemy So Heartfelt." Says Auerbach of the recording experience, 'I think she's dark and moody in a mysterious way.' He adds, 'I'm just always really excited to make music with her.' "Tell Me," Jessica's 2011 Nonesuch Records debut, is a stunningly forthright 11-song set that addresses late-night longing, serial heartbreak, and intoxicatingly dangerous liaisons conducted in dimly lit barrooms or roadside motels. By the end, the only heart intact is Mayfield's own. It's as if she'd stripped the sentimentality and ruefulness from a bunch of classic country songs, leaving only stark emotion. Auerbach also produced and engineered "Tell Me" at his Easy Eye Sound System studio in Akron, Ohio, matching Mayfield's candor with eerily minimal, brilliantly constructed tracks that keep her mesmerizing, unadorned voice front and center. The New York Times hailed the album a Critics' Pick, while the Associated Press calls "Tell Me" 'the portrait of a precocious girl growing into self-assured womanhood and a producer reaching the peak of his powers. It is a dark and moody album, full of delights throughout, and if it doesn't make Mayfield a star, that too will be heartbreaking.'
event::tags All Ages
5:30 PM
to 6:00 PM
Gold Panda
204 schedule::attendees
Location
Emo's Annex
8:00 PM
to 9:00 PM
Esben and the Witch
136 schedule::attendees
Location
The Windish Agency House @ ND
9:00 PM
to 10:00 PM
J Mascis
229 schedule::attendees
Location
La Zona Rosa
eventtype Music
Artists J Mascis
event::about J Mascis is probably best known as the frontman of the highly influential indie rock trio Dinosaur Jr. With acclaimed LPs like 1987's You're Living All Over Me and 1988's Bug, the group emerged among the most highly regarded in alternative rock history, with Mascis' brilliant volume infused guitar heroics becoming a primary influence on the burgeoning 'grunge' movement - Mascis was also credited by many for single-handedly bringing back the guitar solo to underground and indie rock. By reintroducing volume and attack in his songs Mascis shed the strict limitations of early 1980's hardcore and practically reinvented punk rock in the process. Mascis' body of work continues to inspire a generation of guitar players and songwriters today. In 1991, Dinosaur Jr. disbanded and Mascis released More Light, his first recording under the moniker J Mascis + The Fog. With its revolving line-up of stellar musicians J Mascis + The Fog continues to churn out new material and tour frequently. Members and collaborators of the Fog have included Mike Watt (Minutemen / fIREHOSE), Ron Asheton (the Stooges), Robert Pollard (Guided By Voices), Kevin Shields (My Bloody Valentine) Dave Schools (Stockholm Syndrome / Widespread Panic) and Kyle Spence (Harvey Milk). Aside from his work with The Fog, Mascis finds himself behind the drums in the band Witch, and most recently playing guitar with garage rockers Sweet Apple. He is also known to perform solo acoustic proving that there are truly no limitations to his abilities. Fans of Mascis' huge guitar wails will not be disappointed by his intimate acoustic performances as he always brings in plenty of pedals to pepper these performances with the sonically enhanced solos he's best known for. In addition to his own work Mascis has been heavily involved behind the scenes appearing on, producing, and mixing records for a string of highly regarded acts like: fIREHOSE, Tad, Buffalo Tom, Beachwood Sparks, Del Tha Funkee Homosapien, The Breeders and many others. J Mascis has also composed music for film and has occasionally appeared in films such as Alison Anders acclaimed Gas, Food and Lodging. When the original line up of Mascis, Lou Barlow on bass and drummer Murph re-formed in 2005 for select live dates it was apparent that the years apart had not eroded any of their vitality. Restoring the sound established by the opening hat-trick gambit of Dinosaur, You're Living All Over Me, and Bug, 2007's Beyond continued the band's march into rock greatness by making old ears smile and new ears bleed afresh. In 2009 the band released Farm, Dinosaur Jr.'s first double LP and their fifth full length record by the original line-up, an album propelled by the unique energy of one of America's greatest living rock bands hitting their stride.
event::tags All Ages
10:00 PM
to 11:00 PM
Mona
69 schedule::attendees
Location
Antone's
eventtype Music
event::about MONA BIOG Devotion. Faith. Abandonment. The ecstasy of salvation, the salvation of ecstasy… There’s a thin line between rock’n’roll and religion, and nowhere thinner than in the intense, sharp, sweat-drenched, duelling-guitar euphoria of Mona. The four-piece Nashville-based band – or family, or gang, or band of brothers – are young, charismatic punk preachers. They’ll testify to the thrill they get from hunkering down in a Nashville, Tennessee basement, writing and recording the best debut album of 2011. They’ll hymn the praises of visceral rock with heavenly fireworks in its soul. They want to convert everyone they come across. This, by the way, isn’t the old God-and-the-devil schticky music-biz hyperbole. Three-quarters of Mona did learn their music – how to play, how to perform, how to work a crowd – in church: frontman/guitarist Nick Brown and drummer Vince Gard in a Pentecostal Charismatic congregation, bass player Zach Lindsey in a Southern Baptist congregation. For all three, while they were growing up, secular music was frowned upon, and transporting an audience – the congregation – was paramount. For all four – guitarist Jordan Young completes the line-up – imbuing secular music with honest passion and true grit is what Mona are all about. Mona keep the faith, “but it’s definitely our own brand, We’ve had to walk away from a lot of the bullshit of church,” says Nick, as verbally forthright offstage as he is forcefully charismatic onstage. We’re all family people. We’re all mamas’ boys. We all try to be good brothers, to be good sons. The same thing with the band – we’re a family. But obviously with the band we’re more like a family in the Mafia sense. We’re a fucking gang as well. It’s all hugs and kisses on the cheek – but if you fuck with us, we’re vicious,” adds the singer who dispensed with the services of his previous lead guitarist by “breaking my fist on his face”. With in-band fraternalism this zealous little wonder, perhaps, that “Mona’s never lost a bar fight.” Mona are Sun Studio’s Million Dollar Quartet (Presley, Perkins, Lewis, Cash) rebooted 54 years on. They’re rock revivalists, in the sense that they like, as Nick puts it, “the golden age of the United States – the James Dean, Marilyn Monroe type stuff.” This iconography and idealism, he says, informed the writing of Listen To Your Love – and the reasons why it became their first single. “It felt kinda reminiscent of some of the old stuff,” he says of the song, released on already-rare and already-pricey seven-inch vinyl only. “Even Roy Orbison-type melodies. But still, a little bit of a punk thing in there. It just felt like a good first introduction, a first impression.” Nick and Vince grew up in Dayton, Ohio. They met via their church musical group. Says Nick, “I needed a drummer and Vince needed an outlet. We didn’t even get along as people, as friends, at all, it was more of a musical connection at first. The friendship thing developed much later. But at first, growing up in church and having a little bit of a chip on your shoulder, you want someone that’s gonna play aggressively and have fun with it. And both of us were very zealous, even in the church, very passionate people. He beat the shit out of the drums and I used to break pianos.” As musical “support act” to the pastor, they learnt how to improvise, and jam, to follow the flow of the service. “That’s kinda how we view rock’n’roll now. I know there’s a lot of stuff that’s about scheduling – with radio and TV and the market now, they want you to fit in to a thing. But we’ve always prided ourselves on the timelessness of the experience. Just let it happen. Even when we write we don’t book writing sessions or schedule time to write. We just get together and whatever happens, happens.” Zach Lindsey is from Bowling Green, located in a dry (booze-free) country in Kentucky. Whereas for Nick and Vince non-religious music was banned (Vince: “but my mom would play me Creedence Clearwater Revival and The Police and tell me not to tell my dad…”), in the bassist’s church non-religious music was tolerated. “I was born listening to The Beatles.” With musical options dead in the water in Dayton, Nick and Vince moved to Nashville. Why? Nick: “It was five hours’ drive away as opposed to 14 hours to New York or 26 hours to LA. And way cheaper. We’re a bunch of poor kids.” Once relocated to America’s Music City, they ran into Zach on the local gig scene. He in turn introduced them to Jordan Young, an old Kentucky friend who had grown up in the farm town of Breeding. Having gone through serial line-up upheaval – including the bust-up with the unfortunate guitarist with the broken face – Mona was complete. “Now we’re four horses pulling the carriage,” says Nick, who’s worked on the “idea” for Mona for years – not least because the band is named after his grandmother. “There’s a lot of people that wanted to be in this band. There’s a lot of people that locally support this band. But as far as having people that understand their roles, and being happy with their roles, it’s chemistry, man. It’s just like a relationship. It’s a marriage.” Nick’s top-to-bottom vision for Mona encompasses everything from the archive pictures picked to feature on the largely monochromatic design of their Myspace; to only making the odd song available, and briefly (“too many people have artistic bulimia,” he spits, “eat and puke it up and they’re onto the next thing. So we made people saviour it”); to creating their own label Zion Noiz; to hammering out a major record company deal that, unusually, stacks things in the band’s favour. In 2011, Mona won’t be hard to find. They’ve already caused a rumpus in the UK this autumn, with the buzzed-about release of Listen To Your Love and two crushing-room-only London shows at Rough Trade East in Brick Lane and at The Flowerpot in Kentish Town. Their next release is the aggressively melodic Trouble On The Way. Nick: “It’s pretty self-explanatory – there’s a sound on the horizon and the volume’s gonna grow. And even though we are full of ambition and very grandiose, at the end of the day it’s about having our own voice and our own career. And we wanna do this for the rest of our lives. And at the end of the day, despite that huge, dramatic claim,” he says with a grin, “we’re just four dudes making some noise in a garage and just having fun.” After that, Teenager is scheduled to be their first fully commercially-available single. Nick: “It’s the song that sums up being a chump, dealing with love and hate and very basic human emotions.” The only thing slick about Mona is their hair. The rest is arm-pumping, vein-throbbing, knee-jittering, raw-throated, singalong rock’n’roll. Thank God they’ve come.
event::tags All Ages
10:00 PM
to 11:00 PM
The Vaccines
243 schedule::attendees
Location
Club de Ville
10:15 PM
to 11:15 PM
Smith Westerns
400 schedule::attendees
Location
Stubb's
eventtype Music
Artists Smith Westerns
event::about Smith Westerns are Cullen Omori (vocals, 20yrs), Max Kakacek (Guitar, 20yrs), and Cameron Omori (Bass, 19yrs). Since forming in 2007, Smith Westerns have toured both the United States and Europe while supporting the likes of MGMT, Florence and the Machine, Belle and Sebastian, Girls, and Passion Pit. Their self-recorded 'lo-fi' self-titled debut was released in 2009 and garnered critical acclaim for its youthful and glam rock tinged approach to pop music. In the summer of 2010, Smith Westerns teamed up with Chris Coady (Yeah Yeah Yeahs, TVOTR, Beach House) to record their sophomore effort in a proper studio the results of which became Dye it Blonde. Being released on Fat Possum Jan.18th, Dye it Blonde retains the charm of their debut but without the same financial shackles the result is a beautifully clean high quality recording of lushly layered pop songs.
event::tags All
11:00 PM
to 12:00 AM
Gold Panda
217 schedule::attendees
Location
Mohawk
eventtype Music
Artists Gold Panda
event::about A culmination of years of work spent refining his sui generis sound, Gold Panda’s eagerly awaited debut album is finally here. An artist at ease traversing genre boundaries in search of new auditory frontiers - whether mixing dissected Hip Hop beats or the pulsating flourishes of minimal Techno - this apropos release will cement the foundations laid by previous output and visions whilst expanding his canon to unparalleled limits. As electronic music gradually arcs into a period of unprecedented successes, Lucky Shiner pits GP firmly at the forefront of a new wave of artists unafraid to challenge preconceptions of what music can be. Mixed by Simian Mobile Disco’s sonic veteran James Shaw and recorded in two session spent in the shady retreat of the English countryside - at his Aunt and Uncle’s Essex home - after, as GP explains “they went away over Christmas for two weeks and asked me to look after their dog. I’d walk Daisy in the morning and then make tunes till she pestered me to take her out again, I’d bounce down what I’d done, stick my headphones on and walk her; get ideas and repeat the process.” The end result is an album as influenced by family as it is by the quickly flashing topography that stretches out of train windows. GP’s mesmerising attention to sound and detail means each beat resonates as past, reflects the present and looks forwards to the potential futures of the individual; listener and artist alike. Originally hailing from Chelmsford, Essex, and having spent the early part of his career as remixer du jour for the likes of Bloc Party, Health, Telepathe, Little Boots and Simian Mobile Disco, Gold Panda’s ascent to the forefront of contemporary electronic music has been steadily meteoric. Nominated as one of the BBC’s sound of 2010 nominees, shows around the world with Caribou, Health, SMD and more to come on his own in the UK and the US with Autolux, a cover star in Japan, three sold out E.P’s and a raft of praise and hyperbole from the mouths that matter (Pitchfork, NME, The Guardian amongst them) only tells half the story however. Lucky Shiner's the piece that completes the picture. Originating in crystal clear vision, the nuance and frenetic cadence of life and the mind’s constant disequilibrium means its final realisation stands as a product that’ll provoke thought as much as enjoyment; pathos as much as praise. “Lots of factors affected the way it came together.“ Gold Panda explains, “touring, mixing, moving house and splitting with a girlfriend. Family, friends and lovers related, places I‘ve never been”. Decamping to an idyllic retreat also means the album bears trademarks of a pastorally hued Englishness, whist’s also coloured by GP’s two years spent studying Japanese culture, language and history at the School of Oriental and Asian studies in Japan. ‘You’, ‘Parents’ (featuring a field recording of GP helping his grandma push a wheelbarrow in the garden ), ‘Marriage’. Lucky Shiner overflows with life. Disengaging with the need for vocal, GP intimates, makes intimate idea’s immeasurably expressive and does so whilst always retaining an unfettered ear for melody. “I didn’t want to write ‘beats’” he says about the album, “I didn’t want bangers. I wanted songs with structure.” With, as he say’s, “two tracks made from a broken Yamaha organ bought for 99p off Ebay. A lot of the drum sounds just vinyl crackle turned really loud”, and one featuring almost solely guitar, “I don’t play guitar”, the album’s a concrete introduction to an artist willing to slip mercury like through constraints of genre, form and concept. And the title’s origins? “Lucky Shiner is my grandmothers name. Sometimes I think she knows exactly how I feel without me even mentioning anything to her.” Deeply personal then, Gold Panda‘s at odds to express that unequivocally on the album. Instead, he say‘s it “would be nice if people could hear the tracks and attach their own significance to them”. Over forty tracks eventually extricated into eleven, cohesion found through the unified fragments that “went together. I wanted a beginning, middle and end” - feelings eventually became sounds, visions graduated into awareness. Do what the artist wants and attach your own significance, if meaning is in nature indeterminate, personal experience can do ought but help.
event::tags 21+
11:50 PM
to 12:50 AM
The Black Lips
388 schedule::attendees
Location
Emo's Main Room
eventtype Music
Artists The Black Lips
event::about 200 Million Thousand What do you do when your sixteen and in deep shit? You're looking out at the world from the strip-mall and the detention hall, from the basement and the cul-de-sac and it just looks like there is a wall around you. Everybody tells you and your friends that you're going nowhere, that your lives are already ruined. What the fuck do you do? You hang around and smash stuff and get high and try to be a bad-ass, that's what you do. You steal and drink and smash up the car your mom gave you and pull your pee-pee out in public. You work at sandwich shops and fast-food joints and try to screw private school girls because they think your tough and the girls at your school think your gay because you pretended to give your friend a blowjob at the junior prom. You fuck it all up as ugly and as dirty as you can because, why the fuck not? Your parents and teachers and sandwich-shop supervisors look at you and think, "What happened to the kid? He has all the advantages in the world and he has chucked it all in the shitter. Doesn't he believe in the inherent goodness of our enlightened society? Doesn't he believe in any thing at all?" It is this question, the question of belief, nay, the question of faith, that is the crux of the matter. It is this question that was asked of the Black Lips. And the Black Lips have answered it. They have answered it in their songs and in their actions. They have answered it for every shit-assed, burned-out brat that staggers out of the suburbs. They have answered it resoundingly and continue to answer it. "Where is their answer?" you may ask. Do those psychedelic swamp guitar drones bear witness to a faith of some kind? Does the quasi-violent sexual comedy of their stage show underscore a deeply held belief system? Does their commingling of Deep South, big-tent revival rhetoric with hoary-throated, drug-haze mumble truly mean anything, to them or to anyone else? You bet your ass it means something to them. How would they have persevered through all the drudgery and threats of doom if it didn't mean a goddamn thing to them? Their adversaries have been formidable and numerous, and they have bested them all. Why, even in their earliest days, death itself reared its ugly head to attempt to halt their progress, and was dismissed directly. How, without faith, could the Black Lips have carried their message forth into the four corners of the earth? And so, on the eve of the release of their fifth album, the faith abides stronger than ever. A host of influences have passed through their gullet and provided the sustenance to keep their faith alive. The dusts of a southern back road and the big-city gutter puke crackle in the grooves of this record as it did in the previous ones. The shouts and moans and static continue to bear witness. "But faith in what?" the fathers, mayors and captains of industry might continue to ask. Well, if you've never been one of those shit-assed brats looking out into a world you were already excluded from, a world that sickened you, but for which there was no alternative, then you may not understand. But, through the eyes of one whom, like them, was a go-nowhere from the get-go, the Black Lips represent the faith that it takes to reject that world of sterile, futile, servile, silliness and forge your own world based on bravery and bad-ass-ness. They have carried to fruition the plan that has been hatched, and will continue to be hatched in the minds of dizzy, dumb and desperate youth the world over. Now they carry their message of faith to the world. FEAR NOT! BE BRAVE AND TAKE HEART! THE WORLD IS YOURS IF YOU ACCEPT THE POWER OF FAITH!!! (As I record these words a purple and orange fog engulfs the bay below me. The gin gimlets glide down my throat and I ponder the freedom that I, myself, have wrenched from the 'enlightened society' that once oppressed me. It is good and right that we should live free. I know this, the Black Lips know this, and the gulls in the bay below know this. Take this knowledge and go in faith.) Baby Gusty Accra, Ghana December, 2008
event::tags All Ages
12:00 AM
to 1:00 AM
Cults
230 schedule::attendees
Location
The Windish Agency House @ ND
eventtype Music
Artists Cults
event::about It’s often said that the most subversive pop music – from the Shangri Las to Rihanna – is that which wraps sinister tales within a sugar-coated shell. If so, then it’s hard to imagine a band pushing that manifesto further than Cults. On the surface they could be sickly sweet – a smitten couple called Brian Oblivion and Madeline Follin who spin gorgeous melodies across their girl group-inspired bedroom pop. But dig deeper and a whole new world opens up, one that contains songs about anxiety, drug abuse and the pain of moving from adolescence into adulthood. Oh, and those inspirational, moving speeches that appear, ghost-like, behind the music? They’re from a selection of notorious cult leaders
event::tags 21+
12:00 AM
to 1:00 AM
Grouplove
101 schedule::attendees
Location
Latitude 30
12:00 AM
to 1:00 AM
Sharon Van Etten
216 schedule::attendees
Location
Swan Dive
eventtype Music
Artists Sharon Van Etten
event::about Sharon Van Etten came to Brooklyn via Jersey via Tennessee via Jersey. Along the way, she sang in choirs, rejected her school’s music program, worked at an all-ages venue, trained as a sommelier, and got a full time job at a record label. She also had some bad experiences in relationships. OK, more than some. epic, Van Etten’s second album, lays a romantic melancholy lining over the gravel and dirt of heartbreak, without one honest thought or feeling spared. She sings of betrayal, obsession, egotism and all the other emotions we hate in others and recognize in ourselves. Yet, Van Etten’s grounded and clenched vocals convey the sense of hope – the notion that beauty can come out of the worst of circumstances. epic is indeed that beauty. The album was recorded at Miner Street Studios in Philadelphia with Brian McTear. Where Van Etten’s first record, Because I Was In Love, explored her thoughts on love through minimalism and sparseness, epic embellishes her music to grandiose luminosity. Guitar and singing are joined by drums, piano, lap steel, and a trio of backing vocalists: Meg Baird (Espers), Cat Martino and Jessica Larrabee (She Keeps Bees). The result is a fully realized album that astounds as it elucidates, disturbs as it soothes. The final track, “Love More,” has already been covered live in a collaborative effort between Sharon fans Bon Iver and The National. A few things need to be made clear about SVE’s music. She’s not the type of “female singer/songwriter” who champions women-centric perspectives and denies personal accountability. Nor is she a strident provocateur. Rather, Van Etten is a performer who fully embraces her femininity while confidently expressing it through intelligent and mature perspectives on relationships. Those turned off by the provincialism of other performers will be pleased that you can identify with Van Etten’s incisive and universal observations about love and loss. Since her last album, Sharon Van Etten has sung on The Antlers’ Hospice and performed with them at Radio City Music Hall, sung improv on the Mike Reed Trio’s upcoming album, recorded backup vocals for Swedish popstar Anna Ternheim, appeared on the compilation with the recent issue of Esopus, collaborated with Megafaun (check YouTube!), will be on a soundtrack for the film The Builder along with Bon Iver and Phosphorescent, and has a seven-inch coming out this summer on Polyvinyl. After years of playing repeatedly around the New York scene, Van Etten is preparing for a series of tours that will take her through Europe and the United States. A full band will be realizing epic live.
event::tags 21+
12:00 AM
to 1:00 AM
Young the Giant
170 schedule::attendees
Location
Billboard Bungalow @ Buffalo Billiards
eventtype Music
Artists Young the Giant
event::about Comprised of Sameer Gadhia (vocals), Jacob Tilley (guitar), Eric Cannata (guitar/vocals), Payam Doostzadeh (bass) and Francois Comtois (drums/vocals), Young the Giant’s unique brand of sun-soaked rock has received praise from fans and critics alike, including The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Billboard, and Nylon Mag. The band’s diverse ethnic backgrounds –Indian, Persian, British, and French-Canadian—translate into an incredibly dynamic sound that offers jazz rhythms, surf pop harmonies, Mediterranean and Caribbean influences, flashes of jolting alt rock and so much more. The band's self-titled debut album, produced by Joe Chiccarelli (White Stripes, My Morning Jacket) was released on January 25th. The band, originally from Newport Beach, CA, has recently hit the road with bands like Minus the Bear, Neon Trees, Marina and the Diamonds, and The Futureheads.
event::tags 21+
12:50 AM
to 1:50 AM
Okkervil River
487 schedule::attendees
Location
Red 7 Patio
eventtype Music
Artists Okkervil River
event::about "The goal was to push my brain to places it didn't want to go. The idea was to not have any idea – to keep myself confused about what I was doing," frontman Will Sheff says about Okkervil River's newest album. "I produced it myself so that I could extend the songwriting process all the way through to the very last second of recording, so the songs would never really stop changing." The resulting record, 'I am Very Far,' is a startling break from anything this band has done before. By turns terrifying and joyous, violent and serene, grotesque and romantic, it's a celebration of forces beyond our control. When Okkervil River released their breakthrough 'Black Sheep Boy' in 2005, Uncut wrote that "Sheff's novelistic lyrics and the dexterous blend of country, folk and nervy indie-rock suggest a band approaching the peak of their powers." A New York Times piece on their 2007 follow-up 'The Stage Names' (and its companion album 'The Stand Ins') echoed, "Sheff writes like a novelist," and Pitchfork called him, "One of the best lyric-writers in indie rock." But on 'I am Very Far,' Sheff emerges not only as a songwriter of the highest caliber, but a producer and arranger of singular vision. Abandoning the tidy conceptual arcs of Okkervil River's previous albums, 'I am Very Far' is a monolithic, darkly ambiguous work, one that doesn't readily offer up its secrets. Work on 'I am Very Far' started in early 2009, after a year spent on the music of others. Sheff contributed vocals to The New Pornographer's album 'Together,' wrote a song for Norah Jones' 'The Fall,' produced an upcoming album for Brooklyn-based Bird of Youth, and helmed the Roky Erickson record 'True Love Cast Out All Evil,' for which his album notes received a GRAMMY nomination. "I'd never worked with Roky before and never produced someone else's record before. It was a life-changing experience," Sheff recalls, "When it was over I felt both completely drained and completely inspired." Immediately upon wrapping up work and leaving Erickson's company, Sheff drove to his home state of New Hampshire for lengthy isolated writing sessions. "I wanted to go back home and re-start writing again, like I'd never written a song previously," he says, "and I wanted the music and lyrics to be both completely wedded together and a little bit beyond my control. I kept trying to write from the state of mind of someone who had just been born, that feeling of being very young and being aware of not existing before a certain moment, which is a feeling I remember having as a kid." Sheff emerged from the writing process with 30 or so songs, which he narrowed down to 18. In contrast to Okkervil River's usual practice of holing up in one studio for months on end, he opted for a series of short, high-intensity sessions, each in a different location, each employing completely different methods than the one before it. For songs like "Rider" and "Wake and Be Fine," Sheff gathered together a massive version of Okkervil River – two drummers, two pianists, two bassists, and seven guitarists, all playing live in one room – and led them on a week of live-in-the-studio marathon session, performing a single song obsessively over and over for as many as 12 hours to capture just the right take. Songs like "Show Yourself" and "Hanging from a Hit" were worked out in improvisational sessions with the core band, minimally recorded to 8-track tape, and then re-structured and re-written in the editing process. For the strange science-fiction parable "White Shadow Waltz," Sheff self-recorded the entire song and then had Okkervil River re-record every instrumental track on top of that. After basic-tracking was done, Sheff overdubbed the songs with the band's largest instrumental palette to date – not only choral elements and orchestral colors like strings, tympani, tuba and bassoon, but also file cabinets thrown across the room, unreeled rolls of duct tape, and, on "Piratess," a solo created out of a fast-forwarding and rewinding boombox. Finishing the record from home, Sheff constantly edited and reworked the album, reinventing the song structures, re-recording vocals, re-writing until the very last minute, reshaping even the tiniest of details, ultimately creating an album that plays not only as a lush, seamless epic, but also as the most deeply personal effort of his career. What can listeners expect? Richer and weirder than 'The Stage Names' and deeper and moodier than even 'Black Sheep Boy,' 'I am Very Far' is dense, fragmented, opaque. A reverie of uncertainty, it feels at once disorienting and oddly familiar, threatening and friendly. Okkervil River have thrown away all maps and compasses but they continue to chart their way, unblinking, toward destinations unknown.
event::tags All Ages
1:00 AM
to 2:00 AM
Big K.R.I.T.
99 schedule::attendees
Location
Mohawk Patio
eventtype Music
Artists Big K.R.I.T.
event::about Imagine Kanye West being born and raised in Meridian, Mississippi. Now imagine him being produced by Organized Noize. That imagery would create music almost identical to the Crooked Letter state’s next hip-hop heavyweight, Big K.R.IT (King remembered in time). The 24-year-old rapper slash producer defied the odds of both his personal life and hip-hop’s current landscape to be the most in-demand and respected rookie on the Cinematic Music Group/Def Jam Records roster. Rapping since twelve-years-old and producing from age 14, KRIT personifies the term Student of the Game. Being a product of one of the smallest cities below the Mason Dixon line the young MC didn’t have the financial means required to purchase tracks and studio time. So K.R.I.T took a much more economical approach and began mastering the MTV Music Generator on his Playstation. Wanting to elevate his sonic craft he then studied local friends who were a bit more advanced in certain areas of production, or sit for hours and watch an engineer homie mix a song. On the lyrical side, Big K.R.I.T kept an ear bent to the cadence and profound pronunciation of great orators like the Notorious B.I.G, Tupac and Pimp C. The Mississippi eagle also bathed in the classic compositions of legendary teams like OutKast and 8ball and MJG. “These guys influenced me because they rapped about what they knew about and they kept it 100,” says K.R.I.T. “Even like an Organized Noize––they stayed true to what they did and branded a sound. So they influenced me to stay true to myself and rap about what I know about.” Instead of making the mistake many a young artist in search of an identity commit––becoming a Xerox copy of their influences–– K.R.I.T developed his own sound. That he was raised on his parents’ soul music (Bobby Womack, Willie Hutch) explains why his production comes rich with rolling percussion, smooth yet potent baselines and keys that are sugar cane sweet. It’s homemade molasses in stereo. With a perfect self-produced score as the backdrop, K.R.I.T uses a fluid and personable flow to captivatingly give his own Merridian, Mississippi narrative, complete with entertaining quips, steely confidence and food for thought. During a time when southern MCs succeed by hanging their hat on their drug dealing history or street lord affiliation, whether authentic or fictitious, K.R.I.T.’s true-to-self approach is a courageous one. “People wanna hear relatable music––something not so far from their every day,” he says, before adding. “A lot of times people get caught up in making a hit and it isn’t timeless because it doesn’t serve a purpose. If I have a voice and the opportunity to speak to millions of people I at least have to say something important.” The Big K.R.I.T. formula was not only pure it was undeniable. His underground ascendance began in 2005 when an Atlanta DJ placed his song “We Gon’ Hate” on their mixtape without request. Feeling validated K.R.I.T decided to put 100% into upgrading his music dreams to reality. The next year he would drop out of Meridian Community College and move to Atlanta. In the peach state, K.R.I.T. would get a crash course in industry biz. Whether it was selling discounted beats to local artists, engineering their sessions and/or mixing their songs–––being that he was talented at more than just beat making––K.R.I.T did it to make ends meet. After a few years of releasing underground music K.R.I.T.’s music started to catch peoples attention, allowing him to entertain the countless music execs and managers who expressed interest in him throughout his years in Atlanta’s underground. One of those interested was Jon “Shipes” Shapiro, head of Cinematic Music Group (Sean Kingston, Nipsey Hussle). The two agreed on a deal in January 2010 and set forth to turn B.K into the next hip-hop superstar. According to Shipes K.R.I.T.’s palpability makes his market potential a no-brainer: “In real life he’s just a kid from a small town whose music is phenomenal.” K.R.I.T. then went to work on his Cinematic Music Group debut, the street album K.R.I.T. Wuz Here. The underground opus that birthed gems like the trunk rattler “Country Shit,” poignant “Children of The World” and irresistible Devin The Dude assisted “Moon & Stars” snatched the attention of many hip-hop heads; none more important than former 50 Cent manager and G-Unit Records President Sha Money XL. Upon receiving an early preview of K.R.I.T. Wuz Here, Sha was “blown away.” So once the veteran exec landed a position at Def Jam as Senior VP of A&R last April he made sure his first signee was K.R.I.T. Though at the time the Mississippi gem’s John Hancock was also being sought aggressively by other labels, K.R.I.T. chose the exec with the most enthusiasm for his music. “Sha just kept saying ‘I love this! I believe in it,’” tells K.R.I.T. “He was just so adamant about it.” Now, the rap game has received a breath of country fresh air: an artist that insists on remaining an individual and feeding his growing audience with feel-good rhythms and “rhymes with morals.” Big K.R.I.T. is in fact The Truth. Within a month of acquiring his deal he was not only critically acclaimed and courted for interviews by media giants like XXL, The Source, Rapradar.com and MTV.com, he gained fans in his own peer group––from buzzing newbies (Wiz Khalifa, Currensy and Smoke Dza) to living legends (Ludacris, Bun B). Today whether its hip-hop lovers in the skyscraping offices of Def Jam or those in the small town of Meridian, MS, they’re all feeling the synergy being churned by the birth of rap’s next royalty. So until Mr. King Remembered In Time releases his 2011 Def Jam debut all hip-hop can do is witness a reign on the rise.
event::tags All Ages
1:00 AM
to 2:00 AM
12:00 PM
to 6:00 PM
JanSport Presents the Under the Radar SXSW Party 2011
392 schedule::attendees
Location
Flamingo Cantina
eventtype Unofficial Party
Speaker/Artist(s) Info
5:00 PM: Atlas Sound (deerhuntertheband.blogspot.com)
4:05 PM: The Dears (www.thedears.org)
3:15 PM: Lord Huron (www.lordhuron.com)
2:25 PM: Anna Calvi (www.annacalvi.com)
1:35 PM: Yuck (yuckband.blogspot.com)
12:45 PM: The Dodos (www.dodosmusic.net)
12:00 PM: Violens (www.violens.net)
1:35 PM
to 2:20 PM
Yuck
380 schedule::attendees
Location
Flamingo Cantina
eventtype Unofficial Music
Speaker/Artist(s) Info
Yuck
2:20 PM
to 3:20 PM
The Head and the Heart
177 schedule::attendees
Location
Radio Day Stage Austin Convention Center
3:00 PM
to 4:00 PM
Village Voice Media Showdown
165 schedule::attendees
Location
Austin Music Hall
event::about Village Voice Media & Frank 151 present The Showdown Pre-party at SXSW 2011. Join us on Thursday, March 17th at the Austin Music Hall from 5p-8:30p followed by the SXSW Official Showcase. Performances by Wild Flag, Ume and more. Free pre-party. Come before 8p and stay for free all night long. All Ages. Get all the details at SXSW.VillageVoiceMedia.com.
7:00 PM
to 8:00 PM
Twin Shadow
203 schedule::attendees
Location
Auditorium Shores Stage (Lady Bird Lake)
8:15 PM
to 9:15 PM
Fences
125 schedule::attendees
Location
St David's Historic Sanctuary
eventtype Music
Artists Fences
event::about FENCES www.sadcastle.com Christopher Mansfield is Fences. Don't let the brevity of that sentence deceive you; it contains universes. Fences is not merely the recording alias of the Seattle songwriter. It is the distillation of Mansfield's entire aesthetic. "I've tried to take everything in the world that I love, and turn it into this thing that's Fences," says the straightforward 27-year-old. Fences starts with Mansfield's life experience to date, and ends… well, when he says so. Hopefully not for a long time. Because right now, Fences is just coming into its own, with the release of a stunning debut album, entitled, naturally, Fences. The ten-song set was co-produced by Sara Quin of Tegan & Sara, who Mansfield credits not only with helping him sculpt the most fully realized expression of his music to date, but also giving him impetus to forge ahead before they'd ever collaborated artistically. "I was just working as a breakfast cook, spending my money at the bar, and playing songs with my friends in my kitchen. It was no big deal. And then when she contacted me, I remember thinking, Whoa! My life might be a little different from now on." Not to exaggerate the impact of her interest—this isn't The Blind Side, folks—but encouragement from an established recording artist went a long way towards making Mansfield take his music more seriously. "Everything that Chris writes, melodically and lyrically, has that rare balance of patience and urgency that I love in honest, haunting pop songs," says Quin. And she did her homework before arriving at that laudatory conclusion. Prior to recording Fences, Quin requested that Mansfield send her everything he'd written to date. From those forty selections, they winnowed the choices down. "Both of us wanted to capture the most potent Fences, the thing that sums it up as a whole, song-wise—especially since this was a debut." Fences is the culmination of Mansfield's songwriting to date, stretching back to the project's inception in the Boston area circa 2004, and continuing right up to songs written shortly before recording. "Hands," carried by hypnotic finger picking and a gauzy vocal performance, is among the oldest selections in Mansfield's catalog, while "From Russia With…" and "Sadie"—a standout that stakes out the treacherous terrain between emo and Americana with quiet confidence—are newly minted. Longtime fans will find polished renditions of concert favorites "The Same Tattoos" and the musical dialogue "My Girl The Horse," the latter's haunting refrain "neither one of us will make it down this hill alive" lingering long after the fade. Mansfield jokes that he traffics in "wussy pop music," and his full-band live performances are more upbeat than novices might anticipate, but as Fences attests, beneath his sing-along hooks and charismatic performances are songs with a steel core. Fences summarizes Mansfield's music in succinct, compelling fashion—no simple feat, considering that his sound doesn't fit neatly in any single box. He speaks with audible affection of '80s innovators like the Cure, Kate Bush, and Morrissey, icons who created a consummate, all-encompassing aesthetic, just as he aspires to do with Fences. A close listen to the rhythm tracks on several cuts also underscores Mansfield's love of down-tempo classic country. An anthology of Johnny Cash's Sun Records sides was one of his constant soundtracks while working as a dishwasher. "The tempo of that material just has a unrelenting drive," he reflects. "It carries the lyrics from start to finish before you even realize what has been said." Further enriching his sound, Mansfield also has a powerful affinity for jazz, citing John Coltrane, Miles Davis, and Wayne Shorter among his favorites. "Sometimes that music is just so chaotic, which is what growing up feels like," he observes. "I always wondered why more confused teenagers didn't listen to jazz. The girl you're in love with doesn't love you back? Go home and put on Charlie Parker playing 'Embraceable You.'" Later he studied at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. Sometimes Mansfield's jazz background is reflected in something as simple as augmenting a minor chord with a major seventh, but Berklee also sold him on the value of commitment and discipline. Hence Mansfield's laser-like focus on achieving his goals. "I appreciate the workmanship, the dedication required to get the art to where it should be." Like the aforementioned Morrissey, Mansfield's involvement in Fences extends well beyond the music, to the accompanying record sleeves, promotional photos, and videos. The cover of his self-released 2008 Ultimate Puke EP may have seemed better suited to a sludge or speed metal band, with it's well-executed cartoon of a grizzly bear regurgitating a half-digested Fences logo, but Mansfield commissioned that imagery for specific reasons: "That EP was a mix of all these demos and shit on my computer," literally purged from his hard drive. Plus he wanted a sleeve that eschewed the obvious visual vocabulary a comparable artist might've chosen. "You wouldn't expect that kind of art to accompany this sort of music, you'd expect maybe a cute little bird on the cover." On the other hand, for the more thoughtful Fences, he chose a personal talisman, a found photograph (of a young girl covered in Christmas tinsel) he'd long used as a bookmark. "I wanted this album to look slightly mature and beautiful, but you still can't categorize exactly what that might be. If you just saw that art, you wouldn't really know what the music sounds like." But you would definitely be intrigued, and your curiosity would be rewarded. Or watch the video for "Girls With Accents." Despite a lyric that has been misconstrued out of context, Mansfield navigates a confusing landscape—labyrinthine houseplants, kitchen chairs stacked to the rafters, and the layered look taken to ridiculous extremes—while feeding his dog, putting away the dishes. In the clip's maelstrom of seeming insanity, he stays centered… just as his music feels rooted on terra firma no matter how unpleasant or odd the circumstances that inspired it, or how noisy the buzz surrounding it continues to grow. Chris Mansfield is Fences. And Fences is just the first taste of great things to come.
event::tags All Ages
8:40 PM
to 9:40 PM
The Chain Gang of 1974
111 schedule::attendees
Location
Maggie Mae's Rooftop
eventtype Music
Artists The Chain Gang of 1974
event::about “My brothers and I were surrounded by music growing up,” explains Kamtin Mohager, the shape-shifting singer/multi-instrumentalist behind the Chain Gang of 1974. “Not Beatles albums or anything like that; more like the Persian records our parents played all the time. And when we got older, it was up to us to discover everything.” Born in San Jose and raised in Hawaii, Mohager spent his first 13 years obsessing over inline hockey and the idea of being drafted by the NHL one day. A series of life-changing events were set in motion once Mohager’s family moved to Colorado, however. The first of which involved the final scene from Real Genius—quite possibly Val Kilmer’s finest hour—and its penultimate ‘popcorn song’, a.k.a. “Everybody Rules the World.” “I love ‘80s music, but not typical new-wave stuff,” says Mohager. “Like I’m way into Tears For Fears and Talk Talk, the other side of the spectrum, really.” That’s abundantly clear on White Guts, a record that’s nearly as restless as Chain Gang’s previous collection of early recordings, Fantastic Nostalgic. The way Mohager sees it, his first proper release was “all over the place, from a piano ballad to songs that sound like Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Primal Scream or Justice.” White Guts, on the other hand, funnels three years of instrument-swapping, sample-splicing experience into a lean, focused listen. So while “Stop!” and the rather epic “Hold On” hint at everything from LCD Soundsystem to Talking Heads, they make perfect sense in the context of deep cuts like the synth-flecked “Don’t Walk Away” and bass-guided “Matter of Time,” shimmering power ballads that could have been on the soundtrack of Sixteen Candles or Pretty in Pink. What sets the Chain Gang of 1974 apart from other Reagan-era revivalists is Mohager’s innate sense of rhythm, a skill he acquired at an early age. And we’re not just talking about his parents’ punchy, groove-riding record collection. We’re talking about family gatherings and traditions that taught Mohager how to make a crowd of cool kids uncross their arms and dance like there’s pistols pointed at their feet. “Everyone lets loose at our shows,” says Mohager. “It’s a party, man. If only I had a dollar for every time someone bum-rushed the stage or grabbed one of our instruments.” Things are bound to get worse, too, as his live band—a quartet that’s a far cry from Mohager’s original iPod/bass setup—spends the next six months spreading the Chain Gang gospel far beyond its Rocky Mountain beginnings. Or as the man behind every last beat puts it, “I’m letting the music just be, and if something’s meant to happen, it’s meant to happen.”
event::tags 21+
9:00 PM
to 10:00 PM
Cults
217 schedule::attendees
Location
Central Presbyterian Church
eventtype Music
Artists Cults
event::about It’s often said that the most subversive pop music – from the Shangri Las to Rihanna – is that which wraps sinister tales within a sugar-coated shell. If so, then it’s hard to imagine a band pushing that manifesto further than Cults. On the surface they could be sickly sweet – a smitten couple called Brian Oblivion and Madeline Follin who spin gorgeous melodies across their girl group-inspired bedroom pop. But dig deeper and a whole new world opens up, one that contains songs about anxiety, drug abuse and the pain of moving from adolescence into adulthood. Oh, and those inspirational, moving speeches that appear, ghost-like, behind the music? They’re from a selection of notorious cult leaders
event::tags All Ages
9:15 PM
to 10:15 PM
Jessica Lea Mayfield
174 schedule::attendees
Location
St David's Historic Sanctuary
eventtype Music
Artists Jessica Lea Mayfield
event::about The 21-year old from Kent, Ohio first performed with her family band One Way Rider at the age of 8. At age 15, she recorded her first album White Lies in her brother's bedroom, printing only 100 copies. One of those copies fell into the hands of Dan Auerbach (The Black Keys). After an introduction, Mayfield and Auerbach hit the studio, laying the foundation for her debut album "With Blasphemy So Heartfelt." Says Auerbach of the recording experience, 'I think she's dark and moody in a mysterious way.' He adds, 'I'm just always really excited to make music with her.' "Tell Me," Jessica's 2011 Nonesuch Records debut, is a stunningly forthright 11-song set that addresses late-night longing, serial heartbreak, and intoxicatingly dangerous liaisons conducted in dimly lit barrooms or roadside motels. By the end, the only heart intact is Mayfield's own. It's as if she'd stripped the sentimentality and ruefulness from a bunch of classic country songs, leaving only stark emotion. Auerbach also produced and engineered "Tell Me" at his Easy Eye Sound System studio in Akron, Ohio, matching Mayfield's candor with eerily minimal, brilliantly constructed tracks that keep her mesmerizing, unadorned voice front and center. The New York Times hailed the album a Critics' Pick, while the Associated Press calls "Tell Me" 'the portrait of a precocious girl growing into self-assured womanhood and a producer reaching the peak of his powers. It is a dark and moody album, full of delights throughout, and if it doesn't make Mayfield a star, that too will be heartbreaking.'
event::tags All Ages
9:50 PM
to 10:50 PM
G-Side
44 schedule::attendees
Location
Beauty Bar
eventtype Music
Artists G-Side
event::about The story of G-Side is one that begins in the small town of Athens, Alabama. A town that sits outside the city limits of mid-size Huntsville, located in the northern foothills of Alabama. It is a story that is relevant to the growth, research, and development of the Huntsville area on all fronts. As a group Clova and ST 2 Lettaz have been rapping together, inspired by a place they call the Gutter side of living, circa 1999. Growing up in an area far from the hills of success, G-Side has had to fight for every ounce of living they have been blessed with. In 2004, G-Side teamed up with the Huntsville music stable, Slow Motion Soundz to embark on a career that has taken off like the rockets and the industry for which Huntsville is best known. In 2007 G-Side was thrust to the forefront of the Slow Motion roster to release the well received “Sumthin 2 Hate”. Backed by the production of the Block Beattaz, G-Side was on their way to carving a path for themselves and those that believed. It wasn’t until the 2008 that G-Side was seen on a national level. This in part came from a feature on the Diplo helmed “Fear and Loathing in Huntsvegas” and the critically acclaimed “Starhshipz and Rocketz” that G-Side was introduced to a world that didn’t exist in their minds or their vision of the way and its power. Media outlets such as FADER, Coke Machine Glow, Hip Hop Connection Magazine (UK), and East Village Radio (NYC) took notice to the work the duo was preparing at that time. During the development of Starshipz, G-Side along with in-house production team Block Beattaz took more than a single song approach, and brought somewhat of cohesive project format to the table. This was a project that spoke of the ills of a community that helped spur man’s trip to the moon and a community to many Fortune 500 companies. This spoke to the lives on the other side of the fence, lives not granted to be a part of the new frontier. G-Side used the city’s moniker, but also touched on issues of gentrification and economic despair of those not part of the space circle. Starshipz and Rocketz opened doors in larger cities and music scenes intrigued by the music plus the fuel behind it. Markets such as New York, D.C., and Baltimore welcomed the southerners in with open arms, and in certain circles the bonds became one to assist in future endeavors. The listeners didn’t stop in the United States. G-Side gained fans in London, Switzerland, and Norway. All of this at time was very much to the group’s disbelief. Going into the latest project, Huntsville International, all that had come before was key to the next phases. It was also important for G-Side to know the past was leading them on their journey. Another piece that drove the artist to make their brand of music which in some circles is being called groundbreaking was the aspirations to make the Huntsville story relevant at home and abroad. From the success of Huntsville International, a free downloadable album online, G-Side has landed a small tour in Europe, only three short years after the release of their debut album. G-Side looks at these opportunities not only as way to economically survive, but incorporate them as way to tell the story of who they are, plus educate the world about their piece of real-estate in which they live. Music over the years has been portrayed as the cure for all status and cultural insecurities, but it seems to be forming a new objective as the world and the state of it changes. G-Side, along with the Block Beattaz, teamed with the guidance of Slow Motion Soundz has made music an outlet for their version of growth, research, and development
event::tags 21+
10:00 PM
to 11:00 PM
OFF!
138 schedule::attendees
Location
Club de Ville
eventtype Music
Artists OFF!
event::about The individual roots established by Keith Morris (Black Flag/Circle Jerks), Dimitri Coats (Burning Brides), Steven McDonald (Redd Kross), and Mario Rubalcaba (Earthless/Hot Snakes/Rocket From the Crypt) are uniquely woven throughout the rock music canon. Each has challenged society's cyclical and complacent ideals in their own respective bands, and three decades on they've never strayed from their intentions. Now they come together as a four-piece called OFF! and they're as confrontational as ever, lunging inside the aesthetic of West Coast hardcore to push life's most provocative issues to the forefront. The pinch-hitting First Four EPs box set marks their explosive approach for a total of 16 songs in just under 18 minutes.
event::tags 21+
10:15 PM
to 11:15 PM
Prince Rama
78 schedule::attendees
Location
512 Rooftop
eventtype Music
Artists Prince Rama
event::about Spawned from the vernal heat of the Florida swamps amidst swirling patterns of pine orchards and pre-Columbian artifacts, Prince Rama was whispered into the ears of Taraka Larson, Nimai Larson, and Michael Collins in the summer of 2007 by the clanging of prayer bells and goat-skin drums. They left the Hare Krishna farm where they were staying to go to art school and form a creative nucleus in Boston. There, their engaging and often unpredictable ritualistic live shows attracted a rapid cult following, replete with collective chants, werewolf summonings, Sanskrit invocations, and the distribution of various handmade percussion to members of the audience. In spring 2009 the group departed from Boston and went on a series of extensive tours across the US and Europe, culminating in a tragic car robbery in which all their equipment got stolen. Thanks to an overwhelming outpouring from friends, family, and fans, the group was catapulted to rebuild and reinvent themselves from the ground up to make a unique new sound surcharged with a renewed sense of awe, gratitude, and urgency. The trio moved to Brooklyn, and with their new instruments wrote and recorded Shadow Temple, produced with the help of Rusty Santos and Dave (Avey Tare) and Josh (Deakin) of Animal Collective for release on Paw Tracks in September 2010.
event::tags 21+
11:00 PM
to 12:00 AM
The Black Lips
324 schedule::attendees
Location
Club de Ville
eventtype Music
Artists The Black Lips
event::about 200 Million Thousand What do you do when your sixteen and in deep shit? You're looking out at the world from the strip-mall and the detention hall, from the basement and the cul-de-sac and it just looks like there is a wall around you. Everybody tells you and your friends that you're going nowhere, that your lives are already ruined. What the fuck do you do? You hang around and smash stuff and get high and try to be a bad-ass, that's what you do. You steal and drink and smash up the car your mom gave you and pull your pee-pee out in public. You work at sandwich shops and fast-food joints and try to screw private school girls because they think your tough and the girls at your school think your gay because you pretended to give your friend a blowjob at the junior prom. You fuck it all up as ugly and as dirty as you can because, why the fuck not? Your parents and teachers and sandwich-shop supervisors look at you and think, "What happened to the kid? He has all the advantages in the world and he has chucked it all in the shitter. Doesn't he believe in the inherent goodness of our enlightened society? Doesn't he believe in any thing at all?" It is this question, the question of belief, nay, the question of faith, that is the crux of the matter. It is this question that was asked of the Black Lips. And the Black Lips have answered it. They have answered it in their songs and in their actions. They have answered it for every shit-assed, burned-out brat that staggers out of the suburbs. They have answered it resoundingly and continue to answer it. "Where is their answer?" you may ask. Do those psychedelic swamp guitar drones bear witness to a faith of some kind? Does the quasi-violent sexual comedy of their stage show underscore a deeply held belief system? Does their commingling of Deep South, big-tent revival rhetoric with hoary-throated, drug-haze mumble truly mean anything, to them or to anyone else? You bet your ass it means something to them. How would they have persevered through all the drudgery and threats of doom if it didn't mean a goddamn thing to them? Their adversaries have been formidable and numerous, and they have bested them all. Why, even in their earliest days, death itself reared its ugly head to attempt to halt their progress, and was dismissed directly. How, without faith, could the Black Lips have carried their message forth into the four corners of the earth? And so, on the eve of the release of their fifth album, the faith abides stronger than ever. A host of influences have passed through their gullet and provided the sustenance to keep their faith alive. The dusts of a southern back road and the big-city gutter puke crackle in the grooves of this record as it did in the previous ones. The shouts and moans and static continue to bear witness. "But faith in what?" the fathers, mayors and captains of industry might continue to ask. Well, if you've never been one of those shit-assed brats looking out into a world you were already excluded from, a world that sickened you, but for which there was no alternative, then you may not understand. But, through the eyes of one whom, like them, was a go-nowhere from the get-go, the Black Lips represent the faith that it takes to reject that world of sterile, futile, servile, silliness and forge your own world based on bravery and bad-ass-ness. They have carried to fruition the plan that has been hatched, and will continue to be hatched in the minds of dizzy, dumb and desperate youth the world over. Now they carry their message of faith to the world. FEAR NOT! BE BRAVE AND TAKE HEART! THE WORLD IS YOURS IF YOU ACCEPT THE POWER OF FAITH!!! (As I record these words a purple and orange fog engulfs the bay below me. The gin gimlets glide down my throat and I ponder the freedom that I, myself, have wrenched from the 'enlightened society' that once oppressed me. It is good and right that we should live free. I know this, the Black Lips know this, and the gulls in the bay below know this. Take this knowledge and go in faith.) Baby Gusty Accra, Ghana December, 2008
event::tags 21+
11:00 PM
to 12:00 AM
The Kills
514 schedule::attendees
Location
Emo's Main Room
11:20 PM
to 12:20 AM
Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys of OMD
75 schedule::attendees
Location
Maggie Mae's Rooftop
12:00 AM
to 1:00 AM
Twin Shadow
202 schedule::attendees
Location
Central Presbyterian Church
12:05 AM
to 1:05 AM
Cloud Nothings
215 schedule::attendees
Location
512 Rooftop
12:40 AM
to 1:40 AM
Big K.R.I.T.
93 schedule::attendees
Location
Venue 222
eventtype Music
Artists Big K.R.I.T.
event::about Imagine Kanye West being born and raised in Meridian, Mississippi. Now imagine him being produced by Organized Noize. That imagery would create music almost identical to the Crooked Letter state’s next hip-hop heavyweight, Big K.R.IT (King remembered in time). The 24-year-old rapper slash producer defied the odds of both his personal life and hip-hop’s current landscape to be the most in-demand and respected rookie on the Cinematic Music Group/Def Jam Records roster. Rapping since twelve-years-old and producing from age 14, KRIT personifies the term Student of the Game. Being a product of one of the smallest cities below the Mason Dixon line the young MC didn’t have the financial means required to purchase tracks and studio time. So K.R.I.T took a much more economical approach and began mastering the MTV Music Generator on his Playstation. Wanting to elevate his sonic craft he then studied local friends who were a bit more advanced in certain areas of production, or sit for hours and watch an engineer homie mix a song. On the lyrical side, Big K.R.I.T kept an ear bent to the cadence and profound pronunciation of great orators like the Notorious B.I.G, Tupac and Pimp C. The Mississippi eagle also bathed in the classic compositions of legendary teams like OutKast and 8ball and MJG. “These guys influenced me because they rapped about what they knew about and they kept it 100,” says K.R.I.T. “Even like an Organized Noize––they stayed true to what they did and branded a sound. So they influenced me to stay true to myself and rap about what I know about.” Instead of making the mistake many a young artist in search of an identity commit––becoming a Xerox copy of their influences–– K.R.I.T developed his own sound. That he was raised on his parents’ soul music (Bobby Womack, Willie Hutch) explains why his production comes rich with rolling percussion, smooth yet potent baselines and keys that are sugar cane sweet. It’s homemade molasses in stereo. With a perfect self-produced score as the backdrop, K.R.I.T uses a fluid and personable flow to captivatingly give his own Merridian, Mississippi narrative, complete with entertaining quips, steely confidence and food for thought. During a time when southern MCs succeed by hanging their hat on their drug dealing history or street lord affiliation, whether authentic or fictitious, K.R.I.T.’s true-to-self approach is a courageous one. “People wanna hear relatable music––something not so far from their every day,” he says, before adding. “A lot of times people get caught up in making a hit and it isn’t timeless because it doesn’t serve a purpose. If I have a voice and the opportunity to speak to millions of people I at least have to say something important.” The Big K.R.I.T. formula was not only pure it was undeniable. His underground ascendance began in 2005 when an Atlanta DJ placed his song “We Gon’ Hate” on their mixtape without request. Feeling validated K.R.I.T decided to put 100% into upgrading his music dreams to reality. The next year he would drop out of Meridian Community College and move to Atlanta. In the peach state, K.R.I.T. would get a crash course in industry biz. Whether it was selling discounted beats to local artists, engineering their sessions and/or mixing their songs–––being that he was talented at more than just beat making––K.R.I.T did it to make ends meet. After a few years of releasing underground music K.R.I.T.’s music started to catch peoples attention, allowing him to entertain the countless music execs and managers who expressed interest in him throughout his years in Atlanta’s underground. One of those interested was Jon “Shipes” Shapiro, head of Cinematic Music Group (Sean Kingston, Nipsey Hussle). The two agreed on a deal in January 2010 and set forth to turn B.K into the next hip-hop superstar. According to Shipes K.R.I.T.’s palpability makes his market potential a no-brainer: “In real life he’s just a kid from a small town whose music is phenomenal.” K.R.I.T. then went to work on his Cinematic Music Group debut, the street album K.R.I.T. Wuz Here. The underground opus that birthed gems like the trunk rattler “Country Shit,” poignant “Children of The World” and irresistible Devin The Dude assisted “Moon & Stars” snatched the attention of many hip-hop heads; none more important than former 50 Cent manager and G-Unit Records President Sha Money XL. Upon receiving an early preview of K.R.I.T. Wuz Here, Sha was “blown away.” So once the veteran exec landed a position at Def Jam as Senior VP of A&R last April he made sure his first signee was K.R.I.T. Though at the time the Mississippi gem’s John Hancock was also being sought aggressively by other labels, K.R.I.T. chose the exec with the most enthusiasm for his music. “Sha just kept saying ‘I love this! I believe in it,’” tells K.R.I.T. “He was just so adamant about it.” Now, the rap game has received a breath of country fresh air: an artist that insists on remaining an individual and feeding his growing audience with feel-good rhythms and “rhymes with morals.” Big K.R.I.T. is in fact The Truth. Within a month of acquiring his deal he was not only critically acclaimed and courted for interviews by media giants like XXL, The Source, Rapradar.com and MTV.com, he gained fans in his own peer group––from buzzing newbies (Wiz Khalifa, Currensy and Smoke Dza) to living legends (Ludacris, Bun B). Today whether its hip-hop lovers in the skyscraping offices of Def Jam or those in the small town of Meridian, MS, they’re all feeling the synergy being churned by the birth of rap’s next royalty. So until Mr. King Remembered In Time releases his 2011 Def Jam debut all hip-hop can do is witness a reign on the rise.
event::tags 21+
1:00 AM
to 2:00 AM
Dom
127 schedule::attendees
Location
Club de Ville
eventtype Music
Artists Dom
event::about While many bands suffer with identity crises, Worcester, Massachusetts four-piece Dom has their priorities straight. "We want to be the Madonna of garage rock," proclaims Dominic, the 22-year-old mastermind behind the buzzed-about twisted-pop rockers, who slammed into music world consciousness like a tidal wave. If it seems like Dom just came out of nowhere, that is because they did. In December 2009, Dominic (who goes by Dom, and will not reveal his last name, due to "owing people lots of money") met drummer Bobby in a Massachusetts boarding house. The two sought out to make Dom an "electronic sci-trance project" but after writing the song "Jesus," the band took a more surfy-psych, fuzz-pop sound. Later, they connected with bassist / guitarist Erik and shred head Cosmo, and the finished project sounded more like a jangle pop mixtape left on your dashboard on hot summer day. With warped vocals, fuzzy low-fi distortion, and broken Casio keyboard lines, Dom filters a DIY aesthetic through the upbeat, sunny rhythms of pop music. There's a MacGyverized style to Dom's buzzed-about debut EP Sun Bronzed Greek Gods, the seven songs feel like they're held together by sonic duct tape. At any minute they could break apart. But they don't. These tracks recorded in Erik's bedroom—on a pink paisley guitar, a Casio and Fruity Loops—are solid, edgy and irresistibly fun. "We like to get gnarly, but that doesn't mean we're a joke," Dom says. By March they were playing frenzied basement shows on the East Coast, and by April Dom was featured as a rising band on tastemaking music site, Pitchfork. Then the buzzing began. Yet, inside the breezy pop of Dom, is Dom, the man, whose personal history is decidedly less carefree. He doesn't want you to dwell on his past, but to understand Dom today, you have to excavate the skeletons hidden deep in Dom's closet. After all, pop music is escapism; it's a drug, a candy-coated antidote to pain. Unfortunately for Dom, pain has followed him like a shadow through life. When Dom was 8 years old, his mother gave him up for adoption. At an age where he was all-too conscious, Dom was devastated by this breach of trust and schism from his family. His siblings stayed with his mom, he was the only one to go. Unanswered questions reverberated in the back of Dom's brain: Why him? What made Dom so different? Like so many children in foster homes, Dom bounced from family to family, searching for permanent place to call home. Acclimating to these temporary families was impossible, and when Dom was 14 he was locked up for a few months and became subsumed in the cycle of within America's ailing juvenile justice system. Dislocated in life, he found a home in music. "When I was a kid my mom listened to Roy Orbison, and I remember wanting to be him. I was told I couldn't be him. So later I had this dream that if I could be him someday, I would be somebody, and maybe my mom could see that," Dom says. Dom's personal troubles add a caustic irony to the feel good lyrics on Sun Bronzed Greek Gods. "It's so sexy/ to be living in America" he sings on "Living in America." On "Burn Bridges," he explains, "Burn your bridges / make yourself an island / Just forgive 'em and forget 'em." On Dom's island, music is the cure. It's the reason to pick up those broken pieces of your life and move on. Dom says forget that baggage, fuck the past, and rock for now. "I'm gonna live how I want to/ This is okay/ I've been living for today." – Dom.
event::tags 21+
1:00 AM
to 2:00 AM
Toro y Moi
402 schedule::attendees
Location
512 Rooftop
eventtype Music
Artists Toro Y Moi
event::about Toro Y Moi is 23 year old Columbia, South Carolina native and resident Chaz Bundick. After earning a BFA in Graphic Design at The University of South Carolina, Chaz decided to push his music further now that he has more time on his hands. His mom came from the Phillipines to the United States, where she met her future husband (who's African American) in college. They lived in New York City taking in all the wonderful cultural influences the city's rising underground scene had to offer at the time (late 70s/early 80s). Deciding to slow down and be closer to family, they moved to Columbia, South Carolina where they had their first child... Chaz Bundick's methods are constantly changing and evolving. Heavily influenced by his parent's vinyl and tape collection, he also possesses great admiration for contemporary influences like Animal Collective, Sonic Youth, J Dilla, and Daft Punk. Like most prepubescent teens, he had his punk band and once that died out, the "side project" soon became the main focus. Toro y Moi started in 2001 as a bedroom project but quickly grew into the live performance realm. The songs are born from a plethora of different genres, from freak-folk to R&B to French House. Before any full length album has been released, Toro Y Moi has already received praise from music websites like Pitchfork and Gorilla Vs. Bear as well as print features in the NME and Dazed and Confused.
event::tags 21+
12:00 PM
to 7:00 PM
Shure Presents the Under the Radar SXSW Party 201
416 schedule::attendees
Location
Flamingo Cantina
eventtype Unofficial Party
Speaker/Artist(s) Info
5:00 PM: Okkervil River (www.okkervilriver.com)
4:05 PM: Menomena (www.menomena.com)
3:15 PM: Telekinesis (www.telekinesismusic.com)
2:25 PM: Surfer Blood (www.surferblood.com)
1:35 PM: Owen Pallett (www.owenpalletteternal.com)
12:45 PM: Hooray for Earth (www.hoorayforearth.net)
12:00 PM: Porcelain Raft (www.porcelainraft.com)
3:50 PM
to 4:50 PM
J Mascis
194 schedule::attendees
Location
Radio Day Stage Austin Convention Center
eventtype Music
Artists J Mascis
event::about J Mascis is probably best known as the frontman of the highly influential indie rock trio Dinosaur Jr. With acclaimed LPs like 1987's You're Living All Over Me and 1988's Bug, the group emerged among the most highly regarded in alternative rock history, with Mascis' brilliant volume infused guitar heroics becoming a primary influence on the burgeoning 'grunge' movement - Mascis was also credited by many for single-handedly bringing back the guitar solo to underground and indie rock. By reintroducing volume and attack in his songs Mascis shed the strict limitations of early 1980's hardcore and practically reinvented punk rock in the process. Mascis' body of work continues to inspire a generation of guitar players and songwriters today. In 1991, Dinosaur Jr. disbanded and Mascis released More Light, his first recording under the moniker J Mascis + The Fog. With its revolving line-up of stellar musicians J Mascis + The Fog continues to churn out new material and tour frequently. Members and collaborators of the Fog have included Mike Watt (Minutemen / fIREHOSE), Ron Asheton (the Stooges), Robert Pollard (Guided By Voices), Kevin Shields (My Bloody Valentine) Dave Schools (Stockholm Syndrome / Widespread Panic) and Kyle Spence (Harvey Milk). Aside from his work with The Fog, Mascis finds himself behind the drums in the band Witch, and most recently playing guitar with garage rockers Sweet Apple. He is also known to perform solo acoustic proving that there are truly no limitations to his abilities. Fans of Mascis' huge guitar wails will not be disappointed by his intimate acoustic performances as he always brings in plenty of pedals to pepper these performances with the sonically enhanced solos he's best known for. In addition to his own work Mascis has been heavily involved behind the scenes appearing on, producing, and mixing records for a string of highly regarded acts like: fIREHOSE, Tad, Buffalo Tom, Beachwood Sparks, Del Tha Funkee Homosapien, The Breeders and many others. J Mascis has also composed music for film and has occasionally appeared in films such as Alison Anders acclaimed Gas, Food and Lodging. When the original line up of Mascis, Lou Barlow on bass and drummer Murph re-formed in 2005 for select live dates it was apparent that the years apart had not eroded any of their vitality. Restoring the sound established by the opening hat-trick gambit of Dinosaur, You're Living All Over Me, and Bug, 2007's Beyond continued the band's march into rock greatness by making old ears smile and new ears bleed afresh. In 2009 the band released Farm, Dinosaur Jr.'s first double LP and their fifth full length record by the original line-up, an album propelled by the unique energy of one of America's greatest living rock bands hitting their stride.
event::tags All Ages
4:00 PM
to 5:00 PM
Sharon Van Etten
254 schedule::attendees
Location
Mohawk
eventtype Unofficial Music
Speaker/Artist(s) Info
event::about
March Into Softness 2011, The A.V. Club's free SXSW day party, slated for Friday, March 18 at the Mohawk.
Plentiful (and hopefully free) libations and other party favors will be on hand as well. March Into Softness 2011: It’s free, it’s fun, and, more than likely, it won’t involve anyone getting smashed in the face with a can of Pepsi Max.
5:00 PM
to 6:00 PM
Okkervil River
475 schedule::attendees
Location
Flamingo Cantina
eventtype Unofficial Music
Speaker/Artist(s) Info
Okkervil River
8:00 PM
to 9:00 PM
Lower Dens
163 schedule::attendees
Location
Klub Krucial
eventtype Music
Artists Lower Dens
event::about Swarming guitar fuzz, bass waves, Jana Hunter's voice, and insistent drum throbs are the core components of Baltimore's Lower Dens. Hunter, sometimes known for intimate, ghost-heavy weird-fi, is now writing and playing with a group that might get filed as new wave, or drone pop, or post-punk. With due deference to her solo work, we're very glad. The swarming wave-throb, coupled with Hunter's lyrics and redolent, charred voice, wrecks. The band released their debut record, Twin-Hand Movement, in July of 2010, and its eleven perfect songs long. From opener "Blue & Silver" (anxiety mounts at a quick clip until the final climactic release) to "Plastic & Powder" (a churning, narcotic slow-burner) to "Hospice Gates" (penultimate album cut, proud weirdo anthem, possible creative zenith), not one is a space-taker. They're rife with the survivalist paranoia you'd expect from residents of a post-urban port hole (and this particular songwriter), crafted methodically and beautifully, and carry you enthusiastically out into the rolling breaks of industrial filth-water. "I Get Nervous", the lead single from THM, starts in a kind of nebulous weird place. Its a good half-minute of straight, building disorientation before the the guitars swell in and make room for the kind of solid drum beat you might never need to stop listening to: steady hi-hat, the snare and kick patiently ticktocking. Guitars wash over everything, and the overdriven bass keeps time with the cymbal. A strummed guitar now announces each measure, and by the time Jana Hunter's voice finally drops like soft water out of the sky, you're floating on it. "In the same rich path, you and I align," goes one of the lines. It could as well be about this song. It's three and a half minutes never feel like enough. The second side, "Johnssong", seems to follows a simple, if tense, narrative down a doo-wop road, until the bottom drops and it suddenly veers into a somehow perfectly suited, looping guitar squall that escalates in thick shrieking layers before it finally crests, parting, making clear that sun-filled, awkward alley once again. Lower Dens formed in 2009, when Hunter set about finding a full-time band. They spent the rest of the year sweating in attics and basements, and only stepped out of the shadows to do a quick tour and record. Twin-Hand Movement was recorded by Chris Freeland (ex-Oxes drummer; proprietor of Beat Babies, Baltimore), mixed by Chris Coady (at his DNA, NYC), and mastered by Sarah Register (of the Lodge, NYC and the band Talk Normal.)
event::tags 21+
8:00 PM
to 9:00 PM
The Head and the Heart
208 schedule::attendees
Location
Antone's
8:30 PM
to 9:30 PM
The Vaccines
241 schedule::attendees
Location
Stubb's
9:00 PM
to 10:00 PM
Skrillex
120 schedule::attendees
Location
Emo's Main Room
eventtype Music
Artists Skrillex
event::about 'I've been deep into electronic music my entire life. The first records I ever owned were 'Fat of Land' by the Prodigy and 'Come To Daddy' by Aphex Twin,' raves Sonny Moore, better known as emerging electronic visionary SKRILLEX. 'Marilyn Manson and Nine Inch Nails were also early influences. I've been dabbling in making electronic tracks on programs like Fruity Loops since I was 14 years old.' SKRILLEX is part of a new generation of artists that refuse to be restricted by preconceived notions or outside expectations. 'Genre has never been important to me,' he insists. 'I've never thought about music that way.' Describing his current sound as 'a mix of dubstep, electro and glitch all thrown together,' new SKRILLEX release 'SCARY MONSTERS AND NICE SPRITES' reflects all of the above and beyond. The uplifting post-trance synth melodies of 'ALL I ASK OF YOU' (featuring the soaring vocals of Penny) stands in stark contrast to the face-melting electro bass blasts of the massive electro-dubstep hybrid 'ROCK N' ROLL (WILL TAKE YOU TO THE MOUNTAIN).' 'I've listened to so much music for so long, it's more about instinct than influence,' Moore explains about his sonic inspirations. 'Coming up, I was into a lot of artists on the Warp record label like Autechre, Squarepusher, and Aphex Twin, so SKRILLEX tracks are inclined to have more changes than most dance tracks normally have. I can draw influences from almost anything. I just like to mess around and create cool new sounds and noises. I just go where the music takes me.' After just one hugely successful independent release, 'SCARY MONSTERS AND NICE SPRITES' is the first SKRILLEX release on Big Beat Records, in conjunction with fellow electronic revolutionary Deadmau5's freshly minted Mau5trap record label. 'For years, the artists needed the record labels. I don't feel that way at all,' Moore stresses. 'SKRILLEX has been 100% independent until now. I think it's so important to be self-sufficient as artist. Working with Atlantic / Big Beat, and cooperating with Mau5trap, allows us all to work as a team and expand on what's already been built.' Following its release on Beatport, the 9-song EP dominated the charts on the site, with the title track claiming the site's #1 slot (the first time a dubstep track has ever done so), 8 songs breaking into the top 10, and multiple tracks claiming the #1 slots on several of the site's subgenre charts, including Dubstep, Electro House, Progressive House. Aside from the immediate success of 'SCARY MONSTERS AND NICE SPRITES,' SKRILLEX has also made a name for himself as a highly sought-after remixer. He's already produced officially commissioned remixes for such A-list artists as the Black Eyed Peas ('Rock That Body'), Lady Gaga ('Bad Romance' and 'Alejandro'), and La Roux ('In For The Kill'). SKRILLEX stands not only at the vanguard of electronic dance music, but the perpetually evolving new music industry as a whole. 'For me, it's important to believe in and love the music you're making. I gave away my first EP on my manager's website, just so people could hear the music,' he enthuses. 'It was downloaded by the thousands in just a couple of months, and it hasn't let up since. That's all the inspiration I need to keep making music. 'SKRILLEX can be anything I want it to be,' he continues hopefully. 'There are so many different avenues for music now. Video games, movie scores - the possibilities are endless, and I'm excited to be a part of it.' November 2010
event::tags All Ages
10:00 PM
to 11:00 PM
JEFF The Brotherhood
125 schedule::attendees
Location
Kiss & Fly
eventtype Music
Artists JEFF The Brotherhood
event::about JEFF The Brotherhood is Jake and Jamin Orrall, two brothers that play drums and guitar. They grew up in Tennessee making music and trying to have a good time. Since their inception they have been playing anywhere from house parties to rooftops, backyards, bars and art galleries and releasing their own records, tapes, comic books and home made videos. The Brotherhood has been called "kraut punk", "psychedelic grunge" and "noise pop" drawing comparisons to bands like Hawkwind, Wipers, and early Sonic Youth. They have been carrying their heavy damage all over the country since 2006 and have shared bills with Oneida, Battles, Sonic Youth, Ex-Models, Jay Reatard, Black Pus and Dave Cloud. Their "we'll play anywhere" attitude and frenetic live shows have earned them near legendary status in the clubs and basements of Nashville and beyond. With three guitar strings and a minimal drum kit, they manage to distill rock to its primal essence.
event::tags 18+
10:00 PM
to 11:00 PM
The Chain Gang of 1974
101 schedule::attendees
Location
The Windish Agency House @ ND
eventtype Music
Artists The Chain Gang of 1974
event::about “My brothers and I were surrounded by music growing up,” explains Kamtin Mohager, the shape-shifting singer/multi-instrumentalist behind the Chain Gang of 1974. “Not Beatles albums or anything like that; more like the Persian records our parents played all the time. And when we got older, it was up to us to discover everything.” Born in San Jose and raised in Hawaii, Mohager spent his first 13 years obsessing over inline hockey and the idea of being drafted by the NHL one day. A series of life-changing events were set in motion once Mohager’s family moved to Colorado, however. The first of which involved the final scene from Real Genius—quite possibly Val Kilmer’s finest hour—and its penultimate ‘popcorn song’, a.k.a. “Everybody Rules the World.” “I love ‘80s music, but not typical new-wave stuff,” says Mohager. “Like I’m way into Tears For Fears and Talk Talk, the other side of the spectrum, really.” That’s abundantly clear on White Guts, a record that’s nearly as restless as Chain Gang’s previous collection of early recordings, Fantastic Nostalgic. The way Mohager sees it, his first proper release was “all over the place, from a piano ballad to songs that sound like Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Primal Scream or Justice.” White Guts, on the other hand, funnels three years of instrument-swapping, sample-splicing experience into a lean, focused listen. So while “Stop!” and the rather epic “Hold On” hint at everything from LCD Soundsystem to Talking Heads, they make perfect sense in the context of deep cuts like the synth-flecked “Don’t Walk Away” and bass-guided “Matter of Time,” shimmering power ballads that could have been on the soundtrack of Sixteen Candles or Pretty in Pink. What sets the Chain Gang of 1974 apart from other Reagan-era revivalists is Mohager’s innate sense of rhythm, a skill he acquired at an early age. And we’re not just talking about his parents’ punchy, groove-riding record collection. We’re talking about family gatherings and traditions that taught Mohager how to make a crowd of cool kids uncross their arms and dance like there’s pistols pointed at their feet. “Everyone lets loose at our shows,” says Mohager. “It’s a party, man. If only I had a dollar for every time someone bum-rushed the stage or grabbed one of our instruments.” Things are bound to get worse, too, as his live band—a quartet that’s a far cry from Mohager’s original iPod/bass setup—spends the next six months spreading the Chain Gang gospel far beyond its Rocky Mountain beginnings. Or as the man behind every last beat puts it, “I’m letting the music just be, and if something’s meant to happen, it’s meant to happen.”
event::tags 21+
10:15 PM
to 11:15 PM
Toro y Moi
367 schedule::attendees
Location
Klub Krucial
eventtype Music
Artists Toro Y Moi
event::about Toro Y Moi is 23 year old Columbia, South Carolina native and resident Chaz Bundick. After earning a BFA in Graphic Design at The University of South Carolina, Chaz decided to push his music further now that he has more time on his hands. His mom came from the Phillipines to the United States, where she met her future husband (who's African American) in college. They lived in New York City taking in all the wonderful cultural influences the city's rising underground scene had to offer at the time (late 70s/early 80s). Deciding to slow down and be closer to family, they moved to Columbia, South Carolina where they had their first child... Chaz Bundick's methods are constantly changing and evolving. Heavily influenced by his parent's vinyl and tape collection, he also possesses great admiration for contemporary influences like Animal Collective, Sonic Youth, J Dilla, and Daft Punk. Like most prepubescent teens, he had his punk band and once that died out, the "side project" soon became the main focus. Toro y Moi started in 2001 as a bedroom project but quickly grew into the live performance realm. The songs are born from a plethora of different genres, from freak-folk to R&B to French House. Before any full length album has been released, Toro Y Moi has already received praise from music websites like Pitchfork and Gorilla Vs. Bear as well as print features in the NME and Dazed and Confused.
event::tags 21+
11:00 PM
to 12:00 AM
The Black Lips
317 schedule::attendees
Location
Lustre Pearl
eventtype Music
Artists The Black Lips
event::about 200 Million Thousand What do you do when your sixteen and in deep shit? You're looking out at the world from the strip-mall and the detention hall, from the basement and the cul-de-sac and it just looks like there is a wall around you. Everybody tells you and your friends that you're going nowhere, that your lives are already ruined. What the fuck do you do? You hang around and smash stuff and get high and try to be a bad-ass, that's what you do. You steal and drink and smash up the car your mom gave you and pull your pee-pee out in public. You work at sandwich shops and fast-food joints and try to screw private school girls because they think your tough and the girls at your school think your gay because you pretended to give your friend a blowjob at the junior prom. You fuck it all up as ugly and as dirty as you can because, why the fuck not? Your parents and teachers and sandwich-shop supervisors look at you and think, "What happened to the kid? He has all the advantages in the world and he has chucked it all in the shitter. Doesn't he believe in the inherent goodness of our enlightened society? Doesn't he believe in any thing at all?" It is this question, the question of belief, nay, the question of faith, that is the crux of the matter. It is this question that was asked of the Black Lips. And the Black Lips have answered it. They have answered it in their songs and in their actions. They have answered it for every shit-assed, burned-out brat that staggers out of the suburbs. They have answered it resoundingly and continue to answer it. "Where is their answer?" you may ask. Do those psychedelic swamp guitar drones bear witness to a faith of some kind? Does the quasi-violent sexual comedy of their stage show underscore a deeply held belief system? Does their commingling of Deep South, big-tent revival rhetoric with hoary-throated, drug-haze mumble truly mean anything, to them or to anyone else? You bet your ass it means something to them. How would they have persevered through all the drudgery and threats of doom if it didn't mean a goddamn thing to them? Their adversaries have been formidable and numerous, and they have bested them all. Why, even in their earliest days, death itself reared its ugly head to attempt to halt their progress, and was dismissed directly. How, without faith, could the Black Lips have carried their message forth into the four corners of the earth? And so, on the eve of the release of their fifth album, the faith abides stronger than ever. A host of influences have passed through their gullet and provided the sustenance to keep their faith alive. The dusts of a southern back road and the big-city gutter puke crackle in the grooves of this record as it did in the previous ones. The shouts and moans and static continue to bear witness. "But faith in what?" the fathers, mayors and captains of industry might continue to ask. Well, if you've never been one of those shit-assed brats looking out into a world you were already excluded from, a world that sickened you, but for which there was no alternative, then you may not understand. But, through the eyes of one whom, like them, was a go-nowhere from the get-go, the Black Lips represent the faith that it takes to reject that world of sterile, futile, servile, silliness and forge your own world based on bravery and bad-ass-ness. They have carried to fruition the plan that has been hatched, and will continue to be hatched in the minds of dizzy, dumb and desperate youth the world over. Now they carry their message of faith to the world. FEAR NOT! BE BRAVE AND TAKE HEART! THE WORLD IS YOURS IF YOU ACCEPT THE POWER OF FAITH!!! (As I record these words a purple and orange fog engulfs the bay below me. The gin gimlets glide down my throat and I ponder the freedom that I, myself, have wrenched from the 'enlightened society' that once oppressed me. It is good and right that we should live free. I know this, the Black Lips know this, and the gulls in the bay below know this. Take this knowledge and go in faith.) Baby Gusty Accra, Ghana December, 2008
event::tags 21+
11:00 PM
to 12:00 AM
Twin Shadow
224 schedule::attendees
Location
Maggie Mae's Rooftop
11:00 PM
to 12:00 AM
11:10 PM
to 12:10 AM
Skrillex
120 schedule::attendees
Location
Maggie Mae's
eventtype Music
Artists Skrillex
event::about 'I've been deep into electronic music my entire life. The first records I ever owned were 'Fat of Land' by the Prodigy and 'Come To Daddy' by Aphex Twin,' raves Sonny Moore, better known as emerging electronic visionary SKRILLEX. 'Marilyn Manson and Nine Inch Nails were also early influences. I've been dabbling in making electronic tracks on programs like Fruity Loops since I was 14 years old.' SKRILLEX is part of a new generation of artists that refuse to be restricted by preconceived notions or outside expectations. 'Genre has never been important to me,' he insists. 'I've never thought about music that way.' Describing his current sound as 'a mix of dubstep, electro and glitch all thrown together,' new SKRILLEX release 'SCARY MONSTERS AND NICE SPRITES' reflects all of the above and beyond. The uplifting post-trance synth melodies of 'ALL I ASK OF YOU' (featuring the soaring vocals of Penny) stands in stark contrast to the face-melting electro bass blasts of the massive electro-dubstep hybrid 'ROCK N' ROLL (WILL TAKE YOU TO THE MOUNTAIN).' 'I've listened to so much music for so long, it's more about instinct than influence,' Moore explains about his sonic inspirations. 'Coming up, I was into a lot of artists on the Warp record label like Autechre, Squarepusher, and Aphex Twin, so SKRILLEX tracks are inclined to have more changes than most dance tracks normally have. I can draw influences from almost anything. I just like to mess around and create cool new sounds and noises. I just go where the music takes me.' After just one hugely successful independent release, 'SCARY MONSTERS AND NICE SPRITES' is the first SKRILLEX release on Big Beat Records, in conjunction with fellow electronic revolutionary Deadmau5's freshly minted Mau5trap record label. 'For years, the artists needed the record labels. I don't feel that way at all,' Moore stresses. 'SKRILLEX has been 100% independent until now. I think it's so important to be self-sufficient as artist. Working with Atlantic / Big Beat, and cooperating with Mau5trap, allows us all to work as a team and expand on what's already been built.' Following its release on Beatport, the 9-song EP dominated the charts on the site, with the title track claiming the site's #1 slot (the first time a dubstep track has ever done so), 8 songs breaking into the top 10, and multiple tracks claiming the #1 slots on several of the site's subgenre charts, including Dubstep, Electro House, Progressive House. Aside from the immediate success of 'SCARY MONSTERS AND NICE SPRITES,' SKRILLEX has also made a name for himself as a highly sought-after remixer. He's already produced officially commissioned remixes for such A-list artists as the Black Eyed Peas ('Rock That Body'), Lady Gaga ('Bad Romance' and 'Alejandro'), and La Roux ('In For The Kill'). SKRILLEX stands not only at the vanguard of electronic dance music, but the perpetually evolving new music industry as a whole. 'For me, it's important to believe in and love the music you're making. I gave away my first EP on my manager's website, just so people could hear the music,' he enthuses. 'It was downloaded by the thousands in just a couple of months, and it hasn't let up since. That's all the inspiration I need to keep making music. 'SKRILLEX can be anything I want it to be,' he continues hopefully. 'There are so many different avenues for music now. Video games, movie scores - the possibilities are endless, and I'm excited to be a part of it.' November 2010
event::tags 21+
11:10 PM
to 12:10 AM
The Joy Formidable
230 schedule::attendees
Location
Billboard Bungalow @ Buffalo Billiards
eventtype Music
Artists The Joy Formidable
event::about There's something panoramic about The Joy Formidable's music - their mountainous, fuzzed out riffs and ferocious, earthy rhythms shrouded in ethereal haze. It sounds like where they're from: Childhood friends Ritzy Bryan (vocals, guitar) and Rhydian Dafydd (bass, vocals) grew up in rural North Wales, surrounded by rolling green hills and little else. "There's a beauty and a loneliness to the landscape there," says Dafydd. "We had no neighbors growing up," Bryan notes. "I think my parents looked for a house with no neighbors so they could play their music as loud as possible." For her part, Bryan loved the isolation. Growing up as an only child, the singer immersed herself in her parents' enormous record collection and the classical guitar studies she took on at the age of seven. "I loved playing guitar by myself, back then I was quite introverted with my music," she says. Bryan and Dafydd had been writing music separately from one another, and worked together in a couple of short-lived local bands after finishing school. They knew they wanted to collaborate, but didn't manage to make it work until a few years ago. "We kept missing each other," Ritzy says. Bryan went off to Washington, D.C "on a whim" and returned to Wales in 2008 with renewed focus. "My family situation wasn't easy to go back to" says Bryan. "I came back out of necessity and found a lot of sanctuary recording with Rhydian and having this new band to concentrate on." For six months, the pair wrote together, experimenting with different sonic approaches. "We'd go for walks in the hills between recordings," Dafydd remembers. "We'd write for hours and hours," adds Bryan, "and if we got frustrated, we'd go stomp it out, up and down the mountains." But as the sessions began yielding signature tunes like "Austere" and "Cradle" - tracks that combined the duo's interest in thick, textured noises with clear, shimmering pop hooks - they knew they'd found their sound. "We'd always been into writing strong melodies," Bryan says. "The sparks really flew when we started messing with things that were choral and symphonic, mixed with what both of us had already enjoyed separately: dirty, loud, rhythmic guitars and thick bass-lines." The Joy Formidable released "Austere" in July 2008, followed by "Cradle" on double 7" later that summer, and quickly produced an eight-track EP, A Balloon Called Moaning, which they released themselves in the U.K. in early 2009. Having relocated to London and recruited drummer Matthew Thomas, the trio quickly earned a reputation for blistering live performances. "We love and encourage the beautiful double-pedal," says Bryan, with a chuckle. "We do lean towards a slightly metal aesthetic when it comes to drums, which makes it very loud and heavy and all the things we want to be as a live entity. The new album definitely explores those elements, and that's because of Matt being in the band." The trio spent 2009 touring the U.K., Europe and Australia with bands including Editors, Temper Trap and Passion Pit, mastering tiny clubs and festival stages alike. Their introduction to American audiences came early this year, when Passion Pit invited The Joy Formidable to open a pair of sold-out shows at New York's Terminal 5. In late April, they teamed with a new label started by Passion Pit's Ayad Al Adhamy, Black Bell Records, to release A Balloon Called Moaning in the U.S. The New York Times' Jon Pareles praised the EP's "cryptic lyrics that glint with urgency," and said that "the music regenerates the turbulent haze of 1990s rock, but it's less tormented and more anthemic, confident of the pop structures at its core." They've also earned critical raves from NME, The Guardian, the London Times, Spin and Pitchfork, heavy rotation on Sirius XM's indie rock channel, Sirius XMU, and praise from Garbage's Shirley Manson and Courtney Love, among others. This summer, The Joy Formidable signed with Canvasback Records, and will release their debut album for the label, The Big Roar, early next year. When they weren't on the road, the band worked on writing and tracking the material for The Big Roar. "We recorded in a tiny corner of our London bedroom" Bryan says. "It was great, because you could capture that moment when you wake up in the middle of the night with a melody or an image or a lyric." Working on and off for a year, The Joy Formidable crafted a remarkable collection of modern rock songs that explore what Bryan describes as "the possibility of victory in a hopeless situation.” Adds Dafydd: "The album covers a lot of emotional range. It's captured the battle between the eternal optimist and the manic depressive." They produced The Big Roar themselves - with help from engineer Neak Menter - and traveled to Los Angeles this summer to mix it with producer Rich Costey (Muse, Foo Fighters, Glasvegas). A single from those sessions, "I Don't Want To See You Like This," is due out this autumn, with the full-length to follow in early 2011. The Joy Formidable will headline the Emerge NME Radar tour in September and October, making stops at various venues throughout the UK, and return to the U.S. for a headlining run in November
event::tags 21+
12:00 AM
to 1:00 AM
Esben and the Witch
108 schedule::attendees
Location
Latitude 30
12:00 AM
to 1:00 AM
Skrillex
134 schedule::attendees
Location
Mohawk Patio
eventtype Music
Artists Skrillex
event::about 'I've been deep into electronic music my entire life. The first records I ever owned were 'Fat of Land' by the Prodigy and 'Come To Daddy' by Aphex Twin,' raves Sonny Moore, better known as emerging electronic visionary SKRILLEX. 'Marilyn Manson and Nine Inch Nails were also early influences. I've been dabbling in making electronic tracks on programs like Fruity Loops since I was 14 years old.' SKRILLEX is part of a new generation of artists that refuse to be restricted by preconceived notions or outside expectations. 'Genre has never been important to me,' he insists. 'I've never thought about music that way.' Describing his current sound as 'a mix of dubstep, electro and glitch all thrown together,' new SKRILLEX release 'SCARY MONSTERS AND NICE SPRITES' reflects all of the above and beyond. The uplifting post-trance synth melodies of 'ALL I ASK OF YOU' (featuring the soaring vocals of Penny) stands in stark contrast to the face-melting electro bass blasts of the massive electro-dubstep hybrid 'ROCK N' ROLL (WILL TAKE YOU TO THE MOUNTAIN).' 'I've listened to so much music for so long, it's more about instinct than influence,' Moore explains about his sonic inspirations. 'Coming up, I was into a lot of artists on the Warp record label like Autechre, Squarepusher, and Aphex Twin, so SKRILLEX tracks are inclined to have more changes than most dance tracks normally have. I can draw influences from almost anything. I just like to mess around and create cool new sounds and noises. I just go where the music takes me.' After just one hugely successful independent release, 'SCARY MONSTERS AND NICE SPRITES' is the first SKRILLEX release on Big Beat Records, in conjunction with fellow electronic revolutionary Deadmau5's freshly minted Mau5trap record label. 'For years, the artists needed the record labels. I don't feel that way at all,' Moore stresses. 'SKRILLEX has been 100% independent until now. I think it's so important to be self-sufficient as artist. Working with Atlantic / Big Beat, and cooperating with Mau5trap, allows us all to work as a team and expand on what's already been built.' Following its release on Beatport, the 9-song EP dominated the charts on the site, with the title track claiming the site's #1 slot (the first time a dubstep track has ever done so), 8 songs breaking into the top 10, and multiple tracks claiming the #1 slots on several of the site's subgenre charts, including Dubstep, Electro House, Progressive House. Aside from the immediate success of 'SCARY MONSTERS AND NICE SPRITES,' SKRILLEX has also made a name for himself as a highly sought-after remixer. He's already produced officially commissioned remixes for such A-list artists as the Black Eyed Peas ('Rock That Body'), Lady Gaga ('Bad Romance' and 'Alejandro'), and La Roux ('In For The Kill'). SKRILLEX stands not only at the vanguard of electronic dance music, but the perpetually evolving new music industry as a whole. 'For me, it's important to believe in and love the music you're making. I gave away my first EP on my manager's website, just so people could hear the music,' he enthuses. 'It was downloaded by the thousands in just a couple of months, and it hasn't let up since. That's all the inspiration I need to keep making music. 'SKRILLEX can be anything I want it to be,' he continues hopefully. 'There are so many different avenues for music now. Video games, movie scores - the possibilities are endless, and I'm excited to be a part of it.' November 2010
event::tags All Ages
12:10 AM
to 1:10 AM
J Mascis
242 schedule::attendees
Location
Red 7 Patio
eventtype Music
Artists J Mascis
event::about J Mascis is probably best known as the frontman of the highly influential indie rock trio Dinosaur Jr. With acclaimed LPs like 1987's You're Living All Over Me and 1988's Bug, the group emerged among the most highly regarded in alternative rock history, with Mascis' brilliant volume infused guitar heroics becoming a primary influence on the burgeoning 'grunge' movement - Mascis was also credited by many for single-handedly bringing back the guitar solo to underground and indie rock. By reintroducing volume and attack in his songs Mascis shed the strict limitations of early 1980's hardcore and practically reinvented punk rock in the process. Mascis' body of work continues to inspire a generation of guitar players and songwriters today. In 1991, Dinosaur Jr. disbanded and Mascis released More Light, his first recording under the moniker J Mascis + The Fog. With its revolving line-up of stellar musicians J Mascis + The Fog continues to churn out new material and tour frequently. Members and collaborators of the Fog have included Mike Watt (Minutemen / fIREHOSE), Ron Asheton (the Stooges), Robert Pollard (Guided By Voices), Kevin Shields (My Bloody Valentine) Dave Schools (Stockholm Syndrome / Widespread Panic) and Kyle Spence (Harvey Milk). Aside from his work with The Fog, Mascis finds himself behind the drums in the band Witch, and most recently playing guitar with garage rockers Sweet Apple. He is also known to perform solo acoustic proving that there are truly no limitations to his abilities. Fans of Mascis' huge guitar wails will not be disappointed by his intimate acoustic performances as he always brings in plenty of pedals to pepper these performances with the sonically enhanced solos he's best known for. In addition to his own work Mascis has been heavily involved behind the scenes appearing on, producing, and mixing records for a string of highly regarded acts like: fIREHOSE, Tad, Buffalo Tom, Beachwood Sparks, Del Tha Funkee Homosapien, The Breeders and many others. J Mascis has also composed music for film and has occasionally appeared in films such as Alison Anders acclaimed Gas, Food and Lodging. When the original line up of Mascis, Lou Barlow on bass and drummer Murph re-formed in 2005 for select live dates it was apparent that the years apart had not eroded any of their vitality. Restoring the sound established by the opening hat-trick gambit of Dinosaur, You're Living All Over Me, and Bug, 2007's Beyond continued the band's march into rock greatness by making old ears smile and new ears bleed afresh. In 2009 the band released Farm, Dinosaur Jr.'s first double LP and their fifth full length record by the original line-up, an album propelled by the unique energy of one of America's greatest living rock bands hitting their stride.
event::tags All Ages
12:45 AM
to 1:45 AM
Wild Flag
196 schedule::attendees
Location
The Parish
eventtype Music
Artists Wild Flag
event::about WILD FLAG is a Portland, OR and Washington, DC based quartet consisting of Carrie Brownstein, Mary Timony, Rebecca Cole, and Janet Weiss. The members of WILD FLAG have played in numerous and notable bands, including but not limited to: Helium, The Minders, Croissant Cocktail, Feeble Knees, Quasi, Dogz, Sleater-Kinney, @@@, Asia, The Consortium, and Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks.
event::tags 21+
1:00 AM
to 2:00 AM
Okkervil River
450 schedule::attendees
Location
Antone's
eventtype Music
Artists Okkervil River
event::about "The goal was to push my brain to places it didn't want to go. The idea was to not have any idea – to keep myself confused about what I was doing," frontman Will Sheff says about Okkervil River's newest album. "I produced it myself so that I could extend the songwriting process all the way through to the very last second of recording, so the songs would never really stop changing." The resulting record, 'I am Very Far,' is a startling break from anything this band has done before. By turns terrifying and joyous, violent and serene, grotesque and romantic, it's a celebration of forces beyond our control. When Okkervil River released their breakthrough 'Black Sheep Boy' in 2005, Uncut wrote that "Sheff's novelistic lyrics and the dexterous blend of country, folk and nervy indie-rock suggest a band approaching the peak of their powers." A New York Times piece on their 2007 follow-up 'The Stage Names' (and its companion album 'The Stand Ins') echoed, "Sheff writes like a novelist," and Pitchfork called him, "One of the best lyric-writers in indie rock." But on 'I am Very Far,' Sheff emerges not only as a songwriter of the highest caliber, but a producer and arranger of singular vision. Abandoning the tidy conceptual arcs of Okkervil River's previous albums, 'I am Very Far' is a monolithic, darkly ambiguous work, one that doesn't readily offer up its secrets. Work on 'I am Very Far' started in early 2009, after a year spent on the music of others. Sheff contributed vocals to The New Pornographer's album 'Together,' wrote a song for Norah Jones' 'The Fall,' produced an upcoming album for Brooklyn-based Bird of Youth, and helmed the Roky Erickson record 'True Love Cast Out All Evil,' for which his album notes received a GRAMMY nomination. "I'd never worked with Roky before and never produced someone else's record before. It was a life-changing experience," Sheff recalls, "When it was over I felt both completely drained and completely inspired." Immediately upon wrapping up work and leaving Erickson's company, Sheff drove to his home state of New Hampshire for lengthy isolated writing sessions. "I wanted to go back home and re-start writing again, like I'd never written a song previously," he says, "and I wanted the music and lyrics to be both completely wedded together and a little bit beyond my control. I kept trying to write from the state of mind of someone who had just been born, that feeling of being very young and being aware of not existing before a certain moment, which is a feeling I remember having as a kid." Sheff emerged from the writing process with 30 or so songs, which he narrowed down to 18. In contrast to Okkervil River's usual practice of holing up in one studio for months on end, he opted for a series of short, high-intensity sessions, each in a different location, each employing completely different methods than the one before it. For songs like "Rider" and "Wake and Be Fine," Sheff gathered together a massive version of Okkervil River – two drummers, two pianists, two bassists, and seven guitarists, all playing live in one room – and led them on a week of live-in-the-studio marathon session, performing a single song obsessively over and over for as many as 12 hours to capture just the right take. Songs like "Show Yourself" and "Hanging from a Hit" were worked out in improvisational sessions with the core band, minimally recorded to 8-track tape, and then re-structured and re-written in the editing process. For the strange science-fiction parable "White Shadow Waltz," Sheff self-recorded the entire song and then had Okkervil River re-record every instrumental track on top of that. After basic-tracking was done, Sheff overdubbed the songs with the band's largest instrumental palette to date – not only choral elements and orchestral colors like strings, tympani, tuba and bassoon, but also file cabinets thrown across the room, unreeled rolls of duct tape, and, on "Piratess," a solo created out of a fast-forwarding and rewinding boombox. Finishing the record from home, Sheff constantly edited and reworked the album, reinventing the song structures, re-recording vocals, re-writing until the very last minute, reshaping even the tiniest of details, ultimately creating an album that plays not only as a lush, seamless epic, but also as the most deeply personal effort of his career. What can listeners expect? Richer and weirder than 'The Stage Names' and deeper and moodier than even 'Black Sheep Boy,' 'I am Very Far' is dense, fragmented, opaque. A reverie of uncertainty, it feels at once disorienting and oddly familiar, threatening and friendly. Okkervil River have thrown away all maps and compasses but they continue to chart their way, unblinking, toward destinations unknown.
event::tags All Ages
1:00 AM
to 2:00 AM
The Head and the Heart
168 schedule::attendees
Location
Red 7 Patio
1:15 AM
to 2:15 AM
La Sera
125 schedule::attendees
Location
Red 7
eventtype Music
Artists La Sera
event::about Since joining all-female punk trio Vivian Girls during the spring of 2007 Katy Goodman's DIY-style bass playing and drifty-faded vocals have sent waves of adoration rippling throughout Brooklyn's pop punk circuit. Her newest band La Sera showcases her signature style, bringing her talent for creating dreamy pop songs even more to the forefront. After touring the world with Vivian Girls, releasing a handful of well-received records, and starting record label Wild World with her band mates, Goodman started exploring other outlets. She played in the short-lived dream-pop band All Saints Day in the spring of 2010, and a self-titled limited-edition 7" of spectral tunes was released on indie label Art Fag earlier this year. In February 2010 Goodman started working on some fresh material that inspired the formation of her brand new band, La Sera. Her inspiration sprung from an attraction to early pop hits from the 1950's and ethereal choral vocals. Her new songs contain warm celestial-pop melodies that echo with the dreamlike effect of a church choir and effuse a softer, less aggressive sound than the Vivian Girls. Recording with a tambourine, guitar, and layers upon layers of heavenly vocals, she started sending her songs to filmmaker/music producer Brady Hall (the director of Vivian Girls videos "Moped Girls" and "When I'm Gone"), who immediately wanted to collaborate and dove into re-recording her rough material himself. After hearing his finished work, Katy flew to Seattle and the two recorded all the vocals, mixed the songs and filmed two La Sera music videos at Brady's home studio. The eponymous La Sera is the result of these sessions. With a dozen fresh tracks, La Sera muses on death, love, and love lost within the span of two minute choiral pop blisters. The phantasmic quality of Goodman's voice takes hold of the contradictorily upbeat 'You're Going to Cry,' while 'Dove Into Love' seems to send time into drifting slow motion, enveloped by a wave of guitar strums. The lilting and delicate 'Hold,' meanwhile, tells the story of two people hugging each other to death. Hardly Art will release the full-length in early 2011, preceded by a limited 7' for 'Never Come Around' in November 2010.
event::tags All Ages
3:30 PM
to 4:30 PM
Kurt Vile And The Violators
298 schedule::attendees
Location
Auditorium Shores Stage (Lady Bird Lake)
eventtype Music
Artists Kurt Vile And The Violators
event::about Kurt Vile has a way of tying time in knots. You can hear it on his new album Smoke Ring For My Halo from the get-go – the pinwheeling guitars and reaching atmospheres of ‘Baby’s Arms’ are as strange as they are familiar: a demonstration of how Kurt can put worn methods and sounds through himself and end up with something that isn’t emotionally or sonically obvious. Instead we’re left with a record that contains traces of the past but doesn’t waste precious time in the now being reverent. Once compared to Leonard Cohen, Tom Petty, Psychic TV, and Animal Collective in the same review (for 2009’s Childish Prodigy), Kurt can bring to mind anything from Suicide to Leo Kottke to My Bloody Valentine, Bob Seger, Nick Drake, and Eastern ragas. Still, he pieces together these disparate elements so seamlessly and unpretentiously that such reference points are rendered pointless by the singularity of his sound. Kurt Vile might belong to a long lineage of classic American songwriters, but he’s the only one who’s alive and in his prime today. This is the fourth time Kurt Vile has put an album’s worth of songs together and stuck a name on it, but in a sense Smoke Ring For My Halo is his first real album – every flinching guitar arpeggio and vocal wander was made to be here, made with this record in mind, to sit alongside another in situ and in sequence. It seems weird saying this given the amount of ground he’s covered already, but Smoke Ring For My Halo is the perfect way into the music Kurt Vile makes. It’s tender and evocative, elusive but companionable, tough in the gut and the arm but swollen in the chest and giddy in the head. It’s a record that is perfect for any given day during whatever season, to satisfy all moods in every possible scenario – be that first thing in the morning or last thing at night; today, tomorrow or five years from now. In short, it’s real. Kurt Vile isn’t just the loneliest of ten siblings born to parents on the outskirts of Philadelphia, the former forklift truck driver who makes rock band guitar songs in the solitude of his bedroom. Smoke Ring For My Halo brings all of that together, marrying the introspection of the nocturnal stoner with the exploration of a troubadour frontiersman to arrive at a record you know is so much more than the sum of his and its constituent parts because often he sounds like he doesn’t know how he got there himself.
event::tags All Ages
8:30 PM
to 9:30 PM
Sharon Van Etten
241 schedule::attendees
Location
Central Presbyterian Church
eventtype Music
Artists Sharon Van Etten
event::about Sharon Van Etten came to Brooklyn via Jersey via Tennessee via Jersey. Along the way, she sang in choirs, rejected her school’s music program, worked at an all-ages venue, trained as a sommelier, and got a full time job at a record label. She also had some bad experiences in relationships. OK, more than some. epic, Van Etten’s second album, lays a romantic melancholy lining over the gravel and dirt of heartbreak, without one honest thought or feeling spared. She sings of betrayal, obsession, egotism and all the other emotions we hate in others and recognize in ourselves. Yet, Van Etten’s grounded and clenched vocals convey the sense of hope – the notion that beauty can come out of the worst of circumstances. epic is indeed that beauty. The album was recorded at Miner Street Studios in Philadelphia with Brian McTear. Where Van Etten’s first record, Because I Was In Love, explored her thoughts on love through minimalism and sparseness, epic embellishes her music to grandiose luminosity. Guitar and singing are joined by drums, piano, lap steel, and a trio of backing vocalists: Meg Baird (Espers), Cat Martino and Jessica Larrabee (She Keeps Bees). The result is a fully realized album that astounds as it elucidates, disturbs as it soothes. The final track, “Love More,” has already been covered live in a collaborative effort between Sharon fans Bon Iver and The National. A few things need to be made clear about SVE’s music. She’s not the type of “female singer/songwriter” who champions women-centric perspectives and denies personal accountability. Nor is she a strident provocateur. Rather, Van Etten is a performer who fully embraces her femininity while confidently expressing it through intelligent and mature perspectives on relationships. Those turned off by the provincialism of other performers will be pleased that you can identify with Van Etten’s incisive and universal observations about love and loss. Since her last album, Sharon Van Etten has sung on The Antlers’ Hospice and performed with them at Radio City Music Hall, sung improv on the Mike Reed Trio’s upcoming album, recorded backup vocals for Swedish popstar Anna Ternheim, appeared on the compilation with the recent issue of Esopus, collaborated with Megafaun (check YouTube!), will be on a soundtrack for the film The Builder along with Bon Iver and Phosphorescent, and has a seven-inch coming out this summer on Polyvinyl. After years of playing repeatedly around the New York scene, Van Etten is preparing for a series of tours that will take her through Europe and the United States. A full band will be realizing epic live.
event::tags All Ages
9:40 PM
to 10:40 PM
Prince Rama
72 schedule::attendees
Location
Mohawk
eventtype Music
Artists Prince Rama
event::about Spawned from the vernal heat of the Florida swamps amidst swirling patterns of pine orchards and pre-Columbian artifacts, Prince Rama was whispered into the ears of Taraka Larson, Nimai Larson, and Michael Collins in the summer of 2007 by the clanging of prayer bells and goat-skin drums. They left the Hare Krishna farm where they were staying to go to art school and form a creative nucleus in Boston. There, their engaging and often unpredictable ritualistic live shows attracted a rapid cult following, replete with collective chants, werewolf summonings, Sanskrit invocations, and the distribution of various handmade percussion to members of the audience. In spring 2009 the group departed from Boston and went on a series of extensive tours across the US and Europe, culminating in a tragic car robbery in which all their equipment got stolen. Thanks to an overwhelming outpouring from friends, family, and fans, the group was catapulted to rebuild and reinvent themselves from the ground up to make a unique new sound surcharged with a renewed sense of awe, gratitude, and urgency. The trio moved to Brooklyn, and with their new instruments wrote and recorded Shadow Temple, produced with the help of Rusty Santos and Dave (Avey Tare) and Josh (Deakin) of Animal Collective for release on Paw Tracks in September 2010.
event::tags 21+
11:00 PM
to 12:00 AM
JEFF The Brotherhood
147 schedule::attendees
Location
Mohawk Patio
eventtype Music
Artists JEFF The Brotherhood
event::about JEFF The Brotherhood is Jake and Jamin Orrall, two brothers that play drums and guitar. They grew up in Tennessee making music and trying to have a good time. Since their inception they have been playing anywhere from house parties to rooftops, backyards, bars and art galleries and releasing their own records, tapes, comic books and home made videos. The Brotherhood has been called "kraut punk", "psychedelic grunge" and "noise pop" drawing comparisons to bands like Hawkwind, Wipers, and early Sonic Youth. They have been carrying their heavy damage all over the country since 2006 and have shared bills with Oneida, Battles, Sonic Youth, Ex-Models, Jay Reatard, Black Pus and Dave Cloud. Their "we'll play anywhere" attitude and frenetic live shows have earned them near legendary status in the clubs and basements of Nashville and beyond. With three guitar strings and a minimal drum kit, they manage to distill rock to its primal essence.
event::tags All Ages
11:10 PM
to 12:10 AM
Big K.R.I.T.
86 schedule::attendees
Location
Billboard Bungalow @ Buffalo Billiards
eventtype Music
Artists Big K.R.I.T.
event::about Imagine Kanye West being born and raised in Meridian, Mississippi. Now imagine him being produced by Organized Noize. That imagery would create music almost identical to the Crooked Letter state’s next hip-hop heavyweight, Big K.R.IT (King remembered in time). The 24-year-old rapper slash producer defied the odds of both his personal life and hip-hop’s current landscape to be the most in-demand and respected rookie on the Cinematic Music Group/Def Jam Records roster. Rapping since twelve-years-old and producing from age 14, KRIT personifies the term Student of the Game. Being a product of one of the smallest cities below the Mason Dixon line the young MC didn’t have the financial means required to purchase tracks and studio time. So K.R.I.T took a much more economical approach and began mastering the MTV Music Generator on his Playstation. Wanting to elevate his sonic craft he then studied local friends who were a bit more advanced in certain areas of production, or sit for hours and watch an engineer homie mix a song. On the lyrical side, Big K.R.I.T kept an ear bent to the cadence and profound pronunciation of great orators like the Notorious B.I.G, Tupac and Pimp C. The Mississippi eagle also bathed in the classic compositions of legendary teams like OutKast and 8ball and MJG. “These guys influenced me because they rapped about what they knew about and they kept it 100,” says K.R.I.T. “Even like an Organized Noize––they stayed true to what they did and branded a sound. So they influenced me to stay true to myself and rap about what I know about.” Instead of making the mistake many a young artist in search of an identity commit––becoming a Xerox copy of their influences–– K.R.I.T developed his own sound. That he was raised on his parents’ soul music (Bobby Womack, Willie Hutch) explains why his production comes rich with rolling percussion, smooth yet potent baselines and keys that are sugar cane sweet. It’s homemade molasses in stereo. With a perfect self-produced score as the backdrop, K.R.I.T uses a fluid and personable flow to captivatingly give his own Merridian, Mississippi narrative, complete with entertaining quips, steely confidence and food for thought. During a time when southern MCs succeed by hanging their hat on their drug dealing history or street lord affiliation, whether authentic or fictitious, K.R.I.T.’s true-to-self approach is a courageous one. “People wanna hear relatable music––something not so far from their every day,” he says, before adding. “A lot of times people get caught up in making a hit and it isn’t timeless because it doesn’t serve a purpose. If I have a voice and the opportunity to speak to millions of people I at least have to say something important.” The Big K.R.I.T. formula was not only pure it was undeniable. His underground ascendance began in 2005 when an Atlanta DJ placed his song “We Gon’ Hate” on their mixtape without request. Feeling validated K.R.I.T decided to put 100% into upgrading his music dreams to reality. The next year he would drop out of Meridian Community College and move to Atlanta. In the peach state, K.R.I.T. would get a crash course in industry biz. Whether it was selling discounted beats to local artists, engineering their sessions and/or mixing their songs–––being that he was talented at more than just beat making––K.R.I.T did it to make ends meet. After a few years of releasing underground music K.R.I.T.’s music started to catch peoples attention, allowing him to entertain the countless music execs and managers who expressed interest in him throughout his years in Atlanta’s underground. One of those interested was Jon “Shipes” Shapiro, head of Cinematic Music Group (Sean Kingston, Nipsey Hussle). The two agreed on a deal in January 2010 and set forth to turn B.K into the next hip-hop superstar. According to Shipes K.R.I.T.’s palpability makes his market potential a no-brainer: “In real life he’s just a kid from a small town whose music is phenomenal.” K.R.I.T. then went to work on his Cinematic Music Group debut, the street album K.R.I.T. Wuz Here. The underground opus that birthed gems like the trunk rattler “Country Shit,” poignant “Children of The World” and irresistible Devin The Dude assisted “Moon & Stars” snatched the attention of many hip-hop heads; none more important than former 50 Cent manager and G-Unit Records President Sha Money XL. Upon receiving an early preview of K.R.I.T. Wuz Here, Sha was “blown away.” So once the veteran exec landed a position at Def Jam as Senior VP of A&R last April he made sure his first signee was K.R.I.T. Though at the time the Mississippi gem’s John Hancock was also being sought aggressively by other labels, K.R.I.T. chose the exec with the most enthusiasm for his music. “Sha just kept saying ‘I love this! I believe in it,’” tells K.R.I.T. “He was just so adamant about it.” Now, the rap game has received a breath of country fresh air: an artist that insists on remaining an individual and feeding his growing audience with feel-good rhythms and “rhymes with morals.” Big K.R.I.T. is in fact The Truth. Within a month of acquiring his deal he was not only critically acclaimed and courted for interviews by media giants like XXL, The Source, Rapradar.com and MTV.com, he gained fans in his own peer group––from buzzing newbies (Wiz Khalifa, Currensy and Smoke Dza) to living legends (Ludacris, Bun B). Today whether its hip-hop lovers in the skyscraping offices of Def Jam or those in the small town of Meridian, MS, they’re all feeling the synergy being churned by the birth of rap’s next royalty. So until Mr. King Remembered In Time releases his 2011 Def Jam debut all hip-hop can do is witness a reign on the rise.
event::tags 21+
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