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Monday, February 25, 2008
SXSW meet the bands — Bellafea
Now meet Bellafea, aka Heather McEntire (guitar, vox); Nathan Buchanan (drums) and Eddie Sanchez (bass). The band, which plays at midnight March 13 at Habana Calle 6 (709 E 6th St), answered our five questions by e-mail.
Describe your sound for someone who has not heard your music before.
Post-punk. North Carolina. Dischord. Dissonance. Angular. Jagged. Urgent. A cooled tea kettle catching fever, release.
Name five albums you could not live without.
Eddie: Swervedriver “Raise”; Sun Kil Moon “Ghosts of the Great Highway”; Broken Social Scene “You Forgot it in People”; Ween “The Mollusk”; and LCD Soundsystem “Sound of Silver.”
Nathan: Thunderlip “The Prophecy”; Ume “Urgent Sea”; Zegota “Reclaim Ampere/Sinaloa” split LP; Hope and Anchor “Geography.”
Heather: Neil Young “Decade”; Sleater-Kinney “Dig Me Out”; Leonard Cohen “Best of” (released 1975); Aislers Set “Terrible Things Happen”; Townes Van Zant “Be Here to Love Me.”
What’s the story behind your band’s name?
Heather: I had bought a bunch of old French and Italian records from the thrift store, trying to learn how to speak the languages. It’s pretty simple; I just put two words together that seemed to fit the music I was writing; a linguistic contradiction that sonically expressed the duality of our dynamics.
What is the one thing you want everyone to know about your band?
Heather: We love the south.
Nathan: I have a photo I keep in my wallet. Stop me on the street and I’ll show you.
Eddie: Come see a show!
(Photo from myspace.com/bellafea)
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SXSW meet the bands — Blue Mountain
Another of our e-mail interviews with a SXSW showcase band. Now up: Blue Mountain, who play at midnight March 12 at Pangaea, 409 Colorado St.
Describe your sound for someone who has not heard your music before.
Our sound reflects our Mississippi and Louisiana background, featuring original songs that combine influences of country, blues and ’70s rock.
Name five albums you could not live without.
“Astral Weeks,” Van Morrison; the Robert Johnson recordings; “Rubber Soul” by the Beatles; “Decade” by Niel Young; “Exile on Main St.” by the Rolling Stones.
Name five acts you want to see at SXSW.
Haven’t looked at the list yet, but I hope Billy Joe Shaver is playing it again, I saw him last year and it was pure inspirado.
What’s the story behind your band’s name?
We were looking at a map of Mississippi when we were living in LA, and it looked cool… it’s a small town in North MS.
What is the one thing you want everyone to know about your band?
We are releasing two records this year, a record of the best songs from our back catalog re-recorded in Oxford, and an album of new songs that we are working on now in Dallas.
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SXSW: Meet the bands — Bun B of UGK
As part of our continuing coverage of all things SXSW, we sent questions via e-mail to many of the bands performing official showcases. Look for the responses here leading up to the music festival, which is March 12-16.
First up: Bernard “Bun B” Freeman, one half of the pioneering Houston hip-hop duo UGK. Bun B’s musical partner, Chad “Pimp C” Butler, died in December at age 33. For more of our coverage of Pimp C’s life and death, go here.
Bun B performs at midnight March 12 at Fuze, 505 Neches St.
Describe your sound for someone who has not heard your music before.
My album sound is Southern hospitality mixed with some down-home realness and good ol’-fashion truth, like mama used to make.
Name five albums you could not live without.
Isley Brothers greatest hits; Maze, “Live in New Orleans”; Radiohead, “OK Computer”; Ice Cube’s “America’s Most Wanted”; and Geto Boys “We Can’t Be Stopped.”
Name five acts you want to see at SXSW.
Dizzee Rascal, Bavu Blakes, Wale, BOB and the Body of War Collective with Kimya and Serj.
What’s the story behind your band’s name?
Bun B is short for bunny, my older family’s nickname for me as a child (call me bunny and you’re not my family, you got trouble).
What is the one thing you want everyone to know about your band?
That my brother, the co-founder of UGK (Pimp C), was one of the most prolific producers in hip-hop.
(Photo by Ricardo Brazziell AMERICAN-STATESMAN)
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SXSW shocker! Wristbands didn’t sell out
The good news: everyone who entered the SXSW wristband lottery, which closed today at 9 a.m., got one. SXSW director Roland Swenson estimated that 3,500 of the 4,000 allotment were sold. The other 500 will go into the pool of wristbands which will go on sale a couple days before the music fest starts March 12. The price then will be $180 each, up from the advance price of $139.
“Maybe we made it too hard,” Swenson said. “Every time we try something new, it takes a little while to catch on.” He also thinks that maybe folks were scared off by what looked to be a much greater demand. “It’s like the Tony Bennett show,” he said in reference to a SXSW showcase that was poorly attended because everyone assumed that there would be zero chance of getting in.
The lottery system, which requires a photo ID that matches the credit card order at pickup, was put in place to discourage ticket brokers.
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Waterloo’s SXSW instores
WATERLOO RECORDS SXSW 2008 IN-STORE PERFORMANCES
THURSDAY, MARCH 13th
2pm SARA BAREILLES 3pm RUBY SUNS 4pm INGRID MICHAELSON 5pm CADENCE WEAPON 6pm DIE!DIE!DIE!
FRIDAY, MARCH 14th
2pm SHELBY LYNNE 3pm SEA WOLF 4pm DIVISION DAY 5pm ELF POWER 6pm KIMYA DAWSON
SATURDAY, MARCH 15th
2pm SAVIOURS 3pm TIMES NEW VIKING 4pm OLA PODRIDA 5pm CARBON/ SILICON 6pm HALF JAPANESE
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Review: Brand Nubian
It was the first free Scion hip-hop party I had been to in a hot minute and I was pleased when I didn’t encounter a daunting line outside the club. Instead, my husband and I strolled in casually with just a flash of IDs. Inside the club at about 10:45 p.m. it already felt like a party. The crowd was rapidly filling out and DJ Cosmo Baker was throwing down hard, quick-mixing hip-hop classics and old school funk breaks.
Around 11 p.m. the Keystones, a tight seven-piece instrumental ensemble reminiscent of the Dap Kings, took the stage. Like the Dap Kings (backers of Sharon Jones and Amy Winehouse) the Keystones are predominantly white cats who have probably spent a whole lot of time in dimly lit rooms poring over dusty old soul 45s. They build their funk with a snappy rhythmic interplay between percussion and guitar laid underneath tightly laced melodic horn lines. It’s good stuff. A cinematic soundscape that seems designed to support intelligent rhyme styles. (I’m starting to wonder if these instrumental ensembles, Dap Kings, El Michels Affair, Keystones, et al, represent some sort of trend, the older hip-hop generation’s soul revival rejection of the Casio groove simplicity of modern tracks like “Laffy Taffy” and “Soulja Boy.”)
Halfway through the Keystones’ set, the musicians were joined by the lovely Connie Price who, continuing the unavoidable Dap Kings comparison, projected a smooth “California cool” soul sound which marks a sharp contrast to Sharon Jones’ deep Southern grit. It concluded a nice set. The audience was feeling it; multiple young men professed undying love for Price and when the band introduced Brand Nubian a roar went through the crowd. But the enthusiasm was rapidly dampened as rappers Lord Jamar and Sadat X announced that the group’s third rapper, arguably the main attraction, Grand Puba would not be at the show. Sadat X and Lord Jamar put on a solid performance, and the backing band helped to fill in the gaps, but as the group ran through its underground hits, there was undeniably something missing. As the rappers concluded their set, the crowd cheered enthusiastically, but there was no raucous call for an encore. Instead, Cosmo Baker took back the wheels and while half the crowd streamed out of the club, the other half resumed the dance party.
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Waterloo Top 10 for the week ending Feb. 23
Vampire Weekend, ‘s/t’ (XL)
Jack Johnson, “Sleep Through the Static” (Brushfire)
Original Soundtrack: “Juno,” (Rhino)
Bob Schneider, “When the Sun Breaks Down on the Moon” (Shokorama)
Radiohead, ‘In Rainbows’ (ATO)
Carolyn Wonderland, “Miss Understood” (Mri Associated)
Willie Nelson, ‘Moment of Forever’ (Lost Highway)
Amy Winehouse, “Back to Black” (Republic)
Cat Power, ‘Jukebox,” (Matador)
Herbie Hancock, “River: The Joni Letters”(Verve)
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Did you get a wristband?
We detailed how the new SXSW online wristband drawing works here.
The drawing closed at 9 a.m. this morning, at which point an automated system was to begin randomly drawing entries and charging credit cards. Let us know if your entry was drawn and how you feel about the new SXSW wristband system in the comments below.
(Pictured: Times New Viking at SXSW 2007 AMERICAN-STATESMAN)
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Musicmania Top 10 for the week ending Feb.
Jim Jones ‘Harlem’s American Gangster’ (Koch)
Keyshia Cole ‘Just Like You’ (Geffen)
Lil’ Flip & Mr. Capone ‘Still Connected’ (Koch)
Wendell B ‘Love Life & Relationships’ (Smoothway Music)
The-Dream ‘LoveHate’ (Def Jam)
Birdman ‘5 Stunna’ (Cash Money)
Mary J Blige ‘Growing Pains’ (Geffen)
UGK ‘Underground Kingz’ (Jive)
Scarface ‘M.A.D.E. Screwed & Chopped’ (Rap-A-Lot)
Alicia Keys ‘As I Am’ (J Records)
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SXSW Spin party lineup includes X, Vampire Weekend and the Raveonettes
Los Angeles punk pioneers X will headline the Spin party at SXSW this year. Also featured will be mega-buzz band Vampire Weekend, the Raveonettes, the Whigs, Ben Jelen, Switches and deejay sets from Diplo and Pandemonium Jones.
The invitation-only event will be from 12:30 to 6 p.m. Friday, March 14, at Stubb’s. For a chance at two free passes, write 100 words or fewer on the SXSW act you’re most looking forward to seeing (post our entry in our comments section). We’ll pick the winner in two weeks.
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Review: The Black Lips
Just last October, Atlanta’s self-described “flower punk” group, the Black Lips, played Emo’s inside and packed the house for a night full of dance-inducing vintage rock ‘n’ roll and antics. Five months later, on Saturday night, the rowdy garage rock foursome were upgraded to the outside stage and filled the venue again.
From the bass riff jump-off on “O Katrina!,” a sing-along tune about the hurricane full of guitar distortion and squeal, fans flung their bodies into any open spot they could down front and the dancing began. Songs like this one off their latest release, “Good Bad Not Evil,” as well as plenty of older favorites had everyone shaking their hands in the air within the blast radius in front of the stage. But the intensity seemed to dissipate as it reached the outskirts of the crowd. The jangling guitar strings, bouncing beat and riotous old school rock ‘n’ roll on “Cold Hands” would have been better bounding around an indoor venue. Instead the brunt of it unraveled as it approached the fringes.
When the band reached the cover of French singer Jacques Dutronc’s “Hippie, Hippie, Hoorah,” the crowd reached back with hands grabbing at the gritty ’60s rock sound. Then, without a single bit of vomiting, nudity or urination (unlike past shows by the Black Lips), the band finished their set, leaving those expecting a solid rock show satiated and those hoping for novelty disappointed.
Also on the bill: Local rockers on the rise White Denim commanded attention, and the Strange Boys opened the show with a sound very similar to the Black Lips.
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