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Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Found it on YouTube! Conchords SXSW doc
New Zealand’s fourth most popular comedy folk duo made this documentary after a 2006 visit to SXSW. Not as funny as the HBO show, but lotsa Austin sights and folks you might recognize. Stick around ‘til the 7:24 mark for a funny dig at the Broken Spoke crowd.
Here’s also a longer version with Roland Swenson, among others, being interviewed by Bret and Jemaine. Had no idea the brilliantly naive FOTC ever played SXSW, but then have only been aware of them for a couple months.
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Island at Emo’s
Earlier this week, Islands frontman Nick Thorburn told local blog Austinist that the respect paid to journalists (and A&R and marketing people) is way out of proportion to the respect paid to “artists” like himself, and that the artists are the people who work the hardest.
Comments like that leave reviewers with options as polarizing as Islands’ new album, “Arm’s Way,” its glorious pop sheen inching the band away from the vaunted indie realm and closer to the dreaded mainstream.
Option 1: Give Islands negative coverage to get back at Thorburn. (Obviously, we’d never do that.) Option 2: Give Islands positive coverage to show Thorburn his comments don’t mean a thing. (Ditto.) Respectfully, of course, this reviewer opted for somewhere in between for the Montreal band’s Monday show at Emo’s.
It began with the slow and calculated build-up of “Vertigo (If It’s a Crime)” from the new album. Guitars, keys, and drums found their way as the sextet’s odd player out vacillated between maracas, violin, and a giant chain that created a mesmerizing sound effect when jingled. Right when the predominantly under-21 crowd was about to fall asleep from all the noodling on the “gothic symphony in three acts,” Islands transitioned into “The Arm,” a triumphant song about divine intervention.
Complex arrangements and lyrics both personal and fantastical — Thorburn’s epic narratives ranged from beating cancer to tracking sasquatches to the murder of a fisherman by a group of teenagers — were what Islands did best. Where they lacked was in sense of purpose. Thorburn was stiff as a board, complained about playing the awesome hip-hop song “Where There’s a Will There’s a Whalebone” from their debut album, “Return to the Sea,” and — worst of all — wore a white T-shirt with a red blotch over his heart, creating the illusion that it was bleeding. Apparently, Thorburn doesn’t know that respect is a two-way street.
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Trail of Dead launch new label, ready new album
A new album is due in January 2009. It was produced by Mike McCarthy and Chris “Frenchie” Smith.
Billboard reports their last album, “So Divided” (Interscope, 2006) sold 26,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
Ouch.
Fans might recall Trail of Dead’s earlier, funnier (and more Unwound-sounding) albums for Trance Syndicate and Merge.
Image of Trail of Dead by Deborah Cannon/AMERICAN-STATESMAN
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CD Review: Sigur Ros
Sigur Ros
“Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust ” (XL)
Four stars
Iceland’s most powerful musical export (sorry Bjork), Sigur Ros manages to shift the dynamic pitch and tenor of their new compositions without losing the plot-threads of their preexisting blueprint: ethereal, soul-melting music combined with rock ‘n’ roll instrumentation, classical strings and minimalist arrangements.
Vocalist/guitarist Jon Thor Birgisson and his pitch-perfect falsetto provide a rutter through the tempestuous musicianship of bassist Georg Holm, keyboardist Kjartan Sveinsson and drummer Orri Páll Dýrason.
The band shook up its regular recording process by working with producer Flood (U2, P.J. Harvey) in their Reykjavík home studio, as well as at Abbey Road and an unnamed studio in Cuba. Other co-collaborators include the London Sinfonietta, the London Oratory Boy’s Choir and the Amiina string quartet.
Opening track “Gobbledigook” is a playful allegro that immediately announces the band’s ventures into lighter waters as opposed to the darkly beautiful and baroque compositions that have helped the band build their enormous word-of-mouth following.
The influence of Sigur Ros’ 2007 acoustic tour dominates the sparse, elegiac “Illgresi.” The arrangement, stripped down to a haunting melody and a lone acoustic guitar, yields a poignant contrast to the rest of the album’s more orchestrated and majestic moments. “Inni mér syngur vitleysingur” morphs into triumphant pomp and stomp at about the three minute and 30 seconds mark, taking a heart-churning turn complete with a chorus of trumpets and assorted brass horns. “Godan Daginn” occupies more familiar Sigur Ros instrumentation and melody; the band creates bold verses that build toward epic choruses layered under Birgisson’s angelic Icelandic vocal. It’s the sound of deferred dreams coming to fruition.
Recommended download: “Godan daginn” and “Inni mér syngur vitleysingur”
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Video: Ocote Soul Sounds
Austin’s downbeat, world groove, fusion act Ocote Soul Sounds opens for DC-based DJ duo Thievery Corporation tonight at a sold out show at Stubb’s BBQ. They also host the official Thievery Corporation afterparty tonight at the Mohawk. We caught up with Martin Perna, Ocote Soul Sounds founder to chat about the band’s sound and origin as well as their relationship with Thievery Corporation.
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Free Willie!
Willie Nelson and Family celebrate the reopening of Carl’s Corner biodiesel truckstop with a free concert July 3. Also on the bill are Merle Haggard and Ray Price. Donations to the Freddy Powers Parkinson Organization (FPPO) are urged, but not required for admission.
Wilie’s Place at Carl’s Corner, as the truckstop has been newly christened, is about 140 miles north of Austin on I-35. The July 3 show runs from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. with a lot of opening acts.
David Allan Coe and Ray Wylie Hubbard will also play free shows at Carl’s Whiskey River Saloon on July 1 and 2. Willie and Family get the whole thing started with a private benefit concert June 30.
This article in the Waco Tribune gives more info.
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