L.A. Buzz Bands Show, tonight at 7 on KCSN
Kevin Bronson on
0
Since I’m still in Austin, tonight’s L.A. Buzz Bands Show on KCSN (88.5 FM, streaming at KCSN.org) will be a rebroadcast of my Jan. 15 show. Hey, it’s worth revisiting.
SXSW 2012: Dive’s head-first rock, fun with Fanfarlo and Niki & the Dove’s high-flying electro
Seraphina Lotkhamnga on
0
@Seraphina_L on Saturday at SXSW: Oversized T-shirt and baggy pants made Zachary Cole Smith and his bandmates in Dive an odd watch, but what they offered was surprisingly and fervidly beyond their years. No-nonsense guitar-driven rock with head-banging, hair-whipping ferocity made us wonder how these kids (who look no older than 12) came from as […]
SXSW 2012: Mumford & Sons, Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros and a night at ‘Big Easy Express’
Kevin Bronson on
0
One good idea spawned another Saturday evening at South by Southwest. Last spring’s Railroad Revival Tour – the train journey that carried Mumford & Sons, Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros and Old Crow Medicine Show from Oakland to New Orleans and stopped for six shows along the way – was documented by director Emmett […]
SXSW 2012: The Heavy gets sweaty, Bob Mould’s sweet Sugar and buenas noches with Y La Bamba
Kevin Bronson on
1
@KRBronson on Saturday’s final fling at SXSW: “How You Like Me Now?” – the title of the Heavy’s ubiquitous 2009 single – seemed like a relevant question Saturday at SXSW. The improbable emergence of the funk- and fire-breathing sextet from the hinterlands of England is a true underdog story: They nailed the Curtis Mayfield-meets-indie-rock formula […]
SXSW 2012: Puckering up for You Say France & I Whistle, Delta Spirit, Cloud Nothings, Chad Valley
Kevin Bronson on
0
Superstar showcases be damned: South by Southwest is made for bands like You Say France & I Whistle. Five people with a silly band name and just-happy-to-be-here attitudes hop off a plane from frozen Sweden and dive into a flurry of shows showcasing their impossibly catchy and improbably clever pop songs. From the first clink […]
SXSW 2012: Gary Clark Jr., an original; Of Monsters and Men, not so much; light moments with J. Tillman
Seraphina Lotkhamnga on
0
@Seraphina_L on Friday at SXSW: If there’s one artist who will make aching feet, humidity and a 12-block hike more than worth it, it’s Austin’s very own Gary Clark Jr. The emcee at Waterloo Records’ outdoor stage mentioned having followed Clark since he was 15 years old, and considering Clark’s deafening buzz at SXSW this […]
SXSW 2012: Best Coast, how they want to be
Kevin Bronson on
0
The new material from Best Coast – whose sophomore album “The Only Place” arrives May 15 – seems soaked in “woe-is-me” and “I-don’t-know,” but there was no lack of certitude Friday at Stubb’s BBQ in Austin, where the L.A. quartet was second-billed at the annual SPIN party during South by Southwest.
SXSW 2012: A call to Arms, the Arkells’ quirky road map to Canada, Charli XCX and some L.A. flavors
Kevin Bronson on
0
@KRBronson on Thursday at SXSW (also see: Jesus and Mary Chain review): Arms makes indie-rock for people who like indie-rock, with sharp guitar and bass lines, sharper lyrics and arresting shifts in tempo and mood that toggle adeptly between nice and gnarly. Mastermind Todd Goldstein once played in Harlem Shakes, who had their 15 minutes […]
SXSW 2012: Joining the Slow Club, sipping Alabama Shakes and late nights with Gossip’s Beth Ditto
Seraphina Lotkhamnga on
0
@Seraphina_L on Thursday at SXSW: U.K. duo Slow Club opened their set with a couple of intimately twee songs at the Parish, but it didn’t take long for Charles Watson and Rebecca Taylor to fill out their alt-folk sound with a full band. Taylor especially showed her versatility as she also took on the guitar […]
SXSW 2012: The Jesus and Mary Chain, full volume
Kevin Bronson on
2
You never knew with the Jesus and Mary Chain, right? The brooding Scottish fuzzmeisters could be sloppy and quarrelsome, or they could be cocksure and compelling. On Thursday night at the Belmont for Paste magazine’s SXSW showcase, the quintet helmed by brothers Jim and William Reid tended toward the latter. The biggest calamity to befall […]