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Gary, Author at The Panic Manual

SXSW Review: Emily Barker, March 16, Swan Dive

Posted on April 1, 2024 by Gary in South By Southwest | Leave a comment

On the last night of possibly our last SXSW, a clearly Australian Emily Barker got ready on the small indoor stage at Swan Dive in a hurry, while stragglers from the patio were still trickling in. As if a confidence booster, not to herself but to the tens of us present who stood six feet from each other, she announced, “As you can see, it’s just me, and I’m quiet. In fact, I’m fucking quiet, so won’t everyone please gather … →

SXSW Review: Moritz Simon Geist, JFDR, Hinako Omori, March 15, Central Presbyterian Church

Posted on March 31, 2024 by Gary in South By Southwest | Leave a comment

Moritz Simon Geist’s approach to “sound ideation” is earnest if not eccentric and philosophical. This night, he was using a machine that senses tension/stress to make music. Technically, so does every string instrument, but I’m sure he has a very good reason to distinguish his creation. It is connected to what seemed like a small 16 pipe organ. However, I was not clear whether the music was LIVE, pre-recorded, or were the stress pre-recorded and then played-back and sampled to … →

SXSW Review: Enji, Tengger, Dasom Baek, March 13, Central Presbyterian Church

Posted on March 30, 2024 by Gary in South By Southwest | Leave a comment

Enji is a Mongolian vocalist from Munich, Germany. Her jazz-infused song repertoire had the warmth of a 1990s Miyazaki animation soundtrack, choked full of ebullience. The songwriting is free spirited and at no point across the 45 minute set did I feel any redundancy in the numbers. Technically she sounded effortless as well, even if she was simply accompanied by bass and guitar. Only the occasional solos may remind you that, yes, this is still grounded in jazz. Overall, this … →

SXSW Review: Sofi Paez, Lisa Morgenstern, Grandbrothers, March 12, Central Presbyterian Church

Posted on March 30, 2024 by Gary in South By Southwest | Leave a comment

This night at the Presbyterian we have offerings from Sofi Paez, Lisa Morgenstern, and Grandbrothers. Costa Rican pianist Sofi Paez showcased a string of hurried yet pensive numbers. If that seems contradictory, it’s because not only is her piano layered with other sounds, the music is also reminiscent of a classical acoustic guitar, polyphonic with fluent passages of a fairly simple melody. This night she included pieces from her 2023 EP circles as well as previous works. It is world-building … →