South By Southwest

SXSW Song of the Day: Dash Rip Rock

Posted on January 21, 2016 by Gary in Everything, Song of the Day, South By Southwest | Leave a comment

Jambalaya (On the Bayou) was a 50s country number by Hank Williams. The pace reminds one of exactly those meandering and circuitous swamps, and the lazy glance of alligators as they bobble between the cypress trees waiting to catch you unawares while enjoying a beer and jambalaya with your “cher ami-o”. You would think injecting rock energy into this kind of music would be very difficult. Enter Dash Rip Rock. With a high-octane, high-proof repertoire spanning 30 years and 13 albums, not to mention their Louisiana roots, this was almost second nature to them. Although I’d argue there is no speed slow enough for me to ever understand the lyrics – it’s a little like listening to Newfoundlanders (and I don’t mean it in any negative way).

This Jambalaya cover, of course, is just the tip of the iceberg. Since being inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame in 2012, Dash Rip Rock had put out a few more albums, the latest one is titled “Wrongheaded”, which we will no doubt find on the set list when they play at SXSW. While I can’t even begin to articulate the difference between roots rock, country rock, and Rock rock, I look forward to being enlightened while turning temporarily deaf.

SXSW Song Of The Day: SPEAK – Gates

Posted on January 14, 2016 by Gary in Music, Song of the Day, South By Southwest | Leave a comment

A lot of us at Panic Manual are no stranger to Austin, TX, justifiably the “live music capital of the world”. But it always adds a layer of scintillating mystery when you visit musicians and artists at their home base. I usually jump up and down at the opportunity: lyrics and conspicuous name-dropping aside, can one divine some source of spatiotemporally compartmentalized inspiration, be it cultural, historical, or geopolitical that the artists draw on? Well, if you try to parse that out using the Internets, the band that I’m about to introduce will itself introduce a brick wall of googleplex proportions. Looking for “Speak” in “Austin during SxSW” is likely second only to “Sing/song” in same and gives way to some convoluted contextual meta analysis that will delight only academics and self-identified intellectuals. In the past 10 minutes, I have had more instances of “does not compute” than I would from debugging a badly commented Fortran code.

If you haven’t figured out what I’m trying to say yet, here’s a layman’s summary: SPEAK is a band formed in Austin Texas with an unfortunate choice of name, but incidentally very fortunate choices in melody. Synthesized, remixed and sampled pieces typically form the backdrop to which the lead vocalist Troupe Gammage unleashes his talented howls. The synthpop component is never overly long-lasting and the aftertaste is strictly indie rock in a very pleasant manner. And now that I must think about it, there is hardly a detectable trace of Austin in the music. But that would be the difference between locals and tourists, or perhaps regular people and snobs, for all I know.

SPEAK put out a new album called Pedals last year – I particularly like “Congo,” “Gates” (below) and “Nightlight” from that effort. While it seems in all likelihood true, due to the aforementioned, significantly sturdy brick wall, I haven’t figured out whether they are confirmed at SxSW this year. But hopefully we will see them with hometown advantage this spring.

SXSW Song of the Day: Basia Bulat – Fool

Posted on January 8, 2016 by Ricky in South By Southwest | Leave a comment

basiabulat

New year, you know what that means? SXSW is around the corner. Let’s look at some people playing this festival.

Basia Bulat has a new record coming out this year. The album is called Good Advice. Word on the street (or her page) says it’s a break up album and she drove 600 miles to Kentucky to record it with Jim James of My Morning Jacket. My real question would be, why not fly? It’s probably at best a 250 dollar one way flight and if you factor in gas prices and wear and tear on the car (assuming she was using her own), the difference is minimal at best. Sure driving might be cheaper, but there might be long standing costs to her trip that she might not be aware of, mostly concerning wear and tear on her car.

Anyways, it probably doesn’t sound as much of a journey if the PR email said she took the free shuttle to the airport, flew Porter to Midway and then transferred over to Kentucky to record an album.

Basia has always had a knack for writing catchy melodies and Fool is no exception. This track has got an uplifty vibe to it which makes me wonder, has anyone done a breakup album where they are breaking up with someone else, but is not exactly broken up about it?

Fool, I presume is a track off her new record, called Good Advice which is out in February.

Basia is also playing SXSW in March and probably somewhere near you at some point in the given future.

Check it out.

SXSW 2015: Final Recap and Roundtable

Posted on April 3, 2015 by Ricky in Everything, South By Southwest | Leave a comment

Another year, another SXSW. It all seems like an old hat by now.

Having had some time to reflect on the week that was, we met up virtually and did some reflecting.

How was it this year compared to other years?

Ricky: SXSW seemed to scale back on the mega acts this year, which is just fine by me. I think last year’s excess and carnage made the organization take a step back and reflect on how much the festival got out of control. This year felt a bit smaller and it was great. Personally, I feel like I’m getting old and can’t handle ten days of SXSW anymore. Of course, this is something I am saying now. It’s a tradition now more then anything. An expensive tradition.

Paul: This was my fifth year going to SXSW and I’m starting to feel about it like I did about Police Academy Five – still pretty good, but it’s starting to lose a bit of it’s lustre for me. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still a lot of fun with a lot of great moments, but I’m starting to get a bit of that “seen it all before” feeling. Maybe I’m just getting too old …

Derek: This was my sixth consecutive year and I feel like the magic has worn off a little. I refuse to wait more than a few minutes to get into a venue so that meant I didn’t get to see some acts (notably HUM).

Gary: Somehow I was a lot more enthused about SXSW this year. Although this would contrast with my photo-output by number of pics. It could be due to a multitude of factors: the sobering effect from last year’s tragic car accident; the conspicuous downturn in advertisement/endorsement; the fact that we have a hotel near downtown again; and my new camera is still not an integrated part of my body…

Best act?

Derek: James Bay at St. David’s Sanctuary. This was a perfect, intimate venue to see the 25-year old class act.

Ricky: Kate Tempest blew my mind the first time I saw her and truly, nothing was better then her searing show at Latitude 30. I will see her at NXNE and drag a bunch of people there. I also saw Emmy the Great, who was quite fantastic.

Gary: Hinds. They don’t necessarily have the best songs, nor the most memorable lines (that would go to overtime between Emmy the Great and Laura Marling), but they have an energy reserve that could rival a Tesla P85. When the next act failed to show up, they took it upon themselves to keep playing an extra 15 min. The Spaniards probably have the besst attitude I’ve seen in a band at SXSW.

Paul: Torres

Most disappointing act?

Gary: I didn’t have a crushingly disappointing experience this year. If I had to, I would nominate Buffalo Billiards as the most disappointing venue. They failed to support Dry the River (who were forced to give an acoustic set in their socks while drinking beer) then Palma Violets (who had to cut their act to 2 songs) on consecutive days. Either their sound system needs an upgrade, or the sound guy needs a new job.

Paul: No big disappointments this year, though i was a little disappointed in myself for missing out on a few acts I should have seen, including Calypso legend The Mighty Sparrow’s set at Karma Lounge. He ended up going on later than scheduled but after hearing rumours that he might not even show up, I hedged my bets and went to see something else instead.

Ricky: Black River had so much trouble setting up that they played a half set. That was disappointing considering they are 2/3 of the Doves. The Church did not play “Under the Milky Way”

Most Pleasant Discovery?

Gary: Most pleasant surprise would be Grace Weber. Her set was well-controlled, energetic, and perhaps most important to the central spirit of SXSW, not overtly crowded or hyped. It’s also nice to hear soul music in Bethell Hall for once.

Paul: Out of disappointment grew a discovery. Though I missed out on Mighty Sparrow, I did end up seeing Codrington Pan Family instead. The steel pan playing family band were also playing the Trinidad and Tobago showcase, though they went on an hour past their scheduled time. Mighty Sparrow was supposed to go on then and as they took to the stage I kept expecting him to come out, like they were his backing band and were warming up the crowd for him. I soon realized that wasn’t the case and kind of resented them for it, but then I realized, who cares – these guys put on a fun show and impressed with steel pan covers of “Happy,” “Get Lucky,” “In The Mood,” and even the damn “Can Can.”

Derek: Years and Years at FLOOD Magazine/Cedar Street Courtyard. Catchy British synthpop. You’re going to hear their infection single “Kings” for the rest of the year so much that you’ll be sick of it..

Ricky: I knew of Kate Tempest but she was fantastic. Shura was an act I never heard of but she was also very good. I also discovered how much I liked Deerhoof and The Oh See’s live act. I saw 58 bands this year at SXSW so it’s a bit of a blur.

See you next year, SXSW (?)

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