SXSW

SXSW Review: Ibeyi, March 18

Posted on March 28, 2015 by Ricky in South By Southwest | Leave a comment

Ibeyi

Ibeyi will be one of the bands you hear about coming out of SXSW because frankly, they are irresistible. Ibeyi means twins in Yoruba a language spoken by Lisa-Kaindé and Naomi Diaz. Their music although minimal, has powerful flare that is rather refreshing in today’s world.

On stage, the pair are captivating and charming. The unique way they handle percussions (one song involves body taps and snapping the finger to replace instruments) was just one of the highlights of their show which put at the forefront all the things that has the internet world buzzing. The duo’s harmonizations were so on point I thought it was because of some supernatural twin thing.

Genuinely beaming at the chance to play in front of a large crowd at Youtube Coppertank (what a venue name), the duo’s enthusiasm easily permeated into the crowd which resulted in some fun call and responses and interactions. The group is touring North America now, make sure you see them if you get the chance.

SXSW: Ghostface Killah and Badbadnotgood, March 21, Mohawk

Posted on March 27, 2015 by Ricky in South By Southwest | Leave a comment

Screen Shot 2015-03-23 at 11.23.02 PM

Sometimes through some unexplainable cosmic twist of fate, two unconnected forces come together and the results are awesome, like curry and fries. Another example would be that of Toronto’s Badbadnotgood and Wutang’s own Ghostface Killah. I’m not sure Ghostface happened to come upon the jazzy trio, but as his post Wutang career has suggested, Ghostface can draw inspirations from all places. The two paired up and recently released an album, Sour Soul and as luck would have it, they both were at SXSW.

What a show

The pairing makes so much sense live. BBNG are excellent excellent musicians, grew up in the 90s and are huge hip hop fanatics (they first gained some traction covering a Gucci Mane song). As such, their musical talent and hip hop knowledge allowed for the show to become a free flowing live collaboration. Sure, there were tracks played off a lot of new album but for the other half of the show, the group seemed to go with whatever worked.

At one point, Ghostface told the drummer to hit him with something and the group promptly responded with Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back.” So imagine Ghostface trying to do “I Want You Back” and you have an idea on how fun the show was. Another high point was for the Wu Tang song “Protect Ya Neck.” Ghostface brought up two fans to do the Method Man and ODB parts and one of the fans just crushed it. I’ve seen a lot of fans brought up to sing and it’s never good but this dude just nailed it hard. Click here to view it. The other guy messed up but made up for it by wearing a Wutang belt buckle and two batman shirts.

All in all an exceptionally fun show. Ghostface seems like the chillest cat and really responded to the music of BBNG and together they put on a hip hop show you don’t see very often, one that’s not musically predefined by laptops but rather, the ebb and flow of a concert itself.

SXSW Review: Death By Unga Bunga, March 21, Valhalla

Posted on March 27, 2015 by Paul in South By Southwest | Leave a comment

death by unga bunga

“We’re Death By Unga Bunga and were from the North Pole! This next song is about underage girls! It’s called Young Girls!” announced Death By Unga Bunga singer Sebastian Ulstad Olsen early on in their set, signalling that they wouldn’t be taking themselves too seriously on this occasion.

Although rock and roll is serious business, it’s also often an inherently silly genre and the band seems to take this to heart with goofy, tongue in cheek stage banter, multiple audience invasions, a band name seemingly inspired by a really terrible old joke and a set delivered with total rock ‘n roll abandon. They reminded me a bit of The Hives at times, but leaned much more heavily on ’60s influences with their organ driven garage rock sound.

Sometimes its fun to just cut loose with some good old fashioned rock n roll and luckily that’s what these Norwegian garage rockers delivered on the last night of SXSW. Death By Unga Bunga are all about the fun times.

SXSW Review: Girlpool, March 19, Red 7 Patio

Posted on March 27, 2015 by Ricky in South By Southwest | Leave a comment

Simplicity is the key to Girlpool’s music. When you listen to Girlpool, you feel like you are partaking in a chilled talk between two friends.

Lay out those conversational pieces over stripped down Burger-Record/Los Angeles style guitar and bass combos and you have Girlpool. I loved the pacing of Cleo Tucker and Harmony Tividad’s duelling vocals and their music reminded me of some of the things I listened to in university.

Just like their music, simplicity was the main element to their show. They showed up, set up their equipment quickly and just played. At SXSW when you have a very strict time slot, the crowd appreciates it when you just get up there and do your thing. Girlpool did that and charmed the hell out of everyone. Their songs have great harmony, they seem like the nicest people but also, they seem like they’d kick your ass at a moments notice. A great combination.

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