March 27, 2009 - The Austin Chronicle

music56Austin Music Awards Encore 57 SXSW 09 Live Shots 88 Music ListingsJane’sAddictionOFF THE REC RDNothing’s ShockingKanye West came to South by Southwest09 to party. Decked out in black sunglassesand a gold bullet chain, the illustrious rappertook the stage at the Third Street block partyknown as the Levi’s/Fader Fort on Saturday,lighthearted and with little agenda, essentiallycurating a two-hour mixtape for his GOODMusic imprint that included appearances fromCommon, lead Cannabinoid Erykah Badu, andthe ever-entertaining Fonzworth Bentley.Although it was an unofficial SXSW event,West’s appearance still speaks to the magnitudeand stature of the annual Music Conference,which can no longer be considered merely anindustry affair. This was the year that the Festivalfirmly established itself as an essential pop-culturedestination, where bands and brands – notto mention celebrities such as Rachael Rayand Perez Hilton and the media that coverthem – look not only to make a name for themselvesbut more so to retain relevance.Punching in “SXSW 2009” generates morethan 4,000 hits on Google News, nearly fourtimes the amount of media impressions fromjust two years ago. In fact, the biggest breakthroughat SXSW was actually that of Twitter,the microblogging mechanism that allows forcasual updates and observations, such as thisinsightful aside from Grizzly Bear’s EdwardDroste from the Pitchfork/Windish bash onFriday at Emo’s: “Department of Eagles withVictoria Legrand [of Beach House] covering the Dead. Sohilarious and awesome.”Media outlets from around the world covered and documentedSXSW from every possible angle. Daytrotter.com recorded sessionsfrom locals T Bird & the Breaks, Corto Maltese, andthe Strange Boys, who had Rolling Stone’s David Fricke bobbingaway during their riveting SXSW showcase at Beauty BarBackyard. Andrew Bird and Ben Harper & the Relentless7took flight for the 35th anniversary season of Austin CityLimits, while Carlene Carter, the Oak Ridge Boys, andTinted Windows – the unremarkable grouping of members ofHanson, Cheap Trick, and the Smashing Pumpkins – wentlive from the Austin Convention Center on DirecTV.NPR further bolstered its indie tastemaker credentials withthe transmission of the Decemberists’ staging of The Hazardsof Love with Lavender Diamond’s Becky Stark and MyBrightest Diamond in tow, while stations ranging from KCRWin Santa Monica and Seattle’s KEXP to the online-only WOXYall broadcast their picks of the litter from the front lines. PJHarvey & John Parish even stopped by Buffalo Billiards tochat with OTR on 101X.“Usually after I finish a project, I go back and sort throughmy old tapes,” Harvey revealed. “That’s how I came across‘Black Hearted Love.’ I felt like that song needed to be heardand demanded a body of work to go with it.”More than ever, nostalgia reigned supreme last week, thanksin no small part to Metallica’s colossal 90-minute electrocutionat Stubb’s, which James Hetfield deemed “the worstkept secret in rock & roll history” and is now available fordownload at www.metallicalive.com. The recently reunited Jane’sAddiction in kind launched a full-blown stadium spectacularfrom inside the old Safeway in East Austin early Friday morning.(Tickets for the band’s stop at the Frank Erwin Center,May 12, with Nine Inch Nails, go on sale this Saturdaythrough Texas Box Office, 10am.) Lest we forget, flashbacksMUSIC NEWS by Austin Powellwere also incited by Devo, Echo & the Bunnymen, theSonics, Japan’s Flower Travellin’ Band, and the acid-housedementia of Primal Scream.There was no shortage of new talent, though – quite the contrary.Some personal highlights included the patient sedation ofHere We Go Magic’s psych pop and the looped neoclassicalwonderment produced by Peter Broderick. Women’s indieKrautrock workouts made for cold sweat at Urban Outfitters,while J. Tillman delivered quietly disarming mountain songs thatcalled to mind Neil Young at the Canterbury House in 1968.“The truth is that different acts have always used South bySouthwest for different reasons at different stages of theircareer,” reasoned SXSW Music Creative Director Brent Grulke.“Really, the most important thing that someone can come awaywith is the names of some people they might want to collaboratewith creatively or professionally, the opportunity to meet like-mindedpeople and exchange phone numbers or e-mail addresses.”Indeed, the malleability of SXSW remains its greatest asset,allowing the Conference to grow each year and introduce newfacets, such as the Austin Record Convention – a mereteaser for the upcoming spring show at the Crockett EventsCenter April 3-5 – which was teamed alongside the inauguralTexas Guitar Show in the Austin Convention Center. It’s worthnoting though that in order for the Austin Record Convention toreturn to the spring prominence it once held at PalmerAuditorium before the dawning of day parties, the Festival willneed to make adequate room for it, perhaps beside Flatstock.The greatest expansion in activity this year occurred on theEastside, in both the number of official SXSW venues (theMusic Gym, the Independent) and nonsanctioned hideoutssuch as Club 1808 and the Compound, where Wu-TangClan’s GZA got crunk with Black Lips. The French LegationMuseum boasted some of the best lineups of the week,including Dirty Projectors, Camera Obscura, and SouthAfrican breakout Blk Jks, oftentimes with longer lines to get inthan all but a select few SXSW showcases.Farther south on Cesar Chavez, the private Red Bull MoonTower established an after-hours/early-morning hot spot, withperformances from the Riverboat Gamblers, I Love You butI’ve Chosen Darkness, and Lady Sovereign. Domy Bookstransformed its back lot into something resembling LosAngeles’ the Smell scene on Saturday, compliments of the riotousMika Miko, noise-punk zeitgeist No Age, and Nite Jewel,whose narcotic synth-pop glow defied the afternoon daylight.Down the street, Okay Mountain hosted Autobus Records,lilted by the heavily syncopated lullabies of Andrew Kenny’sthe Wooden Birds. The award for most creative day party definitelygoes to MyOpenBar.com’s presentation of Four SquarePunk, where bands such as Finally Punk and the Mae Shialternated songs across four decidedly DIY stages within astone’s throw of a free roller-skating rink.With so many variables at hand, there’s bound to be a fewnear natural disasters each year, and one such unofficial SXSWincident occurred at Ballet Austin during the second annualKVRXplosion, when Monotonix’s pro-wrestling-style falsecount-anywherepunk freak-out “left 10 dead and five injured,”according to the mock tagline for the YouTube video that’sbeen circulating ever since. “It was about as controlled aschaos can be,” recalled KVRX business manager MichaelSedillo via e-mail. “Of course, we had our share of spills andmarks on the wall, but besides that it was relatively unharmed.”That was SXSW 09 in a nutshell: chaos and confusion, exhilarationand exhaustion, erupting in transcendent bursts ofexcitement and color like the choreographed fireworks overAuditorium Shores for the finale of Explosions in the Sky.One couldn’t ask for a better week in Austin.SANDY CARSON SANDY CARSON AUBREY EDWARDS GARY MILLER GARY MILLERMetallicaSchool ofSeven BellsBlk JksThe Strange Boysa u s t i n c h r o n i c l e . c o m MARCH 27, 2009 T H E A U S T I N C H R O N I C L E 55