March 27, 2009 - The Austin Chronicle

THE DECEMBERISTSStubb’s, March 18Despite a tentative beginning, theDecemberists pulled off the live premiereof their magnificent fifth album, TheHazards of Love, a rock opera of sortsbased on archetypal characters from thefolk music lexicon. Skeptics might arguethat to re-create the album live robs aperformance of its own natural, organiclogic and the element of surprise for anaudience, yet the set came with built-insurprises, namely Shara Worden (akaMy Brightest Diamond) voicing the characterof Hazards’ Forest Queen. Wordenvamped it up in a flapper-style dress andClaudette Colbert bob, belting out hervignettes so powerfully as to be heardfrom mountaintops without the aid of amicrophone. “The Rake’s Song,” villaintheme of the opera’s narrative, thunderedwith the might of five sets of drums,singer/guitarist Colin Meloy and bassistNate Query the only two band membersthat skipped the skins in favor of theirown instruments. The Portland, Ore., quintet, plus Worden and singer Becky Stark,who voiced the lead character of Margaret, closed to wild approval from the audienceand encored, fittingly, with “I Was Meant for the Stage.”– Melanie HauptSXSW MUSIC 09ÉRIKA MACHADOThe Rio, March 18Érika Machado traveled 5,000 miles to playa 40-minute set to 20 people in a Tex-Mexeatery. Such is the fate of a largely unknowninternational act performing at a music festival.Acoustic guitar in hand, the Braziliansinger loped through much of 2007’s NoCimento, including “Perna,” “Tédio,” “Cançãodo Coração,” and the title track. On disc,mellow pop melodies are wrapped in anelectronic chill, and for several songs here,Machado strummed along with the soundsdrifting from her laptop, though the LP’smore adventurous Nintendo-biting beats werereplaced with acoustic lullabies. Everyonein the Brazilian-dominated room knew oneanother, and the intimate atmosphere andsmall stage led to a coffeehouse vibe, mostof the crowd sitting cross-legged on the flooras Machado’s dreamy voice massaged itsgray matter. Utterly unpretentious, Machadoand her sleepy, bossa nova-inspired tuneswere a world away from the rocking & rollingof Red River. After closing with “Óculos deGrau,” Machado met the calls of “Otra! Otra!”with a touch of humor: “Sorry, we don’t speakPortuguese,” she deadpanned.– Thomas FawcettKID CONGO POWERS & THE PINKMONKEY BIRDSEmo’s Jr., March 18Batting last in Leafy Green Booking’sformidable showcase, guitarist Kid CongoPowers & the Pink Monkey Birds delivereda workmanlike set. As a founding memberof the Gun Club, longtime member of theCramps, and onetime sideman to Nick Cave,Powers proved himself the veteran amongrelative newcomers still capable of shimmeringthe glow of new discovery. The promulgationof the reverb-laden trash rock aestheticmakes it easy to forget that Powers is oneof its avatars, but the impeccably bespectacledand mustachioed performer still findsroom to keep the template fresh. Openingwith “I Found a Peanut” from his new disc,Dracula Boots, Powers and company conjuredup the boozy air of a basement B-side soulparty. While the frontman’s guitar soundjuxtaposed punk rock insouciance with theunderside of midcentury retro-futurism, drummerRon Miller’s backbeat gave the hips aNew Orleans-style workout. The recent deathof Cramps founder Lux Interior promptedthe quartet’s “I’m Cramped” in well-receivedtribute. The memory of departed Gun Club cofounderJeffrey Lee Pierce was also invoked inspirited versions of “Sex Beat” and “For theLove of Ivy.” Although old songs clicked onfamiliarity, the rhythmic undertones of morerecent tunes like “LSDC” and “Black Bag”proved every bit as intriguing. – Greg BeetsPETER MURPHYElysium, March 19The former goth godhead and currentvamp-in-residence for Turkey may be sportinga bit of a paunch these days, but hismultioctave pipes have maintained a darklygolden sheen, surpassing even those of hisglam-pop hero, one David Bowie. Murphy’sElysium gig managed barely half the blackmagic of his Emo’s birthday gig last summer– no cover of Nine Inch Nails’ “Hurt,” noa cappella serenading of “Wild Is the Wind,”zero Bauhaus – and instead focused almostentirely on recent solo material, including aSHELLEY HIAMTODD V. WOLFSONFor more SXSW “Live Shots” and daily coverage, see austinchronicle.com/sxsw.grimly fiendish version of “Blinded Like Saul”from 2004’s Unshattered and the funereal“Secret Silk Society.” Questionable stagepatter aside, Murphy, bedecked as ever incouture noir, stalked and flailed across thestage, mounting the monitors with a cheergrimace, while guitarist Mark Gemini Thwaite,late of the Mission UK, pulled grindingly heavyand distorted notes from his six-stringer thatbordered on the industrial. The capacity crowdlooked happy enough to see Murphy up closeand personal, but it wasn’t until the encorethat the show caught fire with an incandescentcover of Joy Division’s “Transmission”:“No language, just sound, that’s all we needto know, to synchronize love to the beat of theshow.” Ian Curtis lives. – Marc SavlovBEACH HOUSEVolume, March 19Victoria Legrand and Alex Scally, deckedout in black leather vest and ironic mustache,respectively, echoed dream pop in directcounterpoint to the family-style orchestrationsso prevalent over their past half-decade.Opening the cavernous Volume with a squallof unintentional feedback, the Baltimore trio(now including drums!) launched into a fuzzhappy“Wedding Bell” from 2008’s still-reverberatingDevotion. Legrand plays a modernGene Autry, her voice layered and distortedyet still heart-wrenching. With pals (and collaborators)Grizzly Bear hollering at the backof the room, Beach House eased throughDevotion highlight “Gila,” a kick drum framingLegrand’s croon; new 7-inch “Used to Be”;and a gorgeous newbie that had Legrand begging,“I’ll take care of you if you ask me to.”Beach House is an air conditioner set on 65,aural Xanax that brilliantly calms without puttinganyone to bed. The crowd began thinninghalfway through, perhaps with the knowledgethat Beach House would be making a halfdozenmore appearances over the next twodays, but that lulling gallop remained.– Darcie StevensROSALIE SORRELSVictorian Room at the Driskill, March 19At 75, Rosalie Sorrels was among the moreveteran performers at South by Southwest,yet as she reminded her audience, “Little oldladies are sometimes surprising.” Sorrelsperformed only eight songs over 50 minutesbut charmed the audience with tales of theartists she’s met and worked with, mainly thelate Utah Phillips, whose songs make up herlatest, Grammy-nominated disc, Strangers inAnother Country, as well as the work of poetLawrence Ferlinghetti, writer Ken Kesey, andSANDY CARSONlive shotsfolksingers Ramblin’ Jack Elliott and KateWolf. The material was in the folk tradition,majestically standing apart from contemporarysongwriter fare. “Don’t call me a singersongwriter,because that’s not what I do really,”Sorrels explained. She spoke of how sheand Phillips were co-conspirators for nearly 50years and how he was inspired by the storyof Woody Guthrie’s ashes being thrown to thewinds of Coney Island for “Ashes on the Sea.”Finishing on the bittersweet “My Last GoRound,” which was uplifting despite its title,Sorrels was rewarded with a standing ovation,not as a living legend but for a performancethat was as thoughtful and galvanizing as anyduring SXSW.– Jim CaligiuriBIG BOIAustin Music Hall, March 19Even without Andre 3000, OutKast rapperBig Boi still brought the bangers. After assuringthe modest crowd that his heavily leakedsolo album Sir Lucious Leftfoot: The Son ofChico Dusty would be out soon, the man bornAntwan Andre Patton offered a lesson in flowdrawing heavily on early ’Kast cuts. The billingof a live band as part of the venue’s AfroPunkshowcase was an oversell; beats and orchestrationremained dominated by DJ CutmasterSwift. Yet “Ms. Jackson” and “The Way YouMove” were off the hook, Big Boi demandingthat the band and crowd “speed this up” for“Ghettomuzik,” which made clear he has fewrivals when it comes to superfast flow. Withthe club rumbling like the trunk of an Olds 88,musicians from the wings presently joined BigBoi onstage for the set’s latter half. Hypedprotégé Janelle Monáe lockstepped her waythrough a light-speed “B.O.B.,” and with ahouse party breaking out, it was hard to saywhether the band or the audience was havingmore fun.– Dan OkoCONTINUED ON P.58a 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 57