Where did ballsy rock music go? I’m all about the indie rock and swoopy-haired pop/punk, but what happened to music that smacked you in the face?
Meet Super 400, Troy, NY based rock trio that effortlessly taps Led Zeppelin as well as Stone Temple Pilots, and maybe even a little Back Door Slam.
Their upcoming album “Sweet Fist,” due out September 8th, landed on my desk and it won’t leave rotation. My favorite track, “FFMN,” immediately grabs you with a head knodding heavy guitar riff akin to Audioslave. The intense vocals come from deep within, carrying just enough snarl and growl for you to know he means it. The single (available for download with a quick Google search), “Flashlight,” a more radio-friendly tune contrasts beautifully, capitalizing on female bassist Lori Friday’s very soothing vocals laid against a more relaxed groove that just makes you feel good. “The End,” a grimy bluesy ballad complete with a steel guitar sound that pops, highlights just how versatile they can be.
Attention audiophiles, this album was recorded entirely on 2 inch tape. This band is no joke. No autotune, no protools, just rock. Didn’t think it still existed, did you?
Here’s a good condensed look at some of the bands/parties/showcases not to be missed at SXSW ‘09 courtesy of the good people at Pitchforkmedia.com:
Wednesday, March 18:
Panels** “Annoying Things That Bands Do”
** “The Loudness Wars” with mastering engineer Bob Ludwig
** “Saying the Unsayable With Jarvis Cocker”: Jarvis address the issue of lyrics in popular song
Showcases** Austin Music Award Show: Roky Erickson with the Black Angels, David Yow with the Dicks - Austin Music Hall
** The Agency Group: Charles Hamilton, Brother Ali, Zion I, Doomtree - Back Alley Social
** Asthmatic Kitty/K Records & YouTube: Fol Chen, DM Stith, Rafter, Jeremy Jay - Beauty Bar
** Tomlab/K Records & YouTube: No Kids, Desolation Wilderness, Parenthetical Girls, Tara Jane O’Neil, Casiotone for the Painfully Alone - Beauty Bar Backyard
** KCRW.com: Port O’Brien, School of Seven Bells, Ida Maria - Buffalo Billiards
** 4AD: Anni Rossi, M. Ward, Department of Eagles, St. Vincent, Camera Obscura - Central Presbyterian Church
** Brooklyn Vegan: Bell, Loch Lomond, Those Darlins, Phosphorescent, Deer Tick - Club de Ville
** ASCAP: Dananananaykroyd, the Gay Blades, the Temper Trap, Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head - Dirty Dog Bar
** Ulrich Schnauss, Boys Noize - Elysium
** Leafy Green: Larkin Grimm, Sleepy Sun, Vetiver - Emo’s Jr
** Vans: Echo and the Bunnymen - Emo’s Main Room
** The Week That Was - Friends
** Last Gang/Paper Bag: Winter Gloves, Magneta Lane, Woodhands, Mother Mother - Habana Calle 6 Patio
** Pete Tong presents: Insider Music Series: Rye Rye, Late of the Pier, Booka Shade - La Zona Rosa
** Anticon/Ghostly International: Christopher Willits, Anathallo, Dosh, Yoni Wolf (of Why?), the Chap, Themselves - Mohawk
** Holly Golightly and the Brokeoffs, Dan Auerbach - The Parish
** Tahiti Boy and the Palmtree Family - Prague
** My Old Kentucky Blog: The Grates, Viva Voce, Delta Spirit - Radio Room
** Favorite Gentleman/Terpsikhore: Annuals, Manchester Orchestra - Radio Room Patio
** Wichita: Lissy Trullie, Lovvers, Sky Larkin - Red 7 Patio
** Suicide Squeeze: The Coathangers, Cotton Jones, Human Highway, Past Lives, These Arms Are Snakes - Red Eyed Fly
** Noise Problem: the Twelves, Miami Horror, Project Jenny, Project Jan - Rusty Spurs
** The Golden Filter, All the Saints, Cale Parks - SESAC Day Stage Cafe Austin Convention Center
** Maserati - Soho Lounge
** NPR Music: Janelle Monae, Ladyhawke, Heartless Bastards, the Avett Brothers, the Decemberists - Stubb’s
** Rock Band: Cut Off Your Hands, the Von Bondies, Peter Bjorn and John, Glasvegas - Vice
** SoundExchange/musicFIRST/NMP: Gary Louris and Mark Olson - Victorian Room at the Driskill
** The Van Pelt - Wave
Thursday, March 19:
Panels and TalksKeynote: Quincy Jones
Interview: Devo
“Indie Labels Keep the Faith” with reps from Touch and Go, Barsuk, Kill Rock Stars, Bloodshot, and others
“History of British Indies” with reps from Rough Trade, Cooking Vinyl, Sire, Bella Union, and others
“Kind of Blue at 50″ with Erin Davis, George Avakian, and othersShowcases
** Rob da Bank: Vivian Girls, Ebony Bones, Rye Rye, Kid Cudi - Aces Lounge
** Elvis Perkins in Dearland, Cold War Kids, M. Ward - Auditorium Shores Stage (Lady Bird Lake)
** AfroPunk: K’naan, Janelle Monae, Dallas Austin, Big Boi - Austin Music Hall
** IHEARTCOMIX: Team Robespierre, the Death Set, Heartsrevolution, the Golden Filter, Futurecop!, Radioclit, Drop the Lime - Beauty Bar/Beauty Bar Backyard
** The Billions Corporation: Young Galaxy, The Tallest Man on Earth, Benjy Ferree - Buffalo Billiards
** BlackBerry: Delta Spirit, Black Lips, Primal Scream - Cedar Street Courtyard
** eMusic: Girls, Grizzly Bear, Amanda Palmer, Elvis Perkins in Dearland - Central Presbyterian Church
** Western Vinyl: J. Tillman, Here We Go Magic - Club 115
** Yep Roc: Howe Gelb - Continental Club
** Memphis Music Foundation: Al Kapone, 8ball and MJG, Lucero, River City Tanlines, Bar-Kays - Dirty Dog Bar
** NXNE: King Khan & the Shrines, Sebastien Grainger, Priestess - El Sol y La Luna
** The Windish Agency: Micachu, Dirty Projectors, N.A.S.A., Little Boots, Datarock - Emo’s Annex
** The Windish Agency: Tyvek, the Homosexuals, Oh Sees - Emo’s Jr.
** Frenchkiss/Startime International: Cut Off Your Hands, Passion Pit, Peter Bjorn and John - Emo’s Main Room
** Hometapes/Leaf: A Hawk and a Hacksaw, Stars Like Fleas, Efterklang, Megafaun, Slaraffenland - Habana Bar
** Rhymesayers: Eyedea & Abilities, P.O.S., Brother Ali, Jake One, Freeway - Habana Bar Backyard
** LA Record: Busdriver - The Independent
** NME: We Have Band, Wild Beasts, Hatcham Social - Latitude 30
** BMI: Ida Maria - Maggie Mae’s
** Next Big Nashville: Turbo Fruits - Maggie Mae’s Gibson Room
** Secretly Canadian/Jagjaguwar/Dead Oceans & YouTube: Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band, Foreign Born, These Are Powers, Women, Richard Swift, Bishop Allen, Phosphorescent, Akron/Family - Mohawk/Mohawk Patio
** Oya Festival/Oh My Rockness: Lemonade, Casiokids, Wavves, Max Tundra - The Music Gym Patio
** Columbus Discount: Psychedelic Horseshit - The Music Gym
** Green Label Sound: Holy Ghost!, The Soft Pack, the Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Matt & Kim, Flosstradamus - Opal Divine’s Freehouse
** Moodswing Live: Clinton Sparks, J*DaVeY, LMFAO - Pangaea
** Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson - The Parish Downstairs
** Hotel Cafe: Thao With the Get Down Stay Down - The Parish
** Absolutely Kosher: +/-, the Wrens - Prague
** Sub Pop/Hardly Art: Mark Sultan, Daniel Martin Moore, Tiny Vipers, Pretty & Nice, No Age, Red Red Meat, Veviter, Blitzen Trapper, Handsome Furs - Radio Room/Radio Room Patio
** PPM (Post Present Medium): Soft Circle, Abe Vigoda, Mika Miko - Red 7
** Heeb Magazine/Other Music: Suckers, Nite Jewel, Crystal Stilts, Chairlift, Telepathe, Harlem Shakes - Red 7 Patio
** The Thermals, Laura Gibson, Horse Feathers, the Shaky Hands - Red Eyed Fly
** Tee Pee: Night Horse, Ancestors, Earthless - Room 710
** After the Jump: Bearsuit, Drink Up Buttercup - Rusty Spurs
** John Forte, Jean Grae, Reflection Eternal - Scoot Inn
** Knitting Factory: Themselves, the Entrance Band, Endless Boogie - Smokin’ Music
** Siltbreeze: Eat Skull, Psychedelic Horseshit, U.S. Girls - Soho Lounge
** Nellie McKay - St. David’s Church
** Meat Puppets, Gomez, Andrew Bird - Stubb’s
** Carpark: Dent May & His Magnificent Ukulele, Beach House - Volume
** Stolen Records: Pete & the Pirates, Let’s Wrestle - Wave Rooftop
Friday, March 20:
Panels and TalksInterview: Little Steven
“Slaughtering Sacred Cows” with Ann Powers, Dave Marsh, and Jaan Uhelszki
“Songs in Strange Places with Tiny Desk Concerts and Project Song” with Nellie McKay, Thao Nguyen, and Shearwater
“Hip Hop in the Age of Obama”Showcases
** The Local: Sam Amidon, Alela Diane, David Thomas Broughton, Shearwater - 18th Floor at Hilton Garden Inn
** NME: Future of the Left, Cut Off Your Hands, Late of the Pier - Aces Lounge
** The Billions Corporation: Dent May & His Magnificent Ukulele, Wildbirds & Peacedrums, Mirah, St. Vincent, NOMO - Antone’s
** BMI: Datarock, Tricky, Devo - Austin Music Hall
** Mickey Factz, Busdriver - Back Alley Social
** AM Only: DJ Ayres and Nick Catchdubs, Tittsworth, Mickey Factz - Beauty Bar/Beauty Bar Backyard
** Independent Label Group: P.O.S. - Buffalo Billiards
** BlackBerry: Pete and the Pirates, Beach House, Peter Bjorn and John, Grizzly Bear, Dinosaur Jr. - Cedar Street Courtyard
** Laura Marling, Jason Lytle - Central Presbyterian Church
** Biz3: These Are Powers, Cage, Amanda Blank, Lady Sovereign, Kid Sister - Club de Ville
** Southern Lord: Wino, Wolves in the Throne Room, Pelican - Emo’s Annex
** Slumberland/Cake Shop: Woods, the Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Cause Co-Motion!, Crystal Stilts - Emo’s Jr
** The Sonics - Emo’s Main Room
** VICE Records: Black Lips, King Khan & the Shrines - Emo’s Main Room
** Touch and Go/Quarterstick: Mi Ami, the Uglysuit, All the Saints, Crystal Antlers - Flamingo Cantina
** Ground Control Touring: The Love Language, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, Deer Tick - Habana Bar Backyard
** Polyvinyl: Loney Dear, Headlights, Asobi Seksu - Habana Calle 6 Patio
** Not Not Fun: Ducktails - The Hideout
** The Drones - Karma Lounge
** Scottish Arts Council: Dananananaykroyd, Camera Obscura, Glasvegas, Primal Scream - La Zona Rosa
** Great Escape Festival: The Postelles, Au Revoir Simone - Maggie Mae’s Rooftop
** Take Root Records/Rock River Music/Noisepop: The Soft Pack, the Hold Steady - Mohawk Patio
** KUT 90.5 Austin: Thao With the Get Down Stay Down, the Rosebuds, Jon Langford and the Pine Valley Cosmonauts, Gary Louris and Mark Olson - Momo’s
** No Quarter: Kurt Vile, Endless Boogie - The Music Gymn
** Billboard: Graham Coxon, Superdrag, Tinted Windows, Mr. Lif - Pangaea
** Constant Artists: I Love You But I’ve Chosen Darkness, the Paper Chase, Okkervil River - The Parish
** Saddle Creek: O+S, Sebastien Grainger, Ladyfinger, Cursive - Radio Room
** Ghostly International/Full Time Hobby/Mojo Magazine: Choir of Young Believers, Micah P. Hinson, School of Seven Bells, White Denim, Deastro - Radio Room Patio
** Tone Deaf Touring: Kylesa, Rwake - Red 7
** The Uglysuit, Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band, the Tallest Man on Earth - SESAC Day Stage Cafe Austin Convention Center
** The New York Dolls - Smokin’ Music
** M.A.N.D.Y. - Speakeasy Kabaret
** WFMU/Aquarius Recorsd: Obits, Major Stars, Wovenhand - Spiro’s/Spiro’s Amphitheater
** Guitar Hero Metallica: Silversun Pickups, DJ Shadow - Stubb’s
** Solange and the Hadley Street Dreams - SXSW Live (The Bat Bar) Austin Convention Center
** The Windish Agency: Lemonade, Freeland - Vice
Saturday, March 21:Panels and Talks
Interview: The Hold Steady
“Producers on Making Classic Records” with Britt Daniel, Mike McCarthy, and others.Showcases
** The Duke Spirit, Silversun Pickups - Antone’s
** Beach House - Auditorium Shores Stage, Explosions in the Sky (Lady Bird Lake)
** Control FreaQ Records: The Cannabinoids [ft. Erykah Badu] - Auditorium Shores Stage (Lady Bird Lake)
** Killer Mike, Mistah FAB, Kidz in the Hall, B.o.B., Bun B, Rick Ross, Dead Prez - Austin Music Hall
** Pigeon John, Mr. Lif - Back Alley Social
** Jana Hunter, Illinois, the Strange Boys - Beauty Bar Backyard
** Earlimart, Marnie Stern - Central Presbyterian Church
** Viva Radio/American Apparel: Iran, the Warlocks, Ponytail, Titus Andronicus - Club de Ville
** The Agency Group: Efterklang, An Horse, Voxtrot, Pelican, Trail of Dead, Daniel Johnston - Emo’s Jr/Emo’s Main Room
** Mint: Immaculate Machine, the Handsome Family, the Evaporators - Habana Calle 6
** Load/Dull Knife: White Mice, Indian Jewelry, Six Finger Satellite - The Independent
** Green Room Music Source: Dressy Bessy - Lamberts
** Beatport: The Whip, the Crystal Method - La Zona Rosa
** Music Managers Forum - US: Wayne Kramer, Bobby Bare Jr. - Maggie Mae’s Gibson Room
** Panache Booking & Lovepump United: Angel Deradoorian, Pictureplane, Mika Miko, the Mae Shi, HEALTH, Monotonix - Mohawk/Mohawk Patio
** Sacred Bones: Blank Dogs - The Music Gym
** Barsuk/Merge: Telekinesis, Lou Barlow and Imaad Wasif, the Rosebuds, the Wooden Birds, Ra Ra Riot - The Parish
** Undocumented Management/Dim Mak: LA Riots, MSTRKRFT - Radio Room Patio
** Park the Van: The Spinto Band - Room 710
** Musebox: Echo and the Bunnymen - Rusty Spurs
** Strange Famous: Buck 65, Sage Francis - Scoot Inn
** XLR8R: Megasoid, Machinedrum, Nosaj Thing - Speakeasy
** SoundExchange/musicFIRST: White Lies, Razorlight, PJ Harvey and John Parish - Stubb’s
** Echo and the Bunnymen, Tinted Windows - SXSW Live (The Bat Bar) Austin Convention Center
** GoTV & 5 Gum: the Knux, Janelle Monae - Vice
** Clash Magazine: Wild Beasts, We Have Band, Let’s Wrestle - Volume
One day I will make it to Austin for SXSW for liveblogging coverage, but in the meantime you’ll have to live with random updates as the Festival goes on… From Chron.com:
AUSTIN, Texas — Even in the worst economy since the Great Depression, people will stand in line for good entertainment, particularly in this so-called “Live Music Capital of the World.”
Fans are snapping up four-day passes to the famed South by Southwest (SXSW) music festival that starts this week, when thousands are expected to hit the town’s storied nightclubs to catch the hottest new acts. It’s too soon to say how the 23rd annual SXSW will compare to last year, but hotel room bookings are up, jazz legend and 27-time Grammy Award winner Quincy Jones is opening the show and nearly 2,000 bands from 52 countries will be playing, promoters say.
“There is really nothing bigger,” said Rose Reyes, music marketing director for the city convention bureau. “It is Christmas for cab drivers, restaurant owners, for hotels, for businesses all around the city.”
While Austin has been hit by the same economic woes that are spreading across the globe, the hip college town remains an incubator for sizzling new bands and a thriving music scene that brought SXSW here nearly a quarter century ago. Back then, about 700 attended; last year there were nearly 13,000 paid registrants at the music festival and thousands more who showed up to absorb unofficial sideshows.
Event organizers face the inevitable tension of promoting an international festival with fresh new acts without ignoring the dizzying array of local bands to pick from. Nor can they overlook the growing popularity of all the free, unofficial events.
Austin produces about 13 percent of all the musical performances at the festival and remains the largest single source of bands at SXSW — about 220 of the 1850 expected to show.
Among them are Drew Smith, whose original new album, Drew Smith’s Lonely Choir, was named the No. 1 CD last year by Austin.com, an entertainment and local news Web site. Smith has also gotten rave reviews from critics who find strains of Van Morrison, the Kinks and even The Beatles in his music. He’s playing at his old haunt Momo’s on Saturday night, which is about as close to top billing as a band can get at SXSW.
“In the midst of everything going on financially around the world it’s pretty nice to go play shows and still have people showing up and there’s few cities that could still be happening in,” said Smith, an Austin transplant who hails from Colorado Springs. “It’s still a pretty great town to be an artist in.”
For some artists, the festival can be a career launchpad, and Austin jazz singer Kat Edmonson is hoping that’s what will happen with her first SXSW showcase. Her new CD, “Take to the Sky” has become an iTunes sensation and her single “Lucky,” has been picked as the theme song of the new Steven Spielberg-produced “United States of Tara” series on Showtime.
Edmonson, who grew up in Houston, is physically diminutive — tiny, really. But everyone knows what kind of packages dynamite comes in: the Austin American-Statesman recently called her “Austin’s Great Jazz Hope.” She plays on Saturday at the Elephant Room, an underground jazz bar a few blocks from the state capitol.
“There’s a lot of hype around SXSW. The underlying idea among all the bands is an opportunity to possibly get discovered,” she said. “Most of all it’s an opportunity to really be heard by people that would never hear you otherwise.”
Though Smith and Edmonson landed prime official showcases this year, they and many other Austin musicians have also found themselves on the outside looking in at past festivals. But one artist’s struggle is another fan’s treasure.
There are hundreds of unofficial gigs, staged by artists who didn’t make the cut, that some say are just as good as the real thing. There are also hundreds of free, sponsored parties and concerts, Indie rock band Cold War Kids and Joe McDermott, a favorite for wholesome family entertainment are among the groups playing free along the banks of Lady Bird Lake during the festival.
“It’s become a big free for all,” said Jimmy Stewart, who runs DO512.com, an entertainment Web site that breaks down SXSW events by category and time, both official and unofficial. “You can drink beer for free and see live bands from all over the world for nothing.”
That’s not music to the ears of the SXSW promoters, who, after all, have a for-profit business to run.
It costs $165 for a wristband that’s good for all the music shows. Others are all-access badges for about $700, which include panel discussions and exclusive parties. SXSW is actually a three-genre event, with components on interactive media and a film festival crammed into a weeklong music and creative arts frenzy that pumps an estimated $100 million into the local economy.
The film and interactive pieces began Friday, but Austin’s reputation as a live music hub makes the music festival, which begins Wednesday, the heart and soul of SXSW. With the economy lagging elsewhere, promoters say the chamber of commerce types are crossing their fingers.
“I think this year a lot of businesses are counting on us to deliver,” said Roland Swenson, managing director of SXSW. “We certainly take that responsibility very seriously.”
Japanese Motors, the laid-back Orange County-based quartet and most recent addition to the Vice Music roster are releasing a new digital-only EP on March 3rd, available at all major digital retailers. Entitled Perception of Reality, the EP features new acoustic and live versions of 2 standout tracks from their self-titled LP and one previously unreleased song (”Bummin’ Out”). In addition to this offering of live recordings, Japanese Motors will bring their raucous live show across America late February through March as the main supporting act for Modest Mouse, leading up to their SXSW shows to be announced. Full tour dates below.
Press on Japanese Motors:
“…Like Lou Reed fronting a leathered-up Beach Boys.” - ROLLING STONE
“Gritty, feel-good, surf-influenced garage rock ‘n’ roll.” - SPINNER.COM
Japanese Motors Tour Dates w/ Modest Mouse:
02-22 OAKLAND, CA - FOX THEATER
02-23 VISALIA, CA - THE FOX THEATRE
02-24 LOS ANGELES, CA - HOLLYWOOD PALLADIUM
02-25 TEMPE, AZ - THE MARQUEE
02-26 ALBUQUERQUE, NM - ALBUQUERQUE CONVENTION CENTER
02-28 BOULDER, CO - BATCH FIELDHOUSE
03-02 KANSAS CITY, MO - UPTOWN THEATER
03-03 OKLAHOMA CITY, OK - DIAMOND BALLROOM
03-04 AUSTIN, TX - STUBB’S
03-06 OXFORD, MS - THE LYRIC OXFORD
03-07 ATLANTA, GA - THE TABERNACLE
03-08 FORT LAUDERDALE, FL - REVOLUTION
03-09 LAKE BUENA VISTA, FL - HOUSE OF BLUES
03-10 MYRTLE BEACH, SC - HOUSE OF BLUES
03-11 RALEIGH, NC - DISCO RODEO
03-12 BALTIMORE, MD - RAM’S HEAD
03-13 WASHINGTON, DC - 9:30 CLUB
03-14 PHILADELPHIA, PA - ELECTRIC FACTORY
03-15 NEW YORK, NY - TERMINAL 5
For More Information:
http://www.myspace.com/thejapanesemotors
http://www.thejapanesemotors.com
http://www.vicerecords.com
Rock singer, songwriter and guitarist Danielia Cotton draws inspiration from the 1970’s on her sophomore album ‘Rare Child,’ out May 20th on Adrenaline Records/ADA. “My album is a throwback to a time when music was less produced and a little bit more honest, accessible and real,” Cotton says.
The Philadelphia Daily News concurs, stating “Danielia’s music has the swagger of ‘Let It Bleed’ era Rolling Stones, her singing has the raw emotional power of Janis Joplin and her songwriting places her among the top new musical storytellers.”
Cotton’s natural gift– raw, searing vocal chops combined with a deep, buttery tone– draws from the two different rich traditions that she absorbed in her youth: she couldn’t get enough of the AC/DC, Zeppelin, and the Stones that her friends and neighbors were listening to but she was also her mother’s girl: the daughter of a jazz singer and member of the church gospel choir, grooving to Mavis Staples, Etta James, Billie and Ella.
Cotton’s rock and soul influences have drawn stellar reviews with raves about her “raw intensity” (Essence Magazine), her “soulful voice and searing telecaster” (Time Out NY) and for possessing “the sort of voice for which the phrase `force of nature’ was coined” (Austin American-Statesman). Relix magazine named Cotton one of the “5 Artists You Should Know” in 2007 and New York’s Amsterdam News proclaimed her “a powerful musician that cannot be ignored.”
For more information of Daniela Cotton, click here.
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