SXSW 2008

Spring Break has sadly come to an end and I am starting to get back into my normal routine of being a student (but lacking when it comes to my blog). I am stuck reliving the good times I had during that week in my head. SXSW was the best part of my spring break for sure. If you have never been to the festival you’re definitely missing out. Austin is unlike every other part of Texas for sure. Dallas and Denton can compare to it, but Austin surpasses them in all forms of enjoyment. The city is just jam packed with bars restaurants. The number of bars there are in Austin is the equivalent to the number of casinos in Las Vegas. Friday I went to the I Heart Comix! vs Mad Decent party. This party was so sick! From the free Dewars scotch mixed with ginger ale, actually surprisingly tasty, to the music, and everything in between. Simian Mobile Disco played a stellar set that night. A lot better one than I saw them play the following Saturday night. Diplo went off, although it only seemed like for 30 minutes. Luckily I had the chance to meet him after the show. Diplo was an incredibly chill guy, unlike JFK from MSTRKRFT who I met Saturday night and acted like a total douchebag. Saturday was awesome as well. I went to the Scion party at Stubbs BBQ. The vibe there was great. Digitalism played an impressive set followed by one hell of a performance by Chromeo. I can not wait to see Chromeo again at Coachella. Saturday we went to the party at VICE. The DJ sets were mainly hard electro. It was my first time to see the Bloody Beetroots. I was really impressed with their skills and showmanship. I don’t know how these guys play with those spiderman mask on. How are they supposed to smoke and drink? In the end, I would say SXSW was probably one of the funnest music festivals I have been to right next to Coachella.

CHROMEO

DIGITALISM

SIMIAN MOBILE DISCO

ME AND DIPLO

THE BLOODY BEETROOTS

ME AND MR. TOO COOL TO SMILE OR THROW UP THE PEACE SIGN

CRYSTAL CASTLES

So I finally got my room booked for South by Southwest (SXSW) and I am totally excited. It is my first time to go and I have really high hopes for it to be a good festival. I’m thinking about doing a series of posts showcasing some of the artist I am looking forward to seeing there. Here it goes.

CRYSTAL CASTLES
Crystal Castles remix of Health’s “Crimewave” is my favorite song of the week. Sadly my blog hasn’t become popular enough for me to receive free promos yet, so I don’t know all there other good tracks, but “Magic Spells,” "Untrust Us" and “Air War” are really tight. Their remix of "Goodbooks" by Leni is splendid as well their remix of Divebomb "The Whip." This simple Canadian duo of Ethan Kath and Alice Glass are in the midst of a tour right now with Health. I’m hoping to check them out in Phoenix on March 11^th; if I do I will let you know how they are live, but if not I am just going to have to wait until SXSW, which they have still yet to announce where and what day they are playing. Their debut album is due to hit your local record stores shelves March 18th. Peace and Beats

TOUR DATES WITH HEALTH:
02-28 Minneapolis, MN - Triple Rock Social Club
02-29 Winnipeg, Manitoba - Pyramid Cabaret
03-01 Regina, Saskatchewan - The Exchange
03-02 Calgary, Albert - The Warehouse
03-03 Edmonton, Alberta - The Starlite
03-05 Vancouver, British Columbia - Richard's on Richards
03-06 Seattle, WA - Chop Suey
03-07 Portland, OR - Backspace
03-08 San Francisco, CA - The Independent
03-09 Los Angeles, CA - The Roxy Theatre
03-10 San Diego, CA - Casbah
03-11 Phoenix, AZ - Brickhouse Theatre
03-12 Albuquerque, NM - Launch Pad
03-16 Denton, TX - Hailey's
03-17 Springfield, MO - Randy Bacon Studio & Gallery
03-19 DeKalb, IL - House Café
03-21 Cleveland, OH - Grog Shop
03-22 Philadelphia, PA - Transit
03-23 Baltimore, MD - Ottobar
03-25 Brooklyn, NY - Studio B
03-26 New York, NY - Mercury Lounge
03-27 Montreal, Quebec - Musee Juste Pour Rire
03-28 Toronto, Ontario - Circa

SOULWAX

Soulwax consists of the Dewaele brothers (aka 2 Many DJs) and a couple of other kick ass guys. They released Nite Versions way back in 2005. They really rock live. It is really fun to watch them all go at their instruments in perfect sync with one another instead of turntables for a change. As far as I know, they only play live (with instruments). Otherwise I believe it is just the Dewaele brothers spinning as 2 Many DJ’s. To bad neither of the groups ever seems to come over to the U.S. The album starts of with a re-work of Daft Punk’s “Teachers.” It then smoothly goes from there to the nice track “Accidents and Compliments,” and into the 3^rdand kick ass track “E Talking.” No tracks on the album are a bust. They just keep the flowing going until the bangers like “Krack” come on. The album then proceeds to finish strong with last two tracks “NY Lipps” and “Another Excuse.” If you like electro, and even if you don’t, check this album out. Remember “Part of the Weekend Never Dies.” Peace & Beats

Top Tracks: “E Talking”, “I Love Techno”, “Krack”, “NY Lipps”, “Another Excuse”

So This isn't the same version of "E Talking" from the album, but luckily I came across it because it is one of the coolest music videos I have ever seen.

Bass Bass Drum

Signed to Ellen Allien's label, Bpitch Control, Modeselektor released their second album "Happy Birthday!" late in 2007. Modeselektor is a German duo composed of Gernot Bronsert and Sebastian Szary. By no means would I put "Happy Birthday!" in my top ten list of albums from last year. That’s because there are 17 tracks on the album when there should only be about 10. If the duo chose to slim down the track list then the whole album would just be brilliant! However, considering they made the album in some kind of mobile recording studio you have to be more impressed than disappointed. The album transcends all genres. If you are looking for electronica tracks then check out "Godspeed," "Happy Birthday" and "Deboutonner" featuring Siriusimo. Hip-Hop fans check out "Let Your Love Grow" and the "The Dark Side of the Sun." Or if you are more into Dubstep & Grime; "Hyper Hyper" is fantastic. Techno fans should download "Sucker Pin" and "Black Block." So, as you can see there is a wide variety of genres in "Happy Birthday!" There is even a track with radiohead's Thom Yorke titled "The White Flash. I think they will put on one hell of a live show so we all should be hoping they go on a tour in the U.S. before they play Coachella this year.