5 posts tagged “sxsw”
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I love bacon, and I love sneakers.... so by transference, I would also love Bacon Shoe. These two MCs (Lethal D and Mr. Ruggles) and one DJ (DJ SKU), are a comedy hip-hop crew from rap hotbed of Kansas City.
I couldn't find any information on their debut album, Ass, originally released in 1997, but obviously that's a decade (!!) prior to Back from Stinktion (that's extinction for you non-hipsters).
Although there's no pending pressure that they're on tour or are in need of promotion, I was inspired enough after watching their misadventures in SXSW 2006 (their album came with a bonus DVD) to write about it.
It seems to me that they only had a few booked/confirmed shows in Austin, because the time that they weren't booked, they drove to various bars and started playing music and rapping. What's really interesting is that in one of the videos, you can see the slow buildup of passerby people actually stopping and watching them perform.
They're incredibly mobile and, watching their behind-the-scene stuff, they're quite funny.
The music portion of the album doesn't quite capture their live energy, it makes it up with various comedy bits. Like on "Toine in the Studio" doing some intentionally horrible unrhyming freestyle or on "A New Discovery Shed" where Lethal accidentally dropped "sometime you gotta bend over and take it up the a** a little bit. Erm, no you don't. I'm sorry, That's not true. I never done that before, so don't think I'm like..."
My favorite song is "Cheesedick", mostly because I think of Aqua Teen Hunger Force whenever I hear it.
Bacon Shoe's Back from Stinktion is a great album to have right next to your MC Frontalot collection. The bonus DVD added a nice value to the album, so get the physical copy from CD Baby.
Links:
www.baconshoe.com
myspace.com/baconshoe
last.fm/music/Bacon+Shoe
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03/08/08 GOR Bulungan, Jakarta Selatan
Sounds Like
03/15/08 SXSW Music at Annex, Austin 03/20/08 Amoeba Music Store, San Francisco 03/20/08 Make Out Room, San Francisco 03/27/08 Univ. Hamka, Jakarta Selatan Jakarta 04/04/08 Score, Citos Jakarta 03/20/08 Annex Building, Hotel Nikko, Jakarta |
Head over to Minty Fresh and grab some free SXSW tracks!
It would seem that these Minty artists: We Are Standard, Beangrowers, Ezra Furman & The Harpoons, and White Shoes & The Couples Company are all going to be at that massive SXSW show. SXSW hasn't even happened yet, and I'm already sick of hearing about it, haha!
The funniest title among these four songs seems to be the Stone Roses-inspired song, "I Wanna be Ignored" by Ezra Furman & The Harpoons. The song is a fun little quick number with a lot of jangly guitars. Also note: clapping.
I don't know what We Are Standard normally sounds like, but their song, "On The Floor" suggests you rock and worship them.
I also really dug Beangrowers, the lyrics and singing is really good and you'd think they were American, but they're from Malta (a small country near Italy). I will have to get back to this band later, my main focus for today's post is for Indonesia's White Shoes & The Couples Company.
Rolling Stones and All Music Guide seems really smitten with this band, naming them "the best 25 bands on Myspace" and "25 most crushworthy bands of 2006", respectively.
I can see why, Aprilia Apsari's vocals is very sweet and the music is very indiepop.
The good news is that they're doing some rare US tour dates - so if you're in SF, please contact me.
03/07/2008 23:16:41
vu
my♥posts
whiteshoesandthecouplescompany.org
| Tour Dates
03/12/08 SXSW - Chicken Ranch Austin, TX
Sounds Like
03/13/08 SXSW @ Cheapo Discs Austin, TX 03/13/08 SXSW - Camel Day Show Austin, TX 03/14/08 SXSW AUSTIN, Texas 03/15/08 SXSW - Chicken Ranch Day Party 04/05/08 Club 527 - Murfreesboro, TN[1] [1] w/ Parachut Musical and Paper Route |
Rock on! We Were The States' debut Believe The Thieves is a lovely 32-minute post-punk romp. Sounding a bit like the Strokes/garage rock meets every rollicking 70's brit-rock outfit you've ever bobbed your head to, the Murfreesboro, Tennessee quintet will kick your butt from start to finish.
Poised to make an impression at South By Southwest - you've heard that before, I know - in the wake of the album's March 11th release, I really do believe this band will be going places. My first thought was "wow, this is good, for a debut" but to qualify it that way would be a disservice. This album is good - very good - and the fact that it's a debut album makes their effort all the more impressive.
Justin Webb's half-shout vocals and the rest of the band's full-shout choruses will have you yearning for the rock-revival halcyon heydays of The Hives, the White Stripes, and the Vines. What was that, five years ago? Well, those were the days, friends, and We Were The States are keeping that party going. Check these guys out, you'll be glad you did.
03/07/2008 21:23:42
Andrew
my♥posts
myspace.com/thestates
PLEASE NOTE: SCION GIVEAWAY HAS ENDED - PLEASE DO NOT ENTER IN THE CONTEST. NEW GIVEAWAY SOON XOXO
I have a couple of announcements:
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I have 10 copies (that's perfect because it seems we only have 10 readers) of The Scion CD Sampler Vol. 19 to give away, all you need to do is send your full name and physical mailing address to contest@weheartmusic.com with the subject line of SCION. As far as I know, this giveaway is not restricted to W♥M writers or international readers, but one entry per household, please.
This is a really handsome 2-CD collection (18 tracks), in a cardstock fold-out sleeve, it retails for about $9.99 (sold as digital downloads only). Read Ceji's review or read their press release for full track listing and other details.
Contest is courtesy of Scion, visit their A/V section on the web at scion.com/sav. I will add that a lot of musicians I know would love to a Scion mini-vans because of the sporty nature of the car, and it's big enough (but not too big) to haul around music instruments with enough room to carry a few passengers (ie your bandmates).
Sorry, I don't have any Scion cars to give away :)
Speaking of Scion, it looks like the opening reception to the pop art exhibit is opening up tonight in Los Angeles. It continues onto March 1st, details below:
Scion presents:
'LOVE WILL BRING US APART AGAIN'
Curated by ApartFebruary 16 - March 1 2008
Scion and Apart Productions bring you the international pop art shootout of the year... ....watch the pistols and a family of punk teddies take on a latex covered bath and a fluorescent caravan.
Opening Reception
Saturday, February 16th 7-10pm
Featuring artists:
Tim Blake (UK) , Conrad Leach (UK), Luis Perez (SPAIN), Gustavo Gagliardo (ARGENTINA), Sean Alexander (UK), Pakpoom Silaphan (THAILAND), Craig Lynn (UK), James Holdsworth (UK), Peter Gravelle (UK), Tony Pronier (FRANCE), Cat James (UK), Ryan Hadley (UK), Nick McFarlane (NEW ZEALAND), Ben Allen (UK), Emelie Salford (SWEDEN), Dominic Allan (UK), John Parkin (UK), Super Violence (JAPAN), Brian Jones (UK), Janna Stern (USA), David Hollier (UK), Mr Wim (BELGIUM), Sunil Pawar (UK), James Mathers (USA), John Counsell (UK), Antoine Corbineau (FRANCE), Robalot (UK)DJ / Open Bar / Free Valet Parking
SCION Installation L.A.
3521 Helms Ave. (at National) Culver City, CA 90232
Gallery Phone: 310.815.8840 www.scion.com/space
Hours: Wednesday – Saturday 11am-6pm and by appointment
Underagers, "Open Bar" means free liquor - although it's only polite to tip.
Speaking of bars... Jamie Leonhart (along with Michael Leonhart) is doing a free show at Rockwood Music Hall in New York on February 20th. However, I'm told by my roaming NY reporter that there is a one-drink minimum.
- Rockwood Music Hall
196 Allen
New York, NY 10002
212 477-4155
If all works out, I believe Lara will be reviewing the show for us.
Hopefully when the weather here gets more... tolerable, I will be going out more often. I want to do more concert coverage, and no, I haven't bought that SLR camera yet. Perhaps when the government sends that tax relief check :)
In the meantime, you're going to have to deal with dodgy photographs and drawings.
In the last press release-related item I wanted to talk about is SXSW. When did this Austin-based music showcase get so popular ?!? I've only started hearing about it a few years ago, but now it's in the mainstream (especially with tech-related reporters!)
Almost every artists that's currently promoting their music is going to be at SXSW somehow. Here are two announcements about SXSW (expect more as SXSW gets closer):
- Press Here's Artists at SXSW
Sat, 16 Feb 2008 10:32:11 CST - Epitaph and Hellcat Records Announce SXSW 2008 Lineup
Sat, 16 Feb 2008 10:24:04 CST
02/16/2008 10:49:02
vu
my♥posts
www.weheartmusic.com
Flight of Conchords are a duo from Wellington, New Zealand; Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie. They are, in their own words, "New Zealand's 4th most popular guitar-based digi-bongo acapella-rap-funk-comedy folk duo" or in simpler terms, "New Zealand's fourth most popular folk-parody duo". Most of their performances include acoustic guitars and humorous banter. They probably received the most recognition (in the US) from their appearance on HBO's comedy series One Night Stand in which they performed seven songs; the whole show can be viewed on Google Video. When I first saw them, I was wary of the whole comedians-with-musical-instruments routine, but these guys actually mix the instruments with their witty material really well. They recently signed a 12-episode deal with HBO for a self-titled series about them "trying to achieve success in New York City as a band" (Wiki).
They released an album in 2002 of live material called Folk the World Tour featuring 2 studio-recorded tracks, "Something Special for the Ladies" and the Lord of the Rings inspired "Frodo". In 2005, they wrote a six-part, half-hour radio series for BBC Radio 2. "Presented in a 'mockumentary' style the series follows the duo's move to London and all the trials and tribulations they encounter along the way; from being shot by an arrow and dealing with stalker fans to the threat of the band breaking up. Interspersed throughout, are songs which seem to fit each situation" (SmokeCDs). In 2006, it was made available through Audible, Amazon (Canada) (UK), and SmokeCDs.
Aside from Flight of the Conchords, Jemaine and Bret have other side-projects:
Jemaine was part of The Humourbeasts with Taika Cohen (who is also credited as Taika Waititi). I don't know much about the project, but from this thread,
I gather that it was a theatrical sketch-comedy duo. Jemaine is also a
screenwriter/actor who co-wrote and co-starred in a movie called Tongan Ninja
which is an english-dubbed english film done in the style of poorly
dubbed martial arts movies about a ninja trying to save the woman he
loves. Jemaine played the villain, Action Fighter/Marvin. And in 2006,
he appeared in a couple of Outback Steakhouse commercials.
Bret is part of an 8-member band called The Black Seeds with a "reggae, dub, funk and soul" influence (site bio) and also has a solo project called The Video Kid which is more electronic, synth, folk sounding. He was an extra in The Fellowship of the Ring as an elf and nicknamed Figwit by fans which is an acronym for "Frodo is grea...who is THAT?!?" And thanks to some hardcore fans, Peter Jackson gave him a speaking part in The Return of the King. There's a fansite called Figwit Lives! dedicated to the elf and the man who played him.
Jemaine will star in a film called Eagle vs. Shark written and directed by his Humourbeasts pal Taika Cohen (Waititi). It's a "tale of two socially awkward misfits and the strange ways they try to find love; through revenge on high-school bullies, burgers, and video games" (IMDb). The film has received much praise including winning Best Screenplay at the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival and being the Official Selection at both the Sundance Film Festival and SXSW Film Festival and is set to be released on June 15. Their HBO series will premiere two days later on June 17, but if that seems a bit too far, the full pilot episode can be viewed here. Much more info about Flight of the Conchords can be obtained from a great fansite called What the Folk!.
Jason :: Official Site | What the Folk! (fansite)
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