It's time we got this started again. This really should just be a SXSW planning blog but rather a place were we talk about the music we love, the music we don't love, and everything in between.
It's been an interesting summer of music for me and I'll be posting more about the new stuff that I can't stop playing. I've only gotten to one live show since SXSW but that will change shortly too. A neighbor got tickets to Rush and while they're not my favorite group, I've not seen them live and I know they deliver a great stage show.
Anyway, more will be coming and I'll be posting more frequently too.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
EXCEL Spreadsheet with SXSW schedule
It is a bit early. I have not even sorted this schedule. I do find this format a lot easier to work with than the SXSW online schedule. Let me know what you think and if there are any questions. I will add a column for "users ratings". It would be fun to share rankings. You will be getting an e-mail from Google Docs containing the current spreadsheet.
It has tabs for Wed/Thur/Fri/Sat. The schedule was current as of Monday. I will need to manually add changes ( another reason for waiting to share ). At any rate enjoy or ignore choice is yours.
sxsw 2010 music videos
I just noticed that the site SXSW Music site now has videos for 2010 groups. I'll add comments to this post on ones that I realy like.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
updated SXSW 2010
...and posted in on Google Docs.
We are pretty close except for one key difference. Coal Porters are on my list as a 5, they have been on my can't miss since I heard they were going to be there. Sid Griffin goes back to the 80s as a member of the Long Ryders. Recently I listened to his 1995 release Los London, it stood the test of time. Griffin is also author of several books about the history of rock. I am really looking forward to seeing him.
I am pretty sure that we can still make the Carrie Rodriguez performance at 1:00, she is right around the corner.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
intersting article:
One more stupid idea from the enforcement groups.
Music industry to musicbloggers: there's no point in obeying the law
Music industry to musicbloggers: there's no point in obeying the law
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Cargo Pants
While getting ready for this years SXSW, I mentioned to Checkerfan that I was thinking about using a backpack this year. You see I want to carry extra camera batteries & SD cards. Last year I took a bunch of stills & at least 30 seconds of video for each group we saw but this year I want to video a lot more. That's why I suggested taking a backpack but have been convinced to use cargo pants & carry the extra stuff in pockets. I think this is great and I ordered a couple pair from Cabelas. Now I just need to order the extra batteries & SD cards & I'm ready to go!
Friday, February 5, 2010
Top of my SXSW 2010 list
I've been going through Tom's "2010 Potentials". Of the 60 songs, only one made me go to YouTube to find a live performance. Chris Leya, the drummer for The Bad Bad Ants, said it best:
Carrie Rodriguez "50's French Movie"
Nothing cooler than Tele, Lap Steel, Stand-up bass, stripped down drum kit - oh ya, and a hot chick!
Carrie Rodriguez "50's French Movie"
Friday, January 29, 2010
Observations on my ratings
- It is pretty obvious that rap is not one of my favorite genres, they seem to fall to the bottom of the ratings ( 1 out of 5 ). Unless the language is Spanish, then I guess the anger gets defused
- I love Latin Rock many of the songs highly rated are from World Music, there are a couple of Israeli bands also that I gave high ratings
- At first I was amazed that SXSW revealed so many bands early. Now I am not sure, I think there are a sprinkling of known/hot bands in the early list, but not enough to start making plans around.
- Here is my list of can't misses:
- the Coal Porters - I dug out there late 90s release and fell back in love with them. For years the leader of this band lived in London. He has written a very hard to find biography of Graham Parsons and is releasing a book in April about the Dylan Rolling Thunder Review. He was also a founding member of the Long Ryders.
- Ozomatli - I have seen them 3 times and each time they were rocking, combing latin rhythms with Rap. Probably will play one of the larger venues
- The dolomites - featuring one of the members from Gogol Bordello, the song sampled on the website sounds much like Gogol Bordello.
- The Brought Low - good american rock and roll, a song posted on the SXSW site a few years ago was so good that I bought the CD, it did not disappoint. I am hoping they appear as an Americana rock and roll showcase.
- Dengue Fever - Cambodian Rock and roll out of Los Angles USA, very interesting stage show, I saw them a few years ago at SXSW
- Gordon Gano and the Ryan Brothers - Gordon was the front man from Violent Femmes, might be worth checking him out based on history
- Hyperpotomus - Saw this guy last year in the convention center, he has a one man a capella act using loops. It was pretty neat. I would not plan an evening around him, but if shows up at some afternoon show, check him out.
- Magic Numbers - I loved both of their releases, would love to see them in small venue
- Peelander Z - missed these guys last year, because we left Mohawk Patio for another bar, then could not get back in. Their live performances are amusing and always make the bes of lists after the festival they are all over youtube:
- Those Darlins - were a highlight for my 2009 SXSW experience
- The XX - lots of press coming out from the UK
Ratings for 200+ Songs downloaded from SXSW
Comment
Band - Song
More comments
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Flights to SXSW 2010
Getting there and back this year is really going to suck. Flights are looking to be around $500 and the times are horrible. Last year we got away with prices in the $300 range.
One return option was over 15 hours of travel time - leave austin at 6am and not hit pittsburgh until after 9pm. Insane.
One return option was over 15 hours of travel time - leave austin at 6am and not hit pittsburgh until after 9pm. Insane.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Where do you search for or how do you find new music?
It's used to be simple. There were plently of ways to find new music.
Radio stations would play an entire new album at midnight. Often it was a from a less popular group that had good buzz about it. Radio stations also played a bit more variety that they do now. Sure, DVE hasn't changed their playlist in decades, but other stations used to take up the slack. 104.7 WYDD played a wide variety of music.
Groups also had loads on venues to play locally: The Stanley, The Syria Mosque, and of course, The Civic Arena. Two are gone and the third is on it's last legs. Places like Palumbo Center are around but there just isn't the traffic there used to be.
Rolling Stone magazine had articles about music. It's hard to imagine but it's true.
MTV used to play alot of different music even thought it refused to play rap. Now, there's very little variety played on MTV. There's lots of american idol pop & hip hop but very little of anything else.
We're left with YouTube, public radio stations, and word of mouth. Finding new & different music takes real effort these days and that's a shame. When you look at the top cds from 2009, you see that one of them Susan Boyle. Record companies seem to only want to sell to the 12-22 year old market but the evidence seems to indicate that they are ignoring a large number of potential customers. James Taylor, Van Morrison, and Kate Bush continue to release new cds but where would folks hear them? If they cannot get air time, then what are the chances that Sia or Those Darlins will get played?
To find new music, I rely on several sources: WYEP, NPR's All Songs Considered, and word of mouth.
There is an untapped market and someone will figure this out and begin selling to it. The real question is how long it'll take.
Radio stations would play an entire new album at midnight. Often it was a from a less popular group that had good buzz about it. Radio stations also played a bit more variety that they do now. Sure, DVE hasn't changed their playlist in decades, but other stations used to take up the slack. 104.7 WYDD played a wide variety of music.
Groups also had loads on venues to play locally: The Stanley, The Syria Mosque, and of course, The Civic Arena. Two are gone and the third is on it's last legs. Places like Palumbo Center are around but there just isn't the traffic there used to be.
Rolling Stone magazine had articles about music. It's hard to imagine but it's true.
MTV used to play alot of different music even thought it refused to play rap. Now, there's very little variety played on MTV. There's lots of american idol pop & hip hop but very little of anything else.
We're left with YouTube, public radio stations, and word of mouth. Finding new & different music takes real effort these days and that's a shame. When you look at the top cds from 2009, you see that one of them Susan Boyle. Record companies seem to only want to sell to the 12-22 year old market but the evidence seems to indicate that they are ignoring a large number of potential customers. James Taylor, Van Morrison, and Kate Bush continue to release new cds but where would folks hear them? If they cannot get air time, then what are the chances that Sia or Those Darlins will get played?
To find new music, I rely on several sources: WYEP, NPR's All Songs Considered, and word of mouth.
There is an untapped market and someone will figure this out and begin selling to it. The real question is how long it'll take.
Monday, January 11, 2010
SXSW Prep
I spent an hour or so last Friday downloading every mp3 available on the SXSW site. There were 276 of them. As of this morning, i listened to around 80 of them. How many jumped out as can't miss? ...hmm...None?
I will enter my scores in a spread sheet that I will post. I will also invite some other folks to join. Thanks for setting this up..
Friday, January 8, 2010
sxsw 2010 planning begins
We're just now starting to plan for SXSW 2010. I hope we have as much luck & fun as we did last year.
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