I saw Speaker Speaker at the High Dive on Easter Sunday for the Ear Candy birthday bash.  Much fun.  Loved watching the drummer tear it up, head tilted as he worked the ride, ripping these fills at break neck pace.  The songs were catchy, composed and masters in their genre.  That hollow body Gibson sounded sweet through the 4 12" Fender amp (I think that is what it was), the right sound.  One song in the middle of the set hit the right tone of bitter sweet pop ballad. I think the line was "no one's gonna let me down again."  The rest of the tunes were straight up power pop punk. And the banter between songs was great.  Best line: "What's the most rock 'n' roll holiday?"  "Well, Jesus did roll a rock on Easter..."  Oh, and you should check out their blog; it is pretty entertaining.  (Yes, I saw the rendition of Baba O’Reilly too; it was stunning.) 

So, it turns out, having poked around on their blog, that the guitarist, Colin McBride, and bassist, Danny Olsen, used to be in a band called Vermillion.  I actually have the Vermillion CD, which I bought at their show at the Paradox in the U-District around 2002.  Produced by Steve Albini no less. I love the cover, this Dali-esque painting by Roger Dean. And there's this great photo of the band in dress clothes in some kind of pool with really creepy lighting that I love.  Also that night seven years ago, Eyes of Autumn played, another math rock band who I liked a lot. Still have their CD too! Long live math rock.

• People look silly with their badges on when at a show.  Why not put it away once you are in?
• Austin pizza is good, especially the crust.Brilliant hangover prevention @ 2AM.
• Limes and beer make sense.
• Texting is ubiquitous. 
• Puking seems equally ubiquitious at 2AM on Sixth Street.
• Check out Cha Cha.  Text them any question to 242242 (which spells Cha Cha).  Better than Google on your phone because a real person is responding. 
• T9 is genius.
• Day parties are genius.
• I could never hire a pedi-cab, but god bless those who do.
• Walking in the street, even when it has been officially blocked off, still has a quality of transgression.
• Elijah Wood really is a hobbit. I know because I saw him at SxSW.
• The etiquette of taking someone's photo with a digital camera: you show the person the photo and he/she has the right to make it instantly disappear.  Gives the power to the subject.

Caught the end of Grand Old Party set at Red Eyed Fly. Good live set. 

Was lucky to meet some folks who gave me a lift to a house party where I caught Toddle from Japan.  The two female guitarists were great, playing off one another. Loved the drummer too.  Indie rock genre perfected by a Japanese band. 

Caught Bobby Bare Jr. at Club Deville.  My favorite moment was his cover of "This Charming Man" by The Smiths.

In a repeat of last year, found myself watching Thurston Moore outside at Mohawk.  No Steve Shelly this year.  Thurston was his usually self, acting 19. 

Ended the evening with N.E.R.D at Stubbs, which was packed with bodies getting spastic.  Weird hybrid of industrial and rock turned anthem. 

First band I caught was The Pity Party at the inside stage of Red Eyed Fly. Their sound was minimal and raw.  There was space in it.  Great beats by the drummer, who often played one handed so as to play keyboards as well.  Cool to hear both of them sing together, against one another.   They probably get compared to The White Stripes (male/female duo with female on drums, etc.).  Give me The Pity Party over The White Stripes any day.  There's something very true about the music they make, moving.  Like a rawer Mates of State or something.

Then I saw Fivehead at Lovejoy's. Their sound was entirely satisfying, gratifying, affirming. Saw them earlier at the GBV Hoot night it turns out, so I was having some strange SxSW local karma. Long live indie rock.

After Fivehead, I went to see The Blow. She showed up all the rockers, vamping around in all-white get-up to some great sequenced beats.  She's got the moves. Stories between songs were amazing, about boys, about girls, about attraction, crushes. There's a wink behind her words and presence.  More like theater.  "True Affection" is an amazing song.  Go K Records!  Go Pacific Northwest!

Across the street at Brush Park was the Japan Bash,  where I caught Peelander-Z. Didn't realize the legend that they were, but caught on quick.  They had "Subterranean Homesick Blues" style placards, which were used to great effect on songs like "What the Health."  A mosh pit got going at one point in the show, which was great, as most of the shows at SxSW don't fire up the crowds to mosh. Then, they gave away their instruments to people in the audience and did a wrestling/bowling skit while the crowd literally took over the stage.  Seeing them right after The Blow made sense, as both acts were about doing theater in the guise of rock.  

Ended the evening at Room 710 for The Social Registry showcase.  Caught two hypnotizing bands: Psychic Ills and Sian Alice Group.  Both bands had a hypnotizing sound that meandered and created atmosphere.  Perfect way to end the evening it turned out. 

First full day of SxSW music.  Started the day out at Agave listening to Deborah Crooks.  Singer songwriter and you could hear the ache of the past and the possibility of the future embodied in her voice.  There were only a few of us in the audience, which made it intimate.

The next noteworthy show was Van Morrison at La Zona Rosa.  Had to go see him at such a small venue.  He had a massive band of consummate musicians.  Van himself played saxophone as well as doing a fair amount of scatting.  His vocal delivery was signature.  Didn't know any of the tunes but that didn't matter.  They all sounded like standards. The one line I remember was "I'm a legend in my own mind/Don't need any pills to unwind." Go Van.

Final act I saw was  Does It Offend You, Yeah? at The Parish. (Check out their website, btw: amazing.) Loved how they blended digital and analog, all to the effect of super high energy dance party.  Good way to end day 1 of SxSW.

Guided by Voices Hoot Night at Club Deville March 11th. Premium way to start SxSW. Each band encapsulated the spirit of GBV. There were some great bands names that Bob would approve of -- Poodlefinger and Boner Patrol come to mind immediately. There were readings of Relaxation of the Asshole between sets. Two bands ended up playing "Watch Me Jump Start."  Bryce Clifford played "My Kind of Soldier," "Fair Touching," and "Game of Pricks."   He was shredding on his Les Paul.

Three bands had female lead singers/guitarists. Amy Cook played first, and did "14 Cheerleader Coldfront" and a great version of "Queen of Cans and Jars". 
UME tore it up with their covers of "Shocker in Gloomtown" and "Cut Out Witch". 

Maggie Walters played "Drinker's Peace" which has the great lina about getting a contact buzz. Sean, the drummer from Cocker Spaniel, then joined her for a rendition of "Hot Freaks."  Nice.

And Masonic played "Smothered in Hugs," "Yours to Keep," "Glad Girls," and "Run Wild."  Something about a woman singing "Glad Girls" that was spot on.

Everything's Gone Green did "Jane of the Waking Universe", "Watch Me Jumpstart", and "Closer You Are".

The Parkas did "Gold Star For Robot Boy" and "I Am A Scientist".

"Subspace Biographies" -- which has the amazing quail and quasar chorus -- was covered by Beaty Wilson's band did that one, as well as "Motor Away".

Fun to bounce around with other GBV heads. There were many kicks, beers raised (Lone Stars), anthemic sing along moments and general camaraderie.  I talked to two people who were at the final show in Chicago.  Classic.  Don't stop now...

 (Thanks to John Mason who put the whole event together and filled in some of the blanks as far as bands and songs.)

DJ Klever kicked it hard Sunday March 9th at the Beauty Bar here in Austin. No headphones and he was non stop.  Threw in some old school favs at the end of the night like What's The Scenario and even older school stuff like Bob Marley.  And lots of other hip hop that kept the energy high.  Facile he was.  Line of the night as he wrapped up his set: "Alright I'm almost done so you can go home and have sex now."

Killer laptop battle at Club DeVille.

It was outside, styles all over the map as these guys showed what they had.

The emcees Phranchyze and Zeale 32 were keeping it real, lots of innuendo and what not. 

I was rooting for sudrok inalak.

Talked to him afterward: everyone was using Ableton Live apparently.  So many different controllers were used: from a Guitar Hero guitar to old school 80s guitar keyboard to other midi controllers. 

There's some great other photos of the event that I found on Flickr here.

You can see the brackets here:

Overall, killer event, great way to start my music consumption here at SxSW.