SXSW 2009 Preview: Part One

Music, SXSW, , ,

To prep for the 2009 South By Southwest music festival in, I’m arming myself with a list of the groups performing and an active Internet connection with the goal of listening to top tracks from as many bands as possible and offering my impressions here.

The reactions will be quick and dirty, reflecting my own musical taste and ignorance, but if they save me or anyone else from accidentally sitting through a performance of Hey, How’s Your News, then they will be worth it.

Akron/Family

They are: A New York City–based folkie band with drums, guitar and bass.

Sounds like: Mostly Iron and Wine, with maybe a little stripped-down, unfrenzied Dirty Horse thrown in.

The tracks (Rhapsody):

Afford
A dreamy lament, with picked guitar, light cymbal taps and a little steel-guitar drone to close her out.

…are those cricket sounds and bird calls?

Yep, they are.

Untitled
Well, it’s a hidden track, so it starts with the obligatory two minutes of silence (thanks, guys!). The track itself is leisurely, unspooling string arrangements and clean electric rambles over a strummed acoustic timekeeper. It’s nice, and sad, and quiet.

Before and Again
Kicks off with a bright, picked acoustic pattern and moves into hummed vocals, electric beeps and a little tin whistle. It spins a thin, delicate, beautiful thread before closing with an upbeat bongo jam.

The Verdict: Unrushed and melodic, the band gives each component of its sound room to breathe and be heard. It’s headphone music, songs you need to surround yourself with—tunes that might make you close your eyes and daydream for a while. It’s a great sound—I want to listen to more—but it seems best suited to a small, hushed venue.

Anni Rossi

They are: “From Minnesota via Los Angeles and now based in Chicago, twenty-three year old Anni is an exciting prospect. Having been classically trained since aged three, Anni is an accomplished multi-instrumentalist and has been performing as a solo artist for the past few years.”

Sounds like: A slightly squawky Alanis Morrisette with a violin

The tracks (Rhapsody):

Machine
A plucked violin provides the push for the track, with Rossi offering breathy, trilled vocals. The backing sounds like something Andrew Bird would record in his bedroom, but the singing is too slippery for its own good.

Ecology
A Vegas lounge swing on organ in punctuated with a bassoon and stiff snare beats. The lyrics quiver, but you just want them to hold still.

Venice
Kicks off with a nice woodwind/drum groove, which alternates with a rough, swelling string country waltz. The end goes uptempo over a frenzied violin pattern

The Verdict: It’s a bit punk rock, but the vocals are more grating than attention-grabbing. Andrew Bird has nothing to worry about.

Department of Eagles

They are: A band fronted by the lead singer of Grizzly Bear and his college roommate, who retained the itch for music after many years in an office job, giving hope to schlubs everywhere (or at least schlubs with former college roommates in successful bands…step to it, guys!)

Sounds like: Nice, high and soothing…My Morning Jacket meets Of Montreal? (Pre sex-soul explosion for both)

The tracks (Department of Eagles web site):

No One Does It Like You
The tune marches along with a dreamy strut. Strong lead vocals, falsetto backups and a steady lead make for a nice, Gorrilaz-esque track.

In Ear Park
Opens with a range of rippling acoustic patterns that cede to a dreamy, wavering vocal. Evocative and soothing.

Phantom Other
Another acoustic track, one that makes gorgeous use of vocal overlays. It’s still light, with a more conventional drum backing, but there are a lot of interesting sounds in the margins.

The Verdict:Great production and a polished sound. They might be a little soft for a live setting, but they could also unleash some fuzzy firepower. An intriguing band.

Review: “Captain Freedom” by G. Xavier Robillard

Books, FLYMF Alums,

“You can’t fight me,” he sneers. “You don’t have insurance anymore.”
“I’ve got COBRA.”

That exchange, delivered during a mid-air melee, sums up the comedic blend of “Captain Freedom,” the new novel by G. Xavier Robillard. Secret lairs and teenage sidekicks share space with product endorsement deals and online archenemy-matching services. Heroics are evaluated by their impact on the comic-book company bottom line. And if you need to go back in time to spoil a nefarious plot, it’s no problem to rent a run-down time machine from a skeezy Enterprise knock-off. (The release form contains a warning not to do anything to affect the course of history, but it also notes, “This rule is total bullshit, but you agree to it anyway, just as you agree to pay your work for any office supplies that you use for personal reasons.”)

Captain Freedom is the kind of guy who’d steal all of the office supplies he could get his hands on, even as he saves Cleveland in the process. The book approaches his life as a gag-a-minute memoir, using its oblivious slacker hero to bring to life as many superhero gags as possible, from remote tropical islands that host volcanic bases to the perils of the hero’s weakness (in this case, soy).

Continue reading Review: “Captain Freedom” by G. Xavier Robillard →

Review: Kerry Temple, “Back to the Earth: A Backpacker’s Journey Into Self and Soul”

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“Many years ago I was taught by stones, stones collected from south Texas and rocky Colorado, Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and the sun-blazed cathedrals of Zion National Park, Wyoming’s Big Horns and the plain-dressed woods of rural Indiana. A shaman’s stone from South Dakota. Leopold’s wilderness prophecies and a fall while climbing that taught me to sit still.”

That is how Kerry Temple sums up his lessons in “Back to Earth: A Backpacker’s Journey into Self and Soul.” The book is a lyrical meditation on knowledge gained from nature, the solace Temple has found in long hikes and backwoods journeys. As the book begins, he’s at a loss; his marriage his ended, and his path has become misdirected, diverted by the tiny, cumulative compromises of everyday life. In an effort to re-focus, Temple moves to an isolated cabin in South Bend, Indiana, one without radio or television or even a clock. There he contemplates, recollecting old journeys and talismans he has collected along the way, rocks that evoke scenery, beauty and lessons learned and forgotten.

Continue reading Review: Kerry Temple, “Back to the Earth: A Backpacker’s Journey Into Self and Soul” →

G. Xavier Robillard Publishes “Captain Freedom”!

Books, FLYMF Alums,

FLYMF Alum G. Xavier Robillard has published a book, “Captain Freedom: A Superhero’s Quest for Freedom, Justice, and the Celebrity He So Richly Deservers.” It sounds like a fun spoof of superhero tropes—the book’s description reads:

Freedom’s fifteen minutes are over!

Software pirates! Mostly extinct dinosaurs! Giant barbarians! Crooning criminals! Captain Freedom’s beat them all, saved the world, and looked fantastic doing it—but he couldn’t fend off middle management.

The Superhero lifestyle is all that Captain Freedom has ever known. What’s he supposed to do now? Enter politics? Write a children’s book?

Freedom’s in a bad way and he’s only a stint in rehab away from a lifetime of celebrity reality shows. But with the guidance of his new life coach, maybe Freedom can stumble in a new direction—even if it means having to make peace with his parents . . . or finally commit to a single long-term archenemy.

Robillard is promoting the book via his blog, The Taste of Freedom, which features regular updates on superhero-themed topics. Check it out for more info, or better yet, support him by picking up a copy of the book!

His work for FLYMF included “When George Lucas Gets His Hands on Other Blockbusters.”

Some Sanity on Michael Phelp’s Bong Hits

Politics, Well Worth Reading, ,

The oft-crazy columnist Kathleen Parker offers a sane response to photographs of Michael Phelps hitting a bong, taking on at the same time the senselessness of our marijuana laws.

Understandably, parents worry that their kids will emulate their idol, but the problem isn’t Phelps, who is, in fact, an adult. The problem is our laws — and our lies.

Obviously, children shouldn’t smoke anything, legal or otherwise. Nor should they drink alcoholic beverages, even though their parents might.

There are good reasons for substance restrictions for children that need not apply to adults.

That’s the real drug message that should inform our children and our laws, rather than the nonsense that currently passes for drug information.

Today’s anti-drug campaigns are slightly wonkier than yesterday’s “Reefer Madness,” but equally likely to become party hits rather than drug deterrents. One recent ad produced by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy says: “Hey, not trying to be your mom, but there aren’t many jobs out there for potheads.” Whoa, dude, except maybe, like, president of the United States.