Headphones On

----- Day Shows ------

Winterkids - SxSW Day Stage
It was hard to get a real feel for the Winterkids when we popped our heads into this day showcase at the Conference Center. I'm not sure an acoustic Winterkids is still Winterkids. It was enjoyable but something tells me by the look on the lead singer's face (of complete boredom of course) that they'd rock out quite a bit more when given the chance. I can't make up my mind on this one until after I see a real show.

Youth Group - Soho Lounge
I was a fan of James in my youth, apparently that's what "Youth Group" stands for. I'll pass and wait for the real thing to come around again.

David & The Citizens - Soho Lounge
This one kinda hurts to say as I really love David & The Citizens on record, but yawwwn. On record, it's lush orchestrated brilliance but the live 2 kids with guitars was NOT what I needed to get me going so early in the day. I know it's ridiculously hard to bring over an entire band from Sweden but I think it might have been a better introduction to their sound if they had.

Beach House - Emo's Jr
Again I'm gonna hold off on judgement (are you noticing a theme today?). They'll be touring soon with The Clientele and I think that would be a much better environment.

Little Ones - Emo's Annex
The bolt of energy we needed! These five kids from LA rocked the tent and finally woke us up for the day. They played a few songs from the new EP to an appreciate audience

Amy Millan - Red Eyed Fly
It was nice to hear some new material from Amy but part of me wishes she would take her tinge of Canadian country a bit more pop.

The Twilight Sad - Lava Lounge
Only stayed for a minute as we were actually at this Scottish party in search of Emma Pollock (ex-Delgados). If it had sounded like anything other than noise noise and more noise I might have wanted to hear more. No thanks. Oh good lord, I just spied Greg Kot's bloggy bit on The Twilight Sad... "Scottish quartet Twilight Sad, which conjured tsunami-like crescendoes around twitchy vocal melodies that evoked Joy Divison's late great Ian Curtis." errrm... NO.

Apples in Stereo - Habana Calle Annex
It's been so long since I've seen the Apples, even ten years on they never disappoint. There were only a few of the old classics but the new material seemed to be well received by the massive crowd at the Yep Roc party. They seemed to be all smiles to be back and playing together again and the new material definitely reflected that enthusiasm.

----- Evening Shows ------

The Last Town Chorus - Parish II
This was just a quick pop-in to get an idea of their sound on the way to another showcase. Unfortunately in the 5-10 minutes I was waiting, they were just kinda chitchatting onstage while their singer was fiddling with an effects pedal. Next time I guess.

The Eames Era - BD Riley's
It wasn't quite paint-by-numbers but it unfortunately wasn't too far off. I think they've got an interesting idea going musically but they need to push it a bit further to differentiate themselves from every other indiepop band with a MySpace.

Georgie James - Bourbon Rocks
Yet another band I wanted more from. I never felt the energy that they have on their recorded material and was left a little disappointed as I walked out the door. Perhaps an off night?

Best Fwends - Ms. Bea's
So we hiked across the highway to an "unofficial" party of Moshi Moshi and ended up at the best party ever! Best Fwends are these two unbelievable kids who take punk to a whole new place. Everyone in the place was jumpin' about to these 45 second screamfests... but CUTE screamfests. I can't really explain. This is something to be experienced.

Hot Club De Paris - Ms. Bea's
Sometimesit'sbetternottostickbitsofeachotherineachotherforeachother! Now this was a party that Hot Club could show their true grit.

Metronomy - Ms. Bea's
"Like a British Kraftwerk gone Punk" errr... something. One of the best bands I've seen all week! The "light show" was fantastic. The keyboards/sax/guitars were fantastic! Love this band.

Headlights - Red 7
Oh what's wrong with me? I have had a million opportunities to see Headlights play and yet have never found the time. I'm glad I took the time tonight because WOW... they take their music to a whole new level (the way these shows are supposed to go but don't seem to all the time).

Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings - Antone's
It's kind of a shame... but I doubt The Dap-Kings will ever play Antone's again. While the few songs we heard were fantastic dance-along brilliant... they were only allowed to play for a short time. As the night wore on it appeared that the venue was getting more and more behind schedule, which is fine and happens about 95% of the time I'd guess. The problem was, the set end wasn't adjusted so by the time Antibalas gave up the stage it was already 1:30 (The Dap-Kings were scheduled to START at one... not setup at 1:30). In the end the Dap-Kings set up in record time but only had about 35-40 minutes to play. As they made sound adjustments on the fly while Sharon freeformed for about 10 minutes... we were left with only the time for 2 proper songs. Badly done Antone's.

Buy some: Apples In Stereo