Austin Sound Check

Don’t get me wrong, I love Santogold. The singles I’ve heard are fun, upbeat dance tracks and I’m definitely looking forward to her first release later this month. But as the release date (April 29) draws closer, and Santogold gets more press I find myself going back to her day show at SXSW.
Santogold lip-synced at the IHeartComix day party. Plain and simple. Diplo was DJing (I use the word loosely) for her and was having trouble locating her tracks on his laptop during the beginning of the set. After playing LES Artistes, my favorite Santogold song, Santogold announced to the …read more

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SXSW Day 3 got off to a late start, but I caught Flosstradamus opening for Santogold. Disappointing wasn’t even the right word for these two acts. Flosstradamus consisted of two guys with laptops. I saw turntables up there, but I didn’t see them used. Call me old school, but computers do not a musician make. I would have been satisfied if the turntables were used, but alas they weren’t. Seemed like expensive stage props to me. Flosstradamus played a set of remixes and heavy sampling. Good party music, to be sure, but I really hesitate to call these guys musicians. …read more

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As the beginning of SXSW Music draws near, I’m scrambling to finalize some sort of list of the bands I’ll be seeing this year. There isn’t nearly enough time to cover them all, so below are some highlights with links, so you can check them out. Though (hopefully) you’ll already be familiar with some of them. Bands are in no particular order…
The Cool Kids (Chicago, IL)
Old school hip-hop. Two MCs and one DJ style. Think early Beastie Boys.
Recommended Tracks: I (Mikey) Rock / Gold and a Pager
Website
Shout Out Louds (Stockholm, Sweden)
Melodic, up-tempo alt rock. Sweet, sweet vocal harmonies.
Recommended Tracks: Impossible …read more

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