It was my second morning in Austin, and decided I best check out some of the free day music on display at the Convention Centre. First up, Erland and the Carnival, whose debut album I gave a glowing review to a year or so ago. They’ve since released a new album, Nightingale (their North American debut), and in this short half-hour-or-so set they jumped between the two.
“Map of an Englishman”, “East and West” and “Trouble in Mind” were among the tracks to be pumped out from the underrated band. I’m not familiar with the newer material yet, but the material I know well translated brilliantly live. Only playing to a crowd of 30 or 40 (most of whom were no doubt hungover), they definitely proved themselves on the small stage. Looking forward to checking out Nightingale in full.
Meanwhile, over in the main performance room, Sydney Festival’s recent headliner Emmylou Harris was gracing the stage for an intimate performance. Not just intimate in terms of the size of the room – but intimate in terms of her interaction with the audience. Each song was preceeded by an often heartfelt story; an insight into the making of the song. Some new, some old, Emmylou showed us what she’s all about. A beautiful singer, and extraordinary songwriter, Emmylou deserves all the praise she has received over the years. It was an honour to see her in this setting today.
As much as this is a festival about the convention, there are of course plenty of events in the city aimed towards people without such access. Day parties for punters and badgeholders alike are scattered around the city. One of these events (Pitchfork presents #OFFLINE) took place in a dusty park – the East Side Drive In – where artists such as Mount Kimbie were showing themselves off. While we didn’t get a chance to catch the London duo, we did catch The Fresh & Onlys – a group from San Francisco who sound quite a bit like The Paper Scissors, set to a harder beat. The drummer was phenomenal, with their music encouraging plenty of echo and reverb. It was nothing you hadn’t heard before, but infectious and entertaining all the same. Check them out! http://www.myspace.com/thefreshonlys
Heading back towards the convention centre, we popped into the French day party, where Tahiti 80 were rocking it. They ticked all the boxes for “fun French pop”: an energetic frontman, catchy riffs and simple English lyrics. Yes, the lazy comparison for this sort of band will always stem to Phoenix, which is a pity, because no one does what they do quite as well (in my humble opinion) – and as such, Tahiti 80 are definitely doing their own thing. So who would you compare them to? Perhaps make up your own mind, at their Myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/tahiti80
As I failed in my quest to get into The Dears, my afternoon of music ended with a spellbinding show from LA-based Grouplove. With “Colours” (which ended the set), the band have been tearing up the airways in Australia, selling a crapload of EPs along the way, and making a huge fan out of yours truly. These guys bring a super amount of fun to the stage, while evoking a very similar energy to that of Cloud Control – perhaps with just a bit more of a ‘tribal’ vibe.
Tracks “Gold Coast” and “Tongue Tied” were wonderful, infectious and entertaining tracks – but it was definitely “Colours” that stole the show. There are rumours the band will be in town for Splendour in the Grass, and let’s hope that this eventuates. I couldn’t get an answer out of them!
They are worth all the hype: In spite of barely being able to see them in the dingy pub where they played today (Lovejoys) , Grouplove were an easy highlight of my 2011 SXSW experience.
And as you’ll come to discover, I saw a LOT of bands…
