SPOTIFY HOUSE

DMC SXSW LINEUP

we're swimming forward to some of our favorite acts playing free shows in Austin on March 10-15th:

Chet Faker
Phantogram
football, etc.
Kelley Stoltz
Earl Sweatshirt
Kelela
CLASSIXX
Mutual Benefit
The Kooks
The Coup
Kurt Vile
Twin Shadow
Jagwar Ma
Nappy Roots
Dum Dum Girls
Wye Oak
Speedy Ortiz
Lee Fields & The Expressions
The Black Lips
Little Dragon
Aloe Blacc
Cloud Nothings
Against Me!
Schoolboy Q
Talib Kweli
Mobb Deep
Avi Buffalo
CeeLo Green
Cody ChesnuTT
Danny Brown
Childish Gambino
Washed Out

& some Texas natives also performing:

Deer Vibes
The Rich Hands
Chisme
Wild Child
The Tonton
Bob Schneider 

 - most searchable through Showlist Austin and all listenable through Spotify (click the balloon). 

THE MANATEE WITH THE PLANATEE

SXSW VI, reporting from Austin Texas. most every show below is free and some may offer free food/drink. click on names for event details.

early on TUESDAY, Fol Chen performs at Red 7 around 3 o'clock. Wavves at 10PM at Viceland, with Japandroids and Divine Fits to follow, promises to rank among the best closers of the week. Flying Lotus will also do a multi-media set at the Jones Center AMOA Arthouse.

WEDNESDAY, starting out at noon at Waterloo Records, we'll have to catch Thurston Moore's new project, Chelsea Light Moving, and we'll probably stay for Tegan & Sara at 2. then it's off to see either Peanut Butter Wolf at Red 7 or !!! at Lustre Pearl, with Dead Prez to end the evening early at Antone's (for $).

THURSDAY, Caveman and Foxygen play the Flamingo Cantina starting around 2, King Tuff plays the Scoot Inn at 3. then Waterloo again for The Joy Formidable at 4 and The Coup at 5. at 1100 Warehouse, they'll likely make us chose between Foxygen/Youth Lagoon and Toro Y Moi/Andy Stott - a fine outcome either way. lastly, Cafe Tacvba play the big bad Audiorium Shores at 8.

the Walkmen and Foxygen show at the Club De Ville on FRIDAY appears RSVP-ed out, but we'll try to get in anyway. earlier that day, Dosh performs at Holy Mountain around noon, Caveman and Phosphorescent perform at Red Eyed Fly around 3, and The Zombies (yes, Colin Blunstone's Zombies) perform at The Stage On 6th at 4. Divine Fits, Jim James (of My Morning Jacket) and the big bad Flaming Lips close Auditorium Shores, with Daedelus monoming an after-midnight set at Emo's East (for $).

on SATURDAY, Austin's own Balmorhea opens the day at Mohawk at noon, and we may stay for The Thermals at 3. ...unless we missed The Zombies, in which case they're playing Waterloo at noon or Mellow Johnny's Bike Shop at 2. and if we somehow missed the most ubiquitous band of the festival, Foxygen plays Jo's Coffee at 4, with Phosphorescent and Heartless Bastards to follow. or Toro y Moi plays the Hype Hotel at 5. or Talib Kweli the Lustre Pearl at 6, or Thee Oh Sees at Clive Bar same time. or we might just make this a hometown music day, as three bands from San Antonio will tear up Flat Top Burger Shop starting at noon - Deer Vibes, We Leave At Midnight, and Hawks of Holy Rosary - a party thrown by KRTU Indie Overnight's Music For Listeners. it all depends on the motion of the ocean.

and if we haven't swam away by ST. PATTY'S DAY SUNDAY, the best new band in Austin, Megafauna, plays the historic Hole In The Wall at 10PM.

we also compiled a list of the best worst band-names playing the fest, for the comedy pleasure of attendees and non-:

Bleeding Rainbow

Guantanamo Baywatch

Energy Voidoids

Fat Fuxxx

Zero Skills

Diarrhea Planet

How I Quit Crack

Dead Earth Politics

RUN DMT

Streptococcus Faggotrophia 

Ringo Deathstarr

Burgess Meredith

Did You See Those Bats?

Bombay Show Pig

The Goatbangers

The Blind Shake 

Timmy's Organism

Foxygen

Pernicious Phenom 

Stak5

You Won't

...& the best band name ever: 

Manatees (from Memphis)!

THE MICROPHONE DRUG

it's SXSW time again, DMs, and that means another year of scouring Austin looking for an angry fix of song. below is where we'll be. click on venue names for more info about the event. all shows are free, sometimes including free refreshments and food.

ideally, we'd like to get there before midnight on Tuesday to catch Thee Oh Sees at The Scoot Inn, but if we're unlucky, Thee Oh Sees are the most ubiquitous act of the unofficial SXSW parties and we'll be sure to stumble across them somewhere.

on Wednesday, we're committed to the Lemurs, What Made Milwaukee Famous, and Shearwater at The Parish - our favorite venue in town, and we intend to get there early to take full advantage of the free coffee/breakfast pockets. as a solid backup plan, Apparat, Tennis, and Caveman are at The Stage on 6th. we'll probably spend the evening savoring local flavors, and there's a SXSW-edition of the Local Music Calendar for Austin here http://www.facebook.com/shift917 should you want to do likewise. if we're still up around midnight, there's always Thee Oh Sees at Trailer Space.



Thursday, El-P, Youth Lagoon, The War on Drugs, and Lower Dens all play Mohawk and right next door Dan Deacon plays Club Deville long about 5PM. plan B is Tycho, Girls, and Cults at the 1100 E. 5th St. Warehouse. in the evening, Of Montreal, Deerhoof, Japandroids perform at Emo's East, but depending on our mood we may sneak over to The Hype Hotel to hear Korallreven. after that, we're having trouble choosing between Hudson Mohawke, Raekwon, and Mobb Depp closing down Kung Fu Saloon or Diplo and ?uestlove closing down the 1100.

Friday starts early, as James Mercer of The Shins is doing two radio gigs for charity - the first at the Four Seasons Hotel around 8AM (for the Make-A-Wish Foundation) and the second at the W Austin around 10 (for the Shivers Cancer Center) [for suggested donations of $5 or $10]. after that, we'll head over to Music For Listeners party at Flat Top Burger Shop to hear San Antonio's own, Education, at noon. then Talib Kweli performs at Waterloo Records at 1PM, followed by Of Montreal at 3. if we missed Dan Deacon, he plays Cheer Up Charlie's at 6PM. the late evening features one of the lineups about which we're most psyched: White Rabbits, Lower Dens, Neon Indian and Caveman at The Hype Hotel starting around 10PM.



10AM Saturday, Givers play the W Austin. Eleanor Friedberger plays Urban Outfitters around 2PM. The Roots will close the day show at Mohawk, which The War On Drugs, Cloud Nothings, and Blitzen Trapper will also play. and if we have yet to see Tennis, we'll have to see them at either The Hype Hotel at 6PM or Baby Blue Studio at 8:45.

should we land safely at Sunday, Megafauna plays Side Bar during the day and Les RAV plays The Parish in the early evening. should you want to compose your own itinerary, there's no finer resource than this one: http://showlistaustin.com.

so there you have it - more than enough entertainment to forget about losing Fiona Apple and Andrew Bird to the wristband bourgeoisie. :P

FROM MOUNT KIMBIE TO MEGAFAUNA

the dark manatees will again make landfall at austin, texas, and here's our official unofficial s.x.s.w. itinerary. click on band names for event details, click on photos for playlists, and see below for your monthly mix of music.


tuesday, if we get up there sufficiently early, mount kimbie will perform pitchfork's showcase at emo's inside 'round midnight.

if we miss mount kimbie tuesday, he'll be opening on wednesday as well, a little after noon, followed by twin shadow (1:15PM) and royal bangs (4:15PM), for the austinist party at mohawk outdoors. from there, it's only a ten minute walk to the french legation museum, where vetiver will perform at 5PM. they've advertised free beer and tacos, but we suspect that's for the early birds. the dodos also play the red eyed fly just down red river around 5PM, as a plan b with free booze.

on st. patty's day, we have a decision. whether to see the dodos (12:45PM), sondre lerche (2:25PM), the dears (4:05PM), and atlas sound (5PM) at the flamingo cantina OR the joy formidable (4:15PM) and the antlers (5PM) at the parish. although the first one is stacked, n.p.r.'s festivities have always been good to us, the parish is our favorite music venue (period), AND the antlers will be performing their new album in its entirety(!). in the evening, there's no decision required: twin shadow performs auditorium shores at 7PM, followed by the strokes. the absolute utopian dream would then be to hear wu-tang clan close down austin music hall, but if .01% of that strokes crowd gets the same idea, we'll be at the back of a very long queue.

friday is likely to be a bit more laid back and open. we'd like to see phantogram play cedar street courtyard at 4PM, and if we get there early (11AM-ish), filter magazine promises free barbecue. hanging out with michael thomas of music for listeners sounds like an excellent way to spend the day after that, as well as scarf down a slice or five at red house pizzeria. then das racist will do the glitter taco smoosh party at peckerheads around 7PM, and e.p.m.d. will spit at venue 222 around 12:30AM.

on saturday, asobi seksu (2PM), tapes 'n tapes (4PM) and okkervil river (5PM) play the lustre pearl. plus, if we can make it, the black angels play jo's down south congress at 8PM. next, !!! will play the mess with texas party (not positive on the exact time yet). and, lastly, to finish off the week, megafauna at the hole in the wall 'round midnight.


all shows above are listed as free (though some with r.s.v.p. only). in some cases, you will have to get there hours beforehand to catch the act you want to see, and it's always best to be on the safe side. if you need help putting your own itinerary together, here are two resources - the more selective: http://www.thewildhoneypie.com/sxsw-free-party-rsvp-list - or comprehensive: http://showlistaustin.com.

cheers to things going swimmingly for manatees everywhere. and, as per usual: http://tiny.cc/m0udb (to download for later listening, just click the 'divshare'-icon on the far right of the taskbar; all tracks from this year or last, with two noticeable exceptions - plus a hidden song for Sir William Beardmore).

SXSW: PLAN OF ATTACK

many of our dear comrades-in-arms will play a city-wide music festival on land in austin, texas soon. with a preference for daytime free shows (and free alcohol), here's our tentative schedule...

first, the word is, if you stand in line 10am monday at waterloo records, you can get free tickets to hear the decemberists play the i.f.c. party 10pm tuesday at pangea.

wednesday the 18th, the only daytime act we truly want to see (so far) is the evangelicals, 2:20pm at the red eyed fly. it's free, with free bloody marys and free beer. doors open by at least 12:30. in the evening, if we can get tickets (and afford them), m.ward, the department of eagles, and st. vincent play central presbyterian church.

if we can't, it's okay, because on thursday, the department of eagles open at waterloo records. starts at 2pm, but we'll probably get there much earlier to war for position. a couple acts later, howard gelb (of giant sand) plays. that's all free, as is the cold war kids and m. ward playing auditorium shores on lady bird lake starting at 6.

now, the only official listing we can find for one andrew bird esquire is stubb's at 11pm, but we imagine that will be pricey and packed as fuck. that's rubbish. he has to be playing some parties somewhere and they just don't want them to blow up too quickly. so we'll keep our lobeless ears to the ground.

on friday, vetiver, followed by the heartless bastards, 2pm at waterloo records. gotta see that, and if we somehow miss m.ward the entire week, he's playing the noon-to-5 village voice media show at la zona rosa - probably closing. for monies, we could hear beach house, peter bjorn and john, and grizzly bear at cedar street courtyard; we shall see.

saturday, we have to see the blue scholars and common market close a noon-to-6 free-event at the palm door, but if we miss them there, we'll have to catch them at the do512 compound; they go on there at 9p.m. (looks like doors around 2pm; free entrance, free lone star). at auditorium shores, beach house and explosions in the sky play for free at 6pm. and there's always waterloo park, where we could sun-burn our tender hide again waiting on vetiver, akron/family, king khan, and the black lips, starting at high noon. last year they had stand-up comics as well.

if you can't attend, we're sorry, and offer you this free music as recompense...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1VHKORLKys
http://www.subpop.com/asse..ts/audio/5247.mp3
http://mog.com/music/Giant.._Sand/Chore_Of_Enchantment../Bottom_Line_Man
http://pitchfork.tv/dont-l..ook-down/department-of-eag..les-part-1-of-2/in-ear-par..k
http://blogg.svt.se/psl/20..09/02/13/musik-med-peter-b..jorn-and-john/
http://www.npr.org/templat..es/story/story.php?storyId..=18611276
http://video.google.com/vi..deoplay?docid=-63604091980..03350585
http://www.youtube.com/wat..ch?v=MzudkoWbgIU
http://www.youtube.com/wat..ch?v=yGOe5dj_-gE
http://cdn.stereogum.com/m..p3/Beach%20House%20-%20Gil..a.mp3
http://www.youtube.com/wat..ch?v=5c5MnsnWDes
http://www.dailymotion.com../video/x2e0z4_cold-war-kid..s-hang-me-up-to-dry-new_mu..sic
http://www.youtube.com/wat..ch?v=ToEPFDIzhNA
http://www.kcrw.com/music/..programs/mb/mb090216andrew.._bird
http://www.prefixmag.com/m..edia/grizzly-bear/deep-blu..e-sea-live-in-brooklyn-vid..eo/26523/


update: some possible last minute changes: since we've seen vetiver and the heartless bastards before, we may cut over to the flamingo cantina to hear loney dear at around 2pm and jason lytle (of grandaddy fame) at around 4. this will largely depend on how good waterloo records was as a venue on the previous day (thursday).

OR...

there's a new development in andrew bird-watch: k.e.x.p. says he's playing their gig at 1:30pm friday, waay down on south congress at some television station, to be immediately followed by peter bjorn and john...

http://blog.kexp.org/blog/2009/03/12/kexp-announces-live-broadcast-from-me-television-studios-during-sxsw/
we'd have to get there around 10 or before to feel at all comfortable about getting a good spot in line - a big roll of the dice, possibly sacrificing other safer bets for naught.

andy cabic/erika wennerstrom, emil svanängen/jason lytle, andrew bird/pb&j ...decisions, decisions.