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SXSW 07 - Reviews and More

South by Southwest is the greatest music gathering on the planet. It has to be. I can't imagine anything of this scope with this much great music happening all in one place. It’s an industry festival & conference that takes place each March in Austin, TX. Since the first day of this 5-day event I've been asking myself the same question over and over again, "Why haven't I done this before?" It's now hard for me to imagine not going to SXSW. I should have been coming to this event for the past 21 years.

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There were hundreds of showcases and parties and probably close to a 1,600 performances. It’s impossible to see them all, but I was at quite a few. Below are my rankings of the best showcases and performances, followed by links to photos and free MP3’s.

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Best SXSW Showcases/Parties:

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Paste Magazine – Without a doubt the place to be at SXSW. It was a who’s-who of labels, industry and artists with a great line-up featuring Badly Drawn Boy, Cold War Kids and many others. The swag was great (a knap sack bag full of CD’s and DVD’s, buttons and more) and there’s the free food and drinks…good stuff.

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Yep Rock Records Day Party:

Musically this was one of the best line-ups of a label showcase. Los Straightjackets are a riot, not to mention Robyn Hitchcock, Sloan and Rock Plaza Central.

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The Canadian Back Bacon BBQ & Shindig:

The Small Sins, Nathan, and many others. Great music, fun people and amazing food and drinks.

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Tooth and Nail Showcase:

Showbread, MXPX, The Fold and more. It was packed and I really enjoyed The Fold!

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Merge Records Showcase:

Merge is one of the best indie labels going and this showcase proved that, featuring The Ladybug Transistor, The Rosebuds, Broken West and more.

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Best SXSW Performances:

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Mohair – This was the biggest surprise and the best show by far. I had never even heard of this band from England but they played right before Mew and there were about 500 people watching, all of them seemed to be as pleased and surprised by this group’s performance as I was. Typically you don’t see people buying CD’s at these industry shows, but there was a rush of people to get them when they were through. Sounding like a Brit version of Jellyfish, with heavy influences from Sweet, The Beatles and Queen, this bands performance was amazing.

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Thomas Dolby – I am a big fan of new wave and 80’s quirky keyboard music. I have always loved Thomas Dolby and was thrilled to see he was playing SXSW. I had never seen him live. He played a club that had a capacity of about 600 people, and they had to eventually turn people away because it was packed. He put on a fantastic live show, with horns, multimedia and his amazing keyboard multi-tracking abilities. It was like watching him multi-track live, with looping, samples, a headset with a camera, mixing what he was seeing with vintage clips on a huge video screen. But all that is nothing without the songs and his musical ability. His voice sounds as clear and as perfect as it ever has, and his songs have great melodies and hooks that really kept the crowd going and singing along. I had the opportunity to meet him and he’s a super guy. You can see it on my SXSW picture page (the link is toward the end of this post). He’s touring and I would strongly recommend seeing this show.

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Polyphonic Spree – Their albums don’t even begin to do this band justice. I use the term “band” but “choir and orchestra” is probably a better description for this 19-piece group that incorporates quirky orchestration, a choir of voices and 60’s influence music to create a show that is really more like a spiritual experience. This is one group that you just have to see live. If they come to your town, do not miss them.

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Mew – This is like Yes meets Sigur Ros meets Pink Floyd and Radiohead. A sound that is hard to describe but intensely beautiful. Mew is even better live than their albums, and the videos that play behind the band to go along with the songs are eerie and amazing. The show was like a build up to this long and beautiful finally and as they were finishing I looked over and noticed tears running down the faces of a few people in the crowd. Yes, it was that powerful. Not many bands can do that.

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The Small Sins – Oh those crazy Canadians! They continue to make some of the greatest music. This is a quirky, indie, alt-pop group with a heavy dose of new wave keyboards. Saw them play in the upstairs of this old mansion. They are great guys too, very personable and friendly. Their album is out on Astralwerks but they’re even better live.

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Colour Music – This one is going to be hard to describe…an accidental finding…I was walking along 6th Street with Doug Van Pelt (freak) and we heard these amazing vocal harmonies over the weirdest alt-pop, so we stopped to check it out. This group from Stillwater, OK combines Brian Wilson-esque vocals with quirky music that reminds me somewhat of Polyphonic Spree or Flaming Lips, only a bit more melodic and accessible with amazing vocals. They rocked and popped with a cool alternative vibe. Check them out on their MySpace page: www.myspace.com/colourmusic

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Young Galaxy – Another great Canadian band! Special thanks and cheese to Doug the Canuck and all at Arts & Crafts Records for turning me on to this incredibly fun band. A great blend of swirling guitars, keyboards and vocals that combine to form melodic and cosmic pop with a lot of energy. I loved this band. One of the best performances I saw, and on one of the smallest stages as well!

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Badly Drawn Boy – If you don’t already love Badly Drawn Boy, where have you been and what are you waiting for? Badly Drawn Boy is actually Damon Gough from Manchester, England. An alternative-indie singer and songwriter, he performs rowdy rock and quirky power-pop with his band, and they were great live. Get the CD’s. They’re all good.

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Other notable performances:

Robyn Hitchcock

MuteMath

Los Straight Jackets

The Fold

Rock PlazaCentral

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Best Seminar: Record Companies: Who Needs Them?

This seminar featured David Byrne of the Talking Heads as the main and only speaker. As it turns out, David Byrne needs record companies, as he pointed out, saying he is currently negotiating a deal with Nonsuch. However, not every artist needs a label these days. He cover the advantages and disadvantages, why you would and why perhaps you shouldn’t sign with a label. He was funny, kind and extremely intelligent. Very entertaining. It was great to be able to meet him as well. I was kind of surprised to find out he’s a big music fan and he buys a lot of CD’s. He said he’s a big fan of packaging and there’s something about holding a nicely designed package. I couldn’t agree more! There are photos of him and his seminar up on my SXSW photo page.

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SXSW Pictures: CLICK HERE

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For more info and free MP3’s from many of the SXSW bands: CLICK HERE

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Special Thanks and Cheese to Doug Van Pelt and Doug The Canuck for making sure my SXSW was the best it could possibly be!

(Hey Van Pelt: You owe me $7.50)

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ObviousPopCast Episode 2

Podcastlogosmall

Episode 2 of the ObviousPopCast is here! It's a Podcast about music. New music, lost gems, mostly power-pop stuff. Episode 2 is 46 minutes of great music and some seriously twisted "wisdom" from yours truly. It's a like a radio show for musical geeks and power-pop freaks.

Download it now: ObviousPopCast Episode 2

Add it to your iTunes podcasts: CLICK HERE

(If you use the link to download it to iTunes, it may go into your podcast folder or possibly be listed in the main music library under the title: ObviousPop or the artist name: Dr. Tony Shore.)

Episode 2 features brand new music from Andrew Bird, Arcade Fire, Fountains of Wayne, Silverchair and more!
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Voice of Gold

Fiestabrad_small

Take it day by day.

We won’t know where we might go

‘Til we make it all the way.


from Cool The EnginesBoston

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R.I.P. - Brad Delp, 1951-2007

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I was in my music room/office tonight, listening to Boston’s Third Stage album when an Instant Message pops up from my friend Andre who asks me if I’ve heard the news about Brad Delp. That’s weird. I learned from Andre that Brad had been found dead in his home yesterday. It freaked me out a bit, considering I was listening to him sing when I found out, and I have always considered him one of the greatest rock vocalists of all-time, up there with Freddy Mercury. Truly sad news. I know a lot of you power-pop and alt and indie rock lovers out there may not have any respect for Boston, but you’ve probably never listened to Third Stage from start to finish or heard the amazing stories about Brad and his amazing performances with many different bands. He was known as “the nicest guy in rock and roll.” The stories of his kindness and generosity were all over the internet long before his untimely passing. There is a power pop connection as well…he was a huge Beatles fan, and when he wasn’t touring with Boston, he played gigs with his Beatles cover band called Beatlejuice. They say he could sing any style of music and nail it.

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We'll miss you Brad.


ObviousPopCast 1 Playlist

Check out the post below this one to download Episode 1 of my new ObviousPop podcast! I've gotten a lot of great feedback. I am new at the podcast game and it's a definite learning curve. I appreciate all the support. Work on Episode 2 has begun.

Many have asked that I post the song playlist from Episode 1 and here it is:

1. ObviousPopCast Theme Song - Ian Tanner - (unreleased) 2007

2. Someone To Love - Fountains of Wayne - (Traffic and Weather) 2007

3. Looking For A Girl - Ian Tanner (ureleased) 2001

4. Latitude 88 North - Electric Light Orchestra (Out of the Blue Reissue) 2007

5. Somewhere Down The Barrel - The Dissociatives - (self-titled) 2004

6. Fill My Little World - The Feeling - (Twelve Stops and Home) 2006

7. Learning To Be - Eleven - (Awake In A Dream) 1991

8. Glasses - Starclock - (self-titled) 2002

9. No Matter What - Jellyfish - (Jellyfish Comes Alive - promotional live EP) 1991


ObviousPopCast Episode 1

Podcastlogosmall

Introducing the ObviousPopCast! It's a Podcast about music. New music, lost gems, mostly power-pop stuff. Episode 1 is 35 minutes of great music, goofy liners and some seriously twisted "wisdom" from yours truly. It's a like a radio show for musical geeks and power-pop freaks. Before it's even been heard the reviews are in...John Wurmer, Dean of Students at Okoboji University calls the ObviousPopCast "A train wreck with a great melody and a serious hook." He also went on to say "This podcast scares me."

Download it now: ObviousPopCast Episode 1

Give it a listen and let me know what you think. Lots of great new music in this first episode, with a brand new original theme song written, performed and produced by power-pop guru Ian Tanner.

Add it to your iTunes podcasts: CLICK HERE

(If you use the link to download it to iTunes, it may go into your podcast folder or possibly be listed in the main music library under the title: ObviousPop or the artist name: Dr. Tony Shore.)

Special thanks for making this podcast possible to: Ian Tanner (theme and songs), Dave Danglis & Scott Laird (humor & liners), Fountains of Wayne (songs that inspired this popcast) and most importantly my family: Sara, Adam and Ally (putting up with me).
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