Good news! I did get a chance to make it down to Austin last week for a couple of days of SXSW 2010. It was the shortest, kindest, gentlest SXSW trip yet - we minimized show jumping, and spent longer stretches of time at specific venues catching bands we wanted to see.

A great trip, and like most years it was made up of bands we knew we wanted to see, and then other random bands that sprang up out of nowhere and really impressed us... and to be fair, there was some crap as well, but Im not sure how you can have 1600 bands without a fair amount of awfulness!

There were really two bands, or to be specific, artists, that we wanted to see - Dan Black and Amber Rubarth... and sure enough, even though I saw a couple of dozen bands, it was these two shows that really made the voyage worth while.

We wrote about Dan Black a few weeks ago (here), and he was actually one of the very first bands we saw, at the Spaceland/Echo showcase at the Beauty Bar annex. It was an early afternoon show at 1:35pm, and the venue was near empty - I think there was about 20 or so folks there. I could tell Dan was a bit freaked out by the lack of people, but as far as we were concerned it was Austin that was missing out and we had the benefit of semi-private Dan Black show (plus I'm fairly sure he had a PACKED house later that day at the VEVO/Fontana Distribution party).

And it ROCKED. He was seriously entertaining live, playing with a bassist, a guitarist, and what looked to be a 128 square board that played various samples when each square was pushed. He basically recreated his record, or variations on his record, by punching buttons, tapping buttons, driving up and down the pitch, then rocking out over it. Bottom line, a brilliant show made up of tracks from both his new record, Un, and his mixtape, Weird Science - be sure to check him out if he comes anywhere near you, and if you haven't yet - buy his new record ((UN)) on Amazon for FIVE DOLLARS. It will be the best $5 you spend all month.

Live MP3 MP3s:
Intro
Pump My Pumps
U + Me =
Alone
Symphonies
Pass That Head Noize
Yours
Outro

Labels: austin, beauty bar, dan black, electronica, indie, live mp3s, soundboard mp3s, spaceland, sxsw, the echo

Since I just posted Maria Taylor's set, I thought I would follow up with a "companion" recording of Orenda Fink's new band Art in Manila. Little snapshots of what the Azure Ray girls are creating these days.

Whereas Maria has taken the path of Pop, Orenda seems to have gone to a more etheral place. Soulful and with a significantly darker edge - Art In Manila's songs really remind of The Doors. Maybe its just me.

Be sure to keep an eye out for Art In Manila's first record, coming out next month.

(Found this shot of Orenda and co at SXSW on Clark Patrick's site on Flickr - check out more of his photography here)

(mp3s removed at the request of Art In Manila/Saddle Creek)

Labels: austin, beauty bar, concerts, indie, live mp3s, soundboard mp3s, sxsw

So, with about 30 SXSW show options to choose from, picking a starting point was a fairly tough decision, but when I woke up this morning humming, "your kisses are wasted on me!" the choice became clear - the end would be the beginning.

The Pipettes were the very last show we saw at SXSW - and even though we were absolutely, positively exhausted and barely able to stand - the girls still managed to bring some amusement into our lives - as well as some fairly awful dancing to the hordes of fans around us.

Sporting matching polka dot dresses, choregraphed finger-wagging, and super-sexy (and very proper) British accents - the Pipette girls managed to bring the house down at their very last SXSW show at the Beauty Bar patio.

Live MP3s:
Soundcheck
Intro
ABC
Your Kisses Are Wasted On Me
Why Did You Stay
Because It's Not Love (But It's Still A Feeling)
I Love You
It Hurts to See You Dance So Well
Tell Me What You Want
Guess Who Run Off With The Milkman
One Night Stand
Judy
True Love Waits Patiently For A Miracle
Pull Shapes
We Are the Pipettes

Labels: austin, beauty bar, concerts, indie, live mp3s, soundboard mp3s, sxsw