I've been slowly working my way through the SXSW 2010 shows, mastering, cutting, tagging, uploading etc. Good news is Im done (at least with the shows that are worth posting... Unfortunately ended up with about ten shows that just didn't work out - very sad, especially Yatcht, The Watson Twins and the Living Sisters.)

One absolute jewel that emerged today was Nicole Atkins closing song at the Brooklyn Vegan day party at Club de Ville, a cover of Sparklehorse's It's A Wonderful Life, dedicated to the recently deceased Mark Linkous. Check it out.

Live MP3 MP3s:
It's A Wonderful Life

Labels: brooklyn vegan, Club De Ville, live mp3s, mark linkous, nicole atkins, soundboard mp3s, sparklehorse, sxsw

Quick post this afternoon, as I run out the door.

The very first band we saw at SXSW this year was LA based, New England raised, The One AM Radio. Mixing indie pop singer songwriter sensibilities with strong electronica undercurrents, Hrishikesh Hirway, One AM Radio's mastermind ripped through an extremely brief, 5 song, 15 minute set.

Here's the Wiki description of the band -
The One AM Radio's sound is often characterized by Hrishikesh's lush, soothing vocals over dream-like instrumental arrangements. He does most of his own recording, playing several of the instruments and producing all the beats; the style borders electronica, folk, post-rock, chamber music, and ambient music.

Live MP3 MP3s:
Removed... Wait patiently til the next tour for live MP3s!

Labels: austin, electronica, indie, live mp3s, soundboard mp3s, sxsw

I was wondering what happened to the (what I expected to be) annual Hot Freaks! SXSW party that for the last several years has been put on by a host of excellent bloggers at Club De Ville and the Mohawk in Austin, but I never found out - all I know is that it didn't happen in 2010.

Which isn't to say there wasn't a host of good music at those venues this year. On Friday March 19th, Brooklyn Vegan descended on Club De Ville and hosted a great set of bands (and free beer! and free vodka! and free food! and free ear plugs! (critically important at the loud shows)).

I was especially excited about The Antlers and Sondre Lerche. Long time readers will know I'm a big fan of Sondre Lerche, having seen and taped him numerous times, beginning with this show in support of his first record, Faces Down, back in 2003.

As usual he didn't disappoint, playing a great little show - finishing up with a rousing solo (with audience as accompaniment) rendition of his classic, Modern Nature. Check out a few of the tracks below.

Live MP3 MP3s:
Good Luck
Airport Taxi Reception
Modern Nature

Labels: austin, Club De Ville, indie, live mp3s, sondre lerche, soundboard mp3s, sxsw

So, Amber Rubarth. I basically would have driven to Austin just to see her play for 30 minutes. I've had her record, Good Mystery, on repeat for weeks now. As I mentioned a few weeks ago, it's just a beautiful, honest, record. A lovely voice, over songs that get stuck in your head... I find myself puttering around singing lines and melodies that just won't go away.

We walked from Dan Black over to the MySpace/SongCast Day Party to see Amber, which was basically as much of a musically 180 as you can have. Electornica, beats, loud guitars from Dan, to Amber's simply strummed acoustic guitar with a single cello (stand up bass?) accompaniment. A quick set, Amber played a Tom Waits cover before kicking into a couple of tracks from her first record, New Green Lines, before finishing the set with three songs from her most recent album, Good Mystery.

The best news for me was that she played my request (and seemed quite surprised by it), Answer, the "I'm-Going-To-Break-Up-With-You-Before-You-Break-Up-With-Me" anthem (I like the melodies, and it's kind of funny!).

Enjoy the set, and be sure to pick up Good Mystery ($8!).

Live MP3 MP3s:
Chrysanthemum Song
Novacaine
Answer
Song To Thank The Stars
Edge Of My Seat
Outro

Labels: ace's lounge, amber rubarth, austin, live mp3s, myspace party, songcast, soundboard mp3s, sxsw

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

Long time readers will know that I'm a big fan of Michael Runion. I've had the opportunity to see him a few times over the last few years and his show's are as heartfelt and honest as anything I've ever seen. It also doesn't hurt that he's a phenomenal singer-songwriter, writing songs that tell stories and pull you in from the first line.

Last year, I had a chance to see Michael in Austin in July. He was good enough to play a short acoustic set for us on the streets of downtown Austin, in 103 degree weather, before his scheduled stop, a full on rocking electric set that night at Lamberts BBQ. Check out the acoustic set, and read more about that day, here. We were fortunate enough to get to record both sets - and actually got to try something new during the Lamberts BBQ set.

Lamberts had their soundboard hooked up to a Mac running ProTools, and captured every instrument and vocal as individual discrete tracks which allows true multi track mixing. The sound guy did a great job setting levels during the show, but being able to remix and master the recording after the fact gave a lot more latitude in tweaking the show to really emphasis different parts as needed (example, bringing up lead guitars during solos, increasing and decreasing vocals to make them stand out over the music.)

All in all, this made a great show an even better recording - the set was solid, Michael and his backing band, the Royal Family, tore through 9 songs - mixing between some older recordings from his early EPs, tracks from his brilliant full length "Our Time Will Come" and a couple of tracks from his TOUR EP (get them all at his online store here. The set also alternated nicely between slow, fast, and hard songs - never get boring by changing up the tempo. Be sure to check out "The Daylight" - it's the male/female "duet" version from the TOUR EP, with Michael's cousin, Sarah Sinclair, providing the female part... I've got to admit, I love the EP version with Z Berg from The Like, but I think I like this version even better. Sarah's vocals are like honey.

Enjoy the set and if you are in Los Angeles or the surrounding area, you can catch Michael later today at the Echo.

Last - you can also check out a couple of acoustic tracks from a set we captured in Houston, in 2006, here.

Live MP3 MP3s:
Intro
Til We Have To
Lemon Grove
Red Pony
No Friend
Maxine
S.L.S
Intro to...
Keep It To Yourself
The Daylight
Intro to...
Back and Forth
Outro

Labels: austin, indie, lamberts bbq, live mp3s, michael runion, soundboard mp3s

Last September, my wife and I decided to take a vacation to the UK and spend a few days in London. A week or two before leaving we plotted out our days to make sure we could do all of the traditional touristy things - Big Ben, Eye of London, Houses of Parliament, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Windsor Palace, etc.

Being a music fan, I also pulled up Pollstar to see if there were any good bands playing, and lo and behold I saw that one of my favorite indie acts, The Whispertown 2000, were playing at the London Luminaire. So we did all of the traditional touristy things AND went to see Whispertown bring their own jaunty flavor of Los Angeles alt-country tunes to the good people of London. And it rocked.

Check out a few of the choice tracks below and enjoy!

Live MP3 MP3s:
Restless
Erase The Lines
Pushing Oars

Labels: indie, live mp3s, london, luminaire, soundboard mp3s, whispertown2000

Here's the companion set to the Mike Doughty show from Poor David's Pub in Dallas, Texas on February 20th, 2010.

The lovely Christina Courtin opened the show, singing and playing the violin while her friend (and album contributor) Ryan Scott provided an acoustic guitar backing. For those of you who haven't heard of Christina, she's a New York based, Julliard graduate who has been called the next Norah Jones, though I personally think that she brings the best of Regina Spektor's oddities and mixes it with her own unique dreamyness.

Her self-titled debut album released last year on Nonesuch Records doesn't hint at potential greatness, rather it delivers it. Recorded with a mix of awesome musicians (including the incomparable Jon Brion), the album jumps back and forth amongst a mix of music stylings, including folk, pop, and smatterings of country, but even when you think it's on the verge of rocking out (see the last minute or so of Bundah) on her MySpace her delicate voice brings it back to a more gentle crescendo.

The live show was just as good as her record, while allowing her a little more space. More stripped down, the live setting seemed to let Christina let loose a bit more than the production perfect constraints of a studio recording and bounce back and forth between the quiet and louder moments. And though Christina didn't play any of the actual violin parts on her record, she pulled her violin out for the live show and played beautifully on every song.

Check out the show below, and buy her album here. She's currently on tour with Mike Doughty, and will then head back to Texas for NX35 in Denton, and SXSW in Austin. Be sure to check her out!

Live MP3 MP3s:
Intro
Green Jay
Bundah
Foreign Country
February
Lenore
Blue Collar Man
Outro

Tour Dates:
Feb 27 2010 Cave Creek Coffee Company & Wine Purveyor Cave Creek, Arizona
Mar 3 2010 Anthology San Diego, California
Mar 4 2010 The Troubador West Hollywood, California
Mar 5 2010 Soho Santa Barbara, California
Mar 6 2010 Slim’s San Francisco, California
Mar 7 2010 House Concert at The Roost Carmel, California
Mar 11 2010 NX35 Festival Denton, Texas
Mar 17 2010 SXSW, venue TBA Austin, Texas
Apr 7 2010 Joe’s Pub Happy Ending Music and Reading Series New York
Apr 7 2010 Sing SOS Autism Benefit @ The Bitter End New York

Labels: christina courtin, dallas, indie, live mp3s, poor davids pub, soundboard mp3s, tour dates

I've been waiting for, literally, years to see Mike Doughty (former leader singer of Soul Coughing) play a live show.

I had been moderately impressed by Soul Coughing, back in their hey-day in the mid to late 90s, but it wasn't until I heard Mike Doughty's 2005 solo record, Haughty Melodic, on Dave Matthew's ATO Records label that I became a true believer. On Haughty Melodic, Mike still employed his trademark partly sung, partly spoken word style of delivery, but now it was over unabashed pop as opposed the fusion of hip hop, jazz, rock and folk that defined Soul Coughing.

The follow up to Haughty Melodic, 2008 Golden Delicious cemented me as a huge fan, and I spent the better part of the last half of 2008 listening to that record on repeat. For some reason (or maybe I just missed it), there was no Texas shows for the Golden Delicious tour. In late 2009 Mike released Sad Man, Happy Man and announced a tour that actually included a veritable slew of Texas dates.

So, last night I got to see Mike Doughty play at the best "listening room" venue in Dallas, Poor David's Pub, and it was an absolutely fantastic experience. Rather than bringing a full band, Mike played his acoustic accompanied only by cello (and occasional electric guitar player) Andrew "Scrap" Livingston playing for a full hour and half. The set pulled from all of his solo records (everything mentioned above, along with choice cuts from his early releases, Skittish and Rockity Roll) as well as Soul Coughing hit, Circles. Keeping things interesting he even kept dropping in moments of hilarity by answering dozens of extremely random questions that audience members dropped into a "Question Jar" before the show began.

To wrap everything up, he had an excellent opening act, Christina Courtin and sold copies of a recording of the show, at the end of the evening.

He's on tour for the next month (dates below) - check out a few tracks from the show and be sure to check him out if he comes to your town.

Live MP3 MP3s:
27 Jennifers
Circles
I Hear The Bells
White Lexus

Tour Dates:
Tue 02/23/10 Santa Fe, NM Santa Fe Brewing Company
Wed 02/24/10 Albuquerque, NM The Cooperage
Fri 02/26/10 Tucson, AZ Club Congress
Sat 02/27/10 Cave Creek, AZ Cave Creek Coffee Co.
Wed 03/03/10 San Diego, CA Anthology
Thu 03/04/10 West Hollywood, CA Troubadour
Fri 03/05/10 Santa Barbara, CA Soho Restaurant & Music Club
Sat 03/06/10 San Francisco, CA Slim's
Sun 03/07/10 Santa Cruz, CA The Crepe Place
Tue 03/09/10 Eugene, OR WOW Hall
Wed 03/10/10 Portland, OR Mississippi Studios
Thu 03/11/10 Portland, OR Mississippi Studios
Fri 03/12/10 Seattle, WA The Triple Door
Sat 03/13/10 Vancouver, BC Biltmore Cabaret
Tue 03/16/10 Boulder, CO Fox Theatre
Wed 03/17/10 Denver, CO The Walnut Room
Fri 03/19/10 Minneapolis, MN Dakota Jazz Club & Restaurant
Sat 03/20/10 Minneapolis, MN Dakota Jazz Club & Restaurant
Sat 03/27/10 New York, NY Le Poisson Rouge
Fri 04/23/10 Cambridge, MA Regattabar
Sat 04/24/10 New York, NY Le Poisson Rouge

Labels: dallas, indie, live mp3s, mike doughty, poor davids pub, soundboard mp3s, tour dates

I've been listening to some older shows recently, and I turned to one of my favorite Texas artists that I haven't heard much from lately, Abra Moore.

Long time readers will have seen various posts about Abra on Lullabyes, and you can click on the following links to hear those recordings from the March 2004 show, April 2004 show, 2006 show, and a 2007 show.

The first time I saw Abra was on the Strangest Places tour back in 1997 or 1998, but she dropped off the radar for a long time, until I found out she was coming to Houston in 2002, in support of an upcoming record (which never got released) called No Fear. It ended up being a great night, and I had the opportunity to capture the show.

I found out later that Abra wasn't really happy with the artistic direction her record company wanted her to take on No Fear, which was the reason it never came out - specifically that they had her record some songs written by other writers... bottom line was that she used some of the self-written tracks from No Fear on her next record, and ditched others. First Date was one of those tracks that never got officially released, but was played at this show.

Another memorable moment from the show was when she played Shining Star, a new track I hadn't heard before. The song builds and builds into an awesome crescendo, and I remember thinking that I didn't want to wait another 5 years to see Abra again.

Live MP3s MP3:
Ku'u Ome O Kahaluu
Shining Star
Pull Away
Let's Do It For Love
Trip On Love
Family Affair
Home
First Date
Four Leaf Clover
No Fear
Outro

Labels: abra moore, continental club, houston, indie, live mp3s, soundboard mp3s

If you've never heard of Bitter:Sweet you've been missing out. To crib their own self-description, "Portishead meets Zero 7 with a bit of Serge Gainsbourg and Everything But The Girl mixed in for good measure." That's a decent start, but doesn't even begin to describe how good they are.

What's surprising is how many people have actually heard Bitter:Sweet without even knowing that they've heard Bitter:Sweet. This studio duo has been featured on... everything including TV, movies, commercials, theme songs, and when you hear them you realize why. They are silky, sexy, smooth, jazz, trip-hop, rolled into the most sultry songs you have ever heard.

Shana Halligan provides vocals/lyrics, and Kiran Shahani, produces and writes the music. Kiran was previously in Supreme Beings of Leisure, another fun electronic band.

Check out their MySpace for a taste of their studio recordings, then immediately go out, or log on, and buy their debut album, The Mating Game, savor it for a while, then buy their follow-up, Drama. While at their MySpace be sure to check out the non-album Serj Tankian version of Drama... Good stuff.

The good news is, that they are just as good live. I had a chance to check them out in Dallas last year at the House of Blues Cambridge Room, and it was the perfect venue to watch Shana strut up and down the stage in a captivating evening gown, singing her heart out, and hypnotizing every man in the room. We were with a pretty big group, and everyone, guys and girls, left a happy camper.

Here's a couple of tracks from the show - looking forward to them coming back to Texas!

Live MP3 MP3s:
Moving Forward
The Bomb

Labels: dallas, house of blues, indie, live mp3s, soundboard mp3s

Quick post on the 2009 SXSW set from O+S, the Birmingham, Albama based band from Orenda Fink (of Azure Ray, Little Red Rocket, Art In Manila) and Cedric LeMoyne (bassist from the still amazing, wish-they-would-get-back-together Remy Zero.)

I'd had previous, extremely pleasant, encounters with both Orenda (check out this Azure Ray recording from 2004) and Cedric at previous live shows (in fact if it wasn't for Cedric, one of my favorite live recordings of all time wouldn't exist... listen here), and was pumped to hear they had formed a new band, O+S (O plus S) whose record was going to come out the week after their SXSW performance - buy it here.

To be honest, I would have much preferred to hear them at another venue at SXSW, as the club they played at was extremely dark and didn't have the best set up - but they still managed to play a great set, and I wouldn't have missed it (in fact we had to catch a little bicycle cab to make it the 10 blocks from Cedar Street Courtyard to make the show).

Here's my favorite track from the show.

Side note - the picture above is one of my favorite photos that I took at SXSW in 2009.

O+S O plus S Live MP3 MP3s:
Lonely Ghosts

Labels: austin, indie, live mp3s, o plus s, o+s, soundboard mp3s, sxsw

Another SXSW 2009 set from Austin Texas, this time from Los Angeles based rockers, Great Northern, featuring vocalist/guitarist Solon Bixler (formerly of 30 Seconds to Mars) and vocalist/keyboardist Rachel Stolte.

I'd had the pleasure of seeing Great Northern play at Good Records in 2007 (set here) and was a big fan of their first record, Trading Twilight for Daylight, especially the track "Low Is A Height" which I still think is one of the most beautiful tracks of the last five years.

Their SXSW set exclusively featured tracks from (at that point in time) their forthcoming record, Remind Me Where The Light Is... After all SXSW is primarily intended to be showcases for press, distributors, etc.

Enjoy!

Great Northern Live MP3 MP3s:
Intro
Story
Houses
Fingers
Snakes
Warning
Numbers
Mountain
Outro

Labels: austin, cedar street courtyard, great northern, indie, live mp3s, soundboard mp3s, sxsw

Here's the companion show to the N.A.S.A set from this year's SXSW set. Another sweet afternoon DJ set from the Filter showcase at Cedar Street Courtyard.

Flosstradamus (as you can see from the pic) are two DJs from Chicago - J2K (Josh Young) and Autobot (Curt Cameruci). It was a fun set - about 10 minutes in a spontaneous circle formed in the crowd and a couple of guys started break dancing, fairly impressively I might add. Not something you see often in Austin at SXSW... at least not at the shows I attend!

Flosstradamus Live MP3 MP3s:
Flosstradamus SXSW 2009 Cedar Street Courtyard Set

Labels: austin, cedar street courtyard, flosstradmus, live mp3s, soundboard mp3s, sxsw

N.A.S.A (North America, South America) is heading out on a US mini tour this month (see tour dates below) and so I thought I'd post their Austin Texas SXSW set at Cedar Street Courtyard from earlier this year.

As I'm sure you can guess from the photo above - the set was awesome, and hilarious, all at the same time. I can safely say that I have never, ever been to a show before where a couple of girls who were covered in green make-up, in bikinis, gyrated on stage to a couple of DJs mixing and mashing tracks on stage.

Oh, and it all starts off with one of the greatest sci-fi samples of all time. Nice.

Live MP3 MP3s:
N.A.S.A SXSW 2009 Cedar Street Courtyard Set

Tour Dates:
8/11 Reno, NV @ Nikki Beach
8/12 Los Angeles, CA @ El Rey
8/13 Salt Lake City, UT @ The Gallivan Center
8/14 Denver, CO @ Beta w/ Hollywood Holt
8/15 San Francisco, CA @ The Independent
8/20 New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom

Labels: austin, cedar street courtyard, indie, live mp3s, N.A.S.A, soundboard mp3s, tour dates

Following up on the last post, I promised to put up all of the other Rilo Kiley related shows that I've taped over the years, that haven't made it up.

I figured I'd start with a quick post on Pierre de Reeder, Rilo Kiley's bass player, who released his solo album, "The Way That It Was" last August. Well in advance of that release, Pierre played a short 4 song gig, opening for The Elected and Jenny Lewis, back in June of 2004.

There were four bands playing, Pierre, Whispertown2000, Jenny and the Elected, and Pierre went first. There weren't a whole lot of folks there, but I was glad to be able to capture this rare (at the time) solo recording, which featured three originals and a cover of Neil Young's Harvest.

Live MP3 MP3s:
Intro
Open Frame of Mind
Where Ever You May Be
Foolish Heart
Harvest (Neil Young)

Labels: indie, live mp3s, los angeles, pierre de reeder, rilo kiley, soundboard mp3s, the echo

The other day I found myself with a hankering for some Rilo Kiley. My iTunes library randomly shuffled over to a recording of Room 8 that I captured in Houston back in 2003, and it led me to click on some of these old shows that I'd posted to hear some more live Rilo Kiley goodness.

After a couple of failed clicks I found that the links to the songs were broken and realized that it had happened when I transitioned from one hosting company to another. Since Rilo Kiley is still one of my favorite bands, I wanted to take a few minutes and fix all of the links.

Fixing these links has also reminded me that I've recorded more Rilo Kiley, Pierre, Elected (and an M Ward show where Rilo played as his back up band) shows that have not yet been posted. Need to work on that soon.

So, with that said - here's links to those posts, and the tracks now work!
02/21/2003 RubberGloves Denton TX
02/23/2003 Fat Cats Houston TX
01/09/2004 Glass House Jenny/Blake Acoustic Pomona CA
10/23/2004 Good Records In Store Dallas TX
05/05/2004 Austin City Limits Austin TX
09/25/2005 Austin City Limits Festival Austin TX

And while we focusing on Rilo Kiley - here's some related shows
06/10/2004 & 08/23/2004 Jenny Lewis The Echo Los Angeles CA
06/10/2004 Jenny Lewis Video The Echo Los Angeles CA
06/10/2004 The Elected The Echo Los Angeles CA
03/04/2006 Jenny Lewis San Fransisco CA
10/22/2006 Jenny Lewis Numbers Houston TX

AND. If this wasn't enough for you, head over to rilokiley.net multimedia boards for many more recordings.

Labels: austin, dallas, denton, houston, indie, jenny lewis, live mp3s, los angeles, soundboard mp3s, the elected

I have a bit habit of occasionally (or slightly more than occasionally) recording amazing shows, and then posting them days... months... years later.

I think in this case it was because I taped two Grizzly Bear shows on that particular day in February 2007, and all the attention went to the earlier show - an acoustic performance hosted at Good Records by Gorilla vs Bear, recorded by yours truly, and video taped by several other local Bloggers. Check out the audio, and several of the video tracks at the earlier post here.

So, back to the later show - the actual "tour stop", a full on electric gig at Club DaDa, brought me a whole new appreciation for the band. I'd been a bit hit or miss on the production choices on their records, and the particular slant they gave the tracks - but the live electric experience brought the focus back to the songs and I was particularly impressed by the near Pink Floyd vibe that permeated the whole set. The band also pulled out a particularly inspired rendition of the Crystals "He Hit Me", though I think my favorite was Colorado.

The entire set also benefits from having been mixed in stereo, with every instrument having their own clearly defined space in the mix. Make sure you give a listen to the show with headphones on - these guys are masters with their effects pedals. Good stuff.

Live MP3 MP3s:
Intro
Easier
Showcase
Lullabye
Little Brother
Service Bell
Knife
Final Round
Don't Ask
Colorado
He Hit Me (The Crystals)
Fix It
On A Neck, On A Spit

Labels: club dada, dallas, grizzly bear, indie, live mp3s, soundboard mp3s

So last year I posted on a Michael Runion show that I attended back in 2006. As I mentioned at the time, I managed to screw up the recording and came away with only a couple of songs - though I'm glad I got that. So since then I've been waiting, very very patiently, for Michael to come back through Texas.

To be honest, it wasn't very hard. I can safely say that Runion is a fantastic singer-songwriter, just one of those guys who can sit down with an acoustic and dazzle you with gentle strumming, and lyrics that pull you into a 4 minute story, then get on stage with his band and tear it up, rock and roll style.

So good news for all of us, Runion and his band, the Royal Family, went out on tour wandering around the country opening for Conor Oberst. After their run with the Bright Eyes front man, they did a handful of headlining shows as they headed home to Los Angeles, and like all bands should, their last show was in Texas (Austin, that is).

Seeing that I've been harassing him for the last few years, Runion was kind enough to play an exclusive little acoustic show for us, on the streets of Austin, before their headlining gig at Lamberts (a fantastic BBQ joint on 2nd Street).

It was a brutal 103 degrees outside, yet it didn't seem to faze Runion while he played through a 5 song set, that featured 3 brand new tracks and 2 songs from his last record, Our Time Will Come. It was a fantastic set, and I've barely listened to anything else since we got back from Austin. There's just something special about these street recordings. They seem honest. Just a guy playing his guitar and singing songs about his life while buses buzz past, construction workers clang, and birds chirp melodies in the background.

It's always interesting to me how I can love certain songs on a record, and other songs live. I've had "Our Time Will Come" since it came out last year - and my favorite song has consistently been the title track. After the acoustic set my favorite song is definitely "Where I'm From". I always enjoyed it on the record, but something about this particular rendition really grabbed me. I think it's just a lot more tonally dynamic as Runion's voice rises and falls, accenting the story about how he wanders from city to city, meeting women and the common question they all ask him.

So, with that said, quit reading and check out the tracks! I was lucky enough to get to record the full band session that evening, and some or all of those tracks will be coming at a later time. As I mentioned earlier, both variants of the Michael Runion experience are fantastic - and it was especially cool to get to see several of these acoustic tracks transformed into pure rock later the same day... More to come.

Oh, and check out Michael Runion's MySpace for studio track goodness.

This is the third "On The Streets Of..." recording session for Lullabyes, where we capture great bands playing stripped down acoustic sets on random streets in Texas. You can also check out Bishop Allen back in 2007 and The Whispertown 2000 earlier this year at SXSW.

Live MP3 MP3s:
No Friend
Keep It To Yourself
Back and Forth
Our Time Will Come
Where I'm From

Labels: austin, from the streets of, live mp3s, michael runion, soundboard mp3s

I don't think I've ever been to a "reunion tour" show before, but after experiencing my first one I think there's just something fantastic about getting to see a band that you never, ever thought you would see play again.

And I'm not talking about the Eagles, or Kiss or the Rolling Stones or any of those massive bands that are virtually guaranteed to tour ONE MORE TIME when they need a few million more dollars/pounds/euros.

I'm talking about those smaller bands that randomly made an impression on you, the ones where you can point to a specific year or summer, or period in time, and remember with vivid nostalgia specific events or friends that were a part of your life.

For me, getting to see Letters To Cleo yesterday was that type of goodness. Setting aside that I never thought the band would reform, I couldn't believe that a band from Boston, who's members currently live in various States (none of which are Texas) where actually playing a 4 city mini reunion tour, and 3 of the cities where in Texas. And best of all, they were closing out the entire thing in Dallas. Awesome.

For those who may not know, Letters To Cleo was/is a band from Boston who got big in 1994 with a break out hit, Here and Now, a song from their Aurora Gory Alice album which became wildly popular after appearing in Melrose Place and then garnering massive airplay on MTV and radio.

Aurora was followed up with Wholesale Meats & Fish in 1995, which yielded another breakout hit, Awake. 1997 brought Go! which was just a perfect power pop album full of hooks, hooks and more hooks. If you're a fan of 90s rock, or girl singers, or both, be sure to pick up this record. It does not disappoint, you'll be singing along in no time.

The band went on to release another EP of demos in 1998, then were prominently featured in the 1999 film 10 Things I Hate About You, and contributed two (excellent) covers to the soundtrack, Cruel To Be Kind, and Cheap Trick's I Want You To Want Me. In mid 2000 came the break up and the individual members all went onto various careers in the entertainment business.

End of story? Obviously not. In late 2008 the various Letters To Cleo members found themselves together in the same room for the first time in nearly 8 years at Boston night club T.T. The Bears at a benefit concert for an old friend and supporter of the band. Next thing you know an impromptu reunion occurred as the band got on stage and ripped through Here & Now and Awake.

Good time ensued and the band put together a 4 show reunion last winter in Boston, NYC and LA. This was followed up with this weeks 4 city show in New Orleans, Houston, Austin and Dallas.

I was fortunate enough to get to go see soundcheck, interview lead singer Kay Hanley for 40 minutes on the band and her solo career and then get to see a completely rocking set that proved that even though Cleo haven't been a band for 8 years, they still got their chops and if anything are even tighter then they were in 90s.

Over 80 minutes the band tore through 19 songs, 18 rockers and 1 ballad for the love birds in the crowd. My personal favorite from the show had to be Veda Very Shining, which is a near perfect example of both the bands poppy hooks and blistering musicianship. Check out the MP3 below to hear the crashing drums, crazy guitar riffs and all around head bobbing goodness.

In an act that was sure to make their day, Kay invited up the lead singer from opening act Cruiserweight to sing with her on Co-Pilot and Here & Now, and Letter's drummer Stacy Jones (who also serves as Miley Cyrus' music director) gave up his seat to ex-Cruiserweight drummer Yogi Maxwell for the track, Disappear.

For those of you who are interested, the band played everything shown on the setlist below and "Step Back", "I See", "I Could Sleep (The Wuss Song) and "I Want You To Want Me".

I'll be putting together a separate post on the Kay Hanley interview in the next week or two, so more to come there. For now, enjoy a few live MP3s and photos (and setlist) from the show and let's keep our fingers crossed for some more Letters to Cleos show in the future.

Live MP3 MP3s:
Laudanum
Awake
Because of You
Veda Very Shining
Here & Now
I Could Sleep (The Wuss Song)

Labels: dallas, indie, kay hanley, letters to cleo, live mp3s, soundboard mp3s, the loft

Here was the most unexpected set we witnessed at SXSW, a solo and serene set from Nathan Williams aka noise-pop guru, Wavves. Expecting a serious amount of rock we were extremely surprised when Nathan got up on stage and starting playing his guitar with a clean chorus effect.

I'd never heard it before, but hearing the tracks in this setting (especially So Bored) really made me think of similarities to the earlier Nirvana songs from Bleach and Nevermind.

Enjoy!

Live MP3 MP3s:
Intro
To The Dregs
So Bored
...Tried to Stop Me
Wavves

Labels: austin, french legation museum, indie, live mp3s, soundboard mp3s, sxsw, wavves

I first heard about Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson about a year ago - right before his self-titled debut record came out. I think I had to check out the link because its just not that often that a guy with four first names comes along.

I was immediately impressed, there was a certain weight that came along with the songs - lyrically strong, Miles carved out a space as a storyteller and his gravelly voice only complemented his Dylan-esque style. I've been hoping he would tour, and was pleased to see a SXSW showcase show up on the radar.

The showcase was at the outdoor gardens of the French Legation Museum, one of my favorite SXSW venues, the Museum is just a great, relaxed getaway from the crowds of 6th Street.

Miles opened the set with a false start as he decided that he wanted to relive a childhood birthday party and go swing at a Pinata. To pass the time, his band mates treated the crowd to a fairly amusing rendition of Beyonce's Single Ladies. A lot of new songs made the set along with Buriedfed, one of the strongest tracks from his debut record, as well as a cover of Otis Redding's classic - Sitting On The Dock Of the Bay.

Here's a few highlights from the set. Enjoy!

Live MP3 MP3s:
Single Ladies (Beyonce)
There Will Be Mud
Buriedfed
Trembling
Sitting On The Dock Of The Bay (Otis Redding)

Labels: austin, french legation museum, indie, live mp3s, miles benjamin anthony robinson, soundboard mp3s, sxsw

SXSW on Friday.

Got to see a bit of Bishop Allen, Theresa Andersson, The New Wine, These Are Powers, Wavves, Wildbirds and Peacedrums, Marnie Stern, The Tallest Man on Earth and Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson.

Best show of the day was Theresa Andersson. Another example of right place, right time, on complete accident. She was playing the Swedish Showcase at Habana Calle 6, and we'd run over to checkout Wildbirds and Peacedrums. She was playing next and I vaguely remembered listening to some MP3s last year when her last record, Hummingbird, Go! was released.

We decided to stick around, and it was a good thing we did. She played solo with a host of looping pedals and it was a good of a pairing as you will ever get. She had around a dozen instruments on stage, including drums, guitars, records, violins, and dulcimers. She'd play a part, loop it, and play something else over it. Slowly but surely she would build a crescendo of instrumentation and then sing a multiple of vocal parts of her instruments. Just beautiful - and it didn't hurt that her voice was gorgeous.

Be sure to check out this set.

Live MP3 MP3s:
Intro
Oh Mary (Don't You Weep)
Na Na Na
Birds Fly Away
Hi-Low

Labels: austin, habana calle 6, indie, live mp3s, soundboard mp3s, sxsw

Got to run out to more SXSW shows, but here's one more recording for you from yesterday.

Other Lives from Stillwater, Oklahoma. Dark and moody, the piano and cello with more traditional guitars, bass and drums evokes a cinematic experience - like every song is scored for a film. A gorgeous set. Enjoy.

Live MP3 MP3s:
Intro
Don't Let Them
End Of The Year
The Partisan (Leonard Cohen)
Speed Tape
Paper Cities
Outro

Labels: austin, cedar street courtyard, indie, live mp3s, other lives, soundboard mp3s, sxsw

It's always interesting to see each day at SXSW turns out.

You print out pages and pages of information showing what bands are playing where, you underline and make notes on potential schedules, you try and figure out what the optimal parking spot is so you can make it to the various venues and you use Google maps to figure out if its even possible to make it from Venue A to Venue B in X minutes to see that next band.

And then you show up and realize, meh - maybe i'll just do something totally different.

So we arrived in Austin today planning on seeing Whispertown 2000 as one of our first bands. As luck would have it we got into town early and since they we were just a few blocks from Cedar Street Courtyard (one of the best venues in Austin) we wandered over to check out the Filter showcase.

We caught the last few minutes of Zee Avi and figured we'd hang around to check out Hockey (who we'd never heard before.) We were glad we did. They put on the most rocking showcase of the day. Hailing from Portland, Oregon - these guys reminded me a lot of Jet. That sort of British rock n roll sensibilities, with hammering riffs and almost dancy beats.

Good stuff and a great way to start SXSW - show up at a random showcase and enjoy!

Live MP3 MP3s:
Intro
Work
Too Fake
Learn To Lose
I Want To Be
Song Away
Put The Game Down
Outro

Labels: austin, cedar street courtyard, filter, hockey, live mp3s, major, soundboard mp3s, sxsw

SXSW Week! Before I go figure out which bands I'm going to see this week, I thought I'd post another show from last year - the Dodos playing a short yet rocking set at Mohawk's outdoor stage at the Hot Freaks! party.

Check out Hot Freaks! line up for 2009 here - I'm personally looking forward to Bishop Allen...

Live MP3 MP3s:
Intro
Fools
No More Patient
It's That Time Again
Jodi
Red And Purple
Outro

Labels: austin, indie, live mp3s, mohawk, soundboard mp3s, sxsw