Epitaph

120 words about 30 bands at SXSW 2010

• Tanlines: Afro-enabled synth bacchanal.
• Best Coast: Buoyant, Deal-y melodic grunge.
• We Were Promised Jetpacks: Masculine emo road untaken.
• Frightened Rabbit: Jangly Scots Duritz mutation?

• Wye Oak: Heart-piercingly honest alto.
• The Boxer Rebellion: U2 > Radiohead > Doves > TBR
• Thee Oh Sees: Roadhouse paddywhacks; enticing stink.
• The Drums: Joy Division again? Really?
• Anita Tijoux: Chilean memoirist, Bronx language.
• Ben Gibbard: Alone, narrative bleakness underscored.
• Total Abuse: Brutalist hardcore, unintentional vaudeville.
• The Coathangers: Cavegrrrls squeal, shake, roar.
• Garotas Suecas: Carefree groovicália, young hearts.
• Hole: Aged into “scary” character.
• Real Estate: Rollin’ downriver, beery haze.
• Golden Triangle: Lily Munster meets B-52’s?
• Surfer Blood: Workin’ hard, hardly workin’.
• Besnard Lakes: Credo in rockum sacrum.
• Robert Francis: Never left Hotel California.
• Nas/Damian (Junior Gong) Marley: Surprise! Bob samples galore.
• L’Orchidée d’Hawaï: Surfin’ Rhône-Alpes. Absolument charmant.
• Sharon Jones: “Soul phenom.” Time machine?
• Broken Bells: Dreamy comfort, sleepy pace.
• Spoon: Effortless lordship, small kingdom.
• Freelance Whales: Could be Lemmy’s breakfast.
• Scorpion Child: Feelgood retro heshercore, re-retro’d.
• Free Energy: Wholesomely sleazy, courageously dumb.
• XYX: Freakout duos: universal language.
• Los Amparito: Sunbaked, pan-Latin laptopism.
• Dark Castle: Guttural roars, cavelike shadows.

SXSW: In the Dark Castle

Surfer Blood-y shadows

Chinese bands back to SXSW

South by Southwest just announced an initial list of a couple hundred showcase bands for 2010 (it’ll climb up well over 1,000 eventually), and two of the Beijing bands that recently toured the U.S., P.K. 14 and Carsick Cars, are on it. I interviewed two members of those bands, and from what I saw in Brooklyn they were pretty well received by the crowds.

It’s not unprecedented: Lonely China Day and Re-TROS came in 2007 and got thumbs-ups from Jon Pareles. The big question is always whether they will return again. P.K. 14 and Carsick Cars might have a slight advantage here, since they’re already somewhat known, and have gotten their share of critical props: Alex Ross singled out Shou Wang of Carsick Cars in his mega New Yorker piece on Chinese music, and also chose a performance by him as one of his top 10 of 2008.

(HT to China Music Radar.)