Friday, March 14, 2008

J's Days 1 and 2 Reviews

Greetings from Austin. It's that time of year where thousands decend our lovely Texas capitol for four days of live music and great times. Here are my thoughts from Days 1 and 2.

Day 1
I spent most of the day with B though I got there later.  It's hard waking up.  After getting my badge and such, I headed over to Emo's to see The Ravonettes.  It had been a few years since I've seen or heard them.  I really enjoyed what they played from their latest release.  I hope to pick that one up soon.  I then walked across the street to Emo's Annex to see Jason Collett.  He's another that I had no listened to for a while.  He did not disappoint as he played mostly from his latest release.  I left there with Jim and headed over to the Day Stage to catch Akron/Family.  They were about the worst thing I saw and heard the entire day.  They seem to be playing a lot here.  I don't get it.  Next on the Day Stage was Ra Ra Riot.  Jim insisted that we go to this.  I was moderately impressed with their quirky indie pop style.  I really enjoyed the spoken word/poetry of Saul Williams.

The first night band I caught was Cincinatti's Chocolate Horse.  I was into it at first but lost interest rather quickly.  We moved on to Maggie Mae's for the Cotton Jones Basket Ride, whom I thought was just the singer from fellow Baltimore band Page France, but it turned out to be most everyone from the band.  The amazing thing is that they sounded nothing like Page France.  They sound bluesier and less subdued.  We turned the corner from there and headed to Latitude 30 to see Kitty Daisy & Lewis.  However, they were running about an hour or so behind. We got tired and decided to leave.  I hungout for a bit before going over to Emo's Lounge to see Kimya Dawson.  I was surprised that she started early.  Since she doesn't play very loud, I found myself easing up to the front to get away from all the talkers.  I was rather entertained by the few songs her's that I got to hear.  All were new to me since I am only familiar with the few songs from the Juno soundtrack and she played none of those.  I caught San Diego's Grand Ole Party.  This trio was probably the best find of the day with their jumpy, energizing sound.  I had hoped to catch Birmingham, AL band Wild Sweet Orange.  I was disappointed to find out that they cancelled.  Instead, I meet back up with B at the Maggie Mae's rooftop for Bon Iver.  I could only hear them, but their soft, melancholy sounds were enjoyable.

Day 2
I spent just about the entire day at Flamingo Cantina.  The day started with Elf Power, whom I had known about but never listened to.  They played mostly from their upcoming CD, In A Cave, which sounded incredible.  I can't wait for it to come out.  Even better than them was Seattle, WA band Fleet Foxes.  Their instrumentation and harmonizing reminded me of Denton, TX band Midlake.  I picked up their EP.  This may have been the best find of this festival so far.  Next up was Akron/Family, so we went to the upstairs to avoid them.  They were as obnixious as they were the first time.  We went back down Portland duo The Helio Sequence.  After listening to a KEXP in studio podcast with them last week, I was really antipating a good show from them.  I certainly got that.  I can't wait to hear more of this Sub Pop act.  Rogue Wave took the stage to entertain us all for about a half hour.  I might have enjoyed them more this time than when I saw them in Denton a month or so ago.  Finally, Shout Out Louds closed the day shows at Flamingo Cantina.  I have listened to them for a while, but never seen them.  I recognized many of the songs and enjoyed the show.

The first act I saw at knight was Jens Lekman at Emo's.  He played solo with an electric guitar and was quite entertaining.  This was my first time seeing or hearing his soft, story-like music.  I loved it.  Next, we went to Emo's Lounge to see Le Loup.  I remembered them from Amber and Jen's Best of 2007.  But nothing of what I heard sounded much like what was on the mix. We then walked over to Mohawk, one of the better venue's in the area, to see the much anticipated Evangelicals from Norman, OK.  I enjoyed the show, but wasn't blown away like I thought I would be.  Once they finished, I headed downstairs at Mohawk to catch San Francisco's Citay.  They are a six-piece that is mostly instrumental and appears a bit "jammy" at times.  I enjoyed listenting to them more on the studio recordings than I did live.  That could have had something to do with the bar area being a bit crowded though.  I finished the night at Mohawk listening to the Canadian band Black Mountain.  I was a bit out of it by then so I don't remember much about it.

Back with more later.

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