If I was going to SXSW...

Building on my last post, here are a handful of things I would be interested in if I was going to SXSW.



Alash



Hometown: Kyzyl Republic of Tuva
Highlights: Masters of Tuvan throat singing
Song: Bashtak Joke




School Of Seven Bells



Hometown: Brooklyn, NY
Highlights: Benjamin Curtis of Secret Machines + twin sisters Alejandra and Claudia Deheza pump out spacey, ethereal vocals over solid rhythmic foundations.
Song: Face To Face On High Places




The Shackeltons



Hometown: Chambersburg, PA
Highlights: Post-emo rock, dramatic stage presence thanks to front man Mark Redding.
Song: Your Movement




Explosions in the Sky



Hometown: Austin, TX
Highlights: Instrumental rock, elaborate (but non-noodling) guitar work over crashing build-up drumming.
Song: Welcome, Ghosts




Passion Pit



Hometown: Cambridge, MA
Highlights: Incendiary live shows, explosive, euphoric, blissful and melancholy all at the same time. Bonus points for "Sleepy Head" showing up in my top 10 songs of '08 and having the dubious distinction of being the subject of one of LTTS's very first posts.
Song: Sleepy Head




Grizzly Bear




Hometown: Brooklyn, NY
Highlights: Incredible harmonies, rock-folk, avant-garde acoustic indie. Dare I say THE buzz band of today?
Song: Knife


All and all I would have to say that the one of the great things about something like SXSW is when you are able to find new and exciting music that you've never heard or experienced before. I am definitely looking forward to hearing all the reports that come back.

Who are you looking forward to? Any bets on who the big breakthrough of 2009's SXSW will be?

Check out my main man, pots-n-pans, Bruce Warren's picks at Some Velvet Blog


More on my SXSW picks later...maybe (it is Friday after all).

SXSW Tunes

If you're like me you might be nursing an acute case of the "i-ain't-going-to-south-by-blues".

Dr. Andy is glad you came to the Late To The Show clinic.

The prescription you ask?

A (legal) torrent of all of the mp3's posted on the SXSW website.

So if you got the fever and about 6 gigs of free space on your hard drive get to downloading!

My Morning Jacket - Celebración De La Ciudad Natal (and behind the scences video!)

This showed up in the Late To The Show inbox this afternoon. I was going to get on my soapbox and wax caring about Record Store Day (April 18th) anyway but just like everything in every other aspect of my entire life, Jim James does it better.

Anyway I am positively giddy about this EP!


Celebración De La Ciudad Natal

hello friends. we are proud to announce and release a lil live ep that was recorded right in our very own hometown of louisville, ky. a few songs were taken from our in-store appearence at our beloved and fabled record haven "ear-x-tacy" and a few of them were taken from our concert at the fabled "waterfront park." see if you can guess which is from which. we are excited to make this a special release that you can only get at your favorite local independent record store, as now more than ever we all need to take the time to celebrate what our favorite local record stores and businesses mean to us - the value of community/human to human non- internet related physical and spiritual contact and supporting the hardworking people in your community who strive everyday to keep it unique and keep it local. we are fortunate in our travels to get to see many wonderful things, but one of the most distressing things is the increasing "normalization" of the world and how all these places are starting to look the same- everywhere you look more and more towns are starting to be filled with the same gigantic corporations, and while some of these huge companies undoubtably provide valuable services, it is so important that we realize that it is our local businesses and people (and natural landscapes, but thats a different letter) that are what make different towns worth coming to...things you can only get in one place, made and sold by people who believe in what they are doing...people who are trying to keep good weirdness alive in this crazy dome. god* bless all of you, and god* bless the world and all that kinda sh*t.

-yer pals, my morning jacket

p.s.- *the word "god*" is used here meaning anything you want it to mean and is a trademark of globo-chem worldwide.


The EP (in both CD and limited edition double 10" vinyl) will be available at finer independent retailers beginning on Record Store Day, April 18.




My Morning Jacket from Tugboat Productions on Vimeo.

Dark Was the Night Compliation

Dark Was The Night is the compilation that everyone is talking about right now. Every track off this double-cd set is better than the one before it! MMJ, Spoon, Yeasayer, Grizzley Bear, Bon Iver, the list just goes on and on and on.


Further Information
Dark Was The Night will be released on February 17th, 2009. It’s comprised of 31 exclusive tracks and it will be available as a double cd/triple vinyl/download and will benefit the Red Hot Organization – an international charity dedicated to raising money and awareness for HIV and AIDS through popular culture. They are the people responsible for albums including No Alternative, Red Hot and Blue and many more, and this is their 20th year, and this is the 20th release!

DARK WAS THE NIGHT

THIS DISC
1 Knotty Pine – Dirty Projectors + David Byrne
2 Cello Song (Nick Drake) – The Books featuring Jose Gonzalez
3 Train Song (Vashti Bunyan recorded, written by Alasdair Clayre) – Feist + Ben Gibbard
4 Brackett, WI – Bon Iver
5 Deep Blue Sea – Grizzly Bear
6 So Far Around the Bend – The National (arrangement by Nico Muhly)
7 Tightrope – Yeasayer
8 Feeling Good (popularized by Nina Simone) – My Brightest Diamond
9 Dark Was the Night (Blind Willie Johnson) – Kronos Quartet
10 I Was Young When I Left Home (Bob Dylan) – Antony + Bryce Dessner
11 Big Red Machine – Justin Vernon + Aaron Dessner
12 Sleepless – The Decemberists
13 Stolen Houses (Die) – Iron and Wine
14 Service Bell – Grizzly Bear + Feist
15 You Are The Blood – Sufjan Stevens

THAT DISC
1 Well-Alright – Spoon
2 Lenin – Arcade Fire
3 Mimizan – Beirut
4 El Caporal – My Morning Jacket
5 Inspiration Information (Shuggie Otis) – Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
6 With A Girl Like You (The Troggs) – Dave Sitek
7 Blood Pt 2 (based on original song “You are the Blood” by the Castanets) – Buck 65 Remix (featuring Sufjan Stevens and Serengeti)
8 Hey, Snow White (Destroyer) – The New Pornographers
9 Gentle Hour (Snapper) – Yo La Tengo
10 Another Saturday (traditional song) – Stuart Murdoch
11 Happiness – Riceboy Sleeps
12 Amazing Grace (traditional song) – Cat Power and Dirty Delta Blues
13 The Giant Of Illinois (Handsome Family) – Andrew Bird
14 Lua – Conor Oberst + Gillian Welch
15 When the Road Runs Out – Blonde Redhead + Devastations
16 Love vs. Porn – Kevin Drew

Pick it up at Amazon or iTunes. It's a good cause and 12 bucks well spent.

Here is a breath-taking version of I Was Young When I Left Home by Antony (of Antony and The Jonhsons) and Bryce Dessner (of the National).

Yeasayer's offering:

Tightrope - Yeasayer

Behind the Scenes: Radiohead w/ the USC Marching Band

This has been making the rounds at breakneck speed today but for good reason.


Enjoy:




In case you missed it this happened next:

Old people in Fishtown hate Animal Collective but love Dr. Dog (and Young Jeezy?)

OK. While I am often "late to the show" I don't know how I haven't caught wind of this. The fine folks over at Scrapple TV have been running a show called "Breakfast At Sulimays" where some folks (who very well might be my neighbors) review some tunes.



This is the most brilliant thing I've ever seen. How do I nominate ScrappleTV for a Nobel Peace Prize?


More:




Happy 84th Birthday Joe!

Peter, Bjorn & John to tour w/ Depeche Mode and hit Philly in May

Lots of info on super-Swedes Peter, Bjorn & John.

1st) The new record, Living Thing, drops on March 31st.


B) PB&J are doing a club tour.

The dates announced so far are:

Minneapolis, MN Fine Line Music Café (April 21)
Milwaukee, WI Pabst Theatre (22)
Chicago, IL Metro (23)
Newport, KY Southgate House (24)
Toronto, Ontario Phoenix Theatre (25)
Ottawa, Ontario Capital Music Hall (26)
Montreal, Quebec Le National (27)
Boston, MA Paradise (28)
New York, NY Webster Hall (29)
Brooklyn, NY Music Hall of Williamsburg (30)
Philadelphia, PA World Café (May 1)
Washington, DC 9:30 Club (2)


Thirdly) PB&J have been tapped to open for Depeche Mode's North American tour:

PETER BJORN AND JOHN OPEN FOR DEPECHE MODE

Depeche Mode have chosen Swedish pop trio Peter Bjorn and John to open for them on their massive Tour of the Universe.

Washington, DC Nissan Pavilion (July 28)
Boston, MA Comcast (31)
Atlantic City, NJ Borgata (August 1)
New York, NY Madison Square Garden (3)
Seattle, WA Key Arena (10)
San Francisco, CA Shoreline Amphitheater (12)
San Diego, CA Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre (14)
Los Angeles, CA Hollywood Bowl (16, 17)
Santa Barbara, CA County Bowl (20)
Las Vegas, NV Pearl Concert Theater (22)
Phoenix, AZ US Airways Center (23)
Salt Lake City, UT E Center (25)
Denver, CO Red Rocks (27)
Dallas, TX Superpages (29)
Houston, TX Woodlands Pavilion (30)
Atlanta, GA Lakewood Amphitheater (September 1)
Tampa, FL Ford Amphitheater (4)
Ft. Lauderdale, FL BankAtlantic Center (5)

Lastly) Head over to the band's website and sign up for the Newsletter to get a free download of "Lay It Down".

I think that's it...


Oh yeah, check the video for Peter, Bjorn & John's latest single "Nothing to Worry About":