Today, the same day that a limited number of wristbands went on sale to local Austin area residents, SXSW announced their schedule for the music portion of the festival.

Check it here..Music Schedule

And there just might be some of the 2nd batch of wristbands available HERE…check it, buy em, and schedule..

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted anything here, and to be quite honest…I just needed a little break. I’ve been mass consuming music since I was old enough to recognize the sounds on the radio, and as much as it is the most constant in my life, sometimes I have to decompress.

The music scene/culture experiences changes and fluctuates on a regular basis. Whether there are major labels, printed press, or self proclaimed “what’s cool or not cool” web presences making those decisions, shallow periods of exposed music exist. I feel like that we might be at one of those sea changes currently. Or maybe I’m just burned out. Either way, this song and video are a refreshing lift out of that burnout, and remind me of time when music was still raw, fresh, adventurous, and heartfelt.

Those kids these days are getting smarter and smarter…trust me, I know.

Check out Lemuria “Pleaser”

New photographer for the site. And it’s me. This was my first venture out with my newly purchased camera, and not having really shot anything since 2007-2008, I’m a bit rusty. Not that I was great before, but I had to relearn some basics. My hat goes off to the ones that shoot regularly around town, whose work I greatly admire, including a that talented woman that used to shoot for this site.

Recently, a friend suggested that I check out this band True Widow, and it was noted. Then he persistently asked if I had gotten around to doing so. Usually when this happens, there’s something to the suggestion. Now, I haven’t spent a lot of time with the band’s self-titled release, but what I have heard indicates that this is going to require some pretty serious listen time. It’s dark, dense, and moves along at a patient pace. It’s a fuzzy haze of stonegaze, that suggest you check out. I insist.

True Widow’s SXSW schedule on Do512

True Widow Album II Trailer from Justin Wilson on Vimeo.

After two EP’s, landing themselves on Fat Possum Records, and putting out a full-length, the school mate band of brothers called Colour Revolt came to a crossroad. Members Jesse Coppenbarger and Sean Kirkpatrick found themselves without a band, and without a label. Dissolving the band seemed imminent, and a short lived breakup took place, but both realized they still wanted to make music together, and lucky for us they still do. Coppenbarger and Kirkpatrick kept writing, pulled a band together, landed a deal with Dualtone Records and put out one of their most comprehensive musical works titled The Cradle in 2010.

The lead track from The Cradle which tells the tale..

MP3> Colour Revolt ’8 Years’

Colour Revolt’s SXSW schedule on Do512

Honestly, I know almost nothing about this band, but when you hear people whose opinion you generally respect, drop a band’s name, it’s always worth investigating.

Small Black are from Brooklyn (surprise) and are listed as electronica, lo-fi, chillwave, etc. You know, the stuff that all the kids are into these days. I can get into some of it as well.

Small Black’s SXSW schedule on Do512

No, Low aren’t the latest Pitchfork darling hipster band that you haven’t heard of, actually quite the contrary. Low, founded by the husband and wife team of Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker, make up the slow-core trio that are set to release their 9th studio album. They produce music that flows at a pace that, upon first listen, can be a difficult listen. Patience is rewarded though with beautiful instrument minimalism laying down the canvas for Sparhawk and Parker’s lyrical exchanges that shift from daydream beauty to the dark crevices of the human psyche.

The band is set to release that 9th studio album titled C’mon April 19th.

A rare opportunity to see a band that has already established itself one of the best kept secrets in the scene.

And I have to apologize to Deer Tick, as if there really only ONE band that I could see during SXSW, Low takes the honor.

Low’s SXSW schedule on Do512

Follow that Bird

The Ghost Room – Riot Act Media SXSW Party

Wednesday, March 16 @ 1:50 PM

Headhunters Official SXSW Show

Wednesday, March 16 @ 7:00PM

SXSW House Show

Friday March 18 @ 6:30PM

www.myspace.com/followthatbiiird

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZauDOVrAuNk

http://schedule.sxsw.com/events/event_MS14917

Follow this Band!  With an appearance on Casual Victim Pile Austin 2010 available on Matador records and a full length record due this year, you will not regret taking some time to check out this Austin threesome. Laid back and in your face, an excellent addition to your SXSW schedule.

Bad Brains

Emo’s Main Room

Wednesday March 16 @ 10:40PM

badbrains.com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjITD9LnwRY

http://schedule.sxsw.com/events/event_MS15127

I don’t know for certain if these hardcore pioneers have made up with Austin’s punk scenesters of the early 80′s, but chances are that their new fans weren’t even born when those arguments took place. Great-grandfathers of the american hardcore genre, these guys will show you how it all started.

Fishbone

Austin Music Hall

Thursday March 17 @ 10:50PM

fishbone.net

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrONIb9gQ-k

http://schedule.sxsw.com/events/event_MS14973

Last time I saw these guys was just last year when they played a surprise show at La Zona Rosa, and I have to say that Fishbone has still got it. Intense energy and a super tight delivery – an experience to behold. Put on your dancing shoes and just try to keep up.

The Fleshtones

Continental Club

Friday March 18 @ 1:00AM

www.fleshtones.org

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQcdbAFOYfA

http://schedule.sxsw.com/events/event_MS12622

Put a cap on your Friday night at the Continental Club with the swinging sounds of The Fleshtones. Fueling fandom for over 25 years these NY city rockers will cure what ails you.

OFF!

Emo’s Main Room

Wednesday March 16 @ 9:50PM

Club de Ville

Thursday March 17 @ 10:00PM

offofficial.com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_EsYmPwYWI

http://schedule.sxsw.com/events/event_MS14236

Hardcore punk rock the way it was in the beginning – Keith Morris fronts this outfit that debuted at last years SXSW and bringing the earliest of Black Flag vibes back and in your face. Surely with some thoughtful interjections between songs, Mr. Morris will certainly be letting you know what’s on his mind.

I can’t help but be drawn to this band’s music, as it reminds me in all the best ways of decade that was pretty cool. At least from my perspective.

Check out YUCK and the video for “Get Away” and mark your SXSW schedule.

What’s in a band name these days anyways? The name Deer Tick might not conjure up any ideas of pleasantry, but as the band’s music would suggest, life isn’t always that pleasant. If you really want to get down to it, rock-n-roll was born out of the blues, and we all know that the blues weren’t exactly a reflection of the best of times for some folks.

So, Deer Tick write rock-n-roll songs founded in the solids of their predecessors, and as the title of their latest full length titled The Black Dirt Sessions might suggest, shiny happy people songs are not their forte. What the band is great at doing with their music, is tugging at and reflecting  the emotional core of our existence as human beings. While the recorded material seems tame enough in the realm of rock, the live shows are a treated as a challenge by the band, to be a little more extreme.

Principal songwriter and front-man John McCauley has another project which will be in town during SXSW, but I will address that soon enough.

A bit from the band’s website:

There are many reasons why Deer Tick are an excellent band. Here are mine. Firstly, they have great songs. War Elephant is a great album. The follow up, Born on Flag Day is just as strong. Alt-country is a curious genre, often misconstrued, misrepresented and misunderstood. Well, for me, this lot here’s a contemporary blueprint. There’s country (duh), punk, blues, folk, grunge and garage rock. Hell, even their choice of cover versions – Replacements, Michael Hurley, John Prine, The Sex Pistols and Chuck Berry – goes a long way to pinning down their sound.

McCauley’s voice is a hybrid of Kurt Cobain and Gary Louris from the Jayhawks. Sometimes he sounds like he’s been gargling gravel with moonshine. He can croon, he can yelp and he can shout. He’s a superb lead singer, backed by a talented, if mostly acquiescent unit. They recently recruited guitarist Ian O’Neil from New Jersey noiseniks Titus Andronicus, which allows McCauley more freedom to noodle, drink more beer, or, um, get his cock out.

If there were one band that I had to choose to see at SXSW this year, and only one, it just might be these guys. The have the stamp of approval from Brian Williams, so why think twice about it? And you have 3 opportunities to do so..

03.18.11          Swan Dive/Barbarella – SXSW      Austin, TX, US      Partisan Records/KF Records/Brooklyn Vegan Day Party          FREE

03.19.11          Lustre Pearl – SXSW (NOTE: as DEERVANA)          Austin, TX, US             A Classic Education, Tim Easton, Robert Ellis, Holy Sons, Dawes

03.19.11          Mess With Texas Party – SXSW          Austin, TX, US             Dead Milkmen, !!!, Ted Leo, Odd Future, Surfer Blood, Thee Oh Sees, Off!         RSVP

MP3> Deer Tick ‘Piece By Piece Frame By Frame’

Surely by now the RSVP hand cramps and headache are starting to set in, and you’ve plugged so much SXSW information into your melon, it’s becoming a cloudy sea of March dates, sponsorship logos, and band names you aren’t quite that familiar with, but have checked. I too, have begun that list, trying as much to keep it simple, so that I can focus on the stuff that I really want to see, while leaving some time for those pleasant unexpected surprises.

Haven’t heard the name Yuck? I hadn’t until a couple of weeks ago, when a track being played on KEXP caught my attention just long enough for me to catch the name. Then I see the band featured in Under The Radar magazine as one to watch in 2011, and then I came across this video yesterday by chance when checking out the new Walkmen video..the music gods are speaking to me.

Yuck might be the sign that the indie sounds of the 90′s might be ripe for filling some of the holes in between the overplayed 80′s resurgence in music. Hinting at Teenage Fanclub, The Lemonheads, and even Superchunk, would sound understated, but Yuck make you feel right at home today while pining for yesterday.

Check out some Yuck, check your schedule.

Thur 3/17 @ Club de Ville

Fri 3/18 @ East Side Drive In @3:30

Fri 3/18 @ Kiss and Fly

Yuck – Yuck by Yuck

It will be here soon, and your chance to get wristbands for this years SXSW Music Festival will be gone soon. First round of $139 wristbands is gone and now the second round of 2000 are up for grabs for $165. Get them HERE. Must be able to prove Austin residency.

Grid is up with full schedule of all things SXSW, and you can check that out HERE.

Deer Tick was one of my favorite band discoveries of 2010, and the band’s Black Dirt Sessions finished up the year on my most listened to list. With that being said, any move by Deer Tick’s John McCauly is one to follow, and linking up with Taylor Goldsmith of Dawes, and Matthew Vasquez of Delta Spirit sound like a match to pay attention to, if just on paper. More than just good on paper, Middle Brother are stirring up quick attention with only two live appearances under their belt, first one being here in Austin during SXSW 2010. The second performance was for the KCRW sponsored benefit in Los Angeles, for the Invisible Children project.

The band is set to release their debut self-titled recording on March 1st with a tour kicking off soon after that leads them to town where they first took the stage together, Austin, TX for SXSW 2011.

MP3> Middle Brother ‘Me Me Me’

Middle Brother performing “Me Me Me” @ The Troubadour in LA

Middle Brother // Me Me Me [live] from Brandon Tauszik on Vimeo.

Middle Brother Tour Read more

The little band that landed the big deal with very minimal amount of effort, hits the road with a stop here in ATX for SXSW, although unconfirmed as official SXSW talent. But, how could SXSW not have the band that has accomplished the almost impossible in today’s music environment? Cults will undoubtedly go down in indie rock history as the band that landed a recording deal with Columbia records while only having a few songs posted on their Bandcamp page and little less than a year of touring. I have to admit that the band’s performance at Fun Fun Fun Fest 2010 was a standout next to indie darlings Best Coast and Wavves, but what’s the real deal with this deal? Soon to find out as the band hits the road, with one of the most grueling tests of a band’s stamina happening in March. SXSW.

Hopefully this schedule means that Small Black has it’s sites set on SXSW as well.

MP3> Cults ‘Most Wanted’

Yep, believe it or not, it’s time to start thinking and planning for SXSW 2011. They just released the second set of bands which includes notables DeVotchKa, Alberta Cross (been wanting to see these guys for awhile), J Mascis, The Dears, and JEFF The Brotherhood, just to name a few. Follow the jump for the entire list including the first release of bands. Read more