I guess I'll get things started. I hope this can be a source for some new music leads, like these crazy kids Spandau Ballet, who I think just might have a shot at making it! 10th year in a row for me and one of the best musically. Surprised I'm saying this because the fest itself has gotten so big and cumbersome that it wasn't honestly the most joyful one I've had. It also didn't have like 3 or 4 insanely great finds like in some years. However, when I look back at the 57 or so gigs I caught, there's a higher percentage of As and Bs than usual and less dreck, likely a result of collaborating a lot more with folks like Coop, Plagiarism, Edwardnky, and various other non-NWO friends - we simply knew more which bands we wanted to see and not see. So...
A+ - Splashh @ Latitude 30: following a weak daytime showcase, these guys shocked with the funnest set of the fest. Lots of great rhythmic strumming with melody and pitch changes. Bits of shoegaze and garage.
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A+ - Spandau Ballet @ Vulcan Gas Company: this was way beyond expectations with a tight, professional delivery of tons of great songs. Opener 'To Cut A Long Story Short' was actually my highlight along with 'Chant #1'. Absolute crowd pleasers. Have overcome my loss of indie cred from constantly saying "Yeah, Spandau Ballet were one of the very best acts at SXSW."
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A - PINS @ El Sapo: far better than their church gig the previous evening. A very intimate audience but they still just brought it and convinced me of what some English friends had been yammering on about. Not looking for massive depth here, just great punk pop fun.
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A - Bo Ningen @ Latitude 30: with low expectations that I'd be suffering through a lot of obnoxious noise, they surprised with a SHOW! There was indeed a lot of obnoxious noise but it was damned entertaining.
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A - Bully @ The Parish Underground: they can easily be dismissed as 90s Dino Jr Junior, but that's all good. Not the heavy Dino stuff but their funner stuff - sweet 90s guitar strumming. Lead singer and guitarist has great chops and voice.
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A - Casual Sex @ Mohawk Indoor: a great mix of Franz Ferdinand with some LCD Soundsystem wryness. Dancy and entertaining but also musically solid.
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A - Eagulls @ Buffalo Billiards: my second time and a cut above the first. A proper gig at night with a proper mosh pit and great energy. Their great lead guitar work needs to be more up front in their live mixes. Not sure if they're built to last but great textured punkish sounds for now.
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A - Traams @ El Sapo: Parquet Courts-light is a bit too dismissive. They have their own flair but you won't be mislead by that description. Just as driving and fun.
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A - Wolf Alice @ Latitiude 30: this was originally to be an A-, but their songs are just too entertaining despite a somewhat flat delivery this night. I'll just attribute that to early festival warm-up both for me and the band. Lots of variations on, again, a 90s rock theme.
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A- - Bully @ The Grackle: poor sound system here but still shone through. Highly recommending these Nashville rockers.
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A- - Eagulls @ Mohawk: great punk fun, better at their night gig, but a fine warm-up. Oh, and a Pyschic TV t-shirt!
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A- - Casual Sex at Flamingo Cantina: a step down just because these guys are meant to be a nighttime act.
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A- - Dead Gaze @ El Sapo: a heavier 90s sound than a lot of the other similarly-influenced bands here, but these guys rocked. A transformer on the street outside the venue blew while they played - perfect.
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A- - Eros and the Eschaton @ El Sapo: no, it's not a young Elvis Costello. They could use another band member however - there's just too much good songwriting and big sounds for a duet to try to reproduce. Tough debate between this and a B+ because of their relatively thin live vs recorded sound, but still had to go with the fine songwriting and structures.
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A- - Honeyblood @ El Sapo: perfect ending to a great afternoon of food, drinks and bands at the best converted garage/burger venue in the world (pretty sure the world). Lovely voices and angelic faces to go along with some fine indie pop rock.
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A- - The Mary Onettes @ The Majestic: another debate about this grade or a B+. Ultimately sentiment gives them an A-, but their new material just doesn't match up to old by a long margin. They oddly need to rely less on their vocal stylizing and more on their very strong instrumentalism, which just doesn't have the cool chop-chop anymore.
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A- - Gary Numan @ Brazos Hall: too heavy and industrial for some in the crowd, but he still brought enough fantastic old-faithful tracks for this to be a great gig - Metal, Down In The Park, Are Friends Electric, etc. And if Numan if multiple bands down the list of cool acts we'd seen, we were doing alright!
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A- - Public Service Broadcasting @ Cherrywood Coffeehouse: far better than I was expecting given that it was a day gig in the sun with no visuals. Really allowed to focus on the music, and they were great and funny as well. Electronicy indie rock instrumentalists I guess I'd call them.
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A- - Tontons @ Empire Garage: finally saw them after their cancelation last year. Great pop fun and a seriously charming lead.
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A- - The Pains of Being Pure at Heart @ Flamingo Cantina: they've actually learned how to play! I'm glad I gave them one last chance after two previous disappointing appearances. They always held the promise of New Order-inflected indie pop...not saying it's met, but better. They also seem to have gotten rid of their original and quite lifeless Asian keyboardist in place of a much more animated new partner, and also have a very eager young fan.
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A- - Temples @ Latitude 30: I thought uh-oh, it's Toy...but they ended up being much livelier and more entertaining. Solid psych rock with some glam splashed in.
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A- - Ume @ Brazos Hall: this was actually going to be just a throwaway while waiting for Numan and Blondie. Intead, I saw that they'd added a keyboardist and a bit more variation. Still a heavy rock band now, but as good as the first time we saw them on a sidewalk next to the freeway back in 2010.
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B+ - Baby In Vain @ BD Riley's: originally just a bonus gig at the end of the last day. Turns out that these teenage girls from Denmark had some serious chops, even opening for Thurston Moore last year in Europe. They got some ways to go but quite talented with their guitars.
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B+ - Blondie @ Brazos Hall: this might even be a bit generous. Yes, she does look great for 69, but she is nevertheless 69 and a bit wooden and awkward out there. The killer was that she played too many new songs and not enough really old stuff like Rip Her To Shreds, Dreaming, etc.
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B+ - The Foreign Resort @ Guerros Tacos: another Danish band and a favorite from 2 years ago. Shimmering new wave guitars make for a very entertaining set for those that like that sort of thing. Not sure where they're going to go from here though.
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B+ - How Sad @ The Majestic: filler while waiting for the Onettes but the better of their two openers. Good guitar and keyboard indie pop rock with lots of charm.
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B+ - PINS @ Central Presbyterian Church: wrong venue for them plus they were expecting perfect sound. They're a punk band and should have just played. Still a blast.
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B+ - Pyschic Wheels @ El Sapo: another filler band that ended up being a lot of fun. Like the name indicates, lots of psych guitar goodness.
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B+ - San Fermin @ Latitude 30: hard to pin these guys style down. Everything from indie rock guitar and keyboard to R&B crooning to a horn section. Really a great sound and very entertaining. There is some Ra Ra Riot meets Arcade Fire though so be forewarned.
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B+ - September Girls @ El Sapo: very solid indie pop rock again. Now too much depth but a lot of fun.
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B+ - Slaves @ Latitude 30: two unassuming blokes in many senses of the word, but they proceed to come on stage and tear it up with some old school Brit punk.
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B - Triptides @ El Sapo: punky surfy goodness despite Waldo-looking guitarist.
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B - Harlequins @ BD Riley's: I think this would have been a B+ at a place with better sound, but BD's is notoriously poor in quality and set-up. It's really good straight-up indie rock with some fine riffs, end of story.
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B - The Belle Game @ Maggies Mae's: a lot of talent here, but it's disjointed, all the way down to the most random outfits at the festival. Come on people, if you want to make a living at this, sync up a bit better than camos and geisha wear. Big vocals with some Fleet Foxes-like instrumentals that make it entertaining albeit confusing.
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B - Chocolate Tiger @ BD Riley's: it would a be cop-out to say that BD's poor sound strikes again, but these guys were often out of tune. Some cool songs with the perfect shimmering guitars that I like, but jeez, tighten it up, espeically when traveling 10k miles around the world for the gig.
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B - Lost Tapes @ BD Riley's: they've got all the songs. I almost hate to say that these guys just may not have the presence to do justice to their playing and writing. It's again too much sound for a duet to pull off, plus they have no stage presence. Really shame. I think many will like their recorded material.
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B - Launderettes @ BD Riley's: female scandipop that sounds like female scandipop. Not great or terrible.
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B - Weeknight @ The Parish: musically very good with lots of the lush pads I love, but they're kinda awkward. I hope they figure things out. They could do something if they do.
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B- - Splashh @ Wonderland: just awful sound at this venue. I was about ready to dismiss them, but a couple of my friends thankfully could hear some possible diamonds in the rough. Delivered later that night in a big way.
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B- - Dum Dum Girls @ Mellow Johnny's: I'm trying but I just can't see the fuss. I couldn't wait for the gig to be over. Score is only this high because the music was pleasant enough while I had my morning coffee. They weren't even that charming. Wait, why is this not a C??
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B- - Heavenly Beats @ The Majestic: a good sound but it's repeated in every single song.
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C - Agnes Obel @ Central Presbyterian Chursh: very loud folk that I thought would carry me into PINS given the setting, but it was kinda annoying. I think folks (heh) that like this genre more (I do like some) might like this more.
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C - Perfect Pussy @ Red 7 Patio: this just makes me angry. It's a classic case of completely made up buzz. It's just old school hardcore, done better by a lot of other bands that don't have a pretty face. Only this high because I guess I had some fascination with the scene. Plus she just yelled a lot but not into the mic so much. As a 90 yr old congressman once said, speak into the machine.
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C - Sweet Baboo @ Latitdue 30: an odd selection in the mix, but one can see he's a talented writer. Just needs a bit more zing. Oh, and it's not Dave Foley from Kids in the Hall.
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C - Weekend @ The Grackle: I'll give them this high because I think the sound was possibly the worst at the fest. Even lo-fi/shoegaze needs good sound. There's some hints of skill here so possibly better in actuality?
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C - The Pack AD @ Maggie Mae's: just a girl rock duet. Not really sure why they're at SX and not at some bar in any number of southern cities. Okay for what they are I guess.
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C- - Destruction Unit @ Red 7 Patio: thrash that I can't make the distinction from other thrash.
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D+ = La Luz @ The Grackle: the + is in acknowledgment that the sound system sucked. The D is in acknowledgment that they did too. Overriding feeling is that their surfy sound has been done and they bring nothing new to it.
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D - Nothing @ Dirty Dog Bar: nothing indeed. Honestly, I have to wonder about some of their positive write-ups. Just thrashy noise. It's not remotely shoegaze.
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D - Casket Girls @ The Parish: there were few other easy choices on this first night, which is also why I saw them briefly last year. Again briefly this year before walking out. More of a weird lounge act than a band per se.
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D - Purapharm @ Guerros Tacos: only this high because they ran long, allowing us to get some really great tacos! Oh, and their lead singer danced energetically in front of us to The Foreign Resort.
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D - Future Islands @ Flamingo Cantina: The Guardian article hilariously says it all:
http://bit.ly/O2BLzk . I said 'I said Tom Jone bad New Order cover band'. The said Pere Ubu, and not in a good way. What an idiot. Not an F because some of the instrumentation is ok.
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D- - Roman Remains @ Brazos Hall: even more annoying than Future Islands, this band made me want to play that knockout game (yes, I know it's wrong). Just pointless. If the Romans only left behind their fossilized feces, this would be it.
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F - Arc Iris @ Central Presbyterian Chursh: this was originally a C- with the justification that it's not my thing. Then it made me angry how bad it was and downgraded them to a D in my notes. Here again tonight, they have to get an F for being for incredibly annoying. The girl int he gold getup? Yes, as annoying as she looks.
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F some rap DJ @ Mohawk: Jeff had the best line of the festival with "We better get outta here before we have to count it as a gig." So I won't because we did.
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Also an F was White Sea @ Brazos Hall with frequent M83 collaborator Morgan Kibby, who has massively lost her way here. I refused to even take a photo of her ridiculous outfit, complete with what looked like a sorting hat..."You have been chosen for house...CRAPOLA!"
Another DJ who I thought was going to be a band was Tony Molina. He gets a D for some decent 90s Brit rap/trip hop type of sounds.