The Theater Fire

The Theater Fire is a heart-warming, lovely blend of country, folk, mariachi, and rock. Despite the eclectic mix the songs are simple. I've seen the band twice now and both times I found myself rather charmed by them. Perhaps the venue (Lambert's) played into that. And it certainly didn't hurt that the crowd couple-danced the night away. Still, starry eyed was I.

Brazos

Again with the Brazos.

This is from an ACL taping. There's only two photos since apparently picture taking is frowned upon there. Who knew?

PJ Harvey

PJ Harvey strikes me as eccentric. Ditto for her music. She is quite theatrical in her presentation and it suits the vibe. Pretty bird.

Razorlight

FINALLY posting the final day of SXSW 2009. And it's only August.

Fortunately for me there are only two posts left.

Here we have Razorlight -- low-key punk pop. The show is BIG, the lights are bright, the frontman is expressive. I have to admit I found myself focusing more on him than anything else. Insert girly sigh.

King Khan & the Shrines

Of all the shows to have a near dead camera! Good GOD these kids rock. Well-done funk is always dance inducing but this is a whole different beast. King Khan & the Shrines bring the . . . everything, cheerleader included. Imagine if James Brown was of Middle Eastern descent and if his music was a pinch more rock, and there you go. Show highlight -- one band member stood atop an amp, dropped trou, tucked his "snake" between his legs, and proudly wiggled and danced about with a full on man-gina. It sadly didn't last too long. A SXSW volunteer was sent out on stage to stand in front of him. Ha!

GZA and Black Lips

I've already made mention of this show. I think that pretty well covers it. Here's a link for GZA, for fun.

Camera Obscura

Would it make any sense to describe Camera Obscura's sound as pretty happy/melancholy? 'Cuz it is.

Jason Lytle

Jason Lytle, formerly of Grandaddy, is flying solo. His music now is only slightly less electronic-pop-y.

Chairlift

My strongest memory of Chairlift is of a fan blowing Caroline Polachek's hair in slo-motion. It was a bit hypnotizing.

Of course it's probably fair to say that the music played a part in that. Chairlift has a pretty strong 80s vibe to them, which p.s. is more than okay in my book. The vocals however are very much the 00s, and by that I mean super cute and female a la Regina Spektor, Feist, or Zooey Deschanel.

Loney Dear

So as it turns out Loney Dear is really just a one man show, the Swedish Emil Svanängen, who travels with a backing band. You'd never know this by watching them perform together; I certainly didn't. They genuinely seemed to enjoy themselves, they played cohesively, and there was no spotlight hogging to be found.

Since I'm in the mood for band comparisons I'm gonna go ahead and call them/him a happier, more melodic Postal Service.