Music reviews. CD reviews. Critically hip!

One year ago, all I wanted was to be out of my parent’s house, work a job that was actually in my field, and to go to SXSW before I died. Did I ever achieve these goals? Obviously I got one out of the three, or else you wouldn’t be reading this. But, just for the record, I went for the trifecta, the gold, and accomplished all three and you're about to get the lowdown on my time at SXSW -- congratulations, because it's the best of the three! So sit back, maybe pour a glass of wine, and make a toast, for me, say it’s in honor of all first times, may they all be as wonderful as this one.  Cheers!

Thursday’s Playlist

• Delorean – No Age
• Kimya Dawson – Who’s got the crack? (She didn’t sing it, but it’s a good song)
• El-p – Tasmanian Pain Coaster
• Dizzee Rascal – I Luv U
• Motorhead – Ace of Spades
• No Age – My Life’s Alright Without You

It was my first day in Austin, and from the moment I stepped out of the car with my photographer Ben and onto the hot and sweaty musical melting pot that is 6th st. I knew my ears were going to be treated to something wonderful.

The first band I got to hear was Delorean. Initially, I thought “what a horrible choice for a band name.”  If you're going to name yourself after the car in a Michael J. Fox movie, you'd better live up to it!. But thankfully these boys from all the way across the Atlantic in Spain went above and beyond what I could’ve hoped. The precision between the drums and synths is always unbelievable, but especially live.  I'm not sure if this is a blessing or a curse... but Delorean could very well be the next big thing.  Love them now before MTV gets a hold of them!

Next on my walk was Kimya Dawson. She has been one of my favorite songstresses since I heard “Who’s Got The Crack?” when I was 18. In person, her talent is apparent. Whereas the Britney Spears' of the world are helped in the studio, the Kimya Dawsons are honest and let their short comings hang loose, adding to the overall character of the music. During her set, she stopped singing and announced, “I can’t hear the guitar”, at this point, she began humming the words to her song until she could hear it again and could continue singing along. This is generally a move that would annoy and bring out the pretentious music snob in me, and I don’t know if it was her light-hearted attitude or being underneath a tent during the hottest part of the day, but the song stop seemed to add to this show, illustrating that she’s more than just the lady from the Juno soundtrack, so much more.

Next up was Motorhead, holding a midday free show at Stubbs BBQ. By the time of this show, I was hot, thirsty, and regretting my impulsive shoe selection of flip-flops over Vans. Thankfully, the sound of Lemmy’s guitar took all my feet related woes away. Motorhead has been together for years and in concert; it shows. Their speed metal and near thrash sound is unbeatable. Although I only got to hear one song, Ace of Spades, I was not disappointed.

After taking a break from the sun, my entourage of four and I regrouped, and set out again to hit the streets. After a slightly disappointing afternoon of being told that we were too young to attend most events, my friend Ben, was determined to get into the last show of our night; El-p and Dizzee Rascal.

While waiting for these two to begin, my friends and I walked around for a bit to see what the streets had in store, and I don’t know about my friends, but I was blown away by what we found.  No Age, an L.A. duo, whose sound can categorically be defined as pop music, but after hearing them it is easy to see that they are so much better than that; almost as if they’re making fun of it. All through this show, irony reigned heavily, because during dinner my friends Junior, Thomas, and Ben got into a discussion about bands where the lead singer is the drummer. The consensus was, if you’re going to do something like that, not only do you need to know what you’re doing, but you better be pretty damn good at it as well.  Through the infusion of noise and punk, along with amazing melodies, No Age not only accomplished being pretty damn good, but they also surpassed it.

After getting my mind blown away by No Age, what better way to end the night than by going on to see EL-P, producer of Aesop Rock, and one of the best rappers that our starved generation has heard. Initially, I thought, this is SXSW, you can’t just bust out into a crowd sing-a-long of ‘Go DJ, go DJ, Go’ and not expect the same audience that was once praising you, to crucify you for a move not even Soulja Boy would pull, and he’s not above anything. But no sooner had the thought crossed my mind than EL-P spit some of the best rhymes I’ve heard in a while and my doubts of his talent were silenced.  My favorite moment of the show came when the beat dropped out and EL-P explained politics in the simplest way possible, “If you don’t vote, you can’t complain, the system is rigged; blow me”.   

Friday’s Playlist

• Sea Wolf – Sea Monuments
• Fucked Up – Baiting the Public
• No Age – Boy Void
• Brutal Knights – You’re Fired, I Quit

Walking into Waterloo records, there was only one thought going through my mind “AIR!!” Friday was the hottest day of the festival, and it put this little journalist in the worst possible mood to listen to anyone deemed unworthy to my ears. As I looked around towards the small stage, and saw not only the pianist and cellist tune their instruments but the lone xylophone begging to be played, my optimism was slightly rejuvenated. However, throughout the entire show, I was constantly reminded of the old saying “Water, water, everywhere, but not a drop to drink”. From where I was standing, in clear violation of every fire code ever made, I was sandwiched between the DVD section and what I thought was every CD that began with the letter “S”. Initially, I was astounded at this discovery, this way, I would get to buy Sea Wolf’s album without having to use my purse to shove people out of my way. However, I quickly found out that fate had decided to turn my life into an perfectly alphabetized Alanis Morrisette song, every CD on my isle began with “SU” and Sea Wolf clearly does not.  Isn’t that ironic, don’t you think? Horrible song puns aside, Sea Wolf gave a wonderful show, especially considering my closet is bigger than the stage they preformed on, with a little bit more hype, they could easily be the next opening act for death bright eyed cutie, or whatever indie band is being shoved out as “cool” these days.

At the end of my night, I got to take part in one of the best late-night parties, 2am start time, SXSW had to offer. Fucked Up, Brutal Knight, and, what I am sure is my new favorite band, No Age took over the Lamar Pedestrian Bridge giving the best low budget show I have ever seen. Starting act. Fucked Up took only one hit of the drummers’ cymbal before a 30 ft circle pit opened up and beers began to fly.

Quite possibly the best part of my entire SXSW experience came during this show, when a drunk kid in front of me berated his friend for not jumping into the pit by saying “Even gay Michael got into the pit!” and as if the moment couldn’t get better, Gay Michael pops up, out of no where, and announces “Oh my God, I did, I punched a guy”. Pussy friends and Gay Michael’s aside, Fucked Up served up a hearty helping of punk music that was so powerful it could’ve awakened the dead, honestly by lead singer Pink Eyes voice, I think he was channeling punk rocks greatest singers directly and they all came out as one. The complication of the riffs along with the fast paced hits on the kick drum made for a spastic wasteland of meticulousness.

Next came Brutal Knights, if I lie, I knew the difference between Fucked Up and Brutal Knights and could tell the second they switched places. However, if I’m honest, I thought Fucked Up had a 45-minute set and didn’t realize until I saw lead singer of Brutal Knights shirtless and half hunched over a fan that a new band had begun. Either way, Brutal Knights was another serving of power driven punk, bordering metal but not quite hard enough for that, leaving no feelings of musical unfulfillment.

Last up was No Age, once again a new favorite of mine, and they were the perfect ending to a great night. Because I’ve gushed over them enough, I will spare you, and simply say buy their CD, it’s worth it.

Saturday’s Playlist

• Ice Cube – Bow Down
• GZA – Knock, Knock
• Jean Grae – Clap
• Talib Kweli – Hot Thing

It is now my last official day in Austin, and basically the last day of the festival, and I didn’t know if I was more sad about leaving one of the best cities in these states or that my SXSW experience was over.  Either way, I decided I wanted to end on a bang, Saturday could not be like all the other days; it had to be special. So my entourage, now of two, and I went out to the Mess with Texas festival. I just want to say now, when I grow up, I want to be an ex music snob that brings her kids to all day music festivals, nothing really bonds a family together more than hearing Ice Cube sing Smoke Some Weed.

Then there was his opening act Jean Grae who called audience members out for not dancing, going so far as to stop her song and show people how to do the dance to her song Clap so that we could get it together. She was a refreshing sight at this festival, a female rapper that didn’t brag about turning so many tricks to get what she wanted, that even the biggest working girl would say “Damn, slow down, Ho”. Her rhymes were fast and concise, at one point, the beat dropped out and she just flowed only stopping when she needed another drink of water, or maybe she saw the ants and dirt that were being kicked into all of our floor laden mouths, and decided we needed the break. She reminded me of the days of MC Lite, Queen Latifah, and Lil’ Kim pre-incarceration, women that could rap just as good as the boys, if not better, and she was definitely better than most of the rappers I’d heard all week.

Next came Talib Kweli, or as I like to think of him, one of the many reasons that I almost wreck my car. The questions he asks are prolific and demand attention, making him awful car music, but in any other setting, he’s absolute perfection. Playing songs from both his new and older albums, Talib had the audience singing and flowing along for the entire hour of his set. My favorite moment came when he sang Hot thing, an R&B song for the ladies, praising all kinds of women and what makes them special, and I certainly felt special hearing Talib Kweli live.

Last act of the day, straight out of Compton, Ice Cube along with Dub C. Hearing him took me back to being 6, and my cousins taking me aside and playing N.W.A and Tupac for me, they called it training so I would always know what good rap music sounded like, and as I rapped along with Cube, I could only thank them silently for this ability. Whoever said Ice Cube isn’t a rapper anymore is most certainly wrong, cause he tore up the stage. If anyone doubted whether he’s lost his edge, those feelings were quickly squashed when he played hits from N.W.A. This was not just like any other show, this was an experience and I’m glad I was there to be apart of it.

It was the end of the night, and I was more awake than I had been all day. Excitement of seeing yet another hip hop legend will do that to a girl though. For my last SXSW show, I chose to end my all hip hop day with GZA of the Wu-Tang Clan. He held a 1 a.m. show at Stubbs, and as my friends and I stood, at what would be considered front row, it hit us pretty fast that we weren’t just getting another artist to add to our brag list, we were in store for something so much bigger than that. One of the best parts of the show, for me at least, had to be GZA’s punctuality. Rather than make his fans wait an hour while he broke down the stage, the second the opening act was done he came out and began his set, after the almost hour wait for Ice Cube to set up his volcanic inflatable playhouse, this was greatly appreciated. Another moment was at the end, when GZA was leaving the stage and threw up the “W”, for Wu-Tang, from everywhere around me; front to back, I could hear the crowd chant in unison “WU-TANG, WU-TANG,” as they threw up the “W” back. I think it was at this moment that it hit me, a GZA show is not a common occurrence, while others were leaving the streets and heading for bed, Stubbs had a packed house, in my book, this is history.

So, here ends the tale of my first time at SXSW. Looking back, it amazes me how one year ago, none of the things I was wishing for even seemed feasible and now they’re all past events, things that have been done. What’s left for me now? Maybe Austin City Limits? Lollapalooza? Either way, I thought going to SXSW was the biggest thing to happen to my career, and as cliché as it will sound, I now see that it was only beginning and I can’t wait to see what else is in store; until next year.