Homedrone
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SXSW in Photos: The Whigs, Coachwhips, Bob Moses and More
Flagpole is in Austin, TX all week for SXSW. After the jump, check out a selection of Katie Bell Moore's photos from Friday's action.
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SXSW in Photos: Moving Units, WHORES, The Fresh & Onlys and More
Air Traffic Controller
Flagpole is in Austin, TX all week for SXSW. After the jump, check out a selection of Mike White's photos from Friday's action.
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SXSW in Review: Wye Oak, Bob Mould
Wye Oak
After my breakfast comprised of a Philly cheesesteak and chocolate custard (not as bad as it sounds, I promise), I decided to hit the convention center to see if there would be anything there worth checking out. I stumbled into The Hold Steady rocking out for the second time this week, which was a nice surprise. Thankfully for me, the band's set wasn't a repeat performance. The band crushed a few new tracks from the forthcoming Teeth Dreams and offered a very crisp rendition of "Weekenders" from their last album, Heaven is Whenever. Very nice work. Since the show was a live broadcast for KUT, the ballroom that the band played in was a little stiff, with most of the crowd either seated or laying down to nurse their hangovers from the night before. The Hold Steady have a ton of songs about partying, so it was fitting that Craig Finn took a lot of enjoyment out of seeing some folks pounding beers in the front row in the early hours of the afternoon.
More after the jump.
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SXSW in Review: Hamell on Trial, Kurt Vile
Kurt Vile
After hitting the New West day party, I needed something to see. I made the trek back to the nuttiness on 6th Street and checked my phone. A friend in West Virginia had posted something on Facebook about Hamell on Trial, and since I was near the Velveeta Room, I ducked into into the New West showcase to see what that was all about.
The room was packed. Hamell busted through a 40-minute set of hilarious and insightful tunes that sounded a lot like a raunchier, more punk version of what Todd Snider does. "Ain't That Love" was a beautiful but heartbreaking song that may have been the outlier in the set, as it contained no politically motivated railings. Seriously impressive stuff, though. The dirty jokes told between songs did a good job to offset the gravity of the lyrical content, which was often as punk as anything I've heard in a decade.
More after the jump.
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SXSW in Photos: Fat White Family, Mobb Deep, The Wytches and More
Flagpole is in Austin, TX all week for SXSW. After the jump, check out a selection of Katie Bell Moore's photos from Wednesday's action.
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SXSW in Review: Lady Gaga's Keynote Speech
First things first: I've been an unashamed Lady Gaga fan for years, up until the regrettableBorn This Way came out. But now, having just seen her keynote "conversation" with longtime music television journalist John Norris, I don't care if I never hear her speak about anything again.
More after the jump. -
SXSW: Q&A with Spotify's Sachin Doshi
Sachin Doshi
Brands of all sizes populate SXSW, and the biggest ones populate it the most. Same as it ever was, right? This year’s Spotify House features three stages, a house DJ and has so far hosted shows from Phantogram, Dum Dum Girls, Future Islands, Warpaint, Holy Child and more. The hours-long lines to get in start happening at noon each day and don’t let up. Snoop Dogg showed up yesterday. The company could have easily rented a space three times the size of the small-ish corner lot they’re occupying this week, and they’d still have lines, I’m sure.
It can’t be just the lineup. These same bands are playing multiple locations. And it can’t just be because SXSW is overrun with people. Plenty of parties and shows thrown by less-heeled companies are barren even at prime time. I suspect it has mostly to do with brand identity and the way we consume entertainment. People don’t simply patronize a company: They’re encouraged to form a sort of quasi-relationship by “liking” it. People don’t write letters of complaint: They tweet out their dirty laundry. And people don’t just go see one of 10 shows Future Islands is playing: They see them at Spotify House.
The idea of cutting through the clutter of the streaming music market was kind of a novel idea, until Spotify managed to do it, and monetize it, too. The Swedish firm established itself solidly in the European market before expanding to the United States, which Sachin Doshi, head of Spotify’s content and distribution, rightly defines as the largest music market in the world.
Much has been said—from some prominent Athenians, even—about Spotify and its artist compensation. I spoke with Doshi for several minutes yesterday specifically about that.
Read the Q&A after the jump.
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SXSW in Review: New West Records Day Party
The Whigs
Let me start out by saying that I'm OK, too. You do not understand how important you are to your friends and family until you are in the vicinity of a tragedy and folks begin texting or calling to make sure that you're safe. It truly means a lot. And while everyone in Austin is doing their best to have fun in spite of last night's tragedy, it is obvious that we are in the wake of something awful.
More after the jump.
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