We kicked off our Saturday by seeing the Fleet Foxes for the third time this year. They were absolutely incredible, one of my favorites sets of the day as the band continues to top themselves each time I see them. On top of that, their onstage banter/comedy was unexpected, but very funny.

The Drive-By Truckers put on a tight demonstration of Southern Rock the way it should be. The highlight was the extended story intro of “18 Wheels of Love,” which if you haven’t seen live, hope you do the next time you catch DBT. I caught Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears on the recommendation of many and was glad I did. They guy makes no secret his desire to be the next James Brown, and if this young Texan keeps at it, he’s got the pipes and musical talent to make him famous. Britt Daniel was in the crowd for this set, which is fitting enough, consider Britt worked on Black Joe’s record.

Erykah Badu started her set in typical diva fashion – late. Despite her tardiness, I was absolutely enamored with her set. It was my first time seeing her and it was great watching her huge band and huge beats, all powered by her huge hair! Going from one extreme to the other, I next checked out John Fogerty, whose set was a nod to the greatness he created with Credence Clearwater Revival. Honestly, people all around lost their heads as Fogerty rolled out one CCR tune after another. It was just about as close as I’ll ever get to seeing and hearing a band that was on heavy rotation during my youth.

Going into this festival, the headliners did very little for me. I wasn’t really interested or excited about seeing any of them. On Friday, I stuck around and was rewarded with a great closing set from Manu Chao. Last night offered the dilemma of choosing between Robert Plant & Allison Kraus or seeing Beck. All day I was set on seeing the former as I’d never seen them before and have seen Beck plenty of times. That changed around 6pm when the excitement around the festival convinced me that seeing Beck was the right thing to do. I’m glad I did. Starting his set out with “Loser” was an absolute shock (didn’t think he played that anymore) and a catapult into a set that was filled with generous samples from his catalog including Modern Guilt material for the first time, which sounded great. It ended up being my favorite set of the day. Make sure you check him out on this tour.

Fleet Foxes

José González

Drive-By Truckers

Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears

Erykah Badu

John Fogerty

Iron & Wine

Beck

Austin always treats us well. It’s always nice to have a nice cold Lone Star in your hand watching some of today’s best bands tear it up under the Texas sun. Yesterday was the first day of the Austin City Limits Music Festival, and marked our second time at the festival after taking last year off. The ultimate highlight of the day was seeing David Byrne. David and his band exceed all my expectations, blending their hour-long set with Talking Heads favorites as well as new material from his recent Eno collaboration, Everything That Happens Will Happen Today.

Coming in second was Jamie Lidell. Always a great live act, Jamie had the crowd in his hand by the time he launched into a funk-heavy extended version of his song “Multiply.” The biggest surprise of the day was probably day one closer Manu Chao, who’s mix of reggae, punk, and world sound, was both high energy and easy to convert a bunch of first-timers. Other highlights include a horn-infused set from Bobby Bare Jr, catching the lovely Jenny Lewis in a packed tent, and watching Alejandro Escovedo and his band play the festival for the first time in his home state. Rodney Crowell, who started out our day was also a welcomed first listen, and the biggest regret was missing both Hot Chip and Lost Highway’s Ryan Bingham, who all my crew caught and said was fantastic. Also, Chuck Woolery is around. WTF?

Yeasayer

Jakob Dylan & The Gold Mountain Rebels

Jamie Lidell

Bobby Bare Jr

Jenny Lewis

David Byrne

Manu Chao

Discuss: Have you been to ACL before? Who should I not miss over the rest of the festival? What are your favorite Austin hotspots?

Early morning in Austin, spinning James Hunter’s The Hard Way. Timeless. His video for “She’s Got A Way” was just released and worth your ear.

He’s scheduled two Wisconsin dates in Madison and Milwaukee, see him if you can.

11/22 – James Hunter/Susan Tedeschi – Barrymore Theatre, Madison
11/26 – James Hunter/Susan Tedeschi – Northern Lights Theater, Milwaukee

Myspace: James Hunter
MP3: James Hunter – “Jacqueline”

Last night was my first live encounter with Iceland’s Sigur Rós. Pretty powerful stuff. Pretty easy to drift off into dreamland too. It was my first time in the Chicago Theatre, beautiful place. I caught the 5am train from the city back to Milwaukee on little sleep. We’ll be reporting from Austin City Limits over the next four days. Sigur Rós photos and proper review coming tonight. Until then, watch some of the gorgeous videos below. Stunning stuff.

Sigur Rós – “Hoppipolla”

Sigur Rós – “Glósóli”

Sigur Rós – “Saeglopur”

Discuss: Have you seen Sigur Rós live? What did you think of their show? What is their best record?

Myspace: Sigur Rós
MP3: Sigur Rós – “Gobbledigook”
MP3: Sigur Rós – “Popplagio / The Pop Song”
MP3: Sigur Rós – “Staralfur”

Find more MP3′s at The Hype Machine or buy stuff from Strictly Discs | eMusic

Hayden’s In Field & Town is a favorite around MoB HQ. You definitely won’t want to miss his upcoming appearance at Cafe Montmartre on Saturday, September 27th.

Could you lend some information on the recording process of In Field & Town? Where and how was it recorded, and were there any lessons learned that you’ll apply towards future recording sessions?

Half was recorded North of Toronto, and half in the City. I did most of it myself, bringing in certain musicians to lend their talents when I had trouble filling certain holes myself. I could say I learned a lot, but I’ll probably make the same mistakes the next time around.

The internet has dramatically altered the way artists can reach an audience. With things like blogs/myspace/etc, what are your thoughts on the power of the internet in terms of helping (or hurting) your music?

I think that the internet is helping certain artists. No matter what, there will always be great musicians that are ignored and weak musicians that are praised.

What was the last show you went to see as a fan?

Cuff the Duke at The Horeshoe Tavern in Toronto.

What is on your bookshelf at the moment? Any books you’ve read over the past year that you’d recommend?

I’m in the middle of a book called “What you have left” by Will Allison. He gave it to me at a show in New York. It’s beautifully written. It’s actually so sad at times I need space from it.

I got to ask about the video for “Where & When.” Whose idea was it to create a video that looked and felt like a regular contribution to YouTube? Did you really receive negative feedback from it as you described in the Two Girls, One Bed Reactions video?

I’ve never received such a reaction to a video before. We all thought it was more goofy than sexy, but the comments youtube veiwers left were disgusting. It was as if we showed it to inmates that just got out of solitary confinement.

Myspace: Hayden

Find more MP3′s at The Hype Machine or buy stuff from Strictly Discs | eMusic

Have you had a chance to listen to the new Fujiya & Miyagi record Lightbulbs? It’s easy for us to be excited for this record, considering we liked Transparent Things and found them to be highly enjoyable live at Pitckfork a few summers ago.

MoB Giveaway: We have a CD + T-Shirt Lightbulbs package to giveaway to a MoB Fujiya & Miyagi fan. To enter, please leave a comment.

Myspace: Fujiya & Miyagi

Find more MP3′s at The Hype Machine or buy stuff from Strictly Discs | eMusic