Had a great first day at South By Southwest. Plenty of great friends, bbq, and of course live music. I spent the first day checking out a lot of old favorites, and Roadside Graves for the first time. I also caught sets by The Avett Brothers, Cursive, Handsome Furs, Lucero, Grizzly Bear.

Drop a comment if there’s a band you think we should be checking out over the weekend.

By Jodi Root

Before I started drafting this post, I was thinking I kind of skipped out on a lot yesterday due to the crowded lines and heat. . . but according to my scribbled notepad and digicam, I guess I did hit up a lot. Thursday morning started off with the “limited supply” at the Filter party with bbq and miller lites (which literally ran out within 15 minutes). Instead of making it into the Paste lines to check Daniel Johnston which I had hoped on, we skipped to Team Clermont’s showcase at Flamingo Cantina for an upbeat, rockin set by Telekinesis. I’ve heard a lot about this group, and I wasn’t disappointed. Flamingo Cantina, however, was scorching hot inside so after this 30-40 minute set I had to break out stat for some fresh air.

Next up was the Fader Fort where I caught the last half of Brazil’s Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head. I’ve heard a lot about this group but must admit was pretty skeptic for a while, yes based on the name alone–color me shallow–but I was actually pretty surprised by how kick ass they were. A lot of colorful costumes, jumping about and fun electro dance pop echoed through the bash. I was really happy to make this set–think of a younger, male version of CSS. Following NPSH was another highlight, the Handsome Furs. The setlist was pretty much a slightly shortened, identical version to the one they rocked in Chicago on Sunday night–but this time I was upfront and center, able to get several good pics instead of being crammed in the back of the crowded Empty Bottle. The sound was sharp, Boeckner’s guitars were blazing and Perry was still jumping like a frog. This time they kissed two times. Awww.

As my compadre and I were about to bounce from Fader, having our fill of complimentary Budweiser tallboys, we were completely caught off guard with the super smooth and fly beats of Janelle Monae. Miss Monae rocked the top of the tent off with her party beats–her gorgeous vocal work was simply mind blowing, and her alternative soul blend of hip hop and funk was just insane. She also wins the cutest artist award easy. Janelle Monae is definitely my Santogold for 2009–my new artist that will very soon be very huge. Check her out.

Some more skipping about next, back to Flamingo for a song or two by Loney Dear and then back to meet friends at the Fader Fort where I caught buzz band Late of the Pier–fun, upbeat electro rock–at this point dehydration and fatigue was starting to get the better of me so my attention wasn’t solely fixated on the music–but I did like what I heard. Later on included a failed attempt of entry to the Grizzly Bear show so we skipped over to the Beauty Bar to check out Chicago MC Hollywood Holt and Million Dollar Mano. These guys are hilarious. I learned that Hollywood Holt is A) Single, B) Has a “Shiny, shiny, 24 karat dick,” and C) “Doesn’t give a shit about what anyone thinks about him–the bartenders, waitstaff, any of ya’ll”. Way to keep an avid fanbase, Holt. Way to go. But still, even with an ego like that, Holt’s abundance of throwing himself in the crowd and hyping up the crowd was a pretty good time. No matter where I go, I can’t avoid this dude. He is EVERYWHERE. After the redbull infused Holt party, I swung by the Lose Control party where I was going to wait it out for the Hood Internet, but was going to pass out on the leather couches. People watching on 6th street filled the gap in time until I finally trekked it over for the night’s closer–Habana Calle 6′s Rhymesayers showcase.

P.O.S. rocked that shit HARD. Set list was very comparable to his Chi set at Reggie’s Live last month, but I was super stoked to catch him again. Joining him on stage were Doomtree collabs Dessa and Sims. Shit was crazy. The portapotty selection was minimal, so I had to rock it out in line to the side of the stage for the setclosing “Optimist (We are not for Them),” but Stef caught my hands in the air and smiled, throwing his arms at me, giving props to the crowd for “bringing it all together and getting everyone participating.” I probably looked super cool, waving about in line for the bathroom. Whatever, shit was bananas. Following P.O.S. was the insane Brother Ali–I’ve heard several recorded work, but this was my first time catching him live. Man. Words can’t even describe. The crowd went crazy and it was another rad night of music, thanks to the people at Rhymesayers.

This concluded Day 2 of Beats for Jodi, and I headed back to my ghetto hotel with some freaks on the SXSW shuttle. Good times. Can hardly wait for Day 3–hoping to catch The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, We Have Band and Peter, Bjorn and John. Oh, and make sure you head to Fader tonight for the debut of Tinted Windows—HA!!! (James Iha, Taylor Hanson, dudes from Fountains of Wayne and Cheap Trick–what a trainwreck.)

MoB favorites The National return to Milwaukee’s Pabst Theater on Friday, July 17th. The band has twice taken away album of the year honors from us for Alligator (2005) and Boxer (2007). We were thrilled to hear they were headlining the Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago this summer, and, as a result, decided an encore Pabst performance is just what brew city needed.

Buy: The National
++
Myspace: The National

+Bookmark our Wisconsin and Chicago shows pages for all your concert announcements+

By Jodi Root

Wednesday was technically my day 2 in Austin since I skidaddled outta Chicago early in preparation–so I was wristbanded and ready to go. Highlight of the day? Amanda Palmer hands down. Her Paste day party stage was incredible. You could tell this Dresden Doll was one tired gal, looking like she was ready to tip over after her flight from Australia, but no fatigue was going to get the best of her. Palmer still rocked the crowd stupid, playing a handful of songs from her September solo release including “Astronaut,” “Ampersand,” “Oasis,” Runs in the Family” and closing things down with a badass version of “Creep” with a ukelele. Gotta give the girl props, her lungs must be huge.

It would be hard to beat this set, honestly. After this point I trucked it over to the ghetto for the Fader Fort to get my free daily Sparks–only to find out no dice. Hope you hipsters like Budweiser tallboys and So Co–go economy. Rumors are buzzing that Kanye will be making an appearance at this party hotspot Saturday night along with Kid Cudi and guests. Should be intense. Yesterday I caught the garagey rock sounds of Let’s Wrestle, The Strange Boys, Esser and later on I caught B.O.B. throwing out some fresh beats. Little Boots ended the set with her electro pop glamour–got the tent dancing for sure.

Sunlight and budweiser took its toll on my tired little body so it wasn’t a super late night–but I did catch the ending of Ladyhawke’s Stubb’s set (via the outside curb), as she rocked my fave “My Delirium.” Port O’Brien and School of Seven Bells capped my night off at Buffalo Billiard’s. Good times. Much more coffee and water will be needed for today, however if I’m supposed to catch all the rad acts lined up today. . .

We’re in Austin for the rest of this week attending SXSW. We’ll get some content up here everyday, but for the most up to the minute debauchery, go ahead and follow us on Twitter.

A few years ago I brought Champaign, IL based Common Loon to Madison to perform at Madison Pop Fest alongside Bon Iver, Malajube. Since that time, they’ve been hard at work on a full-length release, due later this year. They’ll be amongst the masses amount of bands on showcase at SXSW in Austin this week, as part of the Polyvinyl showcase.

They’re one of the bands on my “must see” list this week, and would encourage anyone in and around Austin to check them out on Friday, March 20th at Habana Calle 6, they kick things off at 8PM, but stick around for sets by Asobi Seksu, Loney Dear, and Headlights.

Muzzle of Bees is proud to provide you with an exclusive first listen of “A Prayer for Hemophilia” off the forthcoming Common Loon record. Grab the track as a free and legal download below. If you’re a fan of Deerhunter or Grizzly Bear, I think you’ll love these guys.

Myspace: Common Loon
MP3: Common Loon – “A Prayer for Hemophilia”