SxSW Music 3 of 3?

SxSW is nearly done and out of the café speakers booms the Hollertronix CD. And god damn its sounds timely then it has. Guess I need to finish that massive post on them I started ages ago...

I'm not sure I found any greatness at work in this festival. Not sure because I finally caught TV on the Radio live and to my years they hit that greatness. But they are friends, so like Scalia I am not fit to judge. I will recuse myself from the case, and let ya'll make the choice. But my hollywood sum up = 70's Stones meets My Bloody Valentine.

The hype, aka the Unicorns finally made it into the country and errrr, does anyone ever live up the hype? Well I can see why the indie rockers are infatuated, they mix in a couple degrees of fresh new irony with some really spiffy graphic design. But they still sing like a 13 year old devastated that they are only going to Breckenridge to ski, instead of Davos... I'll pass.

Best surprise was Japan's the Emeralds, but as I mentioned before, lots of good, not great. Trans Am surprised too, but only because they were last show I saw before taking half a decade off rock n roll, not sure I wanted to see them at all the first time.

Biggest disappointment by far was the Swisha House. No Slim Thug, no Mike Jones, and Chamillionaire did a solo set before I hit the stage. It was a bit like going to a Wu-Tang show and getting Master Killa, U-God and Inspecta Deck. B team all the way. Never quite realized how much Mike Jones carries the Swisha records before, look for him to turn star soon.

Back the hype thing. Dizzee Rascal. So the beats sound good in the club. The tricky bit is that amorphous thing called flow. Unlike the rest of the brits his is actually good, but only when you can't understand the words. Its great when it sounds like an audio waterfall on top of a booming soundsystem. But as soon as the words become distinct? Good god he sucks. Bedtime.

Meanwhile one member of Ozomatli are still in jail, while the media now reports "madness" (lost the link) and "near-riot". Sorry try again, this time I suggest "police brutality" if you're conservative "overreaction"... There is video here.

Also up on Ozo's site is the first hand story of the side of things that struck me hardest. A story completely missing in all news coverage no less. This kid got maced started running and wound up with 6 or 8 cops throwing him on the ground. Looked like it was about to go Rodney King for a second, and if it weren't for the thousands plus potential witness on the street it may well have... And yeah kid claims to weight 150, but he looked more like a buck ten from where I stood. Big time threat you know...

Posted by William Blaze at March 21, 2004 06:20 PM | TrackBack