Festival
Artist Profile: Radiation City
Portland based quartet Radiation City is an up and coming electroacoustic band who has already gained significant recognition in the indie music scene after the release of their first album, The Hands That Take You. Funnily enough the title of the record comes from a shared fixation between band members Cameron Spies and Lizzy Ellison of the flowing movement of a bank teller’s hands when counting money. Ellison, the group’s lead vocalist and keys player, and guitarist Spies also founded a DIY cassette tape label together dubbed Apes Tapes during their formation of Radiation City. The band also includes bassist Matt Rafferty and drummer Randy Bemrose. Influences heard in their music range from 50s and 60s doo-wop and pop to 70s singer/songwriters to modern indie sounds. They describe themselves in three words as a “warm pop dreamcicle.”
Toast the Best at SXSW Film
You can help us toast the best and brightest films and filmmakers this year at the SXSW 2012 Film Awards Ceremony and the Film Awards Reception, both proudly presented by VEAM. The festivities will begin at 6:30 in Brush Square Park on Tuesday, March 13 with the Awards Reception and then carry over into the Vimeo Theater in Exhibit Hall 2 of the Austin Convention Center for the official awards ceremony. From complimentary drinks to red carpet glitz, there's no better one-two punch at SXSW Film.
Moog, Switched On and Static Tongues at SXSW
SXSW is excited to announce a collaborative showcase, brought to you by Moog synthesizers, Austin-based synth store Switched On, and Alan Palomo's (Neon Indian) Static Tongues imprint. On Thursday, March 15th at Barbarella, Neon Indian performs alongside a lineup, largely curated by Palomo himself, focusing on underground left-field electronic Texas artists who are part of the Switched On/Static Tongues family.
WFUV New York's Radio Day Stage Lineup
Another great radio station has announced another great lineup for the SXSW Radio Day Stage. On Friday, March 16th from 11am to 3pm, New York City's finest - WFUV - proudly presents the Punch Brothers, Shearwater and Gary Clark, Jr.
The Punch Brothers have just released their third album Who's Feeling Young Now? In a review in The Guardian (UK) Robin Denselow wrote, "There are fine, unexpectedly jaunty melodies here, but they come wrapped in complex arrangements, as fiddle, banjo and guitar weave around the remarkable mandolin work and sometimes more fragile vocals of Chris Thile. This is a remarkable band."
Artist Profile: Galaxy Express
Voted 2011 “Musician of the Year” at the Korean Music Awards as well as “Best Rock Album” in 2009, Korean rock/ K-POP band, Galaxy Express, are on the fast track to success with no sign of that train slowing down. Playing the Seoulsonic showcase last year, the band return with a clear mission in mind, and are hoping that SX will allow them to build their international profile and expose themselves to a more global audience.
Artist Profile: We Were Evergreen
Paris based band We Were Evergreen may seem to embrace the memories of childhood into their band, through their youthful lyrics and toy-like instruments, don’t be fooled, something very mature is being conceived. Performing together since 2008, this indie electro pop band have been gaining great attention along the while. Currently We Were Evergreen is gaining huge buzz in the U.K, playing summer festivals like Wilderness and Lovebox and will be touring all throughout the big island until their SXSW debut. You might also catch their tunes on the new Louis Vuitton online advertisement as well.
Norah Jones Debuts New Songs at SXSW Music
Norah Jones has set a May 1 release date for Little Broken Hearts (Blue Note/EMI), her stunning new album produced by Danger Mouse (aka Brian Burton). Jones has also revealed the album cover and track listing of the 12-song set, which features original songs co-written by Jones and Burton.
Jones drew the inspiration for the album cover from the vintage movie posters that adorn Burton’s Los Angeles studio. “Brian has this great collection of Russ Meyer posters in his studio,” explains Jones, “and this particular one, called Mudhoney, was right over the couch where I sat every day. I always was looking at it and thinking ‘that’s so cool I want to look like her!’ I remember staring at the poster the whole time we made the record. It’s a great visual."
SAGIndie & the Writers Guild at SXSW
If you're a SXSW Filmmaker or Panelist, be sure to stop by the SAGIndie/WGAWest reception at Lanai on Monday, March 12. And with official reps from both organizations on hand, the reception is sure to have everything you could ask for: food, drinks and pertinent career info. Can't make the reception? Stop by the SAGIndie booth from Monday, March 12 through Thursday, March 14 at the SXSW 2012 Trade Show. Hours and info here.
Artist Profile: Spectrals
To put it simply, Spectrals' Louis Jones writes pop songs about love. Seems straightforward enough. Jones also lists Diana Ross and Blink 182 alike amongst his biggest influences--and suddenly things get a little more interesting.
De Stijl and Family Vineyard at SXSW
Both Minneapolis' De Stijl and Indianapolis' Family Vineyard labels are labors of love, discovering and reissuing lost and out-of-print LPs as well as releasing small run vinyl from modern artists. This year, the two labels have teamed up for what will be their first SXSW showcases ever at The Whisky Room on Wednesday, March 14th.Scheduled to appear are the brilliant avant singer-songwriter Haley Fohr, making an appearance as Circuit Des Yeux, a singer so emotionally charged, sui generis presence that led Vogue Paris, to declare that she “sings as if she had lived a thousand lives, intense and tender at once,” as well as the psychedelia of Wet Hair, whose most accessible batch of tunes to date boil with Krautrock rhythms, buzzing synths, and a new focus on vocals that has previously been mostly absent in the band's back catalog.
