SXSW Saturday

Sorry for the late post but I took the day off on Monday.  Saturday my friend and I RSVP the Scion show at Stubb’s.  This was all electronica/Dj with exception of the first band. 

Black Moth Super Rainbow (great name BTW) kicked the day and they were great.  This 5 piece used traditional instuments drums, bass, 2 people playing keys/moog/efx and a singer who sat on the side of the stage with a mic plugged into guitar effect peddles which he manipulated.  Think of some of Led Zepplin’s more trippy songs as a comparison.  BMSR was really good and I will be checking their music out soon.  http://www.blackmothsuperrainbow.com/

Next, was Mixhell from Brazil.  Dj tandem of Iggor Cavalera (Sepultura´s ex-drummer) and wife/producer Laima Leyton.  They describe their rowdy heavy beats as Ghettotech/Grindcore.  Occasionally, Iggor would jump on his drum set and play with the mix.  He threw a plastic cup of wine splashing onto the Stubb’s overhang and at another point he kicked over part of his drum set when some technical difficulties happened but kept playing on the high hat and snare.  Total rock n’ roll.  The crowd was dancing, and Mixhell was having a good time drinking red wine & red bull while spinning big beats.   http://www.myspace.com/mixhell

Direct from Germany Jence & Isi who make up Digitalism were the third act of this showcase.  No turntables for these guys just elaborate noise makers.  These are two opposite looking nerdy dudes one bigger with dark hair, the other smaller with blond hair.  They added some vocals on a few songs and kept the crowd moving with the dance beats. You can check them out at http://www.myspace.com/digitalism 

The last act of the show was Chromeo.  Dave 1 (Canadian) and P-Thugg (NY) duo debuted at SXSW 07 and made a big impression.  They play pop/electronica mixed in with some 80’s.  Dave 1 sings most of the songs, plays guitar or bass.  P-Thugg plays the keys and various sound effects.  On most of the songs he used a voice tube that works through his keyboard to create the 70’s/80’s sound like Zapp (you might know him from California Dreamin by Tupac).  Chromeo’s Tenderoni was a crowd pleaser.  They had everyone movin to their beats for the entire hour they performed.  http://www.myspace.com/chromeo  

After this we went and got something to eat across the street at Jamie’s Spanish Village.  Tex-Mex yummm. 

We took the two legged express down to Waterloo Park to The Mess With Texas 2 free concert with 3 different stages which featured NOFX, The Breeders and Simian Mobile Disco headlining.  We saw Yeasayer (ecclictic dual vocal goodness), Black Mountain (70’s rock) and then cruised.  The dance party earlier in the afternoon took the energy out of me.  Good fun all the way around.