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Gossip blogger Perez Hilton is courted by music industry at SXSW festival. The New York Times reported last month that Warner Bros. Records was in
negotiations to give Hilton a development deal that would make him an
executive on the label. - Canadian Press |
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The Stems announce Aussie Tour. Fresh from a successful series of showcase gigs at SXSW, The Stems will return to the Aussie stages in April. Undercover |
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Justin Vernon, the man behind Bon Iver, was robbed Thursday afternoon at the Parish Room in Austin, Texas during NPR's "Music For The Right Brain" SXSW showcase. Vernon had stepped out of the green room for several minutes to check out Jens Lekman's performance before his afternoon show. When he returned, Vernon's fannypack was missing, which contained more than $300 cash, his driver's license, passport, credit and debit cards. |
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Unicorn Media (www.UnicornMedia.com) today announced an open call for musical content for its highly anticipated new free entertainment service. Unicorn Media emerged from its stealth mode this week, revealing a pre-launch version of its ground-breaking entertainment site where it is accepting professionally produced, high-quality music from singers, bands and music labels all over the world. PR-Inside |
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The Presidents of the United States of America (PUSA) will be celebrating the release of their new CD -- "These Are the Good Times People" -- with two free live webcasts on SyncLive.com™. PR-USA |
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With all the big names at SXSW, it is becoming increasingly harder for smaller bands to get noticed. To cope, emerging bands are touring and playing live shows relentlessly, and cranking out the new music. - Lefsetz |
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With fewer and fewer people buying CDs, more and more SXSW artists are relying on live acts to get their voices heard. - theage |
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''The Guild'' and ''Knock Off'' Take Top Honors at the Greenlight Awards for original digital series. "The Guild" won for Best Original Production and "Knock Off" won for Best Original Series Idea respectively. PR-Inside |
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The Virgins brought NME's South by Southwest three-day party to a climactic close at the Wave tonight (March 15). The New York buzz band lived up to the hype and stirred the front of the packed house into a mosh pit with their funky grooves and Strokes-influenced stylings. - NME |
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Ludacris's set yesterday brought down the house, or tent rather. "I can't remember the last time I played in a tent, but damn if I'm not gonna have a good time here," Ludacris told the cheering crowd. - Mother Jones |
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Check out the Hebrew rapper, Kosha Dillz. He was spotted by one of our guides and freestyled about ChaCha today! - ChaChaJustin |
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The Perez Hilton event flies with rumors, of course. The queen of media keeps vigil by the stage during performances. Will Pharrell from Nerd show, as buzzed? - Austin360 |
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AUSTIN – Ice
Cube isn't content to just be a rap legend and a movie star. On
Saturday, he showed up at South by Southwest sporting a brand new
title: Internet TV exec. - Dallas News |
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AUSTIN — On the
last full day of the South by Southwest Music Festival thousands of
music fans squeezed in every last bit of music they could get.-KVUE.com |
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Santogold wowed SXSW this afternoon (March 15) as the festival entered its final leg. Santogold rocked the fader fort with the electro-soul thumping set.-NME |
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The Breeders previewed several new songs at South by Southwest tonight (March 15), bringing the Mess With Texas barbeque to a climactic close. -NME |
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Enthusiastic fans stage dove, moshed and rushed the stage to dance with Matt and KIm at their performance at South by Southwest's Mess With Texas Barbeque tonight -NME |
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The film festival of South by Southwest wrapped up Saturday night, marking the end to another spectacular run of cutting edge cinema for the year. A few of the big titles like "Stop Loss" and "21" are potential blockbusters that we'll see in theaters soon. But many of the films are low budget wonders still hoping to find an audience. -News8 Austin |
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Kate Nash played a surprise afternoon gig today (March 15) at the Driskill Hotel, Austin, as part of SXSW 2008, playing two new songs. The secret show went off great and fans loved her new musical offerings! -NME |
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Parents said they only wish there were more family oriented musical events around Austin all the time and not just SXSW. "There's not too many things you can do for kids that are music oriented, especially at Auditorium Shores - News8 Austin |
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Scale The Summit cancels the remaining dates on their tour due to van trouble. - Metal Underground |
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As like most times I see the Weakerthans at an event like this, my satisfied after-gig sentiment was "ok, I can go home now, I don't need to see another thing". - CBC Radio |
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Grand Ole Party: With a live set that’s every bit as good as their excellent debut and a
sound that’s unique enough to avoid accusations of copying, the future couldn’t be brighter for GOP. - MTV |
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Crystal Castles is back?: Crystal Castles played in the main room at Emo's, the venue swarming with photographers. And in the case of vocalist Alice Glass, they have a subject who is a both a photgrapher's dream and nightmare. Constantly bouncing about the stage, Glass is in imperious form. Strutting across the stage, Glass showed no ill effects from the car crash that forced the cancellation of a few shows earlier this month. It was a storming hit and run performance. - StrangeGlue |
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Today was all about David Banner. I’ve seen a good half dozen plus acts since waking up but nothing even begins to compare. Banner had two DJs, a full live band, and the intensity of a boxer about to clean out his worst opponent. Dude was fierce. - SFweekly |
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Kate Nash played a surprise afternoon gig today (March 15) at the Driskill Hotel, Austin, as part of SXSW 2008, playing two new songs. - NME |
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Crackle, a Sony Pictures Entertainment Company, is bringing the hottest live musical performances from the South by Southwest Music Conference and Festival (SXSW) to the web for a second year as they announce an exclusive online distribution deal for the DirecTV/SXSW Live content. - Techwhack |
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The number and influence of hip-hop acts at South by Southwest continues to grow this year. - Dallas News |
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The Decemberists' Chris Funk is working with fellow Portland rockers The Builders and the Butchers on their new record. - Hollywood Insider |
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Israeli singer Yael Naim, whose song "New Soul" is featured in the latest Apple campaign, broke out a dark and jazzy rendition of Britney Spears' "Toxic" at the ASCAP showcase Friday night. Hollywood Insider |
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The Lemonheads were no-shows for their afternoon set at the Fader/Levi's fort. No explanation was offered. Hollywood Insider |
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Bridge riot at SXSW: Music fans leap into river to escape chaos. A riot occurred in the early hours of this morning (March 15) on Lemar Pedestrian Bridge in the midst of the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas, during an impromptu party gig by hardcore rockers Fucked Up. - NME |
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The Black Keys chugged away at a killer set at La Zona Rosa.
The Akron, Ohio duo still have the backhanded designation of being the
second-best two-person blues band in the land, but they just keep
getting better and better: they ended a scorching, extremely heavy show
with their new song I Got Mine from their new Danger Mouse-produced LP Attack & Release. - RollingStone |
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SF@SXSW is rockin the house at
Bourbon Rocks at 508 E 6th St. - ChaChaScouts |
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Fun fact about Destroyer live shows: When drummer Fisher Rose is playing with the band, they're about 20 times better. Dan Bejar let loose tonight more than I've seen in years, ripping through a set of material from This Night, Your Blues, and the soon-to-be-released Trouble in Dreams. - Pitchfork |
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Tech N9ne and sidekicks Krizz Kalico and Kutt Calhoun made their SXSW debut. The three associates from KC's biggest independent hip-hop label (make that most successful indy label period), Strange Music, took the stage clad smartly in baggy khakis and red neckties. Tech's still in touch with his inner insane clown, as evidenced by his fastidious, carnivalesque makeup job: These guys are by far the most underrated live act in hip-hop. - Wayward |
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Looking for something to do on the last major day of SXSW? Be sure to check out the Mess with Texas 2 party taking place from noon until 10pm in Waterloo Park,1301 Trinity St, to see some of the festivals hottest bands perform. - NME |
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SXSW is a talent showcase and a schmoozathon, a citywide barbecue party and a brainstorming session for a business that has been radically shaken and stirred by the Internet. - NYTimes |
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Between Yeasayer and Vampire Weekend, I'm starting to wonder if we aren't living in a new age of 'college rock'. - Idolator |
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The Lemonheads. In a word: AWESOME. - SirWinston |
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Britney Spears Rumor False: something potentially huge was bubbling up across town: namely, rumors that Britney Spears would be making an SXSW appearance, performing with Pharrell Williams and N.E.R.D. during their late-night set at Stubb's ... within hours, it had been texted from handheld to handheld with such veracity that it had seemingly become fact. Of course, it never happened - MTV |
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Alert! SPIN editor Doug Brod's picks for Saturday! Nautical-themed Brit pop from British Sea Power, Joe Lean and the Jing Jang Jong at SPIN's closing night party, world-fused punk from Firewater, mini-sized Brit chanteuse Duffy, dance-rock duo the Ting Tings. |
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Alert! SPIN deputy editor Steve Kandell's picks for Saturday! Math-y art school pop from the U.K.'s Los Campesinos!, the AC/DC-style hard rock of Black Tide, hip rock'n'roll from The Virgins, the classic indie pop stylings of Nada Surf. |
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Pop-punk heroes Paramore, who sat down with MTV News earlier in the day to let fans know they're not breaking up, headlined one of the most un-SXSW events of the entire week: a multi-band pileup for the MySpace generation, sponsored by spooky-ooky retailer Hot Topic, packed with local kids who wouldn't know a SXSW badge from a dial-up Internet connection. - MTV |
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When Fuck Buttons played the Pitchfork/Windish party earlier in the day, I foolishly left my earplugs at the merch table. There was no chance I'd make the same mistake. I know I didn't miss anything by blocking out a few decibels; their aural assault is really something to behold, and it requires more than just one's ears, anyway. - Pitchfork |
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The Ting Tings peppy pop duo shined on the big outdoor stage of Stubbs. With a debut album not yet released, the act's danceable power-pop -- brightened with sassy electronic loops -- proved to already be arena-ready. The act's set-closer "That's Not My Name" could have gone on forever, a smashing arms-in-the-air sing-along number with a hip-hop brashness, a slinky beat and a booming grand finale. - LATimes |
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Stereogum Band To Watch: High Places (sxsw) |
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Term of the day: “The Wolf” is a slang term used to describe the rash resulted from sweating between your thighs after walking around for an entire day in sweltering Texas heat (or anywhere else for that matter). I have experienced “The Wolf” more times than I’d like to, but almost always due to attending a music festival. - SynthesisBlog |
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Nathan Followill of Kings of Leon, Jason Sollsteimer of The Von Bondies and The Wombats watched MGMT at Stubb’s. - NME |
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One of the fest's hottest tickets, She & Him's Parish appearance commanded a SXSW badge-holder queue that stretched on for a block ... Understandable, really: M. Ward, the "Him" half, would be a pretty huge draw by himself, and toss in the novelty of seeing actress Zooey Deschanel in the flesh and just a few feet away [/starstruck] and you've got yourself a capital E Event. - Pitchfork |
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Inca Ore manipulated voice and violin to craft cold, alien lullabies, evoking the most stark and forbidden corners of the night. Grouper, meanwhile, carved a new Mariana Trench with low-end reverberations on her guitar, and then proceeded to drown her mournful songs in it. - Pitchfork |
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Constantines put on one of the best shows I've ever seen about five years ago, so my hopes were high for their 1 a.m. set at Antone's. Memory has a way of obscuring and romanticizing things, though, so of course I found the show lacking by comparison ... it's hard not to love a band that introduces a majority of its rough-edged rock tunes as love songs. - Pitchfork |
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Be Your Own Pet played about three songs before their mics went dead ... It turns out the Mohawk's generator actually ran out of gas during their set ... they came back later ... the sheer balls on display is refreshing. I could go on about how wild, intense, and fun this band is live, but suffice it to say: if you get the chance, please see them yourself. - Pitchfork |
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Brooklyn rockers A Place To Bury Strangers’ won countless new fans and got tongues wagging at SXSW in the early hours of this morning (March 15), playing an epic gig ... an intense five-song set punctuated by blasts of dry ice, walls of guitar noise and gob-smacked reaction ... a genuine sense of event around the gig ... with many punters grabbing band members and their manager after the show to find out more about the band... - NME |
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Duffy continued her US assault this afternoon (Mar14) with an early evening show at SXSW. The UK’s official Number One artist closed proceedings at the Fader Fort venue. The Welsh songbird won over the crowd, which included former Clash man Mick Jones, who danced as the sun set. - NME |
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The Rascals played a headline slot in the early hours of this morning (Mar15) at the Wave venue at SXSW at the NME showcase gig. The likes of Lightspeed Champion, Ed Harcourt, Ox.Eagle.Lion.Man and various members of Joe Lean and the Jing Jang Jong turned out to watch Mile Kane and co play their gig, which began at 1am (CMT). - NME |
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A familiar tune is being played on the business side, where traditional infrastructure is crumbling. The industry has been in a tailspin for more than a decade, entering its fifth straight year of steep decline as downloading and file-sharing continue to chip away at the old business model. A telling sign of the times: This year legal panels at SXSW comprise a full eighth of the seminar discussions at the Austin Convention Center. - BostonGlobe |
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The Little Ones brought their sunny California rock to their packed showcase tonight (March 14) at SXSW. The LA five-piece got into the laid-back spirit of the evening, encouraging the audience to "smoke the ganja." "I smell ganja and we encourage that," said frontman Ed Reyes, adding later "light them up." The audience, enveloped in a cloud of smoke, cheered in response. - NME |
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An interesting thing about this year’s gathering is the support of gay artists. Many new gay artists will perform and therefore, Gay.com will also be there. Eight of the most talented gay indie musicians will be performing in two simultaneous concerts at Austin’s two highest-profile gay venues, each gathering at least 1,000 fans, PlanetOut.com informs. - eFluxMedia |
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Lou Reed is urging all music fans to demand better quality sound from downloads because he fears modern technology is "taking us backwards".
He said, "You have a lot available to you and it sounds bad. People have got to demand a higher standard. - PR-Inside |
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Moby is set to play a set at Vice tonight around midnight! - ChaCha Danielle |
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Singer-songwriter Ben Jelen raised over $10,000 for his environmental charity, the Ben Jelen Foundation, at the Eastsport Cafe at Moonshine on Friday, March 14th. - Houston Chronicle |
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The line to get into Antone’s, where the Vampire Weekend is scheduled to play at 11 p.m., is already over a third of the way down Lavaca Street. Unless you have a wristband or badge, don't plan on attending this one! Austin360 7:55pm |
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The weather and music here at SXSW have got something in common – they’re HOT ! Temperatures peaked at an uncomfortable 95 degrees today. - MOG Charley |
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"SXSW is like some crazy third-world country farmers market. Take away the women carrying jugs of water on their heads, the snake-charmers and the camels, and replace them with hipsters, every band ever and industry bigwigs. Smells exactly the same. Just as loud and confusing." - CMT.com |
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Syd Straw deserves her own television show. It would probably have to run very late at night, but she made me laugh so hard at Bourbon Rocks Thursday that I had to wipe tears from my eyes. Straw, of course, is a singer, not a comedian... - Austin360 |
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Liam Finn: A one-man basher! - NYTimes ArtBeat |
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Mojo magazine editor-in-chief Phil Alexander on Friday interviewed two British punk rock living legends and lifelong friends. Mick Jones (The Clash, Big Audio Dynamite) and Tony James (Generation X, Sigue Sigue Sputnik) were ridiculously entertaining as they displayed their well-developed cheeky English humor, creating the same spontaneous, anything-goes, aura that the Beatles used to disarm interviewers during press conferences. - Austin360 |
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Hot 93.3 is the hottest radio station in Austin! ChaCha loves Hot 93.3. |
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Febreze: What is the fashion secret of the suit-sporting gentlemen in Detroit's Great Lakes Myth Society? "I only have one suit, but I have like 15 white shirts," guitarist and backup singer James Monger says. "We all just go into Salvation Army and buy whatever we can. And, yeah, it stinks. We go through gallons of Febreze." ... - Austin360 |
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The Raveonettes, who are New Yorkers via Denmark, lived up to the hype surrounding their distortion-drenched new release, "Lust, Lust, Lust" during their 12:30 a.m. performance at Vice. One of the best parts of the performance was that the club was just big enough so that anyone with a wristband, a badge or $20 to slip the doorman was able to gain safe passage into the club. - Austin360 |
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Influences: Much has been written about the Raveonettes' heavy Jesus and Mary Chain influence on the songs from "Lust, Lust, Lust," and it's all true. They definitely usurp the influential band's formula of fuzzed-out guitars crunching over four-on-the-floor drums and traditional pop song structure. But it should be noted that the Raveonettes name doesn't bear a close resemblance to the Ronettes by accident. Core members Sune Rose Wagner and Sharin Foo also incorporate Phil Spector's wall of sound from the '60s into their pastiche of influences, as well as American West Coast surf music and elements from Italian psychedelic pop. - Austin360 |
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Thanks to Thom Yorke and the late Jeff Buckley, male rockers are no longer afraid to get in touch with the female side of their voices. On Thursday, the most ethereal falsettos at SXSW belonged to My Morning Jacket and Wisconsin-based newcomer Justin Vernon, alias Bon Iver. Mr. Vernon stunned a packed crowd at the Parish with a voice straight out of the Vienna Boys' Choir. When his folk-rock songs needed an extra dose of eeriness, he danced on the edge of a yodel, pulling back at the last second. - DallasNews |
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Taste of SXSW: "After the law (or should I say,
respect for the noise ordinance) brought an end to the live music at
Hobo Village, it was off to try (and fail) to catch Tucson’s Bark!
Bark! Bark! at New York’s MyOpenBar.com Sink or Swim party, which to
everyone’s delight was held on the roof of a downtown parking garage
and offered lovely, misty panoramic views of the city. Mika Miko... The LA band’s full-speed-ahead, geek chic girl punk was a crowd pleaser. And rapid-fire, yelped vocals always seem to sound better when they are sung into a red telephone rigged up as a mic." - AZNightBuzz |
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Uh Oh!: "...it was off to catch the Mae Shi again at an after-hours party thrown by 91.7 KRVX at the Austin Children’s Museum. Yes, you heard right – a CHILDREN’S Museum. Do you know what happens when you unleash several hundred inebriated twenty-somethings inside a museum filled with educational installations, a miniature train, and other such implements designed for tykes? Well, I bet the proprietors of the Children’s Museum didn’t." - AZNightBuzz |
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Picked by SPIN magazine as one of their acts to watch this year,
27-year-old Memphis DIY punk Jay Reatard has been getting some of the
best ink of his already 12-year career lately. |
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Standing next to Davis Banner. He's playing at the fender party and has a guest DJ. 4:35pm - ChaCha Danielle |
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Tweet - ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons was seen enjoying a brew at The Four Seasons -ChaChaHoosier |
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A rock opera/musical that’s part Tommy and part Cabaret, Rainbow Around the Sun
is a perfect example of what a talented group of artists and musicians
can do when they have a modest budget and modern technology (e.g., HD
cameras, Final Cut Pro) to work from. Filmed in and around Oklahoma
City, Oklahoma by directors Kevin Ely and Beau Leland (who also edited)
and based on a concept album (remember those?) by singer/songwriter
Matthew Alvin Brown. - SlashFilm |
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Just had an Arnold Palmer with Matt Fecher and gave an interview at The Mohawk. - ChaChaJustin |
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Crystal Castles was in a car wreck! All shows sxsw cancelled! Details coming. 1:30pm - ChaChaMike |
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Alert! SPIN's Editor Doug Brod offers his picks for Friday's showcases: Hip-hop from Dan le Sac vs Scroobius Pip, sweet sounding folk from Nicole Atkins, punk legends X at the SPIN party, the Downbeat 5, and American Bang. |
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Alert! SPIN's Deputy Editor Steve Kandell offers his picks for Friday's showcases. Supersuckers, Handsome Furs, Fleet Foxes, Bobby Bare Jr., Clipse, Flowers Forever. |
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Paramore’s gig, at La Zona Rosa
at 12:45am (CMT) will be of particular interest. The band cancelled a
spate of gigs recently, citing “internal issues”, so it remains to be
soon how together they will be tonight (March 14). -NME |
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Check out Ocelot. Saw them at IHeartComix last night and they brought the house down. - ChaChaJustin |
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The "hot freaks" party is today and tomorrow from noon to 6. Six major music bloggers put it on, should be huge! -ChaChaMike |
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Huge buzz about "plants and animals" playing tonight at maggie mae's at 11pm -ChaChaMike |
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Check out "sisters" they are playing the dizzy rooster at noon on Saturday. I hear a&r reps are going to see them - ChaChaMike |
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The recently re-energized N.E.R.D (No One Ever Really Dies) performed to a packed house last night. People are buzzing about their resurgance and their upcoming spring tour -Wayward Blog |
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Janice Headley of KEXP Seattle (90.3fm) said, "The first band I’ve seen so far at SXSW was Antietam, and, man, it’s just gonna be all downhill from there… Okay, just kidding! But this veteran New York band rocked with such amazing energy and passion, it will be hard to beat" - KEXP Blog |
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Quite a few movies are getting love at SXSW Film Festival and are drawing rave reviews :Nerdcore Rising, Yeast, Explicit Ills, Living with the Tudors, One Minute to Nine, Sex Positive, Nights and Weekends, Shot in Bombay etc. Salon.com |
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British country rockers, The Barker Band, impressed the crowd last night. The brother-led and family fueled english country rockers were a little bit country, a little bit rock, a little bit bluegrass and a whole lot of fun for those in attendance. - CMT |
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Jens Lekman, Bon Iver draw massive crowds and lines with Thursday night
sets at the Mohawk patio. Those who couldn't get in watched from every possible
angle, through fence cracks and over barricades. And inside Mohawk,
South Carolina's Explorers Club rocked a cover of "Johnny B. Goode." - SPIN |
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The Toxic Avenger heavy beats had the whole house bouncing at the Beauty Bar last night. Reply to 242242 ChaCha and ask us what bands are playing there tonight. - IHeartComix |
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moby is rockin the playboy party! - ChaChaBrad ~2am |
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MGMT and DJ Johnny Sunshine are rocking the playboy party at SXSW tonight! - ChaChaBrad |
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MGMT played a gig at The Rio venue in Austin, Texas tonight (March 13) as part of the SXSW festival, packing out the bar and causing fans to queue round the block for a chance to see the band in action. - NME.com 01:13:28 |
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NERD played a storming SXSW debut this evening (March 13). - NME.com 01:12:35 |
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Neon Neon were joined by Har Mar Superstar for their first ever live show at SXSW today (March 13). 01:11:39 |
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A tribute to Lou Reed at South by Southwest tonight (March 14) culminated with Reed and Moby performing an extended jam of the Velvet Underground man's classic tune 'Walk On The Wild Side'. 00:09:02 |
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The Whip is rocking Club Deville! - ChaCha Mike |
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Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tom Morello played an acoustic-based show tonight (March 13) at Stubb’s at the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas. 11:11pm |
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Serj Tankian played a surprise solo set tonight (March 13) at Stubb's as part of the Body Of War show at SXSW in Austin, Texas. 23:02:01 |
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Here's a live shot of The Most Serene Republic
at Emo's in Austin, Texas today (March 13th) for the Arts and Crafts
Records day party. They rocked the early set at 12:30 P.M. and were so
good that we've selected them for our Best of SXSW feature (coming soon), which will feature all of the great bands we see this week. - Crave |
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Longest line yet, at Stubbs 10:24pm |
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Long line at Red7 10:24:pm |
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Jamey Jasta, the voice of the legendary Hatebreed, as well as Icepick
and Kingdom of Sorrow, has announced a solo show at this year’s South
By Southwest festival in Austin, TX. JASTA will be playing Saturday,
March 15 at RED 7. 21:56:13 |
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Uh Huh Her will be doing a live video interview from SXSW tomorrow, March 14th at 1:30-1:45 PM CST. |
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Neptune playing at Fader Party! 9:41pm |