Mayer Hawthorne could easily be called a “throwback” to an earlier time, when the music was about soul and showmanship. Hawthorne is not simply a singer (or a performer). He is a multi-faceted soulful musician, who makes the music he feels. Whether dropping a verse on a Stones Throw label mate’s new track, or sitting in the studio with his band crafting his unique brand of funky modern soul, Mayer is doing Mayer all day long.
Mayer Hawthorne – Maybe So Maybe No
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Colin Munroe’s music is akin to a taco – a thin white shell filled with anything his brain decides to add to the musical ingredients – which is suiting seeing as he favors tacos over BBQ for the local Austin fare.
It’s pretty rare to come across an act the caliber of Somali-Canadian-Earthling K’naan. I can safely say he’s the only artist at SXSW whose last gig before jumping a jet to ATX was playing at the UN General Assembly. That probably makes him the only person to have rapped for Nas and Desmond Tutu. Lucky badge-holders are already lining up to catch K’naan’s next set at one of the festival’s most interesting evenings of music showcases, Afro-Punk, which will be hitting Austin Music Hall Thursday night. The collection of artists are all leading the charge away from over-commercialized rap and into uncharted territories. Big Boi will be playing with a punk band along with Janelle Moreau, K’naan and Dallas Austin.
The Republic Tigers make mood music for the future- something resembling ambient folk (or something of that ilk). Named after front-man and bands founder Kenn Jankowski’s high school mascot, the Republic Tigers are a lot like their name – strangely familiar, but undeniably unique. Their layered brand of synth-driven ballads, wrenched out by former choir-boy-turned rockabilly crooner blends the folk-y sounds of the past with ambient synthesized sounds aiding – As Jankowski explains it, “there are just too many limitations in using just a guitar.”
A self-proclaimed “gamer,” Jankowski’s love of electronic music stemmed from his love of technology (he even said the ideal venue for their music would be a videogame soundtrack.) Before you sneer at the computer screen, you should realize that it was Mario Brothers. and all those other brilliantly catchy video game theme songs that got most of the electro kids started on the sound at an early age. Don’t try to tell me you can’t remember how the Mario Brothers theme goes?
Check out this unreleased B-side Sinkin Annie Down Down Down a ChinaShop exclusive
Jamie Newman is a native to Manhattan Island. Photography was the first media to ignite his passion and intrigue in documenting the innermost workings of the city in which he lives, and the inhabitants who call it home. Jamie has been involved in media related ventures (professional and otherwise) since the age of 18 – honing his own biting brand of (backhanded) snark while serving as Editor in Chief at the liberal arts school he attended in the “scenic Hudson Valley” in Upstate, NY. Following graduation in 2004, Jamie worked for YRB Magazine, where for the next two years he grinded it out as Associate Editor/Music Editor.
A recent addition to the China Shop crew, Jamie strives to report his vision of the world he inhabits in New York City and any other locales his explorations of music, art, and fringe elements of society may take him. He also maintains a blog, www.StarvedArtStar.com , a site dedicated to his sardonic bent on his city’s cultural pulse. In addition, Jamie is also the Music Editor for NYC based site www.mapcidy.com
The open-air “tchotchke emporiums” of New York City’s Chinatown have always been a great source of amusement in my life, though the only thing i’ve ever bought in Chinatown is food, fireworks and mixtapes. I have always been a fan of their wares, and sensory-overload style presentation. Before the sun goes down, the streets become vacant, shady and smell like day old fish and week-old garbage – it’s a free market mania and bargain-basement bonanza that make Canal street into pedestrian-level eye candy at the very least.
Off-the-truck bargains; Recessionary Tactics…
Words and photos by Jamie Newman
