Before arriving at the corner of Congress and 4th in Austin’s Warehouse District, I could hear heavy bass that drew me right to Red Bull’s final event during Thre3stlye hosted by Skillz. Held in a gigantic parking lot, this party couldn’t have been much more public as it was free and open to everyone of age requiring no RSVP. As the windy night carried on, more and more curious pedestrians piled onto the concrete to hear some of the world’s most beloved selectors. Even Kanye West stopped by.
Hervé “RV” Salters, the mastermind behind left-field soul project General Elektriks, never thought he would be more than a keyboardist and songwriter while living in his native Paris. All that changed when he made it to the States in 1999 and soon after began recording solo material (vocals included) under the GE alias on the renowned Quannum Projects. But while catching up with the humble Salters in Austin during the festival week, he recalls that the first time he grabbed the microphone to sing, it wasn’t pretty. “Brutal” are his exact words.
What better way to kick off Red Bull Big Tune 2010 than in the middle of SXSW? An increasing amount of hip-hop showcases means more hip-hoppers hanging around 6th St. during the festival than ever. The bonus was that a few people who walked into the narrow confines of The Belmont’s outdoor performance space had no idea about the Red Bull Big Tune battle. So the turn out was both impressive and diverse for the return of the longest running producer competition around.
Less than two years active and without an album or EP to their name, male/female duo Sleigh Bells may still be finding their groove sonically, but together, Derek Miller on guitar and synths and Alexis Krauss with her rap-esque vocals, brought a hefty amount of bounce to Carniville Austin. The hands were definitely in the air for this up-and-coming act based in Brooklyn.
One of the most interesting moments of SXSW for me so far happened not inside a venue but outside on the corner of 6th and Congress. Here, a duo of xylophone players from Africa are joined by a local clarinetist named Roy Coon in a completely unplanned collaboration. The mixture of raw percussion and melodic woodwind sounds evoked a number of passersby’s to gather round. And this street session was made possible initially because of the clarinetist’s curiosity.
The first hard rays of Austin’s afternoon sun were going to have to work a bit harder to beat back the crowd at Carniville on Thursday afternoon. As it was, the heat was no match for the lure of free beer, a wild musical lineup, actual carny rides and corndogs. Those assembled quickly formed the beer recyler line – that is getting in line for a beer, then getting to the back of the line, drinking it in time to get a refill. Surely not a great combination with the Tilt-aPuke spinning madly in the background. In the background, DJ Paul Devroe spun some slow southern fried rap cuts, perfectly made for such lazy sun drenched and immobile afternoons. The line started swaying and jiggling, and just waiting for something to really catch hold.
You can take the girls out of NYC, but you can’t make em blend in with the locals. We grabbed the always fashionable Gala Darling & Molly Crabapple, threw them in the “dirty” limo and had a crazy day exploring the small city charms of Austin TX. A little rain wasn’t going to get us down….we had a genuine riot of a good time!
For the tens of thousands of music heads who descend on Austin, TX each March for the SXSW music conference, the accompanying day parties have grown to equal the official night time showcases. And no place is this more true than this year’s Carniville—three days of music and mayhem presented by Mad Decent, Jelly NYC and IHeartComix. With headline acts Major Lazer, The Walkmen and Diplo, plus almost 40 other artists, rides, games…oh, and free booze, this is one fiesta not to be missed. Chinashop will be there and we asked IHeartComix head Franki Chan to get us psyched. Read the full story
The eHarlequin.com writing guidelines under the category of “Historical Undone”, suggest that stories be, “…hot, sexy and subtly explicit without the lovemaking being vulgar or gratuitous.” I will try and use these guidelines to describe the recent performance of Boston based Pop-punk five way, Four Year Strong, at Emo’s in Austin.
I had arrived expecting a simple pop performance and must say that I was hella surprised by the immediate formation of a mosh pit at first note and the sorties of kamikaze stage divers which came in close succession. It was akin to what one would imagine the experience would be of sitting court side during a conjugal visit between a Honey badger and a half-blind ninja in a Coleman camper.
Every year Jesse James has a birthday, just like you and me. Except he gets to be married to Sandra Bullock and party like a rock star with the likes of the good Reverend Horton Heat and some of the sickest toys you can create. Lucky Bastard. Check out the birthday event below with about 1,000 Rockabilly Cats and Kittens through the door and classic Rat Rods out the ying-yang!
Photos by Dustin Downing
