More pics

jj

Nosaj Thing

Full sets: XX, jj, Nosaj Thing

(Also, if you missed it the 1s time — Jill Ebenezer’s recap)

I was really bummed that there was some other opener last night. I didn’t catch his name. He played techno stuff that had it’s moments. I totally was not into it. The thing that bugged me was he didn’t announce his name until 10 minutes in and I kept thinking “What if this is Kode 9 and I haven’t been paying attention.” Anyhow, if you showed up fashionably late, congrats.

According to jj, hakunna matata means “stoned bored hobo.” She (jj?) was dressed in some brown shawl, black bandana around her neck, black dress and white tennis shoes. In short, a homeless witch. JJ did not help her case against homelessness by constantly scratching her head.

Where it turned interesting was with the music. I won’t front, she has a great voice. Her first song was an acoustic joint that was incredibly stark and bare and complemented her voice wonderfully. Then she took the guitar off and handed it to the other part of jj?! The additional member was a male stoned bored hobo. As he took the guitar, he turned on the laptop where jj showed home movies, played their cd and she essentially turned in a kareoke set. He barely strummed along and watched the movies!

Some of the videos appeared to have been travel channel leftovers of the African savannah, soccer players or home movies. The soccer player featured a costume change on the part of the dude in the band where he shedded his jacket to reveal that he too was wearing A SOCCER JERSEY! Many of the home movies showed jj having some emotion which she showed none of while performing. Essentially, jj’s performance was the equivalent of going on a job interview and answering every question with “UMMMMMMMMMMMM”.

In short, Remember that girl in the freshman dorms that seemed kinda off, lightweight cute, smoked that homegrown bud and would talk frequently about her art? Then you found out she made art with tvs or pictures of her boobs and you thought “this shit sucks”. That was jj.

After a torturous set, headliners XX were up. Anything would have been better than the previous two sets. XX delivered both style and substance. The songs weren’t played exactly as the album which was a plus. There were slight differences such as different drum patterns or slower tempo made the songs more interesting to listen to. The bassist was part vampire part nazi and part sleazy Brit, which was perfect.

The thing that XX brought to go with their sleek icy tunes was a light show. Some bands spend their advance on cars, weed or chains but XX invested in lights which at times were blinding but didn’t detract from the performance. For their encore, their backdrop lit up like stars with a silhouette of an X. If you missed it, it’s understandable because there have been a ton of events going on in town. Don’t make the same mistake twice.

THURSDAY, MARCH 18
HILL STAGE: Califone (1PM), The Antlers (2PM), Real Estate (3PM), YellowFever (4PM), Dum Dum Girls (5PM), The xx (6PM)
VALLEY STAGE: Dylan LeBlanc (1:30PM), Zola Jesus (2:30PM), Sharon Van Etten (3:30PM), Julianna Barwick (4:30PM), Holly Miranda (5:30PM)
IN THE GRASS: Black Prairie (6:30PM)

FRIDAY, MARCH 19
HILL STAGE: Memory Tapes (1PM), Dengue Fever (2PM), Mayer Hawthorne & the County (3PM), Dam-Funk (4PM), Pierced Arrows (5PM), Thurston Moore (6PM)
VALLEY STAGE: First Aid Kit (1:30PM), Anni Rossi (2:30PM), Toro Y Moi (3:30PM), Woods (4:30PM), Talk Normal (5:30PM)

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If you’re going to SXSW and Showlist Austin isn’t on your daily list of sites to visit, you a punk. I mean it seems like so many sites (somes with real staffs and real budgets!) this year are copping Dan’s style it’s sort of embarrassing. Naughty, naughty websites.

ANYWAY.

Can’t remember Billions doing a free day show in recent years, but here you go:

We’ve got so many more shows after the jump, dudes.

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Irish:

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I was involved with the first Big Texas Jumpstart, so I’m happy to see they’re keeping it going with some great bands:

Come join us on Wednesday March 17th at Creekside Lounge for 6 hours of free fun. The lineup, with accurate times, is as follows:

1200-1230 – The Gary
1245-0115 – Goes Cube
0130-0200 – The Hounds Below
0215-0245 – Vandaveer
0300-0330 – The Midgetmen
0345-0415 – Wax Fang
0430-0505 – Ezra Furman & The Harpoons
0520-0600 – Everybody Was In The French Resistance… Now!

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Force Field PR and Terrorbird Media’s got another big show:

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RSVP to Full Metal Texas here.

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Details on the free ALTPRESS show:

Each year, AP throws the biggest, free, most insane show which just so happens to take place at the same time and in the same place as a certain music festival in Austin, Texas. This year, the all-ages, all-day Attack Of The 100 Bands (You Need To Know) concert will begin at at noon on Saturday, March 20, at Emo’s in Austin. It features 19 bands on three stages.

Circa Survive
Sum 41
The Rocket Summer (acoustic)
Never Shout Never
Hey Monday
The Cab
Lights
Terrible Things
Title Fight
Every Avenue
The Summer Set
There for Tomorrow
Ruiner
Stereo Skyline
Conditions
Honor Bright
La Dispute
Cymbals eat Guitars
Zlam Dunk

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Other Music says:

SAVE THE DATE! OTHER MUSIC SXSW LAWN PARTY
We are very excited to announce that Other Music will be in Austin next month for the SXSW festival, hosting two great days of free music on the rolling lawns of the French Legation Museum. This is our third year throwing the event with our good friends Dig for Fire, who are filming the festivities so you’ll be able to enjoy the sights and sounds even if you can’t join us in Texas. We’ll be announcing the full 20-plus band line-up in the coming days, but some of the confirmed acts include: the xx, Thurston Moore, Real Estate, Dam-Funk, Mayer Hawthorne, and the Antlers. Stay tuned for more details!

THURSDAY, MARCH 18 & FRIDAY, MARCH 19
French Legation Museum: 802 San Marcos St. Austin,TX
No Cover | 1PM to 7PM both days
Presented by Babelgum | Sponsored by Magic Hat

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Consequence of Sound show:

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With WOXY’s move to Austin, TX, they’re really taking advantage of being the home town radio station. They’ve got an official showcase, working with Homeslice Pizza, and are copresenting this event:

Wednesday, March 17th
The Mohawk
Austinist/WOXY
w/Washed Out, Warpaint, Small Black, The Besnard Lakes and more

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RSVP here.

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Indie Sounds party:

Yeah, it’s still months away, but someone has to kick SXSW season off, right? So it is with some pride and anticipation that we announce the Village Voice’s 2010 SXSW party, featuring the xx, Superchunk, the Pains of Being Pure at Heart, and our old friends Surfer Blood. Friday, March 19, La Zona Rosa, Austin, TX, 12pm – 5pm. These bands are alternately old friends and young heroes to us so it just didn’t seem worth keeping secret any longer. You will probably forget but we will definitely remind you.

You can find the same info on Surfer Blood’s MySpace page where you’ll also learn they’re playing a Filter event with She and Him