SXSW Notes

Our stream-of-consciousness notes posted contemporaneously from SXSW in Austin, Texas. Started in 2013 and I never changed the URL.

[fortherecordpodcast]

For the Record #185: Our Picks from SXSW 2023

In episode #185 of “For the Record,” we depart from our usual format to discuss our favorite discoveries from the 2023 South by Southwest music conference in Austin, Texas. We play tracks from Husbands, The Scratch, Personal Trainer, English Teacher, Rock Eupora, Skye Wallace, Silverbacks, and Dead Gowns.

Episode link: https://fortherecordpodcast.com/podcasts/media/2023-03-26-ftr-episode-185-sxsw-2023-2.mp3

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All the bands I saw at SXSW this year:

SATURDAY 3/18

1 Drakulas - Hotel Vegas Patio

2 TVOD - Hotel Vegas inside

3 DANA - Hotel Vegas Patio

4 Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs - Hotel Vegas Patio

5 Kiwi Jr. (again) - Lazarus Brewing Co.

6 Golden Dregs - Lazarus Brewing Co.

7 Sego - Zilker Brewing Co.

8 Night Cap - Low Down Lounge

9 Floodlights - Valhalla

10 Free Range - Seven Grand

11 Personal Trainer - Esther’s Follies

FRIDAY 3/17

1 Dean Forever - Lucille

2 River Boy - Lucille

3 MANE - Lucille

4 Ashli - Lucille

5 Civic - Lucille

6 Tulliah - Lucille

7 Annie Hamilton - Lucille

8 Nat Vazer - Lucille

9 Ron Gallo - Clive Bar

10 Rock Eupora - Lamberts

11 Molly Martin - Lamberts

12 Future Crib - Lamberts

13 The Minks - Lamberts

14 Indigo de Souza - Half Step

15 Husbands - Chess Club

THURSDAY 3/16

1 Y La Bamba - Empire Garage

2 Bartees Strange - Empire Garage

3 Kiwi Jr. - Empire Control Room

4 Protomartyr - Empire Garage

5 Cheekface - Empire Control Room

6 Lee Bains III and the Glory Fires - Side Bar

7 Margaritas Podridas - Chess Club

8 Snooper - Chess Club

9 Jobber - Latchkey

10 Friko - Seven Grand

11 The Trials of Cato - The Creek and the Cave

12 Say Zuzu - Antone’s

13 Bonny Doon - Antone’s

14 The Scratch - The Velveeta Room

15 Silverbacks - The Velveeta Room

WEDNESDAY 3/15

1 Hans Pucket - 13th Floor

2 Be Your Own Pet - Mohawk Outdoor

3 Girl Scout - Mohawk Indoor

4 SOAK - Cedar Street Courtyard

5 Dead Gowns - Velveeta Room

6 The Garrys - Swan Dive Patio

7 Skye Wallace - Swan Dive

8 Mariel Buckley - Swan Dive Patio

9 Death Valley Girls - Lucille

10 Sabrina Ellis - Valhalla

11 Sports Team - The Creek and the Cave

TUESDAY 3/14

1 Sea Lemon - Side Bar

2 Pat G - JNL BBQ

3 Timothy Eerie - JNL BBQ

4 Enjoyable Listens - JNL BBQ

5 Cherym - JNL BBQ

6 The Ophelias - Central Presbyterian Church

7 Katie Malco - Central Presbyterian Church

8 Le Ren - Central Presbyterian Church

9 Bartees Strange - The Belmont

10 Foyer Red - Vaquero Taquero

11 Hamish Hawk - 13th Floor

12 Voka Gentle - 13th Floor

13 English Teacher - Seven Grand

MONDAY 3/13

1 Gen and the Degenerates - Cedar Street Courtyard

2 Panic Shack - Cedar Street Courtyard

3 Puppy Angst - 13th Floor

4 Foamboy - 13th Floor

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AB: Robocobra Quartet, at the British Music Embassy, was a great choice for last show of the festival. They’re jazzy and experimental, but crowd-pleasing. They’re wordy but propulsive. They’re dancing at the edge of the abyss. The drummer is the vocalist and delivers excellent stage banter.

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AB: After our first total flameout of the festival on its final night (artist we hoped to see was just starting to set up at her scheduled set time), I ran to the British Music Embassy and caught the last song of the set from The Orielles. It sounded interesting enough for me to have wanted a second, but maybe a bit much for a full 40 minutes.

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GG: Personal Trainer at Esther’s Follies was so fun! They’re from Amsterdam and reminded me a lot of Los Campesinos. Just a fun, shouty, silly dance party.

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GG: Free Range bringing warm folk-rock to Seven Grand, accompanied by a friend on pedal steel for some songs.

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AB: Chicago’s Free Range play energetic but mellow folk/country/indie rock with a lot of heart at Seven Grand.

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GG: Floodlights is an engaging 5-piece from Melbourne who play pretty straight-ahead indie rock with some trumpet and harmonica in the mix.

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AB: Melbourne’s Floodlights play indie rock — sometimes straightforward, sometimes intricate — with harmonica and horns on some of the songs. They put on a good show at Valhalla.

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AB: Night Cap are from Austin. Down-the-middle rock, delivered with lots of skill and emotion, and a great voice from the bassist/lead vocalist. At the Low Down, which they declared to be their favorite bar.

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GG: Night Cap are from around here, and seemed to have a lot of local fans at the Low Down Lounge. They play dreamy indie rock with a relaxed vibe and a lot of double vocals from the two main singers.

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GG: Sego were one of our favorite discoveries from SXSW a few years ago, and it was great to see them again at Zilker Brewing Co. (despite the freezing temperatures)!

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AB: Sego are recording new music, and played some of it (with a slight lineup change) at Zilker Brewing. They still sound great, even if the songs from their fantastic last album (and their hard-rocking cover of “Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?”) are hard to beat.

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GG: The Golden Dregs outside at the Lazarus Brewing Co. The singer has a beautiful, low voice, but I think the mix is a little wonky.

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AB: The Golden Dregs play warm, pretty music with absurdly deep vocals and coordinated all-white “please join our cult” outfits. At Lazarus Brewing Co.

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GG: Delighted to get to see Kiwi Jr. a second time with better sound. On the patio at Lazarus Brewing Company.

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AB: Brooklyn six-piece TVOD play noisy, melodic (thanks in part to prominent keyboards), and 50% 2/3 shirtless punk rock inside at Hotel Vegas. Great live act!