The Daily Swarm

Perez Hilton – Thank You Austin:

This city has been so hospitable. We LOVE it here!

One of the local restaurants put up this sign on Thursday. We are honored. Gracias. Gracias. Gracias.

The highlight of our first night at SXSW???? Diplo.

He killed it!!!

Can’t wait for tonight and tomm.

xoxo

NPR Webcast Streams: My Morning Jacket, Yo La Tengo at SXSW

David Fricke – Rolling Stone:

During SXSW, Austin, Texas is the center of the indie-rock universe, overrun with singers and bands deserving of wider attention and a fair payday but, with the major labels in free fall, more defensive than ever about creative purity and corporate sabotage. The headlining set by indie-scene graduates My Morning Jacket at the Austin Music Hall, on the second night of SXSW ‘08, proved that they became arena-worthy and pop-smart without selling out or diluting their Southern-gothic boom.

Like R.E.M. the night before, My Morning Jacket devoted nearly half of their generous set — sixteen songs and four long encores over close to two hours — to their imminent new album, Evil Urges, including the heavy funk and wah-wah city of “Highly Suspicious” and the disco-pulse Armageddon of “Touch Me I’m Going to Scream Pt. 2.” The record features singer-guitarist-songwriter Jim James in a bold, R&B frame of mind, unleashing his inner Earth Wind and Fire — particularly his strong, piercing falsetto — over oceans of guitar fuzz and John Bonham-thunderclap drums, and it was all there, at maximum volume, on stage.

Jon Pareles – New York Times:

Even for the music industry professionals, journalists and Madison Avenue types here, who spend their lives churning through music, South by Southwest can be a crazy-making mass of new and unfamiliar talent. Some 1,700 bands play, and from the moment they fill out their MySpace pages until their styles are tagged by magazines and blogs, their music will be fit into ever-expanding taxonomies of genre, from post-emo to retro-clash to “Stereolab-meets-Bollywood.”

That’s partly why it felt so good to hear the 62-year-old Lemmy Kilmister say at the beginning of his band’s set at Stubb’s this afternoon, “We are Motorhead and we play rock ‘n’ roll.” In an instant, a sea of fists and devil horns rose out of the black-clad pit of Stubb’s outdoor performance space, and Motorhead ripped through a set of the same gristly, testosterone-fuled biker-metal the band has been playing for more than 30 years.

Austin Music Source:

Every year there is at least one SXSW sound ordinance horror story that leaves a bitter taste in the mouth of musicians and music fans.

This year’s battle commenced promptly at 9 p.m. Thursday during the Arclight Records showcase at the Light Bar.

Austin instrumental punk rock band Tia Carrera made it through their blistering set by ignoring the venue’s soundman’s request for sonic temperance.

At 10 p.m., Brooklyn, N.Y. band Freshkills made it about halfway through their set before the venue’s soundman pulled their plugs.

Club employees attested that City of Austin police arrived at the club with a decibel reader.

“They told us the police said the music was too loud,” Arclight Records founder Mauro Arrambide said.

“We knew we were going to get shut down before we even played our first note,” Magnet School vocalist/guitarist Mark Ford said, laughing through his frustration.

(via BrooklynVegan: The Cool Kids like Vampire Weekend)

Wayward Blog [The Pitch – Kansas City] – N.E.R.D. = G.E.N.I.U.S.

Though the group hasn’t toured much compared to other bands on its level, N.E.R.D. put on a confident, top-caliber live show, mixing together rock, hip-hop and funk into pure party stew. The group’s backup band of instrumentally virtuosic dudes in clothes that would get them turned away at the door of downtown nightclubs (read: urban) was fucking unbelievable. The talent on that stage—it almost made your brain explod

Stereogum:

It turns out Shara Worden, aka My Brightest Diamond, was the perfect choice to play the first slot of our three-day Stereogum/PASTE party. Armed with only her voice and guitar, the karaoke star and major rock ‘n’ roll supporter, eased us into the day with an intimate, operatic set. Fittingly, she brought Ravel (and the French author Colette, natch) into the mix, singing the part of the teapot from L’Enfant et les Sortileges. Classy, no? She also performed a drop-dead gorgeous take on Roy Orbison’s “It’s Over,” mentioning the Texas-born crooner as an inspiration for her hair, but forgetting to bring up how her voice also lilts with some of Orbison’s effortless brilliance.

Pitchfork – SXSW: Thursday [Matt LeMay]:

After Yo La, we headed over to B.D. Riley’s to see Canada’s sorely underrated Simply Saucer, only to find that they were nowhere on the bill. So, we went and saw the fucking English Beat, at a fake venue sponsored by a cigarette company. And it was pretty awesome. Only at SXSW…

p. ALSO:

South By Southwest 2008: You’re Not There, Pt. 1

South By Southwest 2008: You’re Not There, Pt. 2

South By Southwest 2008: You’re Not There, Pt. 4

South By Southwest 2008: You’re Not There, Pt. 5

South By Southwest 2008: Where’s the Beef?, Pt. 1

South By Southwest 2008: Where’s the Beef?, Pt. 2