High Expectations and High Dials
My mother always told me that when your feet are too tired, it's time to sit down and post to your blog. She's actually never said any such thing, come to think of it, but I bet she would. And, since she's one of the few who might be refreshing the ol' blog page this late at night, please allow me to say: Hi, Mom! I think you're super.
It has been a fantastic day for live music at SXSW, and I say that not because my heroic intake of Sparks -- a malt liquor/energy drink hybrid -- has turned me into a twitching, orange-lipped living corpse. It's been a day of great bands living up to high expectations: I love Loney, Dear's album Loney, Noir, and the endlessly charming "I Am John" (audio) is a highlight of both that album and the group's set this afternoon. I've now seen Clem Snide 26 times, and everyone who knows me would rather rip out my flapping tongue than listen to me gas on about it some more, so here's "Jews For Jesus Blues" (audio). Since many of the people reading this have already heard my Clem Snide song and dance before, I'll shut up about it now, except to say that the newly reconfigured trio's new songs are glorious.
As expected, commiserating with my old (and new) Onion pals this afternoon meant drinking and gabbling at the expense of hearing much new music, but Andrew Bird played, and he's always great. Here's "Scythian Empires" (audio), because I'm generous that way. Also, I worked at the paper/site for 12 years -- having created and edited the paper's A.V. Club section -- and I will forever kick myself for not thinking of the slogan it had printed on a banner behind the stage: "Helping Nerds Become Snobs." Seriously, folks, read The A.V. Club.
Anyway, for those who didn't hear me yapping on Morning Edition Thursday, I love Shearwater, and seeing the band perform at a church was as sublime as expected. If some sort of post-death clerical error lands me in heaven, it will sound like Shearwater playing "La Dame Et La Licorne" (audio) at the Central Presbyterian Church in Austin. Oh, and I had to peek in and clap for The High Dials, a fun garage-pop band from Montreal, because the guys once woke me up in an airport and kept me from missing a flight out of Austin. Seriously, they saved me about 12 hours of sitting around airports. I love you, High Dials!
10:34 PM ET | 03-15-2007 | permalink
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