One man brings the house down

One of the best recent decisions that I have made was to pick up a copy of Ten Stones, by Wovenhand. More than just a series of songs, Ten Stones is a total, superfluous story. Every piece in in it's place, and every place necessary. I had never heard of this, somewhat solo project from former 16 Horsepower frontman David Eugene Edwards. With five albums, an enigmatic yet charisma inflamed stage presence, a track for a double album in conjunction with a documentary about Sacred Harp singing, and now a tour of Scandinavia, Wovenhand are at the top of their game.

Edwards plays live with Ordy Garrison, the drummer from Slim Cessna's Auto Club, (another band well worth checking out), and bass player Pascal Humbert, now in the band Lilium, formerly of 16 Horsepower as well. And what a live performance it was. Crafting together the foundation of folk, combined with epic songwriting, and powerful musical composition, these tunesmiths carried the show aloft as if it were their last. The crowd spilled into the crypt-like space to witness this awe inspiring set. I must say, I always heard about the intensity of Wovenhand live, but they went far beyond my expectations.

You can find more updates from the group at their myspace profile here. And, you can also check out their records, and a few more videos here.

Here's a video of Wovenhand performing "Kicking Bird" from the Ten Stones album:


SXSW#15: Wovenhand performing at aQ/WFMU showcase from Denman C Anderson on Vimeo.

And the moral of the story is: never play LA

It's a shame that I was not able to get any live footage of the very kinetic, blown out, experimental French psych band Gunslingers. It was truly a set not to be missed, among the many that fit the same bill, at the aQ/WFMU showcase.

To get an idea of the frantic noise they bring, you check out their myspace profile here. They are still on tour, as I type this, so see if you can check them out in your town.

Gunslingers' newest album is called No More Invention, and while I could not find any direct link to the World of Sound Label, that put it out, I was certainly able to find it in the aQ webstore. If you don't believe that it's worth your time simply because I tell you it is, then maybe Julian Cope can change your mind.

At any rate, I was able to get an interview with the band that should be a direct parallel to the insanity of their live show. This is truly one of my favorite videos from the whole weekend:


SXSW#14: Interview with Gunslingers at aQ/WFMU showcase from Denman C Anderson on Vimeo.

Absu: Don't mess with black metal

Originally from Plano Texas, Absu was not only an area band on the aQ/WFMU bill, but also one of a small number of black metal bands in all of SXSW. (The only other BM band I can think of off hand is Wolves in the Throne Room). I find it odd considering the current popularity of not only black metal, but USBM in particular. Absu, however were not phased by this as they are currently basking in the glow of a large surge of popularity right now. Which partially explains how they found themselves on this very eclectic and buzz-worthy showcase.

The band has been through a fair number of lineup changes, and evolution in sound. (There is a fantastic bio on their myspace page.) They now have a new incarnation that is bringing back a truly grim black metal aesthetic. Beyond putting out a new album, which you can check out here, they are also embarking on an amazing tour with the fantastic French band Glorior Belli. You can check out the dates for that here

Proscriptor McGovern was kind enough to answer a few questions, and I was also able to get footage of their first song.



SXSW#12: Absu at the aQ/WFMU showcase from Denman C Anderson on Vimeo.


SXSW#13: Absu preforming at the aQ/WFMU showcase from Denman C Anderson on Vimeo.

Wildildlife (Thus begins the aQ/WFMU part of the blogging)

Wildildlife was a band I stumbled across on some now forgotten music blog. However what I read and heard piqued my interest enough to get a hold of the Six album that they put out on Crucial Blast in 2007. I thought it was a fantastic combination of a heavy doom-esque sound interspersed with, almost quiet and ambient, psych. Nothing, however, could prepare me for their live show. Beyond some great musicianship, they owned the stage the entire time they were on it.

I managed to get a very brief, very dark, and very loud interview with Matthew Rodgers, one of the members of Wildildlife. As he noted, the new album is out now, and you can check it out here. Everyone should check it out, as this is one powerhouse of a group.

Also, this is the first in several posts about the aQ/WFMU showcase. So keep checking in, because I'm loading these just as fast as vimeo will let me....(Which is painfully not that fast.....)



SXSW#10: Wildildlife interver at aQ/WFMU showcase from Denman C Anderson on Vimeo.


SXSW#11: Wildildlife performing at aQ/WFMU showcase from Denman C Anderson on Vimeo.

DC's Doomsayers

So, it's safe to say that everyone in DC knows Darkest Hour, or at least everyone that I know, knows the guys in Darkest Hour. We always come out to support them when they play in the DC area, and we weren't about to change that now. It was just that DC had to go to Austin for that to occur. Which was no problem, since a large percentage of both Lovitt and Exotic Fever Records were there to catch the show. And sure enough, after other bands from similar stretches of the east coast, Ruiner, and The AKA's played, out came the boys themselves, and as usual, they did not disappoint, plowing through a raging set (There were much "bigger" bands playing after them, who I was not inclined to see, including The Bouncing Souls. We could hear them playing while the aQ/WFMU show was setting up, and Andee kept asking,"Are they still playing that same song?").

John says they've been in the studio hammering out a new album, so be on the lookout for that. In the meantime, here is the first song they ripped through at the showcase, Doomsayer:


SXSW#8: Darkest Hour-Doomsayer from Denman C Anderson on Vimeo.

And then we got unruly....

The Unruly Records showcase, at Friend's Bar, on Saturday night, was a total throwdown. When we got there, DJ Class was on the mic, and the crowd was starting to get active. Through the pumping fists, I was able to get a fairly good video of him crooning a couple of his new hits, old hits, and total bangers.

The redlight informed me that my time with the Flip was short, so I tried to conserve enough to get some of the Nadastrom set. Unfortunately, this meant that I was not able to get any of the Blaqstarr set, where in, techical problems stopped the beats, and backed only by a live guitar, he plowed through a bunch of killer tracks, getting the crowd hyped despite the situation.

Finally Nadastrom got on, and it turned into a full scale disco-riot. The crowd went nuts, and since our hands were already up, we followed DJ Class's advice, and just tore the fucking club up. This video does not begin to communicate the level of insanity that went down.


SXSW#7 DJ Class at the Unruly Records showcase from Denman C Anderson on Vimeo.


SXSW#8 Nadastrom at the Unruly Records showcase from Denman C Anderson on Vimeo.

More videos later

For now, I thought everyone might be interested in seeing the first song from the Frodus reunion show at the Lovitt Records showcase. Plus, a little bonus footage. I'll be uploading more of these non stop as soon as I get back to DC.


SXSW#5 Frodus/Lovitt first day in Austin from Denman C Anderson on Vimeo.


SXSW#6 Frodus reunion show at Lovitt Records showcase from Denman C Anderson on Vimeo.

So much to post, so little time....

So,

It's 6:00 AM here, and there is no way I could possibly go into all the details of the absolutely amazing weekend that I've had here at SXSW. Once I find the time, I will go into much more elaborate detail. I'm trying to upload videos right now, but each one wants to take half an hour. Fear not, however, I have many, many, many videos to post. If you were following All Our Noise on twitter, I told no tails. Every video I promised, I have, and I'll post them all as fast as I can. In the meantime, here is a very short version, (for now), of how today went. God knows how but after two and a half hours sleep, I was able to get up at 10:00, and make it to the Lovitt Records showcase in plenty of time. I was deliriously happy there, seeing many fantastic bands including, Edie Sedgwick, Medications, Des Ark, Milemarker.....And of course, Frodus, just to name a few.

After that I ran into Dave Nada and Matt Nordstrom, and we headed to a Ticketmaster event that they were djing, in a house converted into a makeshift club. It was mostly Dj's hanging out in the kitchen, er, I mean, dj booth. And after we staged a spontaneous dance party, we stepped out onto the porch to ponder the burning question,"Who, in fact, are all these people?..." Eventually we went over to the Unruly Records showcase, where people like King Tut, Scottie B, Blaqstarr, DJ Class, and our very own Nadastrom were turning Austin into Murderland. Everyone upped the ante minute by minute, until Nadastrom hit the decks, and all awesome hell broke loose. The night ended in pandemonium, and in my opinion, was a total success. After that.....there were some shenanigans, and catering. Then we all a parted ways, and here I sit. All in all, this was the epitome of a life affirming weekend.

So like I said, more blogs, more details, and many, many, many, more videos....

See you back in the diamond district...........

So

At this point I have no idea when I'm going to get to computer to
blog, let alone upload videos.

We'll start by quickly getting most of the day's happenings out of the
way. I can always add more later. This morning I got up all too early
to get breakfast with the guys from aQ and WFMU. We went to an unknown
hole in the wall...that everyone in Austin goes to. None the less, it
was excellent. Then I ran into the Frodus guys (you may know them...),
and we all jetted over to see Darkest Hour (a good time as always).
After a bit of meandering it was finally time for the aQ/WFMU show. It
did not dissapoint, and every band played an amazing set. Check the
AON twitter feed for the blow by blow, and be on the lookout for videos.

After that I was supposed to go to AM Only, but was met by the Berlin
wall. With no plan, I sent out an APB, and was told that I needed to
attend the bridge party. After receiving many directs, and doing a
charity walk, infound myself, indeed on a bridge, surrounded by a
plethora of crusties and hipsters. I slowly navigated the crowd till I
reached a clearing with band equipment being set up. Apparently I had
arrived just as Annihilation Time was about to go on. As I pondered
this explaining the crowd mixture, it literaly began to rain shoes.
Yes. Shoes. I sincerely doubt whatever corporate sponsor sent these
out, had this in mind. It would be safe to say that no one actually
walked away with a pair.

That is what we will call the calmest part of the set, and what
happened next, we will refer to as the hell breaking loose. For
posterity's sake I am going to post the video that may look like
chaos, but will give you a visceral idea of how things played out. I
quickly put the borrowed HD Flip away lest it meet the shattering fate
of my sunglasses. It was damn near a riot on a bridge, and even though
I was thrown onto broken glass, I loved every minute of it.

As the debris was removed, and the Vivian Girls cued up, I ran into an
inebriated Josh Sisk. This usually leads to a long string of very good
bad ideas. "We're going to a rave. You're comming with us!" No
explanation of sleep or videos would sway him.

As the full group asembled, it was now decided that we would first
catch the tail end of the iheartcomix event. So we hopped into a car,
and off we went. Iheartcomix was still bangin' hard when we got there.
The stage was flooded, the floor had a sticky brown goo coating it,
all there was to drink was tequila and diet vitamin water, and there
were more photogs than you would find at the oscars. Still and all, it
was insane, in a good way.

Suddenly, then sound went off, the lights went on, and that was that.
As we reenacted scenes from Dawn of the Dead, we realized our ride had
left us, and after about 45 minutes, we were able to get through to a
taxi agency. This was followed by much street fighting over arriving
cabs, until we finally got one. And what a lucky one it was too. The
driver had a tricked out computer system, and insisted on showing a
video of," the ultimate conservative cat fight."

And now I'm here. Here being a rave. A real rave, in a warehouse
somewhere, with "ravers," and lasers. I imagine this will be the last
stop for the evening, seeing as this ends at 10:00 AM. Which, if I
stayed for the whole thing, would give me an hour to get to the Lovitt
showcase.......

I'd like to see that not happen. Besides, I'm not sure how many beaded
bracelets and pacifiers I can take. But I will say, it has been one
crazy day, the kind that only SXSW can bring.......

Sent from my iPhonenenga

Aaaaaand Twitter is down!

Hopefully it pops back up soon; I've got much to share. (hopefully my
phone doesn't die as well.....)

Sent from my iPhone

SXSW blog w/videos #1

O-K

So, I finally got out of DC, and on down to Texas today. For most of us, a layover is mandatory, and soon enough I found myself stuck in Houston for an hour. However, while walking down the terminal to my gate, my cognitive resources could help, but focus in on a group of people coming my way. The planets aligned, and out of all the people to end up on a flight with, there were all the guys, from the DC area's own, Darkest Hour. So, we exchanged facts and figures about SXSW, and in about half an hour we were there.

I hopped out of the airport, into a cab, over to my friend Kyle's place, and then back into a cab to go to Silhouette's for Do it to it, to go hang with Dave Nada, Jesse Tittsworth, and Matt Nordstrom among others. Of course, none of them were there yet, so went into the mutual of Omaha's wild kingdom in search of food. Kyle and I met up with Keller, who is also here from DC, and while getting vegan dogs from a street vendor, ended up eavesdropping on a Dinosaur Jr. show.

Of course, meandering away from that site, we ran into Darkest Hour all over again, and hung out with them until it was time to go back to Do it to it, where Tittsworth was just getting crankin. By the time Nadastrom took the decks, the roof was torn off, and it was like a DC party all over again.

Not to let the party stop there, Josh Sisk showed up, and said that we should head over to the Fools Gold party. This was, apparently, the one step too many. By the time we got there, there was one of those unfortunate "club lines" outside, that looked like a bad LA traffic jam. After randomly spotting Steve Aoki , we gave up, and called it a night.

Now I'm trying to hammer this stuff out before dawn, as I'm leaving for breakfast, with Andee from aQ at 9:30!!!

SXSW#! from Denman C Anderson on Vimeo.


SXSW#2 from Denman C Anderson on Vimeo.


SXSW#3 from Denman C Anderson on Vimeo.

(Believe it or not, it is now the next day, and for brevity's sake, I've had to cut this short one video, but I will have it up in the next post!)

Test test

Just seeing if this mobile blog works.

Sent from my iPhone

SXSW!

So,

I'm about to get on a plane to head to Austin for the weekend. I'll be posting here the entire time, but I'll also be posting to All Our Noise, and on Twitter.

Beyond blog updates, and tweets, I'll also have a flip vid, and will be posting footage from SXSW as well.

I'll be spending all day with aQ+WFMU at their event which features groups like Absu, Wovenhand, and Wildildlife. I'll be hitting up several DJ events such as the Unruly showcase, and the Mad Decent showcase. I'll also be going to the Frodus reunion at the Lovitt showcase. Who knows what the hell else I'll be doing so keep checking in here, follow me on twitter, and check out All Our Noise.