SxSW Beginner's Guide #8 - Eye, Jay and Kay

I think this is my first SxSW related post since I booked my (bargain) flights to Austin, so there's definitely no backing out now. Not long til I go either so these posts need to step up a gear.

So below are the highlights of the I, J and K pile winging their way to Texas state in March. Let's dig in and find some excellence shall we?

Inhabitants (www.myspace.com/theinhabitants)

Trumpet guitar bass drums all colliding in a spectacular array of sparks and fissures; this improvising quartet make a glorious racket, of that we can be sure. Go listen.

Instrumenti (www.myspace.com/instrumenti)

Not even sure I like them - which is often a good sign - but their audacious pop tang and glorious piano or fuzz synth accompaniments are undeniably fiery and fun. Could be glorious to watch.

The Intelligence (www.myspace.com/theworldisadrag)

This is going well. The Intelligence are noisy, lo-fi monotony in the same way The Fall are repetitive, lo-fi monotony - in other words pretty addictive and pretty brilliant.

The Intimate Stranger (www.myspace.com/theintimatestranger)

Chilean fuzzy pop from a quartet surely aware of the UK and Canada's indie-pop scene. Pretty good.

The Invisible (www.myspace.com/theinvisiblethree)
Already favourites of mine, plus lovely chaps to boot, their new material is sounding amazing right now, having seen them at The Borderline a week or so back. A definite shout for anyone from foreign climes who hasn't seen them yet. Londoners, you have no excuse not to see them when you get back.

Japandroids (www.myspace.com/japandroids)

Noisy lo-fi pop rush, a driving fuzzy edge that recalls No Age and suchlike. Good stuff though not as great as the aforementioned LA duo.

The Jazzus Lizard (www.myspace.com/jazzuslizard)

Yes. A jazz trio covering Jesus Lizard songs. What a wonderful time to be alive.

Jern Eye (www.myspace.com/jerneye)

Some great cuts on myspace, mainly embellished with epic backing tracks - looped vocals, strings and a generally escalating vibe - so may well be worth a shot.

Jinnyoops! (www.myspace.com/jinnyoops)

Brass and overdriven guitars never sounded like a good idea until Blur wrote Popsong. That was and still is ace, so these Japanese ladies sound like tremendous fun too. They also cheekily steal Orange amps logo, but I'm sure they'll let this pass.

Joan of Arc (www.myspace.com/joanfrc)

Tim Kinsella's long running effort should be a must see for all ex-emo kids.

The John Steel Singers (www.myspace.com/thejohnsteelsingers)

Light airy pop which embraces layers of instruments and colours.

Jookabox (www.myspace.com/jookabox)

Formerly under the even-less-managable moniker of Jookabox Grampall, this group filter disparate ideas through a very kaleidoscopic filter that allows funk, hip hop, rock, soul, jazz and all sorts of sub-genres to amalgamate into a very wholesome soup. Brilliant.

J. Rocc (www.myspace.com/funkypresident)

J. Rocc's excellent funk breaks are exquisite and laid back grooves, set to that internal fuzzy metronome you have which forces dancing on you when you least expect it.

kasms (www.myspace.com/kasms)

I've seen them enough times, but always great value - energetic, noisy and eye-catching.

Zoe Keating (www.myspace.com/zoecello)

Bored of all those streamlined rock acts, dowdy folk rubbish and mainstream Mr Sheen hip-hop? Try some ambient, moody classical yeah?

Kid Congo and The Pink Monkey Birds (www.myspace.com/kidcongoandthepinkmonkeybirds)

Obviously - playing in the Bad Seeds means you automatically get an awesome pass.

Kill It Kid (www.myspace.com/killitkid)

You know how despicable Mumford & Sons are? Yeah? Well Kill It Kid are a bit like them, but with heart, passion, soul and even a pinch of excitement. Brilliant.


Well now the alphabetical list has become the tentative schedule with venues and times for the full five days. So, the next SxSW blog post will involve dates, times and artists. This is gonna be fun.

Sidestep The Hype #4 - Débruit (Xavier Thomas)

It's pretty impossible for me to pick out particular producers for special attention, especially as - unlike guitar bands and suchlike - I have less scope for explaining and referencing how they craft their music. It's something I always attempt to correct every year but it feels impossible to keep on top of the amount of amazing electronically-designed music out there.

Anyway, Debruit - or Xavier Thomas to his friends and family - caught my attention with his Spatioin Temporel EP. It's a blustery cluster of disparate rhythms, slinky spring sounds and cutting samples that all bring to mind a clash between exotic street parties and underground club ambience. Generally the filtering of ideas ends up sputtering unforseen and unimaginable cultural splicing, down to the finest warped bass register and vocoder voice patch.

Certainly the most refreshing thing I've heard from France for a long time, the exciting thing is just how he's tamed about 50 ideas, lashed them into four tracks and still it feels like he's bursting with incredible energy. All this energy is destined to burst onto a second full-length platter soon.

Here have this youtube feed of Nigeria What? from this very EP. It's ace.