aural delights

30 Seconds to Mars is an alternative rock band hailing from the USA created in 2000. 30 Seconds to Mars blends a very synthesized sound, with powerful guitar chords, out-of-this-world lyrics (literally, the first cd is almost entirely about space travel), and an altogether orignal sound with sicknasty harmomies and melodies. Frontman Actor Jared Leto heads the group, and he delivers a very original scream/sing blend in his voice through both cds. Live, the band is crazy, as Jared once climbed a scaffold and jumped from 50 feet in the air into the audience. Altogether, both of 30stm cds deliver a powerful sound, which is contrasted with a few softer tracks. ~Last.fm

legal streaming:
-MySpace

south by southwest music festival 2006: WEDNESDAY 05/24/06 @ La Zona Rosa:

Set list:
A Beautiful Lie
The Kill
Capricorn
Buddha for Mary
The Story
The Fantasy
Battle of One
Echelon
From Yesterday
Attack


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Nada Surf understand the sound of melancholy. Matthew Caws knows how to take a fragile bit of New York guitar buzz and let it reverberate slowly in the background, surrounding one of his bewitching minor-key melodies, propelling the tune along with urgent strums. The lyrics are sharp, but they're never the point of the song -- instead, they're just there to provide Caws' voice with a bit of shelter as the song builds all around him. The band's tunes achieve a kind of sleight-of-hand majesty, but Nada Surf never sound like they're trying too hard. How do they do it? ~RollingStone.com

legal MP3s:
- Do It Again
- Blankest Year
- Blonde On Blonde

south by southwest music festival 2006: THURSDAY 03/16/06 @ The Parish, 1:00 am:


more soon..

link: official site

Sex, subversion, style, humour, songs: great pop music's greatest components. And Goldfrapp have always known it. Through pioneering electronics, crystalline vocals, visual theatrics and glam-sex decadence, they've moved through the ambient shadows into the technicolour thrill that is the hallmark of classic British pop music. ~Mute.com

MP3s:
- Ooh La La
- Ooh La La (Benny Benassi Remix)
- Number 1
- Lovely Head

south by southwest music festival 2006: THURSDAY 03/16/06 @ Austin Music Hall, 12:15 am:


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link: official site

Above all it's AM's uncanny ability for writing perfect acoustic-pop hooks and his soothing voice that really sell this wonderful debut record. From Americana to folk-rock, AM's songs weave multiple variations of the pop medium with the richness of southern sounds. ~official site

legal MP3s:
- Playing the Game

south by southwest music festival 2006: THURSDAY 03/16/06 @ The 18th Floor at Capitol Place, 11:00 pm:
After The Divorce, we practically ran to the next venue, which, we found out, was a hotel. We went to the 18th floor. (The room looked like it used to be a dining area. There was a stage area and chairs arranged in rows. (sit down show!)) The 10:00 pm artist Tina Dico was still singing. It was nice, but nothing particularly memorable. We waited while they prepared the set, and they had some technical difficulties. 11:00 rolled by and nothing. 11:20...still waiting. The problem was basically the keyboard. They plugged it in but you couldn't hear the sound. So they ended up using another black box thing. It finally worked around 11:35. We were on a tight schedule, though, so we could only stick around for 1.5 songs. The second song was "Playing the Game", which was the one I heard on the sxsw site and liked. The band was pretty good, and I wish we could have stayed longer. There was a guy with these congo? drums and tambourines. It was an interesting combination of instruments, and the music was soothing.

While we were waiting for them to solve the keyboard problem, I got bored and started taking pictures..


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link: official site

Seattle’s The Divorce has severed ties with the strict stylistic confines of the recent new-wave/punk resurgence to craft passionate, fully-formed rock music with a fundamentally danceable core. ~madeinMexicorecords.com

legal MP3s:
- Yes
- Call the Police
- Fishing With the Party Sharks

south by southwest music festival 2006: THURSDAY 03/16/06 @ Redrum, 10:00 pm:
I discovered The Divorce while looking for a show to see on the sxsw site. I basically fell in love with "Yes", and it ended up on repeat for many days. The venue Redrum was basically a bar with a stage, complete with a pooltable and tables and sofas. The show was by far the least crowded one we went to. And we could actually sit in the chairs by the side and still see the band, because no one was blocking us. You could distingish the hard-core fans because they were standing in the front, dancing and singing along. When we got there, the band was already playing, and I couldn't tell if it was The Divorce or not, because I had only heard the one song. The lead singer was wearing tight jeans with a BELT (you know the kind I'm talking about), and I remember thinking, 'there are cowboys in Washington?' I really liked his voice, sort of deep but not too deep, and the way he sang into the mike was lovely. You know sometimes singers can look pretty ridiculous when they sing (think Jessica Simpson when she's trying to hit the right notes), but this guy looked great. It was a very good performance. The last song on their set was "Yes", and that was fantastic. The way they played it was..I dont know how to describe it. It was an actual 'performance', like they should have been playing on a concert stage, it was THAT good. The lead singer would make these cute hand gestures, and instead of looking dumb, it was funny. (two fingers opened and another finger between the two for 'you let slip throught the cracks') Anyway, I certainly walked away with a huge smile.


( more glowy eyes )

link: official site

Echo & the Bunnymen's dark, swirling fusion of gloomy post-punk and Doors-inspired psychedelia brought the group a handful of British hits in the early '80s, while attracting a cult following in the United States. ~VH1.com

MP3s:
- The Puppet
- The Killing Moon
- Do It Clean

south by southwest music festival 2006: THURSDAY 03/16/06 @ Auditorium Shores on Town Lake, 8:00 pm:
I went with MJ to this one. We were actually gonna go to the Spoon concert, but we got there too late. We stood in the back, but we kept moving up, because there would always be these open pockets that we could squeeze into. There were some people who had laid a blanket on the ground and were sitting on it, while everyone else around them were standing. Echo & The Bunnymen were pretty phenomenal. I went in not really knowing any of their songs. They played "Lips Like Sugar", and I thought he was singing 'sugar kipsey'.

My pictures were absolutely horrible. We were too far back so my camera only picked up blackness. But after we moved up, I did get some good pictures. MJ brought her cam too, so whenever she has them up, I'll post those too. Hopefully, they turned out OK.


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link: official site

Mogwai is a Scottish band formed in 1995 that has become one of the most influential and best known "post-rock" bands. They compose lengthy instrumental guitar-based pieces in the post-rock tradition, usually focused around the elaboration of a single theme, and are known traditionally for their quiet/loud dynamic, defined bass riffs, and an eminently chilled out sound, sometimes dark and sometimes grand. ~Wikipedia.org

'Mogwai' (mwuoh-gway) in mandarin means monster/demon. I believe Mogwai the band calls themselves moh-gweye.

legal MP3s:
- (more or less) comprehensive list of mogwai media - bright light: mogwai fansite
- Folk Death 95 @ Epitonic.com
- I Know You Are But What Am I

south by southwest music festival 2006: WEDNESDAY 03/15/06 @ Stubb's, 1:00 am:
My first time at Stubb's; we ended up farther from the stage than I would've liked. I remember trying to figure out my schedule on Wednesday: I could only pick shows after midnight, because that was the day I worked the whole day - 15 hours(!). Anyway, I was just trying to look for venues that were all-ages or 18+ and for bands that I've heard of before. I remember the name Mogwai from a fst I downloaded a while back. So I just added them to my Wed schedule, after of montreal. When I went, they started playing, for a looong time, and I kept waiting for the vocals. But there were none. So, for the entire first song, which probably went on for 10 minutes, I thought they were having a reeeally long soundcheck. But no, I figured out Mogwai is an instrumental rock band. The music was really nice, I love the feel of the bass literally shaking my body. Nice head-banging, body-swaying music. They're actually coming to Austin again on May 6th at La Zona Rosa.

Most of the pics I took were dark, but there is one that Joy took for me that is fine, brightness-wise, but it is blurry, so you can't see anyone.


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link: official site

from ofmontreal.net

The group has a style that is typical of many Elephant Six bands due to its interests in combining musical experimentation and the basic tenets of pop, such as catchy melodies and sing along choruses. The band's style has been influenced by not only more conventional indie pop and psychedelic music, but also by vaudeville and music hall on their earlier releases and by afrobeat and reggae in their more recent releases. ~Wikipedia.org

legal MP3s:
- So Begins our Alabee
- Wraith Pinned to the Mist and Other Games
- Oslo in the Summertime; Spoonful of Sugar @ Epitonic.com
- live mp3s @ elephant6.com
- a bunch @ ofmontreal.net

south by southwest music festival 2006: WEDNESDAY 03/15/06 @ EMO'S Main Room, 12 am:
We came a little late, and caught the middle/end of "Rapture Rapes the Muses", which turned out to be the only song that they sang that I knew the lyrics to. Since we came late, we ended up standing near the left speakers. Without earplugs, it was kind of loud. The music was fun, really very bouncy, and the band was very peppy, especially the lead singer Kevin Barnes, who apparently likes to jump, no, bounce, around while he sings. It is an interesting sight, seriously, I cannot tell you how strange it looked. I can't even recreate it; he was so weightless. In the beginning, he wore this blue denim vest with nothing underneath, and then in the middle of the show, he changed into this gold lame' monstrosity blouse shirt. All in all, as the first band I saw for sxsw 06, they were acceptable. Actually, as the first non-stadium concert/show I ever went to, the show was a real learning experience.

I tried to take pictures, but the first ones ended up being people's heads. My digital camera is pretty crappy and takes a really long time to take the picture. So, these pics - not very good, but I'm trying to clean them up in Photoshop


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link: official site If you liked the music, check out their upcoming tourdates, and arrive early!

01:02:03
04/05/06