SXSW Recap, Part III

I know I promised to post this final installment yesterday, but SXSW is an exhausting enough experience that it genuinely affects the productivity of the whole following week. Frankly put, four days of constant rock will make you lazy. Nevertheless, I promised a complete list of bands that impressed me down south and here are the final three entries.

Langhorne Slim – You wouldn’t normally expect a nice Jewish boy named Sean Skolnick to be a wicked, finger-picking bluegrass singer, but Brooklyn’s Langhorne Slim feels as authentic as Tennessee moonshine. His brief, potent set at the Levi’s Fader House transformed an otherwise blase hipster hang-out into a hootenanny. Okay, not really, but there was some passionate foot-tapping in the crowd. With a new record coming out soon on Kemado Records, Slim promises to fullfill the potential he’s been cultivating since early 2000.

Yeasayer – Last year, I randomly stumbled onto a performance by this eccentric collective and left so impressed that I deemed it my favorite show of SXSW ’07. Since then, Yeasayer has been building on their buzz by releasing one of the most critically favored records in recent memory. Equal parts prog-rock and freak-folk, they’re still a joy to watch on stage. They owned this year’s festival by performing half-a-dozen times and as a result, securing their strong reputation. This Brooklyn group silenced the naysayers.

Mika Miko – Time is passing by so quickly that even the riot grrl movement is already considered retro. Mika Miko is a sloppy and bombastic all-girl art-punk rock quartet. Lead singer Victor Fandgore (real name, Jennifer Calvin) sings into a red telephone (see picture above) while co-front grrl Jet Bianca alternates between screaming vocals and saxaphone. It’s a frenetic and youthful performance that reminds one of the joys of imperfection.

Bands/ Artists I Wish I’d Seen At SXSW:

Basia Bulat – The London, Ontario singer has a killer debut out now on Rough Trade. Bulat’s voice is smooth and soft without sacrificing depth—at times, she evokes Stevie Nicks; at other moments, Joni Mitchell. She’ll be on tour with Devotchka in the spring. I’ll be sure to catch her then.

Man Man – This Philadelphia ensemble is garnering a serious reputation for being a terrific live band. Their debut, Rabbit Habits, is out on April 8 from Anti-Records. It’s a bluesy brawl emulating the spirit of Tom Waits (it’s no coincidence that Waits is also on Anti-) and also promises to be one of the best debuts of the coming year. They too are on the road and touring well into the summer, so now’s your opportunity to discover them.

What do you think?