SXSW Wednesday Showcases
Welcome to Texas via Boise, etc.
Fri., March 16, 2012
Boise Music
7pm, IFC Crossroads House at Vice
Boise, Idaho, doesn't exactly come to mind when one thinks about the music capitals of the world. And yet here's a collection of its finest, beginning with Hillfolk Noir, a mountain folk revival act that sounds straight out of 1923. Le Fleur follows with gauzy rock of an accessible Sonic Youth variety. Then, a rare treat: a solo set from Built To Spill bassist Brett Netson, featuring his intense, gloomy tunes. Threepiece Finn Riggins pumps out engaging power-pop jams with dual male-female vocals. The latest scene king Youth Lagoon provides main support, serving up his excellent style of soft, haunting indie rock. With electronic and ambient strands, Youth Lagoon is a deeper, sweeter, 2012 version of the Postal Service. Finally, headliners Built To Spill close the night with the classic indie rock that made this very showcase possible in the first place. – Zoe Cordes Selbin
Tone Deaf Touring
7:30pm, Dirty Dog Bar
Tone Deaf Touring should more accurately be named Gone Deaf Touring, given the organization's dedication to louder-than-god metal of every stripe. The high-volume evening kicks off with Atlanta's Zoroaster, who's consistently impressed with its psychedelic sludge doom. Led by Josh Graham of Neurosis and Red Sparowes, A Storm of Light folds Metallica into its Isis-like post-rock structures. Arkansas behemoth Rwake erects huge piles of avant-garde sludge with a surprising grace, despite riffs as thick as dinosaur tails. Bay Area Saviours keep the riffology coming in a more classic fashion, soaring as if Iron Maiden never left the hit parade. Neighbor Black Cobra pulls us back into the mud, making more noise than a mere two people should be capable of conjuring. Corrosion of Conformity closes things out, boasting the reunited Animosity power trio lineup and a new self-titled LP overflowing with punk-infused aggression. Do we even need to warn you to bring earplugs? – Michael Toland
Welcome to Texas
8pm, Kiss & Fly
Welcome to Texas! Time to meet the neighbors. Austin trots out a choice hip-hop crew in the League of Extraordinary Gz, whose "We Gon Make It" got put to the test when group co-founder Esbe the Sixth Street Bully died in October. Keeping pace are longtime Rapid Ric/Whut It Dew affiliates Chalie Boy and Gerald G, both "Mr. 512" with an album of the same name prepped for this year. Three-group collective Die Slo Entertainment and V.I.P., aka Versace Ice Platinum, also rep the hometown with style. Dallas duo Yung Nation goes "Ham Nation" on last year's iYess, party anthems that hit hard enough to warrant showing up stag. The real muscle's in Houston, or Screwston in the case of Dat Boi T, lone Latino member in the Screwed Up Click. Killa Kyleon and Doughbeezy arrive in town with the hottest hype thanks to Kyleon's Rapid Ric-assisted Candy Paint -N- Texas Plates installment last September, but don't sleep on Marcus Manchild or HoodStar Chantz, two rappers living "Before the Fame."
– Chase Hoffberger
Life or Death/RAP Music/Mishka
7:30pm, Lustre Pearl
No sense to be made of this lineup except that everyone's got the same PR guy, so here we go: NYC chef-turned-rapper Action Bronson flows like Ghostface Killah about gorgonzola and "Aged Manchego" on last year's hilarious Bon Appetite ..... Bitch!!!!! That's almost as strange as Brooklyn drunkard Mr. Muthafuckin' eXquire, whose slurred raps on two mixtapes and an LP made big waves on the blog circuit last year. EXquire's muffled delivery should blend perfectly with Memphian game changer Cities Aviv, whose hazy beats better align with California hustlers like DaVinci than 8 Ball & MJG. Reppin' the South, indie rock adoptees G-Side mix dream pop with hip-hop on November's Island and ATL vet Killer Mike submits his final Pl3dge. California guitar punks Wavves and Trash Talk fit somewhere in between. The big name's Mobb Deep, Queensbridge's Infamous rap duo back in force now that Prodigy's finally out of the clink.
– Chase Hoffberger
