Sunday 14 March 2010

Annual SXSW Roundup: Via Tania, Lissie, Liars, Blessure Grave, and Ya Ho Wa 13


Spring is in the air here in Minneapolis. It's the time of the year when all the people you thought might have died and been eaten by their cats all winter reappear from their seclusion and prove you totally, joyfully wrong. It's a time when you can walk to bars without fear of falling on ice or just straight up being super cold. And so now, on this the cusp of the seasons, I am getting the hell away for the yearly magic that is...South By Southwest. And thus it is time for the Diamonds Fur Coat Champagne Annual SXSW Roundup. Yee haw!!!

Here are some bands I want to see at SXSW. I am not going to type out when they are appearing because my carpal tunnel, she is a-ragin'. Margaritas! Enchiladas! Iced lattes! And an overwhelming impression that everyone walking past you might JUST MIGHT be hot b/c you're drunk and a higher than average percentage of people are not wearing the Mpls Dude Uniform (i.e. flannel. It never stopped being the 80s/90s here.) We salute you, indie rock spring break!

Ya Ho Wa 13
Ya Ho Wa 13 is a psychedelic rock band from the 70s who were (are?) also part of a religious cult/commune with its own vegetarian restaurant. I think that's really all anyone needs to know. Rumours are circulating that they'll be playing with Husker Du's Grant Hart. YES.

Liars
I love Liars! But you already knew that. I was super excited to see that they had been added to the roster. I also read some interview when I was bored at work where the band cited Nathaniel West's Day of the Locust as one of the sort of inspirations behind their new album, Sisterworld. I love that book!!! OMG LOL we have sooo much in common.


Via Tania
I can't explain what it is that kinda gets me about this Australian-born Chicagoan's delicate songs. Watch this video. You might not "get" it right away, but cooking has never ever seemed so enchanted. You almost expect a unicorn to pop out of there and be all like, "Hey do you want me to stir something? Ooh, looks like the water's boiling." Truly the most culinary-minded of the mythic beasts, they are. Also "Fields" on her MySpace page is good, too. Also: our girl looks a bit like Audrey Horne from Twin Peaks so I am automatically in love with her. (That's her in the picture above, looking slightly less Audrey and more Bat for Lashes.)



Lissie
Lissie is on Fat Possum. Some of her songs are getting a lot of play on radio here, but I don't really like those songs that much (possibly mostly because they are super overplayed...who knows.) You know what I do like? Her cover of Hank Williams' "Wedding Bells." Ow!!! Did you just hear that? It was the sound of my heart breaking.

I fancy that I see a bunch of roses/
a blossom from an orange tree in your hair/
and while the organ plays "I love you truly"/
please let me pretend that it's me there


Aaaaaaaaaaahhhhh my soooooul it is withering and will never be the same. Lissie, why are you doing this to me?? Ok, yes, I will hit repeat.


Blessure Grave
Some people I know don't like Blessure Grave. Those people suck. Indie goth bands 4eva. It is my dream to be in a band where we, too, use blurry photos of ourselves wearing cloaks.

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