Capsula SXSW Highlight: THE BIG BEAT and THIS IS FAKE DIY (UK)
THE BIG BEAT
SXSW Report - Capsula (Thursday)
I won’t lie. The last week took a lot out of me. Between work and volunteering at the SXSW Trade Show, it’s a wonder I had anything left in the tank to go see bands at night. But as this was my first SX in years that I wasn’t part of an all-day radio broadcast, I’d psyched myself up to go at this year’s fest with almost everything I had and yet, I still couldn’t do it all.
Wednesday was out from the get-go due to a work commitment - one I was more than happy to take, thankyouverymuch - so, it was on to Thursday. My friend (and avid TBB reader) Giselle sent me a note saying that Surf City had to pull out of the festival, so that left my 8p slot open. Instead of scrambling for a replacement, I simply decided to camp out at the club where my 9p pick, Las Robertas, were playing and boy, am I glad I did.
I’d never heard of Capsula before tonight, although I came to learn that they were SX veterans. A garage rock trio from Spain (via Argentina), they hit the tiny stage armed with songs from the just released In The Land of Silver Souls and played like they were headlining an arena. With a big sound, big licks, and 50 years of rockstar cliches in their arsenal, they just came out and ROCKED it. Singing in English, Martin Guevara must’ve studied a lifetime’s worth of Iggy Pop videos, as he preened and shimmied across the stage. The show’s highlight was his parting the crowd and running his guitar strings along the bar while accepting a swig of beer in the process. Top notch, sir.
Capsula certainly weren’t anything you hadn’t heard before but in bringing their A-game, to me, they epitomized what SXSW should be about: stumbling upon a band, being pleasantly surprised, and emerging a fan. Here’s a relatively obscure band from Spain - not exactly a hotbed of rock - for which playing SXSW is probably considered a career highlight. Perhaps mine is a minority opinion, but fuck secret shows (Foo Fighters) and last-minute gigs by superstars (Kanye West) looking to slipstream on SX’s notoriety. There were 2000 bands in Austin last week and I’m glad Capsula was one of them. Their ear-to-ear smiles, including that of sultry bassist Coni Duchess, were memorable. Captured at random. (TBB rating: 8/10)
THIS IS FAKE DIY (UK)
By Mike Taylor
I learned that by living in Austin, SXSW is really a three week commitment: one to prepare, one to execute, one to recover. Here are a few of my highlights
FRIENDLY FIRES “Live Those Dreams Tonight” (XL), from Pala
LANTERNS ON THE LAKE “Lungs Quicken” (self-released), from Lungs Quicken EP
EDWYN COLLINS “A Girl Like You” (Setanta), from Gorgeous George
THE JOY FORMIDABLE “Whirring” (live), courtesy of NPR. Original on The Big Roar
BURIAL “Street Halo” (Hyperdub), single
BURIAL, FOUR TET, + THOM YORKE “Mirror” (Text), single
WILD FLAG “Future Crimes” (live), courtesy of NPR. Original on 7” single
LAS ROBERTAS “Back To The End” (Art Fag), from Cry Out Loud
CAPSULA “Hit ‘n’ Miss” (BCore), from In The Land Of Silver Souls
THE WEEKND “What You Need” (self-released), from House Of Balloons
LOWER DENS “Hospice Gates” (Gnomonsong), from Twin-Hand Movement
STILL CORNERS “Parallels” (self-released), from Remember Pepper
ANNA CALVI “Suzanne & I” (Domino), from Anna Calvi
Read more: http://www.thisisfakediy.co.uk/articles/listen/the-big-beat-29th-march-2011#ixzz1KHFBpsXe
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