SXSW Sampler from NPR

It's definitely a big week for music, and The Musically Inclined..... is not in Austin right now (sorry), but that doesn't mean that there isn't a little SXSW goodness to be heard back here. Mainly I just wanted to draw to your attention the free NPR Music at SXSW sampler that's available on iTunes. The track listing is as follows:

01. Written in Reverse : Spoon
02. The High Road : Broken Bells
03. I Learned the Hard Way : Sharon Jones And The Dap-Kings
04. Canadian Girl : The Walkmen
05. Girl In Love : Smith Westerns
06. Airplanes : Local Natives
07. Everywhere I Go : G-Side
08. Cleo's Song : JBM
09. Achille's Heel: IV. Shur Landing : Brooklyn Rider
10. Hannah : Freelance Whales
11. Swim : Surfer Blood

The first two tracks alone make this worth the download. In somewhat related news, I have scattered thoughts on Broken Bells and will post soon. Anyway, the sampler is again, free, so I don't really know why you're still reading this. Have at it.

Open Mic Night is...

Open mic nights are sticky. Really sticky. In an ideal situation, there would be previously untapped talent sitting in the audience nursing a drink, then shyly sauntering up to the stage only to remind the rest of the venue why they love music like a second pulse. That's an ideal situation. Usually it doesn't quite work out that way. A lot of the time events like these are filled with alcohol-influenced delusion and unfortunate access to an instrument. At first, people are trying so hard to be polite but all it takes is a couple of bad notes, a failed falsetto, wrong note, and half the audience collectively winces and chokes on whatever they're drinking. It can be rough, an hour of misguided musical meanderings for a few instances of glowing talent. Personally, during the duds I start watching the chords the "artist" plays and scribble the progression on a napkin. It works.

Thankfully, I actually went to an open mic night that was heavier on the side of enjoyable than painful. Granted, the area is particularly musician-y, but that's still never a guarantee. I was surprised and the crowd was hyper sensitive. Chatter died as interest spiked and of course there were times when chatter threatened to drown the the ill-fated performance. The fourth act got up and hooked everyone with the first line. He was a little bit raspy. Combine that with witty, relatable lyrics, and decent guitar skills and those three minutes were truly his. Prize for best crowd reaction though, definitely went to one guy-- one of the few who wasn't playing a guitar-- who sat down at the piano and ripped it up with an incredibly smooth and soulful original song. It was proof that there are little buried diamonds out there which have yet to be placed in a setting. Standing ovation. The guy who followed even was forced to self-consciously acknowledge his unbelievable musical magnificence. If the other guy had everyone from the first line, this one had us by the first note.

Less successful acts included teeth grindingly long songs done in barley audible voices. "Sing along with me, everybody." No! I came here to listen. I write, not sing. A full minute of a mind numbing chorus and all I could do was pass impatient looks to my friend who looked incredulous at what we were witnessing. Others wouldn't have been so bad if they'd have been a little original and busted out of the whole sensitive songwriter schtick. We get it. You're in pain. Don't pass it along. Breathy and angsty only goes so far.

In the end, it's a tough thing to get up in front of people and try to act cool and professional, or at least not like you're about to wet yourself. It's hard, kudos to the person lacking in inhibitions enough to sing something that sounds like it was written by the guy who spiked the punch. They certainly have company. They are the proverbial "spice" of life.

Listening Live

Let me start by saying I'm in the middle of a move so apologies for large gaps in time between postings...but I'm going to try really hard.

Moving on, I was walking around and stumbled on a congregation of guys sitting around playing their guitars and singing. It was surprising because despite the rather spontaneous nature of their gathering, they sounded really good. I couldn't help but think how great that was, what a terrific excuse to hang out and, as always, rock out. Of, course this kind of thing is nothing new and I'm raving like I just discovered sno cones, but in the past I have not been that exposed to that kind of pure, just sing-it type music. It's never been so accessible, it's always been a rare find for me. No one was worried about sounding stupid or hitting the wrong note because they were so wrapped up in the sheer momentum of the music itself and the approval of the crowd. Beautiful.

Later on I checked out a little music festival of sorts, showcasing several bands and singers, mostly college kids. I believe that some would have blown it off, thinking back to the crappy talent shows in high school, manned by a bunch of inexperienced students, but I figured maybe this would be different. It was terrific. Partly because the acts were good and fresh but also because the whole street was lit up and the music was loud. Makes a person want to swear off anything recorded. The other really nice thing, it was free. That definitely helps too attract a crowd of willing listeners who might just check out the band the following night for five dollars at a local whole in the wall. Sampler CDs, flyers, it was a lot of fun and the performers were so unjaded, it wasn't like listening to the crowd banter of someone who has been on the road fifteen years. They're either really good or burnt out. "Anybody from Cleveland?" Good energy, good crowd, good music, good ambiance. It was electric, guitar saturating the very air we were breathing. So once my friends and I decided to head home, it made it really hard to do. There were a couple acts left and even though they were going to be more country possibly fused with something else, oh was it hard to walk away from the music. So very, very hard to leave.

Live Earth

In the words of O.K. Go, "a good idea at the time." At first thought of course I couldn't help but get a bit giddy at the idea of some Captain Planet-esque crusade by a multitude of musicians brandishing guitars fervently while telling the world to unplug its cell phone charger, but I stopped to wipe the grin off my face with the realization that I've seen something like this before...oh what was it?

A mere two years ago I nearly busted my head on the tv when I forgot to watch Live 8. When a DVD of the extravaganza finally found its way to my house, I was impressed. Being relatively young I had not seen an undertaking of this magnitude, but now it partly serves to remind why the well-intentioned Live Earth seemed to fizzle amid groans like a Fox rip-off.

TOO SIMILAR TOO SOON- Live Aid seemed groundbreaking, Live 8 was a great second act about twenty years later, brand spankin' new for today's younger generation and Live Earth just came across like a wannabe.

MUSICIANS AND HYPOCRITS- In terms of carbon emissions, how much does the tour bus and the trucks and the air plane flights and the sets and whatever else cost? In terms of polar bears' lives, how much? Am I saying anything new here?

BANDWAGON IS BORING- Everyone loves a good cause to rally behind, especially if it's in vogue or looks good on a t-shirt. Who needs to know if you really believe in it? In my mind, Kanye West's environmetal savyness is at best dubious.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not bashing the good Al Gore- I think he got carried away. Maybe try something different next time. No stages, but a park with limited tickets. One event, not seven. More realistic info on going green and how does this sound: acoustic.