SXSW recap thursday

Thursday was another day to enjoy music. I'm finding it harder to recall exactly what we did. But i do remember us discovering the French Legation Museum's lawn party. The museum has beautiful space and the lawn party provided two stages with pretty cool line-ups everyday. We caught Real Estate(whom I saw twice at SXSW). They have some good songs. They're nothing to write home about but they're a solid band. Beach Comber is a choice track.



One thing people should learn about sxsw is that if there is a band that is extremely hyped before the festival you should steer clear of any shows they are playing for fear of a human clusterfuck. This is twicely important to do if the band sucks. This year that band was brittish trio The xx. I'm sorry i dont like them. I find their live show boring and I dont buy the whole "minimalist sound" thing. yawn. The fat that people were wait in line all day to see this band is pathetic. dont waste your time.

Since I'm on the topic of the French Legation lawn party. I'm just gonna do a run through of the shows we saw there. Sharon von Etten played some quiet songs on electric guitar. Julianna Barwick bored us with her looped vocals but it was OK because the weather was beautiful and we were in the company of good friends laying in the grass. Holly Miranda played some forgettable songs as well. But the highlight of the lawn party besides the friends and the beer and the sun was one of my new favorite bands Woods. This trio is just a great band. Their lead singer is quite high-pitched (think Shins) and they write well-crafted songs while also retaining the ability to jam over a heavy bass line. Great band. I saw them twice at SXSW as well.



Night time time. Their were tons of big showcases to go to but we decided to go to a low key one at Wave. Our decision payed off big time. It was the carpark showcase and we saw Kria Brekkan, Toro y Moi (again), Lesser Gonzales Alvarez (baltimore represeent), and a pretty good band from california called the Growlers (be prepared for an awesome story here in a little bit). Avey Tare from Animal Collective was also "spinning records" in between sets. I couldnt muster up the courage to go talk to him. Kria Brekkan is his wife and she wins the award for most disturbing musical performance. I would almost consider her a performance artist. She sings in a high pitched child-like voice and uses loop pedals and keyboards. She is very thin to the point of unhealthiness. As bizzarre and creepy as her show was I really enjoyed it.



a favorite of mine that i was wishing they would play. Avey did not oblige.


In between sets I went to the bathroom. A guy in there was like "my friend just texted me and he says Bill murray is upstairs but I dont wanna walk up there if he isnt here." I went over to my friends and we decided to go upstairs and check it out. The growlers were playing on the roof and what do you know a old/high looking Bill Murray is standing front and center. Excitement ensues and we worked our way in to the crowd right behind Billy boy. Of course a semi-aggressive mosh pit break out. So yeah I moshed with Bill Murray that night. No big deal.
The growlers werent bad either.



And day two of sxsw was finished. two nights down two to go. great job life.

SXSW recap wednesday

Another year and another South by Southwest experience. I believe this was my 8th in a row. I had a great time and got to spend some quality moments with great friends. But in the end its about the music and I saw plenty of it. The first day started out at The Austinist party at the Mohawk. Anni Rossi delivered an OK set and then Toro Y Moi really impressed me with his looped reverb drenched vocals and 80's/beachy synths. The song Blessa is always a jam. This guy is headed for bigger things.



We then proceeded outside and caught sets by The Besnard Lakes and White Denim. I'm not really big on the Lakes they bore me and I really dont see what the big deal is. But fellow texans White Denim blew my face off like they always do. I love this band. If you ever have the chanced to see them gather up some friends, drink some beers and get ready to pee your pants in excitement. This three-piece plays blistering rock shows almost without a second of pause. The songs melt into one another perfectly and alll three guys are great musicians. You can hear, blues, punk and funk influences but they have a go for broke style that is all their own. Lead singer and guitarist James Petralli's voice is complex and powerful. He also has a great scream. I cant say enough about these guys. They're just a great cohesive band holding it down for Texas.



The night came and we started out at Stubb's to catch The Walkmen. I have been a fan of this band for a while and they are seasoned and extremely professional. It will only be a matter of time before lead singer Hamilton Leithauser loses his voice forever. He sings unbelievably loud and hard every show. They were accompanied by an 8 piece brass section which really enhanced the performance. Especially on songs like the beautiful Red Moon.



After this show we were gettin our buzz on and ready to party. Wednesday night happened to be a great night for hip-hop so we headed to Speakeasy to catch the Stones Throw Records showcase. We saw sets by J Rocc (who was a pleasant surprise spinning awesome soul and funk jams), Stones Throw founder Peanut Butter Wolf, and my favorite producer of all time Madlib. This show was packed and extremely fun. the set up was kind of wonky though with the stage/DJ booth right next to the bar. A great time was had by all.







The goal was to end the night at The Phoenix to see Flying Lotus. Mission accomplished. Flying lotus blew us all away with haunting futuristic beats and glitchy tripped out visual projections. It was a great show. He has great stage presence and converses with the audience well. I cant wait to see him again at Le Poisson Rouge on tuesday. about halfway through the show Flying Lotus cut off the beat and said "Yeah so all y'all can tweet Flying Lotus is killin shit right now." Thats about right. Highlights of the set were tracks like "Camel" and "melt" as well as remixes of Lil Wayne's "A Milli" and "I feel like dying." Fly Lo was also kind enough to give us a sneak listen to some new material. All in all. It was a great night.





here's a low quality video that will give you an idea of what the show was like


And that was my wednesday. SXSW is the best.

new music: Jay Electronica

If you are a hip-hop fan you must be aware of the sad state that the genre is in. bitches, hos, money, cars and semi-clever lines correlating cartoons and pop culture references to sex or "gettin money" or whatever. Well there is still hope. Jay Electronica is an intelligent and gifted MC from New Orleans. I hope he is here to save the world. for now enjoy this song.

In the studio and assemblage

I had been neglecting my studio as of late so I decided to start a massive assemblage project comprised of old contact sheets, prints and test strips that I let sit in a tub in my darkroom that I intermittently pour chemistry over. I then let them dry together and rip them apart. Some amazing accidents occur. They will now be assembled and pasted together with paint and film. We'll see what happens. the following 8 images are long exposures what will be composited onto each other. I am simply moving the clippings around with my hands while the shutter is open as well as flashing with my cell phone. It is a photoshop process about technical difficulties. Although I am creating a series of images no progress is made on this physical project. if anything it is detrimental to my progress in the studio.

Me in the studio

PS 1 and the snowstorm

PS 1 is one of my favorite spaces in New York for the exhibition of art and at this time they have an amazing exhibit on the history of performance art. It totally melted my face off. It is truly amazing. GO SEE IT!!!!! It is comprised of over 100 monitors screening important performances from the past 100 years. You could spend the whole day there. Their outdoor space is amazing as well. I wonder what will be here next.

Me and my sister

The winter break was a great opportunity for me to spend some quality time with my beloved sister Vanessa. Here we are goofin around and getting ready for a friday night in Austin. I miss her always and I'm excited for her to visit in April

frozen fountain