After two days of South By Southwest (SXSW) Interactive events, Examiner has found another Austin band to love (Language Room), saw Quiet Company kill it on the Whole Foods rooftop, watched a spectacular Octopus Project performance, met Deadmau5, enjoyed an intimate set by indie-rockers, Surfer Blood and capped Tuesday night dancing with Hard Proof. Tons of great music has already happened and music week officially kicks off today. After reading our recap below, be sure to check out photos from the past couple of days.
Monday we headed to Bourbon Girl on Sixth Street for Vivogig's Tech party where we fell in love with Language Room, an indie band who has been performing in town since 2007. The quartet led by Todd Sapio and Scott Graham recorded their first full-length album with Matt Novesky of Blue October in 2009. A fan at the show Monday described the band as an intelligent cross between Elvis Costello and Death Cab for Cutie. That may be a fairly apt description, but you can decide for yourself by streaming their tracks. "Open Air (All I Ever Got From Love)" is an especially well-crafted tune which the band included in their set Monday.
We spoke to the band following their set and they told us Adam Duritz (Counting Crows) saw the performance and took a moment to let the band know how much he enjoyed it. We feel you Adam. According to the band's manager, Sarah Oehrlein, Language Room plans to get into the studio again soon to record their second album. You can catch the band at one of two more SXSW dates this week:
3/15 - Hole in the Wall at 5:50 pm
3/16 - OFFICIAL SXSW Showcase at BD Riley's, midnight
Yesterday's highlights included an interview with Deadmau5 at Sonos Studio followed by a rousing set by West Palm Beach, Florida natives, Surfer Blood. The young four-piece who we first saw at Fun Fun Fun Fest last November is signed to Warner Brothers. The band played to a small but enthusiastic crowd which seemed to suit frontman, John Paul Pitts who wandered into the audience, grabbed a smoke out of fan's hand and demanded a beer while trailing his vocal mic behind him.
Besides being entertaining to watch, the band plays fantastic, melodic indie-rock that hits the listener right in the solar plexus. You still have a chance to catch the Florida rockers Thursday through Saturday at various SXSW events.
Hard Proof wrapped up the night for us at Covert Curiosity and Ender Productions Kickoff Party at Hotel Vegas. The Afrobeat band had fans dancing in front of the stage as they ran through their Fela Kuti-inspired originals during an intense 45-minute set. Hard Proof has a few more SXSW performances left on the schedule. More information is available at the Hard Proof website.
Watch for more SXSW coverage this week, including Jim James, Flaming Lips, Austin Music Awards and Justin Timberlake.
Special thanks to Amanda Garcia, Jacob Stetson, Daniel Senyard, Lawrence Boone and Sonos Studios,
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