These United States were the first band I grabbed to play Hot Freaks! I’m a big fan of both the band’s work and the musicians as people. They’re a delight and always lead to a good time. However that means jack to you, the reader, if the music isn’t good. I mean, I have friends [...]

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I was really glad that we snagged Henry Clay People early into our Hot Freaks! booking. It wasn’t hard, mind you, since Justin runs their record label. But I’d just heard so much good stuff about them from all my LA friends and readers that I was glad to finally get a chance to see [...]

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We Have Band were the first casualty of SXSW for me. What I mean by that, is that I didn’t get to stay for more than a song of theirs before I had to dash off to see another band. What I caught was a refreshing change from most of the bands I’d see so [...]

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I only got to enjoy the Handsome Furs for a short while, but luckily they were so far above my expectations that that’s really all I needed to know they knocked it out of the park. Why the reason for the low to medium expectations? Well, having seen Wolf Parade last year, I wasn’t really [...]

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Continuing their incredible string of bookings, the Take Away Show just posted their session with Sigur Ros. The band only had time for one song — and almost never play acoustically — but the result is incredible. They play “Med Sud I Eyrum” off their new album in what looks like an upscale French restaurant. [...]

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I didn’t realize it until I landed in Austin, but our Hot Freaks! event was the first time I’d seen Bishop Allen since they last played our SXSW event two years ago. Back then they were riding on the success of their EP-a-month project which yielded 12 releases in 2006; this year they were supporting [...]

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This is that new Department of Eagles song that I wrote about seeing performed at the 4AD showcase. This video is from their performance at Waterloo Records, which I’ve still yet to ever set foot in. This song is amazing and just another feather in Daniel Rossen’s cap.

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Royal Alberta Advantage were both the first band I caught at our Hot Freaks! party and the band at SXSW I went the quickest from unfamiliar to very interested in. I first saw them at the eMusic church show, but I couldn’t snag a good enough photo to warrant a review. But at their Hot [...]

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Oh man. I’m so amazingly tired from traveling back from SXSW. I got one hour of sleep and had to catch a cab to the airport at 3:45. It wasn’t all bad, though; I got to see a sad/ashamed girl walking around in a leotard. I think she was a refugee from the giant Rick [...]

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