Last night, internet sensation Lana Del Rey held a concert for her fans at the famous Los Angeles record store, Amoeba. Despite only singing a handful of songs, fans went crazy over Del Rey, yelling things like ‘I Love You’ and ‘Marry Me’. Check below for a live performance of “Video Games.”
UPDATE: According to Pitchfork, Del Rey hasn’t cancelled US Tour. SXSW still cancelled though.
Whether or not you made the trek to South By Southwest (SXSW), you now have the opportunity to enjoy some of the very good music featured at the festival via the new iTunes Live: SXSW EP’s.
SXSW has announced the official digital release of 20 short albums recorded, mixed, and mastered on the ground in Austin last week during the festival. The EP’s feature live recordings from Lucinda Williams, Jessica Lea Mayfield, Neon Trees and Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears and many more.
For the first time, the mtvU Woodie Awards will be picking up their gear in New York City and carrying it to set up and broadcast the show in Austin, Texas. A big factor in this decision is SXSW‘s upcoming 25th anniversary as one of the most successful and helpful indie music festivals in the nation. The show which has honored acts such as Gnarls Barkley, Matt and Kim, Death Cab For Cutie with awards has also boosted performances from indie acts in the past such as Lykke Li, Passion Pit and The Dead Weather.
Hole‘s leading lady, Courtney Love, has had her ups and down throughout life with one of them being estranged from her own daughter, Frances Bean. However, she’s been busy with of plenty of other tasks to keep her mind off of her woes. Although 1998′s Celebrity Skin had some catchy mainstream tunes such as the title track, it didn’t receive much critical acclaim.
Yet with new album, Nobody’s Daughter, and even with the fact that Love is the only original member currently in the band, there already seems to be a bit more substance.
Despite a decrease in attendance in the recession-riddled 2009, this year’s South By Southwest music and film festival in Austin, TX is being touted as a complete success – if only for the fact that it drew record numbers in 2010. According to Reuters, “a record 13,022 music industry professionals registered” to attend the fest (along with an estimated 100,000 other music fans), consume copious amounts of barbeque, and ensure that the 2010/ 2011 liver transplant registry will remain awfully busy.
On day 3 of the SXSW Music Festival, Austin, TX is exploding with people. Walking down 6th street can take ages while trying to navigate the bustling crowd. My Friday afternoon started out with The Golden Filter, a band that shows a lot of promise based on their presence in the blogosphere. Penelope Trappes has got one wicked voice and the recent addition of a live drummer has added all the more presence to their electropop set.
By day 3 of SXSW, my fellow colleagues and the festival goers surrounding us were all complaining about lower back pain, feet on fire, and legs feeling like they were about to fall off. However, that didn’t stop us from going to see some great shows for the day and well into the night.
Friday was a bit chillier than the last two days, but the Austin sunshine was still there to greet us as we decided our next moves. First stop for me was Los Angeles’ Trailer Fire Records’ day party where Justin Gordon, Olentangy John, We Are Country Mice and Leslie and The Badgers were playing at Shakespeare’s Pub.
Freelance Whales were a popular act at this years SXSW festival, they played a number of parties during the week including the French Kiss Records party which is where I caught them. The outfit from Queens, New York kicked off the party by opening for the likes of Local Natives, An Horse, Suckers, and Les Savy Fav — all on the record label.
The very last band I saw at the French Kiss Records party was Suckers, a foursome out of Brooklyn, New York. Of all the bands I saw while in Austin for SXSW, Suckers was easily the most surprising. I went into the show having never heard of the band before which left my ears a blank canvas for the sonic goodness that the band had to offer. Their music lies somewhere in the ether between indie, noise, and electro rock. Exactly where that is though, I have no idea.
