I say this all the time, but the best education I have ever received has been from the Brooklyn Public Library. You can laugh, but it’s the truth and some of my friends are finally catching on especially in a time when that $15 on a book could be better spent elsewhere.
It’s free to get a card and the occasional $1 late fee is a lot cheaper than any MBA or advanced degree I would want. More importantly, it’s all on my own terms because I decide the what books to read as well as what insights and knowledge I should gain.
It's easy to que books you want to take out...
...and it's just as easy to renew books that aren't finished yet
Even better, are the email notifications you receive to tell you a book is available to pick up or that a book is due in 3 days.
So do yourself a favor and go to your local branch to get a library card and the worst case scenario is that you don’t use it.
I woke up after a much needed 10 hours of sleep around 11:30AM. Walt and I grabbed some more bagels and we hopped the bus to downtown Austin. My agenda for my last two days was somewhat loose. With so much going on, I didn’t want to confine myself to a set idea of how my time would best be spend.
We hopped over to the Pure Volume house (schedule here) to stumble on some random music. Despite the horrible 80′s hair metal style band name and horrendously-dressed lead singer, Bastard Lovechild of Rock N Roll were pretty damn good for a duo. They shifted between indie blues and electronic with a blues edge (and throw in some prog for good measures). However, after listening to their demo that they gave me, I’m less impressed.
I left itching for music, so we headed to the Fader Fort where I had no clue what the lineup was, BUT we had to wait in a line to get my wristbands. For anyone who knows, they know how much lines piss me off, but I stuck it out. When we got inside, it was like walking into a psychedelic hipster tree house complete. Besides the music and the free beer, the best part was this shed (literally) that Korg sponsored. Check out the video below to see what I’m talking about:
The first band we saw was Chasing Kings from LA. Pretty solid, but nothing special. I think that’s the case because next up was We Were Promised Jetpacks were next up. They sounded like old school Modest Mouse (i.e. pre-Float On) and were so loud that they blew a speaker on stage right. I will look for them the next time they’re in New York even though I think their name is so absurd.
After them, I had had enough of music, but on the way out Walt bumped into an “Internet friend” he had known for 2 years, but never met. The concept of knowing someone without meeting them is so alien to me, but I’m trying to embrace it (slowly). During their conversation, I had to bear through the WORST band I saw all week. Free Energy are an exaggeration and amplification of everything I hate about MGMT. The worst part is that they’re from Philly, so they’re bringing shame to my hometown.
When their set was over, I left the Fort feeling like my cell phone looked: beat up and almost out of batteries. This week was definitely getting to me, but I only had a couple more days, so I had to get through and make the best of my time in Austin. We headed back to the hotel to take a nap knowing that I would have to force myself to go back out. I woke up around 11:30PM and had to slap myself in the face to leave the apartment. The next step was getting a cab, which I finally got at the moment I was to give up.
I spent most of the night solo, so bounced around a lot. Stopped off at Hype Machine event to say hello to Taylor and check out Chicago’s Hey Champ. Hopped over to the Billboard.com Bungalow. Headed back to Pure Volume for Woodhands who are singlehandedly bringing back the keytar and then got a free massage. I was re-energized from the music, so I met up Aidan for another night on the RVIP until they dropped us off at the apartment.
With 3 hours of sleep from the night before, I was grumpy and delirious in the morning. I showered, wrote some quick emails, grabbed a bagel to go, and packed my bag for a full day of meetings leading up to the FlashFwd event at night.
Walt giving a thumbs to the ridiculous quantity of bagels
The apartment I stayed in ended up being 3 miles outside of downtown Austin (but I couldn’t argue with the price I was paying), so I half-consciously hopped on the bus around 8:30PM with the realization I was going to be a few minutes late. Little did I know, I went on the wrong bus and ended up 15 minutes in the wrong direction, so I ended up getting to my 9AM meeting at 9:45. However, the best part was that the driver told me to pay him tomorrow because I didn’t have any singles on me. That’s some southern hospitality.
Anyways, I got to Jesse’s hotel, had a light breakfast, and we got to business discussing the production for the night’s event. There was certainly a lot to take care of before we headed to the venue. Me, Jesse, Emily, Tiff, and our intern/driver (who asked us to call her Cookie), headed to Cosco’s and Office Max for food and random supplies we needed while Matt lead the on site production until we got there.
By the time I got to the venue around 3:30PM or so, I was starving and dead tired. The boxes of pizza on the bar settled my hunger and the nap on the couches from 4:00-4:15 temporarily energized me a bit. I was ready for the event!
Next thing you know, 5:00PM rolled around and the FlashFwd winners started rolling in one by one, so it great to formerly meet all them since I had only exchanged emails and phone calls. Most people started coming around 6:30ish, so we didn’t get the award ceremony going until 7:30PM, but you can find out more about it in the post I wrote for SoundCtrl’s blog since there’s no sense in rewriting the same thing over again. However, I should mention one thing though–Philly’s Chiddy Bang (who played the event) was a lot better than some friends of mine said even though hip-hop without a live band is a huge pet-peeve of mine.
After the event, I grabbed dinner, headed back to the apartment with Walt and passsssssed out! I needed it though because, as it turned out, Day 3 got prettttty crazy.
Spent the weekend in Philly to catch up on sleep and see some old friends, so I’m ready for a recap.
For the sake of brevity because I know people are busy, this picture and the list of bands I saw can explain the madness that was my week at SXSW…boarding passes, wrist bands, receipts, business cards, bus passes, drink tickets, and laminates.
Bands (note: post on my Top 5 to come in the next few days):
White denim
2AM club
Chiddy bang
Bastard Lovechild of Rock N Roll
Chasing Kings
We Were Promised Jetbacks
Hey Champ
Woodhands
Fanfarlo
Best Coast
Neon Indian
Local Natives
Lush Life
Boxer Rebellion
The Temper Trap
Dr. Dog
Broken Social Scene (with special guest Emily Hines from Metric)
Cougar – My buddy Jon did a remix of their song “Rhinelander” and I HAD to check out the original. It’s a genre of its own that I can only call post-rock trip-hop.
If you think your band should be featured for 5 New Bands, please send me a track using the amazing Soundcloud (note: look at top right of this page and click on the Soundcloud image)
Below is our official flyer for Flashfwd and it includes the RSVP info. Also, please check out my post on the awesome winners: Indaba Music, RockDex, Hype Machine, Jingle Punks, and Big Live. BTW, I’m not leaking (just yet) who the guest performers are yet, but I gotta tell you that they’re pretty damn good.
My buddy Jon aka Fatty Acid, put together this awesome remix album that makes Jamie Foxx bearable. Also, definitely check out the Sharon Jones track. It’s incredible. Enjoy…
My SXSW: Day 2
23 03 2010With 3 hours of sleep from the night before, I was grumpy and delirious in the morning. I showered, wrote some quick emails, grabbed a bagel to go, and packed my bag for a full day of meetings leading up to the FlashFwd event at night.
Walt giving a thumbs to the ridiculous quantity of bagels
The apartment I stayed in ended up being 3 miles outside of downtown Austin (but I couldn’t argue with the price I was paying), so I half-consciously hopped on the bus around 8:30PM with the realization I was going to be a few minutes late. Little did I know, I went on the wrong bus and ended up 15 minutes in the wrong direction, so I ended up getting to my 9AM meeting at 9:45. However, the best part was that the driver told me to pay him tomorrow because I didn’t have any singles on me. That’s some southern hospitality.
Anyways, I got to Jesse’s hotel, had a light breakfast, and we got to business discussing the production for the night’s event. There was certainly a lot to take care of before we headed to the venue. Me, Jesse, Emily, Tiff, and our intern/driver (who asked us to call her Cookie), headed to Cosco’s and Office Max for food and random supplies we needed while Matt lead the on site production until we got there.
By the time I got to the venue around 3:30PM or so, I was starving and dead tired. The boxes of pizza on the bar settled my hunger and the nap on the couches from 4:00-4:15 temporarily energized me a bit. I was ready for the event!
Next thing you know, 5:00PM rolled around and the FlashFwd winners started rolling in one by one, so it great to formerly meet all them since I had only exchanged emails and phone calls. Most people started coming around 6:30ish, so we didn’t get the award ceremony going until 7:30PM, but you can find out more about it in the post I wrote for SoundCtrl’s blog since there’s no sense in rewriting the same thing over again. However, I should mention one thing though–Philly’s Chiddy Bang (who played the event) was a lot better than some friends of mine said even though hip-hop without a live band is a huge pet-peeve of mine.
After the event, I grabbed dinner, headed back to the apartment with Walt and passsssssed out! I needed it though because, as it turned out, Day 3 got prettttty crazy.
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Tags: Austin, bus, bus driver, Chiddy Bang, cookie, cosco's, david chaitt, flashfwd, office max, philly, SoundCtrl, southern hospitality, SXSW, sxsw festival, sxsw music, sxsw music festival, Texas, the phoenix, tx, wrong bus
Categories : Industry Commentary, Live Music, Music Tech, SoundCtrl, sxsw 2010