PopCast #15 - SXSW Edition Part 1: Anything That's Anything Becomes Nothing

In this episode:

SXSW madness, VietNam, Page France, the Stills live from the eerie Myspace Bus and otherwise, Horns of Happiness, Man Man, and more more.

PopCast #15 - SXSW Edition Part 1: Anything that's Anything Becomes Nothing.

So it took me about a week to get things together and sort through the audio that I didn't manage to lose/record over/never actually record in the first place (note to self: never stop to check what you've already captured and then plug the mic back into the headphone jack...). What you've got here is therefore the PopCast partially transplanted to Austin, Texas. Incomplete and unprofessional in all its glory, but still fun. It's really meant as a companion piece to parts 1 and 2 of text report, as well as the video episode that's on the way...

PopCast #14: The Soul's Intact (VidPopCast!)

In this episode: Dishwasher at Friendship Cove (the PopCast's clumsy video debut).

So I worked myself into a bit of a corner boasting the bi-monthly PopCast, but I wanted to try and stick to my guns as much as possible. The result this week is just as much of a next step as it is a cop-out, however, as we're featuring our first little video clip. And although the moment is short (and cut-off) and the quality is shoddy, I hope you'll agree that it's full of as much soul as anything I've ever put on the PopCast. The minute or so captured here is from Dishwasher's set at the Friendship Cove this past Saturday. It was as much of a performance piece as it was a set of music; complete with projections and pre-recorded comedic interludes, Martin started simple and messy and ended in a kind of evangelical frenzy. He's a pleasure and inspiration to watch, and I think you can see it on display here.

The show at the Friendship Cove also had performances from Martin's fellow Think About Life-r, Graham Van Pelt, (showing up as Miracle Fortress as well as half of Magnus), and rousing sets from Socalled and Kali, with guest spots by Katie Moore, Giselle Numba One, and Magnus's other half, J-E Z, who hitched a ride back from Toronto and CMW. Performances and nights like this are the real foundation of the PopCast, and as we move forward with the channel—offering video, live recordings, etc.—I really hope these kinds of moments can be captured more.

If you're partial to the audio-only, fear not. I'll either have Episode 15 next week or serve it up some time on the 20th. Either way, the latter date will be a special SXSW edition of the PopCast, as I'll be down in Austin from the 15th-19th, hopefully capturing some of the action to keep things interesting and international. If you listen (or watch!) the Popcast, and you're going to be in Austin for SXSW, by all means get in touch.

In the meantime, go ahead and get your hopes up for the Sunset Rubdown full length, Shut Up I Am Dreaming, which lands on May 2nd and is far and away the best thing I've heard this year. I doubt the (partial) title track, "Shut Up I Am Dreaming Of Places Where Lovers Have Wings", will be topped in 2006 in terms of great songs. And I'm tempted to say that it stands up to epic tracks like Led Zeppelin's "Over the Hills and Far Away" and Bowie's "Station to Station" ...