Thursday At SXSW 2011

MARCH 17TH

AGALLOCH   

Nanotear Booking Showcase @ Barbarella Patio, set time 11:45 PM       

AMBER ASYLUM   
Nanotear Booking Showcase @ Barbarella Patio, set time 9:00 PM   

BATHS
Friends of Friends Showcase @ Barcelona, set time 3:00 PM
Prefix Magazine Party @ ND (501 IH-35), set time 5:00 PM
I Guess I'm Floating & Flying Dog Party @ Lovejoys, set time 7:15 PM   
Bond Music Group/Self Titled Magazine Showcase @ Karma Lounge, set time 9:15 PM
 KVRXplosion Showcase @ Cheer Up Charlies, set time 1:15 AM

BLACK LIPS   

Vice Showcase @ Club De Ville, set time 11:00 PM

SLIM CESSNA’S AUTO CLUB   
Panache Booking Showcase @ Red 7 - inside, set time 12:10 AM

CHEAP TIME
SiiickXSW Party @ 1218 W. Holly St. - new address!

CHRISTIAN MISTRESS   

Kemado Showcase @ Valhalla, set time 11:00 PM

JOHN WESLEY COLEMAN   

 Certified PR Records Party @ Tailer Space, set time 11:30 PM

DASH RIP ROCK   

Music Fog Marathon Party @ Threadgills, set time 2:20 PM       
   
DAVILA 666   
Oops Baby Records    Party @ Jackalope
Volar Records/I Hate Rock n Roll/The Colone Party @ Trailer Space, set time 5:00 PM       
Vice Showcase @ Club De Ville, set time 9:00 PM

JAD FAIR   

SXSW Showcase @ The Hideout, set time 11:00 PM
       

FEROCIOUS FEW
 BAMM TV/Pop Montreal Party @ Beauty Bar - inside, set time 3:00 PM       
Roxy's AustinRox Showcase @ Black & Tan, set time 9:30 PM

FRESH & ONLYS   

Pitchfork Party @ East Side Drive In - stage #1, set time 2:45 PM
           

HUMAN EYE    

Happenin House SXSW Party   
Stereogrum/Sacred Bones/Chaos In Tejas Party @ Beerland   
Blackout Booking Showcase @ Headhunters, set time 1:05 AM
   

LITURGY   
Stereogrum/Sacred Bones/Chaos In Tejas Party @ Beerland
Thrasher Magazine @ Scoot Inn - Outside, set time 2:00 PM
         

LOWER DENS   
Pitchfork Party @ East Side Drive In - stage #2, set time 12:45 PM
Urban Outfitters in-store, set time 3:00 PM
   
MOON DUO   
Stereogrum/Sacred Bones/Chaos In Tejas Party @ Beerland
Impose Magazine Party @ Longbranch Inn, set time 10:45 PM
       

THEE OH SEES   
SiiickXSW Party @ 1218 W. Holly St. - new address!
Panache Booking Showcase @ Red 7 - inside, set time 1:00 AM
   

THE PAINS OF BEING PURE AT HEART  
Waterloo Records (Inside) in-store, set time 3:30 PM
Insound Party @ Club Deville, set time 5:00 PM
   

PAPERCUTS   
Other Music/Dig For Fire Party @ French Legation Museum, set time 1:00 PM

PURLING HISS   

Volar Records/I Hate Rock n Roll/The Colonel Party @ Trailer Space, set time 3:45 PM

QUINTRON AND MISS PUSSYCAT
SiiickXSW Party @ 1218 W. Holly St. - new address!

RATAS DEL VATICANO   

Night of Rage III Party @ Baby Blue Studios
   

SHIT ROBOT   
508 Live Stage SXSW Party

STILL GOING   

Bond Music Group Showcase @ Malverde, set time 10:15 PM

STRANGE BOYS  

SiiickXSW Party @ 1218 W. Holly St. - new address!
SESAC Showcase @ Bat Bar, set time 1:00 AM

SUN ARAW   

Impose Magazine Party @ Longbranch Inn, set time 10:00 PM
   

TIME NEW VIKING   
Pitchfork Party @ East Side Drive In - stage #1, set time 4:15 PM
  

SHARON VAN ETTEN   
Other Music/Dig For Fire Party @ French Legation Museum, set time 4:00 PM
 

VETIVER   
South by San Jose Party @ Jo's Coffee, set time 6:00 PM
   

WEEDEATER   
Thrasher Magazine Party @Scoot Inn, set time 4:00 PM
   

WEEKEND   
Pitchfork Party @ East Side Drive In - stage #1, set time 1:15 PM           
 Insound Party @ Club Deville, set time 3:00 PM   
TOD Showcase @ Beauty Bar/Palm Door, set time 11:00 PM   
   
WILLIAMS, DEVON   
I Hate Rock n' Roll Party @ Trailer Spac, set time 1:15-1:45 PM
The Smell Party @ Domy Books, set time 4:00 PM
   

WOOLFY   
Bond Music Group Showcase @ Malverde, set time 10:45 PM
   

WORM OUROBOROS   
Nanotear Booking Showcase @ Barbarella Patio, set time 10:00 PM
       

WOUNDED LION   
SXSW Party @ 2908 Cole St.

 

YOB

Brooklyn Vegan/1000 knives @ Emo's, set time 5:00 PM  
 Nanotear Booking Showcase @ Barbarella Patio, set time 1:00 AM

Wednesday At SXSW 2011.

WEDNESDAY MARCH 16TH

APACHE   
Burger Records Party @ Trailer Space, set time 8:30 PM

BATHS   

Anticon Showcase @ Mohawk, set time 1:00 AM
Austin Pets Alive! Benefit @ Epoch Coffee, set time 6:30 PM
Impose Mag Showcase @ Longbranch Inn, set time 10:15 PM

BEANS   

Anticon Showcase @ Mohawk, set time 12:00 AM

BLACK LIPS   

Vans Showcase @ Emo's Main Room, set time 11:50 PM
   

SLIM CESSNA’S AUTO CLUB   
AnSo Day Party @ Spider House - stage #1

DASH RIP ROCK   
SXSW Showcase @ Speakeasy Kabaret, set time 1:00 AM       
       
DAVILA 666   
Primavera Sound Showcase @ Nuvola, set time 8:00 PM

DROP THE LIME
  RCRD_LBL party @ Pure Volume House, set time 3:00 AM

FRESH & ONLYS   

Windish Agency Showcase @ ND @ 501 Studios, set time 11:00 PM

INDIAN JEWELRY   

SXSW Showcase @ Soho Lounge, set time 1:00 AM
   

KEN MODE
Brooklyn Vegan party @ Emo's Jr., set time 2:40 PM
Thrasher Magazine Party @ Scoot Inn - outside, set time 5:00 PM

KYLESA
Brooklyn Vegan party @ Emo's Jr., set time 5:10 PM
 

LOWER DENS   
Terrorbird Media/Force Field PR Party @ Red 7 - inside, set time 4:00 PM
      

MUMLERS   
Tiger Mountain/Noise Pop Party @ Red Eyed Fly, set time 3:30 PM   
SXSW Showcase @ TenOak, set time 11:00 PM
  

THEE OH SEES

Spider House - stage #1 SXSW Party - AnSo Day Party
  

PAINS OF BEING PURE AT HEART, THE   
eMusic Party @ Beauty Bar, set time 4:15 PM
 

TY SEGALL
eMusic Party @ Beauty Bar, set time 2:45 PM
   

SHARON VAN ETTEN   
 Brooklyn Vegan Showcase @ Swan Dive, set time 12:00 AM
  

VETIVER
Yours Truly/Bella Union Party @ French Legation Museum, set time 5:00 PM   
SXSW Showcase @ St. David's Historic Sanctuary, set time 1:00 AM

WEEKEND   

IODA Party @ Emo's Annex, set time 1:45 PM       
Forcefield PR Party @ Red 7 -outside, set time 3:45 PM
  

DEVON WILLIAMS   
AnSo Day Party @ Spider House - stage #2
Burger Records Party @ Trailer Space, set time 6:00 PM
Panache Booking Party @ Spider House, set time 9:30 PM

WOUNDED LION   

Can't Stop the Bleeding Party @ Beerland

The Mantles & Devon Williams @ The Echo Dec. 5th 2010.

Devon Williams & Co.

Mantles

Devon Williams Review On Pitchfork

Devon Williams
Carefree
[Ba Da Bing; 2008]
Rating: 6.6
Original review

Devon Williams' timing sort of sucks. As a teenager in the late-1990s/early-00s fronting SoCal punk outfit Osker, he was a good 15 years late for hardcore's salad days and a tad tardy to enjoy the post-Offspring spotlight that lit up the L.A./O.C. scenes. Notable mostly for the youth of its players, Osker was a decent-enough band in the sing-songy, suburban angsty vein-- decent enough, anyway, to get signed by Epitaph. Fast forward 10 years and the hipsters are sample-splicing, tribal-beating, and tapping out ironic 80s tributes on analog synths. Devon Williams? He's just released a solo record of heavily orchestrated pop crooners cobwebbed with Harry Nilsson's wistful romanticism, the Everly Brothers' rhythmic urgency, and the mighty sonic wall of Phil Spector. Dude might want to recalibrate his zeitgeist meter.

Even if it isn't trendy, Carefree, whose emotional centerpiece "Elevator" turns on a corn-syrupy pun (el-le-va-tor = "I love her") and moonstruck vocals, is a long way from beer-drenched basements and might, therefore, come off dilettantish. Not really. Williams has composed pop ditties in his bedroom for years and spent the past one sponging up sweetness and light as guitarist for Lavender Diamond (does it get any less punk than Becky Stark's fairyland fantasia?). Then there's the fact that Williams is no longer a child, and has, to some extent, put away childish things. Carefree's closer, "A Day in the Night" mulls the difficulty of navigating the surprisingly rocky chasm between guy with a band and professional adult: "Once was a musician, but now I just say artist/ 12 years must stand for something."

Not that he totally rejects the direct stage-to-audience channels of punk: "Stephanie City" is an enjoyable couple of minutes of pop pogosticking. Album opener, "Please Be Patient", however, is more typical of Carefree's mid-tempo fare. With a string section arranged by Lavender Diamond's Steve Gregoropoulos and torn from "Then He Kissed Me", cooing girls, and bomping-bomping guys, "Patient" could score a pink tulle, white jacketed prom circa 1963. "Honey"'s rippling 12-string guitar and echo-chambered vocals, is even retro-dreamier, its melody-- like many of Williams' tunes-- recalling those of the new wave era's 60s-pop revivalist, Marshall Crenshaw. But "A Truce" trounces both tracks for sheer stylistic conviction. Conflating god-devotion with girl-devotion and boasting an awesome game of drum and tambourine tag, the song recovers the lost white boy R&B-pop tradition of Dion.

Unfortunately, Williams doesn't sing as well as Dion or those Everly boys. His tenor is slightly nasal and his delivery can be flat and, well, a little callow sounding, distracting from the lush sophistication of Carefree's music. But you've gotta give the guy credit for his superb pen. Like Nilsson and Crenshaw and other men just slightly out of step with their times, Williams ultimately could build a reputation as a fine songwriter.

- Amy Granzin, August 15, 2008

Devon Williams Review In Paste

Devon Williams
Carefree [Ba Da Bing Records]

Charming solo debut from former mall punk gets retro-classy

If you ever bought one of those Epitaph Records Punk-O-Rama compilations in the late '90s, you might vaguely recall Devon Williams' pop-punk band Osker. (They also played the house-party band in the movie Crazy/Beautiful.) And your jaw might crack the table when you hear the direction he's taken on his solo debut. It's not uncommon for lapsed punks to turn to country or folk (an urge Williams slakes as the guitarist for Lavender Diamond), but how often do they become '60s pop-rockers with a penchant for syrupy chamber strings? Echoes of Williams' old group can be heard in the rollicking cadences of "Stephanie City" and "Bells" but, mostly, Carefree is for fans of Cass McCombs, Belle & Sebastian and John Vanderslice. The production sparkles with reverb and cavernous drums, and from the marching strings of "Please Be Patient" to the harmonized girl-group "ooh-oohs" of "One and One," Williams has found a context in which his lush tenor can really soar.

Brian Howe

Devon Williams Favs List Posted On Dusted Today.

Fresh off his recent tour opening for Destroyer, Devon Williams shares a top ten with Dustedmagazine.com today.
Original post

Devon Williams spent much of the last year touring as a member of Lavender Diamond and opening for Destroyer. But the Los Angeles songwriter managed to fit in a little bit of alone time, too. Over the course of 18 months and three studios, Williams recorded his full-length debut, Carefree, a quaint but confident album that one could legitimately call "intelligent pop music" (some prefer the term "a grower"), inspired by the likes of Alex Chilton and the Go Betweens. It's a collection of songs that take their time sinking in, and hint at something more significant than search results on Hype Machine. A final sheen was added by his pal Steve Gregoropoulous, of Lavender Diamond, who supplemented Williams' guitar work with pristine string arrangements. Carefree is out now on Ba Da Bing Records.

1. The Beach Boys - Today My bandmate Peter really hates Mike Love, but LOVES the Beach Boys. He has a button with red line going through Love's face, and after watching some early TV performances, it's easy to see why: Mike Love - hammin' it up, takin' the credit. Thankfully, Today is where Love gets kind of out of his element. Where "Little Deuce Coup" may be the budding of Brian Wilson's complex songwriting, Today really shows how much Wilson admired Spector - and this album shows Wilson tackling subject matter equal to his complexity.

2. Clifford T. Ward - Home Thoughts Through and through, Home Thoughts is the most beautiful album. I first heard "Wherewithall" on a comp, and loved it. Upon first listening, I for sure thought the first song was the best song, NO, the second one is the best song, NO wait!... I finally decided that "Where would that leave me" is the most perfect pop song, with "Nightingale" a close second. "Home Thoughts From Abroad" was voted one of the best songs of England. He sings, "Oh, and by the way, how's your broken heart?" -It's so earnest, some feel compelled to laugh, whereas, I feel utterly and completely moved.

3. The Church - Heyday The Church mastered guitar interplay forevermore, and almost three decades since they began, they're still making really great records (Uninvited Like the Clouds). Before they got a little too bloated (Gold Afternoon Fix), they were on a super streak with Séance, Remote Luxury, Heyday, and Starfish, the high point being Heyday. The band's subdued moments can be described as atmospheric, whereas Heyday leans more to the straightforward songs, never letting up - "Disenchanted," "Tristesse." This band is why I use a chorus pedal on a 12-string guitar.

4. Destroyer - This Night I love this album, the first guitar notes of the opening track "This Night" do something very special to me. When we had the "fortune" to tour with them, I harangued them until they actually did play "This Night," and when they did play it I found myself front row, singing along like a superfan. I transcended everything and lost myself in the eternal moment. The album is fragile yet loud, with a verbose Dan Bejar holding it together. Smack in the middle of the record is the righteous "Modern Painters" where Bejar sings: "You could always stay in tonight, and see if what the walls have been whispering is right … I mean, that shit is right up your alley, isn't it?" Their new album Trouble In Dreams might be even better than This Night and that says a lot coming from me… the superfan

5. FYP - My Man Grumpy FYP were from San Pedro, and though they broke up, their self-sustaining community continues to make super fun music and put on great shows. Their Toilet Kids Bread album was a big step in the pop direction, but My Man Grumpy was a step in the great songs direction. Short great songs with lines like "Your PhDs, you can shove 'em / Your SAT's can make like a tree and leave."

6. The Go Betweens - Spring Hill Fair I myself am a Grant McLennan man, so even I am surprised to say this is my favorite Go Betweens album, because it's heavy on the Forrester. But this 1984 record starts with the most-earnest "Bachelor Kisses" and ends with my favorite Forrester "Man o' Sand." McLennan, who wrote the sweetest pop songs, placed his most un-pop song "River of Money" here and its inclusion serves as a huge breath for the listener to just simply listen - "It was only the wind in the curtains brushing against the open strings." I can't really stress how much this band impacted me so quickly.

7. The Replacements - Tim I heard the Replacements' Pleased to Meet Me when I was 15. Still long after their hey-day and break up. I inadvertently started with their latter, polished side, which is probably why I can listen to Don't Tell a Soul and sincerely call it one of their best. But Tim is where their Sorry Ma stage met their love of pop. "Left of the Dial," "Little Mascara" – these songs should be the bar by which bands should be measured - a lot of heart and so much power. We have a Replacements cover band in L.A. called Puzzle, and after a show at The Smell, a nice girl came up and said she thought "our" band was "cute," but she didn't know that those weren't our songs at all. Me and Allen thought that was "cute." We are still waiting for Tommy Stinson to sit in with us.

8. Nirvana (U.K.) - The Story of Simon Simeopath A 14-year-old me once stumbled across the U.K. Nirvana in the U.S. Nirvana bin, but didn't hear them until seven years later, who I now proudly claim as the best 60s band. This is the first REAL concept album pre-dating Sgt. Pepper's (which isn't really a concept album, just costumes and a reprisal of songs – lazy). "Courtyard of the Stars" and "Pentecost Hotel" are otherworldly baroque pop, and their follow up All of Us is equally as beautiful. In summation, Nirvana U.K. is better than the '90s Nirvana and the Beatles.

9. The Everly Brothers - Heartaches and Harmonies Box Set In 1973, Phil Everly smashed his guitar and stormed off the stage at an Everly Brothers show at Knott's Berry Farm. The next night at a solo show, Don Everly declared that the Everly Brothers had died 10 years prior. The Everly Brothers definitely have a golden period, but with harmonies this majestic, their worst songs still shine brighter than the best of others. I get chills when I hear the demo of "Hey Doll Baby," hearing the chatter before the strum of the first chord, hearing the two voices align … it's criminal how good they are. Disc Two is my most played with "Carol Jane" and "Love Her."

10. Honorable mentions: I really don't think I could've made Carefree without hearing Barry Ryan's song "The Color of My Love." The first time I heard it, I listened to it, oh… about 200 times in my car. It still is the perfect song to me. Same goes for the heavy synth work of The Chameleons on What Does Anything Mean? Basically, "One Flesh" and "P.S. Goodbye" are my blueprints for synth work. Same goes for half of Prefab Sprout's Two Wheels Good.

Devon Williams Carefree Review In SF Weekly.

Devon Williams
Carefree (Ba Da Bing)
By John Garmon
Published: April 30, 2008
Original post

Subject(s): Devon Williams by John Garmon Devon Williams' debut album, Carefree, evokes '60s girl groups like the Shirelles and the Ronettes and songwriting teams like Goffin/-King and Barry/Greenwich. You know, the kind of music where the singer sounds as if she will surely die if her dreamboat doesn't dock at the chapel of love. It's reminiscent of songs so full of yearning and devotion that they seem to be addressing God directly.

That said, Carefree is by no means a genre exercise, a '60s throwback, or hopelessly cloying. It's simply one of the most straightforwardly gorgeous pop albums released in some time. The first song, "Please Be Patient," establishes a tone with a lilting lead vocal and lush strings courtesy of Lavender Diamond's Steve Gregoropoulos (who contributes arrangements to several tracks). Here and on songs like "Elevator" and "A Truce," Williams is working in an antiquated tradition: writing each tune as if it were a single and packing as much as possible into a heavenly two-to-three-minute listening experience. The instrumentation is tight and ornate. His lyrical preoccupations include calling for truces, asking for patience, longing, and kissing in cars. Yet amidst the hopeful, aching beauty of the aforementioned numbers are songs like "Bells," a punk raver that roars from the speakers with the impact of an early Replacements song, complete with chorused guitar thunder and a mere 89-second duration. In short, Carefree is an increasingly rare example of mature songwriting that retains the essential teenage qualities that define good rock 'n' roll.

Devon & band will be opening for Destroyer this month:

05/13 Edmonton, AB @ The Starlite Room
05/14 Calgary, AB @ Royal Canadian Legion Hall
05/16 Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge
05/18 Phoenix, AZ @ Rhythm Room
05/19 Los Angeles, CA @ Troubadour
05/20 San Diego, CA @ Casbah
05/21 San Francisco, CA @ Independent
05/23 Portland, OR @ Aladdin Theater