Four Reasons Why P4K’s SXSW Coverage Was A Disaster

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4.) BAND COVERAGE

I find it slightly embarrassing that the blog responsible for “discovering” so many bands used SXSW to see all the bands they have already endorsed. From The XX to the list of other Best New Music bands…it seems like Pitchfork used the greatest week in music to discover new acts as a way to catch all the music they already loved. Now, this assumption is based off their coverage…hopefully they had an entire different staff out there discovering new acts…but I don’t see it reported in their SXSW coverage.

3.) BEING UNFAIR

Being in the music blog world, I can pick out most of the Pitchfork staff in a lineup. On three occasions I witnessed a P4K contributor show up to a show late, grab a free drink, catch one-two songs, take a quick photo and leave. I was shocked when two of these instances showed up as reviews the next day where the contributor wrote as they had absorbed enough of the show to be able to pass judgment. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but the two reviews where I know the contributor showed up late were both negative…which is unfair to the band and the readers who use Pitchfork to gauge which bands are worth checking out. As much as I give P4K a hard time, I always gave them credit for working hard and being very detailed oriented in most of their work…after SXSW and seeing two contributors catch one song and pass judgment…that respect is gone.

2.) Amy Phillips

Amy Phillips is now my least favorite person on the Internet, sorry Ezra. Her coverage was brutal to the point of being entertaining to see what she would say next. She threw in these fifth grade lines that made me wonder if she even gave a damn:

Vocalist Jon Gray looked and sounded like he snorted a pack of Pixy Stix in the bathroom right before the set”

“The reverb made the music spookier, more goth.” (Really? Reverb makes music spooky?)

“I'm Julianna and I'm gonna sing some sweet, soothing songs for you tonight," Julianna Barwick announced to open her set. And there are few worse places to experience those sweet, soothing songs than in a tent in a parking lot full of drunk industry networkers with a metal band playing next door. (The middle of a construction site? An airport runway?) Going into this performance, I guessed that Barwick's gorgeous vocal manipulations are best heard in solitude, on headphones or in a quiet room where you can be alone with your thoughts. And this confirmed it. The music may be beautiful, but in addition to not being able to hear it very well, there isn't much to look at. Barwick stands stock still, singing and fiddling with knobs. The metal band playing next door sounded pretty good, though.”

If you knew that she would be better in a smaller venue where a metal band would drown her out, maybe you should have sought out one of the eight-ten other places she played. Also, what is the name of the metal band you enjoyed? SXSW is about discovery…why didn’t you go next door and give that name to the readers…oh, wasn’t on your P4K list to cover?

My favorite thing (the thing that makes me not like this Amy P) is how she cares much more about how things look than how they sound. (NOTE: These reviews are at most two paragraphs long…she choose to write about the look for more than half a few times) EXAMPLES:

“The placement of the band's double-x logo on producer Jamie Smith's speaker cabinets fell directly in line with the big wooden cross on the church's back wall, creating a juxtaposition of the spiritual and the carnal.”

“Producer/DJ Sammy Bananas, a wimpy dude in a suit and tie and bushy mustache, looked like the president of the Math Club who lucked into taking the most popular girl at school to the prom.”

My favorite: “Plus, Javelin's usual stage setup of a homemade tower of altered boom boxes was also missing.”

Who cares? I caught Javelin at a different show and it was the best show of the week. The music was tight, clever, fun, and unique. I too had seen a picture of the band playing before with boom boxes behind them…but could care less about the visual…plus, how much of an ass do you have to be to down a band for not wanting to lug eight boom boxes around Austin for the six shows they played that day? Did you give them credit for playing that many shows, their love of music, how impressively kind they are to each and every fan, the amazing music they played…no you care about color boom boxes and that Amy Phillips, that is why I don’t like you. (tweet me sometime).

1.) THE PHOTOS….OH…THE PHOTOS!

I don’t have much to say…the P4K photos of SXSW are bad…really bad…really really bad. I would love to post the photos, but don’t want to get sued. Here are the links:

Whoever took this photo should be fired. Scratch that…who ever allowed this photo to be posted should be fired:
http://cdn.pitchfork.com/media/boh4.jpg

MORE CRAP:
http://cdn.pitchfork.com/media/noage______.jpg
http://cdn.pitchfork.com/media/washedout1.jpg (maybe making a Washed Out pun?)
http://cdn.pitchfork.com/media/xx452.jpb.jpg
http://cdn.pitchfork.com/media/magic452.jpg
http://cdn.pitchfork.com/media/activechild1.jpg
http://cdn.pitchfork.com/media/g-side_.jpg
http://cdn.pitchfork.com/media/mountainman3.jpg
http://cdn.pitchfork.com/media/titus1.jpg
http://cdn.pitchfork.com/media/8ballmjg2.jpg
And so on and so on.

They have money right? They have more money than Rawk Blog and You Ain’t No Picasso who took amazing photos of the whole week. I, like most of you, will continue to read Pitchfork, they do some good stuff and have a large amount of amazing exclusives…but guys, you really dropped the SXSW ball. (the SXSW ball line is inspired by the writing of my mentor Amy Phillips).

Our review of SXSW will be up at the end of the week and if Amy P wants to write the same type of review bashing our coverage, I'll post it on our site to be fair.

RIP Alex Chilton

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HANK ALTOGETHER:

Alex Chilton was the lead singer of Big Star -- one of those foundational bands so foundational that it takes a while to find them. Then, once you do, it's like -- "woah, where has this been all my life?" You feel that way because it feels like that band HAS been there all your life an even though you're just hearing Alex Chilton's work for the first time you know it's already changed your life.

Chilton died of a heart attack on Wednesday. He was 59.

"Thirteen"
Won't you let me walk you home from school
Won't you let me meet you by the pool
Maybe Friday I can
Get tickets for the dance
And I'll take you

Won't you tell your dad: "Get off my back"
Tell him what we said about "Paint it Black"
Rock 'n Roll is here to stay
Come inside it's okay
And I'll shake you

Won't you tell me what you're thinking of
Would you be an out law for my love
If its so, well, let me know
If its no, then I should go
I won't make you

REQUIRED LISTEN: ELFIN SADDLE

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BRANDON RAE:
My city is the sixth largest across both Canada and the United States. The second largest French-speaking city in the world. Montreal is a genuine mosaic, and dwelling place for an overwhelming number of talented musicians. We love both Arcade Fire and Bell Orchestre. We're proud of Clues and Wolf Parade. As talented as these groups may be, none strike a chord with me quite like Elfin Saddle.

The band is comprised of Emi Honda (vocals, ukelele, drums, accordion, singing saw), Jordan McKenzie (vocals, guitar, accordion, drums, banjo, xylophone) and Nathan Gage (contrabass, tuba). Elfin Saddle is a fine representation of Montreal's diversity, utilizing both Japanese and English languages to formulate their very own style of folk music. The sound is instrumentally rich for a trio, with Jordan and Emi usually handling two instruments at the same time; They achieve a lot with so little.



I was fortunate enough to catch Elfin Saddle performing live last night at Green Room in the artsy Plateau Mont-Royal district. There were about 50 people (including members of the opening acts) feasting their eyes and ears upon a band so well synchronized, so well disciplined, creating music that feels so natural/organic. There was not an unsatisfied hipster in the bijou venue last night. I can't say enough about Emi Honda, who is arguably the most adorable woman I've seen perform live. Clearly more comfortable expressing herself in Japanese, after the third piece she had confessed "I usually eat bananas before the show, so I'm pretty nervous." I glanced back at my brother and we shared a laugh. It was more than likely the cutest thing I've ever heard in my entire life. The only situation that could compete with that was at the end of the show as we were all heading out into the hostile Montreal weather, I turned to Emi and said "Thanks for coming out tonight! The show was wonderful." After two seconds of English absorption, she smiled and gleefully responded "I live here!" I left Green Room a happy camper (also with Elfin Saddle's latest LP entitled Ringing For The Begin Again).


If you're a folk aficionado, please, do yourself a favor and give Elfin Saddle a serious listen. It's REQUIRED