It really snuck up on me but here we are - it's March 14 and I'm off to Austin tonight for four days of SXSW madness. I can't think of a better way to spend spring break. I thought about previewing all the shows I'm psyched about seeing, but that became an impossible task once I realized just HOW MANY unofficial shows are involved. Showlist Austin lists most of them, and here's the latest schedule (PDF) of official showcases. As for who I'm hoping to see - in no particular order: Saturday Looks Good To Me, Afrirampo, The Hidden Cameras, Tunng, Lavender Diamond, Nicolai Dunger, The Twilight Singers, Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, Au Revoir Simone, Tralala, TTC, Howard Hello, Camera Obscura, Dressy Bessy, the Happy Flowers, the Duke Spirit, Baby Teeth, Castanets, Wooden Wand, the Gris Gris, Rhys Chatham, and on and on and on.... And those are just the bands I haven't seen before!

Of course, I realize the crowds will create some impossible options (which is why I didn't even list Goldfrapp or Lyle Lovett or Echo and the Bunnymen), but enough of the bands are playing multiple shows that I'm hopeful I'll have a good hit rate. And even if not, I'm expecting my favorite moments from this trip to be the ones I never saw coming. If you have any recommendations - let me know in the comments!

I'm missing a great week of shows in New York though. If you feel like channeling me, here's what you need to do:

1) See the Bush Tetras tonight at CBGB's 313 Gallery (and see below for my review of their recent show at the Tonic). Check out "You Can't Be Funky" (MP3) for a taste.
2) Catch Carl Craig on Thursday at APT (and listen to his Beats In Space set (MP3) if you need convincing).
3) Celebrate St. Patrick's Day with the Silver Jews at Webster Hall.
4) Top it off with Stereolab at the Town Hall on Saturday. I'm not convinced Fab Four Suture is the return to form that some are making it out to be, but the Lab set the bar very high with their early records. FFS has some killer tracks though, as does the oft-overlooked Margerine Eclipse, and I hear the band has beefed up their line-up for this tour. The reviews so far have been strong.

And before I come back with a whole new pile of shows to talk about, I need to tie up some loose ends on a few gigs I've yet to mention here. My thoughts on the Bush Tetras, Belle and Sebastian, the New Pornographers, and Kelley Polar are after the jump...


- The Bush Tetras were literally one of the first 10-15 bands I ever saw live, back in high school. It was 1996, I was at the Westbeth Theatre Center to see 7 Year Bitch (yep), and I lucked out into being front and center for the Bush Tetras' opening set. Their noisy funk/punk had me instantly smitten, and brought me out for a second show a couple months later, but it wasn't till a couple weeks ago at the Tonic that I finally got to see the band after being familiar with their material. The recording quality on those old singles isn't the best, so seeing and hearing the little details live was quite a thrill. Guitarist Pat Place was awesome, at one point coaxing sheets of noise out of her guitar by scraping the strings with a maracca, and Cynthia Sley's cowbell and vocals sounded just as fresh as when I first heard them. Technical difficulties made "You Can't Be Funky" unfortunately ragged, but "Things That Go Boom In The Night" was honestly worth the price of admission alone! The band has been around for 26 years now but they haven't lost a step. They're playing TONIGHT at CBGB's 313 Gallery, and they've got some shows in late May across the pond according to their Myspace page. (The fact that they have Myspace page cracks me up.)

- My views on Belle and Sebastian are admittedly biased by the sheer brilliance of their August 2004 show at Prospect Park, but I'm convinced they're at their best when they're playing outside. (And not to half-empty minor league baseball stadiums - so don't bother bringing up Across the Narrows.) That said, their second night at the Nokia Theatre was one of the best B+S sets I've seen indoors. I'm still waiting for "Seeing Other People" but "Your Cover's Blown" was fantastic live and more than made up for any setlist gripes ("We are the Sleepyheads" [cough]). Stuart had some sloppy moments but B+S has really become a band up there on stage, and the show was great as a result.

As for the New Pornographers, I thought they were just OK. Compared to my last time seeing them (at the Bowery), there was less banter, a worse view, and (most importantly) no Neko. I like their records and I enjoyed their set (especially the ace "Eye of the Tiger" improv!), but I'll remember this night as a Belle and Sebastian show.

- Kelley Polar's first-ever live show came last Wednesday at the Knitting Factory. I question how much of the crowd noticed though - the amount of chatter at this show was absurd. If you're going to talk through a set, why even bother going? As for the show, I thought it was good but could've been better. I had heard Kelley might be accompanied by a live rhythm section but in the end it was just him, an extra vocalist, and a live string section - so most of the music was prerecorded, which was a little disappointing due to my expectations. But the live strings were awesome - ambitious but they pulled it off. "Here in the Night" was my highlight. Banana Nutrament was also there.