courtesy of Scripts N Screwz

​(Scripts N Screwz was one of many St. Louis acts playing SXSW this year. Screwz was kind enough to send along some photos and some thoughts about what he saw. Read on below! Congrats to the group as well: Its "On 10" music video was picked up by MTV! )

This is Screwz of SNS reporting live from Austin, Texas, for SXSW. This place is crazy. Non-stop music and drinking everywhere you look seems to be the theme of things in Austin right now. St. Louis has a major presence down here too. Everywhere I look I see someone I know from back home. The SXMW show yesterday was dope. Everybody from back home was in there representing, Rockwell Knuckles, Nato Caliph, SNS, Whiteout and RT-Faq, 12 to 6 Movement; everybody you name em they were out there.

More >>

Dana Plonka

La Sera at Waterloo Records

​At the end of the final night at South By Southwest 2011, I walked down 6th Street, a scene you can surely picture without my assistance. But I have this press badge to earn, so: By 1 a.m. on Saturday night / Sunday morning, downtown Austin was a zombie movie scored as a Flaming Lips-ish experiment of 100 bass drums and 10,000 random club samples synched to the convulsive rhythms of vomiting. The cops stood before barricades, their horses scratching the beer-drenched asphalt, watching the current of the undead churn and rush in all directions as if tsunami driven.

This is not poetic license.

More >>

Dana Plonka

The Civil Wars

​12:24 In the South By vortex, all news - or at least news not related to Jack White pop-up performances, Cee-Lo Green cancellations, Kanye gossip and R.E.M. show rumors - gets obliterated. Japan's nuclear nightmare is no exception. Glancing at an RSS reader under 75 degree skies pool side at the Oltorf Road La Quinta is surreal, nauseating, guilt-inducing. Rock & roll shouldn't flatter itself into thinking it can do a goddamn anything about anything. And I don't pray. So it's onward into the music. Godspeed real world.

More >>

Shannon Cottrell

The Wu-Tang Clan

​
Last night, people packed into the Austin Music Hall for the 2011 Village Voice and Frank 151 Showdown at SXSW. With performances from Yelawolf, Fishbone, Wild Flag, Wu-Tang and others, it was a wild night of music and mayhem.

Jump over to the Houston Press for complete coverage of the party and more photos.

More >>

(RFT freelancer Roy Kasten is at SXSW through Saturday. He'll be checking in with A to Z about what he sees. Here's the first installment.)

Dana Plonka

The Head and the Heart

​

11:45 I've returned to my hotel after stopping at Maria's Taco Xpress for a bag full of migas breakfast tacos, each weighing in at approximately a pound and a half. This is breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert. I must be in Austin.

More >>

Living Things, which still proudly claims St. Louis as its home, yesterday released a new, free mixtape on its website. Called Malocchio, the release is "influenced by the sounds of Afrobeat and psychedelic-era Nigerian dub," according to a release sent out by the band's publicist.

The genesis for this mix is rather interesting, as the email went on to note:

More >>

Annie Zaleski

Nato Caliph at SXSW a few years ago

​It's hard to believe, but the music portion of the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas, celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2011. In the last quarter-century, the annual event has evolved to become the gathering place for music-industry darlings, wannabes and established acts.

St. Louis has several acts doing official SXSW nighttime showcases this year. Gospel singer Jai is performing at the Carver Museum's Boyd Vance Theatre (1165 Angelina) on Friday, March 18, while J.R. and Thi'sl are included in a "Holy Hip-Hop" showcase at the same venue on Saturday, March 19. Prog/power-pop-influenced rockers Greek Fire are also doing a high-profile showcase, at Emo's Main Room (603 Red River Street) at 10 p.m. on Saturday.

More >>

The other day, Tef Poe released a new single and video, "Out the Kitchen." The latter is found below; as you can hear, it's a measured, forceful song. A remix of the tune (which you can also snag below) has a featured appearance from GLC, who's part of Kanye West's G.O.O.D. Music label. While Poe and a whole slew of fellow Force members are in Austin for SXSW (more on that next week), he and GLC will be filming a video for the "Out the Kitchen" remix. Oh and by the way: GLC will also be playing at the Gramophone on March 21.

MP3: Tef Poe, "Out the Kitchen" (featuring GLC)

​KDHX presents two Twangfest day parties at SXSW every year. In past years, this event has included artists such as Deer Tick, Calexico, Carolina Chocolate Drops and David Bazan playing in a space tinier than Off Broadway. This year's model of the party, which takes place on March 17 and March 19, is rather impressive; acts scheduled to play include Steve Wynn, Great Lake Swimmers, Ha Ha Tonka, Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, Sean Rowe, Thao Nguyen, Freedy Johnston and the Baseball Project. (The latter group features Wynn, Peter Buck and Scott McCaughey of R.E.M. and Linda Pitmon.) Locals included in the lineup are Brothers Lazaroff, Kentucky Knife Fight and Pretty Little Empire. Oh yeah -- and these events are free with an RSVP. The full lineup is below. A to Z is jealous she's not going to be in Austin to see this.

More >>

Scenes from the Alex Chilton tribute at Antone's in Austin, March 20, 2010, plus more SXSW action. All photos by Dana Plonka.

Dana Plonka

Mike Mills of R.E.M. at the Alex Chilton tribute at SXSW 2010

More >>