SXSW DAY TWO: TWISTING THE NIGHT AWAY

by Cristina Black

Thursday afternoon, the sunny weather was perfect for hanging out at the Levis Fader Fort, a giant maze of a venue created by the folks at Fader Magazine. Inside, there’s a jeans store where you can buy every color of Levis imaginable. One chap I talked to sprung for royal purple—daring! Out back, there was music, music and more music. When I walked in, San Francisco band Birdmonster was taking the stage for an energetic acoustic set. Next, Saul Williams assaulted the free-beered crowd with his jagged, industrial-influenced, spoken-word jams. Meanwhile, hoards were lining up for the main event: a Lou Reed tribute with such acts as Spoon and My Morning Jacket.

After a quick dinner, I lit out for the nighttime showcases. First on my list was Priscilla Ahn, the angel-voiced L.A. singer-songwriter whose debut, A Good Day, is out on Blue Note Records June 10. (You might call her the next Norah Jones.) Bathed in beams of soft-colored light, Ahn charmed the crowd at the Parish, her cascading soprano harmonizing gorgeously with itself on live-recorded loops. Accompanied only by a stand-up bassist and her own gentle guitar strumming, she lilted through soft ballads and jazzy little tunes and eventually picked up a ukulele for a Polynesian-tinged number. Can’t wait to take her record to the beach this summer.

But enough of that bliss. It was time to head underground to the basement club Barcelona for the Obey Records showcase. All beats and blips, the lineup included heavyweight Cali DJs like Santa Ana’s Free the Robots and M.I.A. favorite Diplo from Phillie. When I ducked down there, L.A. sound craftsman Nosaj Thing was awing the crowd. We all whooped and howled as he hunched over his Macbook, mauling and manipulating his elegant beats to stunning effect.

Next, we went down the street to Maggie Mae’s to catch some of Martha Wainwright’s new stuff. She was debuting songs from her upcoming album with the painfully honest title, I Know You’re Married But I’ve Got Feelings Too. As usual, the well-pedigreed singer wailed her way through songs about the more, um, awkward things in life. She’s good at that, but we left early, because it was time to do the twist.

Myopenbar.com’s Sink or Swim party was already kicking on the roof of a parking garage on West 3rd Street, which doesn’t sound so sweet until you realize that there’s a pool, fancy furniture, free booze, a zillion bands and a DJ. Brooklyn ukulele slinger Michael Leviton was on the decks, spinning all vintage surf and stripper music while the kids got down around the pool deck until well after midnight. The whole scene was like something out of a reality TV show about people who want to be models or something, except, you know, cool. Then, the record player punked out, someone pulled the fire alarm and the party busted up. Maybe it was a good thing. My feet were already starting to hurt and it was a long walk back to the Sheraton for my beauty sleep.