SXSW

Blogs, Featured, Gruesome Greg March 18, 2012

You’re dead to me, Canadian Music Week!

Canadian Music Week has always been the first weekend in March, and as such, I’ve adjusted/cleared my schedule accordingly for the past few years. But this year, they’ve decided to make a change, moving the event to the fourth weekend of the month. The official reasoning I’ve heard is they want to have it after SXSW, as if that would entice more bands to come up and play here. Hey, there are tons of amazing metal bands that just played SXSW–and I don’t see a single one on the bill for Canadian Music Week.

Blogs, Headline, Jay Gorania, Reviews, Reviews - Live March 28, 2011

Jay H. Gorania’s SXSW 2011 – Part 2

“It was SXSW in Austin, so hell, we just decided to party. While hanging out on 6th Street, we were encountered by a rapper pushing his product. It’s normal for independent artists to either talk up, give away or sell their music at SXSW, but this chap obviously lacked common sense by trying to interest us in his rap project. Granted, people like all kinds of music nowadays, but did it really make sense for a rapper to approach a group full of dirty long-haired or head-shaven guys wearing metal shirts? I suppose my friend unintentionally baited him by somewhat loudly talking about Watain, the satanic Swedish black metal band. But that’s not what rap dude overheard. “Wu-Tang? Did somebody say Wu-Tang?”

Watain. Not Wu-Tang. We tried to correct him, but he interrupted us. “If y’all like Wu-Tang, you’re gonna love this!” I have his promo copy somewhere, and I’m sure it’ll make for a great coffee coaster once I find it.”

The second and final installment of Jay H. Gorania’s recap of the 2011 edition of the SXSW Music Festival in Austin, Texas

Blogs, Featured, Jay Gorania, Reviews, Reviews - Live March 24, 2011

Jay H. Gorania’s SXSW 2011 – Part 1

If the cataclysmic, earthquaking rumble beneath Japan was felt stateside, it was surely through Yob’s bottom-heavy, Sabbath-via-Cathedral-and-Sleep riffs. Their music and vocals and presence were passionate and ritualistic. Because of the repetitive nature of the riff-driven madness, the songs stay with you long after they’ve finished playing, bouncing around from synapse-to-synapse in your tenderized gray matter.