SXSW 2016: Let the Music Play

Happy Easter (it's 50 days long, you know)! Here I continue describing the events that transpired in Austin.

Read Part 1

Tuesday 3/15

SXSW Music has finally begun! At the start of the day I had only two things on my agenda: attend a live podcast recording in the afternoon and catch a free music showcase in the evening. To kill time in the early afternoon, and since I had a hankering for some Tex-Mex, I headed to a food court that housed Burrito Factory. Feeling sufficiently carbed-up, I walked through the grounds of UT at Austin, which was on spring break that week. I had seen advertisements on banners and the sides of buses about a special 90's-themed exhibition at the school's art gallery and thought I'd take a look. I entered the Blanton Museum of Art and spent some time looking at pieces not only from the 90's but also from ancient Greek, medieval, Renaissance and modern periods. I could have spent all day surrounded by awesome paintings and crisp A/C, but I needed to get to the Lustre Pearl at 3:30pm and I was cutting it close with my departure time.

Chain of mail

Podcast of the Week: Show 319 | San Jose CA

I've been getting a little annoyed with the reruns From the Top would play to fill the space of its weekly broadcasts, though I do understand that it's a costly and time-consuming endeavor to get the programming that it currently does. Thankfully, this week's show was a premier and featured a vibrant mix of classical pieces for violin, clarinet, piano and more. My favorite was a Peruvian waltz, "Mi Lima Antaño", transcribed on classical guitar by the young composer Gianfranco Baltazar (featured in the promotional video below).

Listen to "Show 319 | San Jose CA"

Visit From the Top

♪ ♫,
Kelvin

Song of the Week: Like Moths to Flame

On this solemn day, when statues are covered and tabernacles are bare, my mind turns to a song from 2005's Vheissu, the fourth album by experimental / post-hardcore band Thrice. Frontman and songwriter Dustin Kensrue is no stranger to weaving Christian themes into his music (during the band's hiatus he even served as worship leader for Mars Hill Church) and this song recounting St. Peter's betrayal of his Master is a testament to that. Coupled with some of the most intense scenes from The Passion of the Christ, the fan-made video below offers a meditative springboard into contemplating the mystery of the Via Dolorosa.

"Like Moths to Flame" by Thrice

Top of the Church of St. Peter in Gallicantu (Latin for "cock-crow")

The fire's gravity compels,
Kelvin

SXSW 2016: Intro to Austin

When I retell the story of a significant experience I typically lean more towards TMI than FYI because I see details as really important to setting the tale apart from others and to giving the listener more aspects to identify with. So what I'm going to try to do is recount my experiences from this year's SXSW (South by Southwest) with the dual goal of giving my circle of friends due respect in letting them know what I was up to for a week and of hopefully inspiring music lovers who happen to be reading to attempt a trek to Austin, Texas for a future SX.

Saturday 3/12

I'm glad I never felt the pull towards a profession in sales because as I was telling friends of my intent to go to this music festival in the months leading up to it I simply got a bunch of "I've heard of that" and "That sounds interesting". So knowing I would go about it solo I went ahead and booked a flight (~$500) and an Airbnb room (~$500) roughly two months before the event. Although things were getting pretty pricey pretty quick, I wasn't deathly concerned because I felt comfortable with the times and locations of the above reservations. Moreover, I had convinced myself by reading testimonies from people who had gone to previous SXSW festivals without the official wristband (~$200) or badge (~$800-1800) that I can still attain a memorable experience by foregoing the same.

Packed and ready for adventure, I was chauffered to the airport by a generous friend and made it to Austin in the midafternoon without a hitch. I then took a half-hour Uber ride from AUS to the Airbnb residence, and since I had a promo code for $20 off my first ride it came out to be an incredible $0.35 charge! The homeowner Sam greeted me at the door and as he showed me my private room and other amenities he also informed me that he was slow-cooking pulled pork outside that would be ready that evening! Content with the bed-and-BBQ I had landed upon, I retired for a 2-hour nap followed by dinner and socializing by the backyard firepit with the other guests followed by a 8.5-hour dormition.

Podcast of the Week: Breaking Bad and Dealing with Darkness

Now that I live life outside of the realm of academia proper, I find myself with not only more time to watch television but also with more maturity of perspective in approaching this media. But as Uncle Ben says with every Spider-Man reboot, "With great power comes great responsibility." So although I can watch movies like Taxi Driver and series like Peaky Blinders and not feel the urge to beat up random people on the street (or vice versa, fear random people on the street beating me up), it is important to be aware of the sensibilities and temperaments of others when discussing or suggesting things to watch. This podcast was very helpful in reminding me that it's OK for everyone to not be into every show I enjoy and that even if a work of art cannot be commended because of its content (be it the graphic violence in Breaking Bad, the psycho-emotional manipulation in Jessica Jones or the stark sensuality of Game of Thrones) it can be lauded for the creativity of the writers and producers, which ultimately reveal an aspect of the Beauty of the Creator.

Listen to "Breaking Bad and Dealing with Darkness"

Visit Pop Culture Coffee Hour

Logos, yo,
Kelvin

Song of the Week: Car Radio

I was quick to brush off Twenty One Pilots after hearing their hit single "Tear in My Heart" everywhere I went. I'm very suspicious of any song with a catchy hook that the general public enjoys and plays constantly, so I tend to disregard artists who write these songs as pandering to masses and having little creative value. Well, I was proven only half right.

After reading enough blogs (here, here and here) and having enough friends vouch for them I gave them a try and as I started listening I was struck not only by the seriousness with which the Columbus duo crafted the music and lyrics of their non-single tracks but also by the way they subtly layer these same themes into the songs that people mindlessly sing to. Through an aggressive and masterful melding of rap, rock, reggae and pop, TØP tackle topics as grave as suicide, maturation, identity and existential affirmation. In trying so hard "to make people think" and get their message out to as many individuals as possible, they become the most reluctant pop act I've ever known.

I've listened to three albums by Twenty One Pilots and connected very much to 2013's Vessel. Below is one of my favorite cuts from this record.

"Car Radio" by Twenty One Pilots

Sometimes quiet is violent,
Kelvin

Podcast of the Week: The Science of Cheating

No, this is not a tutorial on how to cheat on your significant other. Instead, this podcast has the exact opposite purpose, namely describing the circumstances that would lead a reasonable and caring person into infidelity and what all parties involved can do to prevent this from happening (in the best case) and make amends to reconcile the relationship if it does happen (in the worst case).

I personally found the release of this episode very timely because it came shortly after a deep discussion I had with a close friend about how we would each react to being cheated on during a dating relationship or a marriage. Like anything in love, the will is the driving force and though one's conscience and intellect may be strong this does not equate to immunity from committing the most heinous offenses to those we care about most. However, there are definitive habits that those in relationships can cultivate, such as openness and transparency, in order for the probability of performing these acts to be at their lowest.

Listen to "The Science of Cheating — How to Prevent and Deal With Infidelity"

Visit The Art of Manliness

To love is to will the good of another,
Kelvin

SXSW x 100 x 5

In just 8 days I'll be hopping onto a plane heading to Texas with the goal of encountering as many new sounds as my ears can handle at SXSW! I've heard the name of this music festival thrown around for a couple of years but it wasn't until I listened to the NPR Music coverage last March that I was sold on the experience. Apart from the updates during the week of the event, one of the most helpful tools that NPR provided listeners for discovering new artists was a playlist titled the Austin 100, where 100 of the best promotional recordings are hand-picked for the downloading pleasure of eager fans.

Technically, there is a stipulation that the ZIP file of songs can only be downloaded within a month of distribution, but things on the Internet have a tendency to linger for a while. So with some intense Googling and crafty URL text swaps I was able to find links to several Austin 100's from yesteryear. So below I've shared links to these locations and showcased some songs that stood out to me while listening to the mix.

2016 Austin 100
Song List
Download ZIP [832MB]

I'm beyond eager for the opportunity of seeing at SXSW bands that I've gotten to know over the past couple of months like Beach Slang ("Bad Art and Weirdo Ideas") and the past couple of days like Wagakki Band ("Akatsukino Ito"), but most of all I'm excited for the chance at seeing firsthand the performances of international musicians like Ninet Tayeb from Tel Aviv whose fifth album is slated to be released this year.

"Child" by Ninet Tayeb