Quickie post to wish everyone a very happy SXSW night. The festival begins with a wallop of a lineup (see Events Calendar) followed by Thursday's simply outstanding bills (featuring DEATH FROM ABOVE 1979 and PANTHERS to name but a few). Keep tuned to the Calendar for SXSW dates picked by LARS, and heads up for some great bills next week featuring THE HARLEM SHAKES.
Now, before I sign off, two new additions to LARS:
1) We now officially have a LARS Radio. Yes. It's no lie. The Milton Glaser icon of Bob Dylan is, in fact, a link to LIKE A ROLLING STONE RADIO which, as of now, has 2 playlists on the air, which you can read about on the scheduler. The default is chock full of LARS favorites past and present, while Independence Day features many of the bands which have graced the pages of this site (including The Sexy Magazines, The Harlem Shakes, Go To Town, Looker, Sufjan Stevens, Razorlight etc etc). Listen in, have a blast, and keep tuned because by the end of this week, there's going to be a SXSW playlist up dedicated exclusively to the bills and artists which I listed on the Events Calendar.
[On a more technical note, getting onto the radio may be a little hairy, so just be persistent. Make sure your pop-up blockers are disabled, as the radio is a pop-up. Also, specify which device you want to play through, either iTunes, Real or Windows Media Players].
2) A new mini-column, titled Addictions. Each post from now on will feature it, and it will include several songs that are on some serious rotation here at LARS. The first edition is featured below.
ADDICTIONS:
Current Songs I'm Injected Into My Ears...
-Louis XIV “Finding Out True Love Is Blind”.
Louis XIV is probably one of the single worst band names I’ve ever heard. Despite this considerable handicap, the apparent kings of France maintain some form on their debut EP, which is currently satisfying the crowds before the long-version comes forth. “Finding Out” is the band’s first single, and it comes packed with a significant punch. Sneering vocals are punched out over menacing guitars. Aural trinkets like twinkling pianos and a church-like choir during the bridge keep the song interesting. And, just in case you have the attention span of a knat, the band makes sure you pay attention with it’s artfully misogynistic pairing down of girls by the color of their hair, skin, etc. Sounds like the song a man will play you on his transistor while he combs his greasy hair on the couch of a Super 8 motel room right before he beats your skanky ass with his leather boots. The rest of the EP takes liberally from Marc Bolan, Bowie, and The Fever’s fierce vocals. Novel? Not particularly. But this band is likable and a comparable alternative to buying a Terry Richardson portfolio; equally as subversive in its glorification of all things sex/drugs/rock n’ roll. Trust me, the EP’s going to wear thin after about 15 listens. But while Louis XIV may not have staying power (from judging on this EP’s durability), they are certainly a nice diversion.
For better quality, try some Death From Above 1979, recently dubbed SPIN’s Artist To Watch.
Other stand-outs on the EP include their tribute to Marc Bolan in “Marc” (which, at first, I thought to be an outlandish pick-pocketing of T. Rex until I read the title of the song), as well as the folksy instrumental “Louis Reprise”.
You Hear It First: Louis XIV
ROCK PHOTO:
Keith Richards. With wife Patti Hansen circa 1981. Taken by Lynn Goldsmith for CORBIS.
And I watch your convictions/Melt like ice cubes in an ocean-S.
