Pop Culture Press: PCP SXSW Showcase

Presenting the 2006 Pop Culture Press
South by Southwest showcase

Saturday, March 18
from 8 pm - 2 am
at Karma Lounge - 119 West 8th Street (corner of Colorado and 8th, one block west of Congress)

We love South By Southwest and how it turns our mellow Texas city into the world's musical nerve center for a few days each year. So we jumped at the chance to put our name behind a showcase again this year. This year's lineup features two UK bands and three from the US and among them, we stretch across the full spectrum of what we consider to be "pop music" and proudly include both emerging new artists and longtime favorites. And honestly, these bands are all so good, you have no reason to go anywhere else, and by Saturday, your feet will appreciate being allowed to stay in one place all night long.

SO BEHOLD THE LINEUP!!!
(bands listed in order of appearance)

Moonlight Towers (Austin, Texas)

Our PCP SXSW Showcase opens with a big bang thanks to one of our local favorites,. Released in late 2005, this band's Like You Were Never There is a splendid record full of great hooks and a whole lotta soul. To read a recently published article about these guys here on our site, click here.

Rainer Maria (Brooklyn, New York)

We've heard them called "Emo" by snarky indie music writers, but that is one of those terms that is more a convenient label than an actual description. To our ears, this band plays hook-filled, slighlty angular rock music with honest, heartfelt lyrics, and as you might have guessed by the other bands we tend to write about, that's cool by us. We dig the whole Rilke thing, too.

Aberfeldy (Edinburgh, Scotland)

Last year, Aberfeldy put on what a number of observers called the best showcase at SXSW. They play gorgeous, hummable songs full of harmonies and understated but brilliant backing arrangements full of acoustic guitars, keyboards, and violins. We can't for their return.

[cayto] (Glasgow, Scotland)

[cayto] brings the deconstructionist element to our showcase as well as a reputation for an over-the-top live show. On their new record, Blunderbuss!, these folks mix up quite a heady brew of classical and avant-garde influence with bombastic rock ambitions resulting in a sort of bi-polar meeting of Captain Beefheart, Stravinsky, Thom Yorke, and Faith No More. Songs careen from litling and somber to bracing and explosive.

The Magnolias (Minneapolis, Minnesota)

The Magnolias rose out of the same 80's MInneapolis scene that gave us Husker Du, The Replacements, Soul Asylum and many more. Starting with their 1986 debut, Concrete Pillbox, released on the legendary Twin/Tone label, the Magnolias spent the next ten years touring relentlessly and releasing five records that showcased the band's mix of John Freeman's mix of pop hooks with barbed-wire guitar and unbridled energy. This reunion show celebrates the recent release of Better Late Than Never, a collection of many never released outtakes, demos, and live tracks.