You know, not everyone in the music industry descends upon Austin for the SXSW Music Conference. Somebody’s got to hold the fort down. After all, these records ain’t gonna sell themselves. This is my minute-by-minute account of March 18, 2010.

9:30 am: I’m here 30 minutes early because I had to be up and at the DMV by 8 am. Wondering who in Austin is still up drinking from last night. Office is eerily quiet.

10:30 am: Still the only one here… I think.

11:18 am: Chase a dog around the office in an attempt to remove a mail order package from his mouth. Sorry J. Roger from Phoenix… let me know if your corners are bent.

11:43 am: IMing with my cousin about who it would be creepier to get hit on by (if we were girls): The Fonz or Alex P. Keaton.

12:12 pm: Make a list of fake band names. Entries include: The Shittybutts, Sweet Love, Mike Watt’s Sweaty Socks, The Super Falcons, The Burnin’ Blazin’ Mississippi Madmen (feat. Dennis DeYoung), Tugboat Crash, Doucheslayer, Cocks-A-Fire, Wicked Neptune.

12:32 pm: Get a call from Kris Chen who is either drunk or psyched. Or both.

12:35 pm: Mentally count all the people I know who are at SXSW.

12:42 pm: Get a phone call from mom to tell me that Red River is “off the fuckin’ hook.”

12:45-1:40 pm: Stared at a paperclip.

1:45 pm: Ride the elevator a couple of times.

2:00 pm: Download a program that makes my digital photos look like Polaroids. Psyched.

2:03 pm: Realize that 99% of the fun of Polaroids is waiting for the pictures to develop. Bummed.

2:12 pm: Debate telling coworkers about my plans to time-travel.

2:45 pm: Watch #2 seed Villanova squeak out an embarrassing overtime win over #15 seed Robert Morris. Almost call the university to demand a refund of my tuition.

2:50pm: Sit in Patrick’s chair. Try to sign a bunch of cover bands. No one buys it.

3:01pm: Check the Bro’d Trip twitter account to see if Adam is going on without me.

3:05: Decide to take my own Bro’d Trip… to the deli.

3:25-3:55 pm: I think I just took a nap.

4:05 pm: Think about taking up cigarettes again.

4:06 pm: Think about taking up grass again.

5:00 pm: Look up Facebook profiles of girls who dumped me in high school.

5:10 pm: Look up Facebook profiles of kids I beat up in high school.

5:30 pm: Use a Google application to determine the distance of my nightly jogging route. Feel great that it’s 1.2 miles. Immediately feel awful that I felt great over 1.2 miles.

6:15 pm: Count the emails I’ve received today: 16. New all-time low.

6:25 pm: Laugh out loud at email #17 from one of our SXSWers that simply reads “Fuck you.”

6:29 pm: One minute to go.

(photo by Amy V. Cooper)

Chances are you’re either tired of hearing about SXSW, or you’re too drunk to be reading this. What I have here, though, is worth pushing through your SXSW fatigue and putting down that margarita (it’s 9 in the morning, for chrissake). The fine folks at Radio K made the trip to SXSW again this year, and as in years past they have an illustrious list of bands recording sessions for them. One of those bands is our own Shearwater, whose session will be airing today at noon Central time. Minneapolitans can tune in to Radio K at 104.5 FM (Minneapolis-St. Paul), 100.7 FM (St. Paul), 106.5 FM (Minneapolis) & 770 AM (Metro area), while the rest of us can listen online.

Shearwater’s amazing new album, The Golden Archipelago, can be purchased in all the usual formats by going right here.

(photo by Pooneh Ghana)

It may not be possible for readers of this blog not to be aware of the annual Bobby Soxx Memorial Festival that’s taking place in Austin this week (known to insiders as SOXXXSW), and it is likely just as impossible that you’re unaware of the many shows that Austin’s Harlem will be playing during said festival. On the off chance that you missed it, a complete list of Harlem’s shows (along with the shows of Matador labelmates Fucked Up, The Cave Singers & Shearwater) can be found right here.

Prior to all that, though, you can get warmed up by tuning in to Austin’s friendly neighborhood public radio station, KUT, and checking out an instudio from Harlem tonight at 9:00PM Central. Those of you who live within driving distance of Emo’s can find KUT at 90.5 on your FM dial, while the rest of the Internet-enabled universe can listen at kut.org.

Should you feel compelled to bring the Harlem magic home with you, please note that our online store has quite the deal on their upcoming album, Hippies: 15% off, free poster, and you get the mp3s instantly.

We here are True Panther are pretty damn excited and honored to announce this year’s True Panther showcase for SXSW. No official stuff or badges or RSVP’s, just good music free and open to the public for more hours than one would think is humanly possible. There are two stages so break times will be short and a dj after the live shows are over. The line-up is bands we’ve done records with, bands we are doing records with, or bands we’re just plain big fans of.

Here is a static flyer in case you are seizure prone: FLYER

Thu 3/18 7pm-2am
Delorean/Lemonade/Tanlines/Magic Kids/Morning Benders/Teengirl Fantasy/Hunx & His Punx/Tamaryn/Rainbow Bridge/Shannon & The Clams…. DJ set from Matias Aguayo.
@Cheer Up Charlies (formerly Ms. Beas) 1104 E 6th St East Side Austin.

Not trick-or-treating at the end of the month? No worries. Along his current route, Kurt Vile is making a stop in Dallas for a very special Halloween extravaganza. Dress up for KV & The Violators, The Aquaholics, and Giggle Party– All Ages (but more fun if you’re 21+) @ The Lounge on Elm Street. He will be playing plenty of tracks off his new record, Childish Prodigy, which will be available to purchase!

Charles Ray Fuller: Aspiring Hip-Hop Label Entrepreneur?

Look at his face. This man is HIGH AS SHIT. But then again, you’d have to be (this) high to start a record label. Is there any more ambitious way to fund a label startup? Who else is dying to hear the records he intended to release?

Not since William G. McAdoo handed to Lord Cunliffe, Governor of the Bank of England, a Treasury warrant for $200,000,000, have I heard of anyone attempting to cash out this much scratch.

The Dallas Morning News lays out the mind-fucking facts:

A man has been accused of attempting to pass a $360 billion check, which he claims was given to him by his girlfriend’s mother to start a record business, Fort Worth police said.

Lt. Henderson said he did not know if Mr. Fuller and his girlfriend were still together.

Amongst SXSW’s embarrassment of riches last week was the opportunity to see Times New Viking some 6 times in 5 days (not counting their stint backing Mike Rep at Siltbreeze’s Thursday evening bash).  However, the fine performances by our favorite Columbus trio are by no means limited to major rock biz trade fairs.

Above, Beth, Adam and Jared negotiating the friendly confines of Denton, TX’s Strawberry Fields, March 11.

Day 6 at Headgear Studios in Brooklyn with Mr. John Agnello at the helm. What have we accomplished so far? All the tracking and vocals (live, mind you), some sick guitar overdubs, and a whole lot of fun-having. We’ve got a week to go including mixing.

Here’s some pics:

Mr. Agnello and Mr. Michael Brodlieb (bass)

Me and Mike Strandberg (guitar):

DRUMS!(Jon Langmead):

Supplies:

Another update coming soon.

Love,

Jennifer

To those of you in Austin who have the time/coherency to check the Matablog,

I am assuming that means you have managed to keep it together thus far, and now, I would like to invite you to loose your shit at the Times New Viking in-store at Waterloo Records!!

Saturday, March 15th at 3:00 pm!!!

(Beth and Adam from Times New Viking, using the Bowery Ballroom stage as a mere tune up for Austin’s super swank Soho Lounge. Pic swiped from Rafe Baron’s Flickr page)

I won’t be wearing a “Welcome To Austin : Now Fuck Off” tee next week, mostly because a) I hate slogans and b) there’s too much ketchup on the shirt to wear it in public (again). However, in the interests of keeping you, our close friends, fully informed, we’ve assembled as complete a list as possible of all the events various Matador recording artists are playing next week during the South By Southwest Clusterfuck ™. Please be advised that we’re gonna list the officially sanctioned SXSW events separately from the day parties, after hours bashes, gigs in non-participating clubs, etc., because we don’t wanna mislead anyone. Much like everything good in this world, the below gigs are subject to change. If you can’t get in, there’s undoubtedly something else going that’s not nearly as crowded a few feet away.

OFFICIAL SXSW “Showcases” (like plastic lucite!)

Wednesday, March 13 – Shearwater, Club DeVille, 1am (Brooklyn Vegan party)

Thursday, March 14 – Yo La Tengo, Austin Music Hall, 9:30pm (with My Morning Jacket)
Thursday, March 14 – Jay Reatard, Vice, 302 E. 6th Street 10:30pm
Thursday, March 14 – Times New Viking, Soho Lounge, 217 E. 6th St., 12:30am (Siltbreeze showcase)

Friday, March 15 – Earles & Jensen Present The History Of The Prank Call, Esther’s, 525 E. 6th St., 10:30pm (Super Deluxe showcase)

UNOFFICIAL, NOT CONNECTED TO SXSW-AT-ALL (OTHER THAN TAKING ADVANTAGE) SHOWS :

Wednesday, March 12 – Shearwater, The Mohawk, 4pm (Austinist/Gothamist party)
Wednesday, March 12 – Times New Viking, La Zona Rosa, 10pm (Free Yr Radio/Urban Outfitter party)

Thursday, March 13 – Jay Reatard, French Legation Museum, 5pm (Other Music party)
Thursday, March 13 – Times New Viking, French Legation Museum, 6pm (Other Music party)

Friday, March 14 – Jay Reatard, Emo’s Main Room, 1:30pm (Pitchfork/Windish Booking party)
Friday, March 14 – Yo La Tengo, French Legation Museum, 4pm (Other Music party)
Friday, March 14 – Times New Viking, Emo’s, 4pm (Pitchfork/Windish Booking party)
Friday, March 14 – Jay Reatard, Vice Day Stage, 1106 E. 11th Street, 4pm
Friday, March 14 – Shearwater, French Legation Museum (Other Music party)

Saturday, March 15 – Shearwater, Mess With Texas 2, Waterloo Park, 1:30pm
Saturday, March 15 – Earles & Jensen, Mess With Texas 2, Waterloo Park, 2:30pm
Saturday, March 15 – Jonathan Meiburg of Shearwater, Spiderhouse Cafe, 2908 Fruth Street, 3pm
Saturday, Match 15 – Jay Reatard, Mess With Texas 2, Waterloo Park, 5:15pm
Saturday, Match 15 – Times New Viking, Waterloo Records instore, 3pm

(a full list of the official SXSW gigs)

(a nearly full collection of unofficial gigs, parties, etc.)

I could care less about the Superbowl. Actually I hate all the drama and the enforced parties and get-togethers. But to be honest I’ve watched the second half of most of the past few Superbowls, and last night’s game was one of the most exciting sporting events I’ve ever seen. But I digress.

I decided to make chili yesterday because a friend is visiting town who appreciates this kind of food. I wasn’t thinking that everybody in the country was making it on the same day, of course… the supermarket was sold out of every ingredient. Fortunately I was well-stocked.

I didn’t veer too far from my recent chilis: chuck cut into 1/4″ dice, some ground beef for thickener, rendered beef fat with a bit of olive oil for the fat, my own mix of dried, ground anchos, pasillas, guajillos, pequins and african birdseye for chiles. Plus one fresh jalapeno and one fresh scotch bonnet. Mexican oregano and some roasted, ground cumin seed. Salt, and boiling water for the liquid. Onions and garlic cooked in the beef fat, plus, juice of one lime, and 6+ hours coooking.

Here you see all the ingredients, browned and sauteed, just before I’ve added the water:

One hour later:

Four hours later, after I spooned off about 2 cups of fat.

The fixings plate (not for toppings, but to have on the side… the stuff they give you at Kreuz was the inspiration. Plus Arnold Brick Oven white bread, since you can’t seem to buy Wonder Bread around here – did they stop making it?)

And the chili as it looked today, after a night in the fridge:

It’s getting another 2-3 hours tonight at very low heat. We’ll see how it fares tomorrow.

Postscript: ooohhhhh shit! Chili cooked DOWN. We’re talking molten. After a second night in the fridge to lock in the flavors, shit is gonna be sick:

Yes yes yes….