[dot]ROCK - doxtad.com

section [MUSIC]
[dot]ROCK
Discovery is not easy. Sure, there’s adven-
Handshake shows you where to go to get your
rocks off when the workday is slow.
by Matthew Doxtad
AUSTIN CITY LIMITS
PITCHFORK.TV
K’Naan & Mos Def
Four Tet
pbs.org
pitchfork.com
PBS isn’t just the place to get your fill of
Lawrence Welk. The Austin City Limits stage
also presents an eclectic mix of new bands
and classic musicians. In our current favorite,
K’Naan and Mos Def share the stage. K’Naan
warms the crowd with his uplifting hip-hop,
before leading everybody in a sing-along of
“Wavin’ Flag,” that eventually blooms into the
full song. Mos Def unleashes his gravelly voice
in a torrent of rhymes that blasts into a Michael
Jackson tribute mid-concert.
Love it or hate it, Pitchfork knows about the
bands before most people, and Pitchfork.TV is
a hot spot for concerts and original programming. In this Angel Echoes Four Tet concert,
Kieran Hebden creates a sonic wonderland of
clicks, beeps, and beats. Four Tet’s electronic
howl pulses in a foot-tapper’s bliss, but the
video disappoints in its shaky, blurred visuals.
Jack the speakers, but go ahead and grab some
Pitchfork reviews in another tab while the show
streams.
LA BLOGOTHEQUE
ALL SONGS CONSIDERED
Las Ondas Marteles
Alec Ounsworth
daytrotter.com
takeawayshows.com
npr.org
Daytrotter drops a new show online almost 365
days a year — complete with whimsical watercolor paintings and interesting blog entries.
All that work pays off when you get a show like
Bonnie Prince Billy’s. In this session, the band
runs through four wandering, folksy tunes.
Will Oldham’s lyrics waver in melancholy while
his band rattles and strums like a machine barely holding together. And yet, it all works.
La Blogotheque began releasing weekly, musical mini-documentaries four years ago under
the Take Away Shows name. Most of the shows
are wonderful traveling trips of bands playing
in interesting French scenes, but the Las Ondas
Marteles documentary is a real standout. From
a windy quarry to a Parisian church to a sepiatoned café, Las Ondas Marteles populates the
French landscape with its wicked and simple
songs.
All Songs Considered offers a weekly treasure of music, and with Bob Boilen’s
Tiny Desk Concerts, it shows bands in an intimate setting. In this February episode, Alec
Ounsworth, frontman of Clap Your Hands Say
Yeah, sits behind the desk. Ounsworth walks
his wild voice for a jangly stroll with a simple
acoustic guitar and a little harmonica styling.
Ounsworth and Matt Sutton play three acoustic
songs off his debut solo album, Mo Beauty.
ture in finding the next big band before all your
friends, but being a musical Shackleton wears
a man down. Those weeknight excursions to
booze-filled, sweaty dive bars prove evil come
the next morning. Thankfully we have the
Interwebs.
Handshake suggests these five sites to keep your
musical thirst quenched. Heck, we’ll even point
you to the five shows we’re rocking straight
from our desks right now. Not simultaneously,
of course. Though that would be pretty punk
rock.
DAYTROTTER SESSIONS
Bonnie Prince Billy
HANDSHAKE MAGAZINE 09