07 March 2012 - 0 Comments
South By Southwest Music & Media Festival 2012 will run from Friday 9 March through Sunday 18 March and will see the music and entertainment world descend upon Austin, Texas, and again New Zealand has a strong representation of artists making the journey south.
This year will see over 1900 bands play during the four festival days devoted to music in a multitude of venues in and around the world famous 6th street in downtown Austin, Texas. The conference attracts over 13,000 music professionals and fans alike from all over the world with the common interests of music and music business.
This year will feature the following New Zealand acts making the trek to Austin;
2011 was a very good year for Kimbra and 2012 is shaping up to be even better. In 2011 Kimbra released her debut album Vows through her label Warner Music Australia. In its first week of release Vows charted at #3 in New Zealand and #5 in Australia. In its second week of release the album rose to a peak of #4 on the ARIA Charts. She won the Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards Critics' Choice awards in 2011 and an ARIA for Best Female Artist.
In addition Kimbra and the Australian/Belgian artist Gotye teamed up for the single Somebody That I Used to Know. The single has been a massive hit charting nationally and internationally. The song peaked at #1 in New Zealand, Australia, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and the UK. The single has currently been certified 8x Platinum (560,000+ units sold) in Australia.
Kimbra will be performing at SXSW from March 14th to March 17th.
Following on from SXSW Kimbra will be supporting Gotye on his US tour and Foster the People on their US summer tour. Her US label Warner Brothers Records has recently released an EP with track Settle Down already receiving airplay on influential radio station KCRW and the video, which has over seven million views, was recently selected as iTunes Video of the Week.
Developing their own twist on modern hip-hop, psychedelic and soul Electric Wire Hustle's sound challenges genre boundaries & preconceptions.
Since forming in 2007 EWH have experienced an outstanding response to their music. Their strong live show has seen them perform all over the world and in the U.S. they were noted as the "CMJ Highlight" by the Revivalist/Okayplayer after their performance at the New York festival in 2010 as part of their first US tour.
Their debut self-titled album was released internationally on BBE Records and has received love from many of the of the world's top DJs and selectors including UK BBC Radio 1 DJs Benji B and Gilles Peterson.
"Quite simply this is the best, most exciting R&B, soul, electronica, whatever you want to call it, record I've heard this year." Okayplayer.com
"Cairo Knife Fight's music whips up a melodic storm of riff-fired power that takes your mind, body and soul on a hallucinatory rock 'n' roll ride. Think: Radiohead meets Kyuss meets Sigur Ros." - www.athousandguitars.com
Tooled up with an arsenal of drums, guitar, synth bass and loop pedals, Christchurch New Zealand two piece Cairo Knife Fight pack a riff-driven punch that has seen them hold their own against title holders they've shared stages with - names like Foo Fighters, Them Crooked Vultures and Queens of the Stone Age.
The collective back story of drummer/main vocalist Nick Gaffaney and guitarist/loop guru Aaron Tokona reads like a brag sheet of some of New Zealand's finest musicians including Anika Moa, Fat Freddy's Drop and Dimmer, as well as Tokona's own former contenders, rock outfit Weta. It's as a duo however that they've blazed their very own trail, finding new ground between the power of Led Zeppelin and the fearlessness of Radiohead.
The story of Avalanche City begins in a house, alone, for hours each day for months, slowly learning how to sing by process of scales, recording and self critique. Six months later, Dave Baxter played his first solo show as Avalanche City. Six months after the first show, the first tracks were laid for Avalanche City's debut album Our New Life Above The Ground. Dave headed into the countryside and moved into Kourawhero Hall and spent the week alone recording and playing everything himself with only the cows and the milk trucks as company.
The result is an album that stretches across many genres and influences culminating in a sound that is an impressive and eclectic amalgam of instruments, melodies and harmonies. The depth and perspective create a dynamic atmosphere that is both rich and raw. With a brilliant collection of folk pop songs Avalanche City is now a full-fledged band with their own distinctive sound.
The first single Love Love Love debuted #1 selling double platinum and has recently reached gold status in Australia. The United States will be releasing an EP and the UK the album in the coming months.
Avalanche City's performances at SXSW will be followed with the band's second US tour this time supporting Fueled By Ramen band Fun..
For a comprehensive list of where and when the bands will be playing in Austin, visit http://www.outwardsoundnz.com/
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