SXSW Day 4: Perez, Kid Sister and 7 kids from Wales

Once 10 p.m. rolled around in Austin, Texas, I started to feel like I was back in Los Angeles. The fourth and final night of the South by Southwest music conference in Austin, Texas, ended with an in-demand party thrown by celebrity blogger Perez Hilton.

Perez brought a bit of Los Angeles down to Austin, with fruity drinks, mini-cupcakes, gift bags (I didn't take one) and hairstylists offering free makeovers. If the music biz is hurting, the Perez biz is apparently doing just fine, and he kicked his self-proclaimed "one night in Austin" with the dance-pop of Robyn, a singer Perez called the most exciting artist in pop music.

Perhaps a bit of an overstatement, but it's hard to fault Perez's taste in pop stars. She took the stage in a flowing black outfit, which the Swedish singer used to strike a vampire pose. There was a charming simplicity to Robyn's synth pop. Dual drummers laid down easy-to-groove-to beats, and Robyn stood close to the mike, keeping the emphasis on her spunky vocals. A delicate guitar touch mixed with brimming new wave on "Be Mine," and she turned '90s hit "Show Me Love" into a sparse number carried only by her vocals and a light, spacious beat.

I stopped back by the party close to 2 a.m. Outside of Robyn, and a supposed surprise guest appearance from N.E.R.D., I confess to being unfamiliar with the acts Perez booked (Shwayze, Dragonette, Ultraviolet Sound, among others), but the few minutes of the band I caught in the early morning was an upbeat, snythy new-wave act. When a stranger walked by and said I looked jaded, I decided to call it a night.

Some other noteworthy moments from Saturday night:

Kid Sister: The Chicago rapper, performing with her brother Josh "J2K" Young, will be heard from quite a bit in 2008, having her debut album due out on Warner-affiliated Downtown Records this summer. She took the stage 20 minutes late and copped to being drunk, but it certainly didn't affect her performance or hurt her smooth flow. The siblings ("We're a family band," Kid Sister said) raced around each other on "Beeper," with Kid Sister bringing a higher-octane contrast to her brother's more measured approach. All the while, producer A-Trak (Kanye West) gave her room to play with and kept the crowd dancing.

Los Campesinos! One of my favorite performances of the week was the second-to-last show I saw. The seven-piece from Wales was an absolute trip. With song titles like "This Is How You Spell, "Hahaha, We Destroyed the Hopes and Dreams of a Generation of Faux-Romantics," there's reason to be skeptical. But the band's pure zest and desire to fill every crevice of an arrangement with a hand clap or a smattering on the xylophone or a fragment of a guitar solo resulted in a pogo-worthy good time. Lyrics are loaded with pop-culture references but mostly just about breaking up, and guitar riffs cut out to let the violinist shred, recalling, at times, a more spastic and upbeat version of the adventurous, genre-hopping Mekons. All in all, it's like watching an entire band suddenly stricken with ADD, and the Los Campesinos are perfectly orchestrated chaos that ends up being irresistibly catchy.   

The Virgins: Having liked the sleazy, dancey songs available for sampling on the act's MySpace page, I had been curious to check out the buzzed-about New Yorkers. I finally caught up with them at a 1 a.m. showcase and was surprised by how much more polished the band's sound came off in person. It was a bit disappointing. Although the Virgins strove for a Rolling Stones swagger, the band's bass-driven melodies and lower-register guitar notes at times recalled the Strokes but without the their knack for a hook.

For complete Extended Play SXSW coverage, click here.

For complete Los Angeles Times SXSW coverage, click here.

Pictured: Los Campesinos!, courtesy of Grace DeVille, www.myspace.com/loscampesinos

Comments

[Tony]

Robyn's Swedish, not Swiss - kinda like how Kylie Minogues Australian, not Austrian.

[Todd Martens]

Nice catch. Thanks, Tony. Fixed.