SXSW Day 4: No Sleep ‘Til Brooklyn

“There’s something fabulous and torturous about SXSW.” - Dan Deluca

I awoke feeling pretty unfried for a SXSW Saturday morning. Went to breakfast with the Paste guys at the soon-to-be-homeless Austin institution Las Manitas, and paid my respects with a heaping plate of migas.

Then Carla and I went to a screening of the Nick Drake documentary ‘A Skin Too Few’ and attended a panel discussion on Drake afterwards where Joe Boyd (who discovered Drake and produced his first two albums) spoke. I’m a long time Drake fan, but have to admit it’s been some time since I put on his records. I thought the film and discussion were totally engrossing, and have since found myself in the throes of a full blown Drake obsession, re-reading Boyd’s book ‘White Bicycles’ as well as a definitive Mojo article on Drake by the late, lamented Ian MacDonald which appeared in the January 2000 issue. Nick Drake fans would do well to pick up a copy from eBay.

Future Clouds and Radar were everywhere in Austin this week, including a cool little East Austin coffee shop called Cafe Mundi. Carla and I caught their final - and most rockin’ - set of the conference there Saturday afternoon.

From there I made my annual pilgrimage to Austin vinyl shop Friends of Sound and scored some choice titles: Dave Dudley’s ‘The Pool Shark,’ Joe South’s ‘Walkin’ Shoes,’ and since I can never leave TX without a little Doug Sahm, a Sir Douglas live album from ‘83.

After being treated to dinner by the Yep Roc folks at tasty south Austin Mexican joint Curra’s Grill, I was fortified for one more night of live music. It started with a set of killer afro-beat/groove by the omnipresent Dap Kings (backing band for Sharon Jones and Amy Winehouse) this time rejiggered as The Budos Band.
From there Alexis and I capped off our SXSW with a scorching set by The Cliks. We snapped this photo with the band immediately afterwards. After hangin’ with the band for a while, I headed home and was in bed by 1:30am, for a 4:45 wake up call (ouch) to catch my homebound flight. See ya next year.