Bands We "Discovered" at ACL

© Andrea Barrack / RumBum.com

Blitzen Trapper at Austin City Limits 09

If you’re like me, the typical post-music festival ritual is to 1) shower, 2) plop down in your comfiest spot (preferably with your feet up), and 3) delve into your music downloading tool of choice and seek the plethora of musical goodness that overwhelmed you throughout the day.  At least a dozen bands at Austin City Limits converted me last weekend, but my two speediest downloads upon my arrival home were selections from Bright Light Social Hour and Blitzen Trapper.

Bright Light Social Hour

You’ll notice Austin’s own Bright Light Social Hour was nowhere to be found in any ACL literature. Simple reason: no one knew they would play until two days before the fest began!  The immensely deserving winners of the local Sound and the Jury competition, who parlayed their skyrocketing talents to snag a spot at the fest, only learned they won their slot at ACL 48 hours before they took the Dell stage on Friday at 11:45 a.m. Supposedly winning the worst slot of the weekend, I thought they had one of the best. No other bands were vying for their audience, the crowd was fresh and craving their juiced-up sound, and best of all, it was still sunny and dry.

But stellar circumstance a grand performance does not make, luckily these guys had the talent to do something with their slot. And the four 20-something guys totally rocked my socks off!  While acquainting myself with Zilker Park on Friday morning, Bright Light Social Hour’s “Bare Hands Bare Feet” drew me in with their forcefield of sound. With a chorus sounding slightly Killers-esque, a splash of verse in espanol, and the rest a vocally pounding, cymbal crashing, tambourine smashing, techno keyboard tapping, neo-funk, electro-rock clash of the titans. “La Piedra de la Iguana” floats plenty of Ratatat-worthy trance keyboard, some Mars Volta vibes zoomed through their pumped up “Back and Forth”, and when I heard the chorus of “Detroit” – a dramatic, soulful and rip-your-heart-out belting of “I NEED YOUR LOVE” – I practically fell to my knees. I can’t get it out of my head – but wait, I’m not even trying.

Not that they needed them, but dudes scored extra points simply by looking like they love to play – especially the delighted Jack (their almost-handlebar moustache wearing, bare-chested vocalist and guitar player) grinned ear to ear even while shredding major six-string – letting the new converts know what a pleasure it was to play for us.  The feeling is mutual, fellas. 

Blitzen Trapper

Friday seemed my lucky day as I also saw Portland-based Blitzen Trapper, known by some as peddlers of “experimental folk”.  At the far reaches of the experimental spectrum, “Love U” has an eye-opener of an intro I could see Steven Tyler belting out.  At the mid-range, they offer a smattering of synthesizers and keyboard trickery that adds an echo-y air to their already sublime tonality. Just one reason Rolling Stone hailed them #13 of the Top 50 Albums of 2008.

Another reason is their heavy helping of folk, pure as grits and chicken pot pie. Blitzen Trapper’s sextet often takes their listeners through winding tales, unfurling stories like shooting a man south of the Rio Grande (“Black River Killer”), being raised in the forest by wolves (“Furr”), and love in the wilderness (“Lady on the Water”).  Sometimes Dylan, sometimes Denver, and with banjo partnering lyrics like “ ’Cause I’m a moonwalkin’ cowboy, dusty ridin’” (“Not Your Lover”), Blitzen Trapper makes a killer soundtrack for roadtrips, campfires, or perhaps slinging a hobo pack over a shoulder and sticking out your thumb among the tumbleweeds.  Don’t forget your harmonica.  

Our Local's Picks

A local Austinite, Rum Bum's Candice Adams, also got a fair share of newbies to her iTunes catalog.  Armed with eMusic, she snatched up songs from Todd Snyder, Papa Mali, and Ghostland Observatory.  

From deep in the heart of Texas, Adams considers her musical taste to run in the folksy circles.  Singer/Songwriter Todd Snyder, another Texan, fit the bill just fine. Known to play barefoot, his characteristically funny, though sometimes chillingly evocative, tunes and ballads kept Adams wanting more. 

The local Papa Mali who played Austin Ventures at 3:30pm on Saturday (when the rain came down), seemed to have a new fan for life.  Adams, now keeping tabs on the gritty and groovy funk rocker, is on the hunt for his next gig – possibly at a gospel brunch nearby. Papa Mali’s sound, reminiscent of the killer jam bands at Vermont’s Higher Ground, was a hook of familiarity that made Adams feel right at home.

A step outside of her (or anyone’s, she suggests) musical repertoire was the headlining sonic laboratory that was Ghostland Observatory.  “It’s such a distinctive style, it falls into its own category,” said Adams, an ace on the festival players who knows Daniel Johnston to Poi Dog Pondering and most in between. And though the wackness and light show fantastic they produce onstage is missed when you’re playing them from your car speakers, from Ghostland’s avant-garde tones, oft primal feeling vocals, and blasting sounds of what seem to be a digitized mouth harp, those guys sound just as funky.