SXSW 2012: Mess With Texas Party Lineup Announced!

One of our favorite "unofficial" annual South by Southwest shows just announced its 2012 lineup.  Looks great.  Good mix of up-and-comers (A$AP Rocky, Cloud Nothings) and indie vets (Cults, Titus Andronicus, Deerhoof).  Brought to you by the folks behind Fun Fun Fun Festival.  Looking forward to it.

SXSW 2012: The Basics

February's over.  That means South by Southwest is around the corner.  SXSW -- particularly SXSW Music -- is BIG, so preparedness is key.  If you haven't started planning already, better get your butt in gear.

SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST 2012 BASICS

SXSW ][ MUSIC ][ FILM ][ INTERACTIVE

March 9-18

Interactive: March 9–13
Film: March 9–17
Music: March 13–18

Attending

For a Platinum Badge (access to all three festivals), this late, expect to pay well beyond a G.  The coveted piece of laminated paper will cost you $1395.  Gold badges are $1150.  If you're more the single-event type, price depends on the festival you're interested in: Interactive = $950.  Film = $595.  Music = $750. 

The Second-Hand Market:

• Craigslist
• StubHub
• eBay

Headquarters

Austin Convention Center

500 East Cesar Chavez St.

Events during SXSW take place all over the city, mainly downtown, but the nerve center of the festival is the Convention Center. Lots of panels, the Day Stage, the Music Gear Expo, Flatstock poster show (see below) and other fun stuff take place at the sprawling center, plus it's the place to go to handle registration and other logistics.

Convention Center area (including parking)

Some More Basics


The official SXSW First-Timer's Guide is full of helpful info for SouthBy virgins.  Another good tool for attendees is SXsocial, "a SXSW registrant tool that allows users to search for and message other SXSW attendees, update contact information, and book hotel accommodations."  There's also SXSW GO, "the official mobile app for getting the most out of attending SXSW 2012 [that] allows you to view/build your schedule, see a map of what’s happening and how to get there, navigate the tradeshow, stay connected to the social world and more."

One of my favorite tools is Austin360's SXSW 2012 Side Parties Database.  Search for unofficial parties by festival category (e.g., Interactive, Film, Music), date, whether free or not, and whether free food/drink are provided.  Click on each party for all the good details -- date, time, bands, where to RSVP, etc. So go find out what music parties are going on during weekend and hunt down free beer!  Great free tool -- use it!

Follow SXSW

We'll be posting SXSW-related goodies from now through after the festival. Here are some other good places to go for festival news, information, gossip, BS, etc.

Official SXSW News ][ Facebook ][ Twitter ][ MySpace ][ YouTube

Blogs covering SXSW:

• Operation Every Band - Had to start here. These guys have set a daunting goal: Review every band playing at SXSW in 2012. That means nearly 2,000 reviews. That's a whole lotta listening. Sounds like ... fun?  Too much?
• Austin Chronicle's SXSW Blog - What you'd expect from the Chronicle.
• Consequence of Sound - Also hosting a show I think.
• SXSW Baby - "An unofficial weblog for South by Southwest."
• Houston Press - SXSW coverage from Houston arts & entertainment news outlet.

More will pop up.  Trust us.

Yaktoberfest 2012 Update: Beer Recipe Development Continues

We're still over 6 months away from the next edition of Yaktoberfest, but we vowed to start preparing early this year.  Although we organizers haven't gotten too much done yet in terms of event planning, I have been busy trying to brew as many new beers as possible in hopes of finding one or more recipes to brew for the festival.  In the first blog update on Yaktoberfest 2012, we were trying out AHS's double chocolate stout recipe.  That one's in the bottle.  It needed a few more weeks of rest before it became a really good drink, but patience did pay off, and this one's a pretty good candidate for the fest.  I may have to tinker with the recipe just a bit to boost the alcohol and body each just a touch.

Just yesterday, I bottled experiment number two, a brown ale that also has promise.  I tasted it flat, and while I knew it would be light on hops, it may be a bit too low.  Guess we'll wait a couple of weeks and see.

Taking an investigatory sniff of the brown ale during bottling

FBtA's Audio and Video History of the Native Tongue Collective - Part 5: Audio Mix

Before we turn our attention again to things more local (like that little festival that rolls into town every March), we wanted to wrap up our Native Tongue Collective series with FBtA's Native Tongue Mix.  66 songs by artists who are closely affiliated with the Native Tongues, with the amount of attention the artist receives roughly proportional to that artist's significance in the collective.  So expect more from De La Soul than Chi Ali in other words.  There are lots of collaborations, and not just "Buddy" and "Doin' Our Own Dang."  Plus a few more rare cuts and mixes, and some appearances by a few unexpected guests.  Unless you were expecting Scotland indie power-pop band Teenage Fanclub.

Here it is below in big form.  A small one will go up on our main page soon.  See below for a bit more about the mix.

FBtA's Audio and Video History of the Native Tongue Collective

[Part 1][Part 2][Part 3][Part 4][Chi Ali Interlude]

So who's "closely affiliated with the Native Tongues?"


There are a few different ways to define who is a "member" of the Native Tongue collective and who is not.  Fans and press think of the collective in a sense as having a central core surrounded by a small number of concentric circles representing the degree of association to the collective and the closeness to the core members.  That's how we thought of it for purposes of building our mix.  If you aren't in one of the first two or three circles, chances are you're only in the mix by being a lucky guest.

To start off, one thing everyone can agree on is that there are three principal members of the Native Tongues:

Principal Native Tongue Members

• A Tribe Called Quest
• De La Soul
• Jungle Brothers

After that, opinions start to diverge.  The names most likely to appear in the next "circle," at least in my opinion, look something like this:

Secondary Native Tongue Members

• Black Sheep 
• Chi Ali
• Da Bush Babees
• Fu-Schnickens
• Leaders of the New School
• Monie Love
• Queen Latifah

There are a number of other groups and individuals that sometimes are mentioned in the above group.  These are folks with legit claims of association with the collective, but generally aren't considered close to its center.  We'll call these artists the "Affiliates."

Native Tongue Affiliates

• The Beatnuts
• Brand Nubian
• Common
• J Dilla
• Lucien Revolucien
• Mos Def
• Prince Paul

There are certainly other artists and associates who could make a reasonable claim of membership, but let's leave it at that.  Our blog, our rules.

Austin is (and always will be) Wooderson's Town ... and what does this have to do with BBQ?

Had a little surgery last Tuesday.  Oh, don't worry, it was nothing.  And one positive side effect of being grounded here in North Austin for a few weekdays is that it gave me an excuse opportunity to go check out a new barbecue joint that opened up not too far from my house, Stiles Switch BBQ & Brew on North Lamar.

I had heard the place was located in "the historic Violet Crown Shopping Center," but I didn't have any clue what made the nondescript small commercial strip historic.  Once I walked in the place though, I saw some Dazed and Confused memorabilia, thought a bit more about the layout of the parking lot and the place, and started wondering if the home of Stiles Switch was involved the movie.

Turns out it was, big time, as was the whole shopping center.  The "about" section of the Stiles Switch web site explains:

The Violet Crown Shopping Center, one of the “oldest” shopping centers in central Austin, was also the film production hub for the late 1990s film “Dazed and Confused” starring Matthew McConaughey. The Stiles Switch BBQ lease space is the famed “Emporium” pool hall filmed in the movie.

Wooderson enters the Emporium

Well, I don't believe in karma or any of that stuff, but one of the first things I read when I get home (with my take out 'cue, which was pretty good by the way) is that Matthew McConaughey just suited up as iconic Dazed and Confused character David Wooderson for the video for Butch Walker and the Black Widows' new video, "Synthesizers."  Appears that a does of those high school girls has kept Wooderson the same age since we last say him.

Check back soon for a true BBQ update.  Been to a lot of new joints since we last did a thorough rundown.

FBtA's Audio and Video History of the Native Tongue Collective - Part 4: Collective Lost

Last time in our multi-post series, the 1990s were in full swing and the Native Tongues were riding high. Our final narrative installment looks at the downward slide that ensued and what sort of legacy the Native Tongue Collective left behind.

[Part 1][Part 2][Part 3][Chi Ali Interlude][Part 5]

Stakes is High

In its first five years (1988-1993), the Native Tongues hip-hop collective was steadily on the rise.  The groups that formed the core of the Native Tongues -- A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, Jungle Brothers -- arrived on the scene, made names for themselves, then started calling themselves a collective with a hip Afrocentric name.  After that core trio each dropped a now-classic album, they would be joined by a growing cast of hip-hop rising stars who would claim the right to call themselves next-gen Native Tongue affiliates.  A few years into the '90s, some of these second-wavers appeared on the verge of joining their big bros in hip-hop's inner circle, like Black Sheep (when "The Choice Is Yours" crossed over), Queen Latifah (she'd reach stardom but through film) and Leaders of the New School (one member, Busta Rhymes, would soon get there).

Late in 1993, at the end of that five-year period, things still looked pretty solid for the collective.  A cover shot and long article in The Source painted a picture of a unified Native Tongues that seemed to be a good bet to keep rising in the hip-hop world.  The closing paragraph of the profile sums it up well.

c/o http://ifihavent.wordpress.com/

What?

Soon after though, cracks started showing. The constant vibe of "togetherness" and "unity" that surrounded Native Tongues was rattled by bouts of confrontation and bitterness.  In late 1993, promising next-generation Native Tongue group Leaders of the New School flamed out abruptly and effectively broke up. The Jungle Brothers ended up in a fight with their label, Warner, which delayed the release of their follow-up to 1989's Done by the Forces of Nature. When J. Beez wit the Remedy did finally drop in 1993, it was met with lukewarm reviews and confused even relatively open-minded hip-hop fans.  Latifah drifted off into movies.



Then the original Native Tongue groups started to drift apart.  Some of it had to do with A Tribe Called Quest severing its relationship with manager Red Alert, who was Jungle Brother Mike Gee's uncle.  A few lyrics popped up that alluded to the strained relationships.  De La's line about "Jungle Brothers on the run" on "Breakadawn," from 1993's Buhloone Mind State, had to do with that beef.  Posdnuos also rapped about it on "I Am I Be":

Or some tongues who lied

And said "We'll be natives to the end"

Nowadays we don't even speak

I guess we got our own life to live

Or is it because we want our own kingdom to rule?

Every now and then I step to the now

For now I see back then I might have acted like a fool

Now I won't apologize for it

This is not a bunch of Bradys

But a bunch of black man's pride

Another factor in the decline of Native Tongues was that the hip-hop scene had changed.  In 1993, hip-hop had finally hit the mainstream. It did it on the back of the latest trend though, so-called (for better or worse) "gangsta rap."  Africa medallions were out.  Forties and blunts were in.  It wasn't just the West Coast that had hardened either.  Back on the East Coast, the sounds coming out of cars were the sparse, menacing beats of Wu-Tang Clan and the confident thump of Biggie.  And one small side effect was that Native Tongue-style hip-hop, by comparison, looked increasingly like a fringe musical movement that had already seen its peak.





On top of the beefs and the change in music climate, many felt the core Native Tongue groups' music was starting to fall off a bit.  Like J. Beez wit the Remedy, De La's 1993 release, Buhloone Mind State, was solid, but perhaps not up to the lofty standard set by 3 Feet High and Rising and De La Soul is Dead.  And Tribe -- the only one of the three charter Native Tongue members to hit platinum, which it did with both Low End Theory and Midnight Marauders -- fell a bit flat with 1996 release Beats, Rhymes and Life.  After releasing The Love Movement in 1998, A Tribe Called Quest broke up when tension grew between old mates Tip and Phife.  By then, the notion of a Native Tongues collective was largely nostalgia.  De La kept on going, putting out some decent material and eventually reaching new audiences when they appeared on Gorillaz' sophomore album Demon Days in 2005, and Q-Tip put out some good music, but the JBs and Phife (not to mention many of the secondary Native Tonguers) were rarely heard from in the Aughts.

Beats, Rhymes & Life producer Michael Rapaport talks about the demise of Native Tongues

Legacy

Native Tongues will be remembered for a few different things.  They represent the prototype of the now-ubiquitous "hip-hop collective."  Long before there was a Flipmode Squad, Flava Unit, etc., there was Native Tongues.  The Tongues also found a niche by becoming an alternative to the more hardcore rap -- first the similarly Afrocentric but more militant Public Enemy and BDP, then the first wave of big-time "gangsta rap." While not the founding fathers of alt rap, they certainly are among the important historical stepping stones.  Writer Jeff Niesel sums it up well:

Without creating a rift with gangsta rap, the Native Tongues movement of the late 1980s articulated new ways of representing black masculinity.  [They] avoided using gangsta rap's epithets ....  Instead of competing with each other, they played on each others' albums to show support and inspire unity.  By calling themselves 'Native Tongues,' the rappers represented an attempt to spead a language that, for them, predated the street slang of gangsta rap.

Sonically, the Native Tongue groups left a mark as well.  Yes, many of the early Native Tongue recordings are now unquestioned hip-hop classics, but it goes deeper than that.  Things like the joyful pursuit of unmined samples and an emphasis on creative and generally positive lyrics perhaps did not originate with De La Soul or the JBs or Quest, but were championed by them and are now part of their legacy.  Aine McGlynn wrote this about Native Tongues in the 2007 book Icons of Hip-Hop:

They are a unique group of artists whose presence continues to be felt whenever an MC rhymes about something other than guns, diamonds, and the size of his rims.  The Native Tongues style lives on in tracks where the sample isn't an instantly recognizable tune from a fifteen-year-old hit single.  Native Tongues music has a playful and enlightening message that can still be heard in such artists as Lauryn Hill, Mos Def, Kanye West, Talib Kweli, POS and K-OS among others.

What else?  Well, Native Tongues did get a chapter in the aforementioned Icons of Hip Hop.  Apparently there's someone (Norman Parrish) interested in producing a documentary about them, Speaking in Tongues, although it's been a while since the official web site's been updated.  And people obviously still think about the Native Tongues.  The web is awash in Native Tongue audio mixes:

• If you have iTunes, there's Illvibe Collective's "The Best of the Native Tongues Mixtape Vol. 1."
• Looking for a different collective?  Clusterfunk Collective also has a mixtape out there, The Native Tongues Mix (Parts 1 & 2).
• There's a streaming mix on City Cat Radio.
• Devil's Pie Presents "The Native Tongues Tribute Mix":  33 NT songs, one MP3, mix by DJ Bonds.
• One more MP3 mix: So Much Soul - the Native Tongues Mix (Part I) and (Part 2).
• Joe Kollege (like that name) put together Hump Day Mix - "Native Tongues" after seeing the Tribe documentary Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest, consisting of \artists who Tribe identified as Native Tongues members in the film.

And as a collective, Native Tongues is dead and buried, right?  Well ... Black Sheep did put out a track in 2010 called "Birds of a Feather," and while "everyone" isn't on it, each of the three core Native Tongue groups is represented: Q-Tip from Quest, Dave from De La and the JBs' Mike Gee each take a turn on the mic.  So who knows?  If your dream is a bunch of kids in kente cloth dancing to "Buddy (Part 2)," there's hope just yet.

[Part 1][Part 2][Part 3][Chi Ali Interlude][Part 5]

Check back in.  We'll be posting our own Native Tongues audio mix soon.