1. Seryn – We Will All Be Changed
2. Fitz and the Tantrums – MoneyGrabber
3. David Wax Museum – Born with a Broken Heart
4. Wild Flag – Romance
5. Cults – Abducted
6. Tennis – Marathon
7. Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. – Vocal Chords
8. In Bloom – Butch Walker & the Black Widows
9. Middle Brother – Middle Brother
10. Unknown Mortal Orchestra – How Can U Love Me?
11. The Black Keys – Lonely Boy
12. Eleanor Friedberger – My Mistakes
13. Timber Timbre – Woman
14. Eliza Doolittle – Pack Up
15. Jonquil – It Never Rains
16. Generationals – Ten-Twenty-Ten
17. Mates of State – Palomino
18. Drums – Money
19. Best Coast – Crazy for You
20. Okkervil River – Wake and be Fine
21. The Civil Wars – Barton Hollow
22. Typhoon – The Honest Truth

You can listen to the entire playlist below, via this fancy Grooveshark widget:

What is Bullheaded, you ask? It’s my new book. Here, I’ll let the marketing copy do the talking:

“Dwain Smith did it again. I’m really worried he’s going to update the Odyssey next.”
–Homer, dead Greek

The exciting follow-up to Fleeced! The heroes of New Olympus are back in a new, modern mythological romp!

When young people start disappearing from the streets of New Olympus, Detective Theseus is on the case – even if no one wants him on it. The Heroes Union has expelled him, the NOPD has suspended him, and his ex-fiancée may want him dead, but Theseus is determined to get to the bottom of this mystery. To do so, he’ll have to deal with a family of serial killers, centaur wedding crashers, a reclusive inventor, his father’s new girlfriend, and more.

The truth behind the disappearances lies in the center of a labyrinthine maze and it’s being guarded by a monstrous horned creature – and it’s hungry.

I’d like your help promoting the new book – and to make it worth your while, I’m raffling off a brand new Kindle! Wait, there’s more! The Kindle comes with copies of both Fleeced and Bullheaded! Salivating yet?

Q: Sounds great! How do I enter the raffle?

A: There are several different ways to enter the raffle. I’m looking to build up my facebook and twitter fanbase while also accumulating reviews of my books. Contribute to those and you will earn entries into the raffle.

Q: So what exactly do I have to do to earn entries?

A: Here’s a complete breakdown of the points system:

• 1 point: ‘like’ me on facebook (http://www.facebook.com/dwaindangersmith) and post on the fan page’s wall (I have no other way of knowing you liked me!).
• 1 point: follow me on twitter (@dwainsmith).
• 1 point: tweet or retweet the following: “Check out #Bullheaded by @dwainsmith and enter to win a free Kindle! http://bit.ly/pdohui“
• 3 points: post a picture of you and one of my books on my facebook fan page.
• 3 points: submit fan art for any of my books on my facebook fan page.
• 5 points: post a review of any of my four books (Bullheaded, Fleeced, The Junk Whisperer, or The Supervillain’s Guide to Philanthropy) on Goodreads.
• 5 points: post a review of any of my four books (Bullheaded, Fleeced, The Junk Whisperer, or The Supervillain’s Guide to Philanthropy) on that book’s Amazon page .
• 5 points: post a review of any of my four books (Bullheaded, Fleeced, The Junk Whisperer, or The Supervillain’s Guide to Philanthropy) on your personal blog.

Q: How many times can I enter?

A: You can like me on facebook once and follow me on twitter once. You can retweet the promo tweet above 3 times, but each tweet must be at least 3 days apart. You can post 1 photo or piece of fan art for each of my books. For reviews, you can review each book once, but you can post that same review to multiple sites – so if you review Fleeced and post it on your blog, on Amazon, and on Goodreads, you get 15 points. Likewise, if you review Fleeced, Supervillain’s Guide, and Junk Whisperer on Amazon, you get 15 points. Make sense?

Q: What if I’ve already liked you, taken pictures of a book, written a review, etc?

A: Sorry, but no grandfathering points. You need to be a new twitter follower, facebook liker, reviewer etc. There are plenty of ways to enter and so no one should be ineligible at this point.

Q: When does this contest run?

A: From 7PM EST on 8/24/11 through 7PM EST on 9/14/11 (so three weeks)

Q: How do I make sure my entry has been counted?

A: If your entry deals with facebook or writing a review – please post a message to my facebook fan page wall. If you are posting a review, please post a link to the review. As long as you include me @dwainsmith in the tweet or retweet I should get you into the scorebook. If you have a question about your score, tweet or facebook me and let you know how you are doing.

Q: Are there any other prizes?

A: Yes! In addition to awarding the grand prize winner with a Kindle + Fleeced + Bullheaded, two runners-up will receive copies of Bullheaded (they can choose between Kindle and print).

Q: Any other fine print?

A: Yeah, why not? The Kindle in question is the “Wi-Fi, 6″ E Ink Pearl Display” version listed here. In order to be eligible, all entries must be still valid at the end of the contest period (if you got an entry for following me on twitter you must be still following me on twitter at the drawing time in order to be eligible, etc). if you have any questions, please leave them in the comments field below.

Finally, if you have other interesting ideas for earning entries into the contest, let me know – either on twitter or facebook. If I like it and think others can easily replicate it, I’ll add it to the contest.

And with that, good luck!

It was obvious that no one could hear the girl, or if they could, they had no interest in rescuing her. Her voice was hoarse from screaming. She was terribly, horribly, and irrevocably doomed. Worst of all, she had a date with the too dreamy for words Nick Panagopolous tonight that she was going to miss because she was trapped in a crappy dungeon and left there to die. Nick would probably go out with Becky Johnson instead (that two-faced bitch!) and the two of them would be prom king and queen and totally get married and have lots of stupid children.

She couldn’t believe that this was happening to her. Why couldn’t Becky Johnson have been grabbed off the street, blindfolded, driven across town, and dumped in some crappy basement where some maniac was going to cut her up and serve her to his psycho friends for breakfast instead?

Gods, this dungeon was some sort maze of something. She’d been walking for what seemed like hours now, and she could swear she had walked by the very spot she was in five times.

She turned around to try and retrace her steps but the space behind her was a dead end. That’s weird, she thought. I could have sworn I came from that way. I must really be turned around. At the other end of the dimly lit hallway were doors to the right and the left.

I think I took the right door last time, and it somehow brought me right back here, she thought. That didn’t make any sense but it was totes what happened, so this time she chose the door to the left.

The girl probably should have been scared. And she had been, at first. Still blindfolded, she’d been roughly tossed into the basement and heard the door slam shut and lock behind her. Yet when she pulled off the blindfold, there was no door to be seen – just a long hallway in front of her. Sure, she’d been scared. She screamed for a solid fifteen minutes; she was in show choir and on the track and swim teams at school and so she obvi had the lung capacity.

The fear had since worn off and made way for anger, and worse: boredom. She had so many other places to be right now, mostly making out with Nick Panagopolous. The basement was not even that scary – it was more, well, crappy. The décor sucked. There was no natural light and the overhead fluorescents did nothing for her complexion. Couldn’t she have at least been kidnapped by a serial killer with a sense of style?

She went through the door on the left and found herself in yet another crappy hallway. At first glance, it seemed identical to the hallway she had just left. Then she noticed an ever so slight difference. This hallway had a different smell. It was a familiar scent, but she couldn’t quite place it. Taking a few tentative steps closer, she noticed the scent grow in strength. Upon closer examination, the scent smelled downright meaty, and it seemed to be coming from the lone door at the end of the hallway.

Doomed or not, the girl still had the sense to put her ear against the door and see if she could hear anything before barging into the next room. She bit her lower lip in indecision and considered her next move. Turning around, she saw that once again her entrance to this section of the basement had seemingly disappeared. The door in front of her was her only option.

She took a deep breath and turned the knob. There was not a hallway on the other side of the door. It was a room, a kitchen to be exact. It was cramped, with a small table, and several ancient appliances. There were several crude crayon drawings held to the refrigerator door with brightly colored magnets; all were pictures of cows: black and white cows, brown cows, even one green and purple striped cow, with a polka-dotted udder.

Sitting on top of the oven was a freshly baked meatloaf. The smell was overpowering. Her stomach groaned; it was a loud mooing sound. If she was going to die, she might as well die full, she thought. She poked the meatloaf with an index finger; it was still hot. She picked up a knife and sliced deeply into the entrée. Her stomach mooed once more, this time louder than she’d ever heard. Relax, she thought, I’m working on it. Using the knife, she dug out a big hunk of meatloaf and gingerly raised it to her mouth.

There was a roar and the girl felt a sharp pain in her midsection of the like that she’d never felt before. The meatloaf dropped from her hand as she looked down at her stomach. Blood was quickly soaking her shirt and something large, dark, and sharp had pierced her deeply, protruding several inches out of her.

Well, this totally sucks, she thought as she quickly drifted out of consciousness and let the cold hand of death embrace her.

Putting this playlist together was no easy task. I had to deal with important questions like:

• New Jersey: Bon Jovi or Springsteen?
• Pennsylvania: Live or the Roots?
• Ohio: Marilyn Manson, Bones Thugs & Harmony, or The Black Keys?
• Connecticut: Michael Bolton or John Mayer?
• Are there any famous musicians from New Hampshire?
• How much flak will I get from choosing Collective Soul over REM (Georgia) or The Mighty Mighty Bosstones over Aerosmith (Massachusetts)

You will take umbrage with at least part of this list. But hey, my guess is that you’ll also really enjoy part of it to. So onto the main event (and listen along with the embedded Grooveshark widget):

American, The Playlist: 50 Songs from 50 Artists from 50 States (plus 2)

1. Alabama: Lionel Richie, “All Night Long”
2. Alaska: Jewel, “Standing Still”
3. Arizona: Meat Puppets, “Backwater”
4. Arkansas: Johnny Cash, “Get Rhythm”
5. California: Tupac/Dre, “California Love”
6. Colorado: DeVotchKa, “How it Ends”
7. Connecticut: Michael Bolton, “How Can We Be Lovers”
8. Delaware: George Thorogood, “One Bourbon One Scotch One Beer”
9. Florida: Flo Rida, “Low”
10. Georgia: Collective Soul, “Shine”
11. Hawaii: Israel Kamakawiwo’ole, “Somewhere over the Rainbow”
12. Idaho: Josh Ritter, “Rattling Locks”
13. Illinois: Common and Kanye, “The Food”
14. Indiana: John Cougar Mellencamp, “Pink Houses”
15. Iowa: Glenn Miller, “In the Mood”
16. Kansas: Kansas, “Carry on Wayward Son”
17. Kentucky: Montgomery Gentry, “Gone”
18. Louisiana: Better than Ezra, “Good”
19. Maine: Ray LaMontagne, “You are the Best Thing”
20. Maryland: OAR, “Crazy Game of Poker”
21. Massachusetts: Mighty Mighty Bosstones, “Someday I Suppose”
22. Michigan: Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr, “We Almost Lost Detroit”
23. Minnesota: Prince, “Kiss”
24. Mississippi: Afroman, “Because I Got High”
25. Missouri: Nelly, “Ride with Me”
26. Montana: Colin Meloy, “We Both Go Down Together”
27. Nebraska: Bright Eyes, “Four Winds”
28. Nevada: Killers, “All These Things that I’ve Done”
29. New Hampshire: Shaggs, “If I Needed Someone”
30. New Jersey: Bon Jovi, “Livin’ on a Prayer”
31. New Mexico: Beirut, “Nantes”
32. New York: Jay-Z, “Can I Get A…”
33. North Carolina: Superchunk, “Digging for Something”
34. North Dakota: Peggy Lee, “Why Don’t You Do Right?”
35. Ohio: Black Keys, “Tighten Up”
36. Oklahoma: Flaming Lips, “Fight test”
37. Oregon: YACHT, “Shangri-La”
38. Pennsylvania: The Roots, “Seed 2.0”
39. Puerto Rico: Ricky Martin, “Livin’ la Vida Loca”
40. Rhode Island: Blu Cantrell, “Breathe”
41. South Carolina: Hootie and the Blowfish, “Only Wanna Be with You”
42. South Dakota: Indigenous, “Evolution Revolution”
43. Tennessee: Elvis Presley, “Suspicious Minds”
44. Texas: ZZ Top, “Tuch”
45. Utah: Donnie Osmond, “Puppy Love”
46. Vermont: Phish, “Bouncing Around the Room”
47. Virginia: N.E.R.D., “My Drive Through”
48. Washington: Nirvana, “In Bloom”
49. Washington, DC: Exit Clov, “Beast Simone”
50. West Virginia: Brad Paisley, “Mud on the Tires”
51. Wisconsin: Violent Femmes, “Add it Up”
52. Wyoming: Chris Ledoux, “Cadillac Cowboy”

I’m going to finish them all this summer. I will. Starting right after I tell you what they are.

1. The Blind Assassin – Margaret Atwood

This is my first Atwood experience and so far, it is great. (Of all these books, I’ve made the most progress with this one – I’m about two-thirds of the way through). I saw the author speak at the Tools of Change conference back in February and fell in love with her. You can see her entire keynote speech, including her amazing drawings/slidedeck here. It’s a must for anyone in publishing. I stumbled upon this book in the basement of my apartment building – we have a little lending library down there – and was going to hold off reading this until after reading Handmaid’s Tale, but then I saw that it got picked for the twitter book club so it jumped to the top of the pile. (more on 1book140 here) Now I better finish before the month is over!

(Amazon)(Goodreads)

2. Unfamiliar Fishes – Sarah Vowell

Sarah Vowell is my favorite nonfiction author. She is a truly unique voice and her books combine semi-obscure American history with a fantastic pop culture sensibility. She can make even the most dry sounding topics (like New England Puritan settlers in her last book, “The Wordy Shipmates”) fascinating and fun. I came to her first as an This American Life contributor, so it helps that I hear her voice as I read. You can listen to a couple of her essays here. This new book details the role of American missionaries in the colonization/annexation of Hawaii.

(Amazon)(Goodreads)

3. Sleepwalk with Me and Other Painfully True Stories – Mike Birbiglia

I got blitzed by the Mike Birbiglia promo train about his book. It seemed like he was on every podcast I listened to – Nerdist, This American Life, The Moth, etc. My friend Tracey raved about him. So I sat down and listened to some of his comedy, including the book’s titular story about the comic’s sever sleepwalking disorder that led him to jump of the window of the La Quinta Inn in Walla Walla Washington. I ended up buying the book for my sister for Christmas. She read it, loved it, and lent it to me. (Best kind of present!) Want an idea about the kind of hilarious personal stories Birbiglia shares in his book? Check out an animated version of “I’m a Bear, etc” on Youtube.

(Amazon)(Goodreads)

4. Erekos – A.M. Tuomala

This book takes the prize for “book on this list I’ve been reading for the most time”. I think I started it in February. It has nothing to do with the book – the book is really really good so far. It’s really cool mythic fantasy. It’s also an e-book. The first e-book I have ever bought, and I’m having trouble abandoning paper. Don’t bring up the fact that I make e-books for a living. I know that I’m a hypocrite. I’ve been trying to read it on my iPhone during my commute, but those pesky Angry Birds keep getting in the way of quality literature time. (for more about Erekos, check out Candlemark & Gleam’s website)

5. Hickey of the Beast – Isabel Kunkle

It’s not my fault I’m not finished this one! This is another Candlemark & Gleam release – and it is being released as a serialized e book. (I won a subscription with my banana of the beast tattoo as chronicled here) The book will be thirty chapters, and chapter sixteen just released. I’ll admit, paranormal YA isn’t really my thing, but I’ve heard good things about it and I’m a sucker for weekly cliffhangers. (For more on HotB, check out the C&G website)

6. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest – Stieg Larrson

I tore through the 1st two books earlier this year when I was doing a lot of traveling, but haven’t had a chance to get very far into the third book of the Millennium trilogy. Then the teaser for David Fincher’s Girl With the Dragon Tattoo hit the web (see it here and wonder like me why you can’t buy that amazing cover of “Immigrant Song” yet) and I picked the book back up. This will be a good one to work on during my flights to/from Portugal in July.

(Amazon)(Goodreads)

7. Andromeda Klein – Frank Portman

This another YA book I’m reading right now. I picked it up at the local library book sale because I liked the cover and jacket (yes, I judge books by their cover and you should too) and  because Andromeda reminded me of one of my favorite Christopher Moore character’s – “You Suck” and “Bite Me’s” Abby Normal. We will see if this becomes another “occult classic”. Sorry for the bad pun. Who am I kidding? No I’m not.

(Amazon)(Goodreads)

8. Something Rotten – Jasper Fforde

This one barely counts. I bought a copy at library book sale and started reading it, but quickly realized two important things: A. I had 7 other books I was in the middle of at that moment, and B. I couldn’t remember how the last book ended (this is the fourth book in Fforde’s Thursday Next series). I’ll get back to this one as soon as I read the cliff-notes/Wikipedia entry for the third book to refresh my memory.

(Amazon)(Goodreads)

Now off to read them all. Wait, what is that cool looking spine on my bookshelf? Maybe I will start that one instead…

You can check out my progress on Goodreads – http://www.goodreads.com/dwainsmith

May

May 6: Thor

The first of Marvel’s three big releases this summer, and in my mind the riskiest. Putting on screen the story of an arrogant Norse god that is banished to Earth and becomes a champion to us little folk is a feat in and of itself, but this is film will also tie into last year’s Iron Man 2. That’s right, this is a movie and about a Norse god who eventually becomes BFFs with Iron Man and Captain America. What could go wrong? I’m trusting that director Kenneth Branagh (yeah, that Kenneth Branagh is directing a comic book movie) will give us something suitably epic to start of the summer movie season. (Trailer)

May 20: Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

What did you hate most about the 1st three Pirates movies? If, like me, it was Orlando Bloom, this could be the Pirates movie for you. With Bloom and Keira Knightley out of the picture, Johnny Depp and Geoffrey Rush return in a search for the fabled Fountain of Youth and run into Penelope Cruz, Ian McShane as Blackbeard, and feral mermaids. Let’s hope the plot isn’t as convoluted and overly complicated as the second two movies were. (Trailer)

May 26: The Hangover 2

Will it be able to capture the shock and awe of the original? Probably not. But Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, and Zach Galifianakis in Thailand? That’s worth $10. (Trailer)

Hold out for more info

Will Ferrell lives in his front yard and drinks a lot of PBR in the indie flick Everything Must Go (trailer)

Avoid

The Kristen Wiig/Maya Rudolph comedy Bridesmaids, Paul Bettany as a vampire killing priest in Priest.

June

June 3: X-Men: First Class

If you know anything about me, then you know I love all things X-Men. I’m looking forward to this prequel about how the relationship between Xavier and Magneto went from best friends to mortal enemies. Plus – Kevin Bacon as Sebastian Shaw! I’m there. From Matthew Vaughn, director of quality movies like Stardust, Kick Ass, and Layer Cake. He was supposed to direct X-Men 3. With that in mind, we all know how low the bar for success here is. I’m not expecting another X2, just not another X3 or Wolverine, please. (trailer)

June 10: Super 8

This JJ Abrams directed/Spielberg produced film is shrouded in mystery but looks like it exists somewhere cinematically between Cloverfield and The Goonies. Should be interesting. (trailer)

Avoid

Bad Teacher. Like Bad Santa, but with a teacher. And not funny. Also, Bradley Cooper in Green Lantern (Feel free to hate on me DC Comics fans, but even with the new Wondercon footage, this still looks like a stinker)

July

July 1: Transformers: Dark of the Moon

I’m not going to try and convert anyone. Either you go see movies starring Optimus Prime, or you don’t. (trailer).

July 15: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

Wow. Hard to believe this one is almost over. One of the most consistent film franchises in a long time. (trailer)

July 15: Winnie the Pooh

Watch the trailer and don’t tell me you don’t want to see this right now. My early pick for next year’s best animated Oscar. (trailer)

July 22: Captain America: The First Avenger

The third movie in this summer’s Marvel trifecta? World War II superhero movie? Check. Hugo Weaving as the Red Skull? Check. Director of the Rocketeer? Check. My attendance required? Check. (trailer)

Hold out for more info

Friends with Benefits. At first glance this Justin Timberlake/Mila Kunis comedy looks like a carbon copy of the Ashton Kutcher/Natalie Portman movie No Strings Attached that came out earlier this year. But the trailer seems promising. Check out for yourself and let me know. (Trailer). I’m also still in “wait and see” mode for the John Favreau/Daniel Craig/Harrison Ford scifi western Cowboy and Aliens. The Steve Carrell/Ryan Gosling “Crazy, Stupid, Love” might also be good.

Avoid

Any movies starring Kevin James (The Zookeeper), Katherine Heigl (One for the Money), or Jennifer Aniston (Horrible Bosses). But you should know that.

August

There isn’t a lot coming out in August that I am excited about. Haven’t seen enough about the James Franco version of “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” to be excited or filled with dread. The Jesse Eisenberg as a pizza delivery guy turned bank robber movie (30 Minutes of Less) looks funny (due in large part to Danny McBride and Aziz Ansari). Check the red band trailer out here. Conan the Barbarian: I want you to be good, but you probably won’t be. I’ll be skipping the Smurfs movie and Not So Final Destination 5.

And with that, enjoy your summer movie season!

Attack of the Geeks

I spent my first three days in Austin in what can only be described as a geek paradise. Never have I felt so inadequate for only owning an iPad 1. Standout sessions included:

What would you build?

• Dr. Horrible and The Guild’s Felicia Day on producing internet video
• Stephen Anderson on sustaining passionate users (slides)
• Chris Busse on analyzing trends with social media APIs (slides on his site here)
• A discussion of online education tools and online learning
• Josh Rosenbaum of Mailchimp on the death of the demo and rise of the branded tutorial
• Blake Mykoskie of Tom’s Shoes on philanthropy as a business model
• Andrew Zolli of Poptech and Hannah Jones of Nike on open source data and sustainability
• Omar Green of Intuit on designing a seamless web to mobile experience (slides)
• A live taping of the Nerdist podcast w/special guest John Oliver!

And more. Did I mention there was a Lego room?

A Tangent

Continue at your own peril!

Food Truck Paradise

Highly recommend the spicy black bean empanada.

There are a few surefire ways to make me a fan of a food venue: be mobile (either in truck or cart form) and have a super clever name.

Clever named food trucks/carts/stands were everywhere: the Big Cheese (grilled cheese and tomato soup) was particularly delectable, while mmmpanadas (empanadas) and Along Came a Slider (gourmet sliders) tied for best name. Not sure how I felt about Short Bus Subs (the name, that is. I didn’t try the food).

I didn’t eat only street food while I was in Austin. A couple other highlights:

• The jalapeno brisket and pulled pork at Stubbs.
• The taco trio at  Pappasito’s Cantina.
• The fried chicken salad and mac n cheese at Moonshine (the company was great too!)

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that my best meal of the week was at a food stand with the ominous name “BC: Before Cone – there was Bacon.” The meal in question was titled “The Baconator.” The contents: pulled pork, jicama slaw, and creole mustard sauce in bacon infused waffle cone. That’s not a typo. The waffle cone had pieces of bacon in it. Culinary perfection:

My diet's mortal enemy

A Second Interlude

It's not every day you get get to have a beer with a guy that will get you free government money.

Wait, There Were Bands There?

I went into the week thinking I wouldn’t be able to see any bands I had not heard of previously (I had an interactive, not a music badge, so couldn’t jump the line at any of the official showcases). Nonetheless, I was able to see a lot of great acts (primarily Wed night, all day Thursday, and all day Friday). Highlights included seeing the Smith Westerns at Club Deville, catching Eliza Doolittle and Fitz & the Tantrums at an EW party, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. plus a ton of other good sets at the Paste Magazine day party, Carrie Brownstein and Wild Flag in the loading dock of an Urban Outfitters (yes, there was free PBR, and no, all these combined things do not make me a hipster). The biggest surprise to me was stumbling into a Meat Puppets show – man, can those guys can still rock.

Here’s a complete list of the artists I saw perform in Austin. As you may have noticed from the Grooveshark widget that you have been listening to while reading this post, I included many of my favorites in a playlist you can check out.

Hooray for Earth @ Flamingo Cantina

TJ Kong and the Atomic Bomb @ Fado

• Uncle Lucius
• Jonquil
• Boxer Rebellion
• Futurebirds
• White Mystery
• Kalu James
• The Jezebels
• Aphasia
• True Widow
• Tennis
• Unknown Mortal Orchestra
• Yuck
• Smith Westerns
  

  Eliza Doolittle at the EW Party

• Jukebox the Ghost
• The Sweetness
• Anthonio Luckic
• Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.
• Olufs Arnolds
• Seryn
• Nathaniel Rateliff
• Oryx and Crake
• Luke Rathbone
• Sarah Jaffe
• Kim Taylor
• Nicole Atkins and the Black Sea
• Continental
• Eliza Doolittle
• Fitz and the Tantrums
• Ash Reiter
• She sir
• Bloody Irish Boys
• The Lost Brothers
• Porcelain Raft
• Hooray for Earth
• Penrose
• Man on Earth
• TJ Kong and the Atomic Bomb
• Times new Viking
• Wild flag
• Meat Puppets

That’s it for this year! Did you go to SXSW? What did you see and love?

1. Movie Loves a Screen – April Smith and the Great Picture Show
2. Two Weeks of Hip Hop – Dead Prez vs Grizzly Bear (Hood Underground Mix)
3. Dilly – Band of Horses
4. Girl in Love – Smith Westerns
5. All of the Lights – Kanye West
6. Up from Below – Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes
7. King of Spain – Tallest Man on Earth
8. Your Easy Lovin’ – Mayer Hawthorne
9. On Melancholy Hill – Gorillaz
10. Rill Rill – Sleigh Bells
11. Scissor Runner – Jenny and Johnny
12. Airplanes – Local Natives
13. Hannah – Freelance Whales
14. Heaven’s on Fire – The Radio Dept.
15. Tightrope – Janelle Monae ft. Big Boi
16. What a Drag – Bear Hands
17. Moonlight – Honey Brothers
18. Heart to Tell – The Love Language
19. Crutch & Cane – Peter Wolf Crier
20. Little Lion Man – Mumford and Sons
21. Momma’s Boy – Chromeo
22. –Secret Bonus Track– (hint: it’s by a certain Cee-Lo Green)

You can listen to the entire playlist below, via this fancy Grooveshark widget:

Listen to all the songs I talk about below with this fancy Grooveshark widget:



We started the day on the west stage with Temper Trap. The Australian band put on a great set that would have killed had they been scheduled later in the day. Instead, it played more like background music for people’s arrival. During the set I counted not one, not two, but three different ironic unicorn tees in the crowd. Way to be unique, hipsters.

Listen to: “Sweet Disposition”, “Fader”

After Temper Trap, half of our group headed over to the main stage to watch Jimmy Eat World. On the advice of a friend we stayed for the next act, a New Orleans based outfit called Trombone Shorty. It ended up being the show of the day. The band features heavy rock guitars, an extensive horn section, and a front man with a seemingly inexhaustible energy and mad trombone skills.

Listen to: “Hurricane Season”, “Something Beautiful”

Next, we made our way to the main stage to Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes – or as I like to call them Edward Sharpe and his Traveling Band of Gypsies. The band behind every other commercial these days (one just played on TV while I typed that) put on a show that was half messianic cult party and half date between singers Alex Ebert and Jade Castrinos. I would love to see these guys in a smaller venue.

Listen to: “Home”, “40 Day Dream”

Joan Jett played next and man, can that woman still rock. Nice solid rock and roll. My friend Tracey tried several time to convince me that Kristen Stewart was a good actress during this show.

Listen to: “Bad Reputation”

Matt and Kim followed up with a fun but kind of tiring performance. The Brooklyn based duo has some great energy – Kim looks like she’s having a lot of fun banging on those drums, much like a more adorable Animal from the Muppets. That being said, a lot of their music sounds kind of the same, so after 30 minutes or so I was ready to move on and into the mystical dance forest.

Listen to: “Daylight”, “Good ol’ Fashioned Nightmare”

Chromeo was already playing and the sun had begun to set as we entered the dusty forest stage. My best description of Chromeo (and I don’t think it is original) is that they are are like Hall and Oates meets a great electronic act like Fatboy Slim. It’s fun, infectious, and very danceable.

Listen to: “Mama’s Boy”, “Tenderoni”

A big chunk of the crowd cleared out after Chromeo, so my friend Tracey and I were able to get nice and close to the stage for Sleigh Bells (fave website of the bunch). Their short thirty minute set was an audio assault. Their music is noisy on their album, but I was still shocked by just how loud they were in person, and by how into the show the fans were.  Definitely spent part of the show try to avoid mosh parts, and left with a few bruises. To quote Andrew Lee after it ended: “That was one of the craziest shows I’ve ever seen.”

Listen to: “A/B Machines”, “Rill Rill”

From there we headed back to the West Stage to see M.I.A. perform in what could only be described as a train wreck. She arrived late, stumbled her way through a few songs, and spent much of her time on stage barking orders to the audio booth (turn my microphone up, etc) and setting up odd set pieces (women in glow in the dark burquas wielding power drills, dancing with road flares, and an on stage dance party with members of the audiences). She ended the show in her pajamas with a bottled of tequila. Great spectacle, yes. Great musical performance? Not so much.

Listen to: “Teqkilla”, “XXXO”

To finish the night, we traipsed back to the main stage for the last half hour of LCD Soundsystem. I was struck by how Jame Murphy looks nothing like I imagined. Nice solid performance to end the night, though I would have liked to see the entire show, as we missed many of my favorite LCD Soundsystem hits.

Listen to: “Dance Yrself Clean”, “Losing my Edge”

I know what you are thinking: how did it take three whole posts before I got to my favorite actor, the one and only Ron Perlman? A classic character actor, Perlman has a gruff intensity that is unmatched (except by maybe Clancy Brown). Here are some my favorite roles:

• Hellboy: an obvious one. Perlman brings a real sense of humanity to this lovelorn demon that love cats and files his horns down in a futile attempt to fit in. Perlman is known for his makeup acting, including memorable turns in the mostly forgettable Star Trek: Nemesis, and in the role that made him a household name, Vincent in TV’s Beauty and the Beast. (he was the beauty, I think.)
• Clay Morrow (Sons of Anarchy). Think Hamlet’s Claudius on a motorcycle. His relationship with stepson/rival Jax is the linchpin of the popular FX drama.
• Reinhardt (Blade II). The Blade franchise has a history of scene-stealing villains (Donal Logue in Blade, Parker Posey in Blade: Trinity). Maybe the best vampire with a bomb attached to his head performance I’ve seen.
• Father Murphy (I Sell the Dead). Perlman chews the scenery as an Irish priest taking a grave robber’s (Dominic Monaghan) last confession.
• Fiery Blaze (The Tick). This macho superhero (and his sidekick, Friendly Fire) teaches The Tick and Arthur a valuable lesson in teamwork:

Where you should see him: There have been rumors of him having a role in the forthcoming Hobbit films (those might have cooled with Del Toro no longer directing). I’d personally like to see him as The Thing in the inevitable Fantastic Four reboot.

Get your own serving of Ron Perlman: Sons of Anarchy’s third season is airing now on FX. Everything else is available on DVD. Both Hellboy animated movies and the entire Tick series are available on Netflix instant.