Open Water

show 46 starts off like one of those sketchy bars you wander into after pulling off the freeway. pretty soon you find yourself in an unwanted conversation that turns surprisingly heady and coherent. you drink a little, dance a little, share too much, forget to pay, can’t find your car, but it’s all ok. for now.

show 45 is a remote affair, as the host steps away to attend to another job -- then proceeds to screw up the assembly of the show in post. (how much genius is lost in post? we may never know.) but Open Water is its own organism, so the show goes on, with the likes of Dream Machine, Sacred Paws, The New Year, Spiral Stairs, and more and more and more…

show 44 features British, Australian and American bands, cooked up in a heady stew by its Irish-American host — whose youngest daughter joins in the fun in the last few minutes, just to give him some needed context. PINS, NE-HI, Dick Diver, The Moonlandingz… what could go wrong? and what more could you want? and what?

show 43 celebrates the glory that is the SXSW Music Festival, where Open Water was hunkered down for 3 days at the BrooklynVegan/SoS showcase. the best of the fest includes the likes of Cherry Glazerr, Rolling Blackouts, Dude York, Everyone is Dirty and Jay Som — all present and plugged in

show 42 is a semi-local/semi-remote affair from SXSW, resulting in questionable audio quality for the intros, but otherwise celebrating some of the bands to see . Hollerado channels Gang of Four, R Stevie Moore elevates antisociability to high art, and the 1975 show us baby pictures

the SXSW Express hits town, nodding vigorously to Beach Slang, Heat, Priests, Bleached and more Austin-bound bands. also something clean(!) from Sleaford Mods (though they had to be wrestled to the ground to elicit it)

No Men, No Joy, No Thank You. all the contrarian indie bands are present and accounted for. there’s even a languid Tim Darcy instrumental for all of you who’ve had a hard week. (all of US, that is.)

late winter malaise rolls on with Rolling Blackouts C.F., Dutch Uncles, The Octopus Project, and other stuff that makes spring & summer barely perceptible. plus an oldie from Stiff Records — just cuz

good Valentine’s Day? good. here’s some more candy. new Wire, old Wipers — plus PINS, PWR BTTM, Cayetana, Bleached, Beach Slang, Beachheads and more.

show 37 seeks solace in a spate of ACLU benefit albums, wants some of what The Courtneys are having, and ultimately finds Kate Tempest even more pessimistic than we’d thought possible.