I was really looking forward to taking Thursday and Friday off for SXSW this year, but work got really crazy and I had to cancel my Thursday vacation. Friday night also turned out to be the only time this month we could visit my brother in Dallas to talk about the deck they're helping us build as a Christmas present. Altogether, that left me Friday afternoon and Saturday night to see shows, which turned out to be enough to see the two bands I've been most obsessed with the last few months, as well as one band I've been curious…

I didn't go out on Saturday for a variety of reasons, but here's a ranking of all the bands I caught this week that I'd like to see again. Asterisks by the ones I more or less knew nothing about before Free Week.

1. This Horn Of Afrika
2. The Blacks *
3. The Laughing
4. Zlam Dunk *
5. Ringo Deathstarr
6. Follow That Bird!
7. Deskonocidos *
8. Rat King
9. Basic
10. Many Birthdays
11. Woven Bones *
12. Moth! Fight! *
13. Dans La Lune *
14. Ichi Ni San *
15. Death Is Not A…

Entering the second week of Free Week, I had a lot of energy. I am dead tired now, though, so this will be shorter than it deserves.

Got to Mohawk after band practice in time to see some of Many Birthdays. They weren't as good live as I'd hoped, but they were interesting enough to try again. All the free mp3s on their site kind of give notice that they're all over the place and more interested in playing with sound than in crafting the best single. Outside, Moth! Fight! got started before I left, and they were interesting.…

Saw a lot of bands tonight, including some very good ones…

Got downtown at 9:30, worried that I might miss my co-worker's band Send Help at Emo's. But on my way past Mohawk, I heard Basic playing outside and the bass sounded so good that I had to check it out. Very glad I did, because while the first song was good in a simple indie-pop way, the second song I heard was one of the best things I heard all night. It started out with the bassline from Metronomic Underground and morphed into a surfy instrumental with lots of…

These midweek shows are tough for a working stiff like me. Made it to Emo's for My Education though, right after catching the first two songs from The Altars, a punk rock band. I've never been able to file punk rock bands properly, but they played hard/fast/loud and even soundchecked with the riff from Mongoloid. Pretty good, but I went in for My Education with no regrets. They were in the middle of their first or second song, with a very pretty bassline underneath a gentle violin melody. The set got heavy and noisy at times, but the…

I went two more up on Hannah in cribbage. 5-1 now, babe.

Scaled back Monday night edition…

I was actually going to skip the bands and go to Music Mondays at the Alamo Drafthouse @ The Ritz to see a soul music documentary called Soul Nite, but it sold out about five minutes before I got there. Debated going home, but decided on a quick run-through of all the clubs doing shows: Emo's, Red 7 and Mohawk tonight. Free karaoke at Beerland too, but nobody was there when I walked by.

Emo's had the best lineup– or at least I'd heard of a few of the bands before, if no more than…

abbreviated version, I've gotta get some sleep tonight…

Went straight for Emo's inside and caught a friend playing in j.b.e.. Not really my (or his) favorite style of music, they were kind of jangly, folky, classic rock. The cello, violin and piano were nice, but the songs didn't stand out at all. After they finished, I went outside and saw The Astronaut Suit. They were mostly too polished for me, but still had some pretty good psych songs and took a few chances. One song in particular was a good dark rocker with a fairly heavy riff breaking…

in bullet points!

• Ichi Ni San @ Club DeVille
New band getting comfortable, but I like the moody electronic pop. The live percussion and trumpet were nice additions.

• Dans La Lune @ Emo's inside
Heard some good things going in, but was really impressed by their British Invasion-filtered-through-Cheap Trick sound. There was one song that had a really great musical transition from chorus back to verse, the kind of hook that sticks in your head for days. The songs were good enough to favorably recall The Kinks and The Zombies, in addition to hints of Elvis Presley…

After cutting back on shows during my baby boy's first year, I've been looking forward to this excellent chance to catch lots of local bands. The expansion from Emo's to Red 7 and Mohawk (and some nights Club DeVille and Beerland) is insane! It's like a mini-SXSW without the ridiculous crowds and the badge/wristband/cover lines, wondering if you'll be able to see the show you really want to see.

On Friday, 1/2, I started at Red 7 to see The No No No Hopes, but watched Sleezus Fist while The No No No Hopes got set up. Sleezus Fist…