SXSW wasn't the only place on earth last week to have a moment. Merrill Garbus, aka BTW tUnE-YarDs, continues to steal shows, and on Thursday it was from headliner Xiu Xiu. Photographer Andrew Youssef noted that the audience was "howling" between her songs, and, despite feeling under-the-weather, Garbus was even better than the last time he documented her.
Xiu Xiu's Jamie Stewart and Angela Seo mostly hit tracks from their latest, Dear God, I Hate Myself, which meant breaking out the pink Hello Kitty Nintendo DS. Also, connections: opener Noveller, aka Sara Lipstate, used to be in Cold Cave, the band former Xiu Xiu member Caralee McElroy joined, though she's no longer a member. Lipstate uses a bow on her guitar to stack record and layer live samples for her orchestral songs, making her an ideal part of this line-up: All artists who don't need help to make a lot of sound.
