Bedouin Soundclash - Cedar Street Courtyard (SXSW 2009; March 20)

Despite the fact that the line to get into Cedar Street Courtyard extended down the block, and the music to me brought back memories of my instruction in the proper way to “skank,” I was disappointed to see that the boys of Bedouin Soundclash seemed to have more energy and bounce than the crowd. While folks seemed to be enjoying the music, I couldn’t help but lament that people seemed to drastically overlook the that fact that what the “rude looking boys” on stage (in black with sharp glasses, hats and some checkered bass straps) play is rooted in some serious dance music. And by dance music I mean a blend of pop music you might hear on your 90’s station that you hate to admit you liked because it was so freakin’ catchy smashed (play here on “soundclash” in case you didn’t catch that) with the ever-danceable dub and reggae rhythms that I find it almost impossible to resist or at least transferring my weight to.

Bedouin Soundclash, as their name may or may not suggest, is a collection of various influences, blending saxophone, trumpet, bass guitar and drums all into a happy sounding mix of upbeat dub heavy pop. I especially enjoyed the subtle use of muted trumpet, and the fact that bassist Eon Sinclair carried the melody on a number of tunes.

Most of the vocals were handled by guitarist Jay Malinowski though he had some nice vocal harmonies with Sinclair and at times the rest of the band, which they chose to smartly employ to draw the audience in at the end of their set, beginning a cover of “Stand by me” mostly sans instruments with the crowd as the accompaniment. While those who are new to Bedouin Soundclash might be tempted to relate them to Vampire Weekend I will point out that they come by their African influences in a bit of a different path (and earlier), with Bedouin Soundclash representing a fusion of various soul, reggae and ska influences rather than the new afro-pop that Vampire Weekend echoes. Bedouin Soundclash’s history of working with various worldly musicians is reflected in their dub heavy rhythms and can be found on several of their albums such as Street Gospels or Sounding a Mosaic, which feature guest vocals by Vernon Buckley of the Maytones.