SXSW 2013: Rhye, Iron and Wine’s Sam Beam turn it down

AUSTIN, Texas -- At South by Southwest, most musicians don’t get the luxury of privacy during soundchecks. Preparing for their set early Thursday afternoon at a Pitchfork showcase, the members of L.A.’s Rhye tuned up their instruments in full view of the several hundred hipsters making their way into a warehouse space east of Interstate 35. And with keyboard, bass, drums, violin, cello, trombone and vocals, the group took its time doing it too; even after the show began, frontman Mike Milosh kept making adjustments.

“This is a hard one,� he said, referring to the sound of the concrete-floored room. “It’s kind of boomy.�

Yet Rhye’s performance was worth all the fuss. Released earlier this month, the band’s debut album, “Woman,� is a beautiful electro-soul gem that’s attracted plenty of attention for how closely Milosh’s voice resembles that of a woman. (Rich Juzwiak nailed it on Gawker, writing that Milosh’s singing “is ‘Crying Game’-androgynous: capable of fooling masses, but obviously male once you have confirmation that he is.�)

PHOTOS: The scene at SXSW 2013

That sense of mystery dissipated onstage, of course, where Milosh and the rest of Rhye -- not including his studio partner Robin Hannibal, who doesn’t tour with the band -- looked more or less like any number of acts at SXSW this week: stubbly, scruffy, bleary-eyed after what the singer described as a sleepless journey from Berlin.

Remarkably, though, Rhye preserved the delicate beauty of its album, slinking through such songs as “Last Dance� and “Open� -- which Milosh opens by admitting, “I’m a fool for that shake in your thighs� -- with a sensitivity that’s hard to find amid the noise and bluster of SXSW.

“Is there a way to make it darker in here?� Milosh asked after “3 Days.� “This is nighttime music.� The lights never dimmed, but Rhye did manage to quiet the crowd with the lovely a cappella outro it appended to “The Fall.�

Sam Beam of Iron and Wine enjoyed a similar hush during his brief set Thursday at Mellow Johnny’s Bike Shop, where he performed on a bill assembled by the Seattle public-radio station KEXP. Iron and Wine has an expansive new album due out next month for which Beam collaborated with jazz-associated players such as trumpeter Steven Bernstein and drummer Brian Blade.

But at SXSW, he appeared in his solo-acoustic guise, offering lullaby-like renditions of “Boy With a Coin� and “Upward Over the Mountain� to a packed house that included a fair number of families. The quiet broke only when he asked for requests.

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Follow Mikael Wood on Twitter: @mikaelwood