Apparently there is some mystery surrounding the Golden Filter, who along with making their own music remix all sorts of popular groups (Cut Copy, Peter, Bjorn and John). Having seen them live now, I guess this takes some of the surprise out of it, although the lead singer's face remained obscured for most of the show. The group present at SXSW was made up of a) a man producing sounds with electronic equipment (synths) and keyboards b) A woman singing (see the blond with the obscured face) and was also joined by c) a drummer named Lisa. The gist of their comments regarding secrecy (ie they don't use names on their website and they cover their faces in photos) basically speaks to a sense of not wanting who they are to overwhelm what they are creating, ie "just letting the music stand on its own."
But moving back to their performance at Beauty Bar...
The Golden Filter came off more polished than those groups that went on previous, electing to skip idle banter and launch into their danceable, electronic and percussion heavy set. From what my internet research gleaned, the singer and DJ are the band (formerly?) known as Lismore, which would make the tall, skinny vocalist Penelope Trappes and the electronic man Stephen Hindman. Though not exceptionally unique, their tracks flowed easily into one another, think disco flavor heavily mixed through a synthesizer. They reminded me at times of Hercules and Love Affair without quite so much going on and without the bright poppy vocals- instead Penelope's voice has more of a lulling quality that makes you want to close your eyes and dance to yourself. Or, if you take their advice, you could follow the Golden Fox ("Solid Gold") which I imagine is like following Alice down her rabbit hole only instead of a drug induced haze you might bath in the golden light of their sound.
