SXSW Music Recap

So this year’s SXSW festival has come and gone.  I spent at least twice as much time at the festival this year due to volunteering for the Film & Interactive portion (which I highly recommend).  But my main music fanatic friend Eric and I also spent more time watching day shows and night showcases than ever.  I put in a solid 12+ hours per day for all four days and got to see lots of great bands.  But I still managed to miss several of what I considered to be must see bands this year.  Who did I miss?  Well, it wasn’t for lack of effort (stupid badges only parties & showcase no-shows).  But I missed:

• Broken Bells (their album is great and many of my friends saw ‘em – dangit),
• Band of Skulls (my number one or two band along with the xx – no-showed at showcase!),
• Fanfarlo (just didn’t work out),
• She & Him (heard they weren’t that good live, so that’s nice),
• We Were Promised Jetpacks (missed all my Scottish bands),
• Broken Records (didn’t play much),
• Frightened Rabbit (and missed even more Scottish bands)

Now, I did manage to catch 55 bands, and most all of them were good to very good.  And for a change, we did get to see several great electronic bands, which are in short supply some years.  Here is a summary (in no particular order) of the best bands I saw this year:

• The xx – great band, not a great show at the French Legation – too crowded
• Temper Trap – simply awesome band and awesome show at Lustre Pearl
• The Morning Benders – talented San Fran band who put on a nice androgynous show
• Chew Lips – awesome new UK female vocalist with sweet electronics – great show too
• Banjo or Freakout – thought they were someone else the whole show, but were quite good
• You Say Party, We Say Die – like a poor man’s Yeah Yeah Yeah’s – fun live
• The Veils – good enough to see twice – Finn Andrews’ voice is amazing
• The Golden Filter – more great electronic-influenced acts that are hard to come by – from NYC
• Cymbals Eat Guitars – math rock with crazy lead vocal/guitarist who plays with frenzy & passion
• The Boxer Rebellion – kind of U2 influenced UK rock that was much better live than on CD
• We Are Scientists – we had our choices, and though we’d seen ‘em before, we went again.  So awesome!
• Local Natives – didn’t get to hear much of them, but album is incredible – kicking myself
• Free Energy – great summer power pop – like Weezer without the snark – Fun!
• Memory Tapes – more cool electronic stuff – need to listen to their album again now
• Surfer Blood – good indie rock – hard to go wrong with that
• Twin Tigers – more good indie rock – still can’t go wrong
• Solid Gold – way fun, dancy electronica – the place was bumpin’
• Tanlines – more of the same fun, dancy electronica – the place was bumpin’ even more
• Codeine Velvet Club – great new big band from Fratelli’s guy with female vocalist & horns – watch for ‘em
• Sondre Lerche – seriously, if you haven’t seen him live, do so –  he’s a great entertainer with true talent
• Wave Pictures – kind of UK version of Violent Femmes, I liked ‘em
• Nic Armstrong – just caught a brief song, but man, he was really good and is a local UK ex-pat
• Miss Li – Little Swedish dynamo with serious pipes and hilariously fun stage presence

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