Once again I’ll let you know that while I did not attend SXSW, I figured I’d write something about it. I’ve been glued to the internet for the past several days, wanting to know all the latest from Austin; who was hot, who was not, and who the next crop of buzz bands are. From the looks of it, it sounds like former Cincinnati radio station, WOXY, had an incredible week of showcases and in-studio performances.
Of course the biggest and worst news of SXSW this year, was the passing of Alex Chilton on the first day of the festival. The former Box Tops/Big Star singer passed away from a heart attack at the age of fifty-nine in New Orleans. He was scheduled to perform at the festival with Big Star on Saturday evening, but the show would go on anyways, as a tribute. I’m told the performance by his bandmates was nothing short of an emotional spectacle, that featured guest appearances from Curt Kirkwood of the Meat Puppets, M. Ward, Mike Mills of R.E.M., John Doe of X, Sondre Lerche, Chris Stamey, Chuck Prophet, Evan Dando, Amy Speace, The Watson Twins, Susan Cowsill and original Big Star member, Andy Hummel, who traveled all the way from Lithuania.
I’ve heard wonderful things about the performances from huge bands like Smokey Robinson, Cheap Trick, Muse, Spoon, Band of Horses and Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings to name just a few, but the biggest disappointment from a bigger band that I’ve been hearing a lot about, was perhaps Broken Bells, the collaboration of Gnarls Barkley’s Danger Mouse and The Shins’ James Mercer.
I’d like to take the focus away now from the bigger bands who played, and concentrate on the smaller bands, who I’ve found are generating a lot of buzz from a number of sources like newspapers, radio stations and music blogs. After coming up with a giant list, I’ve looked into these buzz bands, narrowed down my list, and just thought I’d share with you, some of the acts that came away big at SXSW 2010. Here are thirty bands who I’ve repeatedly heard great things about, and I’m starting to enjoy myself.
April Smith and the Great Picture Show
Indie-pop band led by a female vocalist who has been called the next Lily Allen
The Asteroids Galaxy Tour
Alternative-dance band from Denmark, similar to The Do and Noisettes, complete with female vocals and horns
Balmorhea
Instrumental, post-rock outfit with the sounds of the acoustic guitar, piano and orchestrated strings
Choir of Young Believers
Indie-folk band out of Denmark
Codeine Velvet Club
British-pop outfit led by Jon Lawler of The Fratellis
Dam Funk
Boogie-funk and soul music similar to Mayer Hawthorne
Garotas Suecas
A Brazilian garage/surf rock band
GIVERS
Indie, dance-pop
jj
Electro-pop duo from Sweden, who are currently touring with The xx
Kings Go Forth
A ten-piece funk and soul circus featuring three lead vocalists, who recently signed to David Byrne’s Luaka Bop record label
Lissie
A female folk, singer/songwriter similar to Sheryl Crow and Neko Case
Lou Barlow
Indie-folk musician who has played with Dinosaur Jr., Folk Implosion and Sebadoh
Luke Doucet
Canadian singer/songwriter who was formerly Sarah McLachlan’s lead guitarist
The Morning Benders
Indie-pop band that has played and toured with Death Cab for Cutie, Yo La Tengo, MGMT and Grizzly Bear
Nneka
Nigerian-born soul singer based in Germany, similar to Erykah Badu and Lauryn Hill
Ólöf Arnalds
Female folk singer/songwriter from Iceland
Peter Wolf Crier
Indie-folk guitar and drum duo that recently signed to Jagjaguwar Records, a lable featuring Bon Iver
Phantogram
Psychedelic rock band with hints of synth-pop and hip-hop, similar to Broken Bells and Yeasayer
Quasi
Indie-rock band for fans of Elliott Smith and Stephen Malkmus
Real Estate
Rock band mixing alternative country and surf rock
The Rural Alberta Advantage
Canadian indie-rock band for fans of Harlem Shakes and Cymbals Eat Guitars
Seabear
Indie-folk rock band from Iceland
Sharon Van Etten
Female folk singer/songwriter
The Smith Westerns
A barely-legal garage and punk rock band from Chicago
Son Lux
Experimental and electronic indie-rock band
Surfer Blood
Often described as a little bit of Pavement and Pixies but actually more closer to Vampire Weekend, with a psychedelic surf rock sound
Toro y Moi
Psychedelic electro-folk band
The Very Best
African electronica-dance band similar to Amadou & Mariam and Tinariwen
Visqueen
Female led power-pop punk band
Washed Out
Electronica synth-pop
