Soon the streets of Austin, Texas will be flooded with musicians, producers, journalists, label executives, and groupies from around the world, thanks to the annual South by Southwest music festival, one of the premier events for discovering new music. Editors Kurt Wolff, Mike Tao, and Peter Gavin will be on hand scouting for our Next Big Thing awards (coming soon), waiting on lines to see already-big things such as Bloc Party and Lily Allen, and reporting back with daily reviews. Let's start the party early by firing up some BBQ and listening to the playlists below, which feature artists performing at this year's festival.
Andrew Bird There's an almost boyish charm to Andrew Bird's voice. It's serene, beautiful, and always accompanied by his instrumental mastery. But beneath the velvet lies a bit of wit and the glint of a blade, as his musings imply that he knows a secret. Perhaps he does, but it's not like he's going to just spell it out for us.
File under: Alternative Folk
Location: Chicago, IL
Lily Allen With help from her infectious hit "Smile," vocalist Lily Allen has quickly become the cover girl for feel-good indie pop. She unites women with her humorous lyrics about breakups, eating pasta without feeling guilty, and hating fashion magazines but reading them anyway. Catchy enough for men to sing along, too.
File under: Singer/Songwriter
Location: United Kingdom
Rob Crow Pinback is Rob Crow's bread and butter, but he still makes time to bounce between genres and a half-dozen other musical projects, including Physics and Goblin Cock. Under his birth name, however, Crow reveals the unfiltered side of his multilayered musical personality--a place where buoyant, icy beats meet off-kilter pop hooks.
File under: Indie Rock
Location: San Diego, CA
Nicole Atkins In a certain Boss, the northern Jersey Shore gained a homegrown bard beyond its wildest dreams. Now it has a stellar number two. This native of Asbury Park neighbor Neptune folds her wise warble into Antony-like identity anthems that make torch pop anti-folk's unlikely bedfellow.
File under: Pop/Rock
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Youth Group These Aussie indie rockers share the Ivy League Records tag with Jet and the Vines, and on second album "Skeleton Jar" (released stateside on Epitaph Records) they've arguably outdone their more famous labelmates. The record is a grandly scaled, instantly listenable cross of New York percussion and the '80s British arena feel of the Cure.
File under: Indie Rock
Location: Sydney, Australia
Fujiya & Miyagi What sounds like some ubercool Japanese duo is actually an ubercool British trio. The lads join Krautrock's robotalk and stiff synths with the sort of downy electronica you'd expect of Brighton natives. The result is both darkly hypnotic and as palatable as pop.
File under: Electronica
Location: United Kingdom
Priestess "Heaviosity" may not appear in the O.E.D., but that doesn't stop this Montreal metal act from applying the term to their sound. Strangely, we know just what they mean. Screaming blues-rock riffs and cocksure vocals are underlined by a sludgy low-end and drill sergeant drums.
File under: Stoner Metal
Location: Montreal, Canada
Bloc Party Is this disco-punk for no-wave wallflowers? Bloc Party have set up their kissing booth in the middle of the dance floor and everyone's invited to shake what their mama gave them. If Interpol and the Rapture played spin the bottle together and produced a bouncing baby band, Bloc Party would be rocking the post-punk preschoolers to sleep.
File under: Post-Punk
Location: London, UK
Girl Talk On sheer quantity Pittsburgh's Gregg Gillis outsamples them all--his track "Too Deep" culls the Beatles, the Smashing Pumpkins, Phantom Planet's "O.C." theme, and a stack of vinyl in between. The restless remixing can be a bit scattered, but it's a grandly entertaining mess.
File under: Pop-Rap
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Alice Smith Don't let her stunning vocals distract you from her real innovation: this New York singer-songwriter is making a seriously fresh cross of operatic indie pop, warm soul, and silky R&B. Mumbly seductions cede to grand arias and bouncy beats trade with showbiz horns as Smith evokes Sarah Vaughn, Citizen Cope, and Rufus Wainwright in one breath.
File under: Pop-Soul
Location: New York, NY
The Good, The Bad & The Queen More like the past, the present & the future. The British outfit crosses generations to get as super as a group can, starring Paul Simonon (Clash), Damon Albarn, and Danger Mouse. The mix has its cred and makes pop too, running fuzzy English melodies through Danger's vintage filter.
File under: Pop/Rock
Location: United Kingdom
Aesop Rock The loquacious underground MC has been spitting verbiage since the 1990s, and he still hasn't run out of words. On the LP "Float," Aesop gives us his trademark: personal sagas speckled with urban grit. And as with his namesake fableist, there's always a moral to the story.
File under: Underground Rap
Location: New York, NY
Rodrigo and Gabriela This pair of Mexican expats plays flamenco-inflected tracks in tandem, but it's entirely misleading to name them a Latin-guitar duo. For one, Gabriela's intensely percussive style is more liked stringed drumming than picking; and their Latin licks are only a means to swelling pop/rock progressions.
File under: Flamenco
Location: Mexico
I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness Only ILYBICD could make Austin sound like Manchester. The group justifies its decision against romance by doing darkness very well. Sweeping, glassy guitars and quasi-Mozzy vocals feel like broadsides against sunny days.
File under: Indie Rock
Location: Austin, TX
