People around here like to brag about Summerfest and tell you it's the biggest music festival around. They're right about it being nifty and there are lot of good bands that come to Milwaukee during the week and a half run of the 'fest. But, I would much rather go to SXSW in Austin.
SXSW is a big ol' bunch of shows spread around the clubs and venues of the city. There are a ton - no really, a ton - of bands and musicians that make appearances. And, while there are plenty of well known names, it's mostly about up and coming or indie talent. This is out of the mainstream stuff - but the music is far from radical, it's just pretty darn good.
SXSW also features movies and interactive stuff too. I reckon you really just need to be there to enjoy those gems though. It looked like there might have been some interesting movies showing too. There's a bit of an interesting movie-making scene in Austin, so i'm guessing they draw a lot of talent.
Anyway, at the SXSW site, there's a listing of all the bands that were playing. Many of the bands have a free track up that can be downloaded. I went through and downloaded a bunchity bunch of them, stuck them in a folder and made a playlist. I can already tell that this is going to get some heavy listening - it's just that good.
My current faves from this batch:
Melissa McClelland
The Hudsons
Jo Mango
Joshua James
Helene
The Comas
Go take a listen if you like and you might find that you do indeed like.
4 comments:
I'll have to check this out.
Who woulda thunk it; Austin's the new Sundance.
Yeah...I knew it was a music hub for a long time, but didn't know there was that much of a film scene.
I should have figured because, that's where Richard Linklater - the director of two of my favorite movies, 'Before Sunrise' and 'Before Sunset' - lives and he's mentioned in interviews how much talent there is in Austin.
Any heavy metal in there?
Yes, Austin is the new Sundance. Great place. Only bummer is traffic is growing steadily worse.
The other cool thing, I know you like football. Austin has the Longhorns and the fans are rabid. I respect rabid fans.
I don't know how heavy it is, but there was some metal listed.
I'm not a big fan of the Longhorns, but they've got some gorgeous cheerleaders. That's almost enough to make me a fan.
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