SXSW 09: Summin It Up

It’s hard not to feel pangs of regret post SXSW. No matter how many bands you see and how many parties you go to, there’s always people everywhere telling you how amazing so and so was and that you’re crazy for having missed (insert name here). .In all honestly there is more going on than one can ever comprehend and sometimes you miss out on a great band in order to see an ol favourite, or,to tag along with some cute boys and in the rarest cases, sleep.

Here’s a list of bands other people wouldn’t stop talking about..

Yelle (French pop goodness that had the crowds begging for more)
Dd/mm/yyyy
BLK JKS (Coolest thing to come out of South Africa)
Department of Eagles
Yoni Wolf (Front man from Why?)
White Denim (Rumoured to be the next big thing)
Black Joe Lewis
Monotonix
Dan Auerbach (Lead singer of Black Keys)
Wavves

Personal Highlights:

Checking out Explosions In The Sky in their hometown in a packed out park with the sky setting around us.

Catching Shearwater and Akron/ Family on the same day. A religious experience.

Watching St Vincent at Central Presbytarian Church. Annie Clark is a musical genius.

Going nuts to The Mae Shi at Mohawks. The perfect band for a little bit of party madness - video below.

Watching the kiwi bands do us proud at the New Zealand showcase. It’s always fun to brag.

Listening to the in-depth conversation M. Ward had about the digitisation of music and his rejection of modern tools like twitter. I have never heard a musician speak with such dedication to what he does.

Well I could feel a little sad about the whole thing ending but musical ears have grown years and I have enough new music to keep going till next year. Plus, now I am in London and I am going to see Joe Gideon & The Shark (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssKsw1ZVdmU&feature=related) tomorrow night with one of my musical mentors so the musical journey never ends!

Thanks for reading amigos!

ANDREA PRICE