We’ve reached the middle of March, and that means it’s time for Austin’s fabled South by Southwest music festival again. Though it’s expanded to include a movie competition and a tech showcase, music still tends to steal the spotlight. With that in mind, here are our picks of artists you should check out if you find yourself in central Texas between now and Sunday. These may not be the most famous or buzzed about names at this year’s festival – hopefully you don’t need us to tell you to see Earl Sweatshirt, The-Dream, and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs– but they’re definitely worth waiting in line for.
Los Angeles-based garage rock re-animators will take you right back to the ’60s with their swirling mix of psychedelic harmonies and fuzzy, jangly guitars.
Though he’s probably too weird (in terms of rapping, lyrics, and perhaps most of all, looks) to ever break the mainstream, it’s hard to deny Brown’s place among the best rappers working today. If you manage to catch one of his performances, we guarantee it’ll be one of the most invigorating and bizarre shows you see this year (one of his sets at last year’s festival saw him perform in a clown costume).
British electronic music producer Kevin Martin records and performs under a variety of names, and the schizophrenic inclination is front and center in The Bug, Martin’s dance-hall-flavored project. You’ll be hard pressed to find a party at SXSW that will rattle the floors this hard.
One of the first punk rock bands, the three-piece from Detroit formed in 1971 and were only rediscovered a few years ago as the missing-link between Black Sabbath and Cheap Trick. Don’t be fooled: these guys still rock, even in middle age. SXSW is also showing a documentary, titled “A Band Called Death,” that looks like it’s worth checking out.
As SXSW has grown, so has its musical palette, which means that while Spanish dance group Delorean may not seem like the type of act that would play a festival associated with indie rock, there’s now a place for them. Yeah, it’s warmer in Austin than most of the rest of the country, but why settle for a pleasant spring night when Delorean’s brand of Balearic beat-infused electronica will take you to the heart of summer.
Want to feel like you’ve traveled through time and somehow ended up in 1980s Great Britain? Then make sure to check out this jangle rock quartet who hail from Belfast. The band is in the U.S. for the first time in support of their recently released sophomore album, “The New Life.”
The former Soft Boys frontman and prolific solo artist has a passionate cult-following for a reason: you never know what you’re going to get. Hitchcock’s sets tend to be winding journeys through the singer’s long career, and the stripped down arrangements he plays live highlight his under-appreciated songwriting.
A little more low key (though she can still tear it up when it’s called for) than most of the entries on this list, but for those looking for some of the strongest songwriting in indie music today, make sure you take in Katie Crutchfield’s solo project.
One of the best punk bands on the planet right now is White Lung, the Canadian-based four piece led by the ferocious singer Mish Way. Their live shows are becoming legendary, but don’t stand too close to the stage if you’re not willing to get thrown around a little bit.
Among the youngest performers at the festival, this quintet of teens from Chicago make the kind of fast, sloppy, and repetitive music that’s impossible to resist and demands to be witnessed in a live setting. Sure you may feel old, but at least for a set that won’t matter.