Live Shots

The Magnetic Fields ACL Live at the Moody Theater, Friday, March 16 The Moody Theater may never be so quiet again. When the Magnetic Fields took the stage and began its intricate indie pop, the audience sank into a respectful hush. The crowd stayed reverent during the entire 75-minute set as the veteran Bostonians played…

by Zoe Cordes Selbin

Ballroom Dancing

Banking Beats: Africa’s Music Economy Austin Convention Center, Friday, March 16 Despite tech-related delays and an audience of less than 20, this panel covered a wide swath of topics relating to the potential of Africa’s rich musical landscape to serve as an economic driver. United Nations Development Program consultant Elizabeth Smith noted that exports of…

by Greg Beets

Live Shots

The dB’s B.D. Riley’s, Friday, March 16 Someone at South by Southwest has a cruel sense of humor. B.D. Riley’s, regularly an Irish pub and sports bar on Sixth Street, paid little respect to the dB’s or the fact that the original foursome is having a go of it after 30 years. For its part,…

by Jim Caligiuri

Live Shots

Thomas Dolby Cedar Street Courtyard, Friday, March 16 Sporting a casual yet dignified brown hat for the occasion, Thomas Dolby started Friday night’s set beset with technical problems. Much of opener “Commercial Breakup” was spent ironing out kinks in the mix, a rich irony for an Eighties pop icon turned music technology impresario. All was…

by Greg Beets

Ballroom Dancing

They Used To Call It Classical Austin Convention Center, Friday, March 16 If you’re worried about the future of music, get in line. “Classical music has been dying a long time,” said author Alex Ross, a music critic for The New Yorker, at this panel. “I can point you to articles from the Sixties that…

by Dan Oko

Day Party Crawl

SOUTHBYSUDS Whip In, Friday, March 16 Where do uncelebrated local bands play in the melee of South by Southwest? Anywhere with half an audience: parking lots, garages, and in this case, a convenience store. Whip In, located on a highway access road in South Austin, is a place where people can cruise by and grab…

by Kevin Curtin

Live Shots

Merge Records Showcase Frank, Friday, March 16 No one can say that Merge Records doesn’t know how to throw a party. Frank was at capacity about 10 minutes after opening its doors at 7pm, crammed full of South by Southwesters eager to partake in a 100%-solid lineup of both iconic and upcoming bands. M. Ward,…

by Melanie Haupt

Ballroom Dancing

Blood Music Sex Magick Austin Convention Center, Friday, March 16 “Satan and rock & roll” doesn’t quite have the same poetic ring to it as the well-worn triumvirate of “sex, drugs, and rock & roll.” But when you consider that, according to contemporary Judeo-Christian mores, fornication and chemical engineering fall under the domain of the…

by Michael Bertin

Live Shots

White Ninja Speakeasy Kabaret, Friday, March 16 Nothing about Mexico City’s White Ninja speaks to the obvious. So it makes sense the band played in the red, dimmed recesses of a club that’s one part dance hall and two parts eerie grotto. The sacrificial lambs at this showcase, the quartet played first and battled a…

by Adam Schragin

Ballroom Dancing

SXSW Interview: Nas & Steve Stoute Austin Convention Center, Friday, March 16 “We brought wine to help with the candor,” said Nas’ former manager Steve Stoute pouring two glasses as the two sat down to discuss the Queensbridge, New York, rapper’s nearly-20-year career. When asked about his controversial 2006 disc Hip-Hop Is Dead, Nas insisted…

by Thomas Fawcett

Live Shots

Skrillex Mohawk, Friday, March 16 Dudes. Bros. Chaos. Skrillex. Neon. Tank tops. Drunk kids and out-of-place moms. Passed-out ravers and tatted-up punk kids with their hands in the air. Girls who probably left the house before their dads saw what they were wearing. Janky crew cuts and strobing light sticks. Fence-hoppers and 16-year-olds, mad 16-year-olds,…

by Chase Hoffberger

Day Party Crawl

Brooklyn Vegan/Power Of The Riff Day Party Scoot Inn, Friday, March 16 Brooklyn Vegan and other sponsors threw a metal and hardcore party at the Scoot Inn, a gathering for those not afraid of having their beers spilled. Starting inside were Dead in the Dirt, an Atlanta band who knew exactly two speeds (slow and…

by Adam Schragin

Live Shots

Ben Howard St. David’s Historic Sanctuary, Friday, March 16 “It’s a real trip to come out of that carnage into someplace really quiet,” marveled Ben Howard to the reverent sanctuary crowd, yet midway through the breakout UK songwriter’s set, his acoustic jams had erupted the pews in ecstatic response. The trio opened with “Promise,” Howard’s…

by Doug Freeman

Live Shots

Quantic & Alice Russell Parish, Friday, March 16 Taking their forthcoming collaborative album for a test drive, Quantic & Alice Russell got help from fivepiece San Francisco soul combo the Park sitting in for Combo Bárbaro and breathing life into the lush, soulful orchestra of Look Around the Corner. The title track is an incredibly…

by Thomas Fawcett

My SXSW

The band I’m in (Austin’s Sour Notes) found out we were officially showcasing at South by Southwest a few weeks ago. We’re a band that plays rock music for people who might not use that term. Prior to getting into this year’s Festival, we preemptively booked nine shows between March 10-17 to try and get…

by Jared Paul Boulanger

Live Shots

Japan Nite Elysium, Friday, March 16 Dear Japan, what happened to the weird? And we like weird, that was the deal: We invite you over and you show us something musical that no sane person would concoct. This year, not so much. The strangest thing about openers the Rubies (from the Emeralds) was that it…

by Michael Bertin

Day Party Crawl

Under the Radar Flamingo Cantina, Friday, March 16 Although those in the long and constant line outside the Flamingo Cantina all day couldn’t testify to this, it’s a pleasure watching Deerhoof go to work. Shooting off with a spastic rumble that simultaneously counters and compliments singer Satomi Matsuzaki’s delicate coos, the San Francisco quartet’s irregular…

by Chase Hoffberger

Live Shots

Seoulsonic Showcase Soho Lounge, Friday, March 16 Now in its second year, the Seoulsonic project to bring South Korean rockers to a wider audience is hitting its stride. As a generation of Koreans has grown up on Western punk filtered through the K-Pop machine since the Nineties, these veterans play more than dance music. The…

by Dan Oko

MOJO Recommends

Django Django Latitude 30, 10pm Away from the increasingly irksome attempts to fuse indie rock with Eighties sensibilities, Django Django is carving out a sound all its own. In fact, if you want a ready sonic reckoner for the East London-based fourpiece, spin the band’s self-titled debut. This, you see, is art-pop at its finest.…

by Chronicle Staff

Day Party Crawl

Texas Hip-Hop Party Beauty Ballroom, Friday, March 16 For all its newfound hipness, East Riverside Drive is still pretty far from the middle of everything. Bouncing over to the Beauty Ballroom from Friday’s more centralized day parties proved a hassle people weren’t willing to entertain. With attendance for Life or Death PR’s extravaganza sparse for…

by Luke Winkie

SXSW 2012 Records

Capsula In the Land of Silver Souls (Krian Music Group) Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, now anchoring the northern Spanish outpost where these three Argentines settled at the millennium, can’t house half of the exhilarating artifacts of Capsula’s In the Land of Silver Souls. Darkwave drone pushed by Coni Duchess’ tsunami basslines, drummer Ignacio Villarejo’s car-chase pace,…

by Raoul Hernandez

SXSW 2012 Records

Thee Oh Sees Carrion Crawler/The Dream EP (In the Red) This John Dwyer-led, San Francisco collective’s jagged psych-punk has always been ear catching, but this ups the ante. Initially conceived as two separate EPs, Thee Oh Sees’ second album in less than a year maintains a squall of fuzzed-out freak rock in the service of…

by Greg Beets

Day Trips

The Teepee Motel looks like a row of rocket nose cones lined up in a field on the northern outskirts of Wharton. The one-room, concrete structures are actually throwbacks to the Forties and Fifties when America’s love affair with the automobile was young. Although the sand-colored, conical buildings have the same look, they were never…

by Gerald E. McLeod

Ballroom Dancing

SXSW Interview: Ann and Nancy Wilson Austin Convention Center, Thursday, March 15 Of course a panel on Woody Guthrie would go long and eat into the time allotted for rock critic Ann Powers’ interview with rock goddesses Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart. Powers began by thanking the sisters Wilson for being there and turned…

by Melanie Haupt

Live Shots

The Shins Auditorium Shores, Thursday, March 15 The Shins had me at hello with Oh, Inverted World (Sub Pop, 2001). Chutes Too Narrow (2003) and Wincing the Night Away (2007) made up the soundtrack to the most profound changes in my life: namely, marriage and parenthood. We even took our toddler son to see the…

by Melanie Haupt

In Darkness

Agnieszka Holland, the director of Europa Europa, creates a blood-quickening Holocaust drama about Poles who were hidden in the sewers.

by Marc Savlov

Song of the Year

RUNNERS-UP: “Carrie,” Speak; “What Good Can Drinkin’ Do,” Carolyn Wonderland; “Portraits,” Wheeler Brothers; “Bright Lights,” Gary Clark Jr.; “Run Away,” Sarah Jarosz; “Drug,” White Denim; “Raincloud,” Suzanna Choffel; “KMAG YOYO,” Hayes Carll; “She’s so Scandalous,” Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears

by Chronicle Staff

Best Rock

RUNNERS-UP: Los Lonely Boys, Wheeler Brothers, The Bright Light Social Hour, Bubble Puppy, White Denim, Black Angels, Speak, Carolyn Wonderland, Eric Tessmer

by Chronicle Staff

Best All Ages

RUNNERS-UP: Mohawk, Emo’s, Stubb’s, Threadgill’s World Headquarters, Red Eyed Fly, Red 7, Jovita’s, Flipnotics Coffeespace, Frank

by Chronicle Staff

SXSW 2012 Records

Jim White Where It Hits You (Yep Roc) Jim White works in shadows, a chiaroscuro of sound that stretches in intangible atmospherics expanding with unsettled pacing. The Athens, Ga.-based auteur has slid these prismed fractures across his brand of Southern gothic for 15 years, but his Yep Roc debut and sixth proper studio album plays…

by Doug Freeman

SXSW 2012 Records

Winterpills All My Lovely Goners (Signature Sounds) Winterpills’ folk-pop travels a line tracing Simon & Garfunkel, mid-Seventies Fleetwood Mac, REM jangle, and the quiet thunder of Cowboy Junkies. All My Lovely Goners, the Massachusetts quintet’s fifth disc, abandons some of the loops and effects looming in its past work for more ensemble interaction. The results…

by Jim Caligiuri

Live Shots

Palomar Frank, Thursday, March 15 “So I’m not going to say the name of our band. In case you don’t like us, you can’t talk shit about us afterward.” The words from Palomar’s frontwoman should be the motto for a new genre: insecurity-core. The Brooklyn quartet would be the poster kids of the movement. They’ve…

by Michael Bertin

The FP

This potential cult-movie masterpiece is likely the most original dance film you’ll see this year.

by Marc Savlov

Best Roots Rock

RUNNERS-UP: Reckless Kelly, The Gourds, Carolyn Wonderland, 7 Walkers, Los Lonely Boys, Shelley King, Ghosts Along the Brazos, Dale Watson, Sarah Jarosz

by Chronicle Staff

Best Live Music

RUNNERS-UP: Stubb’s, Emo’s East, Threadgill’s World Headquarters, Saxon Pub, Antone’s, Continental Club, Moody Theater, The Parish, Red Eyed Fly

by Chronicle Staff

SXSW 2012 Records

Minnesota Remembers Vic Chesnutt (Rock the Cause) Although he was from Georgia, Vic Chesnutt impressed songwriters worldwide. If this 17-song benefit for health care nonprofits Lifeworks Services and Sweet Relief is any indication, he made quite an impression in Minnesota. Chesnutt, who died from an overdose in 2009 at the age of 45, possessed the…

by Jim Caligiuri

SXSW 2012 Records

Bahamas Barchords (Universal Republic) Afie Jurvanen (aka Bahamas) revels in laconic and languid bittersweet, part tongue-in-cheek, part dead-serious desperation. The charm lies in not knowing exactly from which perspective he’s driving, which made the Toronto songwriter’s debut, Pink Strat, one of last year’s undervalued gems. Barchords wrangles a similar ambivalence, with slightly more ambition in…

by Doug Freeman

SXSW 2012 Records

Imperial Teen Feel the Sound (Merge) Despite side projects and time apart (Will Schwartz’s Hey Willpower, Roddy Bottum’s film scores, etc.), Imperial Teen just can’t quit us – or each other. From the opening Supertramp-y keyboard salvo on “Runaway” to the churning Velvets choogle and weird Carpenters vox on the road-tripping “Hanging About” and hand-clap…

by Kate X Messer

Day Party Crawl

Knuckle Rumbler/Nah Right/The smoking section Present: The Grand Ole Party 4 Peckerwoods, Thursday, March 15 Does anyone not named Snoop Dogg get more credit for simply being high and showing up than Wiz Khalifa? The Pittsburgh rapper joined fellow Taylor Gang member Chevy Woods onstage as the surprise special guest and biggest name at the…

by Thomas Fawcett

Live Shots

Bruce Springsteen ACL Live at the Moody Theater, Wednesday, March 15 If Bruce Springsteen’s keynote was his state of the union address, the Boss’ official showcase at ACL Live at the Moody Theater was a declaration of revolution, if not war. His latest, Wrecking Ball, is a personal reckoning, an election-year treatise by a man…

by Austin Powell

Best Blues

RUNNERS-UP: Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears, Carolyn Wonderland, Jimmie Vaughan, Suite 709, Eric Tessmer, Brownout, The Moellers, T Bird & the Breaks, Akina Adderley & the Vintage Playboys

by Chronicle Staff

Best U-18

RUNNERS-UP: Residual Kid, AfterMath, Casino, Carson Brock, Ruby Jane, Peterson Brothers Band, Miranda Gil, Lucky Number Seven, 24/7

by Chronicle Staff

Best Local Label

RUNNERS-UP: Pau Wau Records, Academik Records, Modern Outsider Records, Verge Music Group, Steady Boy Records, Western Vinyl, Vagabond Collective

by Chronicle Staff

SXSW 2012 Records

The Hobart Brothers & Lil’ Sis Hobart At Least We Have Each Other (Freedom) Jon Dee Graham, Freedy Johnston, and Susan Cowsill are three very different singer-songwriters. Put them together and you get the Hobart Brothers featuring Lil’ Sis Hobart, proof that what might look a bit curious on paper turns into something phenomenal on…

by Jim Caligiuri

SXSW 2012 Records

Waters Out in the Light (TBD Records) Van Pierszalowski’s previous efforts with Port O’Brien tended toward the simple and folksy, but a beefed-up backing band (from Norway, no less) lends his new project Waters a filled-out and fuzzed-out bravado. The frontman’s voice is largely clear and earnest with grit where necessary and a dash of…

by James Renovitch

SXSW 2012 Records

Delta Spirit (Rounder) Album No. 3 marks a big step forward for Californian quintet Delta Spirit. Whether you’ll follow where they’re headed depends on your taste in modern rock. Bands like My Morning Jacket and Kings of Leon took a couple of tries to reach the audience and sound they wanted, and so it might…

by Jim Caligiuri

Day Party Crawl

Brooklyn Vegan Day Party Hotel Vegas/Volstead Lounge, Thursday, March 15 Glen Hansard’s guitar is a beautifully beaten machine. With three splintering holes gaping in a discolored crescent from the body, worn by time and the relentless strum of the Irish balladeer’s balance of defiance and despair, it seems a physical manifestation of the battered wounds…

by Doug Freeman

Best Country

RUNNERS-UP: Los Texas Wranglers, Dale Watson, Whiskey Shivers, Reckless Kelly, The Derailers, Sarah Jarosz, Wheeler Brothers, The Lost Pines, Ruby Jane

by Chronicle Staff

Best World Music

RUNNERS-UP: Jonas Alvarez Band, El Tule, Austin Samba School, Rattletree Marimba, Austin Piazzolla Quintet, Djembabes, Hard Proof, Mau Mau Chaplains

by Chronicle Staff

Best New Club

RUNNERS-UP: Skinny’s Ballroom, Moody Theater, White Horse, Kingdom, Little Mexico, Frank, Hotel Vegas, Swan Dive, The Sahara Lounge

by Chronicle Staff

SXSW 2012 Records

Garland Jeffreys The King of In Between (Luna Park) “I’m Alive,” Garland Jeffreys repeats endlessly on the second track of The King of In Between, his first album in 13 years – perhaps for those that need reminding. A native son of New York City, Jeffreys has been making music since the late Sixties. A…

by Jim Caligiuri

SXSW Comedy: Week 2

‘Legend’ with Reggie Watts Friday, March 16, 11:30pm The Velveeta Room, 521 E. Sixth If you can wrap your brain around the incongruous pairing of 23-year-old Tom Cruise in leafy tunic and stringy pageboy and 39-year-old Reggie Watts in urban work shirt and mushroom-cloud Afro, then you’re the target audience for this audacious remix of…

by Robert Faires

SXSW 2012 Records

Buxton Nothing Here Seems Strange (New West) The fourth largest city in the country, Houston is not exactly a natural hotbed of Americana. As the biggest city in Texas and former home of Townes Van Zandt, however, H-town deserves more respect. Young band Buxton caught a break when signed to New West, and on its…

by Dan Oko

SXSW 2012 Records

Blitzen Trapper American Goldwing (Sub Pop) “I left my home and all my money.” So sings Eric Early on the title track of Blitzen Trapper’s American Goldwing. While that might not pertain in a literal sense – Early still lives in Portland, Ore. – metaphorically it’s a bull’s-eye. Well, maybe not the money part, but…

by Michael Bertin

My SXSW

Tuesday I played a candlelit backyard show with Ben Kweller and then bounced to Martie Maguire’s (from the Court Yard Hounds) crib to work on some songs we’re writing. I made it back Downtown just in time for the Dawes/Charlie Sexton carnival that was going on. After that, I cracked my phone and let Adam…

by Chronicle Staff

Day Party Crawl

Check Yo Ponytail 2 Emo’s East, Thursday, March 15 If Thursday afternoon’s sparse turnout at the cavernous new Emo’s East is any indication, the Riverside reach of South by Southwest’s extraterritorial spread is still developing. Bay Area rapper K. Flay boasted skull-cracking beats and impressive word flow, but it all got swallowed up in the…

by Greg Beets

Best Cover Band

RUNNERS-UP: Guilty Pleasures, The Frank Gomez Band, More Cowbell, Mysterious Ways, Encore, Skyrocket, Think Lizzie, Karaoke Apocalypse, Radiostar

by Chronicle Staff

Best Acoustic Guitar

RUNNERS-UP: Elizabeth McQueen, Van Wilks, Monte Montgomery, Eric Johnson, Jonas Alvarez, Junior Sandoval (Los Texas Wranglers), John Pointer, Kimberley Freeman (One-Eyed Doll), Willy Braun (Reckless Kelly)

by Chronicle Staff

Best Producer

RUNNERS-UP: Mark Hallman for Portraits, Wheeler Brothers; Holiday HAAM Jam, Vol. 1; Chris “Frenchie” Smith for I Believe in Everything, Speak; Gary Paczosa and Sarah Jarosz for Follow Me Down, Sarah Jarosz; Francis Prève; Danny Reisch; Dwight Baker; Cory Dennis; A.J. Vallejo; Ray Benson for Peace Meal, Carolyn Wonderland

by Chronicle Staff

SXSW 2012 Records

Tennis Young & Old (Fat Possum) In a sense, husband-and-wife duo Tennis is an accidental band. Born from an idyllic eight-month sailing trip up the Atlantic coast, 2010 debut Cape Dory charmed the music community. Although Tennis may not have had quite the inspiration for its follow-up, Young & Old proves it can still make…

by Abby Johnston

SXSW 2012 Records

Magnetic Fields Love at the Bottom of the Sea (Merge) The abiding narrative, that this is the Mags’ big return to electronic music, is overplayed. Yes, Stephin Merritt & Co. have found pretty new toys to play and play with – new synthesizer tech that does things beyond their last electo-cuting, the landmark 69 Love…

by Kate X Messer

MOJO Recommends

Michael Kiwanuka 12:30am, St. David’s Historic Sanctuary In August 2001, Mojo assembled a CD to accompany an issue featuring Sly Stone on the cover. The disc was called Soul Riot and included a more intimate take of Otis Redding’s “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay.” The issue sold well, but our team had no…

by Chronicle Staff

Day Party Crawl

Mess with Texas 1100 Warehouse, Thursday, March 15 For lots of attendees, SXSW might as well be Mess With Texas. Curated by local promoters Transmission Entertainment, the three-day minifestival attracts everyone from emerging alt-teens to bystanders. Colorado’s Chairlift was the first big-ticket item. Once an Apple-commercial band, it now sports a peppy spunk to go…

by Luke Winkie

Best Bass

RUNNERS-UP: Matt Parmenter (Quiet Company), Jack O’Brien (the Bright Light Social Hour), Jojo Garza (Los Lonely Boys), James Jones, Ronn Roberts (the Eggmen), Amador Salazar (Los Texas Wranglers), Chris Maresh (Eric Johnson), George Reiff, Aldo Ramon

by Chronicle Staff

Best Radio Personality

RUNNERS-UP: Jason Dick and Deb O’Keefe, KROX 101.5FM (101X); Paul Ray, KUT 90.5FM; David Brown, KUT 90.5FM; Loris Lowe, KLBJ 93.7FM; Jody Denberg, KUT 90.5FM; Chuck Loesch, KROX 101.5FM (101X); Jay Trachtenberg, KUT 90.5FM; J.B. Hager, KAMX 94.7FM (MIX)

by Chronicle Staff

SXSW 2012 Records

Spoek Mathambo Father Creeper (Sub Pop) Rapper/DJ Spoek Mathambo certainly doesn’t sound like he’s from around these parts. The South African MC summons hip-hop out of worldly, idiosyncratic places. No tumbling boom-bap or fog-burning synths – his Sub Pop debut, Father Creeper, is built on stringent, live-band guitars, patchy beats, and ramshackle drums. These are…

by Luke Winkie

SXSW 2012 Records

Sauti Sol Sol Filosofia (Penya) There’s a distinctive pop element running through this quartet composed of three singers and a guitarist from Nairobi, Kenya. How they blend this pop sensibility with traditional sounds from their home country is disarmingly accessible, particularly on tunes like “Bowane Lelisu,” where their soaring vocal harmonies take full flight. Following…

by Jay Trachtenberg

SXSW 2012 Records

Scale the Summit The Collective (Prosthetic) Playing instrumental metal may be an uphill battle, but this jazzy, still-young Houston quartet is happy to let its strings carry the conversation. At times recalling their heroes Dream Theater, the band calls their brand of thrilling prog-rock “adventure metal,” an apt description for music that could soundtrack freestyle…

by Dan Oko

Best Folk

RUNNERS-UP: Wheeler Brothers, Sarah Jarosz, Matt the Electrician, BettySoo, Sara Hickman, Hello Wheels, Dana Falconberry, Ghosts Along the Brazos, Cowboy & Indian

by Chronicle Staff

Best Drums

RUNNERS-UP: David Fore (Bubble Puppy, the Eggmen); Patrick Wheeler (Wheeler Brothers); Brannen Temple; Ringo Garza (Los Lonely Boys); Julian Fernandez (Los Texas Wranglers); Jay Nazz (Reckless Kelly); Jo Mirasole (the Bright Light Social Hour); Masumi Jones; David Sanger (Asleep at the Wheel)

by Chronicle Staff

Best Radio Program

RUNNERS-UP: The Dudley & Bob Morning Show, Dale Dudley & Bob Fonseca, KLBJ 93.7FM; The Morning X, Jason Dick and Deb O’Keefe, KROX 101.5FM (101X); Twine Time, Paul Ray, KUT 90.5FM; Local Licks, Loris Lowe, KLBJ 93.7FM; Texas Music Matters, David Brown, KUT 90.5FM; No Control, Chuck Loesch, KROX 101.5FM (101X); Hypersonic, Jason Jenkins, KROX…

by Chronicle Staff

SXSW 2012 Records

Ava Luna Ice Level (Infinite Best) The marriage of indie rock and neo-R&B was arranged by the Dirty Projectors and their game-changing 2009 record Bitte Orca, but it was consummated by a cover of standout Orca track “Stillness Is the Move” by Solange (sister of Beyoncé) Knowles. With that benchmark safely met, it wasn’t long…

by Adam Schragin

SXSW 2012 Records

Band of Skulls Sweet Sour (Pias Recordings) This isn’t so much a review as a PSA. Don’t get superhigh before listening to this LP. Oh, right, don’t get high at all, kids. Drugs are bad. But you especially don’t want to do it to this UK trio’s second album. It might seem like a good…

by Michael Bertin

SXSW 2012 Records

Justin Townes Earle Nothing’s Gonna Change the Way You Feel About Me Now (Bloodshot) The title of J.T. Earle’s fourth release, bubbling with Memphis-style horns, could be aimed at a lover – or a loyal listener. On first blush, Nothing’s Gonna Change the Way You Feel About Me Now seems intent on visiting familiar places…

by Dan Oko

Live Shots

Fiona Apple Central Presbyterian Church, Thursday, March 15 If Wednesday’s showcase at Stubb’s was Fiona Apple’s way of reigniting her immutable torment, last night’s affair proved her queen of all nuance. Playing to a mostly hushed crowd inside the Central Presbyterian Church, Apple stuck to the same script as Wednesday’s, ushering three new songs (“Anything…

by Chase Hoffberger

The Drums

If believing in beautiful melodies is nostalgia, then consider the Drums a throwback.

by Doug Freeman

Best Electric Guitar

RUNNERS-UP: Tommy Blank (Quiet Company), Carolyn Wonderland, Joe Ramos (Mexican Revolution), Eric Johnson, Henry Garza (Los Lonely Boys), Zack Ernst (the Honeybears), Ray Benson, Eric Tessmer, Curtis Roush (the Bright Light Social Hour)

by Chronicle Staff

Best Radio Station

RUNNERS-UP: KGSR 93.3FM; KOOP 91.7FM; KVRX, 91.7FM; KBPA 103.5FM (BOB FM); KAMX, 94.7FM (MIX); KAZI 88.7FM; KHFI 96.7FM (KISS FM); KROX 101.5FM (101X)

by Chronicle Staff

SXSW 2012 Records

Chrysta Bell This Train (La Rose Noire) This Train, written and produced by film director David Lynch for a muse 30 years his junior, sounds a lot like the soundtrack to one of his movies. In fact the “solo” debut from Chrysta Bell, former chanteuse of Austin’s Django (Reinhardt) jazzy 8½ Souvenirs, is the result…

by Melanie Haupt

SXSW 2012 Records

The Wedding Present Valentina (Scopitones) The first album from David Gedge and company since El Rey in 2008, Valentina exudes only faint whiffs of legacy high points like George Best and Bizarro, 1987 and 1989 respectively. The wistful, guitar-driven heartache of those LPs cut to the core of how it feels to be an overanalytical…

by Greg Beets

SXSW 2012 Records

Chuck Prophet Temple Beautiful (Yep Roc) Chuck Prophet’s last disc, 2009’s Let Freedom Ring!, had a sociopolitical spine informed by the city he chose for recording, Mexico City. Now comes an homage to San Francisco, the guitarist-singer-songwriter’s hometown for nearly 30 years. Temple Beautiful is a long-defunct punk club where he attended his first shows,…

by Jim Caligiuri

Off the Record

Red, White, and Woodie Last year, the MTVu Woodie Awards were a prime-time spectacle shoehorned into the Austin Music Hall. Thursday, the annual celebration of college buzz bands took over the parking lot behind the Austin Convention Center for an all-day, two-stage marathon hosted by Matt Pinfield, with free barbecue from the Salt Lick in…

by Austin Powell

Live Shots

Charli XCX Central Presbyterian Church, Thursday, March 15 Despite the solemn, gothic mood emanating from the pew-seated crowd gathered at the Central Presbyterian Church, Charli XCX emerged like she had just finished signing autographs backstage. Decked in a fashionable tablecloth top, shredded stockings, and a hairstylist’s masterpiece, the British-born Charlotte Aitchison rocked the microphone like…

by Luke Winkie

Best Indie

RUNNERS-UP: Speak, Wheeler Brothers, White Denim, Mother Falcon, The Bright Light Social Hour, The Long Tangles, Suzanna Choffel, Little Lo, Marmalakes

by Chronicle Staff

Best Female Vocals

RUNNERS-UP: Sarah Jarosz, Cella Blue (White Ghost Shivers), Eliza Gilkyson, Suzanna Choffel, Elizabeth McQueen, Akina Adderley, Patty Griffin, Sarah Sharp, Sahara Smith

by Chronicle Staff

Best Record Store

RUNNERS-UP: End of an Ear, Antone’s, Encore, Cheapo’s, Trailer Space Records, Breakaway Records, Music Mania, Backspin Records, 10) Turntable Records

by Chronicle Staff

SXSW 2012 Records

Ben Howard Every Kingdom (Communion) “Hot sand on toes, cold sand in sleeping bags/I’ve come to know that memories were the best things you ever had,” opens Ben Howard on his debut LP, which receives stateside release next month. The rousing acoustic clip that breaks upon the revelation of “Old Pine” sets the tension between…

by Doug Freeman

Hello!

“Hello, is it me you’re looking for? ‘Cause I wonder where you are, and I wonder what you do.” With all apologies to Lionel Richie, showcasing midnight Wednesday at ACL Live at the Moody Theater, welcome to South by Southwest 2012. Herein resides the Chronicle’s annual Music Festival supplement, with individual Picks & Sleepers, band…

by Raoul Hernandez

Life in Prison for Hemp

José Peña brought some roadside weeds home from Kansas. Cops decided it was reefer, and a Texas court sentenced him to life in prison – without the evidence. It took a decade for Peña to get back some of the pieces of his life.

by Jordan Smith

SXSW 2012 Records

Ray Wylie Hubbard The Grifter’s Hymnal (Bordello Records) Ray Wylie Hubbard’s got a bad case of Richard Thompson syndrome: uniformly excellent recordings that make the craft of songwriting appear so effortless as to fool the average poet-strummer into thinking that a conversation with a silver-tongued devil is all it takes. Hubbard knows that’s not true,…

by Margaret Moser

SXSW 2012 Records

Corrosion of Conformity (Candlelight) The one constant in the life of North Carolina juggernaut Corrosion of Conformity has been change, with four different lead singers and an exploratory path through the forest of heavy rock. The band’s latest represents a shift backward, reverting to the lineup of its 1985 punk/metal crossover classic Animosity. Bassist Mike…

by Michael Toland

SXSW 2012 Records

Nneka Soul Is Heavy (Decon) The political is personal for Nigerian-born Nneka, a product of the Niger delta, the streets of Lagos, and the clubs of Hamburg, Germany. On her second U.S. release, oil-patch politics, tribalism, and economic inequality give grave urgency to her hook-laden, reggae-tinged neo-soul. More Macy Gray than Esperanza Spalding vocally, Nneka…

by Dan Oko

Live Shots

Robert Glasper Experiment Elephant Room, Thursday, March 15 If it weren’t for showcase glitches, it wouldn’t be South by Southwest. Then again, Blue Note pianist Robert Glasper and his Experiment are riding high on top-selling new release Black Radio, so it seemed a cruel tease that a crowd hungry for his authentic fusion would be…

by Dan Oko

Best Instrumental

RUNNERS-UP: Ulrich Ellison, Descendents of Erdrick, Ugly Elephant, Explosions in the Sky, The Calm Blue Sea, Eagle Claw, Black Red Black, Waterloo Trio, Brownout

by Chronicle Staff

Best Horns

RUNNERS-UP: Jeff Lofton, Elias Haslanger, Tito Carrillo, Cody Ackors, Tim Torres, Smokestack Horns, Eddie Rivers, Jonathan Doyle, Grooveline Horns

by Chronicle Staff

SXSW 2012 Records

The Ting Tings Sounds From Nowheresville (Columbia) Considering the rush to pan this slab, one would think the Tings had debuted with Abbey Road and answered with Chamberlain’s appeasement of Hitler. For fuck’s sake, they’re a pop band. Sure, they busted out of the paddock with commercial gold: hooky, Elastica-cum-cheer-squad hits “Great DJ,” “That’s Not…

by Kate X Messer

Headlines

› This week’s specially called City Council meeting (Thursday, March 15) will be pro forma and brief. Members have to adjust the schedule for their marathon Austin Energy work sessions and set a hearing for March 22 (the next regularly scheduled meeting) to review a proposed incentives deal with Apple for a new Austin campus…

by Chronicle Staff

SXSW 2012 Records

Andrew Bird Break It Yourself (Mom + Pop) Andrew Bird’s great challenge has always been reconciling virtuosic violin eccentricities and oblique winding verses with the emotional resonance that is underneath, especially since the Chicago singer-songwriter approaches everything from a tangent. 2009’s Noble Beast found a finer balance without diluting any classic Birdsian flourishes, but his…

by Doug Freeman

SXSW 2012 Records

Main Attrakionz 808s & Dark Grapes II Oakland, Calif., duo Main Attrakionz channel DMG$, Young L, and 2008 Kanye West on 808s & Dark Grapes II, an ethereal, fluffy mixtape with nods to G-Side and an innate understanding of the culture’s fascination with the Eighties. The duo’s got a hit in “Mondre Mo Murda,” a…

by Chase Hoffberger

SXSW 2012 Records

Lumerians Transmalinnia (Knitting Factory) Call it space rock or progressive, but the creation of San Francisco band Lumerians’ first album is deliberately and unavoidably couched in the psychedelic aesthetic. Transmalinnia has that dirty organ sound and echoey vocals that are de rigueur for the genre, but thankfully we’re not just left with another passable addition…

by Adam Schragin

Live Shots

BambarabandaSpeakeasy, Thursday, March 15 Hailing from Pasto, Colombia, the riveting new Andean octet Bambarabanda arrived in full bloom Thursday. It’s difficult to categorize the multi-instrumental collective’s sound because it springboards from a cornucopia of Southern Colombian folk styles into prog rock, polka, funk, punk, rap, ska, and so on. No genre boundary was safe, and…

by Greg Beets

The Luv Doc: Texas Film Hall of Fame

There is a lot of anxiety among the townies about being properly credentialed during South by Southwest, and rightfully so. No one is more obstinate than a semiretired junior high school history teacher getting all Barney Fife in his SXSW Volunteer shirt (which, rumor has it, are treated with a topical solution of testosterone, methamphetamine,…

by The Luv Doc

Best Jazz

RUNNERS-UP: White Ghost Shivers, Jeff Lofton, Ephraim Owens, Kat Edmondson, Tameca Jones, Elias Haslanger, Tito Carrillo, The Jitterbug Vipers, Eric Johnson

by Chronicle Staff

Best Keyboards

RUNNERS-UP: Steve Silvas, Cole El-Saleh (Carolyn Wonderland), Paul Santacruz, Tom Burgess (the Eggmen), Marcia Ball, Emily Gimble, Connor Forsyth (Ghosts Along the Brazos), Dan Walton (Asleep at the Wheel), Earl Poole Ball

by Chronicle Staff

SXSW 2012 Records

Rubblebucket Omega La La (Sin Duda) Rubblebucket’s self-titled debut was snubbed. It had little buzz or recognition and remained an undeserving eternal sleeper lost in the ashes of 2009. In what might be considered the ultimate comeback, the bouncy, pop perfection of these Brooklynites’ sophomore effort, Omega La La, stockpiles endlessly joyful compositions coined into…

by Abby Johnston

Civics 101

Saturday 17 WEST BOULDIN CREEK CLEANUP Ingrid Weigand leads the charge to remove invasive plant species from the greenbelt. Third Saturdays through the spring. Boggy Creek Greenbelt, 2300 Rosewood. Sunday 18 WHO WILL TELL THE PEOPLE Texas Gray Panthers host this candidate forum, focusing on the D.A. and Precinct 1 commissioner races and taking questions…

by Chronicle Staff

SXSW 2012 Records

Lila Downs Pecados y Milagros (Sony) Björk’s 2011 iPad album Biophilia could have used some of Lila Downs’ mixed-media soul. Commissioning 15 retablos, Mexican home-altar-type paintings, to interpret the album’s 14 tracks, Pecados y Milagros – Sins and Miracles – the veteran Oaxaca, Mexico, singer and song stylist bares an inebriating Latin romance cribbed from…

by Raoul Hernandez

SXSW 2012 Records

The Shins Port of Morrow (Columbia) The last time we heard from James Mercer, he’d teamed up with Danger Mouse in Broken Bells, broadening his audience beyond the indie rock faithful and giving fans permission to ride the groove. Given the Bells’ success, it was inevitable that Mercer would bring some of that mojo back…

by Michael Toland

SXSW 2012 Records

The Saint James Society (Tee Pee) A black-lit amalgam of glam swagger, leather-jacketed hard rock, and occult psychedelia, Austin’s Saint James Society emerges from its garage, trailing as much blood and ash as sage and candlelight. The quintet’s debut EP only trips through the poppy fields in order to gather the raw materials for nefarious…

by Michael Toland

Ballroom Dancing

SXSW Music Keynote: Bruce Springsteen Austin Convention Center, Thursday, March 15 Bruce Springsteen didn’t take long during his poetic, sometimes profane, hour-long keynote speech before he asked for a guitar. It was part of the midday clinic the Boss performed, tracing his roots as well as the collective history of popular music from the Fifties…

by Dan Oko

Live Shots

Lee Fields & the Expressions ND at 501 Studios, Wednesday, March 15 Giving new album Faithful Man a live run, Lee Fields & the Expressions delivered 45 minutes of pure soul, or as the North Carolina native might say, a moment or two of pure bliss. Like last year’s Festival breakout Charles Bradley, Fields isn’t…

by Thomas Fawcett

A Thousand Words

Eddie Murphy plays a truth-challenged literary agent who learns his lesson when a bizarre set of circumstances allow him to utter only 1,000 words before dying.

by Kimberley Jones

Best Latin Rock

RUNNERS-UP: Los Lonely Boys, Los Texas Wranglers, Jonas Alvarez Band, El Tule, Del Castillo, Brownout, Vallejo, Vitera, Maneja Beto

by Chronicle Staff

Best Male Vocals

RUNNERS-UP: Troupe Gammage (Speak), Nolan Wheeler (Wheeler Brothers), Nakia, Bob Schneider, Malford Milligan, Curtis Roush (the Bright Light Social Hour), Henry Garza (Los Lonely Boys), Ray Benson, Jirod Greene (Suite 709)

by Chronicle Staff

SXSW 2012 Records

Jimmy Cliff Sacred Fire EP (Collective Sounds) Reggae royalty Jimmy Cliff has kept a low profile in recent years, so this five-song EP is noteworthy. He’s teamed with producer Tim Armstrong of Rancid, a band that has long felt right at home mixing punk, ska, and reggae. It’s therefore not surprising Cliff largely hews toward…

by Jay Trachtenberg

SXSW 2012 Records

Chairlift Something (Columbia) Being in an Apple ad can be the kiss of death, especially with a song as whimsically catchy as “Bruises” from Chairlift’s 2008 debut album, Does You Inspire You. To fend off sophomore stagnation, the Brooklyn duo returns with material that stays true to its trademark song structure but turns the musicality…

by James Renovitch

SXSW 2012 Records

Mind Spiders Meltdown (Dirtnap) Last year’s acclaimed debut from the Mind Spiders added strategic hints of garage, bubblegum, and glam to the wistful pop-punk of Pete Shelley before blasting it out to the sprawling bedroom communities of North Texas. On Meltdown, bandleader Mark Ryan heads in a more dystopian direction, perhaps a natural progression for…

by Greg Beets

Live Shots

Garland Jeffreys The Palm Door, Thursday, March 15 “I’m going to be 68 in June,” Garland Jeffreys boasted midset, sweat on his brow. “But I bet I have more energy than you.” Save for last year’s Sunday night performance at the Continental Club on Alejandro Escovdeo’s annual closing South by Southwest bill, Jeffreys hasn’t been…

by Jim Caligiuri

Band of the Year

RUNNERS-UP: Speak, Wheeler Brothers, The Bright Light Social Hour, Los Lonely Boys, Grupo Fantasma, Carolyn Wonderland, Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears, Gary Clark Jr., Sarah Jarosz

by Chronicle Staff

Best Latin Traditional

RUNNERS-UP: Jonas Alvarez Band, Grupo Fantasma, El Tule, Austin Samba School, Ruben Ramos & the Mexican Revolution, Mariachi Relámpago, Ocote Sol Sounds, Son y No Son, Cienfuegos

by Chronicle Staff

SXSW 2012 Records

Punch Brothers Who’s Feeling Young Now? (Nonesuch) Chris Thile, 31, deserves every musical accolade that has and will come his way. An exceptional mandolinist and brilliant composer, his Punch Brothers supergroup marveled with 2008 debut Punch and garnered Grammy nominations for 2010’s Antifogmatic. As the experimental turns of its progressive strings have become hallmark, however,…

by Doug Freeman

Mr. Smarty Pants Knows

What do David Duchovny, Mary Tyler Moore, Howard Stern, and Anthony Stewart Head have in common? They are all pescetarians. One of the best heat-conducting materials known is dragline silk from the golden silk orbweaver spider. It conducts even better than pure copper. Actor Paul Rudd is a really big fan of ranch salad dressing.…

by Mr. Smarty Pants

Quote of the Week

“There are more UFO and Bigfoot sightings than documented cases of voter impersonation.” – State Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, applauding the U.S. Department of Justice’s rejection of Voting Rights Act preclearance for the Texas Voter ID law

by Chronicle Staff

SXSW 2012 Records

Sharon Van Etten Tramp (Jagjaguwar) The wounds that wrote 2010’s Epic haven’t closed for Sharon Van Etten. Breakups, one in Tennessee that spurred 2009’s Because I Was in Love and another in New York just before Epic, are still central to the Brooklynite’s intensely personal songwriting, so much so that certain songs on third album…

by Chase Hoffberger

SXSW 2012 Records

Fanfarlo Rooms Filled With Light (Canvasback) For a band with only one LP, Fanfarlo managed to set rigid fan expectations for its sophomore release. 2009 debut Reservoir was a joyful ode to life and the pleasures of simply being. The English/Swedish pop-folk combo mixed the attitude of dusty-trail travelers with the energy of Wales’ Los…

by Abby Johnston

SXSW 2012 Records

Something Fierce Don’t Be So Cruel (Dirtnap) Was 1991 really the year punk broke? Not according to this Houston threepiece, whose press notes honor the year 1979. That explains the Paul Weller jams and Elvis Costello-worthy album title on its third album. Frontman Steven Garcia wrings just the right chords from his guitar and nails…

by Dan Oko

Live Shots

The Grammy Museum’s Woody Guthrie Centennial Tribute St. David’s Bethell Hall, Thursday, March 15 Woody’s daughter Nora rechristened St. David’s Bethell Hall “the church of songwriting” for her dad’s 100-year hootenanny. Gathered inside were a collection of singers from Austin and beyond. David Garza and Carrie Rodriguez represented the modern wave of Guthrie fans by…

by Kevin Curtin

Best New Band

RUNNERS-UP: Ghosts Along the Brazos, Neon Cobra, Black Pistol Fire, Sphynx, Wild Child, The Shears, Ulrich Ellison, Sons of Orpheus, Liars & Saints

by Chronicle Staff

Best Metal

RUNNERS-UP: Eagle Claw, Dead Earth Politics, Broken Teeth, Powderburn, Snake Skin Prison, Fear Control, Headcrusher, Blunt Force Trauma, Fear Control

by Chronicle Staff

Best Songwriter

RUNNERS-UP: Sarah Jarosz; Eliza Gilkyson; Bob Schneider; Troupe Gammage (Speak); Suzanna Choffel; James McMurtry; Hayes Carll; Carolyn Wonderland; Henry Garza, Jojo Garza, and Ringo Garza (Los Lonely Boys)

by Chronicle Staff

SXSW 2012 Records

Trampled by Turtles Stars and Satellites (BanjoDad) On 2010’s Palomino, Trampled by Turtles was nearly breathless. A punk and bluegrass mix, the Duluth, Minn., quintet’s acoustic thrash established it as a must-see live act. Stars and Satellites possesses moments when the band seems to be in overdrive, but overall it’s much more introspective. A current…

by Jim Caligiuri

SXSW 2012 Records

Yellow Ostrich Strange Land (Barsuk) Yellow Ostrich is a trio of swollen, New York-by-way-of-Wisconsin howlers that make trembling indie rock about loving someone who doesn’t love you back. It almost makes too much sense that debut effort Strange Land is being put out by Seattle indie Barsuk. Weaned on the heartsick vibrations of Bright Eyes…

by Luke Winkie

SXSW 2012 Records

VHS or Beta Diamonds and Death (Krian Music Group) You’ve got to give VHS or Beta credit. There aren’t a lot of other bands embracing goofy, spandex-smut disco in the 21st century, especially none originally from Louisville, Ky., (now Brooklyn, naturally). From the members’ hair, press photos, and record sleeves, the quartet has never seemed…

by Luke Winkie

SXSW 2012 Records

And So I Watch You From Afar Gangs (Richter Collective) The idea that post-rock had to lean toward the mellow, the slow build, and the tough sell was exploded in the mid-Aughts by Ratatat, a New York band with all the subtlety of a synthesizer jackknifing into a Flying V. Now come antecedents And So…

by Adam Schragin

Ballroom Dancing

Woody Guthrie at 100 Austin Convention Center, Thursday, March 15 The celebration of Woody Guthrie’s 100th birthday, a yearlong event, kicked off in Tulsa, Okla., five days ago. Panel moderator and Grammy Museum Executive Director Bob Santelli explained this week’s events in Texas and those planned for the rest of the year as a celebration…

by Jim Caligiuri

Live Shots

Big Star ‘Third’ Concert Paramount Theatre, Thursday, March 15 Almost two years to the day that Alex Chilton died before making an appearance at SXSW with his band Big Star, this concert re-created the band’s last album, Third. The brainchild of Chris Stamey, the memorial of sorts put together an ensemble cast to flesh out…

by Adam Schragin

Musician of the Year

RUNNERS-UP: Troupe Gammage, Carolyn Wonderland, Gary Clark Jr., Black Joe Lewis, Sarah Jarosz, Bob Schneider, Hayes Carll, Ray Benson, Eliza Gilkyson

by Chronicle Staff

Best None of the Above

RUNNERS-UP: Conjunto los T-birds, Mother Falcon, Trio Del Rio, More Cowbell, Rattletree Marimba, Minor Mishap Marching Band, Invincible Czars, Exit, Sons of Orpheus

by Chronicle Staff

Best String Players

RUNNERS-UP: Ruby Jane, fiddle; Jason Roberts, fiddle; Thomas McGregor, fiddle; Cody Braun; Sarah Jarosz, banjo; Diana Burgess, cello; Haydn Vitera, violin; Govinda, violin; Max Johnston, fiddle, mandolin

by Chronicle Staff

SXSW 2012 Records

White Rabbits Milk Famous (TBD Records) Don’t look now, but White Rabbits is verging on a cosmopolitan career. The band’s third album, Milk Famous, returns to the twitchy dance-rock that made this Brooklyn group such an unstoppable opening act, folding in dashes of Talking Heads’ jitter-pop and some blackened post-punk tautness. Mostly, though, it’s the…

by Luke Winkie

SXSW 2012 Records

The Men Open Your Heart (Sacred Bones) Screw art, the Men are just looking for a good time. A boozy, rocks-off enterprise, the Brooklyn quartet’s obsessed with building the merriest rock & roll out there, and its third album, Open Your Heart, is the closest it’s come to immaculate debauchery. Opener “Turn It Around” blows…

by Luke Winkie

SXSW 2012 Records

Robert Glasper Experiment Black Radio (Blue Note) Houston-born pianist Bob Glasper is well-grounded in both jazz and hip-hop, having worked with Mos Def, Roy Hargrove, Q-Tip, Terence Blanchard, Maxwell, and more. While this experiment tries to transcend the boundaries of genre, ears attuned to the jazz world of Blue Note Records will find the music…

by Jay Trachtenberg

SXSW 2012 Records

Tim Fite Ain’t Ain’t Ain’t (Anti-) For the final installment of his Ain’t trilogy, Tim Fite has created a deep, spectacular work of musical craftsmanship. Combining conventional instruments with prerecorded samples of fireworks, botched riffs, and chains being dropped from great heights, the Brooklynite’s taken thousands of minute sounds and reconstructed them, note by note,…

by Kevin Curtin

Ballroom Dancing

2012: The Year Dance Music killed rock & roll Austin Convention Center, Thursday, March 15 It’s not every day that legendary A&R man Seymour Stein is sitting next to Lee Anderson, the agent for Skrillex. Yet there they were, sitting on this panel to discuss whether dance music has overtaken rock. “Rock & roll has…

by Zoe Cordes Selbin

Live Shots

The Little Willies/Punch Brothers Antone’s, Friday, March 15 God bless the Little Willies for returning Norah Jones to her Texas roots, because a voice that amazing deserves a little twang. “We put most of our Willie songs in the set tonight, so you might say we’re a little Willie heavy,” she quipped midway through before…

by Doug Freeman

Album of the Year

RUNNERS-UP: I Believe in Everything, Speak; Portraits, Wheeler Brothers; Peace Meal, Carolyn Wonderland; Scandalous, Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears; Follow Me Down, Sarah Jarosz; The Bright Lights EP, Gary Clark Jr.; Steady Eye Shaky Bow, Suzanna Choffel; D, White Denim; Roses at the End of Time, Eliza Gilkyson; KMAG YOYO, Hayes Carll; Old Mad…

by Chronicle Staff

Best Punk

RUNNERS-UP: The Midgetmen, Krum Bums, Opposite Day, Schmillion, The Stampede, The Beat Dolls, Neon Cobra, Squint, One-Eyed Doll

by Chronicle Staff

Best Acoustic Venue

RUNNERS-UP: Saxon Pub, Momo’s, Flipnotics Coffeespace, Ray Benson’s Roadhouse, Ruta Maya, Elephant Room, The Parish, Evangeline Cafe, Central Market

by Chronicle Staff

Off the Record

Empire State of Mind This year, the biggest breakout success at South by Southwest Interactive wasn’t an app or a social network. It was Jay-Z, the business, man. On Monday night, the Brooklyn mogul anchored the American Express Sync show at ACL Live at the Moody Theater, a grand spectacle on an X-shaped stage rig…

by Austin Powell

MOJO Recommends

Benjamin Francis Leftwich 9pm, Latitude 30 Five years ago, the idea of a genuine singer-songwriter getting signed in the UK was a prospect possibly only reserved for the James Blunts of this world. In the time that’s elapsed, however, Britain has truly learned to sing again, producing an underground scene where talent can be nurtured…

by Chronicle Staff

Live Shots

Lila Downs Speakeasy, Wednesday, March 14 You know it’s a good party when the singer swigs from a bottle of tequila, then balances it on top of her head. Oaxaca, Mexico, siren Lila Downs brought with her no small sense of drama from our neighbor to the south, heralded upon her entrance by the cheers…

by Melanie Haupt

Live Shots

2011-12 Austin Music Awards Austin Music Hall, Wednesday, March 14 The Austin Music Awards are a populist poll. There’s no academy and no membership. Anyone with stamp money or access to a computer can help determine who gets recognized as the local magnate of their genre or, more so, who garnered the most enthusiasm from…

by Kevin Curtin

Live Shots

Sons of Fathers Saxon Pub, Wednesday, March 14 There were several things that made Sons of Fathers’ debut one of the best Austin releases of 2011: substantial songwriting, uncommon harmonies, and sturdy musicianship. Onstage, those attributes remain abundant with an added advantage. Live, some of the studio polish gets sanded away to reveal gritty undercurrents…

by Jim Caligiuri

Ballroom Dancing

Adventures in Songwriting with Paul Williams Austin Convention Center, Wednesday, March 14 When he wasn’t on the couch next to Johnny Carson or cutting up with Chuck Barris on The Gong Show, Paul Williams was penning pop classics like “Rainy Days and Mondays” and “The Rainbow Connection,” songs that taught kids the meaning of melancholy…

by Greg Beets

Live Shots

Sauti Sol Flamingo Cantina, Wednesday, March 14 Hand it to these top-selling Kenyan purveyors of modern Afro-pop on their U.S. debut in Austin: Sauti Sol showed no fear. Considering that six months ago they played before a crowd of 12,000 in their native Nairobi, it makes sense that this hearty sixpiece didn’t flinch when faced…

by Dan Oko

Day Party Crawl

Michael Kiwanuka/Alabama Shakes Radio Day Stage, Austin Convention Center, Wednesday, March 14 Some scruffy American rock bands need a gimmick to help distinguish them from the ever-hopeful pack. Not Alabama Shakes. The Athens, Ala., fivepiece instead has Brittany Howard, frequently a pyrotechnical vocalist, accurately compared to Janis Joplin. The hype around the band meant its…

by Dan Oko

Day Party Crawl

Consequence of Sound Day Party Beauty Bar, Wednesday, March 14 Ben Greenberg’s addition to the Men may be what pushes the New York City foursome off the Detroit Motor City reservation. Thumping out a distorted rumble that would make White Denim’s Steve Terebecki stand up and shout, Greenberg gave guitarists Mark Perro and Nick Chiericozzi…

by Chase Hoffberger

Ballroom Dancing

What Happened to the Big Idea in Music Technology? Austin Convention Center, Wednesday, March 14 Moderated by Uncorked Studios’ David Ewald and Dave Allen, interactive strategy director for North and former bassist for Gang of Four, this panel didn’t so much answer the question proposed in its title as present a loose discussion about how…

by Michael Toland

Live Shots

Jimmy Cliff The Main, Wednesday, March 14 Beyond a certain global superstar with the surname Marley, no other Jamaican artist is more responsible for exporting reggae to the world than Jimmy Cliff. Spearheading the 1972 soundtrack to the film he starred in, The Harder They Come, the now 63-year-old singer put Jamaican music on the…

by Thomas Fawcett

Day Party Crawl

Gram Parsons Foundation Launch Jo’s Coffee, Wednesday, March 14 The Gram Parsons Foundation was founded in 2004 with a series of concerts featuring Keith Richards, Lucinda Williams, Norah Jones, and many others, as well as a tribute CD, Return of the Grievous Angel. After being dormant, this party thrown by Parsons’ daughter Polly, who is…

by Jim Caligiuri

Ballroom Dancing

Downloaded: The SXSW Interview Austin Convention Center, Wednesday, March 14 It’s easy to look back and laugh at all the disastrous mistakes and miscalculations of Napster from atop a mountain of cash, so perhaps it’s not surprising that founders Sean Parker and Shawn Fanning are now able to offer such a candid perspective on the…

by Doug Freeman

Brazos

Leaving Austin can be like shedding a layer of skin, but you’ll never get the Broken Spoke out of your head, heart, and feet

by Austin Powell

Live Shots

Fiona Apple Stubb’s, Wednesday, March 14 She still moves like a pissed-off 19-year-old. Standing first with her hands on her hips, Fiona Apple broke and chopped and spun about in violent disarray. She stretched and heaved, sucked air, and jumped around during instrumental breaks. She drank hot tea from a white mug, draped herself over…

by Chase Hoffberger

Live Shots

Thee Oh Sees Red 7, Wednesday, March 14 A slight murmur slithered through the crowd when indie-pop heartthrobs Tennis started setting up at the top of the hour. They don’t look or sound much like Thee Oh Sees, and with South by Southwest’s muddled schedules, fearing the worst came easy. Did the kids who bristled…

by Luke Winkie

Live Shots

Sharon Van Etten Stubb’s, Wednesday, March 14 With Fiona Apple setting the stage for Sharon Van Etten, the Stubb’s opening block threatened to be a crash course in performance anxiety. Both rose above, yet whereas Apple buried her uncertainty in furiously unsettled outbursts, Van Etten handled the amphitheater crowd by turning inward, her rawness more…

by Doug Freeman

Live Shots

Nachtmystium Barbarella Patio, Wednesday, March 14 Illinois metal act Nachtmystium’s set kicked off with a tedious, perplexingly long sound check where the snare was beaten, the sound tweaked, and then the drum beaten ad infinitum. Late and burdened with dampened momentum, the band seemed to start at a loss – a challenge it readily accepted…

by Adam Schragin

Live Shots

Lagitagida Headhunters, Wednesday, March 14 It’s rare for a band to garner yowls of approval just for doing its line check, but that’s what happened when Tokyo instrumental prog-rock quartet Lagitagida plugged in Wednesday night. They roared to life with a rapid-fire dynamic that crossed Steve Vai-era Zappa with latter-day Japanese noise-rockers like the Boredoms…

by Greg Beets

Gay Place

Hurray for the Riff Raff, Yacht, the Gossip … what more could your li’l heart desire?

by Kate X Messer

Live Shots

Tennis Red 7, Wednesday, March 14 There’s not much to Tennis. Ostensibly just the married duo of Alaina Moore and Patrick Riley, it’s grown into a full-fledged fourpiece for the purposes of playing live. And from opener “Petition,” it was hard to tell whether the band was not yet particularly tight, lacking some dynamism, or…

by Michael Bertin

My SXSW

This is our fifth consecutive year at South by Southwest. The first time we came to Austin was in 2008. That first time flooded our hearts. You can feel the powerful passion for music coming from Austin and the energy in the air, thick as it is – almost touchable. All these feelings come together…

by Chronicle Staff

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