Thursday Night SXSW Showcases

A-Wa

Womex

World Music Expo corrals one of the most eclectic and diverse lineups on the festival grid this year, aiming squarely for the intersection of traditional and modern. From Colombian coastal town Taganga, always-entertaining sevenpiece Systema Solar jumbles champeta into an infectious fusion of dancehall, hip-hop, and electronica. A trio of Israeli sisters, A-Wa contemporizes ancient Arabic language songs of their Yemenite Jewish ancestors with adventurous production help from Tomer Yosef of Balkan Beat Box on their debut album. Reggae sextet Shaggydog skanks in all the way from Indonesia, while the lush voice of Cape Verde's Elida Almeida highlights her stripped-down acoustic tunes. The bizarre and intoxicating Korean post-rock of Jambinai is a wild card, with traditional instruments like the taepyeongso and piri playing decidedly nontraditional music.