For Team Music here at the Chronicle, the only easy South by Southwest task is this one: Picks 2 Click. P2C. Every spring, local acts of every stripe showcase the Festival, some for the first time, others as perennials. Choosing seven or so acts we think deserve some national loving – piece of cake. Last year at this time, Matador Records paralleled long-gone local LP Live at Raul’s with Casual Victim Pile as the ultimate indie document of the scene. This month, that label’s Gerard Cosloy released another volume. Only one act here is nestled in its black vinyl grooves – as opposed to three last year – but everyone profiled this SXSW is already clamoring toward the top of Austin’s larger-scene dog pile.

This article appears in March 11 • 2011.

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San Francisco native Raoul Hernandez crossed the border into Texas on July 2, 1992, and began writing about music for the Chronicle that fall, debuting with an album review of Keith Richards’ Main Offender. By virtue of local show previews – first “Recommendeds,” now calendar picks – his writing’s appeared in almost every issue since 1993.