SXSW: 6 Bands To Watch

Well SXSW music is officially here, and as I sit and ponder my existence while at work, I thought it would be fun to share some advice on bands to watch for the week. Of course you know how many bands are in town so the list can be incredibly overwhelming and daunting. After a quick scan, I picked out 6 of my “must sees” for the week in hopes you might find something to seek out. Why 6? I have no idea honestly but it seemed like enough to kick start your brain. Hit the jump for my list with some music samples.

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ATH & SXSW: Spotify Playlist

logoIt’s hard to believe, but SXSW is officially upon us in a couple of weeks and we’re here to try and keep you as informed as we can until then.  An easy way for us to do that is with a handy dandy playlist over on Spotify featuring some of the bands we think you should pay attention to during the week.  Sure the playlist has a ton of songs, but you can skip the ones you don’t like right?  If you think we missed something big, you’re free to let us know in the comments section.  We’ll be bringing you some artist spotlights real soon.


 

FT5: Top 5 Austin Musical Fallacies

The last week or so has seen the Austin Interwebs go a little haywire, with Austinist vs. Michael Corcoran in a debate on the status of Austin as anything more than mediocre. We only talk about music, so we’re not going to worry about the discussions on traffic or eateries…we’re just looking at the music here. I grew up in this town, and I’ve been actively participating in the music scene since 92′, so I feel more than qualified to hold a discussion here.  I do want to say that I actually think both parties make some valid points, which sort of leads me to think that there’s a lot of us in Austin, music or otherwise, that realize our town could make some improvements–whether they’re all the same or not doesn’t really matter, as we should be working together to unify the scene.

The following list is compiled of things that stood out to me in both articles (linked above), or that I just sort of came to on my own terms as an active participant in the “scene.” They’re ordered into a Top 5 to stick with our occasional Friday theme, but the order is irrelevant for the most part. Please feel free to comment on these things, as I think the best thing for our city and music is to have some actual discussion about it rather than make accusations–that’s just a dick move that gets us all nowhere.

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