SXSW10 Bands I Meant to See

I went to South By Southwest this year with a plan. It was a somewhat grandiose plan, with over 250 items on it for music alone, and when all was said and done, I saw 51 different bands perform. Granted, some on that original list represented the insanity promoting your band has become – best I can tell, Local Natives played 9 different times in 9 different venues. But a lot of those items were bands, regardless of how many times they were playing, that I simply did not have the time/energy/mindset to venture out to see.

Now that I have been home for a week and have time to review and decompress, I realize how many bands I missed that I was super psyched about beforehand. And since I am still working out the final kinks of my SXSW10 Ultimate Playlist of bands I saw, here is a short round up of bands I regret not seeing. So in no particular order…

Top 11 You Can Stream Below:
Memory Tapes: These guys are electronic done well. Breezy and romantic, it’s music that plays well in the background while banging out a boatload of work while on a deadline that also works in the spotlight. I meant to see them Friday night, but crashed out sitting up in the condo across the hall an hour before show time.
Basia Bulat: The choice not to see her was purely logistical. No way I could run and see her on the east side of 6th street, and still make it to Cedar Street and La Zona Rosa further west immediately afterwards. I fell in love with her after I looked up who sang in a Subaru commercial I wrote about for an earlier post. Canadian folky singer-songwriter, who straddles the line of where that genre becomes a bit cheesy, but always falls on the right side of the fence.
Broadcast 2000: I had their debut EP on repeat back in 2008 but then they kind of fell off my radar. This Brit indie-folk outfit was on my list out of pure curiosity over what they’ve been up to recently.
Broken Social Scene: This is the saddest to appear on my list. I was at Stubb’s for Drive-By Truckers and Band of Horses, who played before them. I was also in shoes that did not agree with standing for ages on dirt floor. I hit the trifecta of drunken-/tired-/cranki-ness where I had to leave and change shoes and I had to do it right then, and it happened to be right before they came on stage.
Chew Lips: Buzzy girl-fronted Brit-pop. I have been enjoying their album Unicorn, and was looking forward to seeing how their energy translated to a live show. My friend Lee did make it there, however, and the picture above was taken at their show. (He somehow saw many of the bands I missed, see more photos of his here.)
Midlake: Still owners of “Morgan’s favorite album this year” title. They play once the entire festival, and it just happened to be during my slight breakdown at Stubbs.
Efterklang: I guess they’ve been around for 10 years, but I only recently discovered this Danish quartet. Don’t know much about them beyond the fact that I really enjoy the few one-off tracks that have come my way, and I was looking forward to discovering more during my time in Texas.
These United States: Love Love Love this band. Their two 2009 releases were both in my top ten that year, and I only caught half of their show at last year’s sxsw. I keep waiting for this band to blow up. Their eclectic-lyrics-driven tunes have been featured in my mixes before, and I wish they’d played more sets so I could’ve fit them in my schedule. They deserve the love.
Broken Bells: Lesson #1: If you build an act with Danger Mouse and The Shins’ frontman James Mercer, people will come. In droves. To the point that attempting to get into any of their shows was futile. But worthy of the attention nonetheless.
Bear Hands: Brooklyn-based, I opted to see a different band each time they played in the hopes of catching them when they play around here. In hindsight, I regret this decision, and have had them on repeat since I’ve been home.
Warpaint: Another buzzy one I intended to see if only just to assess whether the buzz was deserved when translated to a live show. I’ve heard this all-girl group did not disappoint.

9 Honorable Mentions to round out my top 20: Barcelona/Joe Purdy/Miike Snow/MoZella/Phantogram/Princeton/Rogue Wave/Sharon Jones and The Dap Kings/The xx.