SXSW Recap, the Recappiest

With all due respect to my colleague Yasha, as a seven-year SXSW veteran, I know how to cram in as many bands as possible in a four day period. And so a week after the Southern rock insanity, as I reminisce over the Drew Barrymore-approved music festival (yes, she was there), I realize that I may have even outdone myself this year. And so rather than go through all the bands that I caught, I’m devoting this blog post to the highlights.

Wednesday:

A few hours after I landed, I ran straight to Stubb’s to catch Diddy’s very own Janelle Monae. To say that this was one of the best sets of the weekend is an understatement. Part Andre 3000, part James Brown, part David Bowie, part what the hell?, the animated Atlanta, Georgian has an exceptional voice, a unparalleled stage presence, and an unending energy source. It can’t hurt that she is pretty damn fine to boot.

Highland Park, California’s Fol Chen upped the quirkiness ante with a disarmingly charming set of unconventional pop. Signed to Ashmatic Kitty (Sufjan’s label), the quartet wears Danish Modern-inspired uniforms and covers whole Mariah Carey songs sans irony. Their debut Part I: John Shade, Your Fortune’s Made is shaping up to be one of my favorite records of the year.

And speaking of favorite records, School of Seven Bells ended the night on a perfectly harmonized note. The trio made up of twins Ally and Claudia Deheza and former Secret Machine member Benjamin Curtis rocked the impossibly noisy Buffalo Billiards with grace and precision. While those impossibly lithe vocals would seem super hard to pull off live, the Dehezas sang futuristic lullabies to the audience and we were smitten Or smote. Or both.

Thursday:

Yasha already wrote about the Heeb Magazine/Other Music showcase over here but at 12 AM, with her permission, I snuck out for a bit to catch one of the insanest, buzziest acts in Austin. Despite her mere five-foot tall size (maybe), Victoria Hesketh, or Little Boots, is huge. The aspiring Kylie Minogue 2.0 is hell-bent on being a Euro-pop superstar and judging from her not-so-revalatory (in a good way!) set of techno-bubblegum, her album out later this year will be filed under Can’t Get It Out Of Our Heads.

Following a scorching, euphoric Harlem Shakes set at the Heeb/Other party (jeez, we knew these guys were good but had no idea they were that good), I stumbled over to the Playboy party with the gents from Wild Light (a hearty endorsement for those guys) and caught the last few songs by a reuinted Jane’s Addiction. All’s I knows is that Perry Farrell is a seriously quirky dude but he can still rock so heavy that most of us didn’t even notice the Playmates circulating around the room. And that’s more than I can say for last year’s party.

Part II tomorrow!

What do you think?