SXSW Preview: a few more top fives

My sister and I are en route to Austin as we speak - we left yesterday afternoon, and after a long drive and an unexpected detour we ended up spending the night near Arkadelphia (man I love the town names in Arkansas).  Hopefully by the time you read this we'll already be in Texas, and since I'll be spending the better part of the day in the car, I thought I'd recruit a little SXSW previewing help for today's post.

Yesterday I shared the top 5 bands I'm looking forward to seeing at this year's festival - today you get some top fives (and sixes) from friends who are also headed to Austin this week.  After the jump, check out their lists...

Lee Stabert - Nashville Scene

• Bound Stems - My favorite discovery of last year. Their debut Appreciation Night was ecstatic and complex, and got better with every listen.
• Wax Fang - Yes, I've seen them 50 times, but I always love to watch the reactions of people who are seeing them for the first time. They never put on a bad show.  (mp3: "World War II (Part 2)"
  
• The Blow - YACHT will be in town too, so this should be the rare occasion to see this duo intact.
• Ezra Furman & The Harpoons - My friend from high school who works at Blue Note Records and has great taste in music can't stop raving about this guy. (mp3: "I Wanna Be Ignored")
• Jeffrey Lewis - Wordy, wordy, wordy, in the best possible way. Plus, I love a guy with a critical eye towards the whole indie/hipster/hype culture.
• Jay Reatard - Hear amazing things about his live show. One of the darling artists of The Best Show on WFMU, the best radio show ever.

John Mascarenhas - Hot Freaks

• Throw Me The Statue (mp3: "About to Walk")
• The Dodos
• Fleet Foxes
• The Whigs
• Black Mountain (mp3: "Druganaut")
  

Ryan Matteson - Muzzle of Bees

• Priscilla Ahn - Kind of outside what I would normally like or write about.  She's on Blue Note and the only reason I know anything about her is because I got invited to her SXSW showcase, checked her out on myspace and fell in love with her voice.
• Bowerbirds - They put out one of my favorite records last year and can't wait to hear those songs live. (mp3: "In Our Talons")
• MGMT - I listen to this every time I work at Strictly Discs here in Madison.  It's a little out there, but energetic and fun.
• Lightspeed Champion - Just got into this guy, but been on a steady diet of his record since. (mp3: "Galaxy of the Lost")
• Bobby Bare Jr. - He opened for Lucero in Milwaukee a couple months back and I got there late and missed his entire set.  Everyone was talking about it afterwards, and he's been on my radar ever since. (mp3: "The Heart Bionic")
• The Dodos - Never listened to them, seem to be turning up everywhere, want to find out what all the fuss is about

Van Riker - Barsuk Records

• Ra Ra Riot (mp3: "Dying Is Fine")
• Eli Paperboy Reed (mp3: "The Satisfier")
• Bon Iver
• Jim Noir
• Tulsa
  

John Brassil - photographer, DJ

• Ghislain Poirier – This Montreal based producer and DJ has just dropped his first full-length for Ninja Tune and it’s full of bangin’ dancehall rhythms twisted up and turned loose on your ass so I fully expect to be dancing my way out of Thursday night.
• Monareta – The duo records for Latin indie powerhouse Nacional (Manu Chao, The Pinker Tones, Pacha Massive) and they’re the label’s only showcasing band this year I’m going to show them some love, plus alternative Colombian hip-hop sounds like fun anyway. (mp3: "Mantaza Funk")
• Petty Booka – One of the consistently most enjoyable things about SXSW is Japan night and this pair of cute young  girls doing bluegrass covers has the potential to be another example of the truth-is-stranger than fiction cross-cultural pollination that makes it go.
• Vampire Weekend – What can I say, they are hotter than fire right now, I’ve never seen them and Antone’s is a great venue.  The question is, will I be willing to camp there long enough to actually get in?
• Was (Not Was) – What’s Up Dog? is one of my favorite albums ever  but I was torn between these guys and Chromeo to close the festival on Saturday night until I remembered I could see Chromeo at Bonnaroo, so LZR here I come!

Chris Cantalini - Gorilla vs Bear

• White Denim (Austin)
• Lykke Li (Sweden)
• El Guincho (Barcelona)
• Paper Route Recordz (hip-hop collective from Huntsville, Alabama)
• Santogold (NYC)
  

Jason Moon Wilkins - Next Big Nashville

• Vampire Weekend - So I've taken both tacts in the past when it comes to seeing the absurdly overhyped @ SXSW (Strokes, Stripes, Franz, Winehouse etc.) - 1. Just stay away from their shows and get out of the way of the steam train or 2. Fight to find a way into the impossibly packed gigs. Well, the great ones don't come along very often and in the end, regret is harder to swallow than pride.
• The Helio Sequence - On their brand new record these guys unexpectedly went from pleasantly grey and subtle to kaleidoscopic and anthemic and I imagine if I have enough to drink I'll be screaming along with "Lately" - the "Missing You" for the Pitchfork set.
• She and Him - The man, M. Ward, behind one of the best albums of the new century (Post-War) and the painfully beautiful voice featured in one of the most surprisingly touching scenes to include Will Ferrell (Zooey Deschanel, Elf) - it is almost certain to be a disappointment compared to what it sounds like in my head, but I gotta go.
• Autolux - I'm always a sucker for expertly executed shoegazery done with a dash of bombast and these guys might be the best in the game right now.
• Tita Lima - A friend tried unsuccessfully to sneak me into her show last year, but this time I have a badge and a fever for some genre bending Brazilian pop to wash me clean from all the icky indie navelgazing I will have subjected myself to the rest of the week.

John Turner - Thirty Tigers

• White Williams
• Deer Tick
• The Blow
• Man Man
• Langhorne Slim (mp3: "Restless")
• Akron/Family (mp3: "Phenomena")

Michael Eades - Yewknee.com

• Autolux - not a new band to me but I'm a total fanboy and am beyond excited to hear new songs, old songs and old songs reinvented as new songs. It may be lame to be the most excited to go see a band at SXSW that you're already heavily familiar with but I'm sticking with it.
• Why? - The forthcoming album "Alopecia" has been on heavy rotation recently and I hear from reputable sources that their live set is quite great. I hope to confirm this. (mp3: "The Hollows")
• White Denim - missed them last year and have had the EP / b-sides in heavy rotation ever since. Based on your reviews (and several others) I must see them with my own eyes to confirm their rock greatness.
• The Dodos - I actually was just introduced to this a few days ago and find myself listening to it over and over again. Might as well catch it live and see how it holds up. (mp3: "Fools")
• The Big Sleep - their first album was such an incredibly good, big, rock record and the new release, Sleep Forever, is equally as good. I can only hope that live they will make my eardrums bleed. (mp3: "Pinkies")
• I'm also marking Helio Sequence into my calendar with pen because I'd be pretty disappointed in myself if I didn't see them.. the new record is easily top 3 of 2008.