Five Artists I’m Depressed I Won’t Be Seeing at SXSW 2014

Written by
Very sad to report I’ll be missing another SXSW Music Festival this year… I’ll be missing the tinnitus, sore feet, BBQ & taco-related malnutrition & mid-morning Lone Stars… but most depressingly I’ll be missing a lot of great live music.
These are the 5 artists I’m most bummed I won’t be seeing at SXSW 2014:
TEMPLES: One of the most buzzed-about bands out of the UK in recent years, Temples have created one of the most enjoyable records of 2014 thus far in “Sun Structures“.
And it seems like with these great psychedelic band’s live shows you are most likely to experience either a near-religious experience (i.e. Tame Impala) or an epic on-stage meltdown (i.e. Foxygen). Either one would be greatly entertaining.

ANGEL OLSEN: Olsen’s latest full-length “Burn Your Fire For No Witness” has been getting some decent spins on KCRW, which has only whet my appetite for her unusual composite of freaky folk & fuzzy girl-group pop.
Would probably sound nice after a few of those aforementioned mid-morning Lone Stars.

CURTIS HARDING: Burger Records have made a name for themselves issuing slabs of noisy punk & garage band records, which is why I first took notice when they signed a young Atlanta R&B sensation Curtis Harding and released his irresistible slice of 60’s soul, “Keep On Shining“.  The artist most likely to get me moving my tired feet.

YOUNG FATHERS: This hip-hop collective from the UK features members from Liberia, Nigeria & Scotland with a sound even more diverse than their lineage.  Get Up” from their new Anticon-released ‘Dead’ LP is a party anthem with a twist, and I’m imagining their show would be a great one to lose your mind to…

MARK KOZELEK/SUN KIL MOON: SXSW can be an overwhelming cacophony of loud music, noise & ill-behavior, which is why some of the most memorable shows I’ve seen are the ones where stripped-down acoustic performances are so compelling that they shut down the industry chitter-chatter and you can hear a pin drop.
And if Mark Kozelek’s performance of songs from his recent stellar, emotionally-shattering Sun Kil Moon album (which will be at a church no less) won’t put you in a trance, nothing will.