I start slowly at SXSW. One band on day one. 3 bands on day two + some comedy!
After picking up my music badge, I ventured over to see a band that is of interest mostly because of their bass player. Who happens to be actor Michael Cera. There was a pretty big crowd gathered outside in the 80-degree weather for his band, called Mister Heavenly, and I took advantage of a solar-powered carousel to relax during their soundcheck. I only heard a couple songs so I’m not a fair judge, …

I start SXSW pretty much the same way every year – queso, margarita and music.  The great Austin traditions.
I only saw one band last night but it was a group I’ve had my eyes on for a couple years – The Royal Bangs. Their songs are so varied its hard to categorize them – and not necessarily in a bad way. It all seems to work. I could throw lots of genre names around but they’re pretty much rockers (KCRW’s social media guru Betsy said she could hear some Kings …

From KCRW DJ Dan Wilcox:
This year will mark my 7th sojourn to Austin for the SXSW Music Conference.  Around this time, I begin the painstaking process of scanning the SXSW site, MySpace pages, invite e-mails and blogs… all to formulate the ultimate SXSW schedule, in the hopes of discovering the next great band or simply to see a great performance.
(I should add that between this and my NCAA bracket, I spend much of early March being intolerable)
Every year the schedule I meticulously put together derails amidst a flurry of last …

From KCRW DJ Chuck P:
Peter Stampfel is best known for his first band, The Holy Modal Rounders, a duo with Steve Weber. They gigged around NYC and the northeast with their brand of old timey folk mixed with psychedelia. Sam Shepard was known to play with them on occasion.
Even most who’ve never heard of the band are familiar with the track, “Bird Song”, which was featured prominently in the movie, Easy Rider.
One of their most notable projects (in which they were billed as The Unholy Modal Rounders) involved Michael Hurley …

KCRW Music Librarian and DJ Eric J Lawrence had trouble narrowing his list down – and with all the music he listens to, who can blame him! Check out who he has his eye on for SXSW 2011:
As usual, KCRW will have a big presence at SXSW this month, with Morning Becomes Eclectic broadcasting live from Austin, TX both Thursday & Friday, as well as appearances from a bunch of other KCRW DJs.
The only trouble with such blanket coverage is that somebody has to stay home at our Santa Monica …

From KCRW DJ Marion Hodges:
Day parties at SXSW are the best.  You almost never need a festival pass to get into one, so if you plan smart, you can see pretty much every band you would hope to see without spending a small fortune. Plus, they almost always have free beer.
One name from the day party circuit this year really jumped out to me — Those Dancing Days.
They’ll be playing Filter Magazine’s Culture Collide party on Saturday, that’s sponsored by KCRW, along with fellow Swedes Little Dragon .
A friend turned …

From KCRW DJ DanWilcox:
Don’t think that all the praise The Vaccines are receiving at the moment is going to go to their heads.
One of the most buzzed-about bands of 2011, the UK quartet already has the “Hottest Record In the World” nod from BBC’s Zane Lowe, an MTV Best New Band nominee, an NME cover and nearly won the 2011 Brit Critics Choice Awards top prize.
But amidst all this rapid fire success, the band remains grounded in a self-depreciating sense of humor, as evidenced on the cheekily ironic “We’re Happening“… …

New Zealand’s The Naked and Famous made a big splash on their first visit to Los Angeles last November, which included a performance on Morning Becomes Eclectic – their U.S. live radio debut!
We booked the band for KCRW’s official SXSW showcase (on Wed, March 16) before we ever even saw them live.
We were so sure of their star potential, based heavily on the audience response to their single “Young Blood”, that we knew they would be a band to watch at this year’s conference. And sure enough, they are!
Recently …

From KCRW DJ Mario Cotto:
Phantogram’s “Mouthful of Diamonds” was unquestionably one of last year’s sweetest album openers.
With a sputtering drum loop that suggests that the album may not take off, this upstate NY duo dramatically reel you in, to suddenly propel you on a stratospheric flight that is playful, but driven, and somehow bubbly while intimating menace.
Using a tried and true trip-hop formula of lovely female vocals over programmed sequences and drum rhythms, Phantogram wear their late 90’s influences well (GusGus, Lamb), but do so in way that more closely resembles their labelmate’s (Barsuk alums Death Cab …

From KCRW DJ Chris Douridas –
It’s a rarity: a new album that comes through the door and is great from beginning to end. When it does, I get excited.
This month I got excited about Agnes Obel’s album Philharmonics.
I love simple, beautiful piano lines. I love Chopin. Satie. I also love simple, unadorned female voices with great lyrics, set in a bitterweet musical environment.
Joni Mitchell, Fiona Apple, Hanne Hukkelberg, Laura Veirs, among them. And now Agnes Obel.
While originally from Denmark, Obel lives in Berlin, the same place Hukkelberg staked out for …