SXSW 2012

I wasn't doing any daily stringer action for South by Southwest this year (I did write this in advance of it), so I was mostly down there to enjoy myself and catch up with Light Asylum for a future article. It was crazy as ever down there; it felt like a Black Friday doorbuster crowd had converged on every Austin corner and in every bar doorway. Now that I've caught my breath and most of the Lone Star has left my bloodstream, I present a partial list of the bands I caught. Right, I don't think this is every band I saw and is in no particular order:

Light Asylum

Snake Rattle Rattle Snake

A. Tom Collins

Wheelchair Sports Camp

Ceremony

Justin Townes Earle

Musketeer Gripweed

Bass Drum of Death

Milagres

Love Inks

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

Built to Spill

Of Monsters and Men

Santigold

Big K.R.I.T.

Chairlift

Best Coast

Jimmy Cliff

The Men

Dan Deacon

The Lumineers

Danny Brown

Youth Lagoon

Japandroids

Oneohtrix Point Never

Friends

Alabama Shakes

Andrew Bird

Fiona Apple

Sharon Van Etten

Pazz & Jop 2011

This is a bit late, but them's the breaks.

So, head here to see what I though was the best in music in 2011. Once again, I am the proud owner of a solo vote for two singles. (And a few with just one or two other voters.) I'm so idiosyncratic!

To see my past voting eccentricities head here and here.

Without further ado, here are the tracks I thought were great...and that nobody else did:

Pictureplane, "Breath Work"

Dawes, "So Well"