Why SoCal and Sweden are closer than you think, or how to take the speed lane to SXSW glory.
With harmonies that give Fleet Foxes a run for their money, vocals reminiscent of The Magnetic Fields, and cinematic beats that channel Scandinavian favorites like Sambassadeur, indie popsters The Botticellis took the speed lane to our (disappointingly short) best-of-SXSW-2009 list.
Their sun-drenched sound and dreamy guitars come, unsurprisingly, from Southern California. And while a clear nostalgic connection with surf culture oozes from their music, deep lyrical sensibility and unique analog production make The Botticellis a delightfully unclassifiable force of their own.
Their debut album, Old Home Movies, is every bit as excellent as their eponymous SXSW track, which you can snag for free right here.
You can also spot The Botticellis (and a ton more free downloads) on Daytrotter, easily the best up-and-coming music site around, and one we’ve been enamored with for a long, long, long, long time.
From Paris to London to Southern California, by way of Austin, Texas.
We’re still making our way through 140+ hours of SXSW music, having found less than twenty 5-star-worthy tracks to date. But but with foot planted firmly among them is Kat Edmonson — a refreshing oasis of raspy, jazzy goodness among the barren landscape of indie punk-pop-rock mediocrity.
Her latest album, Take To The Sky, is a delight from start to finish, including the best cover of Summertime we’ve heard in quite some time. In fact, it’s the best new jazz vocal we’ve heard in quite some time, period.
Part Duffy, part Madeleine Peyroux, Edmonson blends the magnetism of French jazz with the British school of raspy vocals, intertwined with notes of social responsibility reminiscent of the California indie scene — all by way of Austin, Texas.
You can download her excellent SXSW single, Just One Of Those Things, free from the festival website. And take our word for it — the entire Take To The Sky album is every bit as good.
Dodging SXSW mediocrity, or what a floating head has to do with the BBC.
As we’re slowly digesting the usual mix of the good, the bad and the unfortunately mediocre from this year’s SXSW, we’ll spare you the latter two by focusing on the former: One of our favorite SXSW performers was actually an old indie favorite of ours.
Lisa Hannigan‘s brand of vocal delight and instrumental perfection is part Emiliana Torrini‘s charmingly off-quilter vibe, part Ingrid Michaelson‘s soft intensity, part the haunted harmonies of Fleet Foxes. In other words, Damien Rice and Vampire Weekend rolled into one big Y chromosome.
The Damien Rice comparison isn’t at all groundless. Lisa made her name accompanying Damien — they’ve recorded a number of fantastic duets, most notably the brilliant Cold Water. They even have a surprisingly well-directed video to their credit.
Unfortunately for the rest of us, the two parted ways nearly two years ago when Lisa left the band due to creative differences. But her first post-Damien solo album, Sea Sew, is superb — so we won’t go writing her off as a has-been piggybacker just yet.
Lisa’s SXSW performance of Lille was breathtaking — luckily for you, the track is a free download on Amazon, so do take advantage. And, while you’re at it, consider the Sea Sew album in its entirety — it’s excellent from start to finish, a rarity with album releases these days.
Resurrecting rock, or what Southern porches have to do with Brooklyn hipsters.
Every once in a while, we wonder what happened to rock. Real, gritty, sung-from-the-back-of-a-smoky-bar rock. When did it stop being “in”? When did it steal candy from Brooklyn’s hipsters and get reported to the uncoolness police?
Luckily, we don’t subscribe to such regulations. Good music is good music. And Keep It Hid, the solo debut of Black Keys frontman Dan Auerbach, is pure rock indulgence, good music supreme.
You can just see him pouring himself a somber glass of whiskey, sitting out on a Southern porch with his old guitar and a half-smoked cigarette hanging from the corner of his mouth, trying to unravel the paradox of melancholic anger while thinking of your sister in ways you don’t want anyone thinking about your sister.
With sound that’s part Johnny Cash, part Gnarls Barkley, part Lenny Kravitz’ infamous guitar, Keep It Hid takes real rock by the grimy collar and drags it out of its pop culture slump.
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With harmonies that give Fleet Foxes a run for their money, vocals reminiscent of The Magnetic Fields, and cinematic beats that channel Scandinavian favorites like Sambassadeur, indie popsters The Botticellis took the speed lane to our (disappointingly short) best-of-SXSW-2009 list. 
