After last month’s sneak peek at 50 artists approved to perform in 2017, SXSW took the next step in their music programming with the Round One Artist Announcement. To date, this tallies up to just over 200 bands. Expect that number to increase 10 fold by the time March comes around. March 10-19, 2017 to be exact.
Here is my first sneak peek of the Kaffeine Buzz pick list that will continue to grow over the next six months, with the full SXSW Music list to follow.
The Drums
This act has performed to packed out SXSW crowds in the past and will no doubt do the same next year. Lead singer Jonny Pierce sways and belts out those The Drums tunes with such fervor, from 2010’s “Let’s Go Surfing” to Encyclopedia’s “Kiss Me Again,” it’s as if this band invented the hook. Every track on every album could star as a good day or bad day song to brighten your day or make your luckiest of times even more so.
Even without the lights, the electronics, and big stage hoopla, The Drums’ music still shines, as heard and scene in their acoustic performance of “How It Ended” during the Berlin Sessions.
The Drums are due for a forth album, given Encyclopedia came out in 2014, but no news as of yet. In the meantime… Jonny will be performing at The Royal Opera House in London (November 10-20), written for the ballet and musical production, Carbon Life. He joins Mark Ronson, Andrew Wyatt, designer Gareth Pugh, and choreographer Wayne McGregor, singing and full costumed as the ballet dancers perform around him. If you’re in London during this time, this is a must see.
Chain of Flowers
“We’re pretty eclectic between us all,” Chain of Flowers lead singer, Joshua Smith, explained to KEXP Morning Show host, John Richards during the act’s in-studio performance. “The band has come to sound in the way that it has, that sort of post-punk sound that brought us all together in the first instance. We’ve been fans for a very long time playing numerous different bands with each other. We all didn’t realize we all wanted to be doing the same thing.”
This was the first tour of the states for the Cardiff band, and Smith admitted that going in as a newbie, he didn’t have any expectations.
Lead guitarist Ross Jones chimed in, “Everyone’s really warm and kind and the audiences are really receptive here to what we’re trying to do. Which is a bit of an alien concept to us,” he said laughing. And when Richards questioned whether that was American audience’s reputation, he answered, “I just mean, in comparison to back home. We tend to be the sore thumb of the line up a lot of the times,” laughing. Gotta love British self deprecation. He then added, “It’s been really good. I’ve met a lot of good people.”
In Austin next year, I can’t wait to hear tracks from Chain of Flowers self-titled debut, which was released around this time last year. No doubt the SXSW audience’s reception will be just as warm and welcoming.
Carnival Youth
This Latvian indie four-piece Carnival Youth has been building quite the powerful reputation over the years, being endorsed by Eurosonic this year and getting airplay from BBC 6 Music’s Steve Lamacq and Chris Hawkins, and John Kennedy on XFM.
The video for “Seagulls on Bicycles,” a single from their 2016 sophomore release, Propeller, abounds with the playful creativity that would make Damian Kulash jealous and Lamb Chop swoon.
Roosevelt
SXSW alum Roosevelt returns in 2017, after making a big splash in Austin three years earlier with his debut single, “Sea,” that got stuck in the membrane of many through the summer that followed.
This year it was all about Roosevelt pulling all of his singles and EP beauties together to release the self-titled debut. After a summer tour in the U.S. earlier Roosevelt playing a variety of gigs in his home country of Germany before heading back to the UK.
Plush
It warms to the heart to hear the next generation of San Francisco-based musicians keeping the city’s reputation for layered, sultry, indie rock alive. This four piece has been fine-tuning their sound over the past two years and in 2016, joined the Father/Daughter record label roster in addition to expanding their tour reach to the East Coast.
2017 SXSW Music Round One Artists
The 4onthefloor (Minneapolis MN)
Aero Flynn (Eau Claire WI)
Annabel Allum (Guildford UK-ENGLAND)
ALMA (Helsinki FINLAND)
AluviÓn Afrobeat Pacifico (Bogota COLOMBIA)
Aquilo (London UK-ENGLAND)
Autre Ne Veut (Brooklyn NY)
Aye Nako (Brooklyn NY)
Lee Bains III & The Glory Fires (Birmingham AL)
The Band of Heathens (Austin TX)
Bash & Pop (Hudson NY)
BeatKing (Houston TX)
Be Charlotte (Dundee UK-SCOTLAND)
Michael Bethany (Dallas TX)
Big Phony (Seoul SOUTH KOREA)
BIRTHH (Florence ITALY)
Biznaga (Madrid SPAIN)
David Blanco (La Habana CUBA)
The Blind Pets (Austin TX)
Blue Healer (Austin TX)
Busty and the Bass (Montreal CANADA)
Cardiel (Mexico City MEXICO)
Carnival Youth (Riga LATVIA)
The Ceremonies (Sherman Oaks CA)
Jorge Chafey (San Juan PUERTO RICO)
Chastity Belt (Seattle WA)
CJ Fly (Brooklyn NY)
Closeness (Omaha NE)
Kweku Collins (Evanston IL)
Charlie Cunningham (Leighton Buzzard UK-ENGLAND)
DakhaBrakha (Kiev UKRAINE)
Dardust (Ascoli Piceno ITALY)
Deep State (Athens GA)
Manu Delago Handmade (London UK-ENGLAND)
Delicate Steve (Frendon NJ)
Downtown Boys (Providence RI)
Draper (Sevenoaks UK-ENGLAND)
The Drums (New York NY)
The Dumplings (Zabrze POLAND)
Lincoln Durham (Austin TX)
Elle Exxe (Edinburgh UK-SCOTLAND)
Fastball (Austin TX)
Ripp Flamez (Cleveland OH)
Flamingods (London UK-ENGLAND)
Flasher (Washington DC)
Future Generations (Brooklyn NY)
Future Thieves (Nashville TN)
Ron Gallo (Nashville TN)
Sam Gellaitry (Stirling UK-SCOTLAND)
The Gift (Alcobaca PORTUGAL)
Girlpool (Los Angeles CA)
Giungla (Bologna ITALY)
William Harries Graham (Austin TX)
Gurr (Berlin GERMANY)
Half Waif (Brooklyn NY)
Heat (Montreal CANADA)
Hiccup (New York NY)
High Up (Omaha NE)
Hollerado (Toronto CANADA)
The Hollowbodies (Toronto CANADA)
IDER (London UK-ENGLAND)
Imaginary Tricks (Brooklyn NY)
Imarhan (Tamanrasset ALGERIA)
Joan of Arc (Chicago IL)
Kaiydo (Orlando FL)
Amy Klein (Brooklyn NY)
Kroy (Montréal CANADA)
Kučka (Perth AUSTRALIA)
La Dame Blanche (Pinar Del Rio CUBA)
Ladyhawke (Masterton NEW ZEALAND)
Letting Up Despite Great Faults (Austin TX)
SG LEWIS (Reading UK-ENGLAND)
Lng/SHT (Cancún MEXICO)
Lowell (Toronto CANADA)
LVL UP (Brooklyn NY)
Madame Gandhi (Los Angeles CA)
Mahogany (Philadelphia PA)
Mail The Horse (Brooklyn NY)
mansionz (Los Angeles CA)
Måntra (London UK-ENGLAND)
Meat Wave (Chicago IL)
Yael Meyer (Santiago CHILE)
Middle Kids (Sydney AUSTRALIA)
Raul Midón (Columbia MD)
Minihorse (Ypsilanti MI)
Mint Field (Tijuana MEXICO)
Minus the Bear (Seattle WA)
Missio (Austin TX)
The Moms (Morris Plains NJ)
Moor Mother (Philadelphia PA)
Morenito de Fuego (Monterrey MEXICO)
Mothers (Athens GA)
Moving Panoramas (Austin TX)
Mozart’s Sister (Montreal CANADA)
My Expansive Awareness (Zaragoza SPAIN)
Naked Giants (Seattle WA)
The National Parks (Provo UT)
Native Young (Cape Town SOUTH AFRICA)
The New Respects (Nashville TN)
Brett Newski (Milwaukee WI)
Now, Now (Minneapolis MN)
Oh Honey (Brooklyn NY)
Outer Spaces (Baltimore MD)
Overcoats (New York NY)
Palm (Philadelphia PA)
PAWS (Glasgow UK-SCOTLAND)
Pinact (Glasgow UK-SCOTLAND)
PINES (Adelaide AUSTRALIA)
Plush (San Francisco CA)
Priests (Washington DC)
Michael Prins (Haarlem NETHERLANDS)
Pronoun (Brooklyn NY)
Pure Bathing Culture (Portland OR)
Qawalistan (Islamabad PAKISTAN)
David Ramirez (Austin TX)
Ramirez Exposure (Valencia SPAIN)
Riel (Buenos Aires ARGENTINA)
River Whyless (Asheville NC)
Roosevelt (Cologne GERMANY)
Whitney Rose (Austin TX)
L.A. Salami (London UK-ENGLAND)
Sammus (Ithaca NY)
Satellite Stories (Oulu FINLAND)
Scotty ATL (Atlanta GA)
Señor Loop (Panama City PANAMA)
Joana Serrat (Vic SPAIN)
Shaded (Los Angeles CA)
She-Devils (Montreal CANADA)
SOHN (London UK-ENGLAND)
Dice Soho (Houston TX)
The Spook School (Edinburgh UK-SCOTLAND)
C.W. Stoneking (Melbourne AUSTRALIA)
St. Tropez (Amsterdam NETHERLANDS)
SuperGlu (Colchester UK-ENGLAND)
Supermoon (Vancouver CANADA)
SWEAT (London UK-ENGLAND)
Lucía Tacchetti (Buenos Aires ARGENTINA)
Tamarron (Austin TX)
Tancred (Minneapolis MN)
Tess & Dave (Huntington Beach CA)
Thigh Master (Brisbane AUSTRALIA)
This Is The Kit (Bristol UK-ENGLAND)
Trill Sammy (Houston TX)
Tristen (Nashville TN)
The Undercover Dream Lovers (Brooklyn NY)
VANT (London UK-ENGLAND)
Anna Von Hauswolff (Gothenburg SWEDEN)
Weird Black (Rome ITALY)
Candy West (Dallas TX)
WhyJae (Houston TX)
The Wild Reeds (Los Angeles CA)
Charlotte Day Wilson (Toronto CANADA)
Frankie C. Wilson Jr. (Dallas TX)
Emily Wolfe (Austin TX)
Yemen Blues (Tel Aviv ISRAEL)
To register go to SXSW.com.
Artists still have time to apply to showcase via Sonicbids. The final application deadline is Friday, October 21.
