The leading US music conference returns for a 28th year.
Starting today, thousands of musicians, fans, and music industry professionals will descend on Austin, Texas for the South By Southwest Music Festival. As always, there are loads of panels, parties, and showcases — both official and unofficial — vying for attention.
Here are ten showcases (in chronological order) that you should look out for if you’re headed to Austin this week. FACT will be in-town, so stay tuned for our coverage of the festivities.
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BODY HIGH
Tuesday, March 11, 8pm
Barcelona
Los Angeles crew Body High get the week started with their official showcase. Label bosses Samo Sound Boy and Jerome LOL are joined by Jim-E Stack, Myrryrs, Cedaa and friends for a night of underground club heat.
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WARP X LUCKYME
Wednesday, March 12, 8pm
Empire Control Room & Garage
Two UK powerhouses team-up for a monster showcase with possibly the deepest pool of talent at SXSW. Jacques Greene, Kelela, Lunice, Future Brown and Cashmere Cat will be taking over Empire’s Garage while Rashad & Spinn, P. Morris, and UNO associates Gobby, James K, Ian Isiah and Aquarian commandeer the Control Room.
Use your keyboard’s arrow keys or hit the prev / next arrows on your screen to turn pages (page 3/11)
RAP GODS
Thursday, March 13, 8pm
Avenue on Congress Rooftop
As expected, London’s leading hip-hop heads Southern Hospitality deliver with their loaded Rap Gods showcase. Enlisting living legends (Three 6 Mafia’s DJ Paul), performers about to have huge years (Young Thug, Kevin Gates, Ty Dolla $ign), and upstarts-to-watch (Shy Glizzy, Sage the Gemini, Yung Nation), Rap Gods has it all.
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RESIDENT ADVISOR
Thursday, March 13, 7pm
Elysium
Our friends at Resident Advisor descend on SXSW for their second annual showcase. Between artists celebrating standout albums (Machinedrum, Jessy Lanza, Rashad, Spinn) and a wide-range of electronic acts (Jacques Greene, Shlohmo, Lee Bannon, Rabit, SETH), RA has something for everyone.
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HOUSE OF VANS
Thursday, March 13, 7pm
The Mohawk
While Vans will be co-hosting their usual week of showcases, the one that pairs them with A$AP Mob is the most intriguing. Along with Rocky’s crew, catch ATL sparkplug Pee Wee Longway, G-funk specialist 100s, DC shitbag (his term) Yung Gleesh and bop kings Sicko Mobb.
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CRUEL RHYTHM X HYPE MACHINE
Friday, March 14, 8pm
Hype Machine’s Hype Hotel
Hype Machine is teaming with other music blogs for a week of showcases, and their show with Cruel Rhythm might be the best of the lot. R&B queen Kelis headlines and is joined by Tensnake, SZA, XL signees Jungle and Disclosure-tabbed producer Tourist.
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LEAN PIZZA
Friday, March 14, 7pm
The Eastern
Rap-watchers Steady Leanin’ and Ghost Pizza join forces for a left-of-center showcase that features Chicago riser ZMoney, Odd Future’s Mike G, Alabama duo G-Side and cloudy Texas collaborators Western Tink and Beautiful Lou. Exactly what SXSW is supposed to be about: discovering new artists that you haven’t heard of.
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BOUT DAT LIFE 3
Saturday, March 15, 11am
Club Cielo
The Southern rap aficianados at Dirty Glove Bastard have teamed up with Live Mixtapes for #BoutDatLife. It’s a massive showcase that includes basically every young voice from the South, from Young Thug, Peewee Longway, Rich Homie Quan, and Kevin Gates on down.
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LFTF DAY PARTY
Saturday, March 15, 12pm
The Parish
Close our SXSW 2014 with a day party hosted by Live For The Funk. A line-up stacked with producers-to-watch, including Montreal’s Tommy Kruise, LuckyMe’s Obey City, P. Morris associate Sweater Beats and a couple of the “masked men of club music,” DJ Hoodboi and Trippy Turtle.
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RAY-BAN X BOILER ROOM
Saturday, March 15, 8pm
Emo’s
Everyone’s favorite traveling club night hits Austin with another line-up of imaginative one-off sets. Just Blaze goes b2b with Gaslamp Killer, Julio Bashmore with Omar S, and hitmaker DJ Mustard with R&B singer Tinashe. Oh, and did we mention that Four Tet and Future are playing?
Use your keyboard’s arrow keys or hit the prev / next arrows on your screen to turn pages (page 11/11)
