It’s exhausting. It’s a mess. And I sure hope you don’t mind standing in lines. SXSW Music returns next week and, despite it all, it remains our favorite music festival in the world. Unlike traditional music festivals, SXSW offers you an endless variety of options at any given moment. You can catch some of your favorite big names in indie and hip hop performing in intimate venues in front of small crowds or you can simply hop from venue to venue discovering new music all along the way. And there is something incredible about the chaos of it all: it’s safe to say no two people will have the same SXSW experience unless they’re tied to the hip all week.
Nonetheless, it’s always been our experience that it’s best to bring a game plan if you want to get the most out of the experience. To help, we’ve selected 20 of our favorite artists and 20 of our favorite showcases to catch at this year’s showcase. As always, our list is heavy on up-and-coming artists with the exception of Spoon because, hey, they’re Spoon and they’re hometown heroes in Austin and they’re playing SXSW.
Turntable Kitchen’s Top Artists @ SXSW 2015:
1. Alvvays
2. Cathedrals
3. Chastity Belt
4. Daniel Wilson
5. HINDS
6. Hundred Waters
7. Jack Garratt
8. Leon Bridges
9. Monster Rally
10. Natalie Prass
11. Only Real
12. Paperwhite
13. Shamir
14. Shura
15. Spoon
16. Tei Shi
17. VERITE
18. Viet Cong
19. Wolf Alice
20. Yumi Zouma
Turntable Kitchen’s Top Showcases @ SXSW 2015:
1. Culture Collide & Stubhub – Tuesday – 12pm until 6pm – Clive Bar – (info)
Portugal. The Man
Future Islands
Charles Bradley
The Mowgli’s
Surfer Blood
Cathedrals
The Delta Riggs
The Lonely Wild
Irontom
2. The Syndicate’s Conflict of Interest + Hype Machine – Tuesday – 8pm until 2am – Hype Hotel – 1100 East 5th St (info)
Spoon
Odesza
ODESZA
Milo Greene
San Fermin
Amason
Parlour Tricks
3. Turntable Kitchen + yvynyl + Hype Machine – Wednesday – 12pm until 6pm – Hype Hotel – 1100 East 5th St (info)
Alvvays
Hundred Waters
Shura
Cathedrals
Only Real
Circa Waves
Monster Rally (DJ set)
VERITE (DJ Set)
4. Blah Blah Blah Science + All Things Go – Wednesday – 8 pm until 1am – Hype Hotel – 1100 East 5th St (info)
Wolf Alice
Best Coast
Ryn Weaver
Laura Welsh
COIN
Karl Kling (DJ Set)
Skylar Spence (FKA Saint Pepsi)(DJ Set)
Chelsea Lankes (DJ Set)
Basecamp (DJ Set)
Et Aliae (DJ Set)
5. NPR – Wednesday – 8pm until 1am – Stubbs – 801 Red River St (info)
TV On The Radio
Stromae
Courtney Barnett
Shamir
Boogie
6. New Shapes – Thursday – 11:30am until 6pm – Red Eyed Fly – 715 Red River St (info)
Seinabo Sey
Jack Garratt
Cathedrals
Tove Stryke
X Ambassadors
Lolawolf
Tigertown
Tei Shi
Special Guest
George Maple
Sun Club
7. Consequence of Sound + Hype Machine – Thursday – noon until 6pm – Hype Hotel – 1100 East 5th St (info)
Twin Shadow
Viet Cong
Twerps
King Tuff
The Districts
Natalie Prass
8. Culture Collide & Stubhub – Thursday – 12pm until 6pm – Clive Bar – (info)
The War on Drugs
Mew
BØRNS
San Fermin
Urban Cone
Beat Connection
Jared & The Mill
The Family Crest
Dorothy
9. Gorilla vs Bear + Hype Machine – Thursday – 8pm until 2 am – Hype Hotel – 1100 East 5th St (info)
Autre Ne Veut
Leon Bridges
Yumi Zouma
HINDS
Chastity Belt
Kero Kero Bonito
10. Crack In The Road + Disco Naivete + Hype Machine – Friday – noon until 6pm – Hype Hotel – 1100 East 5th St (info)
ILoveMakonnen
Raury
Gorgon City
George Maple
Christine and the Queens
Lydia Ainsworth – Hologram
Danny L Harle (DJ set)
11. She Shreds + Tom Tom – Friday – noon until 10pm – Zen Fit – 200 E 7th St (info)
Chastity Belt
La Luz
Tweens
White Mystery
Thelma and the Sleaze
The Shivas
HINDS
FISTY
Chaos Chaos
Jess L. Williamson
Megabog
Bell’s Roar
BO-PEEP
NUNS
The Two Tens
DOTT
Night School
12. Portals – Friday – noon until 9:30pm – 2305 Riverside Farms Road w/ van service from Downtown (info)
Girlpool
et aliae
Nadia ft. Phantom Posse
Tkay Maidza
Special Guests
Spazzkid
Ellie Herring
Mitski
Soft Cat
Small Wonder
Julie Byrne
13. Windish Agency Day Party – Friday – 12pm until 6pm – Mohawk (info)
ODESZA
Cathedrals
Lido
Wolf Alice
BØRNS
Elliphant
Alvvays
Shura
Natalie Prass
Son Lux
Juce
Only Real
14. Indie Shuffle + Roll Call Records – Friday – 8pm until 2am – Blackheart – 86 Rainey St (info)
Wild Child
Sego
The Lighthouse and the Whaler
ON AN ON
Geographer
Rubblebucket
15. Cruel Rhythms + Hype Machine – Friday – 8pm until 2am – Hype Hotel – 1100 East 5th St (info)
Rae Sremmurd
Years and Years
Seinabo Sey
Kari Faux
Daniel Wilson
Kehlani
16. Father/Daughter + Gold Robot + Professional Fans – Saturday – 12pm until 12am – Liberation 1618 1/2 E. 6th St (info)
Monster Rally
Young Hunting
Ladada
Small Wonder
Francisco The Man
Soft Cat
Mitski
Krill
SALES
Pity Sex
Sunflower
Spring King
Nicholas Nicholas
Dinner
17. ISO50 + Unholy Rhythms + Hype Machine – Saturday – 12pm until 6pm – Hype Hotel – 1100 East 5th St (info)
Hudson Mohawke
SOPHIE
A.G. Cook
Redinho
Lord RAJA
Ghibli
GFOTY + Spinee (DJ set)
Obey City (DJ set)
Holly Waxwing (DJ set)
Heathered Pearls (DJ set)
18. The Wild Honey Pie’s The Beehive – Saturday – 12pm until 11pm – Scoot Inn – 1308 East 4th St (inf0)
Wild Child & Friends
Rubblebucket
San Cisco
Torres
San Fermin
Yellerkin
Reptar
Prince RAMA
The Eastern Sea
Sego
Modern Rivals
Sun Club
Paperwhite
ELEL
Sun Nectar
19. Pigeons & Planes + Hype Machine – Saturday – 6pm until 2 am – Hype Hotel – 1100 East 5th St (info)
Earl Sweatshirt
Ryan Hemsworth
Tei Shi
GoldLink
Mick Jenkins
Tove Stryke
20. Neon Gold Official Showcase – Saturday – 7pm until 2am – Empire Garage – 604 East 7th St (info)
ASTR
Alex Winston
Cathedrals
Christine And The Queens
Marina and the Diamonds
MS MR
Seinabo Sey
The Knocks
Tigertown
Tunji Ige
Verite
Years and Years
