SXSW 2k8 Preview: Pick Your Own Showcase

The place to be tonight at SXSW is the Pick Your Own showcase at Latitude 30. Period. The showcase brings together some of the most exciting new acts from across the Atlantic, who play disparate styles of music (indie rock, neo-folk, blues, and punk) with one common denominator--awesomeness. The line-up includes perennial Exitfare favorites The Voom Blooms, Emmy the Great, and Johnny Flynn & The Sussex Wit, a blues band that I don't give a shit about (Son of Dave), and my new obsession Ida Maria. It's a can't miss night, take my jealousy-tinged word for it.

Schedule:

8:30pm - The Voom Blooms (Myspace // "Nine Ships" [mp3])
9:30pm - Emmy the Great (Myspace // "Easter Parade" [mp3])
10:30pm - Johnny Flynn & The Sussex Wit (Myspace // "Leftovers" [mp3])
11:30pm - Son of Dave (Myspace // "Devil Take My Soul" [mp3])
12:45am - Ida Maria (Myspace // "Oh My God" [mp3])

Back on that last band... Ida Maria is a great young band from Sweden fronted by an electric Norwegian siren named Ida Maria (go figure). Stylistically, they seem most comfortable playing energetic punk music with wailing vocals, buzzy guitars, and thrashing drum beats under some killer choruses. But I have the feeling that they're not a one note band by any means, as their song "Louie" is up-tempo indie pop while "Any Given Day" sounds like Bjork crossed with The Sundays (i.e. the antithesis of punk). I haven't really figured them out yet, but I think they're great. Expect big things.



"Stella"