Austin, Texas is cranking up South by SouthWest 2014, and that means music - LOTS of music. SxSW gets most of its mainstream press for its technical and creative content these days, but the festival's roots are musical; hundreds of bands will be playing in dozens of venues. (Can you tell that I REALLY wish I were attending?) As you might expect from a festival that features so much indie music, there are more free samplers and promotional releases than anyone could possibly want to download...unless, of course, they're a total music geek. So, since I'm already downloading these (grin), I thought I'd share the links with you. In the interest of brevity, I won't go into lengthy descriptions of each collection; the only thing I'll say is that I inevitably find REALLY good music, across a range of genres, in every year's samplers. Having said that, let's get to the list: NPR's Austin 100 - A massive (839 MB) collection of NPR's picks.
Arts & Crafts Records - This Canadian label will have a healthy presence in Austin.
Bar/None Records - Always an interesting selection.
SxSWBaby! - Another large (80 tracks, 314MB) collection from the thoroughly UNofficial SxSW blog.
Rubberneck/Burger City - Truth be told, this one is brand-new to me; I'm downloading the tunes as I write this...
Dine Alone Records
OK! Records
Some of these are straight downloads, while others require your email address. Enjoy!
