Thousands of bands vie for attention every year in Austin. The best you can hope for is some good buzz, lucky listens and unexpected surprises. Here are TIME’s picks for 12 amazing SXSW cuts
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SXSW Music: Next to the Big Bands, Some Serious Singers
While some Austin crowds drift towards the biggest sounds, TIME singles out some singers that will be wowing audiences with more subdued shows
Tuned InTelevision
SXSW Watch: My Twitter-Crit Panel, or, A Lot of Words About 140 Characters
I have survived my first South By Southwest panel appearance. On my Sunday-morning panel, “Arts Criticism in 140 Characters or Less,” my fellow panelists and I used far more than 140 characters at a shot to explain how social …
SXSW: America’s Top Music Fest Returns. Five Buzz-Worthy Bands to Check Out
Thousands of bands over six days: How can anyone see them all? TIME picks five early standouts from the sprawling South By Southwest music festival
SXSW and the Future of TV: Welcome to the Era of Relationship Television
From DVR to Netflix streaming, technology has the changed the business of the TV industry; now the push towards transmedia has content creators dreaming up new and creative ways of forging relationships with fans.
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SXSW Watch: The Transmedia of Top Chef
One of the TV buzzwords I’ve been hearing this year at South by Southwest is “transmedia.” Which, you may be surprised to find, is not a reference to RuPaul’s Drag Race. It’s the new term of art for using various other media platforms to create entertainment associated with a show, and one of the more aggressive networks at it has been …
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The Twidiot Box: How Do You Use Twitter With TV?
I’m en route to Austin, Tex., where on Sunday I’ll be speaking on a South by Southwest panel, Arts Criticism 140 Characters at a Time, about how Twitter and other social media have affected critics. My answer, in a word: immensely.
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Programming Note: Tuned In Goes to SXSW
Two related notes: First, I’m going to the South By Southwest film/interactive festival for a few days starting Friday, so blogging may be light or nonexistent here through Tuesday, between travel and my navigating the massive event for the first time ever. Adjust your calendars accordingly.
Second: I’m going to South By Southwest! …
The Incredible Gravity of Being Alejandro Escovedo
Ask Alejandro Escovedo how he is capable of leaping between so many musical modes — with intense performances that have him breaking hearts one minute, snapping guitar strings the next — and he often answers: “I have a good …