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SXSW music
There's an almost boyish charm to Andrew Bird's voice. It's serene, beautiful, and accompanied by his instrumental mastery.
Lily Allen unites women with humorous lyrics about breakups, eating pasta without feeling guilty, and hating fashion magazines but reading them anyway.
These Aussies' record is a grandly scaled, instantly listenable cross of New York percussion and the '80s British arena feel of the Cure.
On his LP "Float," Aesop gives us personal sagas speckled with urban grit, and there's always a moral to the story.
This native of Neptune, New Jersey folds her wise warble into Antony-like identity anthems that make torch pop the unlikely bedfellow of antifolk.
This ubercool trio join Krautrock's robotalk and stiff synths with the sort of downy electronica you'd expect of Brighton natives.
This pair of Mexican expats plays flamenco-inflected tracks in tandem, but Latin licks are only a means to swelling pop/rock progressions.
They're as super as a group can get, with Paul Simonon (the Clash), Damon Albarn, and Danger Mouse. The mix has its cred and makes pop too.
Pittsburgh's Gregg Gillis outsamples them all--his track "Too Deep" culls the Beatles, the Smashing Pumpkins, Phantom Planet, and more.
Is this disco-punk for no-wave wallflowers? Bloc Party has set up its kissing booth in the middle of the dance floor, and everyone is invited.
This New York singer-songwriter is making a seriously fresh cross of operatic indie pop, warm soul, and silky R&B.
The joyless, razor-edged rock of Joy Division has obvious fans in the Cinematics, with their stellar execution on every gritty riff and powerful lead vocals.
SXSW band preview
Soon the streets of Austin, Texas, will be flooded with bands, producers, music editors, label executives, and groupies from around the world. We'll be there too, but let's start the party early by listening to some of the artists at SXSW.
SXSW news
"Story, really, is following one causal chain and presenting that to the viewer," said Wright, designer of games such as The Sims, SimCity, and Electronic Arts' forthcoming Spore, in his keynote speech at South by Southwest Interactive in Austin on Tuesday.
March 13, 2007
Debuting this week at the South by Southwest multimedia festival in Austin, Texas, Slacker is a distinctive new Web music service and portable music player from the San Diego-based company of the same name.
March 13, 2007
The seasoned broadcast journalist talks to CNET News.com about old media, new media, and the future of journalism in the digital age.
March 13, 2007
In a South by Southwest speech, the renowned broadcaster says his profession is in a "perilous state," despite the Internet's ability to illuminate.
March 12, 2007
At the South by Southwest Interactive Festival keynote, Make magazine Senior Editor Phil Torrone and do-it-yourself electronics pioneer Limor Fried showed how to jam cell phone signals.
March 12, 2007
Interactive confab will bring bloggers, gamers, podcasters, and others to the South by Southwest arts festival.
March 9, 2007
SXSW pictures
We visited the SXSW 2007 trade show and checked out how various artists use some old-school instruments to make modern electronic music and other cool tunes. CNET photographer Corinne Schulze got up close and personal.
View slide show
CNET editor Jasmine France got to spend some hands-on time with Slacker's prototype portable device. Now you can take an up-close-and-personal look at the first player to work with Slacker's fabulous, new radio service.
View slide show
Scenes From A Movie performs at Pure Volume on Tuesday night in Austin. The low-key club has been a staple for late-night and after-hours events during this week's South by Southwest festival.
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During his keynote address at South by Southwest Interactive, longtime broadcaster Dan Rather opined at length on the state of his profession, in which too many journalists have become lapdogs to power rather than watchdogs, he said.
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From electric-spewing gadgets to panels and Legos, the multimedia confab has plenty to hold visitors' attention.
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Get ready for March madness--and we're not talking basketball! It's the annual South by Southwest music conference in Austin, Texas, from March 14 to 18. Let's start the party early with this slide show of bands that we look forward to seeing.
View slide show
SXSW podcasts
Studio C
This weekly podcast features performances and interviews with our favorite artists and bands. The artists discuss their songwriting, their recording techniques, and the tech tools that help them navigate their personal and professional lives. And, of course, they perform an exclusive live show in our studio.
Hosted by:
Host Kurt Wolff, Senior Editor at CNET Download.com Music, wants you to know that just because he wrote The Rough Guide to Country Music, that doesn't mean he has ears only for George Jones and Johnny Paycheck. Currently, he also hangs around the CNET music blog Living in Stereo.
The man behind the boards in Studio C, Mike Tao, is an associate producer at Download.com Music. He also runs Word Life Promotions, which he founded in 1999, and regularly spins under the name DJ Mike Nice.
Guest host Ariel Nunez is an associate producer at CNET TV and also hosts the Bay Area hip-hop television show Distortion 2 Static.
Guest host Peter Gavin is an associate producer at Download.com Music as well as a producer of his own music under the name Moped. When he's not at work or in the studio, look for him on the Frisbee golf course.
If you're using an RSS reader that's not iTunes, subscribe by pasting this link into the appropriate field in your software:
http://www.cnet.com/i/pod/studiocpodcastindex.xml
To subscribe using iTunes: Click here
MP3 Insider
Changes are swift in the new age of digital audio. Stay in the loop each week as Veronica and Jasmine discuss the latest digital music--and video--news, hardware, software, and media services, and address reader calls and e-mail.
Hosted by:
Veronica Belmont is Buzz Out Loud's producer extraordinaire, cohost of the podcast, and CNET's in-house podcast evangelist. Oh, and she also has a day job.
Jasmine France is CNET's resident digital audio doyenne, writing and editing product reviews, Crave blogs, and feature stories on all things MP3. And if you need advice on headphones, she's your girl.
If you're using an RSS reader that's not iTunes, subscribe by pasting this link into the appropriate field in your software:
http://www.cnet.com/i/pod/mp3insider.xml
To subscribe using iTunes: Click here
