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SXSW 2006 | Recap PlaylistI'm not even going to try and explain how great it is to map out seeing a hundred and thirty seven bands in four days while catching up with friends that you only get to see a few times a year over BBQ and beer paid for by companies you might have heard of. Instead, I'm just going to give you a list of the 40 best (also add Margot and the Nuclear So and So's to this list and check back Tuesday when the record comes out on Artemis/V2). I'll also give my top two performances in terms of intense energy to Apollo Sunshine and Immortal Technique.
The Song List:
"Kissing Families" - Silversun Pickups, "Lord" - Apollo Sunshine, "Tip My Canoe" - Dengue Fever, "The Blues Are Still Blue" - Belle and Sebastian, "Wraith Pinned to the Mist and Other Games" - Of Montreal, "Wrecking Force" - Voxtrot, "Even Rats" - The Slip, "Lights" - I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness, "So Come Back, I Am Waiting" - Okkervil River, "Two Days Short Tomorrow" - Two Gallants, "My Gun" - The M's, "Wake Up" - Dr. Dog, "Like You Know" - Film School, "Skin Of My Yellow Country Teeth" - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, "Juicers" - The Capitol Years, "Breet" - Film School, "Mardy Bum" - Arctic Monkeys, "Get Real" - Hockeynight, "Mercy, Me" - What Made Milwaukee Famous, "In the Corner Where It All Began" - Milton Mapes, "Where the Devil Don't Stay" - The Drive-By Truckers, "And the Rest Will Follow" - And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead, "The Point Of No Return" - Immortal Technique, "Don't Turn Away" - Sound Team, "Dance 4" - Kiss Me Deadly, "You Have Killed Me" - Morrissey, "a better day" - Backyard Tire Fire, "Bells" - The Bats, "Valentine" - Bobby Bare Jr., "Oh Lately It's So Quiet" - OK Go, "Spine" - Page France, "Pieces Of Sky" - Beth Orton, "Wicked Gil (Album)" - Band Of Horses, "Song For The Sunshine" - Belle and Sebastian, "I Hate Pretending" - Secret Machines, "Love Train" - Wolfmother, "Glasgow Mega-Snake" - Mogwai, "Twin Cinema" - New Pornographers
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TV on the Radio
My Morning Jacket
Delta Spirit
Islands
Big Light
Bon Iver
Fleet Foxes
Dr. Dog
Great Northern
Pela
Bishop Allen
Spoon
Andrew Bird
Wilco
Band of Horses
Two Gallants
Great Lake Swimmers
The Avett Brothers
Cloud Cult
Kings of Leon
Band of Horses
The Slip
Cold War Kids
Rotary Downs
Margot & The Nuclear So and So's * The Dust of Retreat
Built to Spill
Brett Dennen
The Whigs
My Morning Jacket
The Format
Two Gallants
The Raconteurs
Dirty on Purpose
Ratatat
Beneveto-Russo Duo
My Morning Jacket
Apollo Sunshine
Andrew Bird
Fiona Apple
Dr. Dog
White Stripes
Spoon
Benevento-Russo Duo
Dungen
Stephen Malkmus
The Mars Volta
The Magic Numbers
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
Sufjan Stevens

My Morning Jacket
Best enjoyed in the 54 minutes before sunrise, Summer in Abbadon has equal parts soft breath and raucous screaming, layered guitars and vocals that somehow equal something larger and gorgeous. This is a magical record, one of the best of 2004, and I believe Pinback's best effort to date. "AFK" will make you think twice, it's elusive and thoughtful. What a great record.
It's a flawless album, LP has the mark of a great album - no matter my mood, I can pop it in and listen to it straight through, start to finish. LP was my number one record of 2004. "Stay Where You Are" and give it a spin, also "Stay Tuned" for we hope there is more to come from Ambulance LTD.
You're only making this list if your album is stellar from start to finish. The 2003 release of Penturbia somehow eluded me until two years later, but I'll never forget it again. I love my canoe, and you too. It's one big world and one small me. When will I come to terms that the only constant thing in life is change? Every song, so good. Hear it.
See where genre-defying innovators The Slip started it all. This is the very sophisticated debut album created by three teenagers from Providence, R.I. Gecko features classic instrumentals "Munf," "Yellow Medicine," "Cumulus," and "Spice Groove," as well as lyrical favorites "Alsoa" and "The Weight of Solomon."
The first Ben Folds Five album is a masterpiece. This is a top ten record of all time for me. BF5 features the classics "Underground," "Best Imitation of Myself," "My Philosophy" and "Alice Childress" - honestly, every song has it's own merits, I never get sick of this piano pop record.
The final Pavement album is in my mind, their best. Before yoiu S&E purists bash me, go back and listen to the record. TT is a masterpiece, the songwriting is poetic and disturbing, but you'll never know until you dig deep. This is a lesson in how relationships end, some are pleasant and others are painful. If you are not grabbed by the pop beauty of "Speak, See Remember" or "Major Leagues" then dig deeper and read into "Bilie" or "Folk Jam" - just don't 'waste your precious breath explaining that you are worthwhile.'
The second BHTM album was recorded on a two track in basements in the midwest and the raw, underproduced sound has helped it stand the test of time. Even after fifteen years of years of regular listens, this record continues to shine brightly like "city burning like a dream" or like the light from a tower in the distance, just "broadcasting it's resistance through the rain and through the night. Listen, and you will believe that "yes indeed, there is a paradise...and a band is playing there."