March 12, 2008

SXSW: Wednesday Party Picks

No more pussyfooting -- it's SXSW time. The day parties are starting like now. Since those of you that are Austin bound will spend your daylight hours Thursday-Saturday at Volume for the Stereogum/Paste party (right?), today's the best day to wander around the rest of the too-many spots to load up on free music, food, and intoxicants. We want to help you make the most of it, so here are a couple of parties today well worth your while. (Photo via Chromewaves.)

We're hoping to hit the Gorilla Vs. Booze getdown -- brought to you by our blog brother Gorilla Vs. Bear. And booze. There's no RSVP and no wristband required and a lineup that's a good spread of bands that span the indie genre gap.

Gorilla Vs. Booze @ The Peacock
White Denim (1PM)
White Williams (1:45PM)
Ghosthustler (1:45PM)
Bodies Of Water (3:15PM)
Holy Fuck (4PM)
The Cool Kids (4:45PM)

White Williams - "New Violence" (MP3)
Ghosthustler - "Only Me To Trust" (MP3)
Bodies Of Water - "These Are The Eyes" (MP3)

If guitars are more your thing, you won't do much better than the tag-team party from our -ist friends at Gothamist and Texan sister site Austinist at Mohawk. There are too many bands to list playing this party, but we've whittled it down to a geographically diverse (Brooklyn, Philly, Austin, Sweden, Australia) set of our favorites.

Austinst & Gothamist Present... @ Mohawk
A Place To Bury Strangers (1:15PM)
The Forms (1:30PM)
Pattern Is Movement (2PM)
Shearwater (4PM)
Shout Out Louds (5PM)
Phosphorescent (3:45PM)
Liam Finn (4:45PM)

The Forms - "Bones" (MP3)
Pattern Is Movement - "Right Away" (MP3)
Shearwater - "Rooks" (MP3)
Shout Out Louds - "Tonight I Have To Leave It" (MP3)
Phosphorescent - "Wolves" (MP3)
Liam Finn - "Second Chance" (MP3)

That's plenty to keep you (and us) busy ... for a few hours, anyway. We'll be checking in again before the night gets rolling to offer up picks for the evening's best showcases, and we'll keep to this twice-a-day routine to help you plan your festival. And don't worry if you aren't making the trip to Texas this year, we've got you covered, too: Stay tuned for extensive video coverage of SXSW, as it happens.