South by Southwest Music 2013: Free SXSW Downloads, Podcasts, Streaming Shows, & More

Hear live concerts and more from South by Southwest; see schedule below.

The music portion of this year's South by Southwest festival starts March 12th (running through the 17th), and as usual there are plenty of ways to sample music by the artists involved and the actual concerts down in Austin. Here are a few of the best ones (I'll post if I come across them):

* NPR Music's SXSW coverage is, as usual, pretty extensive; there are live webcasts of concerts and the keynote, interviews, and more. On March 13th there'll be live webcasts with Nick Cave, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Youth Lagoon, Alt-J, and more; the next day they'll stream Dave Grohl's keynote address. Other live sets include Divine Fits, Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell, Iron and Wine, Dawes, and Charles Bradley.

NPR's Alt.Latino will broadcast live sets as well, featuring Café Tacuba, Molotov, and Bajofondo. And if you miss any of these live webcasts, don't worry: NPR tends to archive them online and make many of them available for download as free podcasts.

See the complete schedule of NPR Music's SXSW 2013 lineup here, and listen to their "Austin 100" playlist of songs (which you can also download individually, or in one big 800 MB zip file).

* Sample more than 1,200 songs by SXSW 2013 artists with this year's edition of The (Unofficial) SXSW Torrents. It's split into two files, the first is over 6 GB, the other a little over 1 GB.

* Amazon.com has two free SXSW 2013 samplers, one from Polyvinyl Records (featuring Deerhoof, Japandroids, Of Montreal, and more) and "Don't Mess with Texas" from The Orchard, with Loal Natives, Charles Bradley, The Virgins, Young Galaxy, Ra Ra Riot, and more.

* L.A.'s KCRW radio was one of the first radio stations to broadcast from SXSW, and it will have plenty of festival coverage as well. See the complete KCRW SXSW schedule here.

* The Alternate Side and its parent, WFUV, will have plenty of live music from SXSW on March 15th as part of the Public Radio Rocks SXSW Day Stage featuring Vampire Weekend, Divine Fits, Iron & Wine, Emmylou Harris, Dawes, Charles Bradley, and Pickwick.

* Fellow blogger Andriana of Gluttony is the New Black has put together a very thorough guide to the essentials of surviving SXSW for the website The Line of Best Fit. It covers music, of course, but also gives tips on the best food, open bars, parties, getting around, and more.

South by Southwest 2012: Free SXSW Downloads, Podcasts, Streaming Shows, & More

See what's happening the the SXSW Music Festival below.

The music portion of this year's South by Southwest festival starts March 13th (running through the 18th), and as usual there are plenty of ways to sample music by the artists involved and the actual concerts down in Austin. Here are a few (I'll add more as I come across them):

NPR Music's SXSW coverage grows each year, with live webcasts of concerts, podcasts, and more. Stream or download their SXSW preview podcast here, which notes some of the musicians they're most interested in seeing. Check out their "Austin 100" playlist of songs, see their full SXSW broadcast schedule, and visit the NPR Music SXSW home page for all the latest news, streams, and downloads.

SXSW coverage from L.A.'s KCRW radio includes news, reviews, and tracks to listen to, including those from its own nightly showcases, such as Oberhofer and Temper Trap.

The Alternate Side and its parent, WFUV, have SXSW coverage including Bruce Springsteen's keynote address (1 p.m. EDT on Thursday, March 15th) and live and recorded music sets from Sharon Van Etten, Alabama Shakes, Shearwater, The Magnetic Fields, and many more.

Spinner.com takes a look at the breakout bands of SXSW 2012, as chosen by music bloggers and writers including those from Billboard, Spin.com, Rawkblog.net, and Consequence of Sound.

Spin.com has a free download of songs from 30+ artists who'll be getting lots of attention at SXSW this year; this "Austin Power" collection has tunes from Hospitality, Sharon Van Etten, Screaming Females, Pujol, The War on Drugs, Widowspeak, and more.

Concert listing website Oh My Rockness has a guide to SXSW music featuring its 10 must-see bands, a guide to free shows, listings of what it considers the best unofficial SXSW gigs, and more

Canada's Arts and Crafts record label has a Soundcloud sampler of songs from its artists, including Dan Mangan and The Darcys.

Fellow music blogger Andriana (Dre) at Gluttony is the New Black has her own SXSW Soundcloud page with picks of musicians she wants to see, including Matt Easton and Fanzine.

2011 CMJ Music Marathon Kicks Off Today

Yes, it does! The 2011 CMJ Music Marathon kicks off at noon.

That annual unwieldy explosion of live music known as the CMJ Music Marathon kicks off today, and in all there will be more than 1,000 bands playing between now and the end of the festival on Oct. 22nd. How to find out what to see amid all those offerings? One way is to check out the picks of various critics and publications (see some selections after the photo), and decide what sounds interesting to you (and which gigs you can get to, dashing between various far-flung venues in Manhattan and Brooklyn).

If you want to just plunge into the massive listings, see the CMJ Music home page here, view the CMJ daily music showcase schedule, or search the CMJ site for artists, venues, or tags. You can also get an official CMJ 2011 smartphone app. And don't forget to download CMJ's 19-song sampler playlist.

Puerto Rico's Davila 666 (shown here at 4 Knots) plays the Knitting Factory Wed.

Here are some guides to help you choose what to see at CMJ:

• Spin offers "30 Can't-Miss Acts at CMJ 2011" (annoyingly presented in one-band-per-webpage format). Among their picks: Pujol, King Krule, Davila 666, Jacuzzi Boys, Machine Gun Kelly, and Stepkids. (Download Spin's free 20-track CMJ 2011 mixtape)
  
  
• NPR Music offers a stream of selections from this year's CMJ bands, with songs by acts including Balkans, Capybara, Davila 666, Dum Dum Girls, Neon Indian, Peelander-Z, Portual. The Man, Shonen Knife, We are Augustines, We Were Promised Jetpacks, and Wild Flag.
  
  
• Brooklyn Vegan will have frequently updated coverage of CMJ 2011; currently you can checkout its picks for the daytime Tuesday shows (most, if not all, are free). Brooklyn Vegan is also sponsoring its own CMJ showcase once again.
  
  
• TimeOut New York has a CMJ 2011 guide with tips on how to get the most out of the festival, staff picks for the best shows to see, and photos from the gigs.
  
  
• NYCGO.com offers its own day-by-day list of recommended CMJ acts, along with a guide to CMJ venues throughout the City. Among its choices: Shonen Knife, Titus Andronicus, and Wild Flag (all playing tonight), as well as The Wombats, Metronomy, CSS, and Dum Dum Girls.

As for me, I'll be taking in Wild Flag and Eleanor Friedberger tonight at Bowery Ballroom and just winging it after that. I'm hoping to see The Duke Spirit in a daytime show tomorrow, and at least one show on the 22nd: CSS, Peelander-Z, or Shonen Knife.

If you're going to CMJ 2011, what acts are you going to see?

Concert Updates & Free Music Downloads for Hurricane Irene

Spend the hurricane weekend downloading free MP3 sampler albums, like this Kill Rock Stars 20th anniversary compilation.

I was set to write a post yesterday about free concerts coming up for this weekend... and then the news of Hurricane Irene broke. Needless to say, if the storm comes anywhere near shore, any outdoor concerts are going to be cancelled.

I wish that I had posted info about Thursday's free show featuring Wavves and Dee Dee from the Dum Dum Girls at the East River Amphitheater, since today's rain apparently held up and the concert indeed took place. (If anyone went to it, please post your reactions in the comments section below.)

This weekend's shows were to include the H-Mag Music Festival at Hoboken's Pier A park on Saturday, featuring The Walkmen and School of Seven Bells, among others. The good news is that the show will be taking place, and soon. A note on the H-Mag Music Festival website says, "The Music Fest WILL be rescheduled to an upcoming weekend in September with date TBA as soon as possible."

The Afro-Punk Festival in Commodore Barry Park in Brooklyn is still a go, it seems... for now. Santigold, Das Racist, Gym Class Heroes, and others are scheduled to play on Saturday, while Cee Lo Green, Toshi Reagan, Janelle Monae, and others are set to take the stage on Sunday.

An update on the Afro-Punk site reads, "The program of the Afro-Punk Festival hasn't changed until further notice, as this is a rain or shine event. We care about your safety and we'll make announcements if we have to modify the program." For the latest weather updates, check the Afro-Punk Twitter account.

(Brooklyn Vegan notes that a couple of artists have said that the Afro-Punk fest is cancelled. Let's hope the organizers issue an announcement soon to sort this all out.)

For indoor free shows that may or may not be taking place this weekend, see the Oh My Rockness free shows list.

Regarding the big for-pay festival set to take place this weekend—the Dave Matthews Band Caravan on Governors Island—the show will take place as scheduled on Friday, but the Saturday and Sunday shows have been postponed.

If you're hanging out indoors this weekend and don't have to evacuate the premises, this will be the perfect chance to download some free music, and Amazon.com has a new batch of free samplers to choose from. Among them:

• 23 This Year: The Sub Pop Amazon Sampler, with tunes by artists such as Fleet Foxes, the Head and the Heart, Chad Vangaalen, Dum Dum Girls, J Mascis, and Sebadoh.
  
• Merge Records 2011 Sampler, featuring Times New Viking, Apex Manor, Mountain Goats, Wye Oak, and Destroyer, among others.
  
• Kill Rock Stars 20 Year Anniversary Sampler, with songs by performers including Elliott Smith, The Thermals, Bratmobile, Sleater-Kinney, Bikini Kill, Quasi, Corin Tucker Band, and The Decemberists.
  
• Bloodshot Indie-Pendants Sampler, with contributions from artists such as Exene Cervenka, The Detroit Cobras, Justin Townes Earle, Firewater, and Maggie Bjorklund with Mark Lanegan.

There are many more, so check them out and get downloading. Assuming your electricity doesn't go out...