Why SXSW Matters: The Best Of What We Saw, 2017

SXSW isn't a rock festival, a hip-hop festival or a global music festival — it's a big bundle of everything rolled into five spring-warm Texas days. For artists, the choice to attend can be an expensive risk, traveling from Taiwan, Mebourne, Brixton, Brazil, or Italy hoping to be seen and heard. But sometimes it pays off. We go there to find music we're unlikely to see in our own backyard, find something thrilling, then shout out our fervent support. 1. Fragile Rock: "Stay Felt (Live)," 2. Hard Proof: "Stinger," 3. Lizzo: "Worship (Live)," 4. Anna Meredith: "The Vapours," 5. Let's Eat Grandma: "Deep Six Textbook (Live)," 6. Grandaddy: "The Boat Is In The Barn," 7. Frances Cone: "Arizona," 8. Calliope Musicals: "1604," 9. Aldous Harding: "Imagining My Man," 10. Tribu Baharú: "Made In Tribu Baharú," 11. Allison Crutchfield: "Chopsticks On Pots And Pans," 12. Phoebe Brigers: "Smoke Signals," 13. Shame: "The Lick"