Every year, we listen to mp3′s of every band scheduled to appear at SXSW. We then present you with an A to Z preview of the bands that we think should earn your attention. Whether you’re coming down to SXSW (recommended!) or just looking for new music, there’s no better time of year. There’s a variety of music here, so buckle up for some different sounds. We’ll be previewing two letters per day, which’ll take us right up to SXSW Music Week. Then we’ll give you our picks for the “Ten bands you must see at SXSW!”. This is part 13 of 13!

The band: The XX
Where are they from: London, England
MySpace page:http://www.myspace.com/thexx

The band: Yuna
Where are they from: Malaysia
MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/yunaroomrecords

The band: Zillionaire
Where are they from: Tampa, FL
MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/zillionairetampa

1. Alberta Cross- Broken Side of Time

2. The Boxer Rebellion- Union

3. Heat-Ray- Love All Over

4. Lovvers- OCD Go Go Go Girls

5. Fruit Bats- The Ruminant Band

6. Royal Treatment Plant- Hope Is Not Enough

7. Boat Beam- Puzzle Shapes

8. The Mountain Goats- The Life of the World to Come

9. The XX- S/T

10. The Big Pink- A Brief History of Love

11. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart- S/T

12. Julian Plenti- …Is Skyscraper

13. Jason Lytle- Yours Truly, The Commander

14. The Joy Formidable- A Ballon Called Morning

15. Gliss- Devotion/Implosion

16. Grand Analog- Metropolis Is Burning

17. The Black Box Revelation- Set Your Head On Fire

18. Ten City Nation- At The Still Point

19. Jaydiohead- S/T

Jaydiohead – 99 Anthems from Max Tannone on Vimeo.

20. It Hugs Back- Inside Your Guitar

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Warpaint

Ume

Ringo Deathstarr

The XX

Here’s our preview of the CMJ Festival, which begins today! We’re so excited to see that so many of the bands we love and have interviewed, are appearing. Now’s your chance to see what we’ve been ranting about. To view a calendar of our recommended bands performances, click the link below:
2009 CMJ Music Marathon & Film Festival: The Dumbing of America’s schedule.

2009 CMJ Music Marathon & Film Festival: The Dumbing of America’s schedule.

Warpaint- Interviewed here. Is this the band most likely to blow up after CMJ? An original sound with great vocal and bass melodies make them primed to climb into your veins and make you bleed Warpaint.

Ambulance LTD- At some point, these guys are going to have to release a new record. Supposedly they’ve recorded a new one, with John Cale acting as a producer. Sounds interesting. Check out them out live, because if they’re able to pick up where they left off, they’ll be something special.

The DeBretts- Originally interviewed by us when we were just little kids, they return to America with their combination of Banshee-esque punk and Strokes-like cool (they recorded their demo with Strokes producer Gordon Raphael). They’ve pulled their songs from MySpace which leads us to believe they’re either about to hatch a brilliant plan or they need a new manager. Either way, we’ve heard their songs and you’ll thank yourself for seeing them at CMJ.

Diehard- At the point we interviewed New York’s finest, we expected big things from them. At the time we compared them to Superchunk, which we meant as a compliment. Many months later, the songs stand up on their own and the obvious nod to late 80′s britpop makes them less a Merge knock-off and more a walking encyclopedia of great musical tendencies.

Lovvers- Interviewed this month and ready for global domination. This is one of those bands that you just know if going to be an amazing live band. I remember seeing early shows by The Replacements and Guided By Voices. These shows at CMJ have that same kind of “who knows what’s going to happen” sense of chaos. Chaos=good.

Ringo Deathstarr- Interviewed here. If we had a complaint about CMJ, it would be their refusal to acknowledge the resurgence of the My Bloody Valentine/Jesus and Mary Chain genre. Ringo Deathstarr embrace the genre while cranking up the volume. Making your ears bleed has never felt so good.

Robbers On High Street- Going to festivals like CMJ is about taking risks. However, we always like to throw it a known entity every once in a while. Going to see Robbers On High Street is money in the bank. Great melodies, great musicians, great live shows. A well-respected band, who’s still underrated in our opinion.

Heavy Trash- If you’ve never seen Jon Spencer, do yourself a favor and check out his current band. Jon Spencer is a modern Elvis Presley and we are just spinning hyperbole here. The ultimate showman, he has been dazzling audiences for years. Guarantee to sweat and shout by showing up for this show.

The XX- Ok, we’re not breaking new here. The XX are the most hyped band coming in to CMJ. Based on the album and the live appearances on TV, it’s justified. Might be a battle to get into their shows at CMJ, but would certainly by worth the payoff. An album of the year candidate, in our estimation.

The XX
The Big Pink
UPDATE: Generally the BBC and NME shut these down rather quickly, but for those of you who follow our RSS feed, here are a few treats from Reading.

UPDATE #2: Well, you waited too long. Sure enough the BBC shut down most of the videos we posted, so we’ve removed them. Their process of selecting which videos to pull is strange at best. Pulling Radiohead and Arctic Monkeys makes sense. Pulling The Prodigy? Odd, but ok. Leaving White Lies online? Thanks! Not pulling The Horrors? Oh you’re just cruel Mr. BBC!

White Lies

I can’t stand The Horrors, but lets watch together and learn….

The big hype was over The XX and trust us, they’re something special.

and finally, here’s one of our past interview subject; The Joy Formidable. NME’s on board, are you?

and electric (not the best quality, but a great performance)