First off, I just want to say that I effing love this town and this festival.  I'm a recent SXSW convert after having the most fantastic time last year, which was my second time to attend the fest.  So I kicked off my third year by sitting in on a couple panels at the convention center on Wednesday.  The first was "The Convergence of Music on TV and Online," which seemed to the labels' attempt at convincing artists that they're still a necessary part of the equation for success  However, this message was at odds - at least to me - with the whole emphasis of the panel as there are so many free platforms for artists to promote themselves and build a fanbase.  All in all, I didn't gain much from this one.  It really seemed to me that the labels were on the defensive here. 

My second and last panel of the day was "Working The Press: Intellectual Intercourse and Interviews" with Ali MacLean, an award-winning writer and host of "Ali On The Air."  I found myself laughing out loud several times during this discussion, mostly due to some hilariously awful artist interviews (namely Johnny Rotten and Box Masters, aka Billy Bob Thronton) that Ali streamed during the panel.  If you have any interest in musician interview etiquette, definitely watch these to learn what NOT to do - and get an idea of how to handle these situations as a journalist if they do happen.  Having done several interviews with bands myself, I found this panel to be highly relevant and entertaining.  Also, a word of advice to musicians (and I have run across this recently): answer the questions!  The media is here to tell your story, and you're not "sticking it to the man" by being difficult in an interview - you're only hurting yourself.  Coincedentally (or, perhaps, not), Box Masters' tour was canceled after this interview surfaced.  Just keep that in mind - even if you hate the whole media circus. 

Ok, now on to the music!  My first stop, after picking up my Pure Volume badge, was Los Angeles' El Ten Eleven at Lustre Pearl.  Though musically their sound is much different from that of Benevento/Russo Duo, these two guys, playing their hearts out on guitar and drums, really reminded me of the Duo for this reason: I am astonished that just two people can make that sort of noise.  And I don't mean noise in a bad way!  Check out a couple clips to see what I do mean.

While we were at Lustre Pearl, a rumor surfaced that MGMT was the 7:30pm "special guest" at Levi's Fader Fort, so we trucked over there to get a good spot.  By the time we got there, several other rumors were floating around as to who might be playing.  I think the second one was Snoop Dogg, but I had heard that he's playing Perez Hilton's party (and possibly the Fort) on Saturday.  So I ix-neyed that as a possibility and really did think MGMT was still in the running because their scavenger hunt was held in Austin the day prior.  However, after other chatter of M.I.A. (how awesome would that be!) and Black-Eyed Peas making an appearance, the most viable option seemed to be Nas & Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley as they were performing at Emo's together later on that night.  And so it was, and it was definitely my highlight of the night. 

After my third iPhone plug-in (Apple: please release a phone with a replacable battery!), I headed to Club de Ville and briefly checked out Here We Go Magic, but since I wasn't really feeling them, I made my way into line at Stubb's for Sharon Jones and The Dap-Kings, who was followed by the hyped Broken Bells, which consists of artist-producer Danger Mouse and The Shins' guitarist, James Mercer.  Sharon Jones definitely had the place grooving with her soulful tunes, and I did enjoy Broken Bells - though not to the extent of their buzz.  They just didn't have the energy I was hoping for, but I guess Nas & Damian Marley set that bar pretty high.  I did run into Ali MacLean, the panel speaker I enjoyed earlier in the day, and chatted with her ever-so briefly, which was cool.

Now where to?  Well, I did attempt to see Nas & Damian Marley once more at Emo's (and Warpaint, who I saw recently and really dug, was playing the indoor show), but the line was horrendous.  No thank you.  So I actually made my way to Red 7 to see Roxwel's showcase with Relapse Records, featuring Voivod, and as my coworker said when I arrived - "What are you doing here?" - I began to wonder the same thing.  Trying to familiarize myself with metal?  Nope, not my thing.  So I hopped over to Rusty Spurs to catch Japan's Acid Mothers Temple with my ears already ringing.  The aurora of these dudes is just amazing, and I found myself snapping away with my camera.  But after several songs in, right up front by the speakers, I - or I should say my ears - just couldn't do it.  I have not converted to using earplugs yet, but I do have a pair in my bag now after experiencing some serious ringing when I got back to my quiet apartment.  I did really enjoy Acid Mothers Temple and will probably check them out again while they're here.  Luckily, I have it on my schedule that they're performing in a parking lot today, so that should make their amped-out sounds - and the constant "turn it up" hand gestures - more tolerable. 

Well, it's time to hit the streets again!  More to come tomorrow, but, in the meantime, you can follow me for SXSW updates via Twitter (@crunchyMunckin)!