Kevin Bronson on March 24th, 2015

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The South by Southwest Music Festival is a spectacular collision of art and commerce and technology and debauchery — the latter probably being a semi-trailer carrying propane in that four-vehicle pileup. It embodies the best hopes and worst fears of its participants, and begs for you to slow down and watch, before the ambulance gets there.

It has become fashionable to dissect (and diss) every aspect of SXSW, especially in recent years as the festival has become an orgy of branding. You know what, though? If you don’t want French fries with your rock ’n’ roll, then don’t go there. If you don’t want sorority bimbos elbowing you in the ribs, then avoid the Fader Fort. If bros and thugs cast shade on your mood, stay off 6th Street. And if you don’t like crowds, well … The point is: As with any festival, carefully choose what you use, and you won’t lose.

This year’s SXSW was a decidedly more dialed-back affair, absent the influx of too many attention-grabbing headliners. It was manageable. It was rewarding. And (excluding the six bands who played the Buzz Bands LA “Dear Austin, Love L.A.” party, all of whom were fantastic) here are the Top 10 ways I was rewarded:

Preface: I saw far more L.A. artists than usual this year, many by accident — dodging inclement weather made for shuffling of my schedule. They are excluded from this list, but if you must know, the Top Five that blew my ears back were Failure, Mini Mansions, Talk in Tongues, the Lonely Wild and Ryn Weaver. [See index at bottom of post.]

Ibeyi — French-Cuban twins [pictured above] whose genre-defying music was absolutely transportative.

Leon Bridges — Somewhere, Sam Cooke is smiling. (Note: Today, the Fort Worth native was announced as SXSW’s Grulke Prize winner for top developing U.S. act.)

The fin. — Winning psych-pop out of Japan.

Tele Novella — Austin locals with fantastic songs (and a handful of new ones), audaciously played.

Black Rivers — Crushingly big guitar rock from ex-Doves.

Makthaverskan — Sugarcubes meets New Order? Want to see these Swedes when they’re sober …

Typesetter — Great emo-punk-rock out of Chicago, and evidence you should get off the beaten path while in Austin.

Natalie Prass — If there’s a big “girl-rock” (I use that term only because others have) thing going on right now, she’s high on the list.

Hinds — Cutesy, lo-fi garage-pop out of Spain.

Action Bronson — Come for the poutine, stay for his new album.

Indexing my coverage

Tuesday — Ryn Weaver, the Lonely Wild, Cathedrals, Two Girls, Typesetter, the Lowest Pair, Tom Brosseau, Dead Leaf Echo, Natalie Prass
Wednesday — Years & Years, Rangleklods, Lieutenant, the Vaccines, Circa Waves, Broncho.
Wednesday afternoon — Buzz Bands LA’s “Dear Austin, Love L.A.” party with Sego, Avid Dancer, Dear Boy, Northern American, Kera and Rainbow Jackson.
Thursday — Action Bronson, Leon Bridges, Black Rivers, Gang of Four, the Zombies, Will Butler, Tei Shi, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, the Ting Tings, Zella Day, Yumi Zouma, Chastity Belt.
Friday — Snoop Dogg, Ibeyi, The fin., Big Phony, Failure, Speedy Ortiz, Juliana Hatfield Three, Best Coast, Dylan Gardner, Tobias Jesso Jr.
Saturday — Burgermania with Twin Peaks, WAND, the Meatbodies, the Parrots, Western Plaza and seven more bands, Sun Club, Makthaverskan, Hinds, Mini Mansions, Of Verona.
Sunday — Tele Novella, Roses (ATX), Molybden.

And finally, thanks, Austin.