Today marks the officially beginning of the South by Southwest music conference. Yesterday, we published a list of 35 artists and bands to look out for at SXSW 09. Here is the completion of that list featuring songs from SXSW booked artists, letters N through R.

"Automatic Blues" - Neat Neat Neat from Hamburg DE

"Beast" - Nico Vega from Los Angeles CA

"Eraser" - No Age from Los Angeles, CA

"Lost Coastlines" - Okkervil River from Austin TX

"Hard Times in America" - Willie Nile from New York NY

"Wet Gold" - The Octopus Project from Austin TX

"Let's Get It Started" - Oh No Not Stereo from Los Angeles CA

"Ferocious" - OK City OK from Tokyo Japan

"Sofa Surfer Girl" - The Orchid Highway from Vancouver BC

"Young Adult Friction" - The Pains of Being Pure at Heart from New York, NY

"No Place Like Home" - Out From Animals from Chester UK

"Walk On" - Palomar from Brooklyn NY

"Sleepyhead" - Passion Pit from Boston MA

"Mr. Understanding" - Pete and The Pirates from Reading UK

"Gimme Chemicals" - The Pink Spiders from Nashville TN

"I Woke Up Today" - Port O'Brien from Cambria CA

"Tora Tora Tora" - Pretty & Nice from Boston MA

"Dying is Fine" - Ra Ra Riot from Syracuse NY

"New Scissors" - Royal Bangs from Knoxville TN

"Frank AB" - The Rural Alberta Advantage from Toronto ON

Bands S through Z coming up.

Labels: No Age, Okkervil River, Passion Pit, Pete and the Pirates, Ra Ra Riot, SXSW 2009, The Octopus Project

Toronto's indie rockers Tokyo Police Club have hacked their way into the indie rock arena with stylistic chord chunks that emulate the edginess of The Strokes and the story-telling appeal of bands like The Decemberists. While their 2006 EP Lesson in Crime put Tokyo Police Club on the indie rock map, it was their 2008 album Elephant Shell that caught the attention of many fans, bloggers and the established rock media.

Apart from being featured in an Apple commercial, The Submarines released a wonderfully ambitious and enjoyable album this year, as did fellow indie artists like San Francisco's The Botticellis, Swedish indie pop sensation Lykke Li and Syracuse, New York's exuberant pop masters Ra Ra Riot.

"In A Cave" by The Tokyo Police Club from Elephant Shell

"I'm Good, I'm Gone" by Lykke Li from Youth Novel

"Old Home Movies" by The Botticellis from Old Home Movies

"You, Me & The Bourgeoisie" by The Submarines from You Me & The Bourgeoisie

"Dying Is Fine" by Ra Ra Riot from The Rhumb Line

Labels: Best Indie 2008, Indie Lists 2008, Lykke Li, Ra Ra Riot, The Submarines, Tokyo Police Club

Syracuse, New York indie band Ra Ra Riot, have made impressive traction within the indie rock/pop world during the past year, thanks largely to a widely-acclaimed debut EP, 'blogger buzz' and opening for groups like the Editors, Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin and Bow Wow Wow.

Ra Ra Riot lives up to their name delivering unabashed chamber indie pop performed with exuberance, the fine-tuned mix of guitars and drums with violins and cellos and a frantic, but jubilant, stage performance.

In fact, the band caught the attention of many attendees, other musicians, bloggers and mainstream press at the 2008 South by Southwest Conference in Austin earlier this month.

And what is even more admirable is that Ra Ra Riot was able to continue on after the tragic loss of their drummer, John Pike last year. The band, family, friends and fans were devastated by the sudden loss of Pike. He passed away shortly before the group released their debut EP.

Pike apparently wandered off at a party following a show in Providence, RI, and did not return. Panicked and with no clue what happened to their friend and band mate, an extensive search was conducted, but it wasn't until Pike's body was found in Buzzard's Bay in Cape Cod, Massachusetts that loved ones learned he had accidentally drowned.

Pike's family and friends encouraged the remaining band members to continue on without Pike. And so they did, and with fervid conviction to carry on the music that Pike helped create. (Download and listen to Each Year, from the band's debut EP).

In the past year, Ra Ra Riot has built a loyal, and growing, fan base, toured seemingly non-stop and have received more press coverage than many bands get in decades of playing together.

Last September (2007), after seeing Ra Ra Riot open for the Editors at San Francisco's Fillmore, digging their sound very much, watching the reaction of the crowd (SF music fans are tough as nails) and talking to the band members, I knew we'd all hear more from Ra Ra Riot.

Following their Fillmore performance, I talked to band members Wesley Miles (vocals/keyboards) and Mathieu Santos (bassist) outside as they loaded their equipment into a trailer that was hooked up to a van parked in front of the door to the venue itself.

We chatted about their style of music and where the band was going next, what record they were working on and other details. But I sensed something was not right as we were talking, almost as if they were hiding something. It was only later, when I did some research about the band, did I learn of their dear friend's passing.

In memory of John Pike, check out the John Ryan Pike Memorial Foundation website, sticksman.org. Other band members include Alexandra Lawn, Cameron Wisch, and Rebecca Zeller. Check out Ra Ra Riot's official website and MySpace page.

Here’s a 30 minute session with Ra Ra Riot recorded in January 2008 on WOXY Radio (view set list).

The following are MP3s featured on the band's website and were recorded during a DayTrotter Session at SxSW in Austin

MP3: Ra Ra Riot - St. Peter's Day Festival
MP3: Ra Ra Riot - Suspended in Gaffa

3.12.08: SXSW Day Stage
3.12.08: Todd P Patio Party
3.13.08: The Onion & Canvas Media Party
3.14.08: Soundcheck Magazine Party
3.15.08: Diesel Party
3.15.08: Park The Van/Daytrotter Showcase

In case you missed the previous post, the popular NYC indie band Vampire Weekend, who are friends of Ra Ra Riot, put on a great show at the small San Francisco venue Rickshaw Stop on Easter Sunday.

Ra Ra Riot continues their tour from now through May 16 with The Cribs and staring next month, The Little Ones. See Ra Ra Riot's full concert schedule.


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Labels: John Pike, Ra Ra Riot