eMusic Guide to SXSW 2008

After splitting with his former band (DeYarmond Edison, who, after relocating to North Carolina, reformed as Megafaun), Justin Vernon holed up in a remote Wisconsin hunting cabin for four frigid months, recording the tracks that would later comprise For Emma, Forever Ago, his haunting debut as Bon Iver. For Emma was self-released by Vernon in 2007 before being picked up by Jagjaguwar in 2008, and while the record may now be an official, bar-coded release, it still feels more like buried treasure, caked with dirt and full of secrets.

Vernon’s high, lonesome yowls are multi-tracked over (mostly) spare acoustic strums; unsurprisingly, Vernon’s guitar feels secondary to his vocals, which are pretty and threatening, primed-to-pierce icicles dangling from a rooftop. Tracks like “Skinny Love” — which, like most of For Emma, sees Vernon lowing about failed relationships — feel distinctly cautionary, with Vernon earnestly admonishing his listeners to be patient, fine, balanced, kind. For Emma is packed with these sorts of tiny lessons and Vernon’s spooky, otherworldly instrumentation only cements the celestial vibe — the cumulative effect is enough to make you momentarily consider camping out in an ice-crusted hut for a long winter, just to see what you can learn about life.

We love Frightened Rabbit. Is it okay to just say that, straight out? They are from Glasgow, Scotland. There are three of them. They write songs that reach for heaven with one hand and for a pint of booze with the other. Sing the Greys is their first album, and it's sloppy and amateurish and filled with really, really good songs and some not so good ones, too. Their music is kind of a broad indie-rock (hard to pinpoint exactly what to compare them to, but they are very friendly) primed for big rooms and genuine fame. Our two favorites — by far — are "Be Less Rude" (appropriately polite here, but live it's a real pisser) and "Square 9," a stomper of a tune that will gloriously whisk you away. Their upcoming second album (due in April) will make them heavyweights, so get into them now for those all-important bragging rights.

The Day for Night EP is a stunning debut; it’s as though Day for Night emerged from the womb fully formed, taking up where a host of gloomy 4AD bands left off. Guitarist Keith Ehrlich makes most of the noise here, somehow providing guitar lines that are low enough that they might serve as bass and lead, while Bill Kovalcik drums his rhythmic assent. The real star, though, is lead singer Kali Holloway. Her voice easily rises above Ehrlich and Kovalcik’s racket to transform these aural waking dreams into otherworldly nightmares. Dream pop? Not a chance. This is, as eMusic’s Yancey Strickler calls it, “dream-rock.”

If you're lamenting the apparent dissolution of indie dance-punk favorites Out Hud, look no further than Delorean for a fix of that very particular brand of reverb-laden electronic pop. But while the arpeggiator is left running for the duration and you'll hear more dub bubbles than your average Jamaican playground, there are moments when the group breaks free. On "Apocalypse Ghetto Blast" they invite Lady O. to inaugurate what they're calling "breakhop" and "Apocalypse Night Fight" slows the tempo down to a crawl and indulges their dub fixation even more than usual. If you're too fond of the formula to have time for experiments, though, the first five songs should have you set. That batch culminates in the excellent "As Time Breaks Off," whose climax will have you off your seat and dancing in your cubicle — trust me.

Hailing from Austin, Texas, Peel combine loose rhythms with layers of psych guitar, and their debut is packed with ideas and ambition. Hinged around Josh Permenter’s smart, quirky lyrics and keyboardist Allison Moore’s melodic flourishes, these songs rock with a full-tilt experimental energy. Stylistically, they're all over the lot: Krautrock-inspired on the epic "Bells," kicking out the Roxy Music-style jams on "Moxie Blues," hinting at ‘70s-vintage Stones in the frustrated drawl of "Sliding Doors." Then there's the two-minute blast of "Oxford" and a hit of raucous, speed-fuelled rigour in "In the City" (“So long to those dusty roads,” they yell). Permenter sings of recovering from love gone wrong, ditching those slacker blues and getting out to make a mark on the world. Judging by the glorious freak-out 'til fade of "Navy Waves," Peel are set to do just that.

Were the members of Hysterics even alive when the records that inspired their sound were first released? The quartet of high schoolers ably, awesomely mine the sound of the late '60s, stacking rolled gold harmonies atop sterling silver guitars, writing swell songs for sunny Saturdays. Oliver Ignatius has a voice like incense and peppermints, and the songs perfectly support his magnificent tones. The cheekily titled "I Played Her Pet Sounds/She Showed Me Diff'rent Strokes" plays like a canny rewrite of the Turtle's "Eleanor" and "What Swallows a Rainbow" is all gliding melodies and grand strums. It's a perfect distillation of a decade's worth of pop records. Is this what they're teaching in school these days? If so: keep it up.