NPR Music

Bob Boilen, Robin Hilton, Stephen Thompson and Colorado Public Radio's Jessi Whitten convened on an Austin street corner Friday night to recap their favorite moments of the day.

SXSW Late-Night Dispatch: Thursday - where bob is chased by a nearly naked man screaming to 'forgive yourself!' and where Robin Hilton, Stephen Thompson and Katie Presley talk about music that thrilled them.

On this second full day at SXSW, Bob Boilen, Robin Hilton and Stephen Thompson talk about the music they saw in Austin including bands from the NPR Music showcase featuring PWR BTTM Sylvan Esso, Lizzo, Hurray for the Riff Raff, Big Thief and The New Pornographers.

On Day 1 of SXSW 2017, Bob Boilen, Robin Hilton and Stephen Thompson gather at 2 a.m. to talk about favorite moments from Tuesday.

Funny man, former PIL drummer and music business advisor Martin Atkins looks at SXSW from a band perspective. It's the T-shirt that counts.

For music lovers, South By Southwest can feel like Christmas, Mardi Gras, Spring Break and March Madness rolled into one. Spread out over five days and nights in Austin, Texas, it's a thrilling and exhausting musical endurance challenge, with fans often seeing upwards of 100 shows before the week is through. This week on All Songs Considered, hosts Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton are joined by NPR Music's Stephen Thompson to share and discuss some of the artists they're most excited to see and hear as this year's festival kicks off.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of what many consider Elliott Smith's best album, Either/Or. To mark the occasion, Kill Rock Stars is releasing an expanded version of the late singer's record, with remastered versions of the original songs, live recordings and previously unreleased bonus tracks. On this week's All Songs Considered +1 podcast, host Robin Hilton talks with Smith's longtime friend, engineer and archivist for Smith's estate, Larry Crane. He's the one who put together the deluxe version of Either/Or. Through the course of the conversation, he shared a lot of personal memories about Smith, about his warmth and playful sense of humor, his feverish work pace and what it was like to be in the studio together.

When we sat down to record this week's podcast, we were a little bleary-eyed after staying up late the night before to see the The Flaming Lips' show at the 9:30 Club here in Washington, D.C. But — between the band's confetti cannons, laser light show and the electric, rainbow-colored unicorn that frontman Wayne Coyne rode into the audience (we're not making that up) — it was well worth the loss of sleep.Regardless of our bleary eyes, we come to the table charged and ready to share the new music we're excited about this week: 1. alt-J: "3WW," 2. Girlpool: "123," 3. Hiccup: "Neverwhere," 4. The New Pornographers: "High Ticket Attractions," 5. The Magnetic Fields: "'81: How To Play The Synthesizer," 6. Joan Shelley: "Wild Indifference," 7.Elliott Smith: "No Name No. 5 (Remastered)," 8. Frank Turner: "The Sand In The Gears (Live)"

A conversation with musician/producer Danger Mouse (aka Brian Burton) about creating an album inspired by an alternative universe in which Germany and Japan win World War II.

We kick this week's show off with the wild ride that is Tank And The Bangas, our unanimous pick to win this year's Tiny Desk Contest. They're from New Orleans and have the kind of playful, infectious energy that makes a band impossible to miss. You can hear their winning song, "Quick," in our podcast — but to really appreciate how special they are, you should head to our site and watch their winning video. We're also joined on the show by one of the judges for this year's contest, and the newly named host for WXPN's World Cafe, Talia Schlanger. Talia talks about what it was like watching the Tiny Desk contest entries and shares new music from the '90s shoegaze group Ride. We've also got long-awaited new music from the Canadian rock group Land Of Talk. After a stunning debut in 2010, the band largely disappeared, but frontwoman Elizabeth Powell has finally returned with a worthy followup, Life After Youth. We've got the first single from it, a beautiful ode to self-determination called "Inner Love."Also on the show: Bob drops a surprising new release from the Argentine singer and electronic musician Juana Molina; multi-instrumentalist Jay Som and the New York-by-way-of-Camaroon singer known as Vagabon both have new albums that perfectly blend wistful meditations with fuzzy guitars; and NPR Music's Marissa Lorusso stops by the studio to share a fantastic new cut by Bellows. 1. Tank And The Bangas: "Quick," 2. Land Of Talk: "Inner Lover," 3. Bellows: "Broken Skin," 4. Juana Molina: "Cosoco," 5. Ride: "Home Is A Feeling," 6. Vagabon: "100 years," 7. Jay Som, "1 Billion Dogs"