The Austin 100
Every year, the SXSW Music Festival serves a daunting, days-long feast of sounds from around the world. And once again, NPR Music's Austin 100 is here to distill it all down to a digestible meal of music discovery.
Picked from a playlist that spanned more than a hundred hours, these 100 songs represent a broad and exciting cross-section of SXSW's many highlights. Here's how you can listen:
- Stream the songs via the NPR One app. You can find the channel at the top of the app's Explore tab. Download the app here.
- Download the songs one at a time below or grab the 900MB zip file containing all 100 songs. Downloads expire on March 31.
- If you're a Spotify user, you can stream most the mix using our Austin 100 playlist.
As in previous years, The Austin 100 is just the beginning of NPR Music's SXSW 2017 coverage, so keep coming back to NPR.org/SXSW for full concerts, photos, videos, commentary and, of course, many more recommendations to come. Enjoy the music!
The Austin 100 Playlist
Aaron Lee Tasjan, "Little Movies" [MP3]
Nashville, Tennessee
Tasjan's spacey, genre-obliterating Americana positively sparkles.
Adam Torres, "I Came To Sing The Song" [MP3]
Austin, Texas
Torres sings high and lonesome ballads with vulnerability and piercing clarity.
Agnes Obel, "Familiar" [MP3]
Copenhagen, Denmark
Obel's graceful, immaculate songs can sound both warm and chilling.
Aldous Harding, "Horizon" [MP3]
Lyttelton, New Zealand
Harding's haunting folk music moves delicately, but never stops baring its teeth.
All Our Exes Live In Texas, "Boundary Road" [MP3]
Sydney, Australia
Four singers whose rich, swooning harmonies elevate their lush folk-pop songs.
Allison Crutchfield, "I Don't Ever Wanna Leave California" [MP3]
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
The former Swearin' singer writes smart, spiky songs about rootlessness and regret.
Annabelle Chairlegs, "Watermelon Summer" [MP3]
Austin, Texas
Lindsey Mackin's voice soars and rages over stormy psych-rock jams.
Be Charlotte, "Machines That Breathe" [MP3]
Dundee, Scotland
Charlotte Brimner sings brightly charming pop-rock songs with an irresistible brogue.
Big Thief, "Masterpiece" [MP3]
Brooklyn, New York
Adrianne Lenker's songs mix blustery energy with sweet nods to a life of friendship and connection.
Boogarins, "Elogio Á Instituição Do Cinismo" [MP3]
Goiânia, Brazil
The band's stomping songs meet at a perfect midpoint between psych-rock and Tropicália.
Brent Cobb, "Shine On Rainy Day" [MP3]
Ellaville, Georgia
The singer-songwriter's sandy voice is the audio equivalent of sweet tea in the summertime.
Calliope Musicals, "Sink Or Swim" [MP3]
Austin, Texas
A vibrant psych-folk band whose shows are spectacles of concentrated celebration.
Canyon City, "Paper Airplanes" [MP3]
Nashville, Tennessee
Paul Johnson's warm, bright folk-pop songs feel like letters from a friend.
Carson McHone, "Poet" [MP3]
Austin, Texas
McHone straddles the Americana-country line, as rock energy meets slide guitars and deep twang.
Charlie Cunningham, "An Opening" [MP3]
London, England
Cunningham's songs have a cavernous quality to them, while still somehow sounding intimate.
Charly Bliss, "Ruby" [MP3]
Brooklyn, New York
"Bubblegrunge" is a genre now, and damned if Charly Bliss isn't great at it.
Cherry Glazerr, "Nurse Ratched" [MP3]
Los Angeles, California
Clementine Creevy leads a young rock 'n' roll powerhouse with slyness and swagger.
Christopher Paul Stelling, "Destitute" [MP3]
Brooklyn, New York
Stelling infuses his dusty folk songs with raw, wiry, beat-up intensity.
Close Talker, "Afterthought" [MP3]
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Like Rhye's music before it, the band's songs are sexy, oddly unsettling and irresistible.
Coco Hames, "I Don't Wanna Go" [MP3]
Memphis, Tennessee
On her solo debut, The Ettes' singer arms sugary pop hooks with garage-rock fangs.
Los Angeles, California
Crywolf came up in EDM, but his new project radiates lonesome, Bon Iver-style yearning.
Dawg Yawp, "I'll Quit Tomorrow" [MP3]
Cincinnati, Ohio
A sitar gives this folk-rock duo's dreamily pretty songs a bit of added shimmer.
De Osos, "Todo El Ruido Entre Nosotros" [MP3]
Mexico City, Mexico
From ambient swells to room-filling squalls, in the space of a single song.
Minneapolis, Minnesota
R&B and synth-pop sounds get warped and reshaped until they form something new.
Derrick Hart, "you're winning so i quit" [MP3]
Greenfield, Massachusetts
Hart's timeless, vibrant pop-rock songs make the most of their impeccably placed strings.
Brooklyn, New York
Reo's voice gets looped and processed until it forms a grand, gorgeous, swirling mass.
Eric Biddines, "Peeuurrnn" [MP3]
Palm Beach, Florida
The rapper's twisty, distinct flow lends his songs a sense of playfulness and surprise.
Los Angeles, California
Paige Finlay's fizzily insistent pop brims over with a sense of joy worthy of Carly Rae Jepsen.
Frances Cone, "Arizona" [MP3]
Brooklyn, New York
The band doesn't stay in one place for long, as slow burns make way for soaring catharsis.
Frankie Rose, "Know Me" [MP3]
New York, New York
The singer is an inexhaustible well of sunny, hooky garage-pop.
Gaelynn Lea, "Watch The World Unfold" [MP3]
Duluth, Minnesota
Lea's looped violin and intimate vocals form a sound infused with warmth and optimism.
Golden Dawn Arkestra, "Stargazer" [MP3]
Saturn, Texas
You can almost hear the costumes and smoke machines in this Sun Ra-style spectacle.
Los Angeles, California
Right down to its name, Goon captures the essence of '90s college radio.
Berlin, Germany
A scuzzy-sweet garage-pop duo whose simplicity never drowns out all the shiny hooks.
Holly Macve, "Heartbreak Blues" [MP3]
Brighton, England
Macve blends the icy cool of Lana Del Rey with the folksy warmth of a yodeling country queen.
Bloomington, Indiana
The band distills busy guitars and shadowy mystery into efficient pocket epics.
Iron Reagan, "Dying World" [MP3]
Richmond, Virginia
Speedball blasts of rigid, raging metal, complete with solos that shred.
Japanese Breakfast, "Everybody Wants To Love You" [MP3]
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Beneath all the sweetness and sugar lies something sideways, even vaguely sinister.
Oakland, California
Melina Duterte writes whip-smart, brightly spry pop-rock songs, and plays every note herself.
Jealous Of The Birds, "Goji Berry Sunset" [MP3]
Portadown, England
Irish singer Naomi Hamilton layers her gorgeous voice to make blissful, hypnotic folk music.
Johnny Flynn, "Heart Sunk Hank" [MP3]
London, England
Big on the U.K. folk scene, the singer-actor plays songs that never feel tethered to one era.
Julie Byrne, "Follow My Voice" [MP3]
New York, New York
Byrne's dusky voice slows the blood and calms the nerves.
L.A. Salami, "Going Mad As The Street Bins" [MP3]
London, England
Lookman Adekunle Salami is a songwriter and poet whose songs burst with big ideas.
Le Butcherettes, "Shave The Pride" [MP3]
Guadalajara, Mexico
Teri Gender Bender is riveting onstage, to the point of being a little terrifying.
Let's Eat Grandma, "Deep Six Textbook" [MP3]
Norwich, England
Two English teenagers make funny, whimsically unsettling experimental pop.
The Lighthouse And The Whaler, "I Want To Feel Alive" [MP3]
Cleveland, Ohio
Agreeably effervescent folk-pop, elevated by forays into orchestral grandiosity.
Lillie Mae, "Honky Tonks & Taverns" [MP3]
Nashville, Tennessee
A Jack White-approved singer and multi-instrumentalist whose songs are all verve and nerve.
Liniker E Os Caramelows, "Remonta" [MP3]
Araraquara, Brazil
A brooding Brazilian soul band with a chilling sound and a future star in singer Liniker Barros.
Living Hour, "Steady Glazed Eyes" [MP3]
Winnipeg, Manitoba
Slowdive just returned, but shoegaze music was already in good hands with Living Hour.
LVL UP, "The Closing Door" [MP3]
Purchase, New York
The churning, wordy rumble of Neutral Milk Hotel gets a thoughtful and catchy update.
Manu Delago, "A Step (feat. Pete Josef)" [MP3]
London, England
Delago's playing on the Hang (kind of like a muted steel drum) has led him to work with Björk. Solo, his songs are dizzyingly pretty.
Marisa Anderson, "He Is Without His Guns" [MP3]
Portland, Oregon
Without flash, Anderson's solo guitar pieces tell a story while establishing a clear sense of place.
Meat Wave, "Run You Out" [MP3]
Chicago, Illinois
Meat Wave locates the thread connecting blistering punk to the rafter-shaking legacy of Billy Squier.
Middle Kids, "Edge Of Town" [MP3]
Sydney, Australia
A rock band with the chemistry, charm and moxie to sail straight from small clubs to stadiums.
Migrant Kids, "Thread" [MP3]
Austin, Texas
Propulsive pop-rock with swirling synths, chugging guitars and real power.
Moor Mother, "Deadbeat Protest" [MP3]
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Camae Ayewa's industrial/experimental hip-hop is radical and confrontational in every way.
Moses Boyd Exodus, "Rye Lane Shuffle" [MP3]
London, England
A drummer, composer and rising star, Boyd takes jazz in surprising, invigorating directions.
Nick Hakim, "Bet She Looks Like You" [MP3]
Washington, D.C.
The singer's neo-soul songs seem to seep in from another room — or another era.
Nnamdi Ogbonnaya, "dOn't turn me Off (feat. JD AKA ThrashKitten & Mal Devisa)" [MP3]
Chicago, Illinois
With the help of inspired guest collaborators, Ogbonnaya flings joyful ideas in every direction.
Montreal, Quebec
The band stirs fuzz, jangle and abrasion into a dream-pop sound that rarely stays in one place for long.
Tel Aviv, Israel
Bold in sound, style and subject matter, the singer-producer infuses her electro-pop with tightly coiled fury.
Noname, "Diddy Bop (feat. Raury & Cam O'bi)" [MP3]
Chicago, Illinois
The rapper's clever wordplay and breezy-smooth sound only enhance her personal storytelling.
Otoboke Beaver, "S'il Vous Plait" [MP3]
Kyoto, Japan
The poppy-but-blistering equivalent of 15 consecutive exclamation points.
Outer Spaces, "Words" [MP3]
Baltimore, Maryland
You'll never be happier to get a song stuck in your head for days.
Overcoats, "Hold Me Close" [MP3]
New York, New York
Hana Elion and JJ Mitchell weave their beautiful voices together tightly and set them to subtle beats.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Palm's songs are jagged and dauntingly complex, but the band's live reputation promises relentless mayhem.
Particle Devotion, "Pause Button" [MP3]
New Orleans, Louisiana
Brainy, tenderly conversational verses give way to choruses that burst with ragingly ecstatic energy.
Murcia, Spain
Big, churning, infectious rock 'n' roll, fueled by guitars you can feel in your bones.
Phoebe Bridgers, "Smoke Signals" [MP3]
Los Angeles, California
A formidable talent whose haunting voice and eye for storytelling detail are genuinely special.
Brighton, England
Breathlessly pretty electronic music in which every note sounds conspicuously human.
Porter Ray, "Arithmetic (feat. Infinite & Stas THEE Boss)" [MP3]
Seattle, Washington
Aligned with Shabazz Palaces, the rapper sets his own agile rhymes against softly woozy, spaced-out arrangements.
Washington, D.C.
Charismatic singer Katie Alice Greer is a rock star, a pop star and a political punk, all rolled up in one.
pronoun, "a million other things" [MP3]
Brooklyn, New York
Alyse Vellturo's bedroom recordings exude raw vulnerability, but also notes of defiant optimism.
Nashville, Tennessee
A fast-rising, pop-friendly R&B singer whose falsetto is no joke.
The Regrettes, "Hot" [MP3]
Eagle Rock, California
The band played with cool confidence when its members were just kids; now that most of them are grown, look out.
River Whyless, "Life Crisis" [MP3]
Asheville, North Carolina
Every band member seems to keep busy at all times, giving River Whyless' songs a sense of playful motion.
Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, "Julie's Place" [MP3]
Melbourne, Australia
Beachy, strummy pop-rock that'll chime and jangle its way straight into your heart.
Northampton, Massachusetts
Speedy Ortiz's Sadie Dupuis takes a solo turn, redirecting her sound toward smart, slinky pop.
Ithaca, New York
The rapper self-identifies as a nerd, but she also bares her soul and raw nerves.
Seckond Chaynce, "Can't Take This From Me" [MP3]
Tampa, Florida
The Christian rapper's intense, rapid-fire delivery is awe-inspiring.
Slingshot Dakota, "You" [MP3]
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
The married couple plays big, blooming, Technicolor pop-rock with grace and joy.
Sneaks, "Inside Edition" [MP3]
Washington, D.C.
Eva Moolchan's icy-cool synth-pop plays out in short minimalist bursts.
Vienna, Austria
Christopher Taylor's sparse, brooding electronic ballads settle under the skin.
Split Single, "Untry Love" [MP3]
Evanston, Illinois
Rock veteran Jason Narducy plays fist-in-the-air anthems worthy of arenas.
Sven Helbig, "Abendglühen" [MP3]
Dresden, Germany
The composer's rich, enveloping symphonic pieces are performed by choirs and augmented by electronics.
Kittery, Maine
Now, Now's Jess Abbott marries hand-clappy pop-punk sounds to deceptively dark lyrics.
Abbotsford, British Columbia
Jamison Isaak's dreamy electronic music reflects on the vulnerability of nature and our own minds.
Kettering, England
The band channels the sonic ambition, and the visual manifestations, of '60s and '70s pop.
Tkay Maidza, "Simulation" [MP3]
Adelaide, South Australia
The singer and rapper presides over springy pop songs that beg to be fed through car speakers.
Brooklyn, New York
Tombs' punishing metal is expansive and inventive, with nods to gothic and industrial music.
Totally Mild, "When I'm Tired" [MP3]
Melbourne, Australia
Sweet, harmony-rich, pointedly concise jangle-pop — perfect for very short walks in the sunshine.
Madison, Wisconsin
At 19, the rapper and singer already has a distinct, alluring songwriting voice.
Tribu Baharú, "Made In Tribu Baharú" [MP3]
Región Caribe, Colombia
It's difficult to overstate the band's unrelentingly, sweat-flingingly joyous energy.
Troker, "Principe Charro" [MP3]
Guadalajara, Mexico
Troker's churningly energetic, horn-drenched jazz has a spring in its step and a metalhead's heart.
Tunde Olaniran, "Namesake" [MP3]
Flint, Michigan
Olaniran's busily infectious anthems bubble over with intensity and ideas.
New York, New York
Singer and multi-instrumentalist Laetitia Tamko fills her songs with spare, thoughtful rumination.
Valley Queen, "Stars Align" [MP3]
Los Angeles, California
Natalie Carol presides over ambling Americana jams that positively soar.
Toronto, Ontario
The band's zingy, whiz-bang quirkiness provides a nice backdrop for the commanding presence of singer Jasmyn Burke.
Will Stratton, "Some Ride" [MP3]
Beacon, New York
For all their finger-picked precision, Stratton's pristine acoustic folk songs are as warm as music gets.
Yussef Kamaal, "Lowrider" [MP3]
London, England
Drummer Yussef Dayes and keyboardist Kamaal Williams play bold, futuristic funk that throbs and thrills.
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