Jon Pareles overview of this years SXSW in yesterdays New York Times is a must read. As someone who hasn’t been there it actually sounds like it might be fun (it wouldn’t be, it sounds that way because Pareles is a good writer): “They came to play: in clubs, churches, parking garages, conference rooms, clothing stores, backyards and streets, from early in the morning to early the next morning.”
Pareles tries to figure out trends in a trendless world but at least he gives it a shot and he has a great deal of sympathy and empathy for the bands around him.
Here is the url: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/22/arts/music/22sxsw2.html?ref=music