L-R: Shabazz Palaces, THEESatisfaction, Truckasauras, Blue Scholars

Note: My 17 other SXSW posts are ordered chronologically here.

Now in its 24th year, juggernaut music festival/industry convention South by Southwest (SXSW) turned downtown Austin, Texas, into deafening rivers of amplified music, cigarette smoke, beer and widespread delusion. It was an insane party that went all night from March 17-20, and saw perhaps the highest concentration of bad rock bands ever in the same place at the same time.

Somehow, Seattle musicians cut through the noise and triumphed with original art.

Two major local success stories: experimental hip-hop group Shabazz Palaces got on Rolling Stone's radar and jazz-rap duo THEESatisfaction popped up in Chicago Reader and The Los Angeles Times.

Coming to SXSW locally revered but so far nationally unheralded, both groups took the same sunny stage March 18 at a parking lot across from a Chevron, just outside the official bounds of SXSW on 6th Street. Chancing to perform in front of critics Christopher Weingarten (Rolling Stone), Jessica Hopper (Chicago Reader) and Ann Powers (The Los Angeles Times) — the latter two came to see THEESatisfaction, the former just wandered in — the Seattleites made big impressions when it counted.

Weingarten promptly described Shabazz Palaces' music on Twitter as "impossibly funky, dubby avant-rap with shakers, kalimbas, ideas without boundaries," and called the group "a truly unique and wonderful mix that deserves to be one of SXSW 2010's breakout stars." In conversation the next night, Shabazz auteur Ishmael Butler was visibly impressed with the content and enthusiasm of Weingarten's tweets, and seemed surprised that anyone watched him at all. A few days later at another venue, Weingarten confirmed that the Shabazz concert was still in his mind and said he would endeavor to write something more lengthy about the group for Rolling Stone in the future.

"4 Shadows" by Shabazz Palaces at SXSW 2010

Confronted with the spaced-out sounds and up-front girlfriend love of Seattle duo THEESatisfaction, Jessica Hopper wrote that the group was "Seattle's best-kept secret," and said "I will be shocked if I see a show with as much wow power before I leave Austin-or anytime soon."

"Bad March"/"White People Like Stuffing" by THEESatisfaction at SXSW 2010

Standing out musically at SXSW is something — a feat amidst thousands of concerts — but the fact that Shabazz Palaces and THEESatisfaction garnered national attention was also significant because they represent a black, guitar-less avant garde in a city known as a white, rock mecca.

Also contrary to that rock reputation: Truckasauras, Seattle's best band, "the future of techno" according to national tastemaker Pitchfork.com (although the band takes issue with the "techno" tag).

Assuming Rolling Stone blows up Shabazz Palaces like it should, with Truckasauras already perched atop Seattle, the city might turn into a perceived force on the popular landscape of emergent fusion music.

Truckasauras played an excellent set the same night as Shabazz and THEESatisfaction at a club called Submerged, but only a few people were there to see it. Debuting new songs off its upcoming "Quarters" album, the melancholy/anthemic electro/hip-hop group showed a new side of itself with "Springteen," a tentatively-titled song that was icy, seething and full of forward momentum; it was a further sign that "Quarters" might actually improve on Truckasauras' acclaimed 2008 album "Tea Parties, Guns, & Valor." Yet another indication: the tech-y surf-bounce title track, and a collaboration with local b-boy rap group Mash Hall that few people have heard, but believe me, is incredible.

"Springsteen" by Truckasauras at SXSW 2010

Other SXSW standouts: new songs from Blue Scholars, Seattle togetherness

Beacon Hill rap group Blue Scholars debuted a few new songs as well two nights later at Emo's, a half-covered outdoor club, and also revealed a new album was in the works, slated for release after this summer. It was a reuniting for rapper Geologic and DJ/producer Sabzi (he lives in New York City now, but only temporarily, he says), and the duo combined for new tracks that had a newly synthesizer-y feel, the notes creeping and sliding, drums clip-clopping, bass booming. One unrecorded track performed for only the third time, "Hussein," had a dark edge and sounded like the best music of the group's career.

"Hussein" by Blue Scholars

At seemingly every Seattle concert, the audience included a handful of other artists cheering for their hometown brothers and sisters, many of whom specialized in completely different genres of music. It was great to see gangster rapper Fatal Lucciauno standing in the front row for THEESatisfaction, and also his Torah-study-leading friend D. Black, who said he liked THEESatisfaction but wished they'd "put on some clothes" (a rather conservative view coming from a rapper, seeing as the women weren't dressed especially scandalously, but hey, it takes all kinds).

At the SXSeattle showcase mid-day on March 20, such wild 'n' weird fan-crossings were witnessed as Mash Hall getting visibly into country rock group the Maldives. The venue had two stages and the spaces in front of both were packed with people from Seattle and not, the non-Seattleites feeling warm vibes and comraderie but probably not knowing from whence it came. Everybody was caught up in it.