Film festivals in Sundance and Cannes each year generate hype and marketing for films that might be the next runaway indie success and, in a similar fashion, once a year bands from all over the world make their way to South by Southwest [ SXSW] in Austin, Texas, with hopes of breaking into the US.

Austrade (and a few labels) sent a handful of Aussie acts to attend the event, recognising that music exports are just as lucrative as wheat ones (and perhaps of greater cultural importance-). This year we sent over:

Airbourne, Brave Radar, Dappled Cities Fly, Expatriate, George Byrne, Hoodoo Gurus, Josh Pyke, Spod, Starky, Wolf & Cub, You Am I, The Saints, The Zebras, Architecture in Helsinki, Children Collide, Dallas Crane, Ian Wadley, Macromantics, Sunwrae, The Beasts Of Bourbon, The Gear, The Presets, Via Tania, Youth Group, Andrew Winton and The Panda Band.

Now, each one of those performers probably deserves 500 words worth of discussion in their own right, but we`ll get to that some other time.

So what happened- How did everyone go-

The Presets, Youth group and Architecture In Helsinki drew the biggest crowds. Quirky art/indie geeks Architecture In Helsinki divided its audience who either loved or hated them.

Electro-indie poppers The Presets, aided by a crowd friendly time of 1:00am, filled their room with mostly cool kids like the ones you see in Vice Magazine. They cranked it up and everyone danced.

Youth Group who is already signed and trying to prove they are more than just the band who sung `Forever Young` didn`t play `Forever Young` - 400 people attended their show and Toby`s singing voice was apparently stunning.

Cock rockers Airbourne packed out all their shows and the crowds went off, as did the band. While hipsters will argue if Airbourne is tongue-in-cheek and therefore cool, or taking themselves seriously and therefore not cool, the rest of us won`t really care about that sort of wank and just enjoy the rock fun. The jury is still out on Airbourne and how they are marketed, not how they sound, will ultimately effect if they are a huge success or a huge flop, either loved, or hated, or both. They are yet to find a new label though after being dumped by Capitol in the US, but they were in good company. Other acts dropped by capitol were The Dandy Warhols, The Vines, and Fishcherspooner (but they kept Yellowcard-!-!.)

Indie rockers Dappled Cities Fly, over there with the support of their US label, struck gold and signed in the second biggest market in the world behind the USA - Japan.

Wolf & Cub got some decent press - I read them in a couple of places described as `stoner rock`... which I dunno, just seemed wrong; prog rock… not much better… they are a hard one to label.

Of all the fresh talent there, Melbourne kids Children Collide were THE Aussie buzz band and have a lot of label interest, even before playing shows. MP3s of `We are Amphibious` were circulating around on iPods and, amazingly enough, a bunch of locals knew the words and even sung along during the show! If you're in Sydney, I would definitely go check them out at The Essential Festival on Anzac Day.

That`s about it; all that`s left now is to touch on whingeing going around about government grants being given to `has been` artists like Hoodoo Gurus, and Beast of Bourban (and even You Am I). Should SXSW only be a showcase of new music by new artists- Maybe.

Is it- No.

It`s a marketplace for new music from young and old artists alike. A&R reps aren`t interested in how old you are, or what you did 20 years ago (if you were born then), but rather in what you have to offer now and if there are people who will buy it. Pete Townshend (The Who), Slash (Guns ‘n' Roses), and Tom Morello (the recently reformed Rage Against the Machine) all participated this year hoping to re-spark their careers. If you are an Aussie indie band, before you go complaining about how unfair it all is, spare a thought for poor lil` indie American bands, who not only have to compete with Beyonce but are also victims of an absence of free trade, while Canada, England, and Australia`s governments are all pushing product into their backyard, they get nothing from their government but a heightened risk of terrorism. Isn`t it about time we started feeling a little sorry for Americans- Well, if the wealth of Aussie music talent that we`re sharing with them is anything to go by, probably not. Now, go click on the links and get your free MP3s while you still can.

Side Box

International Buzz

The Fratellis [http://www.thefratellis.com/select.php] were joined on stage by Pete Townshend. iPod has pretty much made sure that you already know at least one of their songs.

Superband - The Good The Bad and The Queen [http://www.thegoodthebadandthequeen.com/], with Damon of Blur (Is Blur still around-) and the dude from The Clash and that other dude from The Verve.

Sweed`s Peter, Bjorn and John and their late 2006 song `Young People` [http://www.peterbjornandjohn.com/]

Quebecoise - Les Breastfeeders [http://www.LesBreastfeeders.ca] and their unique brand of french punk surf pop didn`t draw a lot of attention frm non francophones but I for one think they are tres formidable.

Amy Winehouse, and Lily Allen aren`t really worth mentioning , accept to say Americans don`t really know what to make of Lily Allen but everyone loves Amy.

Seeqpod.com has a pretty spiffy playlist of SXSW artists here – [http://www.seeqpod.com/music/-plid=33e34c76d3]