Lists like this are always personal, and I live for live music, so all the bands represented blew me away in concert as much as on the album, with one glaring exception. 

The Gossip – Standing in the Way of Control  

I loved the Gossip going back to their first album of blues-tinged garage rock.  I dragged a friend to a show of theirs months before this came out, and we were astonished to hear disco-esque dance punk come out of them.  But it was perfect, even better than their music before.  This album lived up to that potential.

The New Pornographers – Electric Version 

The one band on the list that blows live.  But the album shows they are the one band that has found the sweet spot between Elvis Costello and Cheap Trick, and that is a beautiful spot to live in.

The Vivian Girls – Everything Goes Wrong  

Their first album got them all the attention, but their sophomore release justified it.  This is the album I put on whenever I just want to throw something on for the hell of it.  It makes me happy.

LCD Soundsystem – LCD Soundsystem 

This is the band I end up justifying more than others, because it’s hard to see what is so amazing about it the first four times you hear it.  But I keep going back to this album, which is a good sign.  The inventiveness of the music sneaks up on you. 

TV on the Radio – Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes  

I got into the TV on the Radio Friday night set at SXSW at the Parish in 2004 in by pulling rank as a native Austinite at the door, and being let in before everyone else in line.  The place was packed.  I stood by a door crammed between two smelly hipsters and my drunk date.  Despite all this, the band made me stop breathing with its beauty.  They had a new sound, something quite unusual in the aughts. And they pulled it off.

Danger Mouse – The Grey Album 

Danger Mouse owned the aughts, between the Gorillaz and Gnarls Barkley.  It all started with this record.  Before this, mash-ups were a novelty.  After this album, they were an art form.

Basement Jaxx – Rooty 

Every couple of years, someone announces some combination of hip hop and electronica music like it’s the next great thing.  Basement Jaxx officially perfected the blend of house and hip hop in 2001.  The rest is just footnotes.

Peaches – The Teaches of Peaches

 The next time I hear someone wax on about how Lady Gaga is some sort of innovator or icon, I’m grinding this album in to her ear until she gets a clue. 

Phenomenal Hand Clap Band – Phenomenal Hand Clap Band   

It’s hard to stand out at SXSW.  They did so with ease.  Their album is addictive. It reminds me of the best Sly-inspired rock of my childhood with 70s rock head parents, but without getting caught up in nostalgia.  I don’t know how they pull it off.  The hip hop touches help.

Sleater Kinney -  The Woods  

 I almost didn’t want to put such an iconic 90s band on the list.  But they deserve credit for putting this album, which was a real departure from their former sound, a right turn into a more rock and roll kind of rock that made official the nostalgia with a twist that dominated so much of the aughts.  Another SXSW show that will be permanently burned into my brain.

-Amanda Marcotte

We Are They World

We Are They World performed promptly at 9pm. A la coed Blue Man Group, they wore avant-garde kimonos and masks that displayed themselves as unisexual. They throbbed and danced like Cirque du Soleil acrobats. Next up was MEN, with frontwoman JD Samson, Michael O’Neill (guitar), and Ginger Brooks Takahashi (bass). The hours wait energized the crowd even more while they were entertained by the openers, who were also big supporters of the LGBT and feminist community.

MEN

As everyone’s cell phone clocks struck 11 o’clock, the fragments of fog and light beamed on  Nathan Paine (guitarist) and Hannah Billie (drummer) playing beats to “Dimestore Diamond.” However, Beth Ditto (vocalist) was nowhere to be seen. She entered as the lights flickered to the right, amplifying the stage. She was dressed in a black and yellow mummy wrap-printed, off-shoulder dress. Her hair was on fire, and her lips pulsated with pizzazz to every note she reached. Holding the mic gave her voluminous power to belt out her pipes and to crack her jokes. The stage and crowd only reciprocated each other’s electricity throughout the night. “Pop Goes The World” came next, and it only implanted a stronger message about having a say in society. Ditto interacted with the roaring crowd like a gospel punk preacher to the soulful choir. She even apologized for not hitting the notes due to a cold. Their act lasted over an hour, but time went by and “Standing in the Way of Control” ended the night perfectly. Even when the Gossip ended, they were pushed to their limits and played three encores, including Tina Turner’s “What’s Love Got to Do With It.” Using Queen’s “We Are The Champions” as a rally for the LGBT to fight for their rights, the night could have not been a better celebration for the victorious community.

The Gossip trio, much like a tripod, is held up with much support from self-loving people. Beth is a force of nature that seldom comes and goes, but is a dominant striking power whether it be with the LGBT community, positive body image campaigners, or indie scenesters. It may be over when the fat lady sings, but when the curvy lesbian sings, it’s only the beginning of a wide awakening for self-empowerment.

—Katrina Guevara

It was only a matter of time before MTV got its grubby hands on the Smell. That’s right: tonight’s show featuring NME darlings the Gossip was nothing more than a stunt to film ten seconds worth of live footage for the former music channel to play at the end of their reality shows—before they break to commercials. It’s sad to say that the once-great R&B-infused gospel-stomping Gossip was now pandering to the Viacom corporation. The show started off on a promising note, however, as Mr. John Wiese “performed” about 20 minutes of noise, only to be crudely interrupted by an MTV crew member (with fingers stretched and eyeballs popping out) informing him that he had “FIVE MINUTES!” left on his set. I don’t think Mr. Wiese will be in any cable station promos any time soon. Following Wiese was a band I missed in favor of a plate of sushi. Sorry, Panther. If you want a review, pick a less common band name. (Panthers, Japanther, Japanthers, Black Panthers, etc.) I made it back to catch the wonderful and youth-inspiring Slits-meets-early ‘80s L.A. punk set by Mika Miko. Good job, M/M—thanks for keeping me around for the lackluster set that was to follow. Somewhere along the Gossip’s decade-long trek they managed to go from playing basements in the midwest to performing duets with Jarvis Cocker at awards ceremonies on foreign soil. Good for them, I say—they changed up their sound (less blues and more Miami Vice) and thank God it seems to be working for them. But aside from a cute Aaliyah/Timbaland cover, their set was nothing short of a yawn fest. Even the addition (if you can call it that, since the guy pretty much just stood there starry eyed and barely made any type of noise) of a bassist/percussionist can’t restore this band to its glorious past.

— Luis Farfan

The Gossip “Cat Fight”

Those of you waiting for a new Gossip album are still on the hook, but tonight at the Smell you can slake your Gossip-y urges with an unpromoted show alongside Smell vets Mika Miko. Now out of the shadow of a 2007 Gossip media blitz featuring no less than two nude magazine appearances, Beth and the gang—the remarkably energetic yet markedly unassuming Brace Paine and Hannah Blilie—should be ready to debut some new songs in addition to their more meteoric hits like “Listen Up” and “Standing In The Way Of Control.” If you have even the slightest inclination toward soul-soaked vocals and a thick foundation of punk with a gnarled Detroit-blues edge, tonight is your last chance in a long time to get it. The secret-ish show will be a dramatic change of pace for the group, as their recent gigs have been more of the international-festival and multi-date-benefit-tour persuasion. And this wouldn’t be L.A. RECORD if there weren’t at least a few of the kindest words possible about Los Angeles favorites Mika Miko. Personal crushes aside, these girls make the funnest [sic] damn music ever.

— Matt Dupree

THE GOSSIP WITH MIKA MIKO AND PANTHER AT THE SMELL, 247 S. MAIN ST., LOS ANGELES. 9 PM / $5 / ALL AGES. WWW.THESMELL.ORG.