Music Blogs

Back when they were still tearing up night clubs and underground venues, Bloc Party set foot on one of the many SXSW stages in 2005 just after the release of their critically-acclaimed debut album Silent Alarm. The raucous indie group's album shot up the charts, was certified platinum and deemed "Album of the Year" at the PLUG Awards and NME.

Watch the UK band perform their North American breakthrough single "Banquet" at Stubb's BBQ in Austin, TX.

South By Southwest kicks off this week with a mind-boggling lineup of amazing music, carrying on the Austin festival's tradition established way back in 1987. So we're looking back ourselves, at some of the amazing performances Yahoo! Music shot during our many past rock 'n' roll pilgrimages to Texas.

One of the standout acts of SXSW 2005 was no doubt British singer-songwriter Ed Harcourt, who was in Austin to promote his exquisite third album, Strangers. It was a major treat when he came by Yahoo! Music's pop-up Austin headquarters that year to perform the album's title track (we even managed to find a piano for him!), and we're happy to revisit that moment here. Enjoy:

There's nothing that puts a damper on one's Harlem shake faster than getting busted by the cops -- as a group of Russian buddies quickly found out when performing the dance craze on top of a war memorial in their town.

The five friends filmed their performance for YouTube and carefully followed the correct procedure: One dancer grooved alone for about 30 seconds, then the rest joined in -- some of them jumping on the memorial, which is an army tank from World War II.

The troupe told local police that they chose to dance on the tank as a tribute of sorts to a pal serving in the army. Very nice, but no dice -- they were all arrested as a result.

Depeche ModeEarlier this week, venerable synthpop gods Depeche Mode announced their plan to make their first-ever appearance at the South By Southwest music festival in Austin, Texas, the music portion of which kicks off next Tuesday. This was cause for black celebration indeed, but there was just one issue: The legendary group's Dave Gahan, Martin Gore, and Andy Fletcher were only scheduled to take part in a public Q&A, with no official concert on the SXSW calendar. Rumors immediately began swirling that the Mode would play a "secret" show at SXSW, but now it's not a secret anymore: Yahoo! Music is thrilled to exclusively reveal that Depeche will indeed be playing at SXSW--and their showcase will be presented by Yahoo!

Yes, Depeche Mode will perform an exclusive Yahoo! show at Austin's shiny new venue Brazos Hall on Friday, March 15, taking the stage at 10pm. Doors will open at 7pm, with the other acts on the bill including psychedelic dream-pop combo Feathers, L.A. indie buzz band the

When it was announced that "American Idol" Season 12's first live results show, on which the top 10 finalists would be revealed, would be a full 90 minutes long, I assumed that meant there'd be some wiggle-room for a few Wild Card performances. I mean, how else was Nigel Lythgoe going to pad an entire hour and a half?

Oh, but I should not have doubted Fox's ability to find new ways to make a process that could have been completed in five minutes feel like five hours. No, people, there were no Wild Cards on this Thursday's semifinals results show. There was, in fact, just a top 10. And every single one of the top 10, upon hearing their good news, did a victory song. Every. Single. One. Of. Them.

And then each contestant was critiqued by the judges, just to kill more time--except the singers weren't really critiqued, since having Nicki Minaj say, "That wasn't it, ladybug," or Randy Jackson exclaim, "Dawg, that was a mess!" probably would've sucked the wind right out of the contestants'

Wait, what? Hard-partying connoisseur Andrew WK has been named the face of feminine products company Playtex's new Fresh + Sexy wipes. Because nothing says so fresh and so clean like the long-haired, flailing, sweaty man who's most recognizable when covered in blood. (*Gasp* is that why Playtex thought of him?)

But seriously, this is a real thing.