Alright. I’m sick of hearing about it, and you may be as well, but there are a few things SXSW taught me, even though I wasn’t there.

1: Next year I’m going. It’s as good as done. Wrap it up.

2: Record sales are in the toilet, but they are in no way reflective of the state of music. Creativity and the appetite for it—though unwilling to buy a CD—is as strong as ever.

3: WHITE DENIM ARE FUCKING AWESOME! Holy Christ these guys are rad. Classic and thoroughly modern at once—proof that rock chops and instrumentation have a place despite the influx of laptops and knob twiddlers. These three guys—that’s right, a fucking power trio—totally rip. Just phenomenal. From all accounts this Austin band sets the stage on fire.

Listen to White Denim’s “Don’t Look That Way At It”, then cruise over to their Myspace for more.

4: I would kill Ezra and Rob and the guy from the Stranger in a Taco Eating Contest.