5 Acts To Take Notice Of At SXSW: Day 1

1. TOM BROSSEAU

The North Dakota folkie looks like he might have fallen (neatly) out of a '40s goods train – all double denim and buttoned-up plaid. He's been recording for years, but to see him live is another chapter in his story altogether. His pretty voice (yes, pretty) demands attention despite its quiet delivery and it's a few minutes before you even realise there is guitar accompaniment. Before covering hillbilly standard (well, hillbilly-style is how I know it) 49 Women, he asks the Javelina audience if there is a drummer in the room. Soon an eager punter returns with a case of percussion instruments and the room suddenly feels a whole lot warmer.

2. DAM-FUNK

Aka DāM-FunK, aka Snoop(zilla)'s partner in 7 Days Of Funk. No stranger to lovers of the Stones Throw catalogue, Mr FunK is in Austin as a solo singer, a DJ and as part of 7 Days Of Funk. His Empire Garage show is FunK on the mic, singing over the vinyl he is spinning on the deck (only one turntable is working – “This means I can talk between songs”). Over the years, FunK has slowly shifted towards the sound he delivers tonight, straight down, deep new millennium FunK with just a passing nod to bounce and electro. He also supplies his own organic vocal effects and acts as his own hype man.

3. ALEX CAMERON

Sydney's solo Seekae confounds his small audience in the tucked away gay haunt that is Iron Bear. Taking on the persona of a stuck-in-the-past casino crooner (or something similar… if there's a backstory, I wanna see the mini-series version of it), Cameron re-invents himself as an electro troubadour. Awkward stage moves are matched with wonderfully tragicom lyrics (one song seemed to be about a faded TV star willing to sell his soul for a comeback). And somehow… somehow he makes his two-piece combo of sax and vocals (the rest is sequenced) seem like the way of the future. Oh, and the repartee: “Texas bears,” says his sax player, spying a poster on the back wall, “is that a football team?”

4. GLASS ANIMALS

While Chance The Rapper scored the night's biggest queue (there was no getting into that gig unless you camped out since the afternoon), Glass Animals were not far behind. It was a long wait to get in and inside Haven it was rammed. Everyone in attendance had their phones out and Instis of the dream electro indie outfit were being liked faster than they could be hashtagged. They're playing Australia in April. (Coming in third place for queues would have to be Jungle, with nearly a hundred punters giving up on getting in and lining up outside the open front door to watch their discofied set from the street).

5. YOUTH CODE

While a guy plays an updated variance of the Belgian nu-beat sound on his keyboards, a woman screams at us while beating her forehead with the palm of her hand. Then she beats her head with the mic. Then she jumps off the stage and seems to beat the audience. Then she drops to the ground and beats the floor. I feel bruised.

Andrew Mast was flown to SxSW as a guest of Warner.