South By Southwest just posted their showcasing artist list coming in at 1,594 band (subject to change, of course). If you are anything like me, this would be totally overwhelming so I like to boil down that list a bit. Here is the (still unmanageable) list of artists that I'm really excited about that are playing:

Akron/Family
Astronautalis
Blitzen Trapper
The Blow
Bon Iver
Born Ruffians
Bowerbirds
Billy Bragg
The Concretes
Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip
Diplo
DJ Donna Summer
The Dodos
Jason Forrest
Georgie James
Ghislain Poirier
Harlem Shakes
Headlights
Holy Fuck
Jim James
Kaki King
Jens Lekman
Los Campesinos!
Lyrics Born
The 1900s
Jim Noir
Ra Ra Riot
Jay Reatard
Rogue Wave
Kelley Stoltz
Tapes 'n Tapes
The Teenage Prayers
Tokyo Police Club
Via Audio
The Weakerthans
WHY?
The Wombats

Pictured above: Andrew Bird from his 2007 SXSW Showcase at Stubb's