mxdwn Best of SXSW 2016

Well, the dust has settled. The annual explosion we know and love as SXSW 2016 is over. All the beers have been passed out, all the wristbands have been cut off and everyone has moved on to a music consumption world that can be somewhat described as “normal.” Each year we look back at the numerous acts we saw and list out our top 5 acts. Given that SXSW usually includes a bevy of emerging acts and a ton of the biggest names to grace the industry, we divide them into separate lists: Best New Artists and Best Established Artists. If you haven’t been with us in previous years, here is who ranked at #1 each year we’ve been tracking the festival:

Best New Artist:

2009: Akron/Family
2010: The Sleepy Sun
2011: Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All
2012: Santigold
2013: Haim
2014: Crosses
2015: Tink

Best Established Artist:

2009: Jane’s Addiction
2010: Demolished Thoughts
2011: Kanye West
2012: The Roots
2013: Billy Bragg and Amanda Palmer
2014: Sleigh Bells
2015: The Dillinger Escape Plan

Another year in the books, here are our picks for Best of SXSW 2016:

Best New Artist 2016
1. Hinds

2. The Record Company

3. Bleached

4. Eliot Sumner

5. Fear of Men

Best Established Artist 2016
1. Chvrches

2. Deftones

3. Teen

4. Polica

5. Blood Orange

All photos except Eliot Sumner by Raymond Flotat