Cool Hunting

SXSW is:

...Southern sui generis, like this sign reminding people not to forget their cowboy hats or oil boom-era cell phones in their rental car.

...finding the way out of a labyrinth movie theater with help from Rachel McIntosh, who won an award at SXSW for her charming pop-up book-based music video called Don't Fuck With Love by The Sad Little Stars. Turns out the video was in production for over a year, was made with a $500 budget, and McIntosh is one-half of the band herself.

...the ritualistic frenzy that is Animal Collective (one of the most hyped bands of 2005) working themselves into an art-rock trance over the course of 45 minutes that culminated in a performance of their lauded song "The Purple Bottle."

...eating at El Chile, a restaurant that's reinventing Tex-Mex and is housed in a space designed by Austin-based firm Zocalo.

...leaving the house at 3:30 am to drink Crown Royal with the Brazilian Girls in a college dorm room.

...attending the panel Secret Sex Lives of Video Games that covered teledildonics, detachable genitalia, and a game called Second Life that involves buying genitals to have sex with other characters. "We didn't know what they were saying, but it was awesome," said one attendee.

...and Belle and Sebastian's flawless set, the eclectic rock of Britain's Noisettes, the fierce antics of the two Japanese girls that make up Afrirampo, Art Brut's punk-meets-Oscar Wilde show, and so much more...