Evan Dando fills in for Alex Chilton at the Big Star show during SXSW.

Chilton tragically passed away days earlier.

Distinct from the 90s revivalism that overshadowed the festival in general was an out-of-nowhere re-emergence of New Orleans bounce.

We weren’t expecting to be so blown away by L.A.’s Dum Dum Girls, but they were easily one of the best acts we saw all week at SXSW.

Sweet Black Pussy is the opening song on DJ Quik’s amazing 1991 debut. Nearly 20 years later, as it blared through the backyard of an Austin club at the 40-year-old’s SXSW performance, it was as party-inducing as ever.

With so much advance hype about Broken Bells, it’s not surprising that we felt underwhelmed by their recently released self-titled debut album (Columbia).

Don’t hold your breath hoping that Demolished Thoughts will ever record or even play another live show, despite their being one of the more entertaining acts at SXSW. On paper, it sounds like a joke: Thurston Moore, J Mascis, Andrew WK and other alt-rock celebs do covers of obscure 80s hardcore songs. Basically, the punk rock version of a cheesy supergroup jam band.

We saw too many great acts to mention in depth, so here’s a quick round-up of the best of the rest.

After SXSW, the 90s don’t seem so long ago.

You can drive yourself nuts trying to chase a scoop at SXSW, and there’s no shortage of rumours to get you running all over the city.

The xx’s debut album was one of last year’s best, making them one of the most talked-about bands at SXSW. Since blowing up, they’ve toured constantly; one of the founding members has already quit due to burnout.

Surfer Blood, a sensitive surf four-piece from West Palm Beach, Florida, must have played nearly every venue in Austin, with 10 shows in less than four days.

A couple of years ago, the hipster dance scene was obsessed with the sounds of Baltimore club for about five minutes before moving on to the next thing. Because of this, teenaged rapper Rye Rye never quite got to milk her substantial Diplo-approved buzz, and we’re still waiting on her debut album a year after it was supposed to drop.

SXSW had a definite return-of-the-90s plot line, and Dam-Funk was its G-funk protagonist.

If there was any evidence of Vampire Weekend at this year's SXSW, it was in the West Palm Beach, Florida's Surfer Blood.

At a festival like this, most bands are hoping to get record deal, some press, or at least boost their career in some way.

Uffie, who never did get around to releasing her debut album though she's presumably been making music for four years, is making her reemergence at SXSW.

Out of all the popular bands here in Austin for SXSW, who would have expected the Hollywood Holt mini-gig to attract the most celebrities?

The xx the closed out the insanely packed SXSW Lawn Party. Watch a clip.

There's been a lot of buzz around the festival about Broken Bells, the new project of the Shins' frontman James Mercer and artist-producer Danger Mouse (aka Brian Burton).

The Dum Dum Girls played on the lawn of the French Legation, oldest building in Austin, for the showcase for New York indie store Other Music.

The Canadian presence at SXSW reached an apex on Friday, with a big three of Broken Social Scene, Metric, and Fucked Up leading the charge.

Besides eating BBQ, trend-spotting is a popular diversion at SXSW.

My feet hurt, my ears are ringing, and I have a minor sunburn, but those are just friendly reminders of all the music we've caught the last couple days at SXSW. Given the high concentration of venues, it's easy to just wander around following your ears, but so far there haven't been any major surprises.

The keynote addresses at SXSWi – Twitter CEO Evan Williams and Spotify visionary Daniel Ek – couldn't possibly live up to the hype surrounding them in Austin, granted. But they didn't even come close.

At SXSW Interactive, Internet-speak gets old, fast. So the above slide, used in a panel on viral media featuring BuzzFeed's Jessica Amason, was a much appreciated break.

Austin, Texas is called the live music capital of the world, but, by most accounts, "live music" does not refer to disco or rap.

Amidst all the partying and rock shows on Wednesday at SXSW, a sombre mood started spreading as news of cult icon Alex Chilton's death made its way around town.

With this year’s soggy CMF now in the books, the truly fortunate ones are heading to warmer climates for a Texas-size music festival like no other. Yes it’s time for barbeques, bands and barfing in the streets, as South by Southwest Music 2010 officially kicks off in beautifully weird Austin.

We Are Scientists play to a tech crowd at South By Southwest Interactive's closing party.

Austin, Texas – Spotify, a Web and mobile application for digital devices, will make iTunes look like a laser disc player. That much we already know. When will it finally arrive in North America? That’s a subject of some interest.

Austin, Texas – For all the suffering Microsoft caused me in the last decade, you’d think the makers of Windows ME could at least buy me a drink at the Microsoft SXSWi party. But no.

With fiery red dredlocks flailing about, a huffing and puffing approach, and unbridled enthusiasm, Jaron Lanier seemed almost unhinged at his SXSWi talk.

Toronto was well represented as the SXSW Web Awards. Most notably, Waterlife, a site for the NFB documentary of the same name, took home best Activism site.

Of all the lessons learned in Austin, an important one to remember is that Ashton Kutcher can make or break a party. He makes it if he brings his nubile wife, Demi Moore, who is a treasure of an actor, and breaks it if he shows up with a gaggle of adoring fans who keep the lineup outside long.

Every year, bands are asked to submit MP3s to SXSW music festival, and every year these are compiled into a giant torrent.

At this year's SXSWi, the web and tech portion of the famous South By Southwest festival, there are some 17,000 people in attendance. Only six years ago, in 2004, there were under 40 reporters and 3,000 attendees in Austin for it. You do the math.

Evan Williams, the Twitter co-founder, used his SXSW keynote to introduce @anywhere, a new service that highlights Twitter users within news stories and allows users to Tweet a story without leaving the website they're on.