Miike Snow at Lustre Pearl (All photos courtesy of Kara Schectman Photography)

This truly is my favorite time of the year. It’s like Christmas for hipsters. Hopefully you followed my hijinx on Twitter (@themark23) throughout the fest for my ridiculous observations. My Thursday at SXSW consisted of:

Gary Clark Jr: Soulful, Southern blues rock. The dude can seriously wail on a guitar.

Brendan Benson: Although he’s mainly known for his work with Jack White and The Raconteurs, Benson is also a solo artist with a keen ear for indie pop melodies.

Zola Jesus: A crystal clear, beautiful voice backed by electronics and a violin.

Penguin Prison: They are a fully functional pants party. What does that even mean? Doesn’t matter.

Drop the Lime: A strange mix of blues and electronica and leather. Kinda like a dancier AWOLnaiton. The more I listened, the more I dug it.

YACHT: Avant garde indie electronica.

Miike Snow: This was my second time to see them and I was curious about their new material (their new record came out on Tuesday). The new jams had everyone dancing just as hard (if not harder) as the old favorites. Despite the fact they were 45 minutes late, no one seemed to mind too much. I mean, it takes some time to setup a stage when you need no less than four keyboards, drum machines, synths and a spaceship.