Infinite Shuffle

Just when I thought it might never come, the purveyor of the SXSW torrent site finally uploaded the second batch of songs early last week. As per usual, this one was about half the size of the first — 361 songs — so it was a lot easier to get through.

In fact, I took advantage of a day off on Friday and was able to tear through the songs in about a day and a half.

As I did with the first batch, I rated all the songs I liked and jotted down some notes about each band. Even though there were half as many songs, I had a disproportionately smaller amount of two- and three-star songs. But that might have something to do with the speed with which I breezed through the playlist.

The only band earning three stars was Dawes, a Los Angeles-based band that I will feature in a post later this month.

There were about a dozen repeat artists, and even a few repeat songs, which were immediately deleted.

As for the overall breakdown, I kept 79 songs, or 21.9 percent, which is less than the first batch, but not too far off.

THREE STARS (Gold)

1 of 79 (1.3 percent) … 1 of 361 (0.3)

Dawes … indie-folk band channeling CSN&Y, The Band, Mumford & Sons and The Avett Brothers

TWO STARS (Silver)

8 of 79 (10.1) … 8 of 361 (2.2)

Army Navy … just a good indie rock band; they had a song in the first batch too

Friska Viljor … very catchy indie with strings and an accent of some sort

Hey Rosetta! … sounds a lot like The Frames with some other indie-folk influences

Lower Than Atlantis … Scottish indie-rock ballad

Tapes n Tapes … indie rock with a little folk flavor

These United States … indie rock in the vein of The Strokes

Violens … sounds a lot like The Shins, with an occasional accordion thrown in for good measure

Walk the Moon … catchy indie-rock/pop that gets the toe tappin’

ONE STAR (Bronze)

12 of 79 (15.2) … 12 of 361 (3.3)

AgesandAges … like a poppy choir singing along to Crazy Horse; and a Jack White vocal solo

Beta Wolf … sounds like a speed metal band trying to play indie rock

Boy & Bear … indie rock with nicely layered vocals and instruments

Dead Stars … indie/shoegaze that belonged on college radio in the early ’90s

Dizzy Eyes … reminds me of The Lemonheads or some other mid-’90s indie-alt band

The Hounds Below … British-sounding indie-folk with loud-quiet yearning vocals

The Moondoggies … solid indie/alt-country that’s probably radio-worthy

Parts & Labor … indie rock with a post-punk feel

The Rumour Said Fire … indie-folk/pop with male-female harmonies and a tambourine

Sgt Dunbar and the Hobo Banned … indie-folk with a tinge of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

Vanaprasta … like a folkier version of Kings of Leon

Xylos … reminds me of Christine Anu or some powerful “world music” singer

ZERO STARS (Honorable mention)

58 of 79 (73.4) … 59 of 361 (16.3)

Allie Moss … singer-songwriter with some Feist and Regina Spektor going on

AM & Shawn Lee … electro airy-fairyness with some shoegazing qualities

Amber Digby & Midnight Flyer … like Natalie Maines channeling Patsy Cline

American Fangs … straight-up rock, bordering on derivative, but probably solid live

Bhi Bhiman … like Antony & The Johnsons singing country-folk

The Black Cloud Collective … pretty average rock with a heavy side

The Black Lips … sound like a male version of Those Darlins

BRAHMS … for some reason, it reminds me of Real Life, the Aussie band from the ’80s

Broncho … nostalgic surfer rock that is lo-fi as hell

Caleb Coy … just a guy and his acoustic guitar

Cloud Control … mix of male-female harmonies, fuzzy guitars; several things going on here

Colleen Green … lo-fi indie-pop with a potentially rocking guitar

Computer Magic … name says it all; sounds like a lo-fi computer-pop band with potential

COOLRUNNINGS … indie-rock with some shoegaze, electro and distortion mixed in

The Damnwells … just some solid, light alt-country

Dan Bern … a total Bob Dylan wannabe

Dan Brodie and the Grieving Widows … decently solid blues-rock

Dan Dyer … reminded me of a toned-down version of Maroon 5

Dan Wilson … solid folk/alt-country singer-songwriter

The Delta Mirror … electro, shoegaze chamber-pop

Dexter Freebish … bouncy electro-pop

Dolorean … melodious alt-country with a little something extra

Echo … electro-pop in Asian/English

Fergus & Geronimo … indie-rock with a garage feel

The Fling … slow, bluesy indie-rock

Funeral Party … indie-rock with attitude and female (?) vocals

Guards … indie-rock/pop with a nostalgic feel

Hell & Lula … reminiscent of The Sounds and Spinnerette

The Honeymoon Thrillers … upbeat rock with a little pop feel

Hungry Kids of Hungary … bouncy indie-pop

Hunx & His Punx … very nostalgic lo-fi pop similar to The Magic Numbers

Kim Taylor … just a girl and her piano

King Charles … something of a novelty sound; hard to describe

Kyle Andrews … catchy indie-pop with a few reminders of Filter and VHS or Beta

Lacuna Incorporated … very chill indie-folk

Lecherous Gaze … like old-school punk, but still accessible

Lesands … indie-pop/rock with a catchy drumbeat

The Liptonians … indie-pop with some shoegaze aspects

Little Red … catchy indie electro-pop

Matthew and the Atlas … alt-country with soul

Melissa Ferrick … alt-country girl power

Nikki Lang … solid pop that was made for VH1

Popup … sounds like Scottish alt-country, if that’s even possible

Pretty Black Chains … bluesy rock with an edge

The R.G. Morrison … shoegaze with strings

RAMESH … shoegazing indie-folk balladeers

Richard Barone … indie chamber-pop with synths

Ryan Michaels Band … alt-country with a lot of strings

Saint Motel … indie-rock/pop with a swingin’ vibe

Satellite … reminiscent of old Coldplay (“Yellow”) and maybe The Fray and its ilk

Slam Donahue … bouncy indie-pop; a mix of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and Polyphonic Spree

Taddy Porter … slow, groovin’ rock with a bluesy feel

The Tender Box … indie rock — accent on the rock — with a tinge of electro

Tracy Bonham … ’90s singer that sounds like Tori Amos or Ani DiFranco, but easier to digest

Tristen … female singer-songwriter with a more prominent backing band than most

Ume … sounds like a toned-down riot grrl group

Vulture Whale … pretty solid indie-rock

Ximena Sarinana … poppy female singer-songwriter similar to Sara Bereilles, et all