The SXSW site itself has already dropped a pretty beautiful bomb, as it announced this week that Steve Reich will be joining Thurston Moore in a SXSW "conversation." We'd love to speculate that this might indicate a Sonic Youth appearance, but we'd be much more interested in a musical collaboration between Reich and Moore.

The official SXSW blog has also indicated that London based avant-dubbists Dokkebi Q, a variety of Argentinian dance artists like El Remolon, Frikstailers, Axel Krygier, Fauna, King Coya & El Trip Selector, Oro11 and Tremor, rapper Tech N9ne, and Daryl Hall (notably sans Oates) will be performing.

Texas hip hop fans will be pleased to know that Matt Sonzala, curator of the Houston blog Houston So Real, has moved to Austin to work for SXSW. He says about his plans for Austin, "I'ma go vegan, have a solar powered house, make jewelry out of oatmeal and hemp rope, buy a lot of 7" vinyl and possibly start a 'zine. Actually, I'm not gonna do any of that shit... " Welcome to town, Matt!

Stephin Merritt

Then there is Dan Bejar, better known as Destroyer (Swan Lake, New Pornographers), who will release his next album, Trouble in Dreams, on March 18th. So, take that for what it is.

Our friends at Done Waiting passed along the news that Oregon's Minmae, who just so happened to release an incredible record this year called 835, are also planning to make the trek to Austin in March. According to their MySpace, they could use some help booking gigs, so if you're a fan, head over to their Space and give them a holler.

If you haven't turned in your application to play, or if you're totally awesome and completely above that, you might want to check out Spin's "The Competition". According to their site, "Make the cut, and we¹ve got a major development deal with Epic Records / Original Signal, a spot on the bill at Spin’s 2008 SXSW party, and a song on an upcoming video game, with your name on it. Set to judge is rock-star elite Perry Farrell of Jane’s Addiction and Satellite Party, as well as Tim Kasher, frontman for Cursive and The Good Life, and YOU." Shit, does that mean Satellite Party is playing? Cursive? Considering Cursive's plans to perform at 2008's Noise Pop, that might not be such a long shot.

We can't forget Magnetic Fields, who will release their new album, Distortion, in early '08. They are also scheduled to play Noise Pop, as are Mountain Goats, who have a new record dropping in February. No official word, but we can hope, right?

Other bands rumored to be appearing in Austin in March:

AA Bondy
Bon Iver (via CMJ)
Breeders
The Cribs
Daryl Hall
Die! Die! Die!
The DoDos
Dokkebi Q
The Feral Children
Firewater
Gallows
Goes Cube
Hanne Hukkelberg
Hey Willpower
Justin Townes Earle
Kaki King
Minmae
The Raveonettes
Tech N9ne
Wussy