In another feat of synergy, 35 Denton's latest fest tie-in comes spilling out of the back of an 18-wheeler. Think of duo Legsweeper's cover of Bun B's "My Block" as a preview for the two festival acts, but also a literal celebration of 35 Denton's new headquarters on the corner of Locust and McKinney, complete with crowdsurfing, shotgunning and two ladies spraying each other with 40s. God bless America.

And by so many we mean 111, including a wealth of locals. It's sort of a dream lineup: A.Dd+, Old Snack, Legsweeper, the Angelus, the Blurries, Video. Must ... stock up on ... 5-Hour Energy. Wait, never mind. I learned my lesson two SXSWs ago. That shit is nasty.

Check out the video, soundtracked by Denton's Spooky Folk, for a sampling of what the weekend of March 8 might look like.

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Dum Dum Girls

​It's a windfall for local festivals today. 35 Denton's latest announcement brings L.A.'s leather jacket-clad Dum Dum Girls (who get teased in the video below, soundtracked by Denton's own Dim Locator), as well as drone specialists OM, The Hood Internet, Oberhofer, El Ten Eleven, Class Actress, Woodsman, Bleached, The Romany Rye, Sleep Over and MAKU Soundsystem.

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Danny Brown

​Whoa, doesn't it seem like Devin the Dude was, like, just here? Houston is definitely being represented at March's 35 Denton, as Devin joins H-town daddy Bun B. Of note is the addition of Detroit's Danny Brown, who teamed up with fellow Detroit rapper Black Milk for one of this year's sleeper EPs, Black and Brown, which follows up Brown's summer debut, XXX.

Also on board: Alabama duo G-Side and Oakland "cloud rap" pioneers Main Attrakionz. It's gonna be one smoky spring.

Thee Oh Sees will be at 35 Denton after safely making it back to shore

​Sure, the concept for Bruise Cruise seems like the script for a low-budget horror movie: Put a bunch of rowdy punk bands on a three-day cruise from Miami to the Bahamas, supply with booze, gambling and buffets, and watch some Lord of the Flies shit go down. Amazingly, all who attended last year's inaugural cruise were accounted for and now even R. Kelly's jumping on the cruisewagon.

Seasickness and food poisoning be damned, this year's lineup looks pretty good. I mean, just the chance of rubbing elbows with Neil Hamburger in international waters is too much to think about. Hey, guess what: 35 Denton's generously offering a discount coupon for the February event, to be redeemed before December 24. Stay tuned for more 35 Denton lineup announcements this week, too.

​Are you ready to fly your flannel flag? Built to Spill, Boise, Idaho's second finest export, were just added to the 35 Denton roster. It's shaping up to be a pretty eclectic one, too -- they join Houston baller Bun B, dub duo Peaking Lights, UK post punks the Raincoats, the Mountain Goats, Thee Oh Sees and more.

Heads up: Today is the last day to buy four-day wristbands for $45. Get on it!

​
North Texas music festival 35 Denton, which takes place March 8-11, may be young in age, but its lineup is far from novice. The fest announced today it will bring British post-punk rockers The Raincoats to Texas for the first since the band's inception in 1977.
The female four-piece from London broke up in the early '80s due to internal conflict, but were reunited in 1992 by Raincoats fanatic Kurt Cobain, who personally approached founding members Ana da Silva and Gina Birch. The group will be coming to Denton from an appearance at the 2012 All Tomorrow's Parties curated by Jeff Mangum of indie-rock band Neutral Milk Hotel.

New York electronic duo Designer Drugs and San Francisco-based singer/songwriter John Vanderslice also join the 35 Denton roster with this second round of announcements. The festival continues to diversify its lineup with the addition of electro-pop group The Pass, folk band Prussia and easy-listening indie bands Milo Greene and Gardens & Villa. Other acts announced today include Dallasites True Widow, hip-hop MC Cities Aviv, R. Stevie Moore and his backup band Tropical Ooze, psych-pop band Evangelicals and Kentucky solo alt-rocker Wooden Wand.

The list of performers previously announced can be found here.

Remember when this sucker was called NX35? Well, time to bust out yet another bucket of white paint...

​For the third time in its four-year history, Denton's four-day, pre-South by Southwest music festival will have a new name in 2012.

A press release sent out this morning confirms that, after changing its name from "North by 35" to "35 Conferette" in advance of its 2011 edition, the festival will once again change its name in 2012, and this time to "35 Denton."

"Well, basically, no one could pronounce 'conferette,'" says festival organizer Chris Flemmons, who himself coined the term in 2009. "We originally chose the name because it resembled that of a rather large festival elsewhere. We lived with it for a few years, and it was painful."

More painful, he says, than having to change the name again.

"We're still a small fish in the pond," Flemmons says. "So I'm not really concerned."

Eyebrow-raising as this news may or may not be, though, it comes with some decidedly good news, too: The festival also announced today that it is already selling four-day passes for the 2012 go-'round, and for the low price of $35. Trick is, although the festival has a date (March 8 - 11), none of its performers have yet to be announced. So, yes, there's some give-and-take there.

But, Flemmons assures, he and his staff are already working on that front -- and far earlier this time around than ever before.

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Stephen Masker

Big Boi during his 35 Conferette headlining performance on Sunday night.

​There's little doubting Atlanta duo Outkast's place in hip-hop history. The twosome of Andre 3000 and Big Boi practically invented the southern hip-hop sub-genre, developing a crazy style to call their own -- and something all their own, too. Even some 17 years after their 1994 full-length debut, Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik, few in the southern hip-hop world have been able to match their creativity.

And that's saying nothing of the Album of the Year Grammy that their album Speakerboxxx/The Love Below won in 2003.

But with the 2010 release of his first proper solo album, Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty, Big Boi has properly cemented his place in the genre as a solo artist, as well. With apologies to Kanye West's My Beautiful Dark Twist Fantasy, which was more a pop record than anything, Big Boi's solo debut was, almost unanimously crowned as the hip-hop record of the year. And deservedly so.

So, needless to say, just having him on the bill at this year's 35 Conferette was quite the treat. And, no surprise here, his show, the last outdoor one of the weekend, didn't disappoint. Not at all: It was the rowdiest of the weekend, and easily the most embraced by the Denton crowds.

And, right before his performance, we got quite the treat, too: Minutes before he took the stage, Big Boi was kind enough to allow us onto his tour bus to ask him a couple of questions. We talked about his motivations behind putting out a proper solo release, his preparations for his next solo album, his thoughts on the rapid release cycles so many artists are forced to endure these days, his thoughts on hip-hop as a whole, and, for a brief moment, the fact that he doesn't eat pork. Read our Q&A in full after the jump.

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Stephen Masker

One of the best shows of the weekend.

​Before we pummel our tender bits at SXSW this week...

!!!. Translation? We got great photos of "Chk Chk Chk" from their incredible, loud performance on Sunday. Also, Kevin Todora brought us shots of Giggle Party returning to North Texas.

Also, Stephen Masker caught Big Boi closing the fest. Also, a beer.

So, what the hell are we to do but put 'em all in a big "Best of Saturday and Sunday" slideshow? Check out the full round of photos here, and see the best of the best after the jump.

Yep, still exhausted.

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