South By Southwest 2013's Hottest Bands Hit The Bay Area (PHOTOS)

PHOTOS: The Best Of SXSW Is Coming To San Francisco
AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND - JANUARY 28: Brian King of Japandroids performs for fans at St Jerome's Laneway Festival 2013 at Silo Park on January 28, 2013 in Auckland, New Zealand. (Photo by Sandra Mu/Getty Images)
AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND - JANUARY 28: Brian King of Japandroids performs for fans at St Jerome's Laneway Festival 2013 at Silo Park on January 28, 2013 in Auckland, New Zealand. (Photo by Sandra Mu/Getty Images)

The South by Southwest experience is no longer about just discovering new favorite bands.

That changed a long time ago at the annual music festival and conference in Austin, Texas, which ended this past weekend. If anything, there seemed to be more multiplatinum acts featured at the 2013 SXSW and its accompanying corporate concerts than ever before -- with Green Day, Justin Timberlake, Prince and Depeche Mode among the top names at this year's five-day party.

We took it all in during our stay in Texas' capital city -- or, at least, as much as was humanly possible. With about 2,000 acts performing during the festival, you're going to miss far more than you catch.

What follows are eight SXSW acts that we did catch -- and loved. They range from music industry legends to newcomers to the game. Yet they all have one thing in common: an upcoming Bay Area date. To further help you get ready to see these 2013 SXSW standouts, we've also listed a few tracks to download for each, which, unless otherwise noted, are readily available at all the usual sites.

Here are our elite eight:

SXSW In SF

Follow Jim Harrington at Twitter.com/jimthecritic. ___

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