Hundreds of millions of bands playing hundreds of millions of venues* in Austin, Texas over four nights-- you didn't think we were going to send you into that mess without a little guidance, now did you?



So here we are again with a primer/handbook/tipsheet/what you will for the 2008 South by Southwest Music Conference and Festival, which begins today (Wednesday, March 12, yo) and runs through Saturday, March 15.



We're ignoring the innumerable day parties here (Pitchfork does not condone partying, after all) and focusing exclusively on highlights from the official nightly music showcases and daily panels.



Naturally, we can't cram every last deserving act into this thing, so consider the SXSW Music website your friend as well. Festival organizers have assembled a thorough and fairly straightforward list of showcases here (try sorting by day), and many performing artists have bios, photos, and free mp3s available for download. Poke around a bit; you never know what you might find.

The Pitchfork news staff is headed down to Austin early this morning, so regul