Austin’s South by Southwest Festival was once an alternative, outsider music fest that happened off the hype grid. Now, of course, like all things pure it’s been invaded by the corporate sponsors and media congloms. Our own dear producer Woody, who’s headed to Austin tomorrow, is worried that the only people there will be in bands or in the biz.

So where did the legitimate scene trickle down to? Like water, underground music has a kind of entropy; it must exist in the world’s depressions. So when it was edged out by SXSW’s hooplah, where did it head to? To a land not built up by slick plastic fakery. To a drive-in movie theater that went out of use. To a place where the air is warmer, the beer is cheaper, and it’s legal to invite everyone to bring camping equipment to set up their own beds. It’s Monterrey, Mexico — already the home of the NRMAL festival last weekend, and now the home of MtyMx, the fest Todd P. is throwing to overlap with the Austin festival by one day.

With an eight-hour bus ride from Austin and un-luxe lodgings, Monterrey may be out-of-the-way enough to dissuade the suits from the dusty ride but close enough to still lure bands; at least that’s what Todd P. is hoping. As such, the muddy outdoor arena where this fest is going down this weekend may be the new epicenter of global indie hipness. As we described it earlier this year, there will be:

75 bands — 25 per day, with over one third of the groups from Mexico — including Mexican acts such as Los Fancy Free and Los Margaritos. They’ll be staggered among American acts such as Dan Deacon, Neon Indian, buzzy Toro y Moi and Das Racist (who MTV Iggy producer Woody has blogged about at length!). And as Todd P promised on his site, “Sets will be staggered (i.e. no overlapping sets!), one after the other, so you can see everyone!” You can see S E V E N T Y – F I V E  B A N D S.

That’s at least as many as you’d realistically end up seeing at SXSW, where there are 1800 bands playing in scores of venues. Plus, the ticket price is one tenth what you’d pay in Austin — it’s $30 dollars for all three days. That comes to roughly 40 cents per band; which, by the way, is 47 cents less than you’d pay for a beer in Monterrey. (That would be $.87 cents, according to pintprice.com.) Which makes this festival objectively cheaper and subjectively better — if you’re a poor student who enjoys some hedonistic dirt-floor camping, as most fans do.

So will this really be a hipper set of bands? We’d say yes. Among those he’s asked to come for the weekend is a list guest curated by Denver DIY warehouse space, Rhinoceropolis, which called their list a “hype package,” made up of Denver and LA bands Tearist, Josephine And The Mouse People, Gauntlet Hair, and Hollagramz.

Meanwhile, last Saturday Monterrey saw the Festival/NRMAL which we have proof of as literally the hippest festival of all time. Juiceboxxx played. So did Yacht. And Daedalus, the Death Set, Nite Jewel, Poirier, Julianna Barwick, Awesome Color, White Rainbow, Golden Triangle, Toy Selectah, etc. Plus a ton of other things you’ve never heard of.

But we think MtyMx will one-up them all. Tickets here. More info here on lodging and rides at toddpnyc.

FULL LINEUP

|| SATURDAY ||

:: 10:30 – LOS PLANETAS (Spain)

:: 10pm – ACID MOTHERS TEMPLE (Japan)

:: 9:30 – CHIKITA VIOLENTA (Mexico)

:: 9pm – TELEPATHE

:: 8:30 – QUIERO CLUB (Mexico)

:: 8pm – Das Racist

:: 7:30 – Lázaro Valiente (Mexico)

:: 7pm – Male Bonding (UK)

:: 6:30 – Hunx and his Punx

:: 6pm – El Resplandor (Mexico)

:: 5:30 – Wet Hair

:: 5pm – Pocahaunted

:: 4:30 – Soho Riots (Mexico)

:: 4pm – Teengirl Fantasy

:: 3:30 – Yo! Linares (Mexico)

:: 3pm – Explode Into Colors

:: 2:30 – The Coathangers

:: 2pm – Kría Brekkan — of múm / Storsveit Nix Noltes (Iceland)

:: 1:30 – Anamanguchi

:: 1pm – Coasting

:: 12.30 – Videohippos

:: 12pm – Drawlings

:: 11:30 – Adventure

:: 11am – Le Macabre Party (Mexico)

:: 1am – Aa (aka BIG A little a)

:: 1:30 – Sun Araw

:: 2am – Young Prisms

:: 2:30 – Campfires

:: 3am – Ringo Deathstarr (Texas)

|| SUNDAY ||

:: 12pm – ANDREW WK

:: 11:30 – DAN DEACON

:: 11pm – F****** UP (Canada)

:: 10:30 – LOS FANCY FREE (Mexico)

:: 10pm – WASHED OUT

:: 9:30 – GRANT HART ——– of Hüsker Dü

:: 9pm – INDIAN JEWELRY (Texas)

:: 8:30 – Toro Y Moi

:: 8pm – Tanlines

:: 7:30 – Small Black

:: 7pm – Los Margaritos (Mexico)

:: 6:30 – Chinese Stars

:: 6pm – Banjo or Freakout! (UK)

:: 5:30 – The Wave Pictures (UK)

:: 5pm – Talk Normal

:: 4:30 – The Beets

:: 4pm – XYX (Mexico)

:: 3:30 – So Cow (Ireland)

:: 3pm – Beach Fossils

:: 2:30 – Antoine Reverb (Mexico)

:: 2pm – The Bitters (Canada)

:: 1:30 – TV Ghost

:: 1pm – Los Llamarada (Mexico)

:: 12:30 – Total Abuse (Texas)

:: 12pm – Cloud Nothings

:: 11:30 – White Ninja (Mexico)

:: 11am – Piyama Party (Mexico)

:: 10am – Modern Dance from Mexico & USA

:: Mexican dance curated Estrella Sanza (Los Llamarada)

:: US dance curated by Busy Gagnes (Telepathe)

:: Performances include:

:: Crepusculo

:: La Bruja

:: Prefiero Consumirme Que Disolverme

:: Defectos

:: El Yo y El Entorno

:: 1am – MNDR

:: 1:30 – The Mantles

:: 2am – Teeth Mountain

:: 2:30 – KIT

:: 3am – Twin Sister

:: DJ Jonathan Toubin

:: Soul Clap and Dance-Off

|| MONDAY ||

:: 12am – LIARS

:: 11:30 – NO AGE

:: 11pm – NEON INDIAN (Texas/Mexico)

:: 10:30 – Ratas del Vaticano (Mexico)

:: 10pm – THEE OH SEES

:: 9:30 – Lemonade

:: 9pm – BamBam (Mexico)

:: 8:30 – Lucky Dragons

:: 8pm – Liturgy

:: 7:30 – Jóvenes y Sexys (Venezuela)

:: 7pm – Salem

:: 6:30 – DD/MM/YYYY (Canada)

:: 6pm – Alexico (Mexico)

:: 5:30 – Best Fwends (Texas)

:: 5pm – Sandwitches

:: 4:30 – Mockinpott (Mexico)

:: 4pm – Fergus and Geronimo (Texas)

:: 3:30 – Big Troubles

:: 3pm – HEALTH (Rhinoceropolis)

:: 2:30 – Pictureplane (Rhinoceropolis)

:: 2pm – Gauntlet Hair (Rhinoceropolis)

:: 1:30 – Tearist (Rhinoceropolis)

:: 1pm – Josephine and the Mousepeople (Rhinoceropolis)

:: 12:30 – HIGH PLACES (Rhinoceropolis)

:: 12pm – Mentira Mentira (Mexico)

:: 11:30 – Sr. Amable & Mr. Racoon (Mexico)

:: 11am – Baths

:: 10am – Bilingual, Women’s Drum Workshop hosted by Tom Tom Magazine

:: 1:30 – Air Waves

:: 2am – Fluffy Lumbers

:: 2:30 – Lawrence Arabia (New Zealand)

:: 3am – Teenage Cool Kids (Texas)

:: DJ Jonathan Toubin

FULL SXSW COVERAGE: We went! We saw! We reviewed and slideshowed and interviewed! Some SUCKED! Some ROCKED! GO HERE!!

Photo Courtesy of Getty Images