SXSW 2008

Thanks to Thom Yorke and the late Jeff Buckley, male rockers are no longer afraid to get in touch with the female side of their voices. On Thursday, the most ethereal falsettos at SXSW belonged to My Morning Jacket and Wisconsin-based newcomer Justin Vernon, alias Bon Iver.

Mr. Vernon stunned a packed crowd at the Parish with a voice straight out of the Vienna Boys' Choir. When his folk-rock songs needed an extra dose of eeriness, he danced on the edge of a yodel, pulling back at the last second.

Jim James of Kentucky's My Morning Jacket uncorked his trademark piercing wail at the Austin Music Hall, channeling Roger Daltrey and Robert Plant on "Gideon."

But he had less success on "Highly Suspicious," a kitschy R&B dance tune from its upcoming Evil Urges CD. Props to My Morning Jacket for trying new styles, but electro-funk is never going to be the band's strong suit.

Thor Christensen