Like everything else, the techies have a head start at SXSW. Today marks the beginning of SXSW Interactive, where companies gather to hash out emerging technology, websites, video games and cool new start-ups. (And we do mean hash–why, there are session-specific hashtags, of course).

We’re testing out the ways to engage more with video technology alongside other proud geeks who are also thinking ahead. There are keynote speeches, panel discussions, a trade show, an arcade to kill some serious time in and the annual Webby Awards (we’re a former finalist!).

And since our business is music and technology, one of our stops during the upcoming week will be at SoundCtrl’s FlashFwd event next Tuesday. RSVP at http://flashfwd.eventbrite.com

We’re opinionated. Uncensored Interview talks to plenty of musicians with something to say and who deserve to be heard. To further that goal, we’ve teamed up with Big Think to bring our viewers ideas that matter from people who matter.

From poverty in Jamaica and music therapy in the Bronx to health awareness in Haiti and warm clothes in cold Canada, it’s clear that musicians are actively using their public platforms to further social causes in the name of empowering lives.

Take a peek at artists like Moby, John Legend, Wyclef Jean, Margaret Cho, Metric and Ziggy Marley sharing their thoughts on how they create change.

Moby cites the Civil Rights Act and the Environmental Protection Agency as successful reasons to work within the system for change.

John Legend describes his philanthropic partnership with Jeff Sachs, the Show Me Poverty Action Tour – an effort to help college students fight poverty.

Wyclef Jean discusses his Yéle Foundation, a foundation committed to improving lives in the singer’s native country.

(MORE ON OUR COLLABORATION WITH BIG THINK)

Fresh off the heels of our Northside Festival showcase last week, Uncensored Interview is hitting the streets again. This time we’re speaking at the Open Video Conference, held today and tomorrow in New York City.

What’s the Open Video Conference, you ask? Why, it’s a gathering of all the talented foks out there tinkering and pushing the boundaries of online video technology. The world of online video is pretty proprietary, but there are plenty of cool companies working toward widening the playing field and offering viewers more variety, flexibility and interactivity.

That’s where we come in! We’ll be there talking about the scalable, versatile content we offer; how we partnered with Creative Commons earlier this year to let others use our clips for bigger projects and using the royalty-free Ogg-Theora as our open source codec for fans to download.

If you’re attending the conference and need a little comic relief while in the Big Apple, The Notorious MSG have you covered.

Festival season is upon us, and in a major way. But these aren’t your average hootenannies put together by the powers that be. Oh no. A new trend in the already fad-addled music biz is taking summer festivals by storm. The craze du jour? Guest curators. It’s like Trading Spaces for the music world except with important, existential cultural implications! Not to mention the prosaic–but equally important–concerns that festival coordinators have to take care of.

Metric saw firsthand what can happen when random muttonheads are given free rein (promises of crowds numbering 15,000 turn up 300; beatings; a bottle of whiskey and four Power Bars). Share their pain:

Before we start panicking, let’s take a deep breath and a closer look at this little dernier cri. Here are our top five picks for festivals that won’t suck, given the brains behind things.

5. David Byrne, Curator, Bonnaroo

The sonic polymath (because founding the Talking Heads, snagging Grammys, Oscars, Golden Globes, writing operas and being a photographer only takes up so much of one’s time) is taking on the legendary festival. He’s approaching it with the same level of stress and OCD-obsession with which a normal person might approach figuring out which bagel shop to hit Sunday morning. “I thought, ‘OK, then, I’m just gonna reel off some names that I like…and we’ll see where it goes,’” Byrne told reporters. Alrighty then! The laid-back attitude seems to have worked; so far, the lineup includes Santigold, the Dirty Projectors, Katzenjammer, Public Enemy, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Band of Horses, St. Vincent and of course–David Byrne and Brian Eno. The show goes on June 11.

4. The Flaming Lips, Curators, All Tomorrow’s Parties

The Oklahoma all-stars are playing the show too! Woot! It’s tough to predict what a band that produces gems like “Psychiatric Explorations of the Fetus with Needles” and shows that feature puppets, confetti and big, scary hands will come up with, but that’s part of the fun. Set in Monticello, NY, just as summer winds down, this promises to be one final outdoors Bacchanalia anyone can get behind. And with bands as disparate as The Jesus Lizard, Suicide, Black Dice, the Feelies and the Melvins playing, maybe this is a show all of your friends will actually enjoy (for once). The show goes on Sept. 11.

(MORE FESTIVAL CURATORS HERE)

Please, don’t forget the grandmas too –
the ones who buy guitars for you.
Just ask Jared Scharff and his band the Royals.
They’ll tell you there’s no one else who spoils
a child out there like grandma could
or teach them what is bad from good.

(MORE FOR MOTHER’S DAY)

Seriously. Nobody likes a big ol’ sausage party, not even the ladies. So you can see why the girls of Tilly and the Wall were so psyched. According to the Chinese Zodiac, 2008 was the year of the rat, but in the world of indie music, it was the year of “Damn, who’s that?” Everywhere you looked there was a hot indie band with a totally hot woman up front, and Uncensored Interview was there to document this undeniable trend. We caught up with cuties like Alexandra from Ra Ra Riot and the no longer so rare sight of the all-female indie power house like The Donnas and Vivian Girls.

Hey, if you can rock a pair of stilettos, and you can rock the stage even harder, then you won’t hear any complaints from us. This trend doesn’t seem to be going anywhere, so stay tuned in 2009 for indie with even more estrogen and style. Oh, but for those of you out there who miss the bands of ugly dudes whom you could probably smell from 50 feet away and wouldn’t sleep with for 50 dollars or less, not to worry. I don’t think we’ll be experiencing a shortage of those for a long time to come.

How many cool bands were there in 2008? Lots, and we talked to them all. If a band had a break out year, Uncensored Interview was there covering their rise to fame in this mercurial music industry. From Lykke Li and the Mae Shi to The Dodos and Hercules and Love Affair, 2008 represented a solid year in music for its diversity of sound and opinion on what a band should sound like in the first place.

To celebrate our superb tastemaking skills, we’re offering a week of reflective year-end posts that also introduce regular new features! From The Perry Train’s sagely wisdom in “Sound Advice,” to who we think is on the brink in “Almost Famous,” you’ll keep coming back for more in 2009.