Jimmy LaValle of The Album Leaf was taking a short, one-week break from his band’s five-month tour, hanging at his home in Santa Cruz while we chatted on the phone about nature, volcanoes, weird Japanese food, and his band's fifth album, A Chorus of Storytellers.

Read more: The Album Leaf – The Next Story in the Saga

Surprises are something of a tradition at SXSW. Mine happened when my friend Kris let me know Band of Skulls (he is part of the tour crew) was playing the PBS SXSW party at Austin City Limits (ACL)—and that afterward, I was completely blown away, as was friend Tisha and all the rest of us who were lucky enough to experience it all live.

Read more: Band of Skulls - Death by Diamonds, Pearls and Duct Tape

To say that Eyedea and Abilities’ latest accomplishment, By The Throat, (summer 2009, Rhymesayers), resides solely in the land of hip-hop is to say that that Africa is a country because that's what Sarah Palin read to you off her hand.

For fans of the Minnesota duo, I may be preaching to choir here. For the rest, Eyedea (Micheal Larsen) & Abilities (Gregory “Max” Keltgen) has created an amalgamation based on the foundation of hip-hop, but with a New York No Wave edge.

This magical musical ride takes place not just within the streets and alleys of Eyedea’s lyrics, but inside the unexpected quirky bleeps, dirgy guitars and abstract, billowing beat-laden melodies that wrap around each other like velvet and barbed wire.

Read more: Eyedea & Abilities - By The Throut Tour