With their evocative, atmospheric sound and enigmatic stage presence, southwest London three-piece the xx are one the most intriguing acts playing the Austin music festival South By Southwest this year. Their legend in fact precedes them, with the mythology surrounding their upbringing and formation at Britain's famed Elliott School (whose alumni including Four Tet, Hot Chip, and Burial) making for a fascinating back story.

This fable of course had me imagining some supercool school, a sort of an alternative Anglophilic version of Fame. You know, an indie-rock institution churning out one U.K. buzz band after another, a campus where black-clad, pasty-skinned hipster Londoners swoonily and doomily dance in the halls in big goth-group singalong numbers. But when I spoke to the xx's Jamie backstage at La Zona Rosa after one of the xx's well-received SXSW gigs, I learned that the trio's beginnings were far more humble.

To be honest, I didn't learn that much more about the xx during

Swedish buzz band Miike Snow almost wasn't a band at all. Two-thirds consisting of the production team Bloodshy & Avant (aka Christian Karlsson and Pontus Winnberg)--a duo responsible for hits by pure pop stars like Britney Spears, Kylie Minogue, J.Lo, and Madonna--the group started as a studio project rounded out by American singer-songwriter Andrew Wyatt. But they later became a full-fledged live act, and judging by the throngs of hipsters lined up around the block to see Miike Snow perform at this year's Austin music festival South By Southwest, Christian and Pontus can safely quit their "day jobs" and devote themselves to their own music with Andrew full-time. Britney's loss is indie-pop music fans' gain.

I caught up with the Miike Snow guys at their beyond-capacity Filter magazine party showcase at SXSW, where despite their initial jetlag they eventually livened up when discussing robots, South By Southwest swag, their pleasant surprise over their unexpected success, and leaving

Back for a second round of super performances is country superstar Tim McGraw--who visited our studios late last year and, with his fine band, delivered four great tracks and a very memorable interview.

You may have already seen two of those tracks and the interview in our Maximum Performance feature last November, but if you haven't, we've added them below the two new tracks we're showcasing here.

As we mentioned last time out, anticipation is rising for McGraw's just-announced "Southern Voice" tour, which will begin in San Antonio on February 6th and finish in Toronto on August 7th. Detail on ticket info and scheduled dates can be found at http://www.timmcgraw.com/.

In the meantime, check out these new performances from Tim-including "I Didn't Know It At The Time" from his great new Southern Voice album as well as renowned past classic "Live Like You Were Dying."

Can't wait to see you on the road, Tim!

 And now, from last November: 

The massive tragedy of the Haitian earthquake has been enormous in scope--and the responses to that tragedy have been, in some ways, similarly enormous.

One of the most conspicuous responses was Friday night's charity telethon, Hope For Haiti Now: A Global Benefit For Earthquake Relief. Check out the video below and keep watching for a steady flow of the night's highlights.