GLOBAL – For those of you who couldn’t make our party sessions in Austin this week, we’ve picked out some of the artists and tracked down their sounds at the Nokia Music store. First up to the mic was Rapid Ric – the self-styled ‘finest DJ in Texas’.

Also on the bill were Bird Peterson, Teengirl Fantasy, XV, Gigamesh, Madeon, Free Energy, 2-Chainz, and Cassian. Why not sample their tracks at the Nokia Music Store. Remember you don’t need to have an account or sign in to explore millions of songs and listen.

A real stand out act for us in Austin at SXSW was Free Energy, with their special brand of Philly rock. Not too heavy, but not too light to be middle-of-the-road. And there’s that distinct rocky hard edge.

Free Energy – Free Energy from DFA Records on Vimeo.

Nokia partygoers were lucky to catch them, because when they played at Consequence of Sound, they were cut short after Thomas Dolby overran.

But everyone admired their never-say-die attitude and they crammed an awful lot into half an hour or so, as this review shows.

If you want to know even more about the band, checkout this interview.

Were you at SXSW? Got any hot music tips for our readers? Let us know in the comment field.