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Part industry trade show, part fan feast, Austin's South by Southwest provides one-stop shopping for those looking for music discovery. Preview the four-day music marathon.

Kristin Hersh's lyrics often read like stream-of-consciousness poetry, with the words painting the pictures in her head. "Under the Gun" uses the life of a sad character to illustrate the way everyone tries to get by. Hersh specializes in building to a crushing chorus, and the song delivers just that.

Fountains of Wayne's immensely catchy pop-rock songs come with a powerful undercurrent of sly cynicism, but also a keen understanding of everyday people and the way they live. The band's new album is titled Traffic and Weather.

This show celebrates the music of one of the greatest singers of our time with interviews that include Ella herself; vocalists Betty Carter, Jon Hendricks and Joe Williams; writers Gene Lees and Albert Murray; and pianist Oscar Peterson.

It's difficult to write a song that evokes the slowed-time pull of sleepiness without lulling listeners toward unconsciousness themselves. Eleni Mandell pulls it off in "Moonglow, Lamp Low," which draws on a gentle cowboy lope and a saxophone that sounds like captured breath.

Andrew Bird makes the kind of music that leaves critics groping for labels. A classically trained violinist, former swing jazz musician and now art rock virtuoso, Bird is one of the most imaginative and distinctive voices making music today. Hear Bird in a full concert, recorded live from Washington, D.C.

Chinese pianist Lang Lang is one of the biggest sensations in classical music. He discovered his love for music as a kid, while watching a cat play the piano in a Tom & Jerry cartoon. Today he releases his first-ever Beethoven recording.

You probably know it as such a happy song. But Doris Day's "Que Sera Sera," as performed by Pink Martini, might make you feel downright blue. The band explains its take on the 1956 classic.

Fionn Regan's "Put a Penny in the Slot" has to be one of the most shyly nonchalant songs ever written from the perspective of a clinging ex-lover. Along the way, he casually slips in his underlying meaning: "I can't help from crying / I wish you were mine."

Led by Alasdair MacLain's breathy vocals and smart lyrics, the London band The Clientele mixes psychedelic melodies and driving guitars into appealing indie-pop — a blend that's caught on quickly with American listeners. Hear an interview and in-studio performance by the band.