Buzz Bands LA at SXSW: Wednesday showcase to feature Deep Dark Robot, Hanni El Khatib and more

Kevin Bronson on
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Deep Dark Robot – the new project from Linda Perry, the 4 Non Blondes provocateur turned A-list songwriter/producer and record label impresario – highlights the lineup for the Buzz Bands LA Austin 2011 Showcase, sponsored by 1band 1brand, on Wednesday, March 16, at the Cedar Street Courtyard.

New and newer – that’s the best way to describe the fare at the day party curated by the 3-year-old music blog Buzz Bands LA and held concurrently with the South by Southwest Music Festival. In addition to Perry’s gritty new rock band, the eight-artist lineup includes two of the top indie-rock bands in L.A., Eastern Conference Champions and Voxhaul Broadcast; young retro-blues sensation Hanni El Khatib; synth-wielding Seattle dance-poppers Brite Futures; Oklahoma orchestral folk ensemble Other Lives; L.A. electro-shoegazers Letting Up Despite Great Faults; and harmony-heavy pop outfit Miracle Parade.

The show, starting at noon at Cedar Street, is free and open to the public.

“Playing SXSW is such a staple in the music business every band wants to be a part of its massive energy,” says Perry, whose collaboration with Tony Tornay yielded the new “8 Songs About a Girl” and sparked an urge to get out of the studio and back onstage. “We are pretty stoked that we get to be a part of it this year.”

It’s a sentiment shared by everybody headed to Austin. Here, in chronological order, is a rundown of the lineup:

Noon – Miracle Parade. The new musical incarnation of New Hampshire-bred Christopher Pappas, who has moved from Boston to L.A. and is putting the finishing touches on the album “Hark! ”¦and other lost transmissions,” forthcoming on Little Record Company (Rilo Kiley’s Pierre de Reeder).

1 p.m. – Hanni El Khatib. A one-man explosion of ’50s and ’60s garage rock, blues and soul, El Khatib made noise recently by releasing two singles on highly regarded L.A. imprint Stones Throw Records and has a full album on the way.

2 p.m. – Brite Futures. The Seattle quartet formerly known as Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head has a new collection of party-starting disco-pop on the way

3 p.m. – Deep Dark Robot. The band’s debut “8 Songs About a Girl” comes out March 22 on Perry’s Custard Records. Here’s an interview Perry and Tornay did about the venture.

4 p.m. – Letting Up Despite Great Faults. L.A.-based Michael Lee and bandmates are finishing up a follow-up to their fuzzy, fizzy 2009 debut.

5 p.m. – Other Lives. The Stillwater, Okla., orchestral pop quintet just finished the follow-up to their breathtaking 2009 debut, and the first track to emerge from that record, “For 12,” has already been embraced by tastemaking radio outlet KCRW-FM.

6 p.m. – Eastern Conference Champions. The L.A.-based trio has gone four years between albums, but with their “Santa Fe” EP and their song “Million Miles an Hour” on the “Twilight Eclipse” soundtrack, they’ve set the stage for a new collection of atmospheric indie-rock, “Speak-Ahh,” due in April.

7 p.m. – Voxhaul Broadcast. The L.A. quartet’s long-awaited full length debut, “Timing Is Everything,” comes out March 22, and the hard-touring foursome caps the party with their electric rock ’n’ soul.