Dinosaur Jr.'s rapscallion frontman J Mascis, a longtime SXSW veteran, caught up with The Alternate Side's Russ Borris between gigs to talk about his decidedly mellow and acoustic solo album Several Shades of Why. Mascis plays Sub Pop's showcase at Red 7 tonight, March 18, at midnight and has two more showcases, for Mojo and Waterloo Records, tomorrow, March 19. Video after the jump.

While there's no set release date yet for Björk's next album Biophilia, she's announced an exciting residency at the Manchester International Festival in the UK where she'll spend three weeks this summer performing material from the new record with an international tour to follow. Plus, look for Damon Albarn's new theatre piece making its Manchester premiere as well.

Dubstep-leaning, electro-pop crooner James Blake made his SXSW debut alongside fellow Brits Yuck and The Vaccines at Time Out's showcase at Stubb's on Wednesday night, March 16. The Alternate Side's Russ Borris caught up with Blake before the gig and found out a little about what makes this emotive artist tick. Video after the jump.