EMC were in their tour van, en route to a Los Angeles concert this January, when they heard the news: A full two months before its official release date—and just four days after it had been mailed to the media— their debut album, The Show, had been leaked online. “We were angry, especially since we think we know who leaked it,” says Stricklin, the Milwaukee rapper who makes up the group along with veteran lyricists Punchline and Wordsworth and golden-age icon Masta Ace. “We rushed to the hotel so we could get an Internet connection and find out more.” Thanks to the Internet, you can watch the band work out their response to the leak in real time . . .

I�m headed to SXSW tomorrow, so this music blog will go dark for the better part of the week, but expect daily updates on the festival on the site�s SXSW page starting Thursday. In the meantime, I�d be remiss if I didn�t offer some ultra-quick recommendations. The following are worth a spin: Autechre � �Quaristice� Autechre�s ninth album lures you in with a gorgeously subd...