Far from the glorious cacophony blasted out by the majority of the Japanese acts at South by Southwest, Osaka's Maki Rinka plays a coquettish, kitsch pastiche of 1950s and '60s jazz and good old Hollywood glamour. At the first of her two SXSW shows, at The Rio on March 12, she took the stage dressed as a retro-futuristic air stewardess, dazzling the crowd with her warm, playful voice and authentic, skilled backing band.

Before the show, a half made-up, giggly Rinka, pondered the night ahead as her band members quietly noodled away on their guitars backstage.

"Austin's wonderful. We arrived in Los Angeles on March 5 and we did four gigs there, which were great. We played at a bar in Santa Monica and at a restaurant, a kind of American diner. I like to play at a place where people can drink and eat food and talk, because my music goes well with alcohol (laughs).