Arts & Entertainment

We're giving you a few chances to win free tickets to the show and now we're throwing in an added bonus: select contest winners will get free tickets and posters signed by the band. Not just any poster, though - we'll be giving away screenprints of our original artwork created by Justin Cox (seen above). For your chance to win follow the jump. We'll be announcing winners next week! more ›

The Scottish Rite Children’s Theatre production of Hansel and Gretel threatens to neither scar nor inspire a child—in fact, it’s almost a misnomer to call it Hansel and Gretel. While it does feature a pair of characters by those names, the heart of the story is more or less stripped from the production. more ›

Boston's Pretty & Nice are a slam dunk for Austin show-goers, and their '80s-inspired electro-pop, cat claw sharp and relentless, will keep us riveted at Emo's tonight. The new record Get Young (Hardly Art) is a pummeling pop experience, taking few breaths along the way. more ›

Harvey’s, creator of the original seatbelt bag, is celebrating their Austin location's grand opening this Friday, from 6-8pm at the Aviary on 2110 South Lamar. The California company with a homegrown, funky feel was created after owners Dana & Melanie Harvey installed seatbelts into their 1950’s Buick, and later became inspired to make their daughter a handbag from the remnants. more ›

These two brothers, Ryoichiro and Kenichi Yoshida, are huge in their native Japan, but they’re just starting to crack the states. The Yoshida Brothers are masters of the Tsugaru-shamisen, a fast and percussive three-stringed instrument with a long history in Asian music. What sets these guys apart from most other shamisen players out there, and there actually are a lot, is that the Yoshida Brothers are revitalizing the sound by playing it with the same vigor as rock and roll guitarists, and they’ve injected outside influences like jazz, folk and blues. The brothers sometimes play solo, with just them clad in kimonos and hakama pants and their instruments, and other times with different incarnations of a band with electric guitar, keyboard, bass and drums. It gives them a traditional-meets-new, East-meets-West sound that’s refreshing and altogether difficult to forget. more ›

German reedman Peter Brötzmann has been a part of modern creative music since 1967, when he produced his first album on his own BRO records, For Adolphe Sax. That defining statement, a recasting of the innovations of Albert Ayler into a European light, found Brötzmann alongside regular collaborator Peter Kowald (bass) and itinerant Swede Sven-Ake Johansson (drums). While convening formations from saxophone duos to orchestras in the ensuing decades, the support of bass and drums has always been a favorite. more ›

Every Wednesday through June 10 at the Republic Square Park, there's a concert powered entirely by solar resources. Green rock'n'roll has never sounded better, and these weekly concerts a a double-edged sword of good karma -- every event benefits Blue Dog Rescue. Mellow Johnny's bike shop is providing free 'bike valet' services, so Austinites are able to ride gree, listen green, and give to a good cause, helping animals in local shelters find new homes. Last night's concert featured Bruce Robison and his brother Charlie, lots of beer, and gorgeous weather. Photos courtesy Steve Hopson. more ›

In part one of Austinist's coverage of ESP-Disk, we discussed the label's jazz and free-jazz reissues, as these are in many ways the bread and butter of its history. In this installment, we'll hit upon a few other areas of note - psychedelic folk, a one-off Afro-Latin release, and earth-scorching vocals courtesy of Patty Waters, whose work could fall under jazz though her influence has catapulted her far beyond category. more ›

In Austin we oft find ourselves spoiled with an array of music on any given night. With all the big-name bands coming to town it's hard not to get overwhelmed and lured in by the indie rock scene. (See: Cake, Death Cab, Ra Ra Riot and Mates of State all playing just this week) But, those washed out tired of crowded shows can find solace at Cactus Cafe tonight with some down to earth down-tempo folk rock. more ›

Photos courtesy Nari. more ›

The more paranoid amongst us might eschew large gatherings of people during this time of Porcine Panic but not Cake. John McCrea, lead singer of the Sacramento alt-country rock band Cake, had his bases covered when he took the oppressively humid stage last night rocking a sensible surgical mask. The bone dry humor wasn't lost on the multitude of die hard fans in attendance, who enjoyed back-to-back sets that spanned the band's entire discography. Seemingly played off the cuff by audience and band member request, the sets were tight and full of the antics and flourishes that elicited nostalgia for the mid 90's atl-rock zenith that long-time Cake fans can remember with the clarity of a Crystal Pepsi. Punctuated by Vince Di Fiore's mariachi trumpet outburst classics like "Sad Songs and Waltzes" and "Italian Leather Sofa" felt robust and polished after years on the road. At one point during the intermission, McCrea took the mic to give away a small tree to any audience member who could accurately guess its variety (Satsuma Orange). The moment, like the evening's set, was classic Cake: a quirky exchange that hinted at deeper issues underneath, namely front man John McCrea's longtime environmental activism (the band recently converted their Sacramento studio to 100% solar power). Fans can look for a new disk by the alt-rock outfit sometime this year. more ›

UT’s Division of Textiles and Apparel held its annual year-end fashion show, Luminous, this past Friday at the Frank Erwin Center. Twenty-three senior designers each presented a ready to wear, evening, and bridal collection - which was a huge feat and definitely didn’t disappoint. Maybe it’s the excitement for summer, maybe it’s the Austin mentality, but the theme of the night was color, color, and more color. There was a heavy infusion of vibrant hues and print into just about every piece, and watching the show was like being in a psychedelic candy store - complete with thumping soundtrack by Ting Tings . more ›

An Iranian lawyer and former judge, Dr. Ebadi (pronounced ah-ba-DEE) spoke to over 300 UT students, faculty and visitors Monday night, April 27th. This was the first of four public events in Austin. As she stepped to the podium at the AT&T Conference Center, the crowd stood and clapped loudly. Then, speaking through a translator, she began: “Ladies and Gentlemen, allow me to say a few words about democracy.” To her, democracy is the rule of the majority, but within the framework of human rights. Not surprisingly, Dr. Ebadi believes progress must come from within a country and in small steps rather than applied by force from outside. The audience nodded in agreement. more ›

Mates of State are regulars in Austin. Each year they show up to perform at a festival and/or a few headlining gigs peppered around town. But the sun-kissed charm of this poppy duo never gets old for us. Husband-wife team Kori Gardner and Jason Hammel are the only two members of Mates of State, but they deliver ringing harmonies each time, with only the sounds from their vocal chords, drums and an organ (or keys). more ›

Remember the California alternative rock band, Cake, who started to chart almost immediately after bursting on the scene in the early 90s with songs like “Rock ‘n’ Roll Lifestyle” and then with “The Distance”, “Never There”, and “Short Skirt/Long Jacket”? You must, because their show tonight at Stubb’s is sold out. They’ve released a pretty solid string of recordings backed up by large tours like the Unlimited Sunshine Tour, which was a traveling music festival that toured in 2002, ’03, ’06, and ‘07 featuring artists like Modest Mouse, Cheap Trick, Gogol Bordello, The Detroit Cobras. And, although the lineup largely changed every year, Cake was the headliner each time providing the staple topping on this eclectic pastry. In 2008, the band joined the ranks of the eco-conscious with the conversion of their studio, Upbeat Studio, in Sacramento to solar power. So, now the next recording you hear of their funky alt rock with rap-esque vocals, which should be sometime this summer, is going to be completely fueled by the sun. more ›

On Saturday night, Art Alliance Austin hosted Art After Dark Austin, a party benefiting both Austin Museum of Art and the Blanton Museum of Art. The event was part of Art City Austin and various artists were showing and selling their work to the late night crowd. Jaclyn Pryor's interactive art installation, pink unplugged was up and running, and participants could type love letters at the pink factory and have them delivered about town by couriers. Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears performed and attendees enjoyed fine food and beverages from area caterers and restaurants. more ›

The unassuming Sunshower EP from power rock trio Ume is winning hearts over left and right. And we're not here to say any different. All the hype and praise received over the past few months is completely warranted. Meet the musicians responsible for the buzz: Lauren Larson (vocals/guitar), Eric Larson (bass) and Jeff Barrera (drums). more ›

Well, we knew that Beastie Boys, Pearl Jam and Sonic Youth were coming. Here's the rest of the lineup for 2009's Austin City Limits Festival, taking place the weekend of October 4, 2009. more ›

Few record labels signify the American counterculture movement of the 1960s as much as ESP-Disk, founded by New York lawyer Bernard Stollman in 1964. Over the course of about 120 albums and nearly a decade, the ESP catalog covered a wide range of music, from free jazz and experimental, unclassifiable sounds to protest folk, psychedelic rock and proto-punk. In this case, "ESP" is shorthand for Esperanto, and most titles had their address and ordering information printed in the universal language. The label's first release, little-known except to collectors, was an album of sing-along folk music in Esperanto, entitled Ni Kantu en Esperanto (Let's Sing in Esperanto). ESP-Disk shut down in 1975 after several years of financial troubles. more ›

Yeasayer's Anand Wilder produced this album, and it looks as though Suckers have taken a queue from them and a host of other NYC (well, Brooklyn) technicolor neo-psych bands upon first glance. Difficult MySpace page, glitter and masks, a song that seems to be about dancing, and an unquenchable thirst for purple throw up dozens of red flags for most. All that being said (and kicked right out the way), the songs on this EP are good, or at least quite different from what one might imagine based on the aforementioned flags. more ›

Though they've always been prone to the 'avante-groove' set, Medeski, Martin and Wood have a deceptively earnest and traditional approach to jazz. Indulgent dissonance, legendary (entirely improvisational) live performances, and a devotion to atonal and arrhythmic music. These things are, and have always been, at the heart of their sound, though (in true jazz fashion) are most evident live. Perhaps that's why the band has enjoyed a fair amount of mainstream success: work with John Scofield and shows with Phish go a long way in that department if you're in a jazz trio with a penchant for hip hop. more ›

The resounding success of the first River Revolution Party last November could only mean one thing -- a second such extravaganza couldn’t be too far off. This Saturday, Vinyl Entertainment brings us The Second River Revolution Party. Besides the succinct name, the event boasts a stellar bill including Ohio transplants The Story Of, Bill Baird’s SUNSET {now apparently sans any curly parentheses}, and psych-pop outfit Diagonals. One of our current favorites in town, The Eastern Sea will perform its poignant indie-rock ditties as well. Watch our recent interview with the band on Roxwel’s website. DJ Thibault, DJ Bill the Butcher, and members of The Black and White Years will pilot the beats throughout the course of the night, and morning. And a special set by the legendary Maryann Price is also on the schedule. more ›

The sold out show was a hit, not surprisingly. Born Ruffians opened. Pooneh Ghana was there to capture the mood of the evening as the band emerged to meet fans, pose for pictures, show off adorable '70s era George Harrison t-shirts and be generally likable. more ›

Those lucky enough to be hanging around downtown this weekend might have noticed a bunch of passerbys hurriedly jogging from one street corner to the next. Indeed, they were likely looking for the latest temporary installation of Bodies in Urban Spaces, a choreographed dance piece that was part of Fusebox Festival. Dancers moved from one public space to the next and silently formed temporary sculptures incorporating elements of the man made and natural landscape that makes up our urban city center. The site specific piece was directed by choreographer Willi Dorner. more ›

Austinist will be bringing you unprecedented coverage of the festival each day, as well as some interviews and introductions to the bands leading up to day one. Don't miss our review of Propagandhi's latest release Supporting Caste, and stay tuned for more - including some giveaways. Heck, let's start now. Follow the jump for the festival's complete lineup and venue list, and register to win a pair of tickets to the Thermals and Shakey Hands show Friday, May 22 at Mohawk. We've already given away one three-day pass to Emo's, and we'll be doing that again very soon. more ›

In two weeks, KLRU will premiere Independent Lens' stunning new documentary, Crips & Bloods: Made in America, which explores the decades-long feud between rival LA gangs the Bloods and the Crips that's left some 15,000 dead and rages on even today. The film is narrated by Forest Whitaker and directed by Stacy Peralta, the director of Dogtown and Z Boys, Riding Giants, and, interestingly, an episode of Mr. Show with Bob and David. more ›

Organized by Art Alliance Austin, this annual event is the city's largest and longest running outdoor art fair, and features more than 200 established and emerging artists working in a range of mediums. In addition to all of the creative output, there will be local and organic food producers, interactive art projects, live music, and activities for the little ones. more ›

Fifteen years after the quintessential 90s musical made its debut at the New York Theatre Workshop and over a decade since it won the Pulitzer and big stack of Tony Awards for its portrayal of artistic types living in America at the end of the millennium, Rent is coming to Bass Concert Hall, thanks to Broadway Across America. Originally conceived as a way to "bring Musical theater to the MTV generation", Rent exists as both a product of and a comment on the decade in which it's set. more ›

The Austin Convention and Visitors Bureau recently launched the 2009 Austin Song Contest to find that one special song about Austin that they could utilize in their various promotional campaigns. more ›

At yesterday's signing of HB 873, the bill providing incentives for the film and media industries in Texas, director Robert Rodriguez announced that he intends to shoot a slew of new movies at his Austin-based Troublemaker Studios. more ›

Photos courtesy Steve Hopson. more ›

The Kills play rock with the sustained tension of a chain smoker in the long moment just after a drag and before exhalation. This duo of Alison “VV” Mosshart and Jamie “Hotel” Hince strip British indie down to its indispensables—those being his and hers guitars, a drum machine (get over it), and rebellious disaffection involving the occasional Dostoyevsky reference. more ›

Fusebox Festival continues with a rundown of today's events. Festival passes and individual event tickets are available online. more ›

Our coverage of Art Week Austin continues with a rundown of today's events: Art Talk: Art Critics, Critique, and Community Panel: Join the conversation about arts writing with a panel that includes writers from the Statesman, Fluent Collaborative/Might Be Good, Austin Film Festival, and Fusebox Festival. The panel will be moderated by Robert Faries from the Chronicle. The discussion takes place at Domy Books and begins at 4pm. more ›

It’s almost May and as the temperature soars, so does the number of quality shows in town. Just this past Tuesday, we were stuck in a conundrum, trying to pick between the likes of My Bloody Valentine, Spoon, Ladytron (and The Faint), and Dr. Dog at various venues, as well as a quality local bill of Harlem and Cry Blood Apache at The Mohawk. This weekend is pretty epic too, with The Kills, Franz Ferdinand, and Napalm Death all gracing our town with their presence and providing ample entertainment choices. However, the cream of the crop might be a local event away from downtown proper at the United States Art Authority (at Spider House just north of UT campus). Entitled Triple Scoop, this free show features a stellar line-up of local musicians and artists, and aims to raise awareness about the City Council elections. more ›

We know, we know. It's been a rough week and Friday just can't come soon enough. And tonight, it's time to sip some drank and just "loosen up." Well, why not discover some tasty new music in the process? Too lazy to find something original on your own? Don't worry, we've managed to find a band you may not have heard of but should definitely lend your ears to. Fatback Circus is a four-piece menagerie of rock, jazz, funk and spunk birthed from the sleepy town of Stillwater, Oklahoma. more ›

Art Week Austin events will come to a peak with Saturday's Art After Dark party. The event is being held at City Hall and along the 1st Street Bridge, offering party goers spectacular views of the city at night. Art collectors and appreciators who have enjoyed the daytime events of Art City Austin will be entertained by DJ Chicken George and headliners Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears. Food will be provided by Austin's Word of Mouth Catering along with area restaurants including the Belmont, the Salt Lick, Tacodeli, and the Cookie Lounge. Twin Liquors and Bacardi are on board as the night's wine and beverage sponsors. Tickets to the party cost $75 a piece with art collector badges and VIP options available for groups. more ›

Haven't heard of 'em? Not sure if you want to go? Let us try to persuade you. Big Business is a two piece comprised of Jared Warren of Karp and Coady Willis of Murder City Devils. Their low-end favoring aural assault certainly bears a fair resemblance to both previous projects, but Warren's voice has transcended into some kind of '80s metal ode - gruff, bristled, angry and mean. Willis' drumming is nothing short of heart-stopping, and with the addition of former Melvins soundman Toshi on guitar, Red 7 is going to be the unmatched champion of kickass hardcore tonight in Austin. Follow the jump to hear more about the history of Big Business, their joint involvement in the new Melvins material, and the freedom of touring without vegans. more ›

We'd also like to give you the chance to win tickets to the Church of the Friendly Ghost sponsored Fusebox event, entitled Modern Aural Sculpture Symposium South, or M.A.S.S.S for short. This two day symposium begins tomorrow, and features two lectures per day. All of the presentations will take place at the Acton business school on Riverside. more ›

Whether it makes you think of your drinking buddies or Matthew Perry and Courtney Cox, the word "friends" carries some positive connotations (and may have just put that "I'll Be There For You" song in your head for the rest of the afternoon). It's a good enough word that visual artist/musician/all-around creative badass Tim Kerr used it for the title of his new exhibition at Domy Books, which opens tonight and features the work of Kerr and four of his pals - Bill Daniel, Cynthia Connolly, Rich Jacobs, and Michael Sieben. more ›

Kit Adams may not know the five point palm exploding heart technique, but she is still a metaphorical kung fu master. That's because Adams, founder and owner of local pottery shop ClayWays, can wrestle a 25 pound block of solid earth into the shape of giant urn before you can say "Shaolin". She is not, however, invincible: ClayWays is having trouble in these lean economic times. This Saturday, Adams and the sweet-souled ceramics community she supports (and lovingly teaches) need you to throw dollar bills their way, so the store and studio can remain open. more ›

The greatness of her sound is that it has not only retained, but honed and distilled that youthful spirit of playing music as play time, for the sheer joy of it. It’s that same raw, infectious joy shared between female vocalists in the tradition of Ponytail, Deerhoof, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and their fans. more ›

Slurping up tortilla soup during your lunch break or biking to the video store to return a couple of movies may seem like mundane moments, but a team of artists are depicting everyday moments as art in a new unique exhibit and online audio and video gallery, The 12:19 Project. more ›

n a top 40 world, Austin is a proudly NPR town, so tonight should be a special treat for many of us who enjoy the popular radio show “This American Life.” Tonight only you can catch a live HD simulcast of the show at movie theaters around town. Glass will be there hosting the show, and contributors will include regulars like Starlee Kine, sex columnist Dan Savage, and the hilarious Mike Birbiglia, among others. more ›

Our coverage of Art Week Austin continues with a rundown of today's events: 12:19 Project at AMOA: Also an ongoing project of the Fusebox Festival, this open collaboration encourages people to document a single minute in their lives. A project of local non-profit Refraction Arts, anyone is invited to create an image (a photo, video, audio file, text, map, etc.) of their experience at 12:19 on any given day. Participants may also call 524-9772 to record one minute of their life. Presented in a real life and online "library" of sorts, the resulting documentation of everyone's short history will be on display at AMOA until May 2nd. more ›

They’re a bouncy rock and roll four-piece full of energy and that extra somethin’ special from Huntsville, Alabama. They played South by Southwest this year to less-than-impressive crowds, which is not a testament to their music but instead says something about everyone’s willingness to seek out new music on their own. They are the perfect band to snap you out of that South by funk that all too often takes root in the final laps. With their guitar/bass/drums/organ setup pumping out a sound that’s built of punk, blues, garage, pop and other, you’d have to be as cold as a corpse to not find something there to rattle your bones. more ›

Tonight at the Alamo Drafthouse S. Lamar, you can experience the tornado-like fury that surrounds the competitive Dachshund circuit in the dog-umentary Wiener Takes All. Canadian filmmaker Shane MacDougall, who apparently challenged Queen Elizabeth II to a kickboxing match or math test to win the monarchy of Canada at one point in time, spent two years following what we would assume to be a real-life Best in Show, documenting the heated rivalries, the epic speed trials, the allegations of doggie doping and the amazingness that is the Westminster Dog Show, watching as the broad field is winnowed down to one winning weenie. more ›

Dear Austin fans of jazz, please don't sleep on this performance by Burton Greene and Perry Robinson. The organizers at the Church of the Friendly Ghost are tickled pink about this performance, which should tell you something: "Since 2003, in the course of organizing over 400 performances, this date with Burton Greene and Perry Robinson stands out as one of the most highly anticipated within our organization as well as the close community of musicians and great lovers of new music that we have become friends with over the years." more ›

I Love You But I’ve Chosen Darkness formed in 2001 and distinguished itself from the plethora of bands in Austin with two stellar releases. The band’s self-titled debut EP was produced by Spoon’s Britt Daniel and dropped in 2003. After 2006’s equally impressive Fear Is On Our Side, produced by Paul Barker (formerly of Ministry), the band went on somewhat of a hiatus and had us wondering if we’d ever hear from them again. But this year, the band made a triumphant return during SXSW and we’re excited to report that ILYBICD will be performing at The Mohawk this Thursday. We touched base with Timothy White from the band earlier this week and learnt that “the chemistry of the band is solid. Everyone is enjoying shaking the dust off.” more ›

Beautiful weather, lots of good music and an Austinite on the ground with her camera: how much better could it get? Pooneh Ghana documented her trip to Coachella, and here's what she brought home. more ›

If you missed Elvis Perkins in Dearland at Austinist's SXSW day party, you're in luck. The sorrowful troubadour returns to Austin on May 11, supporting this year's eponymous album. more ›

Tomorrow night, the Austin State Hospital's Volunteer Services Council are holding a benefit art show and auction. The event will feature art by Daniel Johnston as well as work by professional artists and State Hospital patients. Johnston's work colorfully features his whimsical other-worldly character sketches, while other donations range from the simple geometric figures of Jerry Walters to Piercarlo Abate's striking portraits of asylum patients from 1915 Venice. The hospital's patient art is bold and often abstract, combining mediums and themes to create true outsider art. more ›

This year's Fusebox Festival starts Thursday and fans of theatre, dance, film, visual art, or music should take note. Passes to the ten day event cost only $129 and guarantee advanced access for all the shows. For those who would rather pay for each performance piecemeal, tickets are available for each event on a sliding scale online or at boxoffices before each show. Some Fusebox happenings are free and the public can RSVP to attend at the Fusebox website. We'll be previewing Fusebox Festival events all week in an attempt to help you navigate the confluence of cultural occurrences that will be taking place. Here's a rundown of Thursday's events: more ›

April might be the cruelest month in some circles, but not for fans of The Bard, whose 445th birth anniversary is this Thursday. To celebrate, Austin Shakespeare is offering up two different events and you should Romeo on over to at last one of them (seriously, don’t ju-liet yourself miss the festivities). No word on how things currently are in Denmark, but certainly, nothing is rotten at this event. more ›

On a night packed with the potential for multiple sonic eargasms (The Faint, My Bloody Valentine) the fact that Spoon sold out an intimate show at the Scoot weeks in advance should come as little surprise. These one-off, intimate Spoon sets feel like family reunions, bringing together the younger generation of Austin's cool-sters (relative babies in their bassinets from Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga) the middle aged yupsters (Kill the Moonlight) and the hipsteratti of 'ol timey pre-condo Austin (A Series of Sneaks). more ›

Throughout its thirty-nine minutes, Actor demonstrates a continued development of depth and breadth for Annie Clark, as these songs are meaty in comparison to previous work. Also, the apparent disconnect between the sweetness of her purposely-exposed face (plastering it on the cover of an album is a good way for people to know what you look like, jsyk) and the often dark and foreboding subject matter is more present than ever—rarely does a song go by without something at least mildly disturbing to pull from the lyrics. Add on top of that a full-band willingness to rock out, with even occasional hints of Kraut to boot, and songs like the brutal “Marrow” and the propulsive “Actor Out of Work” are for the first time possible. But the big thing here is that asking a half dozen people which song on the album is their favorite may very well result in a half dozen different answers. more ›

The venerable leaders of volume, reverse delay, and all-around guitar madness delivered exactly what fans anticipated last night at the Austin Music Hall. The crowd, a mostly stunned pack of earplug-cramming superfans, was treated to full use of whammy, stacks (and stacks and stacks) of Marshalls and even a couple of new songs. "Slow," "Feed Me With Your Kiss," and "When You Sleep" were crowd favorites, but nothing compared to the 20 minute show-stopping 'holocaust' in the middle of "You Made Me Realise." Though many were worried about the controversial acoustics in the Austin Music Hall, sheer loudness, professionalism and talent made it moot right away. This one goes down in the books as a legendary show by legendary band, and a hopeful tease for those of us still waiting for the follow up to Loveless. more ›

Bankrupt and the Borrowers make music that is a truly unique conglomeration of noisy blues, roots-rock, southern psychedelia, Americana, even some swing and jazz. Their malleable sound is helped by the three founding members’ versatility, who, besides going by intriguing monikers (Cadger, Deadweight, Baggage), often trade off vocal and instrumental duties. Drummer Osteo rounds off the line-up. We figured we had to touch base with the band to learn more about their most interesting story. And we learnt a quite a bit about them, including a penchant for cheeky answers! more ›

Photos by Pooneh Ghana. more ›

As evidenced by its title, Supporting Caste takes on consumerist complacency, self-perpetuating class struggle, and the limitations of democracy, all in the space of about 50 minutes and with enough high-speed riffing to power a hybrid car. more ›

This might come as a surprise, but them Philly peeps known as Dr. Dog aren't spring chickens. Pushing a solid decade (!), you're probably reviewing the mind-tapes in your noggin' remembering all the times you heard-in the background at a dimly lit party or the wine headachy morning of a one-night stand-the scratchy tenor of lead singer and the laid-back psych-homage of the backing band on past albums like Easy Beat or We All Belong. more ›

Austin DJ Car Stereo (Wars) (aka Chris Rose) is performing at Lollapalooza this year. He's also sharing a mashup of Lolla artists for free. Check it out, or watch with the accompanying video here. more ›

Art Week Austin kicks off tomorrow and gradually culminates with this weekend's Art City Austin. We'll be posting a daily summary of Art Week Austin highlights. Wednesday's schedule commences with only a few events, but don't forget that Fusebox Festival starts on Thursday and will add to the critical mass of significant cultural happenings going on this week. Here's what's going on tomorrow: more ›

Scottish (and mawkish) pop outfit Camera Obscura have released their fourth full-length on 4AD, and singer/songwriter Tracyanne Campbell is as love-struck and befuddled as ever. After three years of silence, My Maudlin Career revives the band's tortured but idyllic approach, carrying on the tradition most notably perfected by The Smiths, Galaxy 500 and of course Belle & Sebastien. Flourished with (yep) maudlin scenes (heartthrob French sailors on a moonlit sea anyone?), baroque reveries and Shakespearean plot lines, it's a wonder bands like the Decemberists can still get a room in the Antiquarian Hotel. more ›

If you thought you'd never see this day, you're not alone. Tonight, the Austin Music Hall will get jaw-droppingly loud thanks to the pioneering shoegaze sounds of Kevin Shields and My Bloody Valentine. After over 15 years of inactivity, the group emerged to play a few dates in 2008, and are currently working (off and on) on completing the third full-length album they started back in the '90s. The band are fresh from a noisy, brilliant performance at Coachella, which Billboard described as "the most radical, difficult and unforgettable hour of music in [Coachella's] decade-long history." more ›

The Church of the Friendly Ghost is planning a special performance at The Compound this Wednesday, featuring eclectic performer Jamie Stewart of Xiu Xiu performing solo. more ›

The Faint are gearing up for the release of their next album, due out this August, while Ladytron is supporting their relatively hot-off-the-presses Tomorrow, which came out last month. And, well, Crocodiles are so new that their very first LP is due out next week from Fat Possum. Point being, it's going to be a whole bunch of new stuff, both from the new kids and the established acts, so none of this "Oh, but I saw them in 2006" shenanigans. more ›

On Sunday, Domy Books joined other Kidrobot retailers nationwide to host a Munny decorating party. The simple, unadulterated vinyl toy provided the perfect blank canvas for eager designers. more ›

Austin 360 has confirmed (by cartoon) Pearl Jam as ACL '09 headliners. The band hasn't played in Austin since 1995, and will be supporting the release of their live album, Drop In the Park. We're also anticipating performances from the Beastie Boys and Sonic Youth, seeing as how their scheduled ACL tapings at KLRU are public knowledge, taking place between October 2-4. As for the rest of the lineup, we'll have to hang on until April 28. more ›

In her latest book, Finding Beauty in Broken World, Terry Tempest Williams applies a poet’s sensibility and an unadorned syntax to juxtapose a pair of unlikely subjects: genocide in Rwanda and prairie dogs. Admittedly, that’s an unconventional combination. So is the style - a series of broken narrative and impressionistic paragraphs, braided with reflective comments, a trip to Italy for a class on mosaic construction and stories from her family’s pipeline business. This episodic structure, often found in lyric essays, eliminates the traditional narrative arc; the art arises from the arrangement. No wonder this book took eight years. Although Williams periodically supplies her take, she mostly observes and invites the reader to witness. What keeps the reader engaged is the tender and honest tone. more ›

Cheers to solid shows at the Parish! An ample bar stretches across the length of the East wall providing easily accessible drink-receipt stations, making transactions painless, even if you're as drunk as Lucinda Williams at jury duty. Moreover, the sound is spot-on and the woman behind the board is a complete mensch. If you're lucky enough to nail down a good lineup, you're sittin' pretty ATX-style. more ›

This year's Old Settler's Music Festival featured Fred Eaglesmith, the Lovell Sisters, Cindy Cashdollar, Dave Alvin, Ray Wylie Hubbard, the Lee Brothers and the Travelin McCoury's, Marc Broussard, Robert Earl Keen and many more. Austinist contributing photographer Steve Hopson was there to catch it all. more ›

We are thrilled about music in Austin this May, and a big part of our excitement is thanks to the fifth installment of Chaos in Tejas, a multi-venue festival featuring the best punk and hardcore has to offer. This year's venues include Emo's, Red 7, Mohawk, Beerland, the Broken Neck and more, and the lineup is better than ever. Don't miss Propagandhi's reunion tour in support of their new release Supporting Caste, get some Amebix and Severed Heads of State action, shake to the Thermals and please (please) don't miss sets by Harvey Milk, Times New Viking and Trash Talk. Check here for the complete lineup and ticket info, but stay tuned: Austinist will be giving away tons of tickets and three day passes in May. more ›

It's hard enough being in a band and worrying about people ripping off your sound, or ripping your album off the internet, without also having to worry about your musical gear getting ripped off as well. Sadly, that's what happened to our own When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth. Whoever stole their stuff no doubt has a karmic ass-whumping coming to 'em, but for now, the band's pals have stepped in for a benefit show at Beerland to offset some of the cost of buying all new shit. more ›

Don't miss the great art related events taking place this weekend! Here's a rundown of some of the highlights: Friday Tonight, the UT Undergraduate Art History Association is hosting an art exhibit and sale at Spider House from 8pm to midnight. The event, named UNTITLED, will feature dozens of artists showing and selling their work at affordable prices that range from $5 to $150. KVRX's My Kid Could Paint That will be providing music, and other tempting teasers include cupcakes, live graffiti by Travis Spinks, clothing from Storyville, jewelry from Eurotrash Girl, and more. more ›

As usual, there’s a fortitude of great music to catch this weekend. But tonight’s lineup at the Parish has got us itching for the work week to end. Three promising acts — Ume, Corto Maltese and White Denim — are teaming up to bring some local flavor to music overloaded souls. more ›

They’re a really potent and moving orchestral acoustic troupe from Austin who are great about filling the city air with overwhelming atmospheric sounds. They released their third full-length, All is Wild, All is Silent, on Western Vinyl Records (home to J. Tillman, Dirty Projectors and many more) in March, and it’s a wonder why the gorgeous sounds of this record haven’t consumed the city. The rise and fall of strings, acoustic guitars, clashing symbols and the occasional haunting echoey vocal make this one of the more powerful Austin music outfits. more ›

Avenue Q, the musical unleashed off-Broadway in 2003, is a send-up of Sesame Street, but everybody knows that by now, don’t they? Instead of mirroring the overly cheerful dispositions of the muppets that inspired their creation though, these puppets and the human characters they live with on a rundown street in New York are less concerned with exploring themes like counting and cooperation and more into examining why their lives suck. It’s a tale of coming of age and plain old coming, the latter occurring during a hilarious night of wild puppet sex prompted by the foreplay of drunken revelry. The show has enough of a buzz about it, even after all these years, to run the risk of…not exactly disappointing an expectant audience, but having to stretch pretty far to clear the bar. What with all the billboards around town promising puppet nudity and adult themes, you might arrive anticipating some NC-17 action. Nah. Sure there are plenty of funny bits about racism, homosexuality, Internet porn and schadenfreude, but overall the book is tame enough. more ›

This Saturday night, the Octopus Club, the volunteer arm of AIDS Services of Austin, will be hosting an art exhibit and silent auction of over 200 rather naughty works. The event will be held at the Copper Tank Events Center, and will feature provocative art in a variety of mediums, all exploring erotica in its many forms throughout history. more ›

Anyone who's been to a Dan Deacon show knows that it ain't just any old party. It's a veritable showcase for lunacy in which the undeniably eclectic Deacon buries himself in the crowd and inspires snaking arm tunnels and circular dance routines through the audience, all the while increasing musical tension to a fever pitch. The Baltimore music maven (he has a graduate degree in electro-acoustic and computer music composition) is making tunes unlike anyone else, and despite what sometimes makes for a lack of traditional instrumentation, he's a whirlwind force of repetition and cartoonish weirdness that is impossible not to watch. more ›

Fledgling event producers The Lone Star Ladies are organizing Shop Austin!, an independent craft, design, and art showcase that will take place on Saturday at Saengerrunde Hall. Participating vendors include jewelry artist Christine Terrell of Adaptive ReUse, belt buckle creator Lucy Blue, and mixed media and fine art painter Sarah Fox. The event will hopefully fill some of the void left by the temporary disbanding of the fabulous Stitch craft and fashion show (please come back soon!). This weekend's Shop Austin! will feature over thirty vendors, complimentary facials, a cupcake cafe from Hey Cupcake!, food from Greenling, and chair massages. more ›

Local band The Georgian Company rose from the ashes of the promising alt-country act Just Guns. Just Guns released one EP in 2004 and a full-length in 2006 before calling it quits in 2007. Four of its members now form an integral part of The Georgian Company -- brothers Topher and Travis Hyink, Phil McJunkins, and the versatile George Irwin who is the primary vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and also manages Pants of Fate records. more ›

Theatre is one of the few art forms whose content-delivery system remains untouched by the technological advances of the past decades. You can't download a play, or put it on an iPhone; the only real way to take it in is to physically drag your carcass down to the theatre and sit in a dark room while people make art in front of your eyes. more ›

Given the choice of “I’ve got good news and I’ve got bad news - which would you like to hear first?” people always want to get that bad news over with, so let’s start there. Nielsen Soundscan reported that music sales had dropped 14% in 2008, and it’s a fact that many big as well as tiny indie retailers have been struggling to survive. Furthermore, indie labels have been shuttering or trimming down as well - Touch and Go records gave the “current state of the economy” as their explanation for ceasing to release new music and for the end of their distribution deals with other labels. more ›

On Friday, IF+D, the warehouse district interior design store, will be hosting Finery, a fashion, ceramic, and photography exhibit in collaboration with Art Seen Alliance. Inspired by the idealistic and often sexually charged film culture of the 1920’s & 30’s that helped distract and entertain away the woes of the depression, Finery aims to examine the expensive, the ostentatious, and the decorated . more ›

Queenie Pie, a remarkable musical theater-jazz-opera combination, will be produced here in town by Austin's very own Butler School of Music, Butler Opera Center and Huston-Tillotson University, so this ain't no out of town roadshow, though the play promises to be out of this world. Renowned jazz vocalist Carmen Bradford stars in the show. more ›

This year, the 35-act, 4-stage, 4-day festival taking place at Salt Lick Pavilion and Camp Ben McCulloch will take place April 16-19 and include artists like the BoDeans, The Gourds, the Travelin McCoury’s, The Greencards, Fred Eaglesmith, Hayes Carll, Dave Alvin And The Guilty Women, BeauSoleil avec Michael Doucet, New Monsoon, Ray Wylie Hubbard and more. There will also be plenty of other activities to help shape the event into a well-rounded weekend of music workshops, youth talent competitions, arts & crafts and camping. Whether it’s for the Old Settler’s Music Fest or the Texas Hill Country Wine and Food Fest, you might have to head just out of town to get your entertainment fix this weekend. more ›

The SIMS Foundation has been offering counseling to the music community in Austin ever since Sims Ellison’s tragic suicide in 1995. This Wednesday, the entity presents “Party with The Band” at Copa Bar & Grill. The event is an opportunity for interested parties to learn more about SIMS’ services and resources, donate to the 'I’m with the Band' campaign, and of course, enjoy some live music. Louis Black (Austin Chronicle and SXSW) will host the event which features performances by T Bird and the Breaks and a “surprise guest” as well as beats courtesy of DJ Swing and DJ Protege. The Chairman of SIMS’ Board of Directors, Mark D. Grossman has this to say to Austin’s residents -- “Our challenge to this city is for anyone who participates in live music as a band, bartender, promoter, practice space, studio, venue, and so on - to show up to declare their support for musicians and the 'I'm With The Band' initiative, then we could truly broaden our reach in this community.” more ›

We’ve been hearing the pros and cons of marijuana and its legal status for many a decade now. Most recently, even President Obama had to address the issue at a town hall meeting. This Wednesday, head down to The Mohawk for the 4th Annual Marijuana Law for Musicians & DWI Law for Social Drinkers seminar and learn more about what to do (and especially what not to do) when pulled over or caught with contraband. more ›

Now We Can See is such a transcendently perky recording that we suspect the Thermals had Japanese poet Masahide’s words ‘Barn’s burnt down- Now I can see the moon’ in mind naming and performing it. This would be especially appropriate in light of their apocalyptic last album, The Body, The Blood, The Machine, featuring one couple’s attempt to escape the clutches of a fascist Christian regime that has taken over the United States. Well, that was 2003, and it’s not just the Thermals feeling a lot more chipper these days. more ›

Austin indie-pop outfit Golden Bear describe their sound as "galactic-forest rock," a well-fitting tag for the starry-eyed, sepia-toned EP Everest, which makes for a fantastic soundtrack to high-school nostalgia or first kiss euphoria. more ›

Right away on "Jim Cain," it's hard not to notice the less angular and gritty approach on this record compared to Woke on a Whaleheart. There's a bit of ethereal mist in the air, misty horns and strings swirling about, but since this is a Bill Callahan record, things get a bit darker (and proceed that way) until the end. He's singing about dreaming and waking to an empty room, imagining a woman who may or may not be there, asking for a handbook on mental clarity and noticing the birds have nowhere to land -- everything is in the sky, a mind, a cloud. more ›

The fifth annual First Night Austin New Year's Eve party might seem far away, but if you're an artist looking to participate, you should be scheming and planning now. The first informational meeting for the event is being held next Tuesday, April 21st in the City Hall News Conference Room at 6pm. Artists selected to participate in First Night will be paid for their work and all types of creatives are encouraged to apply. The deadline for artists to submit proposals for the event is May 15th. For more information on the event or the call to artists, visit the First Night website. more ›

Crystal Castles performed at La Zona Rosa last night, and Austinist contributing photographer Pooneh Ghana was there to catch all the action. more ›

It's always a drag to be a man out of time. Never more so than if you are a pissed-off neo-hippie from a broken home, crafting some of the most charmingly ramshackle psychedelia ever recorded in the era of Green Day. more ›

The producers of Supernanny have a new show on the way: World's Strictest Parents. Casting will be in Austin this week looking for parents willing to school young punks take a rebellious teenager into their home and deal with them firmly. The showrunners are eager to find "parents with unique interests; parents with strong family values; conservatives; farmers; parents with devout religious beliefs; academics; eco-friendly parents; and parents who have ordinary or extraordinary circumstances." Casting is also looking for rebellious teens who want a break from their parents, specifically "teens with unique interests; technically savvy teens; hippies; urbanites; slobs; surfers; affluent teens; liberals; defiant teens; and teens who have ordinary or extraordinary circumstances." Interested? Call 1-888-418-3367. [World's Strictest Parents site] more ›

Peter Bjorn and John, blessed as they can be, have for a while appeared to be dodging accountability for the unexpected leap into international fame caused by “Young Folks,” and that song’s ubiquity (think radio, think television, think McDonald’s, think JC Penny), put the somewhat awkward north-Euros into a spotlight their personalities weren’t quite prepared for. To PB&J’s benefit, they haven’t fallen asleep at the experimental wheel, as their clever post-Writer’s Block misdirection Seaside Rock (a slight make-up for Peter Moren’s hideously bland solo album) wandered through instrumental and field recording reels, thus refusing to whet the appetite of a legion of pop-fanatics desperate for another tune to whistle into the ground. But now, with Living Thing, it's time to pay up. more ›

Coming back from a holiday weekend is never fun - just as you've begun to relax, reality chimes in with it's nasty Monday morning alarm. Fortunately, this is Austin and that means Monday evening will be a-bumpin' with a great music, giving you reason enough to keep the party going. And we don't want any pathetic excuses like, "it's a school/work night." How often do you get the chance to hear ear drum annihilating electronic mix up music? Okay, maybe pretty often, but Crystal Castles is a little different from the rest and worth checking out. more ›

The more essential an artist is, the more difficult to introduce them. Often the best thing to do is offer no more than their name and maybe the title of the album before pressing the play button. As difficult as Kottke may be to satisfactorily introduce—cliché terms such as ‘pioneer’ and ‘prodigy’ will inevitably aboud—it’s more difficult to mention his iconic folk status while conveying at the same time the uniqueness of his acoustic guitar within the genre, to describe the way he can sound simultaneously classic and fresh. Happily, just one listen to "Vaseline Machine Gun," which opens with a bottleneck version of "Taps," will get us there. more ›

Austin is the largest city in America without a planetarium. It's easy to see a spectacular spread of stars deep in the heart of West Texas, but local educators and city-bound stargazers have to make their way San Antonio (or Killeen!). more ›

Anxious Wilco lovers must wait a few more weeks until the still-untitled next album is released, but a worthy distraction will soon arrive to make the suspense a little less terrible. Ashes of American Flags, a live concert film featuring performances from the band’s 2008 tour, will be released on DVD April 18 and will also be shown at the Alamo Ritz on Monday night. more ›

The most powerful aspect of 3-man band Doves is that their sound can be so big it seems to expand the very space in which we’re listening. Kingdom of Rust sonically builds a stadium and then proceeds to meticulously fill it, often building a song so naturally that its growth appears organic. Doves’ sound is so sweeping, so epic that it conjures an un-peopled, reverberating frontier rather than the Manchester setting in which the band developed. more ›

We can all agree that Austin is a magical place, a margarita glass filled to the brim with music, art, food, kooky events, and civic pride. Simply walk out your front door and within minutes you've been invited to a party, handed a Lone Star tallboy, and struck up conversation with someone pleasingly attractive while a great band plays in the background. We're spoiled, really. more ›

If you're the sort of person who likes their music fun, funky, and not too serious, Emo's has a show for you this evening. Inside, the foot-loving, foot-tapping Foot Patrol combine their funktastic sound with the "original dirty rapper," Blowfly, who will be bringing his nasty raps and parody songs ("I Wanna Be Fellated") to the stage. more ›

American minimalist composer Alvin Lucier made a life of the physicality of music. Working on the fringes of experimental music and sound installations, he explored acoustic phenomena and auditory perception like no other. A longtime professor at Wesleyan, Lucier's music is heavily influenced by science, seeking to identify and toy with the physical properties of sound itself. The resonance of spaces, phase interference between closely-tuned pitches, and the transmission of sound through physical media have been major areas of focus. more ›

The Alamo Ritz invites you and your pooka to the movies this weekend to enjoy the Jimmy Stewart classic, Harvey. You and your spirit animal can sip Martinis along with Dr. Chumley, Dr. Sanderson, Nurse Kelly and of course Elwood, as Harvey is part of the Alamo Cinema Cocktails Signature Series, which pairs signature drinks (The Harvey Wallbanger, for example) with movie characters' alcoholic tastes. more ›

Oddball L.A. musician Ariel Pink is once again bringing along his Haunted Graffiti band for a night of warped pop tunes at The Mohawk. more ›

Overqualified is ideal for reading in public. Because it's good to laugh and cry in public. Most of us go through a range of emotions when writing cover letters for job applications. We know the doubt, the fear, the frustration, and the possible sliver of hope that comes from contriving the most professional and least complicated versions of ourselves we can present. Overqualified, by A Softer World’s Joey Comeau, dispenses with everything your Career Advisor told you more ›

Late call: There's just a few hours left in our Morrissey ticket giveaway, so go fill out the form before you forget. The legendary Brit will be crooning the night away on Sunday, April 12 at the UTPAC, supporting Years Of Refusal. [more info] more ›

“Ain’t Over” from People Skills is one of the more immediately remembered songs on the album. It has a very sing along-friendly chorus that feels more than a tad over the top at times. The electronic buzz and beats behind some very spoken wordy vocals are easily enjoyable and whimsical. more ›

Chicago-based reedman and composer Ken Vandermark is probably no stranger to Austin ears, as he has been here numerous occasions with his regularly working group, the Vandermark Five; Peter Brötzmann’s Chicago Tentet; and in trio with drummers Paul Lytton (UK) and Paul Lovens (Germany). more ›

On Good Friday (that's tomorrow, for all you non-observant readers), two gods among mortals in the Austin art world, Michael Schliefke and Ian Shults, are curating a holy showing of art entitled Biblical Proportions. The exhibit will be split up between two East Side studios, Blue Genie and Bearded Lady, where the focus will be on art from the Old Testament and the New Testament, respectively. The over one hundred participating artists have been asked to create a piece of art based off of a story from the Bible. more ›

My Child, My Child, My Alien Child is a blend of sketch, slam and stand-up that will have parents and singletons alike reaching for tissues. Zell Miller III's unique storytelling blend only runs for three weeks at the Hyde Park Theatre: we insist you not miss it. more ›

Last month, far from the maddening SXSW crowd holding court downtown, an ensemble of six actors and two musicians presented a three-performance only show at a house tucked away in a quiet neighborhood off of Cameron Road. The house could only hold an audience of about twenty (and that was very tight). Which means that roughly sixty people got the intense joy of witnessing Big Head House: Breath in the dreams of The Amphibious Gods. And then it went away. The musicians in the show—Lisa Shawley and Michael Shay—make up the band The Just Desserts. Shawley plays accordion and flute and sings, and Shay plays cello and tenor banjo and sings. As a testament to their talent, understand that Big Head, written by Michener Fellow Frances Ya-chu Cowhig—who just won the massively impressive honor of receiving the 2009 Yale Drama Series Award for her Guantamo-themed Lidless—has no dialogue. None. Not only that but each character is restricted to essentially one emotion per person, as the massive masks they wear are smooth, white, larval visages, frozen in one expression or another. And while the incredible physicality of the actors involved certainly conveyed much of the story, it was the dramatic work of The Just Desserts that gelled the piece. more ›

Photos courtesy Pooneh Ghana. more ›

As one might expect from an artist with quotes in one of a handful of his monikers, Will Oldham (aka Palace Brothers, Palace music, and Palace Songs) is a veritable peddler of musical red herrings. A good deal of Oldham’s charm is thanks to his tongue having taken up permanent residence in his cheek. more ›

Last month, we sat down with Armstrong to talk a bit about the book, as well as what it is like to be the creator of the "most popular personal blog on the internet." Since then, Armstrong's second book has been receiving critical acclaim and debuted last week at #16 on the New York Times Best Seller list. Expected to be equal parts irreverent, honest and bittersweet, It Sucked is the tale of one woman's struggle with pregnancy, postpartum depression and unconditional love. more ›

"Oh, that's cool," we thought, "Leonard Nimoy showed up for the screening of The Wrath of Khan that the Alamo Drafthouse and Fantastic Fest had set up for last night." We were so naive to think that the Alamo didn't have some subversive trick up its sleeve. Suddenly, our mobile phone exploded as millions of geeks from inside the maroon-swathed walls of the Alamo South Lamar simultaneously flooded the internet with word that, no, Nimoy had not showed up for TWoK, but rather he had shown up with a never-seen-by-pedestrian-eyes print of the soon-to-be classic J.J. Abrams reboot of Star Trek. more ›

Season subscriptions are now available for the newly-announced 2009-2010 Broadway Across America series, which locally is held at Bass Concert Hall. The season, which starts in October, includes Spring Awakening, The Color Purple, Fiddler on the Roof, In the Heights, and A Chorus Line. Individual tickets will be made available about two months before each production. [Broadway Across America] more ›

There's a big ol' bevy of music on tap at Beerland tonight, including local psychedelic soundsters Shapes Have Fangs, Italian blues-punk peddlers Movie Star Junkies, local bluegrass act John Schooley & His One Man Band, and Austin's own psyched out Americana act, the Transgressors. more ›

You know what might be a great publicity trick, if Great Lake Swimmers (singer/songwriter Tony Dekker plus his touring band) actually swam across Lake Ontario. For these melodic folk rockers to make it the whole 52-kilometer journey, there might have to be a fair amount of training involved. But, who knows, musicians usually have to be pretty resilient and full of moxy. more ›

hough they just graced us with their presence in September, Ratatat is coming back to Stubb's tonight and sure to deliver a sweet mix of blissful lyric-less love. Famous for shows seething with billowing smoke and intriguing aesthetics, the members of Ratatat are surprisingly unassuming on stage. Quiet and bleak, they waste no time with chatter between tracks. more ›

Robyn Hitchcock and the Venus 3 rolled through Austin on Friday night supporting Goodnight Oslo. Leatherbag opened, and Austinist contributing photographer Steve Hopson shot the evening. more ›

MA's Guster and Wild Sweet Orange will rock the walls of Stubb's Waller Creek on April 22 at an Earth Day celebration to benefit the Hill Country Conservancy. The conservancy focuses on keeping Texas' open spaces, uh, open, but specifically dotes on Barton Springs because of its relationship with our water supply. more ›

This year's gala takes place on Tuesday, April 7th at the The Long Center for the Performing Arts, and includes a post-dinner dessert reception. Tickets, $75, can be purchased online, or for your chance to go for free, enter our contest after the jump. more ›

Most of the seats for beloved author and humorist David Sedaris' April 20th appearance at Riverbend Center went to Paramount season subscribers, but we're told that a very limited number of individual seats are still available. Some of these have obstructed views, but should clearly indicate as such. [Tickets] more ›

How many times have you considered how awesome a movie version of your life would be? You're hilarious, your friends are crazy, you have gut-wrenching problems, and then there was that great that thing you said that one time. Seriously—it’s not just us, is it? But would people who didn’t know you find it as great as you would? Adventureland might just answer that question. more ›

There are so many great upcoming and ongoing art events taking place this weekend, here's a rundown of the highlights: Tonight the Blanton is celebrating all things art with yet another B scene party. This month will focus on "art in motion"and will feature the Cohen New Works Festival, a biennial exhibit organized by the UT Department of Theatre and Dance. more ›

The 8th annual Austin City Limits music festival will take place October 2-4 at Zilker Park. Tickets will be available starting April 7, and the full lineup is due for release April 28. more ›

Several Austin establishments have announced alternate hours or complete shut-downs this weekend, due to the Texas Relays. No specific or unified reason has been offered, but all the entities have mentioned safety concerns, poor revenue in past years, and post-SXSW blues. more ›

This Saturday at the Main Mall at UT you will be able to catch Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, who have actually played at all of the aforementioned festivals, for a free show at this year’s Forty Acres Fest. Past performers at this fest providing music, games, food and fun for all have included The Roots, Common, Little Richard and more. But, this time it’s the Brooklyn-based indie art rockers. more ›

Houston Ritcheson, one of Red River St.’s permanent fixtures, was recently diagnosed with cancer, and this Friday, a number of concerned Austin citizens are throwing a shindig at Red 7 to celebrate his birthday and raise funds to help pay his medical expenses. Ritcheson has been a part of numerous punk bands including Brewtality Inc., The Contradicks, Lower Class Brats, Four Violent People, Belligerent 86, The Knocked Out Stiffs, and Method Of Destruction. In addition to that hefty résumé, Ritcheson is easily recognizable from his shifts as a staffer at The Back Room and Headhunters. We also learnt via a message board that he helped build a practice rink in town for the Texas Rollergirls. more ›

Willie Nelson's playing a show at Riverbend Center on May 3; tickets go on sale this Sunday morning at 9 a.m. over at Gettix.net. Seats range from $50.50 to $130.50, not including handling fee. (Thanks for the tip, Ryan) [Gettix] more ›

Newer fans may have come to the alt-country band Clem Snide via frontman Eef Barzelay’s solo career; his 2008 release Lose Big charmed much of the NPR set with its quirky, demure lyrics and somewhat addictive simplicity. But Clem Snide, named after a recurring character in the novels of William S. Burroughs, has long been a showcase for Barzelay’s songwriting, with a rotating cast of characters backing him up. more ›

Not that you need anything besides provocative dance numbers, magic, acrobatics, juggling, and The No Salvation Army Band (riffing on Cole Porter, Prince, Queen, and the White Stripes to name but a few) to entice you to attend BUT…oh joy!...here’s another big nudge: Chia Guillory, one of Austin’s best known, best loved, most talented designers (if you don’t have one of her bags, you really should), created costumes for the opening number. more ›

Norman McLaren and Evelyn Lambart's miraculous-and meticulous-1949 film Begone Dull Care/Caprice En Couleurs was a groundbreaking detour from conventional modes of animated expression: an eight minute visual interpretation of a boogie woogie, painted directly on the celluloid. Piano lines traipse across the frame, pulled perfectly to the rhythms; when the rolling bass of the main theme hit, colors explode to the beat. Yet, even dulled to innovation in the age of Pixar and Dreamworks' CG blockbusters, instead of appearing dated, one is impressed with the extraordinary resiliency of McLaren's work. By eschewing more tractable mediums, he had created something immortal, something worthy of eternal respect and fascination. more ›

Robyn Hitchcock is one of those musicians who has diligently labored in semi-obscurity for decades, starting out as a member of the Soft Boys back in the '70s and continuing through a respectable solo career. Known for his esoteric lyrics, Hitchcock has developed a loyal following but never become an overnight sensation, although he's attracted the attention of some impressive fans -- including fellow musicians like Peter Buck and Syd Barrett and filmmaker Jonathan "Silence of the Lambs" Demme. more ›

Ready to roots-rock out? If so, please head down to the Continental Club tonight for a trio of folk and blues-based rock bands all based here in Austin. more ›

The Mohawk is no stranger to unique and special events. The venue has consistently brought us a wide array of entertainment, from Beard & Moustache Competitions to Bollywood Bashes, from Ice Cube to Monotonix. This Thursday, the mysterious DJ Minor Strachan spins his vast collection of New Orleans swamp pop records for our pleasure. We learnt from a couple of sources that Strachan actually makes a conscious effort to keep his name and his show listings off the internet. No MySpace page here. He lives in NYC now and only DJs a couple of times a year, offering up music from New Orleans spanning the 40’s, 50’s, and 60’s. Apparently, he stores these prized records in a cedar case lined with Crown Royal bags and laced with the lightest dose of Drakkar Noir (per our source!) Thursday’s event is presented by esteemed Austin musician Chris Pagan Nelson (The Foggy Mountain Cop Killing Boys) who also lives in NYC now. more ›

The subject of today’s installment must be supergroups because here’s one more reason to like Austin music, and it starts with a name you may already know, American Analog Set. more ›

Shearwater opened for Neko Case as she kicked off her Middle Cyclone tour at Stubb's last night. Photos courtesy Chad Wadsworth. more ›