Arts & Entertainment

Most humans consider themselves sexual beings or, at the very least, appreciate a little intimacy every now and then. One group that often gets passed over when it comes to any sort of carnal exploration is the disabled. It wouldn't be far-fetched to say they are even shunned from sexuality. In SXSW Documentary Spotlight film Scarlet Road, society's knee-jerk, unsettled reaction gets put to the test and, hopefully, the subject matter gains a bit of awareness, respect, and understanding. more ›

Finnish death metal stalwarts Children of Bodom are celebrating fifteen years together with a big tour sponsored by ESP. They hit Emo's East tonight with a few other bands, including the technical/mind-melting Revocation, Threat Signal, and the "folk metal" Eluveitie. Eclectic but extreme, this is a loud bill for anyone wanting some early evening metal. more ›

Your eight-year-old prefers Hemingway to Harry Potter and has read The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, twice. Lately he’s taken to carrying around a notebook he scribbles in every time you use a cliché. Other people think he’s socially awkward, but you're certain he’s a budding artiste. Time to sign him up for Badgerdog’s Spring Break Creative Writing Program where published poets, playwrights and fiction writers can cultivate his nascent literary talent. more ›

Resident blackout poet Austin Kleon has a new book out called Steal Like An Artist. Kleon presented many of the ideas in the new work as a talk in April of last year at Broome Community College, and he has expanded on these ideas and pulled it all together in print form. See the book trailer after the jump. more ›

As one of the most consistent outlets of quality recordings, AMW focuses primarily on live shows in Austin venues. Since its inception on Thanksgiving day of 2010, the goal has been to highlight solely local bands. To do so, AMW's format consists of filming bands on stage during an actual performance, giving online audiences an accurate depiction of the act's live show. more ›

Amidst the pews of St. David's, Islands bestowed Austin with a show that managed to feel both intimate and grandiose. Dance numbers that made you forget you were in a house of worship interspersed easily with more subdued & softer melodies that seamlessly fit alongside the altar and pulpit backdrop. more ›

Kickstarter is full of projects, and - like so many others - this one by Austinite Juan Gil de Lamadrid is designed to raise funds for an album release. This project, though, is especially unique - the proposed album is the work of de Lamadrid's father, Jose Gil de Lamadrid, who died in 1985. The songs were put onto tape and one vinyl copy decades ago, and Juan is hoping to release his father's music on iTunes, on compact disc, and to create animated videos for two of the songs more ›

Los Campesinos! Not in any way a Spanish or Mexican-based band, the group’s deceptive title serves merely to signify a group of musical companions, and companions they are. This quirky seven-piece band originally comes from Wales, employing pop melodies and heartfelt words of heartbreak and wisdom. In the midst of their huge North American tour (including two nights at the Parish, lucky us!) guitarist Neil Turner was kind enough to give us a few minutes of phone time to discuss the recent Megaupload debacle, among other things, and all in a lovely Welsh accent, of course. more ›

Over the last four years, the men and women of Los Campesinos! have established themselves as one of the UK's most prolific and quality bands, thanks in no small part to their continued artistic growth and willingness to flesh out their sound. A Los Campesinos! show is almost always guaranteed to be a cathartic experience, and a showcase for the group's many talents and collective personality. more ›

Bringing it brassy and crassy from Gadsden, Alabama Yelawolf (a.k.a. Catfish Billy) has had a roller coaster history from underground to major label only to dive back and emerge finally with another major label reinvention, Radioactive. more ›

Seven Austin artists are uniting tomorrow night for Good Company, a collaborative show at SUPER!ALRIGHT! Studios. The one-night exhibition features recent works of various styles, techniques, and mediums by Jason Archer, Paul Beck, Jen Bradley, Adreon Henry, Shea Little, Sean Ripple, and Jacob Villanueva. We checked in with a few of the artists to learn more about their latest works. more ›

As we mentioned last month when the Drafthouse did a handful of sneak preview screenings, this Belgian import released by Drafthouse Films was nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar. Today, it officially opens in Austin, New York and Los Angeles (with additional cities expanding next week). more ›

Following the success of Nick “Diamond” Thornburn’s tour with Mister Heavenly (his star-studded side project with Ryan Kattner/Honus Honus and Michael Cera/George Michael) he’s returned to his Canadian, indie-pop roots. Quick on the heels of A Sleep & A Forgetting, which dropped Tuesday, Montreal’s eclectic, pop-rockin’ quartet Islands will be playing an intimate showcase tonight at St. David’s Episcopal Church with Idiot Glee, the moniker of James Friley’s lo-fi, echo-filled solo project. more ›

The pictures did not lie. Action Bronson is a massive, cinnamon-bearded white guy. He seemed to average one spliff every three songs. There’s really no telling how much ammunition remains in the Action Bronson ascendance. He’s a good rapper, and there’s certainly a hunger for stepped-back classicalism, and the dude just showed up on Heems’ mixtape so he must be hanging out with the right, career-extending people. more ›

It seems that SXSW gets more organized every year - nearly a month in advance, version one of the massive SXSW Super Grid showing all panels, talks, films, and band showcases is now up for your perusal. As with any conference taking place in 100 venues with 2,000 bands and hundreds of films, expect these grids to shuffle often in the next few weeks due to last-minute programming additions, changes, and deletions. One other music note: the banner showcases at Stubb's, Auditorium Shores, Austin Music Hall, and ACL Live/Moody are notoriously absent from this initial grid, so expect some show 'reveals' in the weeks to come for some of the bigger names like Fiona Apple and The Jesus and Mary Chain. more ›

Looking for something to do this weekend that combines high art with the candy-coated fun of audience participation reality television? Ballet Austin's 4th Biennial New American Talent/Dance at the Long Center is offering just the thing. more ›

The Esme Barrera Fan Club, a group of over 50 musicians, will join the space-pop/rock outfit Polyphonic Spree on stage tonight at La Zona Rosa. more ›

If you haven't checked, it's Wednesday. No doubt probably the least stimulating day of the week. Time to change that habit and fry some nerves, brain cells, and other parts of your body that you don't need. Let the free sludge flow! more ›

Fiona Apple will play their official showcase on Thursday, March 15. The show will take place at Central Presbyterian Church for only 400 people and is open only to badge-holders. more ›

About a year ago, a video of a twenty-something gal dancing on a New York ferry to music by Girl Talk started making the rounds. Now the full-length film, Girl Walk // All Day will be shown at SXSW 2012 as a Special Events screening. more ›

Beauty Is Embarrassing, appearing in the SXSW 2012 Documentary Spotlight category, follows the trajectory of cartoon artist Wayne White, one of the creators of the Pee Wee's Playhouse television show and a generally colorful character. more ›

Who: Austin’s own version of the Kinks, right down to the familial connections. The Daily Brothers feature bros Chris and Jeff, who write, record, and produce their own music from the comfort of the bedroom, with bro Matt on drums and non-bro Keegan (wife of Jeff) on backing vocals and “visual art/design.” more ›

In the last fifteen years, few bands would be better described as outliers than Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Thee Silver Mt. Zion. And few bands have been as frequently disparaged for everything from their use of "non-musical" audio samples to their frequent band name changes (Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra and Tra-La-La Band, anyone?) to their passionately pissed off (or is it just honest?) lyrical-political rhetoric. Despite these digs, Godspeed founding member Efrim Manuel Menuck has continued to fight the good fight with Silver Mt. Zion via 15-minute swells of violin-driven rock anthems buttressed by his distinct voice, very richly rewarding those who've stuck around long enough to get past any initial inclination towards disliking the music. With all of this to discuss, we called up the Montreal-based Menuck in advance of Silver Mt. Zion's Mohawk show tonight to get his take on all the smack-talk, the inherent goodness of people, and the possibility of another Godspeed album. more ›

Austin punky and poppy band The Impossibles are reuniting with a show at the Mohawk on June 9th. The band originally formed after the demise of another band called Fat Girl in 1994, and so came the Impossibles, who combined bright alternative rock with ska and punk leanings. They released their debut The Impossibles in 1997. They broke up, got back together again, broke up again, and, happily, are coming back after ten years off. more ›

Ben Kweller, now a local label owner who put out his latest album on said label Go Fly A Kite last week played the Beauty Ballroom on Friday night. Chad Wadsworth got photos. more ›

SXSW organizers announced that sales of festival music wristbands will close at noon today. Wristbands are $175, and sales are limited to Austin-area residents only, with a maximum of two wristbands per sale. To purchase, run don't walk to wristbands.sxsw.com. From the release: "The SXSW Music Festival takes place Tuesday, March 13 - Sunday, March 18, 2012 on 95 stages throughout central Austin with 2000 bands performing. Online purchase requires a credit card with a billing zip code in the Austin area." more ›

Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli, the biggest-selling solo artist in classical music history, made his first appearance in Austin on Friday night. Accompanied by a full orchestra, Bocelli wowed the rapt audience with his voice. Austinist's Steve Hopson was there to photograph the music. more ›

We've got an interview coming up with Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra principal Efrim Manuel Menuck prior to their performance at the Mohawk this evening. As always with this Canadian collaboration, the expected is to be unexpected. more ›

Whitney Houston's publicist, Kristen Foster, has confirmed that the singer died today at the age of 48, though it's unclear what the cause of death was, or where she was when she died. Most recently, rumors spread that Houston was broke and would be homeless if it weren't for her friends, though her rep denied it. more ›

It was just this past November that I was doubled over in my chair in a dark room at Coldtowne Theater, tears of laughter running down my face, trying to catch my breath while watching Stag Comedy's show: The Jerk Parade. A combination of live sketches and videos, the members of Stag filled the theater to the brim with as many people as the small space could fit. This coming February they will have a bit more room to run wild with their antics, with shows at The Alamo Drafthouse Ritz this February 12th and 19th. This will mark Stag's 4th full length show performed at the Alamo, and if past shows are any indication, tickets will be going fast. Despite being busy preparing for their show, Austinist was able to chat with the members of Stag (Joe Parsons, Mac Blake, David Jara, Dave Youmans, Andrew Rosas, and Ximena Estrada) to learn a bit about their writing process, what they think is funny, and the sketch comedy scene in Austin. more ›

East Austin's creative offerings on Saturday will please fans of both fine art and kitschy crafts. Venture east for both artists' open studios and DIY beef hair accessories. more ›

Action Bronson is a giant white dude from Queens who raps mainly about food. Seriously, “an hour later eat a burger with my drug dealer /and add the butter to the fudge to make the fudge realer.” His breakout mixtape is full of the same lighthearted, soul-sampled, New York shit-talk that the Northeast has been missing lately. There’s no grim gun-talk, or arrests, or social justice - just retro-rap with a sense of humor. His breakout mixtape Dr. Lecter is a product of a bunch of no-name producers and features, but it remains one of the brightest moment’s of last year’s mixtape glut. more ›

So this one isn't technically a film, but it's one of the headlining events of SXSW 2012 and we're kinda very excited to introduce it. more ›

Who was it that said love and death were the only things worth writing about? While stories about death might be a bit morose for a Saturday night, love rather fits into the whole Valentine's Day theme that’s been popping up—for better or for worse— in retail stores lately.

Don’t bother fighting it; there’s no use. Go ahead and order that carton of chocolate-covered strawberries and while you’re at it, stop by BookPeople tonight to hear author Dave Isay read from his latest book All There Is: Love Stories from StoryCorps. more ›

Hitting town with Oscar nominations for Best Foreign Language Film and Best Screenplay, Asghar Farhadi's story of a marriage on the rocks is perhaps most notable for the fact that it portrays a controversial subject in Iran and yet was the country's official selection for the Academy Awards. more ›

Kiyanna means "to tell" in Sinhalese and the goal of Austin's Kiyanna project is to capture the story of musicians, one song at a time. Filmed in various Austin locations as diverse as a tire shop, Florence's Comfort House, the historic O. Henry House Museum and even the streets, there are no set stages here. In just one long shot (camera take), musicians are invited to share any kind of story and then play a song of their choosing. more ›

It might set off a few red flags to see a “Survival Tips” page on a music festival’s website, but the folks behind the Punx Picnic are nothing if not pragmatic. They’re putting on their Texas-sized punk bash on the Eastest-most side of the East Side: just south of Walter E. Long Lake, where MLK turns into Farm-To-Market Road 969. You can camp out on the Picnic’s bucolic Music Ranch estate and catch over one hundred bands all weekend long. more ›

On Wednesday night, Austin was treated to show #2 of Har Mar Superstar's February residency at Mohawk. Our photographer Pooneh Ghana was there to capture the fun. more ›

L Style G Style co-founders and life partners Lynn Yeldell and Alisa Weldon will be recognized with the Visibility Award at the 2012 Austin HRC Gala. This award recognizes LGBT individuals who are living open and honest lives at home, at work, and in their greater community. The couple met at the Austin Gay and Lesbian Film Festival. Lynn found Alisa's energy and enthusiasm infectious and these same qualities became the foundation to starting L Style G Style. The couple talked with Austinist about being honored with the award, the difficulties of living openly and honestly, and their views on the Austin LGBT community. more ›

To prep for the 2012 SXSW Film Festival (which happens to start in exactly one month, by the way), over the next several days we'll be taking a look at a few of the films screening during the week long, 10-venue event. more ›

Austin's home grown live-action comic book is really starting to make a name for itself. The Intergalactic Nemesis' feature story on NPR's All Things Considered seemed like big news a few weeks ago when it aired, and it certainly was. But now, the show will stop for one very special performance on a special day in New York. On Valentine's Day, The Intergalactic Nemesis will be performing on Conan live in front of a studio audience and the nation for the first time. How romantic! more ›

The DJ dudes at Flying Turns are entering their terrible twos, and they're celebrating with a party at the Beauty Bar. The drinks will be "hosted" by the Turns and Treaty Oak Rum and Waterloo Gin, and the music - if we're judging by this mix they made just for us - will be dancey and feature robot voices, and will have shout-outs to us the entire time. Joining the crew at this celebration will be Jerome Derradji out of Chicago, who has a solid dance music pedigree. He's on the mix, too. And tonight, get a preview of what these guys can do with their tribute to Detroit at the North Door. more ›

Following last week's Feature Film lineup announcement, today SXSW revealed the 11 films that will make up the genre-oriented Midnighter category as well as 135 short films that will span twelve different shorts programs. more ›

Tim and Eric stopped by our local Fox affiliate this morning to talk about their new film Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie.

Tim and Eric Stop by Good Day: MyFoxAUSTIN.com

If you've been secretly hiding a pair of old school roller skates under your bed, now's the time to whip 'em out and ride. This Thursday, UNITE!, Team Prohomo, Mouthfeel, Sir/Ma'am, and Alien She will bring together a rainbow assortment of queers for Roller Disco, a skate party and volunteer drive at the Millenium Youth Entertainment Complex. more ›

Find out who, out of all 567 entries, stood out the most in this year's contest at the Winners’ Party tonight at BookPeople (losers also welcome). Stay to hear first, second and third place read their winning pieces; afterwards, shmooze with local literati and enjoy free snacks. more ›

Today we received word that everyone's favorite thrash band that knows how to work through their feelings have created their own music festival. Entitled the Orion Music + More, the event will take place on June 23rd and 24th of this year in Atlantic City, New Jersey. more ›

Admission during fall of 2011 at the University of Texas was about 51,000 students - that's a lot of people who can appreciate a good Bevo Bucks riff. more ›

The kings (or dukes, maybe) of noise pop are coming to SXSW this year, say the Statesman and a bunch of other people. Prior to that the band will hit Denton, Houston, and L.A. more ›

Since 2000, King Khan has been spreading his love like peanut butter with the Shrines, a variously seven-, eight- and nine-member psychedelic soul band, with all the trappings (baritone sax, bad haircuts) to go with it. more ›

We're just about a month away from the opening of the newest Alamo Drafthouse location. The plans for Alamo Slaughter Lane were started almost four years ago, but had to be put on hold when the tanking economy called the entire shopping center development into question. The whole plaza, located in the Circle C neighborhood, is now starting to slowly come to life and this state-of-the-art theater opening next month, (filled to the brim with sustainable and more efficient features) will anchor it. more ›

After kicking around the local scene for a couple of years, Literature finally released a full-length last month, dropping it via bandcamp in the creative Chernobyl that extends roughly from December 26th to the middle of January. It's there now to download in any format at whatever price the buyer cares to pay, which is never not a good deal. more ›

Big Medium, the force behind the East Austin Studio Tour (EAST), is moving west of I-35 for the first West Austin Studio Tour (WEST). WEST, which will take place May 19 and 20, will be the spring counterpart for autumn’s EAST. Like EAST, WEST will be a free, self-guided tour of artist studios, galleries, and spaces. The boundaries for WEST are west of I-35, east of Mopac, south of HWY 183, and north of I-71/360. more ›

That Austin City Limits taping of Wilco that we enjoyed? You can watch it now on PBS, or embedded below. more ›

Zola Jesus played the Parish on Friday with openers Talk Normal and Technicolor Hearts. Here's our interview with Nika Danilova from the end of last year. more ›

The biggest music news this week concerns a three-day, monster music festival waaay out in a part of East Austin still untouched by fusion food carts. The Punx Picnic is a weekend and change of music and music and more music - 100+ bands, and camping, and pets are allowed, and it's all ages and kids under 14 are free. Also: "Carnival, Sideshows, Devil’s Drop Half-Pipe, Overnight Camping; Local Food & Treats Vendors, Punk Wear, Record Shops, Tattoo Parlors, Smoke supplies. no Expensive Beer Vendors, Bring Your Own Cooler Stocked!~BYOB!!" So maybe you will find some food carts, but D.I.Y. or die. more ›

The molten garage howl of King Kahn and the Shrines touches down at the Mohawk tonight. After a contentious, internet-induced break up with longtime collaborator, BBQ Show (aka Mark Sultan), Kahn tours again with a new Scion A/V EP. Somewhere at the intersection where The Sonics meet Stax Records, Kahn and the Shrines a reputation for a cage match live show without the cage. Rock and roll super exes, Laurie Anderson and Lou Reed once asked them to "put back the danger into the devil's music”. Here’s your chance to witness a reverse exorcism. more ›

If you’re wondering what to do with your Saturday night, why not make good on your New Year's resolution (the one that says: Read more, Facebook less) and get thee to a local bookstore. ZZ Packer makes an appearance at BookPeople tonight at 7 pm, thanks to American Short Fiction, where she'll be talking with writer Jacqueline Luckett about Luckett’s second novel, Passing Love more ›

Like the whole "I read it for the articles" self-justification surrounding Playboy in its early days, The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, first debuting in 1964, had its presence explained on the kitchen table by the fact that "It only comes out once a year, honey, relax" and plus "the photography is really good...look at how beautiful these beaches are!" and it was an excellent showcase for swimwear, albeit swimwear that is always peeling off and being clutched to the bosom of Tyra Banks or another model with bedroom eyes, appendages stuck in sexy contortions out in the Caribbean. more ›

Jonathan Sanders’ wife calls him “a hoarder of random objects.” If that statement is true, then Sanders has impeccable taste in weathered pipes and tree branches, which make their way into his sculptures. Fusing found items such as railroad spikes, insect-devoured wood, and corroded pipes to concrete, steel, and even resin, Sanders constructs pieces with modern, architectural lines. His Constructed Exploration exhibition opens at Gallery Black Lagoon tonight, 7-10pm. more ›

With an expert blend of humor, romance, fun and booze, the Alamo Drafthouse is hosting a Princess Bride Quote Along Feast in honor of Valentine’s Day and will simultaneously roll out their new signature line of wine. more ›

Tilda Swinton stars in We Need To Talk About Kevin (Oscilloscope). more ›

The last year has registered a veritable explosion of female electronic-focused musicians, including Lykke Li, Oh Land, Austra, Glasser, jj, tUnE-yArDs, Little Boots and more. Zola Jesus, led by Nika Roza Danilova - a Russian American via Wisconsin - leans towards the darker atmospheric side of the genre. Releasing three albums in just as many years, Danilova has evolved her sound throughout this short time by using her inner world images and musical curiosity as fodder. In a recent NYTimes magazine interview, Danilova discussed the music making process: "I like to work with sounds that are indistinguishable, when many different instruments or sounds can blend together to make one solid drone that can move and carry the song. I think my music and my style are connected in a way where they’re both trying to express the same things, or make sense of something greater." more ›

The three piece outfit has perfected a warped, shambolic sound that sounds simple on first listen, but unpacking all the dark nuances is half the fun. Their debut full-length, Should I Try Once More?, "tells the story of someone falling in love, with each song acting as a scene in the story." Garage-rock concept album, anyone? Sundae Records will release it on April 10 via digital, vinyl, and CD versions. more ›

Texas electro garage psych lights up the ND tonight when Indian Jewelry tears into the first road show of their pre-SXSW tour. Often, "psychedelic" is used to describe music sticking to a blotchy formula that’s less interesting than the sweat stains on grandma’s Jefferson Airplane tee shirt. Lately, the genre’s been expanded by some who think that music with any measure of phased, fuzzy, reverb guitar is psych rock. But Indian Jewelry has carved out a rather unique niche, which has garnered them a booking for Austin Psych Fest 2012. Their music ranges from psych pop delight to electro noise rock. Wherever in that spectrum their music might warble, it’s likely to make you wonder who dosed your Lone Star. more ›

Music nerds, take note. South By Southwest organizers just sent out a release saying that 2,000 music wristbands will go on sale at 10am via wristbands.sxsw.com at an initial price of $149. These wristbands grant the wearer space-available access to all evening SXSW showcases from March 13th to March 18th. Over 2,000 bands will perform at the 2012 edition of the festival at approximately 95 venues. more ›

How does Texas - or at least Austin - stack up in 33 1/3 representation? Not so hot, it turns out. So what with 33 1/3's open-minded and expansive appreciation for pitches of various sorts, we entreaty you - readers and writers and friends of readers and writers - to give our State some recognition already. more ›

It’s the day we (film nerds) have been waiting for: most of the lineup for the 2012 SXSW Film Festival has been revealed. In addition to the titles that have already been announced (The Cabin in The Woods, Girls, etc.), we now have dozens more available to Google, judge and ponder before the festival begins on March 9. more ›

Theophilus London performed as part of the grand opening of the Beauty Ballroom on Riverside, sister venue to downtown’s Beauty Bar, part of the cultural shift that’s moving the city’s soul so that people who like to eat generic haute cuisine on the ground floor of anonymous high rises have more choices. The Ballroom is a wonderfully huge and homey space with vaulted ceilings and walls decorated with concentric glitter squares that convey “urban Etsy” warmth. It’s the same crowd as the cookie box downtown venue, so take that as a warning or an enticement. The future schedule, however, looks to be a far more diverse proposition, with some noteworthy hip hop shows thrown in the mix. more ›

There was some consternation last summer when longtime east side blues joint TC's Lounge shuttered its doors after thirty three years of dive bar camaraderie and boozy, sweat-soaked dance marathons. But. BUT. New ownership soon took over the space, renaming it The Sahara Lounge. There's the same comfortable vibe and uniquely themed music nights: Saturday is African Night, at which two of the owners play, and Wednesday is Psychedelic Night. All is well. more ›

On Sunday night, two fresh New York exports brought a genre-bending showcase to Mohawk, courtesy of Gorilla vs. Bear. A sold out crowd packed in to the inside stage for Brooklyn-based newcomers Ava Luna, who combine doo-wop, gospel, rhythm and blues, and electro-pop with their melting pot sound. Think Dirty Projectors’ girl/guy harmonies and falsetto mixed with soul that stylistically fluctuates from '70s deep grooves to '90s diva - the sixtet’s eclectic compositions create a truly unique experience. more ›

Just a reminder that badges for the epic Moontower Comedy and Oddity Festival are on sale as of right now. You can get yours on the festival website, the Paramount’s home page or call 512-474-1221. Single show tickets go on sale Thursday, Feb. 23, 2012. The illustrious list of twenty four confirmed headliners includes Seth Meyers, Aziz Ansari, Steven Wright, The Amazing Johnathan, Maria Bamford, Hannibal Buress, Matt Bearden, and John Ramsey. more ›

KUT is creating an "Austin Music Map" with funding from the Association of Independents in Radio, Inc. (A.I.R.). The self-described "innovative journalism project" comes courtesy of "Localore," a program created by AIR meant to target "underrepresented musical subcultures." Austin is one of only ten cities that has been awarded the chance to document said subcultures, and KUT's work will be undertaken by producer-in-residence Delaney Hall. more ›