Day two with Chad Wadsworth - in this set you'll see a little Iron and Wine, a little Stevie, the boys from Chromeo, and maybe yourself. more ›

Our photographer Chad Wadsworth saw quite a bit of music this weekend. Maybe you and yours were out in the crowd during this verdant installment of ACL? more ›

Just before Wild Beasts played "The Devil's Crayon," the sole song in their set from debut album Limbo, Panto, front man Hayden Thorpe introduced the song by saying, "This song brings us back to our younger selves." This sentiment, expressed only a mere three years after Limbo, Panto's release, serves as a testament to how much Wild Beasts have grown as a band. more ›

Whether or not you plan on attending Austin City Limits Music Festival this weekend you’ve probably already started scoping out the after-parties that the festival’s presence causes to blossom all over town like hypercolor petunias. While it might cost you an arm and a leg to catch an intimate acoustic set with Coldplay at The Victory Grill or a My Morning Jacket DJ set at Threadgills, you can still get a massive bang for your buck by hitting up this unofficially awesome post-ACL fete at going down at Beauty Bar come Saturday evening. more ›

In 2007 Peter Silberman was quietly dabbling with a solo project he called The Antlers. Still relatively unknown, he had no idea what was in store for him when he (pulling back mostly to guitar and vocals) joined up with Darby Cicci (keyboards, trumpet, bowed banjo) and Michael Lerner (percussion) for the release of Hospice in 2009. Their heart-wrenching crescendo/decrescendos song structures and heavy lyrical tales hit to the core of their listeners as they turned heads and melted hearts with their epic breakthrough LP. Earlier this summer the Brooklyn-based three-piece returned to prove their staying power with Bust Apart, a well-rounded and well-received release that showcases an accessible musicality that reveals the growth of an outfit capable of creating some truly enchanting, atmospheric, and borderline pop music. Following The Antlers' third full-length release, they stopped in Austin earlier this summer for a stellar show at Emo’s. Next week they will return to play ACL Saturday afternoon. During a mid-summer break from touring, Silberman took some to catch up with Austinist to talk about time in the studio, finding art in misery, and his back-up plan/interest in astronomy. more ›

You don’t have to love NASCAR to have heard about Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. In fact, it’s probably a reasonably safe bet that they won’t be getting an invitation to the Indy 500 anytime soon. But like their racecar driving namesake, the industry buzz about Joshua Epstein and Daniel Zott’s band has been picking up a lot of speed. In anticipation of their upcoming gig at ACL, we talked with Josh about the origins of his band, their album It’s a Corporate World, and what the heck they would call their unique sound. more ›

Chipotle is responsible for having Willie Nelson cover "The Scientist" by Coldplay. Connect the dots here more ›

While Austin has plenty of affection for our local celebrity chefs like Tyson Cole and David Bull, to many, Fort Worth's Tim Love is the face of Texas cuisine. As a victor over Morimoto on Iron Chef America, a contestant on Top Chef Masters, and a judge on pretty much any food show you'd care to name, Love has gained a wide audience for both his haute-cowboy cooking and his no-nonsense demeanor. Love's metaphorical plate is full at present, at he helms his flagship Lonesome Dove in both Fort Worth and three Love Shack burger shops in North Texas. He's also in the planning stages on both a global taco restaurant concept and a new upscale restaurant right here in Austin. We recently spoke to Love about grilling, expansion, his role at the ACL Festival, and his progress on an Austin opening. more ›

• New Austin City Limits venue gets some love from Andy Langer and The New York Times.
• Hipster Valentine cards!
• Hipster Valentine’s gift guide. (Don't miss the Harold and Maude paper dolls!)

Before legendary studio 6A closes and the crew moves over to the new The Moody Theater downtown, there will be one final taping. It was announced this morning that Lyle Lovett -- whose first performance on the show was back in 1985 -- will take the stage one last time on November 8. Learn more at austincitylimits.org. more ›

• British hostage may have been killed by US grenade
• Chilean miners, trapped for more than two months, now near rescue
• Google is testing cars that drive themselves

This afternoon at a press conference in KLRU's historic Austin City Limits studio and through a press release to the media, Austin Music People announced their newly-formed non-profit, known as AMP. more ›

• Wanna vote in the November Elections? This is your last day to register!
• Teen video game whiz from the 80’s tells what it was like back in the day.
• Keeping Austin weird: Frankenstein done by puppets!

Through the bright lights of KLRU's Austin City Limits comes a fresh new view to promote lesser-known, yet still immensely talented, musicians. ACL Presents Satellite Sets is geared towards an online audience with a multimedia site promising videos, interviews, and other social networking goodies. more ›

Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam, better known in the world of songs and mud-flinging as M.I.A., is two things for sure: 1. a dance music whirlwind capable of throwing down some of the catchiest fire-starting political statements, and 2. a proven lightning rod for criticism. It's not just in her over-the-top public persona, complete with multiple and potentially narcissistic variations on her name, but her willingness to engage in back and forth shit-talking via twitter, that makes her a compelling character. Some fallout: after being a critical darling since her debut in 2005, her newest album, /\/\ /\ Y /\ (a statement on the joys of creative typography only a postmodern e.e. cummings could love), has been panned in all the right places despite the fact that a few of its tracks are among the year's most infectious. See "XXXO" and "Born Free" for proof she's still got it. more ›

Elisabeth Maurus has quietly been establishing herself as a rising alt-country singer-songwriter to be be reckoned with for the better part of the last year as Lissie. Bolstered by her strong, throwback voice and her talents on the guitar, she has garnered comparisons to Stevie Nicks, Neko Case and early Sheryl Crow. more ›

Spoon have always been masterful artists in the recording studio. If there were ever a criticism of them, it usually hinged on the fact that their live show was very straightforward and businesslike - no gimmicks, no games, just the tunes. Somewhere during the extensive touring for 2007's Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, Spoon's current lineup moved their live show to a new plateau in the eyes of many longtime observers. Though they're only been touring for four months in support of new LP Transference, the set taped for PBS mainstay Austin City Limits in early July will likely prove to be a vital snapshot of a band at the height of their powers.

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First things first -- the band’s lovable drummer Bun E. Carlos was missing from the lineup but guitarist Rick Neilsen’s son Daxx Neilsen did a reasonably solid job in his place. The other original members were all in top form; Rick himself was especially energetic, cantering around the stage in usual fashion, switching guitars often, and tossing out guitar picks into the audience regularly. The set-list featured a host of songs off The Latest including “Miracle,” “Miss Tomorrow,” “Closer,” and “When The Lights Are Out” (a Slade cover). There was room for another cover, “In The Street,” a Big Star original previously recorded by Cheap Trick for That ‘70s Show, and a timely tribute to Alex Chilton who passed away due to a heart attack the previous day. Besides the homage to Chilton, the loudest cheers of the show were understandably reserved for Cheap Trick classics like “If You Want My Love,” “I Want You To Want Me,” “Heaven Tonight,” “Surrender,” and “Voices.” The band closed out the riveting performance with two songs off 1979’s Dream Police -- the anthemic title track and “Gonna Raise Hell.” Sure there were a handful of missing favorites but one look at the smiling, content faces all around assured us that the powerpop legends had satisfied those in attendance. more ›

New York’s The Walkmen took the stage at ACL on the Xbox 360 stage just after peak heatstroke hours (although the sun on this first day of this year’s festival was a lot more forgiving than previous), somewhere around 3:30pm, and kicked into gear with a relaxed island feel. “Louisiana”, the first single from 2006’s A Hundred Miles Off, soothed the crowd with singer Hamilton Leithauser’s lazy afternoon vocals and acoustic guitar. Horn blasts from the four-person section rose over top and mixed with the beach-drinking beat and keys to create a ripe fun-in-the-sun atmosphere as our star peaked out between the clouds periodically through a veil of strung together cloud puffs. A myriad of shakers, rolling and stomping percussion, guitar twinkling, breezy triangle, and a mix of light and heavy flows followed. The Walkmen played a tune in the works from their forthcoming sixth studio album to be released next year, which was a slow and easy ramble and whistler. Then, they broke into Bows + Arrows’ “The Rat” and the group went right into the full-blown, rocking, dance-inciting, guitar-driven favorite for a knee-bouncing crowd shaking their hands in the air and singing the memorable chorus. more ›

What’s the Deal: According to Dr. Dog, they’re interested in “three-part harmonies, the out-of-doors, hoagies, vegetables and diminished chords.” And, that’s not a bad way to describe them. They’re a slightly eccentric Philadelphia five-piece who play music that’s a little folk, psychedelic, pop, soul, bluegrass and other. The band, all with nicknames like Taxi, Trouble and Tables, have been fortunate to be considered a band’s band by many, helping land them tours with groups like My Morning Jacket, Wilco, The Black Keys, The Cave Singers, and many more fairly early on. With a handful of releases tucked under their collective wing since 2001, the band is set to release another record in early 2010 on Anti- Records. more ›

Most people are aware of the work of Dan Auerbach, even if they don't know his name: his much-loved bluesy two-piece, The Black Keys, has played a couple ACLs and been a force in supreme guitar god awesomeness for almost the entirety of this decade. But now, for the first time, Auerbach has recorded an excellent minus-drummer-Patrick-Carney homage to old style rock and soul with Keep It Hid, and though the goin' by his own name thing may imply a solo endeavor, he packs with him the punch of a five-piece outfit, The Fast Five. Truth be told, they are sure to rock out with a seriousness. more ›

The other ACL—the longstanding television program from which this weekend's music festival was spawned—was officially awarded its "historic rock and roll site" status by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame yesterday, and today they're hosting an open house to give the public a glimpse behind the scenes. For those who can't make it down there, check out the live stream from the panel above. more ›

What’s the Deal: Ah, supergroups. Where would we be without them - The Highwaymen, Traveling Wilburys, Temple of the Dog, Velvet Revolver, Angels & Airwaves, The Dead Weather, and the list goes on? Now, there’s Them Crooked Vultures, a project sure to sell out tours and churn out crave-worthy songs built on the strength of the millions of albums sold of their independent projects. Them Crooked Vultures is vocalist/guitarist Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age), drummer Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters) and bassist/ keyboardist John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin), with Alain Johannes as a live guitarist. They have yet to release a recording, and the only music out there is from snippets of songs released by the band and live recordings on YouTube, which surely, combined with the fact that they haven’t played a date in the U.S. since their debut post-Lollapalooza performance, has hard rock fans chomping at the bit to really see what they’re made of. more ›

KLRU's Austin City Limits television program, long a cornerstone of Austin music culture, can now count itself as a national institution: the 34-year-old show has been designated as a "historic rock and roll site" by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. more ›

While the low-key Matthew Stephen Ward has been up to a lot lately, what with his Zooey Deschanel vehicle She & Him, and Monsters of Folk, his new enterprise with Conor Oberst and My Morning Jacket’s Jim James, Ward’s customary understated and modest showmanship still marks him as an artist. Charming the crowd with a career-spanning set heavy with Post-War and Hold Time tunes, it was the ease with which he tapped into America’s musical heritage that stood most impressive—his daunting creative schedule aside, one gets the feeling that Ward could compose an AM radio hit the moment he rolls out of bed in the morning. Despite this, don’t be deceived by his work’s apparent simplicity—only through refinement has he discovered the divining rod of old-school pop, and how to meld his impressive solo guitar chops into full band songs—this concoction ain’t no accident. more ›

I had my first we’re not in Kansas moment when my Latvian friend and I pulled into the festival camping area. The newly mown site had most certainly been a functional field back in Soviet Times, and you could still see the faint remains of the furrows left by long-ago plows. Luckily I soon saw a skinny dude in tie-dye hanging out in the camping area, so I knew that, at least spiritually, I wasn’t so far from Austin. more ›