It's been a big year for local acts. Big name bands like Spoon, Iron & Wine and Okkervil River made a huge impact on the independent music scene world-wide, while up and coming acts like White Denim and Moth!Fight! captured our attention at the indie rock water cooler all year long. As rising hopes and swelling egos swept the town alongside buzz and bravado, we parted ways with bands like SOUND Team and Clap!Clap!. ...

Photo by Nash Cook Care Stereo (Wars) and Strut Boutique present The Strut Christmas PartyFriday, December 7The Mohawk (912 Red River)$8, doors at 9 pm[info] What do you get when you mix together Austin’s next big band, next sizzling DJ and next hot boutique? Tonight’s wicked Christmas party unwittingly plucked from Andy Langer’s dreams. Join Strut Boutique and Car Stereo (Wars) for Mohawk merriment with White Denim, the Corto Maltese and the Carrots. Headliner White......

Between now and January, New Release Tuesday will focus on 2007 reflections and music news related to both this year's releases and 2008's potential. The standard NRT posts will resume in 2008. As 2007 winds down, most of the Internet begins to consider their favorite releases of the last twelve months. Austinist is no different: our top albums of 2007 (a collective list based on all the writers' top picks) is in the works.......

Image from Myspace; Photo by Colin Smith The Ponys + Chin Up Chin UpWednesday November 14The Mohawk (912 Red River)Doors at 9pm, Free![info] [The Ponys MySpace] [Chin Up Chin Up MySpace]Chicago's The Ponys traffic in post-punk and dark overtones, and have been tirelessly touring the club circuit for years. The band have recently opened for both Spoon and Bloc Party, but are now headlining their own fall trek through the South. Their latest work Turn......

This week, Phillyist saw the waters of a landmark fountain run red for a Showtime marketing stunt, the Phils pull ahead, and some serious nostalgia. They also got a chance to review an awesome tribute album, reminded folks to see the King, and appreciated their beautiful skyline. Chicagoist knows what it's like to like the Cubs. But naming your kid Wrigley Fields? At least they can breathe a little easier now that Grossman's out and......

Ian Moore made the move from Austin to Seattle a couple of years ago, and his development from an exciting blues guitarist to equally stirring singer-songwriter has been an intriguing journey for his fans. His latest release, To Be Loved, out now on Justice Records, is a wonderful collection of pop tunes with just a touch of blues, suitable for any city. Besides his many albums, Moore has opened in the past for The......

Andrew Bird (5:30pm): After this set, one Austinist staffer remarked: "This guy just beamed in from planet music." And with a stage full of spinning gramophones, violins, finger cymbals, and glockenspiels, it was hard to dispute that quip. Bird took the stage slightly late due to a tardy finish by Blue October, which had the crowd snarling over their shoulders at the lengthy drum and guitar codas coming off the main stage. But when......

Once in a while, we like to take some time to introduce you to bands -- both local otherwise -- that we think you'd enjoy. Le Diamont Brut aims to showcase those MySpace gems we hope to see shine. Recommend your local suggestions by emailing music@austinist.com. FINAL FANTASY What’s the Deal: Final Fantasy is Owen Pallett, and yes, he is a fan of the game series. That’s actually where he got his name. His music......

Special Announcement from KLRU: Arcade Fire Space Available tickets will be given away just after 10 a.m. today at KLRU-TV. First come first served. Two tickets per person until supplies run out. As always, these tickets don’t guarantee admission. The taping takes place on Friday at 8 p.m. Regina Spektor Space Available tickets will be given away at 12:15 (noonish) today at KLRU-TV. First come first served. Two tickets per person until supplies run......

For updates, go to today's post The Statesman's 360 blog is reporting that the White Stripes have pulled out of the ACL Festival. The band was scheduled to play on Saturday night in the headlining position opposite Arcade Fire, as well as an after party @ Stubb's on Sunday. The word on the streets is that someone is ill, we'll be sure to keep you posted as details emerge. Photo courtesy Autumn De Wilde......

Some of the biggest artists playing at next week's Austin City Limits Music Festival will also be taping episodes of KLRU's Austin City Limits, the wide-acclaimed PBS show that begat it all. Unfortunately, the demand for space-available tickets is so intense that they're only announcing them via the radio. Fortunately, we've got the scoop on when and where you should be listening: below are the stations and times that you'll need to tune into......

Once in a while, we like to take some time to introduce you to bands -- both local otherwise -- that we think you'd enjoy. Le Diamont Brut aims to showcase those MySpace gems we hope to see shine. Recommend your local suggestions by emailing music@austinist.com. THE UNFORTUNATE HEADS What’s the Deal: The Austin indie folk fivesome has just released their sophomore disc, Come Be Light. Featuring multi-instrumentation by the likes of banjo, keyboards, upright......

Scotland's Paolo Nutini truly leads a charmed life. At the age of 20, he will return to Austin to perform at ACL Fest for a second consecutive year and at Stubb's (along with Peter, Bjorn, and John in support) for an ACL aftershow. Last year, he also had the honor of taping an episode of the Austin City Limits television program. Nutini's debut disc These Streets has gone platinum in the UK, and as......

Every fall, Austin looks forward to ACL Fest, and each year, there's always a point where two of your favorite bands are playing on different sides of the park at the exact same time. ACL Band Clash is a new, theoretically weekly series in which Austinist scribes Paige Maguire and Tom Thornton examine the worst ACL scheduling clashes, and try to provide good advice on finding a resolution. Well, good advice might be a......

Look no further than Beerland Saturday night to find some of Austin’s most interesting fledgling indie bands. Headlining is Til We’re Blue Or Destroy, a 9-piece communal rock group utilizing every sound at their disposal. That means occasional horns, digital sounds and synthesizers, vibes, cross-gender choruses and even electronic vocal effects. They could use some wood blocks though. Just a thought. Then, there’s The Corto Maltese, who already gain major points for naming themselves......

Let's get to it: ACL Fest organizers dropped the aftershow schedule yesterday, and it's fairly extensive. Stubb's, La Zona Rosa, The Parish, and Antone's will all host aftershows over the Thursday to Sunday that everyone is in town for the big event. Highlights include an intimate show from The White Stripes and Cold War Kids at Stubb's, an extra gig from Argentina's loungerific Gotan Project (also at Stubb's), appearances by Spoon, Common, and Queens......

As Austin emerges from the thorough soaking we've received over the past few weeks, it becomes time to dry off in the warm breeze of some talented female singer-songwriters. Saturday night at The Parish, you can do just that. St. Vincent (aka Annie Clark) headlines, supporting her first proper LP Marry Me, an album that will mercilessly wallop your preexisting notions of not just female artists, but any artist writing compelling music out there.......

Oh No! Oh My! are preparing to release their EP, Between the Devil & the Sea on Hollywood's Dim Mak (home to Datarock, the Rakes and more), oh August 7, and have a tour scheduled to support it. The exclamatory darlings will play shows with Au Revoir Simone, Let's Go Sailing! and the Deadly Syndrome. Follow the jump below for a complete tour date listing, and enjoy this song from their upcoming release: Oh......

This morning marks the release of the ACL 2007 schedule grid. This is probably the most stressful day of the year for the avid ACL festivalgoer, as hopes of seeing every act one likes are dashed when seeing how many of your favorite bands are playing at the exact same time. It's impossible to program such a big festival without a couple of conflicts, but three stand out to us this year as particularly......

LAist is experimenting with blogging dates from J-Date, but finds the best men are found offline. Some date vicariously online and that is one reason why porn is big -- really freaking big -- so they ask if they should cover XXX since the heart of it lays in the city's San Fernando Valley. A writer grapples with her food porn photography obsession, another gets censored on Flickr, one gets scooped by the LA......

Please take a moment and enjoy Austinst's first installment of staff writer Matthew DeWitt's column, Hots On For Nowhere, which will appear each Thursday, concentrating on one album (maybe a new release, maybe a dollar bin discovery, or perhaps an over-looked classic) in depth. DeWitt is a longtime Austinist contributor and freelance writer splitting his time between here and Skyscraper Magazine. -Paige Maguire, Music Editor Tuesday saw the release of New Moon, a collection of......

You haven't missed your chance to be in the limelight. No, you didn't get to sing your song when Devendra called that other, weirder kid on stage. And that time you were so going to crowd surf-then-jump up on stage to wail and beat drums with Arcade Fire but never got the guts to just jump--that is all in the past, my friends. Today, er Sunday, is a new day. John Vanderslice, the prolific......

Well, lookee here: Austin's own pop-influenced indie rockers, Golden Bear, are SPIN.com's Artist of the Day! Crediting lead singer Chris 'Grizzle' Gregory's "throaty, honest voice and unpretentious lyrics" and the band's "sheer energy," SPIN remarks that, while the "Galactic-Forest-Rock[ers]" often draw comparisons to the Arcade Fire, their new record offers an "affectionate intimacy with the listener." For the full story and your chance to vote for Golden Bear, click on over here.......

Since unleashing the Peter Gabriel-like "Staring At The Sun" in 2003, TV On The Radio has done just about everything an indie band can hope for. They've released two lauded albums, made the major label jump, opened for the Pixies, recorded with David Bowie, and won the Shortlist Prize. And while The Arcade Fire may be the most blogged about band of the last two years, one could argue that TVOTR may be the......

Sam Duckworth (aka Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly) just celebrated his 21st birthday by headlining a sold-out 2,000 seat theatre in London. If that's not precocious enough for you, he also has three UK Top 40 singles and made almost all of the major British magazines' Top 100 albums of '06 lists. The emotive and earnest vocals Duckworth employs are a touch emo, often political, and quite radio-friendly, which has earned him comparisons to......

Back during SXSW, we booked an opening DJ for Local Music is Sexy III on a total whim, encouraged by the recommendation of our fashion editor. We were so impressed with DJ Markus ("with a K") that we asked him back to spin at our day party, which he managed with aplomb. We dug it. Former Denton/DFW residents might recognize Markus from his gigs with popular DJ trio The Flashlight Party, which enjoyed residencies at......