Gloomy post-punk is as British as afternoon tea, bobbies, and those silly wigs their judges wear in court. There’s something about that rainy island that brings out the best in dark pop - starting with Joy Division in the 1970s - and the tradition continues with England’s latest export, White Lies. more ›

So many shows, so much time. This is a big week for our music writer friends at the Austin Chronicle. On Wednesday Audra Schroeder will be reading a music-related piece at Five Things (more on this event later) and on Thursday the magazine is launching their Paper Cuts Live Music Series with a performance from Foot Patrol at the Palm Door. more ›

Some people marry for love. Some for companionship. And yes, there are some thrifty evil souls out there who marry for riches. But we romantics at the Austinist are happy to know that at least two people in this hardened nation of ours have married for a reason even purer than true love: rock and roll. Back in 2001 Kori Gardner and Jason Hammel decided to ditch their day jobs, get hitched, and begin... more ›

Congratulations to Coleen McKechnie, our winner of last week's The Sounds prize package giveaway! We've another contest for today -- Brooklyn's dance rockers The Cloud Room, who were in stellar form at our SXSW afterparty, are back in town tonight for a show at Emo's, along with Asobi Seksu (they played our day party), AM Syndicate, and Experimental Aircraft. Doubtless that by now you've heard their ridiculously catchy single, "Hey Now Now." But, just in case, we'll give it to you again, along with another track off their 2005 self-titled release on Gigantic: [mp3] The Cloud Room - "Hey Now Now"
[mp3] The Cloud Room - "Blackout" Wanna go to the show tonight? Just send us an email by 3pm, and we'll select two random entrants to each win a pair of spots on the guestlist. The Cloud Room, Asobi Seksu, AM Syndicate, Experimental Aircraft
Emo's Inside
Tuesday, April 4th
10pm
[tickets] more ›

As always, let us know about any corrections or suggestions! MONDAY [3] [music] ICP Orchestra at Scottish Rite Theatre (link) [art] Gabriel Perez-Barreiro, Curator of Latin American Art, discusses "Art is Connection: America/Americas" at Blanton Museum of Art (Free, 6-8pm) (link) [books] Michael Gordon presents Cobra II at BookPeople (7pm) (link) [books] AAIM, Austin Area Interreligious BookGroup will discuss Peace is the Way by Deepak Chopra. Lori Seremetis will be the Special Guest at BookPeople... more ›

Austinist unofficially kicked off our SXSW festivities with "Gonna Gonna Get, Get Down!", our day party over at new indie rock club Red 7, just east of Red River at 7th Street. We started a bit late, owing to some unfortunate sound issues (the new PA had been installed less than an hour before our show), but once these were resolved we jumped right into the thick of things. Including, as you can see to... more ›

Here's just a small sampling of the artists playing our day party next Wednesday at Red 7: [mp3] Ghostland Observatory - "Candy Rider" [mp3] Asobi Seksu - "I'm Happy But You Don't Like Me " [mp3] Asobi Seksu - "Sooner" [mp3] Asobi Seksu - "Walk On the Moon" [mp3] Asobi Seksu - "Let Them Wait" [mp3] The Ark - "Rock City Wankers" (From Aurgasm) [mp3] Levy - "On the Dance Floor" [mp3] Levy - "Rotten... more ›

Hot on the heels of our afterparty annoucement earlier today, we're thrilled to let you know about "Gonna Gonna Get, Get Down!", the free day party we're throwing on Wednesday March 15th, from Noon-11pm at Austin's newest indie/hipster joint, Red 7 (across the street from Sidebar, in back of Plush Lounge, and sharing an alleyway with Emo's and True Blue) more ›

SXSW.com released an updated lineup for this year's SXSW Music Festival earlier today, and it's one hell of a list. The SXSW committee hastens to note that "This is a partial list of performers confirmed to appear at the 2006 SXSW Music Festival. This list is current as of 1/13/06. All of this information is subject to change." International acts include: Masahiro Nitta, DMBQ, Ellegarden, Tsu Shi Ma Mi Re, PE'Z, The Emeralds (Japan)... more ›

The background - Spawned in pre-Madchester UK by bands such as Dinosaur Jr, the Cocteau Twins, and My Bloody Valentine, shoegaze rock developed into a fairly prolific genre in the late 80's and early 90's. Characterized by its subdued vocals enveloped in heavily distored guitar riffs and an underlying sense of melody, the term "shoegazing" itself refers to the tendency of these rock proprietors to stare at their feet while playing. In more recent times... more ›

Earlier Austinist let you know that we're here for you, we want to guide you in the right direction so you don't end up at the wrong show this week, we want to make your life easier and narrow down your choices. We want to hold your hand. But we know there are some of you who want to make your own choices, so independent you are! For you we direct you to Oh My Rockness!, the beloved little New York indie rock broadsheet has adapted itself in order to cover the center of the music universe this week, Austin. Check out every single show listing happening around town over the next few days right here. We must warn you though, if you're already torn on what to see then this will not solve any of your problems. Austinists collective head nearly exploded upon trying to make the decision of whether to see the Album Leaf, Asobi Seksu or Billy Idol tonight. The knowledge of knowing that the Thermals and the Wrens are also playing, does not help (although it did help bump Billy Idol out of contention, what were we thinking?!) Our best advice to you is to check out your "must-see" bands entire SXSW schedule because they're probably playing more than once over the next few days, and make your decisions from there. Or get drunk and go wherever that dude in front of you is going to, we're sure it'll be great. Drinking makes music better, so even if you make the wrong decision - you'll still have fun. more ›

Anyone who has been to SXSW before knows that you can easily suffer from band scheduling overload. Looking at today's schedule, there are a virtually uncountable number of bands, and that doesn't even include all of the day time showcases and unlisted events. What to do? more ›