Monochrome is having a big night this Saturday, with the rebellious flower-punk of Atlanta’s Black Lips coming together with our own freewheelin’ sons of garage rock, White Denim....

Chicago rapper Lupe Fiasco’s two albums are anomalies on the rap racks: winding, wordy projects with few A-list cameos, recognizable producers, or sure-fire singles. That he’s managed to build himself into a successful international brand is not a little bit attributable to a unique set of circumstances. There’s the trap-hop backlash, a dirge in the straight-up New York sound resulting from Atlanta’s ascent, the Kanye Effect, the Jay-Z Effect, that music blogging thing... ...

Editor's Note: Triller is a new column here at Austinist featuring the latest news and goodies from 512's hip hop scene. The views expressed in this column are the author's, and might not reflect the Ist network as a whole. Enjoy! Rap is, by definition, intensely and inescapably local. It’s a music obsessed (some would say overrun) by its culture, and this culture is divided first and foremost by state, then city, then neighborhood, then......

OURS TO ALIBI What’s the Deal: They’re a five-man mostly-instrumental indie rock group from Atlanta. Their atmospheric sounds and tri-force of guitar experimentalism is at times reminiscent to Texas favorite Explosions in the Sky, only with a little Sigur Rós-style guitar bowing. With no label support yet, they just released their second full-length, Beacons. Sometimes on the record, the group needs more than a few minutes to get across what they’re trying to say,......

The Black Lips impressed us immensely during their various SxSW performances this year. Their fusion of garage, punk, blues, and pyschedelia packaged in an extremely energetic live show was one of the more memorable moments of the festival. The Atlanta based act returns to Austin this Friday for multiple performances yet again. The Black Lips released their fifth album (and their first studio full-length for Vice Records), Good Bad Not Evil in 2007. The......

Proof that people are already growing more tired of presidential campaigns. Just how fat is the fattest city in the nation? Houston zoos are receiving multiple requests from area hospitals to borrow MRI or CT machines. The only tenor worth remembering died late last night. Just when you thought they were done: Apple came out with a new iPod yesterday. "I do a lot of crying in this job." Atlanta high school student suspended......

What a difference a year makes—certainly in the case of this fledgling music festival. Last December's inaugural Fun Fun Fun Fest featured over two dozen bands and DJs, and showcased a good variety of indie rock, punk, and electronic music. This year, they've grown even bigger, better, and bolder: the second annual installment will span two days and has been pushed ahead by a month, to November 3rd and 4th. Staying true to their......

Straight out of the suburbs of Atlanta, the young men of Manchester Orchestra have quickly found a spot in the Georgia indie-rock circuit. Guitarist and lead vocalist Andy Hull homeschooled himself his senior year of high school to allow himself more time to focus on his work with Manchester Orchestra. The result of that focus is the band's first full-length. Peppered with references to Woody Allen, the album is full up with moody music that......

We love animals. In fact, we're secretly training to be EAMTs (Emergency Animal Medical Technicians) so that we can save kittens and turtles and gerbils. We aren't alone in this love, however, as is evident by the longstanding trend of animal-centric band names: The Eagles, The Unicorns, Tortoise, Grizzly Bear, The Animals, Super Furry Animals, Band of Horses, Cat Power, Le Tigre, Modest Mouse, Gorillaz, Doves, Eels, Sparklehorse, and now -- The Ponys. Ok,......

We don't know about you, but it's friggin cold out there. Well, not for some of you. It seems as though places that are supposed to be cold are warm and places that are supposed to be warm are cold. Or maybe that's just us. Either way, we're freezing. Austinist said goodbye to their co-editor (sell-out) and played rumor monger on the SXSW lineup. And when dozens of dead birds littered downtown Austin, it's......

When Austin's newest Chick-fil-A opens its doors this Thursday, it's planning on handing out $26,000 in free food to the first hundred adults eagerly salivating in line. "We have given away more than $4.2 million in free Chick-fil-A food since we launched the 'First 100 Fans' promotion in 2003 to celebrate each grand opening," boasted Chick-fil-A president Dan Cathy, the Willy Wonka of breaded poultry. "It's our way of thanking our raving fans who have......

Leeds's latest import ¡Forward, Russia! churns out quirky pop-rock riddled with start-stop guitar riffs, crunching bass lines, and irregular tempos. Add their habit of using numbers to name songs, and you've got your next favorite post-rock act. The band builds its sound on a platform of eccentricity, but infectious melodies and plentiful harmonies are abound in their energetic anthems, allowing the multi-layered noise to flourish. When it all clicks, ¡Forward, Russia! appeases fans of......

In 2002, Suzan-Lori Parks, one of America's most exciting modern playwrights, wrote a new play every single day. Sometimes a famous person would die, so she'd write a little play about them; then our country went to war, and Parks wrote some plays about that. "[It was] kind of like walking a pilgrimage on my knees," says Parks. Now those plays are being performed all over the country, with Atlanta, Austin, Los Angeles, Denver,......

Zagat's 2007 America's Top Restaurants Survey is out and although the setup on this one begs for an immediate rimshot, it's true - we love eating out. In fact, only Houston residents eat out with more frequency *snicker* than Austinites. Hungry Houstonians are eating out an average of 4.2 meals per week while residents of Austin and Dallas/Ft. Worth eat out an average of 4 times per week. Trailing in weekly eating-out outings are......

Are you a wealthy UT fan who loves coming back to town for games but just can’t be bothered with making hotel reservations or driving in from your friend’s house in Rob Roy on Saturday mornings? Rest easy, the Texas Gameday Center is on the way. Atlanta-based opportunists of the nouveau riche developer Gameday Centers Southeastern LLC (warning: may wanna turn down your sound before clicking) will be converting the tired apartments at Dean Keeton......

The Mexican government last week sent a diplomatic note to Washington criticizing the plan for 700 miles of new fencing along the border and threatened to bring the dispute in front of the United Nations. Garbage, Recycling, and Yard Trimmings to slide one day so that Solid Waste Services (SWS) staff can attend the funeral services of a SWS employee who died in a traffic accident. Democratic gubernatorial Chris Bell has announced his support......

*Update: The Statesman has reported that deputies unnecessarily used tasers on Tarell Brown and Tyrell Gatewood before their arrest Monday morning. Jamie Balagio, attorney for the players, says that a tape of the arrest should be made public.* Update: Starting cornerback Tarell Brown and reserve safety Tyrell Gatewood, arrested for marijuana and gun possession, will not play against Ohio State on Saturday. The AP released its latest college football poll today, and, after a strong......

When your roster of artists includes dancers from the Joffrey Ballet, Boston Ballet, Atlanta Ballet and Oregon Ballet Theatre, musicians from the Tosca String Quartet, and two Artistic Directors that are already rising stars in their respective disciplines, your work has to meet some seriously high expectations. After seeing Dialogues, American Repertory Ensemble’s first performance event – a highly professional, intelligent, inventive and entertaining evening of music and dance – we think ARE lives......

From the moment we woke up, something was different. Our fingers delicately tip-toed across our bedside table; we nimbly caressed our oddly rhythmic alarm into silence. Gone was our everyday stumbling stupor as we arose from the bed like a bird on a spring. ‘Twas replaced with physical ease – how nice – as we spun and we twirled, dipping and diving, shuffling gracefully to our morning…pee. (Ahhh.) This is no week in theatre,......

First, teachers can’t express themselves artistically outside of the classroom; now the kids are feeling the wrath. The AISD (Arlington) has banned students from wearing grillz and heavy-gauge ear spacers. "We want to instill in them a sense of modesty and a sense of community," said school board trustee Gloria Pena. "We're preparing them for the work force, and in the work force there are rules." Or just another step in turning kids into conformists.......

Austin made the list of the Top 10 Sweatiest Cities in America. But some people in Florida are pissed that they didn't make the list. The Central Texas Area, including Austin, of course,was listed as one the Top 10 Chill Places in America. We found this and thought you needed a good tear-jerker. Local animal rights activists are accusing Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus trainers of abusive behavior towards the circus animals.......

The NBA Draft takes place tonight in New York City, and besides the annual fun of watching young athletes in their Sunday finest (we’re looking at you, Chuck Person) as they walk up to the podium to shake hands with the commish and awkwardly don their new teams caps, Texas basketball fans will be watching intently to see what happens with their teams, as well as the fates of former Longhorns LaMarcus Aldridge, P.J. Tucker......

Several years ago, a filmmaker in DC came up with an idea for a competition that would pit teams of filmmakers against one another to create an entire short film, from concept to execution to final delivery, in two days. The 48 Hour Film Project has, since 2001, expanded across the country to cities including Atlanta, Los Angeles, New York, and Austin. The idea's pretty simple, if somewhat demanding: groups were forced to chose......

It was while trolling Gawker that we found out about this weekend's huge 2006 Mark Bingham Cup, the biennial tournament of the International Gay Rugby Association and Board named after a player from UC Berkeley who died onboard on September 11th. Our very own Division III rugby team, the Austin Lonestars, are headed up to New York City to participate in the tournament this weekend and join the thousand-plus muscled gay jocks who'll be......

Downtown's Frost Bank Tower is up for grabs, according to Austin Business Journal. Cousins Properties, based in Atlanta, is moving onto its next phase in the company's business strategy of developing and flipping properties. Not that this will have much impact on most of us: at exactly 515' 9" tall, 33-stories high and boasting an astounding 524,000 sq-ft of prime office space, the city's highest building is already leased at roughly 81% capacity. A......

MONDAY [8] [music] Art Brut, Birdmonster, The Robocop Kraus at Emo's (link) [music] She Wants Revenge and OKGO at Stubb's (link) [music] The Lashes at Waterloo (Free, 5pm) (link) [film] Amelie (with FREE crème brulee) at Alamo Downtown (7pm) (link) [film] L.A. Confidential at Austin Java (8pm, FREE) (link) [film] Anime Monday at Ventana del Sol (7:30pm, FREE) (link) [film] Wet Hot American Summer at Rounders Pizzeria (6pm, FREE) (link) [film] School of Rock at......

Austin Business Journal reported today that, according to rankings published in the latest issue of Business 2.0, Austin comes out in fourth place in terms of projected job growth, among major cities with a population of over 1 million. Their findings, culled from government-collected data and the findings of international research company Global Insight Inc., further predict an astounding 24.7 percent growth in our local job market for the next decade. What's to account......

One of the greatest players in NFL history appears interested in working for the Austin Wranglers. "Neon" Deion Sanders says he is very interested in coming to work in some capacity for the local ALF team. We are not sure where "Prime Time" would contribute, but he would definitely raise the profile of the team. "I'm very interested in arena football," Sanders said. "I love the game and have loved it for years. I......

"Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack..." The sports gods are smiling on us today. As we wrap up March Madness tonight with the men's basketball championship, we also celebrate the unofficial national holiday known as Opening Day for Major League Baseball. We Seamheads are in wide-eyed excitement in anticipation of six months of the best sport in the world. Lo siento, futbol. And we are even more excited than usual, as our beloved......

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) We'll have DJ sets indoors (until 5pm) and between bands outside (all day), by northKorean,......