Listen to the beginning of “Masochism in the Trade” and try not to be mesmerized. The experimentally shrieking guitars and ghoulish keyboards make the air thick with a carnival vibe that quickly turns into an electro pop number fronted by a singer sounding something like a darker version of Gwen Stefani at times. Add in plenty of violin along with some viola, glockenspiel, mandolin and even a drum machine, and you’ve got a local group that’s easy to get wrapped up in, but hard to classify. You can dance until you drop dead from the consumption with this bleak, experimental, violin-rock. ...

Another day, another long list of long list of web-darling music acts and their attendant corporate sponsors....

In case you hadn't realized, music poster art and design is a a medium all its own. The creative effort that goes into each print and poster is a labor of love, artists finding new and inventive ways to combine elements from a band's own vision, their own voice, as well as actual information. ...

There was no escaping the gravity of Austin in 2007. Three major festivals drew artists, labels, promoters and press from around the world. Critically and commercially, Spoon was an undeniably dominating force. Production power increased with the emergence of C3 Presents, a joint venture between heavyweights Charles Attal, Charlie Jones and Charlie Walker. Yet our unique universe still grows from within. Bands like Okkervil River and businesses like Transmission Entertainment continue to expand our horizons. My best of list is a celebration of what makes the Austin music scene independent and innovative....

Photo by Will Pate on flickrInteractive + ScreenBurn The preliminary list of Interactive panels has been released, and includes topics like "The Great Debate: Is Web 2.0 Bulls#!t?", "The Porn Police: Know the Rules," and "The Suxorz: The Worst Ten Social Media Ad Campaigns of 2007." [Preliminary List] Additional, several panels for the gaming-centric ScreenBurn fest have been revealed. These include "The Future Virtual World Game Development: Rise of the Indies," "You Are Here: Gaming......

Austin Sound, if you haven't checked it out already, is a great site featuring information about local music. This Saturday, they're pulling out all the stops to celebrate their one year anniversary, and throwing a mini-ACL that's much, much cheaper. With 13 bands playing, there's bound to be someone to rock your picky ass. Also: free food and FREE BEER for five bucks! We know, it doesn't make sense to us either, but it......

Tonight's KEXP sponsored Hot Freaks + Gorilla vs. Bear blow-out features Dallas' Ghosthustler and Cry Blood Apache. We have a feeling there will be a lot of sweaty dance-a-holics leaning on each other They Shoot Horses, Don't They?-style on Red River Tuesday night. As always, the shows happen each Tuesday night, with the headliners taking turns. Shapes Have Fangs will lead the way next week, but for tonight, grab $2 and head downtown. Doors will......

“There’s a sign on the east Texas border that says Beaumont 23, El Paso 857. To me it was a braggadocio, quintessential Texas symbol," says Coyote Funeral co-director Jason May about the original inspiration for the film about two estranged brothers who rekindle their boyhood friendship on a walk across Texas. (The kind of thing we wish we'd done while we still had the opportunity. The walking part, not the boyhood friendship rekindling part.) Directed......

Friday night's Glorium reunion show marks the final pinnacle of Emo's 15th anniversary celebration. Glorium are one of the vital pages in Austin's long musical history. The band originally formed in San Antonio in 1991 and immediately began to make a name for themselves by using avant-garde aesthetics with lessons learned from the hardcore punk scene. The result was an explosion of emotional and musical creativity; pushing the boundaries of lyrical imagery and human......

FRIDAY [15] juneteenth/parade • Alvin Patterson Battle of the Bands and Drumline Competition at Congress Avenue (2pm) books • Lama Surya Das presents Buddha is as Buddha Does at BookPeople (7:00pm) comedy • Billy D Washington with Doug Mellard at Cap City Comedy Club comedy • Punchline, open mic stand up comedy at ColdTowne Theater (10pm) dance • Constellation, a site-specific dance work from Sally Jacques at Pickle & Thornberry Federal Courthouses (9pm) dance......

Battles Mirrored (Warp) Battles combine John Stanier's (Helmet, Tomahawk) frenetic drumming with Ian Williams' (Don Caballero) signature finger-tapping guitar work and layer prog-metal keyboards along with everything from hip-hop and rap to free jazz to cartoonish vocal effects, creating what is probably going to be one of the most quietly influential albums of the year. Though the band has been around for over four years, Mirrored is their first full-length. Previous EPs have indicated......

Rocket, Quiet Company, Blackholicus, and Golden AX squared off at Room 710 last night in a friendly LA versus Austin Battle-of-the-Bands, and Austin you came out on top. LAist held their SXSW party at the Red River mainstay and brought two bands to "compete" against a pair of local groups for a free Sunday night show that started with the My Morning Jacket-esque Quiet Company (who should change their names because they're anything but......

The first-ever Fun Fun Fun Fest is this Friday, December 1st, at Waterloo Park. Over two dozen great acts are on the bill, including Spoon, Peaches, The Black Angels, Prefuse 73, and DJ Mel. Tickets are $20, and can be purchased online. Gamblers perform on the punk stage at 6:55. --The Editors How's Volcom treating you? Any Riverboat Gamblers skate decks in your future? Volcom has been great! They give us lots of socks,......

Note: Today's the last day of our two week long ticket giveaway, and the festival's nearly a week away! This winter, Alamo Drafthouse and some of the folks at Emo's are teaming up to throw an enormous single-day music festival at Waterloo Park. Sponsored by yours truly, METV, 101x, The Onion, AT&T, Mickey's, and Waterloo Records, the FunFunFun Fest features three stages of nonstop indie rock, punk, and electronic bands, including several bigger acts......

This winter, Alamo Drafthouse and some of the folks at Emo's are teaming up to throw an enormous single-day music festival at Waterloo Park. Sponsored by yours truly, METV, 101x, The Onion, AT&T, Mickey's, and Waterloo Records, the FunFunFun Fest features three stages of nonstop indie rock, punk, and electronic bands, including several bigger acts like Peaches, Spoon, Prefuse 73 and Circle Jerks. From November 8 to November 22, we're giving away a pair......

This winter, Alamo Drafthouse and some of the folks at Emo's are teaming up to throw an enormous single-day music festival at Waterloo Park. Sponsored by yours truly, METV, 101x, The Onion, AT&T, Mickey's, and Waterloo Records, the FunFunFun Fest features three stages of nonstop indie rock, punk, and electronic bands, including several bigger acts like Peaches, Spoon, Prefuse 73 and Circle Jerks. From November 8 to November 22, we're giving away a pair......

This winter, Alamo Drafthouse and some of the folks at Emo's are teaming up to throw an enormous single-day music festival at Waterloo Park. Sponsored by yours truly, METV, 101x, The Onion, AT&T, Mickey's, and Waterloo Records, the FunFunFun Fest features three stages of nonstop indie rock, punk, and electronic bands, including several bigger acts like Peaches, Spoon, Prefuse 73 and Circle Jerks. From November 8 to November 22, we're giving away a pair......

This winter, Alamo Drafthouse and some of the folks at Emo's are teaming up to throw an enormous single-day music festival at Waterloo Park. Sponsored by yours truly, METV, 101x, The Onion, AT&T, Mickey's, and Waterloo Records, the FunFunFun Fest features three stages of nonstop indie rock, punk, and electronic bands, including several bigger acts like Peaches, Spoon, Prefuse 73 and Circle Jerks. From November 8 to November 22, we're giving away a pair......

This winter, Alamo Drafthouse and some of the folks at Emo's are teaming up to throw an enormous single-day music festival at Waterloo Park. Sponsored by yours truly, METV, 101x, The Onion, AT&T, Mickey's, and Waterloo Records, the FunFunFun Fest features three stages of nonstop indie rock, punk, and electronic bands, including several bigger acts like Peaches, Spoon, Prefuse 73 and Circle Jerks. From November 8 to November 22, we're giving away a pair......

This winter, Alamo Drafthouse and some of the folks at Emo's are teaming up to throw an enormous single-day music festival at Waterloo Park. Sponsored by yours truly, METV, 101x, The Onion, AT&T, Mickey's, and Waterloo Records, the FunFunFun Fest features three stages of nonstop indie rock, punk, and electronic bands, including several bigger acts like Peaches, Spoon, Prefuse 73 and Circle Jerks. From November 8 to November 22, we're giving away a pair......

This winter, Alamo Drafthouse and some of the folks at Emo's are teaming up to throw an enormous single-day music festival at Waterloo Park. Sponsored by yours truly, METV, 101x, The Onion, AT&T, Mickey's, and Waterloo Records, the FunFunFun Fest features three stages of nonstop indie rock, punk, and electronic bands, including several bigger acts like Peaches, Spoon, Prefuse 73 and Circle Jerks. From November 8 to November 22, we're giving away a pair......

This winter, Alamo Drafthouse and some of the folks at Emo's are teaming up to throw an enormous single-day music festival at Waterloo Park. Sponsored by yours truly, METV, 101x, The Onion, AT&T, Mickey's, and Waterloo Records, the FunFunFun Fest features three stages of nonstop indie rock, punk, and electronic bands, including several bigger acts like Peaches, Spoon, Prefuse 73 and Circle Jerks. From November 8 to November 22, we're giving away a pair......

This winter, Alamo Drafthouse and some of the folks at Emo's are teaming up to throw an enormous single-day music festival at Waterloo Park. Sponsored by yours truly, METV, 101x, The Onion, AT&T, Mickey's, and Waterloo Records, the FunFunFun Fest features three stages of nonstop indie rock, punk, and electronic bands, including several bigger acts like Peaches, Spoon, Prefuse 73 and Circle Jerks. From November 8 to November 22, we're giving away a pair......

This winter, Alamo Drafthouse and some of the folks at Emo's are teaming up to throw an enormous single-day music festival at Waterloo Park. Sponsored by yours truly, METV, 101x, The Onion, AT&T, Mickey's, and Waterloo Records, the FunFunFun Fest features three stages of nonstop indie rock, punk, and electronic bands, including several bigger acts like Peaches, Spoon, Prefuse 73 and Circle Jerks. From November 8 to November 22, we're giving away a pair......

There are tons of bands in this world that are carried solely by the strength of their vocalist. Bands without a dominant singer face a particularly difficult challenge in having to create music that commands attention and isn't boring or just plain smooth-jazz lame. The kids of The Big Sleep --Sonya Balchandani (bass), Danny Barria (guitar), Gabriel Rhodes (drums)-- attempt to prove that they're not trying to tuck you in for the night. A majority......

Tomorrow night, we're helping out folks from PartyEnds.com, Green Potato Ventures, Sparrowhead, and Super!Alright! to throw one hell of a party over at Gallery Lombardi. Come and check out bands, video projections, art installations, and DJs while you enjoy complimentary beverages, courtesy of Austin's own Independence Brewery. The Lineup: The Lemurs [link] Cue [link] Tacks, the Boy Disaster [link] Economy [link] Stay Gold DJs [link] Luther at PartyEnds has also put together his first......

Festivals: ACL 3-day passes are all gone. Oh, snap! Don't despair, though - day passes go on sale tomorrow for $50 plus $8 in service charges through Frontgate Tickets. For those with tickets already in hand, note that the official ACL Fest schedule grid will also be released any minute now. Get out your highlighters. Venues: After a couple of years of limited bookings, the Austin Music Hall is getting a facelift this fall.......

June 19th is known as Juneteenth in Texas, and commemorates the day when the Emancipation Proclamation was read in our state. There are usually quite a few festivities to choose from when Juneteenth comes around, and this year is no different. Friday: The Third Annual Alvin Patterson Battle of the Bands and Drumline Competition. The fun begins on Friday at 7pm at Nelson Field, 7400 Berkman Dr. [map] Reverberations will be felt throughout the......

It's always the same question when the party ends at Pease park, "Where's the after party, bro?" Well, dear friends, we have an answer to this age-old question: Eeyore's After Party at the Gardens of the Ancients. It's an all-night party so bring your musical instruments for the campfire jam sessions and whatever else gets you through the night. That's right, the only time the party ends is when you stop. Our sources say......

Mixing together everything from hokum blues, gypsy swing, bass walkin' ragtime, vaudeville theatrics, and more, Austin's White Ghost Shivers are one of our cherished local institutions who simply defy categorization. Hailed as last year's "Best None The Above Bands" by the Chronicle and SXSW, the Shivers this week released their latest album, Everyone's Got Em, what their label Chicken Ranch Records describes as "a smorgasbord of Cab Calloway, circus sideshow, KISS, cabaret, Hee Haw and......