Last night, Beach House and Washed Out performed at Emo's downtown. Austinist contributing photographer Pooneh Ghana was there to catch all the action. more ›

It should come as no surprise that the First Lady of Dream Pop, Victoria Legrand, is a world traveler. Much of the appeal of her deservedly lauded vocals lies in the way she employs them as a kind of teleportal audio device for the listener. At times her voice seems to waft in on Mediterranean breeze, at others turning deftly to deliver an icy chill evocative of Northern climes. Yet it's hard to imagine a more fitting name for this Baltimore duo. Though their eponymous beach house may sit on an unchartable location flitting back and forth between balmy tropics and the rocky Hebrides, it's virtually impossible to refute the pair's uncanny ability to build a space for their audience to visit. Beach House's sound is both unabashedly domestic and youthfully undomesticated. more ›

If you haven’t experienced the dreamy, spectral indie pop group Beach House yet, then be sure that you will. This Baltimore-based duo of Victoria Legrand and Alex Scally’s keys and guitar has been winning over fans mainly by word of mouth. Their last show in Austin during the beginning of March brought such a crowd that their next performance in town will no doubt have to be upgraded from Emo’s lounge to the outside stage. Beach House’s 2006 self-titled debut met with high critical acclaim. However, their latest, Devotion, isn’t making quite the same splash. more ›

So the time is ripe for the 2008 SXSW Music Festival and what better way to lead into that madness than with a host of quality bands at Emo’s to kick off this weekend. Friday marks the CD Release show for local outfit What Made Milwaukee Famous. Officially released on March 4th, What Doesn’t Kill Us will be available for purchase during the show; the album finds the band maturing into a polished rock act while maintaining their keen ear for pop melodies, their expert arrangements of well-crafted tracks, and their penchant for catchy guitar hooks. Check out the video for “Sultan” off the new album via YouTube here. more ›

Baltimore duo Victoria Legrand and Alex Scally, who record as Beach House, have perfected a genre unto themselves which you might call “love songs for ghosts.” Songs drift by in a haze nudged along by dusty drum machine beats, Scally’s sleepy guitar figures, and Legrand’s glassy organ playing and hypnotic vocals, which could be described and melodramatic if they sounded like they were produced by a living person. more ›

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.... more ›

FRIDAY [18] festival • Asian Pacific American Heritage Month celebrations at Palmer Events Center (11:30am-1pm) party • Nightster Launch Party with Riverboat Gamblers at Scoot Inn (Free Bud 8-9pm, Show at 10pm, 21+) art • Closing Reception: The Puppet Show - Puppets and portraits of Mexican artists by fourth-grade students at Sanchez Elementary at Las Manitas Avenue Cafe, 211 Congress (4:30-6pm) books • Milton Burton presents The Sweet and the Dead at BookPeople (7:00pm)... more ›

THURSDAY [17] theatre • Rubber Repertory presents A Thought in Three Parts at The Vortex (8pm) art • Opening Reception: Denise Prince Martin: Things I Never Told You at Women and Their Work, 1710 Lavaca Street (6-8pm, the artist will discuss her work at 6:30pm) art • Downtown Art Night at Participating Galleries (6-9pm) art • Artist Talk: Ann Connor at Flatbed Press, 2830 E. MLK (6pm) art • Art Fix: Printmaking at The... more ›

If you spend your Sundays reading French surrealist poetry, or if you’re just a fan of beautifully-breathy, sometimes-sanguine pop songs; then, tickets to The Clientele show are probably already being used as a bookmark in your copy of Fantomas (the book, not the band). Touring off their latest album, God Save The Clientele, this UK art-pop foursome will be will be playing a host of new tracks much sunnier than their last three releases.... more ›

If we had to describe London's The Clientele in one word, it would be "dreamy." Their gentle, sad, and beautiful songs give life a Sunday morning's full of blurry edges and recollections when they're playing. The band have struck a more upbeat note on new album God Save The Clientele, but it's still a matter of degrees, as the signature sounds of the group remain intact. These songs are still made for headphones, long... more ›

MONDAY [14] comedy • Funniest Person in Austin Semifinals at Cap City Comedy Club film • "Willy Wonka" with Golden Ticket Giveaway at Alamo Downtown film • Music Monday: "Tim Buckley: My Fleeting House" at Alamo Downtown music • King Kong, Awesome Cool Dudes, Lalaland at Emo's music • Movie Mondays with "Style Wars" at Beauty Bar... more ›

Share a story about a visit to Austin or a previous trip to SXSW. - Chandler: I was getting a slice from Hoeks Pizza; they were playing a live Slayer DVD. It was blaring on their speakers. Meanwhile, up the street comes a group of fundamentalist Christians with placards giving details of the upcoming Armageddon. The leader of the group had a megaphone and was preaching all kinds of nonsense. It was the perfect... more ›

Austin-based Peel have been together since late 2004, and Austinist writers have recommended that you catch their show for almost two years! A youthful blend of indie pop with noisy drums, keyboards, and multiple vocalists, Peel wouldn't sound at all out of place on late 80's college radio. Their self-titled debut album finally arrives in early April. Last week, we spoke to Peel's Allison Moore about favorite bands, dive bars, and the business of... more ›

After taking last week off because we were sure SXSW would release their master plan, we now return as there seems to be no end in sight to the band list embargo. Many indie labels and some marquee acts have simply announced their appearances, as bands attempt to book routing shows in Dallas, Houston, New Orleans, or elsewhere to make their long drives worthwhile. The lack of info has started to get the press... more ›

Another week has passed, and somehow there's a full Coachella lineup available but still no official word from SXSW. The Austin Chronicle did report that the powers that be intend to issue an official list sometime next week, so in the interim, we bring you round three of our unofficial but quite accurate SXSW 2007 band list. Interesting additions this week include Sloan, The Pipettes, Apples In Stereo, The Rosebuds, Beach House, Robyn Hitchcock,... more ›

FRIDAY [17] music • Frida Hyvonen, Tacks the Boy Disaster, Jonathan Meiburg (Shearwater) at Emo's Lounge music • She Wants Revenge & Pretty Girls Make Graves at Stubb's music • Deftones, Deadsy at Austin Music Hall music • Steve Carter at Waterloo Records music • Grupo Fantasma at Antone's music • Golden Bear, The Lemurs, Glass Family at Continental Club (9:30pm) music • Joe Ely at Cactus Café music • Chin Up Chin Up,... more ›

Hipsters, take note. The gauzy and gloomy melodies of Baltimore duo Beach House are coming to Emo's this Sunday. After an 8.1 review in Pitchfork and raves from the music bloggerati, this group is quite the flavor of the month. If you've not yet heard this band, Mazzy Star is a good jumping off point. The songs are spacey, minimal, and accented with pretty guitar lines, church organs, and female vocals. It is no... more ›

MONDAY [13] film • Army of Darkness at Austin Java (9pm, Free) film • Blue Velvet with Free Pabst Blue Ribbon at Alamo Drafthouse (7pm, $9) film • Down in New Orleans at Spider House (8pm, Free) film • True Stories at Rounders Pizzeria (8pm, Free) film • The Notorious Bettie Page at Café Mundi (8pm, Free) film • Let Them Eat Rock with director Rodman Flender live at Alamo Drafthouse (9:45pm, $2) film... more ›

Last weekend was pretty intense show-wise, if you're like us, you're ready to crawl in bed with your headphones and listen to something new from End of an Ear or Waterloo's new release wall. Well, here's what you've got to choose from: The Decemberists The Crane Wife (Capital) Already being described as the album of the year in some circles, Crane Wife marks the Portland-based Decemberists' major label debut with themes familiar to the... more ›