Common sense would tell most folks who hire hookers to pay in cash. Not so for a recently accused Austin Police Officer and a dumb kid from WilCo....

Minus The Bear’s third full-length, Planet Of Ice was released this past August on Seattle based Suicide Squeeze Records. The album was produced by (former keyboardist) Matt Bayles and Chris Common. Minus The Bear formed in 2001 and has since developed a knack for churning out experimental indie-rock enhanced by complex time signatures and abrupt rhythm changes, as well as occasional employment of jazz standards. Add to this Dave Knudson’s distinct two-handed tapping style......

If the closest you come to contemporary hip hop is dodging the Spiro's crowd on your way to Emo's, then we have news for you: there IS more out there. No, you need not subject yourself to the abrasive and, dare we say, bastardized sounds of Dirty South hip hop, nor need you dig up your old De La albums (though you should anyway) because tonight Talib Kweli is at Emo's to show you......

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......

Austinist is pleased--and a little weirded out--to reveal that the headliner for The 2007 Forty Acres Festival will be none other than rock and roll pioneer and Geico expositor Little Richard. The campus of The University of Texas hosts the event, with over a hundred student organizations showcasing booths and activities; the festival culminates with an all-day concert. The performers are often hit-or-miss, sometimes providing great acts (2006's brought Common) but usually presenting lame ones......

Jesu - Conqueror Jesu's self-titled debut was a ragged slab of industrial noise that didn't quite manage to transcend its origins as Justin Broadrick's post-Godflesh pet project, but Conqueror proves the art-metal godfather still has a few tricks up his sleeve. Broadrick cements his reputation as an unrivaled sonic architect here, creating a panoramic soundscape of ethereal keyboards, bristling guitars, and towering bottom end rivaling Kevin Shields for sheer aural density. Opener "Conqueror" rides a......

Whether you go down to the local record store or shop through the Tubes, today is new release Tuesday. Birdmonster No Midnight (SpinART) Despite the rock n roll media's underwhelmed response, No Midnight is going to be the biggest indie seller this week, quite easily. Considering the fact that they gained their audience primarily through the web, and were unsigned at the start of the year, it's a pleasant surprise to see such a......

After 18 bands in a weekend, Austinist is exhausted. Coachella 2006 was everything we thought it would be, only hotter, and with less alcohol (due to the scorching heat) and more drugs (since nobody could drink near the stages). We went in with no set agenda in terms of seeing particular bands - it seemed smarter to just hit whatever struck us right at the time. This strategy worked pretty well, and here's how......

We are back to our blog reading after a short break last week. Here are our favorite posts for the week: Diane at TV Blog says that the Austin carrier for the new CW channel is still up in the air. ITPT mulls over DeLay's appearance at a War on Christians conference. Yes, you read that correctly. We would never think of comparing Wedding Crashers to a classic screwball film, but Jette makes a......

We gotta say, Ellen Bartel has gusto. (She named her company Spank Dance – if that’s any indication.) True to form, in her latest piece, Greyhounds and Other Virtual Ways to Travel, she takes a huge concept – in this case, the future of humanity – and presents it to us in a form that’s innovative, contemporary, rough, slow, boring, exciting, tame, beautiful, banal, moving, ridiculous, and most things in between. As is common......

After SXSW trashes our fair town, Coachella layers the California desert with dusty beer cans, and Wall of Sound leaves Fort Worth a city ... well, much the same, we're probably heading over to Sasquatch, the annual Pacific Northwest festival at Washingon State's scenic Gorge Amphitheatre. Scheduled to perform during the three-day Memorial Weekend blitz are Austinites Trail of Dead and Iron & Wine, plus a salivatory stew of sweet, sweet bands: FRIDAY, MAY 26......

Austin City Limits is pretty nifty, we'll admit. But let's face it: the lineup for Coachella, ACL's glammed-up West Coast sibling in the desiccated wastelands near Joshua Tree, has all but reigned supreme these last few years. And this year, they're at it again; earlier this week they announced the full roster for the two-day festival, to be headlined this year by Depeche Mode (huzzah!) and ... Tool (huh?). The entire lineup: Saturday, April......