For years, the Austinist staff has fielded queries from friends and acquaintances about SXSW goings-on. "Can I walk to The Salt Lick?" "Does it really take 90 minutes for a Casino El Camino burger?" But most of all: "What showcase do you recommend to see some good new bands I don't know about?" This year, we've made the answer official. Austinist is presenting an official nighttime showcase featuring six different American acts at Spiro's on Thursday, March 13. We've done a lot of listening to different bands and entire showcases, and believe that this one has great potential to impress you. The roster:...

Abby Birds provide delightful pop ditties to our yearning ears this Thursday evening at Room 710. Although the venue is largely known for its raucous rock acts, Abby Birds headline a bill showcasing the softer side of the Red River spot. Singer/guitarist Nathan Crawford is already somewhat of a veteran on the scene, having sold his 4-track, home recorded cassettes at Sound Exchange (R.I.P.) and 33 Degrees (R.I.P.) since the mid-'90s. Abby Birds formed in 2005 and a debut record featuring the band's brand of harmonious pop, the kind that keeps your head bobbing throughout, is in the works....

Roky Erickson of the 13th Floor Elevators. If you missed your chance at tickets to his ACL taping, you can catch him, along with bassist Benny Thurman, drummer John Ike Walton, and producer Walt Andrus at BookPeople this Saturday. Image from Southern Records Paul Drummond and Roky Erickson present Eye MindSaturday, November 10th BookPeople (603 N. Lamar)Free, at 7pm[info] There are plenty of routes to fame in the world of music, and talent certainly plays......

Wiretree Bouldin Austin's Kevin Peroni has been writing songs under the moniker of Wiretree since 2005, when he released his first EP. The latest album, Bouldin, is a nine song testament to American chords, everything that was good about real folk music, bridging the gap between The La's and late '70s George Harrison with ease. Peroni's vocals are at times extremely Elliott Smith-ish, but that's not a bad thing. The songs are reminiscent of......

Rocky Votolato The Brag and Cuss (Barsuk) Since his auspicious beginnings as frontman for the indie/post-punk group Waxwing, Rocky Votolato has become quite the everlasting song writer. He’s a pro at crafting emotion-evoking indie rock tunes that carefully toe the line between matured folk rock and angst-inspired acoustic balladry. It’s important to note, however, that Votolato generally steers clear of cliched, woe-is-me, hear-on-sleeve lyrics. He keeps his out of plain view, in bits and phrases......

Please take a moment and enjoy Austinst's first installment of staff writer Matthew DeWitt's column, Hots On For Nowhere, which will appear each Thursday, concentrating on one album (maybe a new release, maybe a dollar bin discovery, or perhaps an over-looked classic) in depth. DeWitt is a longtime Austinist contributor and freelance writer splitting his time between here and Skyscraper Magazine. -Paige Maguire, Music Editor Tuesday saw the release of New Moon, a collection of......

Octopus Project + Black Moth Super Rainbow The House of Apples and Eyeballs (Graveface) It's difficult not to swell with hometown pride when discussing the Octopus Project. They're one of the few bands in our insular, self-important music discussion circles who really backs that shit up. Innovative, experimental, catchy, interesting. These guys know what to do, and they do it--consistently. Their recent collaboration with Pittsburgh's equally unclassifiable Black Moth Super Rainbow Tincan Extraordinary Salad......

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......

Mixel Pixel Music For Plants (Kanine Records) Don't judge Mixel Pixel based on their hilariously bad website. Trudge through the mangled HTML and take a listen to "You're the Kind of Girl". A tit for tat dialogue between two disaffected hipsters, it could have easily been glib garbage, but instead, shambles about in hypnotic honesty, the negative image of Yo La Tengo's "Our Way To Fall". Sample back-and-forth: "I heard it all before/thought you......

Badly Drawn Boy - Born In The UK (Astralwerks): If Talking Heads were last year's band to emulate, The Boss is certainly the sound of 2006. After seeing a great Springsteen record from The Hold Steady and a suspect one from The Killers, we now find Brit Damon Gough wrapping himself in the English flag and turning up the shiny, Human Touch-style production. Unfortunately, Badly Drawn Boy's main charm were his lo-fi early songs......

We know this comes terribly late, but we had to let you know about tonight's fantastic show at The Parish, with Nic Armstrong and the Thieves opening for Scout Niblett. Nic Armstrong and the Thieves' debut LP, The Greatest White Liar, immediately calls to mind 1960s British rock bands - think Beatles, Small Faces, and the Yardbirds. Armstrong himself possesses the same sort of haunted, raspy voice much like Dylan, Elliott Smith, or early-Rolling......