It's official: Lou Reed is the keynote for SXSW music 2008. His speech will be held in conjunction with Julian Schnabel’s film Lou Reed’s ‘Berlin,’ which documents a recent performance of the landmark 1973 album. ...

It's not even Christmas yet, and we're still talking about Murder City Devils at Fun Fun Fun Fest, but that won't stop us from gearing up to begin bringing you the latest rumors and confirmations regarding 2008's SXSW music festival. It's right around the corner, and we're not the only ones with our minds set towards March: plenty of bands have already announced their intentions to be here for the week. ...

Production still courtesy of Troma Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead w/ Lloyd Kaufman Live! Friday, December 7thAlamo Drafthouse Lake Creek (17329 Research Blvd)(7:30pm, $10)[info] | [tickets]Over the course of the last thirty-three years, Lloyd Kaufman's Troma Entertainment has produced hundreds of films, attracted legions of devoted fans, and influenced the likes of Peter Jackson, Quentin Tarantino, Trey Parker, Eli Roth and Takashi Miike. In fact, by Kaufman's estimation, the studio now owns more than......

Editor's note: My Ex-Boyfriend's Band is a reoccurring column that features the opinions and insight of the author, not necessarily reflective of the Ist network as a whole. Thank you for reading! For the times they are a-changin'. And the music festivals are a-changin' with them. Even Dylan, who declined to take the stage at Woodstock in 1969, evolved into the 2007 Austin City Limits headliner. With SXSW, Fun Fun Fun and the C3......

Photo courtesy My Guerrilla on Flickr[another wristband for the collection] Austin’s C3 Presents now has three major festivals to go along with their trio of Charlies. The producers of Lollapalooza and the Austin City Limits Festival will put on the Vineland Music Festival in rural New Jersey Aug. 8 to 10, 2008. Vineland is a joint venture with Melvin Benn’s Festival Republic. The U.K. event producer’s portfolio includes the Reading, Leeds and Glastonbury festivals. Set......

Promo still from Interkosmos site Cinematexas Viking Funeral WeekendSaturday, December 1st-Sunday, December 2nd501 Studios Theater (501 N. IH 35)FREE; check schedule for showtimes[info]After an 11-year stint of avante-garde programming and generally being "the most pioneering film festival in the country", the Cinematexas Film Festival is no more. Sure, we have a wealth of film festivals to keep us entertained here Austin, but we're feeling a bit wistful about Cinematexas and their talent for bringing us......

Dear Pillow poster by Rob Jones Dear Pillow DVD Release PartyMonday, November 12thAustin School of Film8pm, Free, Beer and snacks provided[info]Austin-made indie favorite Dear Pillow will hit the shelves tomorrow in DVD form (courtesy of Heretic Films), and tonight the Austin School of Film will host a party to celebrate the occasion. Written and Directed by Bryan Poyser (who we interviewed about his latest short Grammy's during SXSW), Dear Pillow tells the story of a......

Image from Austin Asian Film Fest official site Austin Asian Film FestivalThursday November 8 - Sunday November 11Various VenuesAll access badge $30, Individual films $7 / $5 students, AFS, TAA[info]Austin has a mind-blowing number of film festivals. In the last six weeks alone we've had the Austin Film Festival, Fantastic Fest, aGLIFF, The Austin Polish Film Festival and the Dismember the Alamo Zombie Film Fest--all of which were awesome. And beginning tomorrow, we'll have another......

Photo of Girl Talk by Davis AyersGregg Gillis didn't have a chance to stop by and say hello during Fun Fun Fun Fest, but he was kind enough to get in touch yesterday and share his thoughts on the weekend in general. As expected, he was happy with his crowd, the stage and his set, despite his previous experiences at festivals. Before his set, the eager crowd was already teeming with nervous excitement, perhaps recalling......

Photo of Girl Talk by Davisayer on FlickrFun Fun Fun Fest lived up to its name in spades last weekend, showcasing local and not-so local bands of all genres on three stages in two short days. Day one included local acts White Denim, Brothers and Sisters and Okkervil River, as well as touring acts like Neurosis, Final Fantasy, of Montreal and Girl Talk. Last year's event was a success, albeit overshadowed by too-cool temperatures and......

Usually, street closures around the Capitol hail the arrival of one of Austin's many street festivals, where you can listen to a wishy-washy blues-rocker do his best to channel Stevie Ray Vaughn while you eat a turkey leg amongst a sea of fanny-packed families and homemade jewelry vendors. But once a year it means it's Texas Book Festival time. As literary events go in this town, it is the big one. For two days......

Art Alliance Austin is still accepting visual artists' application for participation in its highly anticipated annual art fair, Art City Austin, to be held next April 12-13 - but not for long! If you're an artist with the right stuff, submit your application here (and non-refundable $30 jury fee) by midnight, October 31, or risk turning back into a black velvet paint-by-number pumpkin. The competitive jury process draws thousands of applicants from around the......

Band of Horses Cease to Begin (Sub Pop) Editors Note: This review reflects the personal opinions and experiences of the writer and does not necessarily reflect those of the Ist network as a whole. Enjoy! In your typical southern suburban town of Irmo in Columbia, South Carolina is where Band of Horses singer Ben Bridwell and I went to high school. Among the strip malls and neighborhood watch signs, between high school football games......

If you're like us and received that leopard print e-flyer ("because your email was obtained from nightclub events or entertainment promotions in the Austin area") proclaiming the entrance of the ultra-hip Pangaea night club into the old Alamo Drafthouse downtown location, you were probably wondering when the new Drafthouse location would be up and projecting inside what used to be Ritz on 6th. And so were we. Until we cruised over to the Drafthouse Blog,......

This week, Phillyist saw the waters of a landmark fountain run red for a Showtime marketing stunt, the Phils pull ahead, and some serious nostalgia. They also got a chance to review an awesome tribute album, reminded folks to see the King, and appreciated their beautiful skyline. Chicagoist knows what it's like to like the Cubs. But naming your kid Wrigley Fields? At least they can breathe a little easier now that Grossman's out and......

UPDATE: NME is also reporting that Muse will play at Stubb's on Sunday night, we'll have details as they emerge. A lot of this might be old news for ticket holders who have been scurrying around trying to figure out how they're going to be compensated for their White Stripes @ Stubb's tickets, but it's true: Muse's performance has been moved up, and they will now occupy the White Stripes' slot, while the rest......

*The views expressed in Truesday are those of the author and do not represent Austinist as a whole. Thank heavens.* -The Editors Usually at this time of year I’m hunting down the best afterparties related to ACL, stocking up on Emergen-C, and whispering sweet nothings to my liver like a good liver-beater does. But for some reason, this year the whole shebang-e-bang has taken me by surprise. Totally slipped my mind. I blame our......

The 2007 Austin City Limits Music Festival is only a week away, and sure you’ve got your 3-day pass worth who knows what, your personal schedule, and the promise of a wide variety of music. Well, do not let your passion for music or your stamina for festivals run out during ACL fest -- We are proudly co-sponsoring this year’s Wall Of Sound Festival in Fort Worth on the 22nd of September. That’s right, the......

The Trip Fives are a long-form improv troupe from Kansas City performing tonight as part of the Out of Bounds festival. We caught up with Tim Lemke on Thursday night spoke with him about improv in Kansas City and the upcoming Trip Fives performance. Is this your first Out of Bounds? Tim Lemke: Yes, this is the first time that we’ve submitted anything for this festival and it will be the first time that we’re......

Given that Amy Winehouse's "Rehab" has become resolutely unfunny over the past month (even before she canceled), the title of "band with that one hit song that everyone loves" at ACL has fallen squarely on the shoulders of Sweden's Peter, Bjorn, and John. The group have been plugging away at their charming blend of pop, rock, and indie since 1999, and are anything but an overnight sensation. Their breakthrough hit "Young Folks" is actually......

In 2005, Bloc Party released their debut album Silent Alarm, a glorious highlight of the postpunk revival that the New York Times described as "angsty and urgent, with jagged guitars and sexy dance-punk drums." Unlike many of their British rock contemporaries, the band have aggressively toured America in the interim, stopping in Austin for both SXSW and ACL Fest in 2005 and 2007 and at Stubb's in 2006. This approach may help explain why......

With unseasonable weather descending upon much of North America, schools getting ready to reconvene, and sports seasons getting exciting, it's a busy time of year for us here in the Ist-A-Verse. Luckily, even with all the things we have to do, we still managed to get together to let you know what we've all been up to. After cooling down from a hot weekend of many badass Sunset Junction Street Fair photo dispatches, LAist asked......

We recently had the opportunity to talk to the men behind the upcoming Out of Bounds Fest (and miniature golf tournament!), Jeremy Lamb and Shannon McCormick. The fest, which kicks off next Wednesday and runs for a week, is in its sixth year, and is quickly becoming one of the biggest, must-do comedy events in Austin. Can you give me a little bit of background on the festival and when it started? Jeremy Lamb: Sure.......

ME Television (Time Warner cable channel 15), Austin's local music video station, is gearing up for their own reality show which will be based on their nationwide search for two new VeeJays. The first set of open auditions takes place Thursday, August 30 in Austin. These auditions will be filmed for the reality series, which will start showing on ME in October. Duties of ME VeeJays include artist interviews, as well as coverage of......

We know you've heard the name, and we know you know they're not Japanese. Or police. They're actually just some kids from Canada who met in fourth grade and are living the dream: playing in an awesome, fun, and increasingly popular band. Elementary friends David Monks (vocals, bass), Graham Wright (keyboard), and Josh Hook (guitar) met Greg Alsop (drummer) in high school and formed Tokyo Police Club. Shortly thereafter, and totally out of the......

In a (somewhat) surprising announcement via press release mid-afternoon Monday, Austin's legendary venue Emo's, announced a partnership with local talent buying firm, C3 Presents. The announcement arrives on the heels of another announcement: Transmission Entertainment's official bid in the Austin talent buying and event booking business. In many ways, the partnership between Emo's and C3 is a match made in heaven: Stubb's, which is co-owned by Charles Attal, a partner at C3, is a neighbor......

Soundcheck has grabbed our attention constantly over the last year with colorful covers presenting regional talent like Voxtrot and Midlake. However, the glossy magazine features national acts as well, while keeping a close eye on major festivals -- both home and away. Soundcheck also incorporates additional flair into its usual, stellar content every month. An “Artist Perspective” feature (from the likes of Ramesh Srivastava) and columns such as Hometown Heroes keep this local ‘zine hip......

This Memorial Day holiday, we dusted off the Austinist company van for our annual trip down to the Kerrville Folk Festival for a beer-drenched, music-filled, puddle-hopping four-day weekend just two hours outside of Austin. Situated within the meadows and hills of the Quiet Valley Ranch, the folk festival—which started in 1972 as a gathering of a few friends/musicians who decided to camp out and play music for a few days—is now well into its......

Austin's independent film distribution website B-Side is relaunching today, and as part of that, is offering the documentary "Pirate Radio USA" as a DRM-free download. The doc, which was an audience favorite at last year's Austin Film Festival, is a riotous tour of the free radio underground (no Christian Slater or Samantha Mathis, but this is way cooler, we promise). B-Side chose "Pirate Radio" solely as a result of positive audience feedback—a concept which is......

Costa Rica SA | Costa Rica, Inc. (Costa Rica) Hideout Theater, 11 AM The film explores with satirical black humor some absurd aspects of the Dominican Republic - Central America Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA); such as the inclusion of war weapons as objects of commerce for Costa Rica, a country without an army, or the incorporation of Central American undersea resources as part of the United States’ definition of territory. Costa Rica, Inc. was......