"All those wasted miles/ All those aimless drives through green aisles/ Our careless lifestyle/ It was not so unwise.” On “Green Aisles”, the second track from Real Estate’s second album, lead singer Martin Courtney pretty much delivers the thesis statement of his band’s existence. more ›

Friday night ACL Live hosted the taping of Fleet Foxes for Austin City Limits' 37th season. With their band's sophomore album Helplessness Blues released earlier this year, a subsequent tour with The Walkmen, and an appearance at Austin City Limits last month, the Seattle-based sextet had the small crowd anxious for an intimate show. more ›

Fleet Foxes are having something of a cultural moment right now. This show was sold out months before the release their second album, Helplessness Blues, which has garnered eye-popping reviews from just about everyone and placed them in that rarefied space wherein an indie band can chart on Billboard, have their album streamed by NPR*, and sell out major venues while still maintaining a level of hip cache and critical adulation. Animal Collective, Arcade Fire, Grizzly Bear and Vampire Weekend are among the other bands there. It doesn't hurt that there is nothing offensive whatsoever about Fleet Foxes: they're a young, attractive band with, for better or worse, a modest, folk-hippie style that matches their gorgeous and heartwarming folk-rock music; music that is obviously the result of oodles of talent meeting with painstaking craftsmanship. Something to be held up, admired, and appreciated. more ›

• If you didn’t get tickets to the Fleet Foxes show tomorrow at Stubb’s, you can just watch it on NPR's livestream! Score!
• If you were thinking about subscribing to satellite radio just to listen to “Willie’s Place” don’t bother, because it’s (mostly) gone.
• There was actual jousting that took place in Austin earlier this month!

J. Tillman has been writing songs and releasing them in one way or another (some on the Autumn Tone label, some on his own) since 2004, but his other gig playing drums for Fleet Foxes slowed the release of Vacilando Territory Blues. more ›

If our friends at KGSR were to curate a stage for ACL, we suspect it would look like this one. Though we have no knowledge that Austin radio mainstay Jody Denberg is the man behind the curtains for Saturday's AMD stage, the bands here certainly look a lot like his playlists! What strikes us as great about this stage is that the music all fits together nicely even though it crosses many age groups, demographics, and genres. It would be hard not to enjoy what's on offer here, so consider staking out a spot and using AMD as your Saturday home base. more ›

Sub Pop darlings Fleet Foxes performed to an attentive, sold-out crowd at Mohawk last night, supported by Seattle's The Dutchess and the Duke and locals Balmorhea. Austinist contributing photographer Ali Bagheri provided the photos. more ›

By now it should be apparent that we at the Austinist think that Fleet Foxes are absolutely, 100% badass. After all, in the last three months we've touted the excellence of not only their eponymous debut LP, but also have we waxed eloquent on their Sun Giant EP—reading those reviews makes it pretty clear that this is a band whose return to Austin falls into the highly-anticipated category. Simply said, preceding this quintet is a reputation as a throwback to kinder, less electronic musical times, and they have garnered critical acclaim far and wide not only for their studio work, but also for their consistently-satisfying live show. The modest northwesterners use cascades of vocal harmonizing, led by talented frontman Robin Pecknold, and well-arranged instrumentation to make them a group more than worthy of Mohawk's hump day headline. more ›

At first, it'd be easy to mistake Fleet Foxes for old-school My Morning Jacket, or even present-day commercial heroes Band of Horses. After all, they've got that Americana thing going, it seems at times that they're drowning in reverb, you'd assume everyone's got long hair, et cetera. But if their excellent debut EP wasn't enough to make it clear that this Washington quintet is a much different beast—and a gorgeous one at that—their first full-length should do the trick. more ›

This week's band to watch is The M's and their Real Close Ones long-player, out today on Polyvinyl. The Chicago-based quartet's retro psych is garnering lots of attention, and this release is most likely the gate-crasher. Also out this week are Fleet Foxes' self-titled record and Shearwater's Rook (Matador), please check back with us later in the week for reviews. more ›

Xachua’Bsh, Washington's quintet has quickly become a buzzing glimmer of hope in a massive onslaught of post-SX dance rock fervor, offering ornate instrumentation and traditional folk elements in non-traditional ways with their EP, Sun Giant. Thick vocal reverb (which earns them unfair Band of Horses comparisons), Fleetwood Mac inspired harmony, and layered instrumentation (tin pans, fiddle, piano, shakers, mandolin) lend the songs a focused yet limber vibe. "White Winter Hymnal" borrows from traditional folk songs and church choir on the front porch purity, but the precise execution of the harmonized round and the pristine production give the track a feeling of soaring perfection. more ›

Thursday Flamingo Cantina takes a break from bringing in bands like The Skatalites and Israel Vibration. Instead, for this free day show they will host the shimmering and sentimental, Swedish alt rock of the Shout Out Louds. You’ll also hear the catchy California rock of Rogue Wave and the love song sing-alongs and quirky experiments of Akron/Family. Sub Pop’s Portland drums-and-guitar duo The Helio Sequence come prepared with spacey indie rock prettiness, and Fleet Foxes are set to impress with charming guitars and melodic tones. Expect a thrilling display from Athens’ psych-folk collective Elf Power. more ›