What is up Butch Walker's ass? In 1998's "Freak of the Week," the breakout single from his former band Marvelous 3, he pointedly sings: "I spend a lot on all the clothes that I got / Cuz all the geeks that I meet, they all look cooler than me," and ten-plus years haven't mellowed the resentment one bit. His new group Butch Walker and the Black Widows unveiled a new video for their song "Synthesizers," which features Matthew McConaughey as the iconic/sleazy David Wooderson strolling into a dance club as he did the Emporium to the tune of Bob Dylan's "The Hurricane" in Dazed and Confused. more ›

UN reports: Poorest people are most at risk through climate change. Dick Cheney's heart (ha) may be in trouble. In California, they drink sewage. Sort of. Russian hipsters carefully ignore Stalin, long for the good old days. Speaking as a nation wearing Native American t-shirts, we could teach them a thing or two about revisionist history... Living in the city makes your breasts denser. (This is not a metaphor, and it could be dangerous!)... more ›

Austin artist Michael Schliefke—of Bolm Studios and one of the driving forces behind the annual East Austin Studio Tour (E.A.S.T.)—recently unveiled a new comic book side project that takes aim at all of the development shenanigans happening on the eastside. "Towards the beginning of this year, I got the idea to do some drawings of East Austin before it was entirely cleaned up and was completely overrun by condos and lofts," said Schliefke. "My idea... more ›

And you thought hipsters tried too hard. Soon taking over the space vacated by the Alamo Drafthouse is Pangaea, Austin's very own safari-themed nightclub in the Warehouse District. The so-called "ultra-lounge" will come decked out with various and sundry adornments meant to evoke visions of the Dark Continent and intrepid desert expeditions — we're guessing mounted zebra heads, tribal hunting gear, and the like. Unabashedly exotic and — if its London sibling is any indication... more ›

Upon arriving around 2:50pm, we found quite a bit of chaos. An unfortunate propane tank explosion had injured four ACL staffers, so fire trucks, EMS vehicles, and golf carts were buzzing everywhere. Our tickets were stuck with a friend inside, so we found a shady tree and hung out until the dust settled around 3:15. We entered to the wafting notes of Peter, Bjorn, and John, who had attracted such a huge crowd we... more ›

Augustana. Even if you don’t know the name, chances are you’ve heard their single “Boston” over the past year. You know the one. They played it in on Laguna Beach, Scrubs and The Today Show. It hovered around the thirties on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for a while. You know, it’s a melodic, piano-driven pop rock song with super sweet, almost cherubic vocals played by some baby-faced hipsters with shaggy hair and tight jeans.... more ›

If you happened to be downtown two weekends ago, you might have found yourself startled, amused, or even aroused (it’s okay, you’ll be totally accepted at some clubs in Japan) by the sight of four human forms wandering the streets in golden, skin-tight zentai suits. There must be something in the way head-to-toe spandex outfits cling to one’s body, because clubbers all over downtown were completely enamored with the mysterious beings - perhaps it... more ›

According to the 2007 Allstate America’s Best Drivers Report™, Austinites get into more crashes than drivers in any of the 20 other Texas cities on the list. Austin ranked 179 out of 197 cities nationwide and Austin drivers are 31% more likely to get into a crash than the average American driver. Motor vehicle traffic crashes are the leading cause of death for Americans aged 4 to 34. more ›

Half the fun of South by Southwest is checking out what the visiting hipsters of the world are wearing. This year we interviewed more than a dozen stylish musicians, tourists and local fashionistas about their personal style as they made the rounds from show to show. We chose the ones that stood out the most for this video.
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Over at Gothamist we have a thing called Tourist, where bands from New York keep tour diaries for us. My Brightest Diamond is one of the bands doing this for us throughout SXSW, check out Nate from MBD's first entry here. And here's an excerpt. Three days before flying out from NY to Austin for the South by Southwest music conference, I had a rather ominous dream. It was the sort of dream you wake... more ›

Are you ready? It's time to to make those connections folks, SXSW officially kicks into gear this week. Although this week might just be for the geeky hipsters, cool hipsters will have to wait a little longer, it's still time to get started. That being said, since we know you need time to prepare, we're making it short and sweet. So we're busting out the best of last week's Missed Connections one-liners.... more ›

Hometown rock stars I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness have finished two quick jaunts to Europe, are working on a new album, put together a terrifyingly beautiful music video for "The Owl" with Emmanuel Ho, and will be playing at SXSW. If you aren't already familiar with their unique brand of Peter Murphy meets Nick Cave inspired minimalist (but fist-flinging urban) post-rock, change your ways: you don't want to miss them live. Recently... more ›

We've been all over the city in this column, covering houses from the south side, all the way to the heart of suburbia. In this edition, Austinist returns to our love of life on the cheap. Artists, thrift store hawks and the underemployed by choice - no need to get over a barrel when buying those new digs. This lovable city is still choc-a-block with awesome homes to be had for under 200K, especially... more ›

Here, as we collectively tremble at the gaping maw of 2007, Emo's, in its infinite magnanimity, has provided us with an entire week of free shows. Stopping in over the past few nights we've seen many strange and wonderful things: screaming female hardcore vocalists, punk as pure as black baby powder, hirsute hipsters, and faces on the floor, having been viciously rocked off. Tonight will be no different in that there is sure to... more ›

Austin writer Karen Olsson will be at Barnes and Noble, Westlake this Thursday to promote the paperback release of her debut novel Waterloo. The book itself was heaped with praise upon its original release last year and furnishes entertaining commentary on our existence in Austin. It comes to you now in a safe, lightweight, affordable paperback version. What's not to love? The novel is informed by Olsson's own experience living, working, and reporting in Austin.... 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 ›

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... more ›

Tickets available here more ›

God, we're so sick of Snakes on a Plane that we want to kill anyone and everyone that makes a "something on a something" joke. But then we realized that there was no way we could ever win this fight, and, hell, if you can't beat them, we might as well join them. And with that, you have the theme of this weeks' Gothamist network post. Austinist makes it easy for us, with Candidate on... more ›

Internet connection + disillusioned emo boy = sad, vitriolic Craigslist Missed Connections post: more ›

• Dude. Seriously. As if you didn't have enough fun this weekend. Drink up.
• Cyclists want respect. They need respect. Some riders in Mexico City demanded it with their clothes off.
• The Alamo Drafthouse Downtown is going to be a non-profit organization in an effort to keep their doors open (rent is on the rise).
• Last week was Headache Awareness Week and we know some people are going to be alot more aware of their significant other's migraines. Some "experts" have drawn a correlation between headaches and elevated sex drives. Ladies, you're going to have to come up with more creative excuses!
• Those Hummers we love so much have proven to be more dangerous than their armour might suggest. The additional protection actually increases the liklihood that the vehicles will roll over.
• The earlier days of boy-band-hood are coming back like those tacky neon leggings from the 80's. Menudo (not the soup) is being revived by assholes Menudo Entertainment.
• Seattle is the Nation's smartest city, but Austin is number 3. Way to go, nerds!
• The government could start snooping on all your MySpace activity. We suggest you stop posting about your drug sales and start posting about your bake sales.
• We are sorry to reveal that all you tattooed and pierced hipsters aren't so unique anymore.
• Take your computer swimming. Barton Springs is a hotspot in more ways than one.
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LAist is flashing a sad peace out to their editor Carolyn Kellogg with one hand and bumping knuckles with their new head typist L.A. blogger king Tony Pierce with the other. Where do ist editors go when they hang up the 'editorial we'? They take on MySpace, apparently. At least Ben Brown does. Austinist reminds us of the just rewards of less savory careers this week and then they witness the Arctic Monkeys and We... more ›

Summer doesn’t officially start for a couple more weeks, but the lazy, hazy days are already upon us. Time to unfurl the beach blankets and unpack the frisbees. But what about the (rare) rainy days? Or the days when even a dip at Barton Springs can’t beat the heat and you don’t dare leave the comfy confines of your air-conditioned home? Those are the days to stay inside and revisit your summer-camp youth with some arts and crafts. A slew of new books aimed at the hip crafter offer heaps of ideas to keep you a happy camper. more ›

In case you've missed it, there's a comedy revolution brewing in New York right now. Comics like Todd Barry, Demitri Martin, and Aziz Ansari have been drawing huge audiences of hipsters and regular folk alike with satire that owes far more to the silliness and irony of Steve Martin and Eddie Izzard than to the lowbrow Comedy Central/Def Comedy Jam nonsense that's infested comedy clubs for a decade. Among the brightest lights of the... more ›

Glaswegian instrumental rockers Mogwai cemented their reputation as Lords Of The Crescendo with a monolithic hour-plus set last Friday at La Zona Rosa. The quintet drew a near-capacity crowd as notable for its diversity—stoners, math nerds, hipsters and other twentysomethings packed in like the dysfunctional age group they are—as for the fact that anyone showed up at all, given the weekend’s dreary storm-surges. Touring in support of their fifth LP, Mr. Beast, Mogwai certainly... more ›

Austin is getting a new public Art Installation. Today at 11am, Mayor Will Wynn and Gibson Guitars will be part of a ceremony kicking-off the project in front of City Hall. Austin GuitarTown is going to feature guitars scattered around the city, placed in front of landmarks and significant businesses, that are painted by local musicians and artisans. NASA is planning to bomb the moon in order to study dust particles that come from... more ›

The Senate is really close to finalizing the controversial immigration bill. The proposed bill separates illegal immigrants into three categories and just seems like it will be a big mess. A teacher who kept a 40mm shell on his desk as a fancy-schmancy paperweight, tried to squish a bug with it and blew off his hand instead. We are hoping the bug survived because, now, we believe in karma. We think, that between "M^!*#r... more ›

Daily Texan writer Eric Seufert has a bone to pick with the liberal media. And hipsters. And Democrats. Seufert is a senior at UT majoring in finance, with an apparent minor in either satire or unsubstantiated hate. Or so it seems. We were on the Dillo riding to work this morning when we came across his Opinion piece in the Daily Texan. The headline: SXSW: Liberal menace. The piece goes off on several tangents,... more ›

Lately, the music industry has been making more moves than a blog editor at a GLO show. Here's a run down on everything you need to fuel your hatred of corporate music and Nashville. If you don’t hate Music City, move there, it took us exactly six hours to develop a serious loathing we allowed to fester for six years. James Blunt, unsurprisingly called Blunt the C*nt by his sassy British friends, became the... more ›