On Friday night, Emo’s hosted an evening of musical idiosyncrasy that included performances by longtime locals Jad Fair and Pong, Brooklyn’s Tropical Ooze, and one of American music’s more purposefully obscure and astonishingly prolific recording artists, R. Stevie Moore. Over the course of his nearly five decade career, his live performances have been some of the most consistently elusive phenomena on the roads he’s determinately not taken. Also, it’s altogether too uncommon to see Jad Fair play a downtown venue, so as is often the case on weekends booked full of shows, Emo’s was the place to be. more ›

Danielson was joined by The Weird Weeds and Jad Fair at The ND on Tuesday night as he and his new band celebrated the release of his first studio work in five years, The Best of Gloucester County. The evening was filled with uncommonly enchanting eccentric music. With some of Austin's most innovative musicians opening for him, including pioneering outsider artist Jad Fair, Danielson's audience was primed for his unusually creative and joyful performance. On a weeknight that was unusually full of enticing shows and events all across town, this was almost surely the most uplifting of them all. more ›

Half Japanese formed in the mid-seventies, and the band, which initially consisted of just brothers Jad and David Fair, would go on to have an musical impact on par with fellow primitive rock and roll ideologues Beat Happening and forebears The Shaggs. Kurt Cobain and Penn Jillette both championed their qualities to a larger audience, and their early history is even chronicled in a film entitled Half Japanese: The Band That Would Be King by The Devil and Daniel Johnston director Jeff Feurezeig. Even after David left Half Japanese to pursue other things, Jad kept the love lights glowing by recording both under the band’s name and his own, collaborating with many other musicians along the way. more ›

Image from MySpace Ear to the UndergroundSunday, December 9Salvage Vanguard Theatre ()$5, 8pm-12am, BYOB[info] This Sunday, The Church of the Friendly Ghost and the Misc. Music label are banding together to bring new, mind-expanding music to the Salvage Vanguard Theatre. The event, called Ear to the Underground, begins at 8:00 p.m. and ends at 12:00 p.m. Four bands will be performing; Damage Pants and Aliens from Austin, and Make Your Own Maps with the painful-sounding... more ›

Although Austin isn’t without its own freak-folkiness, former Texans Devendra Banhart and Jana Hunter will be journeying to La Zona Rosa on October 7th to present their own take on the genre for what has become a burgeoning fan base. Banhart, as close to a superstar as an acid-folk rocker can be, is supporting his newest album Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon, which features contributions from surprising sources including Nick Valensi of The Strokes, actor... more ›

FRIDAY [7] [film] Patton at Paramount Theatre (7:30pm) (link) [film] Sinus Show: Footloose at Alamo Downtown (7pm & 10pm, $12.50) (link) [books] Robert Sullivan presents Cross Country: Fifteen Years and 90,000 Miles on the Roads and Interstates of America ... at BookPeople (7pm) (link) [theatre] Capital T Theatre presents "A Brief History of Helen of Troy" at Hyde Park Theatre (8pm, $10-$20) (link) [theatre] "The Hollow" at Vortex (8pm, $10-$30) (link) [theatre] "In On It"... more ›

Danielson (formerly the Danielson Famile) is an indie pop/Christian gospel troupe band of brothers and sisters from suburban New Jersey. Formed as a result of elder Smith and frontman Daniel's senior thesis at Rutgers, entitled A Prayer for Every Hour, the band released a steady stream of albums starting the late 90s. Back in 2001 they signed to Secretly Canadian -- home to beloved indie acts like Antony and the Johnsons, Jens Lekman, Damien Jurado, and Magnolia Electric Co -- on which they've recently come out with the amazing Ships. more ›