ACL Previews Interview: Ghostland Observatory Previews: The Broken West, Big Sam’s Funky Nation & Rose Hill Drive Previews: Billy Joe Shaver and Fionn Regan Previews: Brandon Rhyder and Ocote Soul Sounds Interview: The Broken West Previews: Sylvia St. James, Jeffrey Steele, and Amy Cook Interview: Bloc Party ACL Fest Updates: Google Mashup, Contests, Eco-Chic Previews: Augustana, Amos Lee Interview: Peter, Bjorn, and John ACL Band Clash, Round 3: Wilco Vs My Morning Jacket Travis......

JOSH RITTER What’s The Deal: Josh Ritter graduated from college with a major in American History through Narrative Folk Music, which makes the title of this folk-pop singer/songwriter’s recently released album, The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter, fitting as well as boastful. He can boast all he wants with those hearty lyrics fat with imagery and the voluminous songwriting of this, his fifth album. Comparisons to Bob Dylan as well as John Lennon immediately come......

Stay tuned this week for full-length review of the latest New Pornographers and Rilo Kiley albums. Caribou Andorra (Merge) Dan Snaith's project formerly known as Manitoba is the realization of a degree in mathematics, numerous electronic gadgets and a nothing if not agile companionship between the past and the present. Though Andorra is the product of Snaith's deft handling of quite modern equipment, the feeling of listening is more nostalgic than expectant. "Melody Day,"......

Followers of the indie-rock scene may be a little shocked to find out that it has only been two years since Clap Your Hands Say Yeah's debut demos stormed across the blogosphere. The decidedly scruffy demos were a revelation, full of Talking Heads-like vocals, soaring minimal guitar lines, and (perhaps most importantly) a very danceable rhythm section that sounded quite different to the many Interpol-derivatives of the day. Having seen the then-unknown CHYSY win......

FRIDAY [13] music/art • Austin Museum of Digital Art (AMODA) presents their latest Digital Showcase with Drop The Lime, MVSCLZ, HAPPYSUCKY, Wonder Jam Twins, Yatsuzaki, DJ Who's Jealous and DJ Radicon, plus visual artists including Ben Aqua, Ben Hibon, Bleep Labs, Cari Palazzolo, David Salinas, DEFASTEN, Eli Welbourne, Friedrich Kirschner, Johnny Cisneros, Lanneau White aka Karl Sapien, Lonja, Mike Ruiz, and Yuki Kawamura at The Mohawk (9pm-2am, $7/$4 general/members, 18+) ® music • Faceless......

MONDAY [9] books • Ted Bishop presents Riding With Rilke: Reflections on Motorcycles and Books at BookPeople (7:30pm) film • The Agronomist at Texas Union (7:30pm) ® film • Imagine - The John Lennon Sing-along at Alamo Drafthouse (7pm, $10) ® film • Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown at Arbor (2:45pm, 7:30pm) ® film • Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers at Café Mundi (8pm, Free) film • Run Lola Run......

Fans of the indie-rock will find much to like in the latest concert update. Flying V lovers My Morning Jacket, the willfully obtuse Fiery Furnaces, and alt.country godfather Jay Farrar have each been added to Austin's fall music schedule. As we've mentioned, the sheer volume of shows is unprecedented, so get out and enjoy the fact that every band you like is coming to town in the next two months. Thanks as always to......

As Elvis Costello might say, we just don't know where to begin. Even if you are skipping ACL, the fall is turning into a music wonderland. Acts of every genre and size are booking Austin's clubs up like there's no tomorrow, leaving music lovers with many questions on how to spend both time and cash this fall. Trust us, you can't see it all, so pick your favorites and buy tickets in advance to......

We'll get the bad news out of the way first: Junior Boys, Hot Chip, and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah have all slighted Austin on their fall tour schedules. So if you were hoping for one of these shows, start saving for a JetBlue flight. Thankfully, almost every other indie-Pitchfork-college rock band known to man will touch down in our town between now and Thanksgiving. There were a flurry of new show announcements over......

While August continues to look farily quiet for roadshows, September and October are just blowing up. Many indie stalwarts have recently scheduled appearances for fall semester, so start saving up some coin. Among the highlights: Sufjan Stevens, The Decemberists, M. Ward, Jose Gonzales, and Ladytron. Unless you've been under a rock this week, you already know that loud dinosaurs The Rolling Stones are also planning a visit; that said, no ticket info has become......

AngryRobot was kind enough to point out that the SXSW Music roster has now grown to over 1,200 bands. We're no longer able to keep track of who's new and who's already been listed, but festival organizers will have notified all qualifying bands by sometime tomorrow. Check out our list after the expandotron, or for much prettier versions we invite you to surf over to AngryRobot's: SXSW 2006 Band List, Parsed v4.0 Meanwhile, stay......

South By Southwest released another round of additions to the roster of bands scheduled to perform at this year's music festival (March 15th-19th), bringing the current total to nearly 1150. Notable bands recently added as of January 29th include Morrissey, Camera Obscura, Captain, Boy Hits Car, Billy Bragg, Bedtime for Toys, Division of Laura Lee, and SF's Hudson Bell. The full roster appears after the jump, or you check out much prettier versions at......

The roster of bands scheduled to perform at this year's South by Southwest Music Festival has grown to over one thousand, with several hundred still unannounced. If you're not on this, don't fret -- just yet. SXSW coordinators are promising to contact all selected bands by February 7. Meanwhile: The housing market during the festival is looking rather healthy. SXSW is still looking for volunteers Registration rates are at their penultimate price points before......

SXSW.com released an updated lineup for this year's SXSW Music Festival earlier today, and it's one hell of a list. The SXSW committee hastens to note that "This is a partial list of performers confirmed to appear at the 2006 SXSW Music Festival. This list is current as of 1/13/06. All of this information is subject to change." International acts include: Masahiro Nitta, DMBQ, Ellegarden, Tsu Shi Ma Mi Re, PE'Z, The Emeralds (Japan)......