Ben Kweller - Ben Kweller (ATO): Mr. ACL nosebleed's new disc is a strong rebound from 2004's sub-par On My Way. Despite Kweller's jangly, simple writing style, there is evidence of real maturity here, from the crisp Gil Norton production to the consistency of the material. There's nothing quite as catchy as "Wasted And Ready," but the album is a hook-filled, enjoyable indie-pop listen all the way through, and that's pretty rare these days.......

Didn’t want to spend your hard-earned cash for ACL ducats this year? Or maybe you have to work, and can’t get away from that computer to which you’re chained. Whatever the case may be, if you aren’t heading down to Zilker Park this weekend, you can still catch several of the ACL performances broadcast live over the intranets. AT&T will be airing exclusive content at their Blue Room portal beginning tomorrow with the first......

Another week, another batch of ACL bands from my Austin City Limits Festival Artist Previews Page. Here's the latest: Son Volt - After seven years and four solo albums, Jay Farrar returned to the studio with Son Volt and emerged last year with Okemah and the Melody of Riot, and proof that his group is still one of the best country-influenced rock bands out there. (full preview) The Long Winters - After about four......

If you've lived in Austin for a while, you've surely heard the twang-pop of Dallas' Old 97's by now. While the group is currently on hiatus due to Rhett Miller's solo career, they were absolutely one of the best alt.country outfits of their era. The band eventually outgrew (or chose to downplay) most of their country influences, becoming more pop-rock oriented with each new album. By the time their last major label record "Satellite......

There is much to report this week surrounding the Zilker Park-sized dust oven that is ACL Fest. The big news is that a ridiculous number of 'official' ACL aftershow concerts has been announced. Many of the fest's acts will take over all of our club venues immediately after the big show ends each night. All tickets go onsale tomorrow at 10am, except for Sufjan Stevens, which is already onsale. This means that either (a)......

Sale information on wristbands for SXSW will be announced by the Austin Chronicle in this Thursday's issue -- we'll have it posted here as soon as we find out! Arab Strap - The Last Romance Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I Am Not Asylum Street Spankers - Pussycat: Bootleg Series V.2 Bela Fleck & the Flecktones - The Hidden Land Billy Bragg - Box Set V.1 Billy Bragg -......

M O N D A Y [ 2 4 ] Happy United Nations Day! music · Coheed & Cambria, Dredg, mewithoutYou and Blood Brothers at Stubb's music · Elizabeth McQueen and Jason Roberts - of Asleep at the Wheel - hold court at Threadgill's (8pm) film · The Austin Film Festival at various venues around town (Through Thursday) books · Tram Nguyen discusses We Are All Suspects Now, her investigation into the "human cost of......