SXSW Music kicks off on Wednesday the 12th, as always with the Annual Austin Music Awards at Austin Music Hall, but it has become clear over the last few years that the music really starts the night before. Just thinking back to last year, we remember walking up and down Red River, watching bands like Golden Bear, White Denim and Broken Teeth at venues such as Beauty Bar, Emo’s and Red 7, and congratulating ourselves for getting started early....

Austin dweller Margaret Brown brings her new documentary, The Order of Myths, to SXSW after a successful showing at Sundance. Brown was born in Mobile, Alabama, where Myths takes place. The film follows Mobilians through one cycle of their Mardi Gras celebrations—a festival which the city is proud to have begun celebrating before New Orleans. Unlike the Big Easy’s do, however, the Mobile Mardi Gras is, effectively, segregated. ...

In case you're still curious about where to vote on Tuesday, we've reprinted the official list from the Travis County Clerk web site as of Monday evening. For up-to-date information, you might want to double-check the Office of the Registrar's database To find out which precint you're in, use their handy Voter Verification form. From the Elections Divison: Registered voters can vote with a voter registration card, driver’s license or any official photo ID,......

Kick off this weekend early on Thursday at Antone’s with music from Black Joe Lewis, Bankrupt and the Borrowers, and The Best Love In Town on the special occasion of The Versatile Syndicate’s “Launch Party.” The entity is now open for business, and their agenda is to aid any artist in pursuing their dreams and professional development via booking/tour management, consulting, live production, and so on. This event is a part of the Austin Music Foundation’s Love Austin Music Month and cover for AMF members is $5. The rest of us mere mortals can get in for $10. The shindig also marks AMF's 6th Birthday; free cake and food (courtesy of Whole Foods Market) and free 2008 She Rocks Calendars while the goodies last....

For years, the Austinist staff has fielded queries from friends and acquaintances about SXSW goings-on. "Can I walk to The Salt Lick?" "Does it really take 90 minutes for a Casino El Camino burger?" But most of all: "What showcase do you recommend to see some good new bands I don't know about?" This year, we've made the answer official. Austinist is presenting an official nighttime showcase featuring six different American acts at Spiro's on Thursday, March 13. We've done a lot of listening to different bands and entire showcases, and believe that this one has great potential to impress you. The roster:...

Accompanying the current exhibition at the Harry Ransom Center, Beat Voices delves further into the doings of Peter Orlovsky, Diane di Prima, William S. Burroughs, and Alfred Leslie. The production's four brief plays run Sat-Sun @1 & 3pm until the exhibition closes on August 3. // The rock opera Speeding Motorcycle at Zach Scott Theater is based on the work of Daniel Johnston and tells the tale of Joe the Boxer's unrequited love for an undertaker's girlfriend. We're betting it won't disappoint. Through March 23, Thu-Sat @8pm / Sun @2:30pm....

This Canadian trio have made what might one of the most perfect records of 2008 with Come Into My House, and album inspired equally by Janet Jackson, Sufjan Stevens and Arthur Russell. Utilizing charmingly off-kilter vocal harmonies, thick bass lines and brash instrumentation (not to mention the bassoon solos, esoteric time signatures, and Cher-inspired warble-effect vocals), No Kids have crafted one of the most interesting albums we've heard in a long while. The band earned a grant from the Canadian government to work on the record, and brought in an additional 9 musicians to bring the cinematic landscapes they hear in their minds to life. Although tracks like "The Beaches are Closed" smack of '90s R&B (think Usher reminiscing about a girl who dressed sexy at a party, forcing him to sing to a rain-soaked window to his own reflection later that night), it doesn't at all stink of irony. Gorgeous strings layered over the crackling drum machine and the sweet harmonies sing praises to a genre often deemed joke-worthy, demonstrating the elegance inherent therein. "Bluster in the Air" employs a muted horn section ripped straight from a smoky jazz bar, "I Love the Weekend" is a love letter to Brazilian pop and jazz master Dom Um Romão, and "Neighbor's Party" kind of reminds us of Sufjan, but in the way that Sufjan reminds us of the Cure's unabashed pop musings, such as "Close to Me." There's really not enough time to fully describe what to expect out of this one, you'll have to try it for yourself. ...

It's no surprise that Sex, Death, Cassette was released on Asthmatic Kitty. Multi-faceted and experimental yet easily accessible, Rafter matches its label-mates in quirky, humble pop. ...

Haven't had enough of Valentine's Day yet? Ever secretly wanted to take a date to the Harry Ransom Center, but went for $2 Tecates at some hipster dive instead? This Friday, for one night only, the HRC is heading to the Eastside, celebrating love, the birth of hip, and the "starving, hysterical, naked" visions of the Beat Generation. Sounds hot....

ImageAfter Art Last Wednesday, a Francis Bacon triptych sold at a Christie's auction for about $51 million. This is the highest price ever paid at a European auction for a post-war work. The sale, according to Christie's, demonstrates "the underlying, continued strength of the market" for art across the world. /// Actor Randy Quaid has been "banned for life" from the Actors' Equity Association, the labor union for American stage actors, for "physically and verbally"......

If you crave constant flux, if you can’t stand it when a musician or band sticks with a formula for more than just one album, if you’re only happy when bands are being adventurous, exploratory, breaking new ground and taking risks; then Lucky might not be for you. But, if you’re content to be overcome by buckets and buckets of blinding harmonies and several wide smiles worth of hooky indie rock, then look no further. If too much pop sugar makes you gag and songs with repetitive choruses give you the shakes, then you're looking in the wrong place. But if this is you, what are you doing listening to Nada Surf anyway? Don’t say that you heard “Popular” and thought, “How innovative. I wonder what they’re going to come up with next.” ...

“Don’t believe the hype,” Public Enemy warned us way back in 1988, and as on their eerily prescient “Cold Lampin’ With Flavor” which made the surprising case for Flava Flave’s longevity, they were right, of course. And hype, by definition, should always be suspect. From the moment Vampire Weekend, the quirky New York quartet began making the blog rounds and collecting the sort of adjectives that pointed their way toward them becoming The Next Big Thing, we, as a music community, needed to take a breath, sit down, and just relax. Losing our shit about inventive New York rock debuts are just going to result in another band like The Strokes, and we all know where that got us....

Frontera Fest is such a playing-field-leveled egalitarian opportunity for creative types from all walks and skill levels to have a night in the spotlight. Totally worth the $12 -14 price of admission but don’t wait to figure this out later. The wait for unclaimed tickets on sold out nights starts an hour before showtime and baby it’s cold outside....

Dear reader, we’re sure you’ll agree that it’s been too long since we’ve heard from our favorite Bear Den/music venue, The Chain Drive, up there on Willow Street. ...

Classic Rock, Classic Country: As per usual, Willie Nelson will play two nights at The Backyard for both locals avoiding SXSW and tourists willing to skip one night of showcases to see Austin's most enduring music legend. Willie's shows are tentatively scheduled for 3/14 and 3/15, and will go on sale sometime in February. In another move designed to access some tourist dollars, Direct Events has announced a relatively intimate show with Van Morrison at the Austin Music Hall on Tuesday, March 11. Van the Man apparently hasn't heard about the looming recession, as tickets are priced from $102 to a whopping $257. ...

It’s not just going to be an overdose of tasty barbeque that puts people in a trance Friday night at Lamberts. No, you’ll be able to get a hefty portion of ambient, experimental orchestral sounds when The Noise Revival Orchestra Experience lays into their set at the release party for their latest 5-song E.P. The 13-person ensemble made up of trumpet, trombone, tuba, flute, synth and the usual rock suspects is sure to fill their set with thrilling compositions thick with layered instruments and vocals. The E.P. laden with triumphant textures sliding over one another will be dispersed in the form of USB drive, and it will contain a remixed track produced by DJ Jester the Filipino Fist available at this show only. ...

Even after the sketch comedy gem The State was grounded prematurely (and where’s that DVD already?) it hasn’t stopped Michael Showalter or Ian Black from bounding into many more comedic projects in the ensuing years....

Say you’re drunk. Or, better yet, you just woke up after one of those Mexican Martini nights, so it's one of those mornings where the sun, you’re sure, is already blazing its blaze just beyond your bedroom window, yet you can only spot a squeak of it through the blinds, and that little bit of light is really all you handle. Anything more would send you into full-on fury, but that special kind of fury where you can’t really do anything, because, truly, you feel like shit....

Photo by Tim Saccenti courtesy of MySpaceTHE SHARP THINGS What’s the Deal: New York pop isn’t owned only by the young and tragically hip. Nope, sometimes it’s powered by stately sophistication and a classical refinement. The Sharp Things, a name which immediately conjures images of a brash garage rock group, are a chamber pop group comprised of eleven members playing smart sounds taking influences from jazz, soul, indie rock, folk and classical, to name a......

Her hand-sewn, saliva-marked, grass-stained outfits were reality show ratings gold, but after six episodes former Austinite and University of Texas graduate Elisa Jimenez took the dive on last night's episode of Bravo's Project Runway. ...

What’s the Deal: Frank Smith isn’t the name of a man, but the name of an alt. country/Indie band of six with some of the most compelling songwriting in Austin. Their recent move from Boston has brought the group to an ideal state for their layered Americana full of gruff and gravely vocals, pluck and twang. They were even nominated for “Outstanding Americana Act” for the 2007 Boston Music Awards. Most of the time their music is a slow-moving, meandering drive in the country or on the winding roads of Appalachia letting the banjo and steel guitar radiate outward in waves to bounce back and forth between the birch trees and pines. ...

Listen, the point of karaoke is to get up there and belt that shit out. If you’re the type who really, really, really wants to stay true to the original version, then that’s great. But you don’t have to. Feel free to kick a leg out. Bend down and pump a fist. Throw some scat in there. Or scatology. Whatever one might choose to call “improv noise crap between actual word-based vocals”. That stuff. Do that stuff. No one really cares, including you, and that’s the beauty of the whole thing. ...

Austin's Whole Foods Market has been named Wine Retailer of The Year by Wine Enthusiast Magazine. Winners were chosen for their contributions to the world of wine and spirits (with special consideration given to winey accomplishments and innovations made in 2007.) Does Whole Foods truly deserve this award? (Because, seriously, Spec's is 100% unapologetically falling-down boozey. Just sayin.)...

As we move to the next square on the calendar you're still out there trying to make a connection. Sadly you let most of them slip by without saying a word. We understand, no one wants to be overzealous and get shot down. If only you had some place to find a second chance. Oh yes, Missed Connections. If only you had someone to sort through and find the best of the above. Oh, right, read below....

It's not even Christmas yet, and we're still talking about Murder City Devils at Fun Fun Fun Fest, but that won't stop us from gearing up to begin bringing you the latest rumors and confirmations regarding 2008's SXSW music festival. It's right around the corner, and we're not the only ones with our minds set towards March: plenty of bands have already announced their intentions to be here for the week. ...

Son of Rambow - Free Screening!Monday, December 10thAlamo Drafthouse South Lamar (1120 S. Lamar)Free, 7pm[info]Amidst the blood, guts and graphic violence of Fantastic Fest 2007, which we lovingly embraced in all its gory glory, was nestled a small, quiet film about the wonders and struggles of growing up and growing out. Son of Rambow was like a tall glass of Iced Tea on a 110 degree day: refreshing, calming and cool. We went into......

The Paramount presents White ChristmasDecember 9th, 11th and 12thParamount Theater (713 Congress Avenue)$7 / $5 Children, Students and Seniors, 7pm-ish, Tickets available at the box office day of show[info]Being that we live in a heat belt where it is not uncommon to see kids raking leaves in tank tops and jorts on Christmas Day (seriously, we've done it...well, not the jorts part), dreaming of a white Christmas is something that we are intimately familiar......

Image from MySpace Clipd Beaks, iKiLLCaRS & Daniel Francis DoyleFriday, December 7Emos (603 Red River St)Inside, Doors at 8pm, Show at 10pm[info] | [iKiLLCaRS MySpace] | [Clipd Beaks MySpace] | [Daniel Francis Doyle MySpace]iKiLLCaRS At Ease With Your Haste In case the name embodying misplaced aggression spelled in an unorthodox fashion that says, “You know what, I don’t have to follow your stupid rules of capitalization!” coupled with members' pseudonyms like Johnny Law didn’t clue......

Image courtesy of Nacional RecordsThe first annual Ground Zero Texas fest kicks off their weekend schedule of events on Thursday, with the opening ceremony at Sound On Sound Records at 6 p.m. (featuring a performance by the official GZT mascot NOBUNNY), followed by opening night action at Beerland with music from The Spits, The Wax Museums, and The Hibachi Stranglers. Denton’s The Reds will also re-unite and rock this special evening. The plethora of local......

Promo still from Jaman.com AFS Essentials: Le Vent de la NuitTuesday, December 4thAlamo Drafthouse Downtown (320 E 6th Street)FREE for AFS members, $4 non-members; 7pm[info] | [tickets]Tonight, AFS continues their amazing Phillipe Garrel retrospective with 1999's La Vent de La Nuit (The Wind of the Night), starring the timeless Catherine Deneuve as Hélene, a hot (duh) rich lady driven to distraction by her much younger art-student lover, Paul. Does he really love her for who......