We're proud of this community, and we can't think of a better time to celebrate it than on the eve of Fun Fun Fun Festival. Join on us November 7 promptly at 8 p.m. for Local Music Is Sexy VI at the Mohawk Bar on Red River. ...

A companion piece to last year's the Stage Names, Stand Ins finds the band stretching out into more energetic and urgent-sounding group. Bouncing bass lines, country-tinged swing and swaggering horns compliment Will Sheff's always dense lyricism....

Bury the Cynics the first full-length from Austin-based the Lovely Sparrows is either indie pop music for people who'd rather listen to a country album, or alt country for people who'd rather listen to a pop album. The record is at turns haunting and hopeful, managing to make refrains like "You be the bayonet, I'll be the rope" sound less menacing than they should -- hints more of John Darnielle than Nick Cave. ...

While it’s an established fact that The Church of the Friendly Ghost can be relied upon for the unusual, the unabashed, and the extreme – everything from noise bands to crazy projectionists to avant-jazz trios have showed up on the Salvage Vanguard’s stage these last few months – sometimes they like to surprise by pulling a sharp turn right into accessibility, charm and simplicity. And that’s what we can expect for Tuesday night’s show, four bands who stray from the beaten path enough to keep you interested but who are also mostly avant-garde tomfoolery-free. ...

The label and house that bear the name Natrix Natrix are the result of a fruitful and creative partnership between couple Rhonda Turnbough and Seth Whaland. To date, the label has put out eleven releases, most of which are very limited edition cassettes that feature personalized art and music from a nationwide staple of folk musicians including Viking Moses, John Rose, and compilation featuring Jana Hunter, Real Live Tigers, The Lovely Sparrows, and more. When......

Tonight, Alamo Music Mondays and MVD present a DVD release party for Tim Buckley: My Fleeting House, the first ever collection of rare Buckley performances, appearances and interviews. The film features thirteen full-length performances from the brilliantly unusual singer/songwriter, and it also includes interviews with Larry Beckett (Buckley's longtime co-writer), Lee Underwood (Buckley's guitarist) and Buckley himself. It's not really a full-on documentary about his life, but the performances span his entire (relatively short) career,......

Pitchfork reports that Okkervil River have settled on Stage Names for their upcoming release (slated for August 7), featuring artwork by William Schaff (featured left). The album was recorded here in Austin with Brian Beattie and Jim Eno. Follow the cut below for the track listing and tour dates for the summer (hint: there's only three). The Chronicle has taken note of the Tonewheel Collective's recent Beerland extravaganza / farewell show. The news here, incidentally,......

KVRX continues to go from strength to strength in the oft-shifting landscape of independent music. The student radio station for UT at Austin broadcasts on 91.7 FM (at certain times) while also streaming online at all times. KVRX’s mantra of “None of the Hits, All of the Time” has always held a soft spot in our hearts and their Local Live broadcast every Sunday night at 10pm usually showcases a quality act in its rawest......

FRIDAY [2] theatre • Improv rap group Aww Shit (Chris Trew, Cody Dearing, Eric Seufert) compose freestyle rap songs and improvise scenes based off of them at this week's Cage Match at Coldtowne Theater (11:30pm) art • Opening Reception for The Llamerret Show at Darkroom Gallery (7pm) art • Texas Biennial Opening Reception at Okay Mountain & Site 1808 (7-10pm, 301 Chicon Unit E at Third and Chicon) art • B Scene: A Night......

photo by Aubrey Edwards *The views expressed in The Laurie Show are those of the author and do not represent Austinist as a whole.* -ed. note Once again, yours truly is rushing to slide in this Austinist column of mine before The Laurie Show hits the airwaves later tonight on KUT 90.5. It's been a hell of a week, kids. In between completing new episodes of Before the Break, inviting The Lovely Sparrows to......

THURSDAY [25] music • Meryll, The Lovely Sparrows at The Parish Room music • Many Birthdays, Skiesfalling, The Ron Titter Band at Emo's music • The Laughing, Bello Ragazzo, Shapes Have Fangs, DJ Brian Tweedy at Stubb's ® music • Cartright, Pataphysics, Cavedweller, Smoke Detector at Beerland music • Ottmar Leibert at The Paramount Theatre music • The Missing Tapes, Student Film, Pompeii, The Onlys at Continental Club music • Lindsey Buckingham at Hogg......

Yet another emerging indie act from Canada, Shapes and Sizes’ self-titled debut blends earnest pop-rock with somewhat abnormal meter. Out now on Asthmatic Kitty, the record kicks off with “Island’s Gone Band”, a peculiar two songs in one introduction to the band. “I Am Cold” builds from a sparse arrangement into a multi-instrumental crescendo while “Wilderness” features the band’s trait of melding melody with noise. Caila Thompson-Hannant’s vocal chops rank up there with the......

THURSDAY [14] art • Ethan Azarian's Art Show 2006: Alien Abduction series, Fruit in the City, Eight Foot Cows (First Night 05), and more at In House Gallery (2514 East 17th Street, 5-10pm) music • Shapes & Sizes, Weird Weeds, Lovely Sparrows, Benko at Emo's music • OHN, Lila's Medicine at Flamingo Cantina music • Ruthie Foster at Cactus Café music • Balmorhea, Low Line Caller, Sthil at The Mohawk music • White Ghost......

The following is a weekly column by guest contributor Laurie Gallardo. Hear her Friday evenings on KUT 90.5FM, 11pm-3am. --The Editors Greetings to you, sufferers of post-Thanksgiving stress disorder. Come, now! You know exactly what I’m talking about. Were you one of the brave souls up this morning waiting at some random department store before the grand 5 a.m. opening to get your holiday shopping on?  Not me. “Black Friday” is not my cup......

GoogTube! GoogTube! GoogTube! Here's what's new at the record store: Annuals Be He Me (Ace Fu) Because of (or in despite of) their popularity with the blogging set, Annuals' highly anticipated album, Be He Me, is sure to be a hit this week. For fans of Arcade Fire, Broken Social Scene, and yes, even Animal Collective, Annuals add a bit of punch to the whole "we're pretending to be lo-fi but really we spent......

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......

Seattle’s Damien Jurado has peddled his wares with different artists and on various record labels over the years. His latest, And Now That I’m In Your Shadow, released on Indiana-based Secretly Canadian, is his eighth solo full length. Jurado’s storied past includes collaborations with another WA favorite, David Bazan, and he brings his poignant lyrics and folk tinged pop to Austin for two shows, the latter with the afore-mentioned Bazan on the 15th at......

KUT's Laurie Gallardo dishes about local music in this weekly column...

KUT's Laurie Gallardo dishes about local bands...

KUT's Laurie Gallardo dishes about local bands...

We've asked KUT's Laurie Gallardo, host of Before the Break and a new local music program on Friday evenings, to join our staff as a guest contributor. She'll be sharing with us the many Austin- and Texas-based bands that she's been listening to. Enjoy! -- The Editors First and foremost, I must express my undying gratitude to all the peeps, including the Austinist, who’ve provided their support, and for promoting my new on-air gig.......

As thespian, musician, Anime voice artist, creator of KUT's local music profile Before the Break and much, much more, Austinite Laurie Gallardo is easily one of the busiest people we've ever met. She also happens to be wonderfully charismatic -- a trait, no doubt, that helped earn her recognition as one of Austin's two "Sultry New DJs" in last year's Chronicle poll. Before the Break is a series of podcasts focused on the Central Texas......

The Ashera Project is holding its 3rd Annual Ashera-Blare-A, a concert and fundraiser tonight at Club de Ville. The event will raise money for the project’s teen pregnancy prevention initiatives. Lineup features: Klier Channel The Lovely Sparrows The Heirs Things That Go Pop The suggested donation is $7 (i.e. you can get in for free, but don’t be that guy). The music starts at 7pm. Come drink, see music and get a nice warm......

MONDAY 24[music] TV On the Radio, Celebration, The Cocker Spaniels at Emo's (info) [film] Save Our Springs Alliance presents "Driving Sprawl," A 20-minute documentary about Advanced Micro Devices planned move to the Barton Springs watershed. at Ruta Maya (8pm) (info) [music] Josh Rouse at Cactus Café ($22, Through Tuesday) (info) [film/drinking] FuseBox Happy Hour/Nerve.com Screening at Blue Theater (6pm, $5, FREE beer and wine) (info) [books] Anthony Horowitz presents Ark Angel : An Alex Rider......

MONDAY [17][music] The High Flyers at Continental Club (10pm) (link) [lecture] Josh Rushing, future host of a show on Al Jazeera International and "accidental media star" in "Control Room," speaks at UT LBJ Auditorium (7pm) (link) [art] Opening Reception for Michael Schliefke's newest works, "What If We Could Get It All Back?" at bolm Studios (6pm-11pm) (link) [film] Oscar-Nominated Documentary shorts at Alamo Downtown (7pm) (link) [film] Anime Movie Monday at Ventana del Sol (7:30pm)......

: : FRIDAY : : [art] Coy Poage and William K. Stidham Art Exhibit benefiting the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition of Austin, 7pm-10pm @ Barocca Studios - $15 donation [music] Mae Shi @ Elysium [film] New Films! @ Your Local Theaters [music] Andy Rourke of The Smiths @ The Parish [music] Loxsly, 8pm @ Red Fez [music] AM Syndicate with Casiotone for the Painfully Alone, Cue and Dear Nora, 8pm @ Beerland [books] Douglas......

: : FRIDAY : : [film] New Movies @ Your Local Theater! [music] Willie Nelson @ Stubb's (also Saturday) [music] The Queers, The Vibrators, The Independents (outside) and Wolf Eyes, Prurient and Rubble (inside) @ Emo's [music] CD release show for The Lovely Sparrows & Big Blue Marble @ Beerland [music] The Arm and New Model Army @ Elysium [film/lecture] Rabia Clark presents her short film, "The Dervish Project", 7pm @ Ventana del Sol......

: : FRIDAY : : [film] New Movies! @ your local theater [award] The Writers' League of Texas honors Ann Patchett @ Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum [music] Beta Valentine Instore, 7pm @ End of an Ear [film] aGLIFF kick-offf - films, 7pm party, 10pm @ Great Hills Arbor Theater [music] Hurts to Purr, Sarah Glynn, and 54 Seconds, 10pm @ Stubb's [music] Octopus Project, Voxtrot, Prince Klassen and Treewave @ Emo's [music]......