Covers are inherently ballsy, and Lord knows Chan Marshall is no coward. She's already released one full length's worth of odes to her varied inspiration, 2000's Covers Record. In general, the songs Marshall covers are tiny glimpses into what we gather is her inner life, and they're almost always hit or miss, just like the lady herself. Her version of Pavement's "We Dance" was withered, but her rendition of Lou Reed's "I Found a Reason" was emotionally devastating. "I Can't Get No (Satisfaction)" was inspiring and combined her natural strut with a legend's perfectly, but here we find her opening number, "New York New York" an uncomfortable, shallow mess. more ›

15. Mogwai - Mr. Beast (Matador) As ever, Mogwai manage to blend unadulterated post-rock weight to their shoegazer tendencies with tracks like "Glasgow Mega Snake" and "Folk Death 95," showcasing their ability to create anthems with no words. This is where Mr. Beast really shines, in between blistering chord progressions and gradual swings into corybantic climaxes. In some ways a throwback to earlier (and heavier) Mogwai material, Mr. Beast isn't merely a rock album.... more ›

There have been a few changes to the ACL schedule since last week - as Tom noted yesterday, both Ghostland Observatory and The Dears have been added to the lineup, replacing Feist and Kasey Chambers. And there's another dropout - Fields are off the schedule, so Brett Dennen has been added to the Austin Ventures Stage lineup on Sunday, shifting a few of the artists to later slots that day. You can check out... more ›

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)... more ›

Citing "health reasons," Matador announced today that Cat Power's entire upcoming -- and highly anticipated -- national spring tour has been cancelled. Along with the Memphis Rhythm Band, Chan Marshall - aka Cat Power - was preparing to embark on a month-long US trip, starting in Memphis and ending up in Austin for the start of SXSW. Billboard reports: more ›