Tonight is the “Hear” portion of see.hear.speak, the comedy festival that has been taking place at the Coldtowne Theater since last night. One of the performers in Hear—indeed, a headliner of the festival—is Jill Bernard, a Minnesotan (resident of Minnesota) who has toured the continent performing and teaching improv. She even acted as the coach of an aspiring improviser in an episode of MTV’s Made....

Image by LuiSFher Gallo via Cafe Tacvba’s MySpace Cafe TacvbaThursday, December 6La Zona Rosa (612 W. 4th Street)$40, Doors at 7pm, Show at 8pm[info] | [tickets]Pop quiz: name a band that has won multiple Grammys, performed on MTV Unplugged, been compared favorably to Radiohead, played three encores at a recent Lollapalooza, and headlined to 170,000 people at Mexico City's Palacio de los Deportes. If you're thinking U2 or Coldplay, we couldn't blame you. But the......

Image from GWAR’s official website GWAR, 3 Inches of Blood, & The EndMonday, November 26Emos (603 Red River St)$15 | Doors 7 p.m.[info] | [tickets] | [GWAR Official] | [3 Inches of Blood MySpace] | [The End MySpace]Part rock show, part horror movie, GWAR brings its metal mayhem to Emo’s tonight. The band formed more than 20 years ago, and over the years, has had a revolving cast of members that would put fellow comic......

photo by Chrissy Piper Aesop Rock, Black Moth Super Rainbow at Emo’sSaturday, Nov. 17Emos (603 Red River St)$15 - doors at 9, show at 10[info] | [tickets]El-P may be the maverick visionary of preeminent indie hip-hop label Definitive Jux, but Aesop Rock is currently its superstar. Boasting a ridiculously fluid double-time flow and enough hallucinatory wordplay to confound Bill Burroughs, Aes Rock has built a rapid cult following since his Def Jux debut, Labor Days,......

Last year, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Texas (BBBS-CT) provided over 82,000 hours of mentoring to 1,588 children in Travis, Williamson, McLennan and Brazos counties. This year, they've teamed up with the Neighborhood Longhorns Program (NLP), and are currently recruiting and pairing UT students with children at AISD elementary schools for a one-on-one mentoring relationship. Volunteers are needed to provide educational and social support through mentoring and tutoring for kids ranging from 6 to......

One last go-round for Zeppelin seems to be in the works. We sort of thought they were all dead. "Why, Britney...why?" Hey, don't ask us. We stopped watching MTV a long, long time ago. Interesting article about doctors that gave an elephant LSD for reasons that aren't exactly clear. If you go swimming in Lake LBJ, you might want to...not do that. Another medical study suggesting that political leanings might actually be attributable to......

The seasons will change and young lads will grow older and deeper with regret, but Perry Farrell will still be churning out the alternative rock. It’s nice to know that some things are constant. The ex-Jane’s Addiction, ex-Porno for Pyros, Lollapalooza co-creator is bringing the celestial shindig Satellite Party to Emo’s Friday night, along with New York pop rockers Mink. Farrell and team come with their pockets full of uplifting celebration and a sound......

The new wave takes it old school with an evening that's part movie, part Austin, and all fun and games. Let's hope nobody gets hurt. Hip Mexican joint Nueva Onda will host a free show featuring Hunky Dory and an episode of Austin Stories this Thursday (that's tomorrow) at 8pm to keep your brain entertained as your mouth snarfs San Antonio tamales and sips Shiner beer. Propose a toast to slackerdom and misfithood as you......

First things first, people: enough of this “stop shilling Emo’s all the time” nonsense! You can shout “scene/lifestyle” all you want, but the fact remains that there just aren’t many clubs downtown that attract big-time touring bands and assemble kickass local bills for under $20. Case in point: tonight’s performance by Toronto avant-punks F*cked Up. The notoriously obscurist five-piece, who write 8-minute progressive hardcore anthems about things like anarchist computer hackers and the Chinese......

We’ve had a soft spot for Jamie Kennedy ever since his performance as mega film geek Randy Meeks in Wes Craven’s Scream. And we’ve also spent a lot of time watching his short-lived but very funny hidden-camera show, The Jamie Kennedy Experiment (which for our money was much more daring and inventive than that lame-ass Punk’d. For example…). At the tail end of South by Southwest this year, we got a chance to chat with......

Sound Team have been making intricate electro-pop for nearly five years but it was the release of their full-length Movie Monster in 2006 that garnered much deserved national recognition for the band. Produced by Michael McCarthy (and Sound Team) at their Big Orange Studio, the album has received heavy press coverage-- mostly positive but we could not get away without a mention of that Pitchfork review and bassist Bill Baird’s response. Good times. An appearance......

Ah, the nineties. Cross Colours*. Plaid flannels. Yellow nugget gold rings. Sega Genesis. It was like, well, a time that was just before the current time, but after a particular decade which really, really marketed itself much better. Which is just too bad, really. Because in and amongst all that weed, war, and Tetris of the 90s, there was Yo MTV Raps (well, in the late 80s too, but whatever). And within that haven of......

Hall of Famer and Lady Longhorns coach Judy Conradt resigned earlier this week after 31 seasons at UT. MTV is in town this week filming for a special on alternative spring breaks. The Austin crew will be focusing on the "Anti-Death Penalty Alternative Spring Break" activities going on at UT. State Rep. Garnet Coleman has put forth a bill in the Lege that would supply free condoms to Texas inmates. Warning to City of......

We were so excited when Thomas Dolby graced our city with his presence last year, and when the prospect of an interview with the pioneer came our way last week, we literally planned our weekend around it. Now, the thrill has gone and we’re left with some wonderfully insightful responses from the master himself. Enjoy. And then jam out that Grammys performance again. Are you working on new studio material? When can we expect......

After taking last week off because we were sure SXSW would release their master plan, we now return as there seems to be no end in sight to the band list embargo. Many indie labels and some marquee acts have simply announced their appearances, as bands attempt to book routing shows in Dallas, Houston, New Orleans, or elsewhere to make their long drives worthwhile. The lack of info has started to get the press......

As the world holds its breath, teetering precariously on the cusp of the Super Bowl (well, at least in America), the wheels of the -ists keep on turning. Austinist was in a musical frame of mind as they listened to the new Shins album, updated the SXSW band listings and got called "punk rock" for their efforts by MTV. Bostonist said goodbye to John Kerry's plans for running in 2008 but hello to some......

Our recent SXSW coverage has been generating a lot of buzz. So much buzz, in fact, that MTV News recently tracked down Austinist writer Tom Thornton to discuss it. They even went so far as to call our unofficial SXSW lineup "a certifiably punk-rock way of sticking it to the man"! And though we would like to officially deny that our intent was to stick anything to anybody, we think Tom summed things up pretty......

Lester Bangs once said of the Dead Kennedys that their fans didn't really understand them - that even if the Kennedys were earnest in their political views, it didn't matter because people only came to their shows for the “goon brutality.” And he was right. Just look what happened to punk; it was misunderstood, watered down and rendered near-useless by its own following. It rotted from the inside out. (For hard evidence, go see Propagandhi......

Austinite Actor and Director Daniel Isaac stars as the groom in the Panic! at the Disco video "I Write Sins Not Tragedies", which won Video of the Year at the 23rd annual MTV Video Music Awards. He is perhaps best-known locally as "The Guitarsonist" from last year's Air Guitar Championship at the Alamo Drafthouse.......

As you may have heard, Schlitterbahn Waterpark – the massive expanse of water rides, germ-infested tube-streams and jaundiced kiddie pools in New Braunfels, Texas – may be the focus of a new MTV reality show, Waterpark, in which the park’s employees – mostly adolescents from 16 to 22 – will be put under the lens. The show represents an effort by MTV to attract a younger demographic of viewers. Schlitterbahn has reportedly agreed to filming,......

New albums by Guillemots, Hot Snakes, and the Snakes on a Plane soundtrack...

[The following is an editorial column by contributor Alison Coffey and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Austinist staff. --The Editors] In my youth (also known as The 80's) summertime was not a prime time for television viewing. The Keatons and the Seavers were on vacation (hey--does anyone remember how Mike Seaver's best friend had the nickname Boner?) and unless you liked reruns of Good Times (which I did, actually) or watching......

J.K. Rowling has truly secured her place in the world’s collective consciousness. Not only does the Harry Potter Empire reach into bookstores and retail outlets and movie theatres all across the globe, but it’s inspiring the creation of indie pop bands whose music is based solely on HP characters and plotlines. Seriously, Rowling just might be the most powerful media force on Earth. But, self-made billionaires aside, it’s really all about kids having a good......

Even as the stores sport back to school sales (which depress us, even now), summer lingers on your friends the -ists. This week's collection of links provides some of the best, worst, and oddest bits of summer fun. So, bring your laptop up onto the roof, make yourself an umbrella drink or ten, and enjoy this week's choice posts from across the Gothamist network. Torontoist (where it's 75 degrees F as of this writing)......

A recent study reveals that college graduates are often bored at work. Case. In. Point. MTV is celebrating its 25th anniversary. We're guessing there will be much reminiscing about the time when they actually played videos. If only we were this ballsy in high school. Marijuana gumballs are going to be the next big thing. Golf is not exercise. We are fairly certain that it is actually the cause of man-boobs. Only in Oklahoma......

[Several weeks ago, we told you about a community radio DJ from Nashville who'd set out, for the second year in a row, to profile all of the bands playing this September's Austin City Limits Festival. We've invited Janet Timmons of Out the Other to join our staff as a guest writer -- she'll be providing weekly summaries of the latest bands she's covered on her fantastic ACL Artist Previews Page. Welcome, Janet! --......

Remember when these guys were all over MTV and sold millions of records? Yeah, us neither, but don't even front like you didn't spend your whole senior year tooling around in your El Dorado, singing along to Ruby Soho and putting Kool Aid in your hair. Way back in 1992--allegedly the "year punk broke"--cult punk revival bands from California were a dime a dozen, and they were all being offered millions by major labels to......

Accompanying the release of Bryan Singer's quarter-billion-dollar summer epic Superman Returns is a compilation album put out by Rhino Records entitled, aptly enough, Sound of Superman. More of a themed record than a soundtrack (also available), the disc piles together fourteen tracks of Man of Steel-related rock, mostly performed by today's batch of MTV bands like The Academy Is ..., The Sun, Motion City Soundtrack, American Hi-Fi, and The Spill Canvas. Covers make up nearly......

San Francisco is proud host of a new reality show called "How to Get the Guy" that's unfortunately not a descendant of Will and Grace, Queer Eye, The L Word, American Idol etc. Also a biodefence lab is coming to the East Bay and SFist teaches wine pairing. Getting on the wrong train sucks. Getting on the wrong train and becoming the victim of what will later be described as a "stabbing spree" really sucks.......

On the menu today: Sizzling underwater action! Hot Art School brats! Delicious football soccer stars! Scrumptious teen empires! Delectable California Jews! Tasty foreign brides! Bon appetit! Poseidon We’ve said it before, and now we’re saying it again: Josh Lucas is the new Kevin Costner. Careful, Josh. Remember what happened after Kevin’s big “water” movie? Yeah. Nothing good. *Art School Confidential We didn’t go to Art School. We imagine it’s just like the stories say:......