While the East Austin Studio Tour offers the opportunity to discover new artists opening their studios to the public for the first time, it is also a great time to visit and catch up with established artists that have been a part of the Austin art scene for many years. Such is the case with Daniel Burns, an artist known for his soulful depictions of Austin landmarks and a past participant of EAST. Burns has just returned from a two-year stint in New York where he lived while his wife, Cari, completed her graduate degree. Happy to be back in Austin, Burns brings with him a new series of paintings created on the streets of NYC that pulsate with the same jubilant energy inherent in the city itself. Straight from the book of the early French Impressionists, these En plein air works capture a snapshot of modern life in the moment. His quick, fluid brushstrokes and vibrant colors perfectly evoke the bustle of a busy afternoon in downtown Manhattan. In addition to Burns' new paintings, this year's tour participants will also get to see prints from his Austin Landmarks collection. more ›

• Boy who vanished in 1955 may have reappeared.
• Preparing for opposition rally in Iran.
• Another downtown attack targets intoxicated club goers.

Kill Bill star found dead in Bangkok. Obama attempts to heal relationship with Muslim world: "America and Islam are not exclusive." New York thief given gifts of compassion by store owner. Trial begins in North Korea for two American journalists. Still no answers for Flight 447. Texas GOP making us proud once again. So much for credit card reform. more ›

Yeasayer's Anand Wilder produced this album, and it looks as though Suckers have taken a queue from them and a host of other NYC (well, Brooklyn) technicolor neo-psych bands upon first glance. Difficult MySpace page, glitter and masks, a song that seems to be about dancing, and an unquenchable thirst for purple throw up dozens of red flags for most. All that being said (and kicked right out the way), the songs on this EP are good, or at least quite different from what one might imagine based on the aforementioned flags. more ›

Our advice? You may as well see it Tuesday, because you're going to need one viewing under your belt before you try to figure it out. It could be that there's not much to "figure out," that a character living in a literal house on fire has no meaning beyond the viewer's interpretation; no explicit message by the filmmaker—or at least none he's willing to explain. more ›

Eugene Mirman is much funnier than you. A mainstay of New York's alternative comedy scene, Mirman's profile has been even higher of late. In February, his Comedy Central Presents special debuted, and earlier this year, he was asked to cover the New Hampshire primaries for 236.com. He can also be seen as Jemaine and Bret's strange landlord in HBO's Flight Of The Conchords. A multi-year veteran of SXSW, Mirman is hosting this year's Web Awards at SXSW Interactive and is also performing at multiple SX venues during the music festival. more ›

• Today's the day! This is it! Ya es el dia! Voila!
• Israel has now said that they might go into Gaza and reoccupy it.
• The Monkeywrench Gang is alive and well.

Has the media attention around "Mumblecore" ultimately been a positive or negative thing for the Festival and the filmmakers? more ›

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: more ›

Eric Elbogen formed Say Hi To Your Mom in 2000, eventually also founding Euphobia Records to release his indie-pop ditties. He tweaked the act’s moniker to simply Say Hi before the release of 2008’s The Wishes And The Glitch (Purchase it here). The album features Say Hi’s trademark catchy synth-powered melodies along with Elbogen’s always entertaining lyricism. A classic D.I.Y. project, Elbogen handles the entire recording process and is responsible for the majority of the sounds you hear on Say Hi’s catalog, sans the occasional guest contribution. We caught up with the man himself recently over email and received some insightful responses to our quickfire questions. more ›

Dean and Britta have that certain je ne sais quoi, do they not? They're good looking, look and dress like Europeans, and dig artists like Joy Division and Nancy Sinatra. Hell, they even did The Squid and The Whale's soundtrack for Noah Baumbach. Their music is similarly themed: it's minimalist, beautiful, effortless, and full of an icy cool. (If one wishes to puncture the image, it's amusing to know that Britta Phillips was the voice of 80's cartoon icons Jem and the Holograms.) Dean Wareham, of course, has legions of fans from his work with Galaxie 500 and Luna, and this certainly isn't a huge departure from his signature sound. Expect dreamy and reflective tales with some irony and beautiful melody lines sprinkled throughout. The duo are touring behind 2007's Back Numbers, which combines some D&B originals with like-minded covers of The Troggs and Lee Hazlewood. Simply put, if you enjoyed Luna, you'll have a good time here. And for Wareham's more ardent fans, he has recently written a memoir about his life in music titled Black Postcards which will be published in March by Penguin. D&B arrive tomorrow at the Cactus Cafe for a pair of shows at 7 and 10pm. more ›

...Obama delineates his popularity, and receives the longest applause yet. Hillary shifts, the glow in her eyes flickers. Something has changed, and she can taste it. Maybe the phrase that crosses her mind is 'tipping point'. more ›

Photo by Steve Hopson for Austinist.com
• For those who are watching from home but don't have access to CNN, local PBS affiliate KLRU will be airing the debate on tape-delay, starting at 9pm
• DailyKos has an informative rundown of each democratic candidate's proposed legislation and their record in the Senate (thanks, MikeB)
• Chelsea Clinton will speak at ACC’s South Austin Campus tomorrow morning at 9:45am. The event is free and open to the public

Once upon a time there was a Virginian noise-pop band called Skywave, who released a tidy avalanche of washed-out fuzz-rock singles and one full-length before calling it a day in 2004. Bassist Oliver Ackerman moved to New York to form A Place To Bury Strangers and build custom guitar pedals under the banner Death By Audio, while co-Skywavers Paul Baker and John Fedowitz formed the similar-minded Ceremony and stayed behind to hold it down in Fredericksburg, VA. Skywave (and to some extent its offspring) engaged in post-psychedelic guitar mangling of the My Bloody Slowdive Chain 500 variety, featuring massively distorted guitar chords recorded inside the world’s largest underground parking garage, slamming drum machine beats, and vocal performances so completely humorless they might have been (but probably weren’t) a put-on. Seeing as how bands featuring former Skywave members are currently the talk of the town, we've put all three bands' records head-to-head to see what’s what: more ›

The best klezmer-punk band you’ve never heard, Golem are a six-piece from New York who blend old-world Jewish music with a witty repertoire of modern influences. Debuting in 2001, the band really hit their stride in 2006 with Fresh Off Boat, a whirling collection of originals and traditional numbers (including their own version of the Hora, of course) sung in five languages. more ›

Last Saturday, actor Will Ferrell made a quick stop in Austin during a press tour for his new film Semi-Pro. He also attended a sneak preview of the film and did a Q&A session at the Alamo Drafthouse, where attendees were required to dress in 70's basketball attire for admission - you can see the Drafthouse "team photo" here. Austinist's Tom Thornton and Gordon And The Whale's Chase Whale spoke briefly to Ferrell during the media day. more ›

Austin's Balmorhea released River's Arms last week, and kicked off their tour here in town. Their tour to support the record will follow the east coast, and land them back here in time for some SXSW gigs. Sample some of the instrumental band's lulling, hypnotic tunes c/o Western Vinyl, and check back here for a full-length review very soon. more ›

• A New York judge rules that sending a MySpace "friend request" to a person who has a restraining order against you is illegal.
• Cold War conspiracy! Russia believes America's announced plan to shoot down one of its broken spy satellites is, in reality, a test its of its anti-missile defense system's capability. At any rate, it looks like the satellite is going to crash to Earth pretty soon, so keep your head on a swivel.
• Citizens of Planet Earth, welcome your newest country: Kosovo officially declares independence from Serbia.

A big-screen adaptation of Holly Black and Tony Diterlizzi's popular children's book series, The Spiderwick Chronicles follows three kids named Simon, Mallory and Jared as they try to keep a magical book from falling into the hands of some unsavory goblins. more ›

New York Fashion Week didn't come without a little bit of Austin, Texas in it. From the kooky Elisa Jimenez to the classy Cat Swanson, Austinites were making headlines. // Past Project Runway winner Chloe Dao will be visiting Austin this week representing Asian-Americans in business. // This weekend, the Riverboat Gamblers' lead singer will take a break from crowd surfing and screaming to host a fashion show featuring local vintage boutiques. more ›

This Thursday through Sunday, improvised music is going to grab a foothold in both Austin and San Antonio. Featuring thirteen artists from all over the world – from the close confines of Houston and Austin to the far-off reaches of Tokyo and Boston – the No Idea Festival is poised to showcase a diverse array of acts you likely won’t see anywhere else, anytime soon. more ›

Hey everybody, we're giving away two tickets to the Liars/No Age show at the Mohawk on Saturday! Winners are also invited to a late Happy Hour (8-8:30) with Liars before the show. Details and concert entry form after the jump...but first, backstory: more ›

The entire run of St Idiot Collective's You Are Pretty is sold out. Might've something to do with the show's anti-Valentine theme (set in a Nevada brothel; features sex workers trying to sort out their love lives). Perhaps it's the posters featuring the fabulously platinum Lee Eddy brandishing a riding crop. Or it might just be SIC's reputation for putting out fabulous productions. more ›

Then last November, the magazine put together a diverse panel of women to discuss the issues that were raised by the ex-staffer's comment. Local academic Barbara Trepagnier, a professor of sociology at Texas State, was called to be on the panel because of her research on racism. In her book , Barbara argues that because racism is built into our culture, there's no point in talking about whether whites are racist or not racist. Instead, she says that racism should be thought of as being on a continuum with well-meaning whites at one end and people who are intentionally racist at the other. By formulating the issue this way, she thinks that Americans will begin increase their race awareness and it will help to break down racist cultural norms. more ›

New York songstress Nina Nastasia stops by the Mohawk tonight at the near-beginning of what will become a sprawling world-wide tour, meeting up with Denton's well-liked Tre Orsi and the local Silver Pines in the process. Nastasia has garnered herself quite the underground momentum, moving from humble roots as an untethered musician wandering her way through the dimly-lit club scene, to an artist with international demand and the respect of idolized names such as producer Steve Albini and Dirty Three drummer Jim White. Her debut album, Dogs, is impossible to find and is futilely sought in a way not unfamiliar to Belle & Sebastian's debut cut, Tigermilk. But she's not just a machine for hype---she plays some pretty fine music, too, using her acoustic guitar and a knack for captivating storytelling to cut through the muck of singer-songwriter-dom to create a niche all her own. And that niche has her and her band being called everything from "remarkable" to "enrapturing" to "inspired" by critics. more ›

Thru 2/23, St Idiots Collective's You Are Pretty is about sex workers' struggles to find love within the harsh environs of a legal brothel. The yap about YAP is the megawatt heft behind it—the production is chock full of local luminaries. [tickets] // Thru 2/17, roving new kids NxNW Theatre are staging "wickedly funny" Five Women Wearing the Same Dress downtown at the Hideout. The titular characters do a little cussin' here, a little pot smokin' there, and cover topics with plenty of chops (religion, sexuality, AIDS). [tickets] more ›

The Church of the Friendly Ghost is only scheduling two events this month, to make room for the No Idea Fest which starts on the 14th and goes through the 16th. But quality always makes up for quantity. The first of February’s Salvage Vanguard shows plans to be a doozy, with four acts starting at 9 p.m. more ›

Super Tuesday is the new Super Bowl; New York Times continues its mastery of the obvious. Oh, Obama. Bringing the Dead out of the grave. Is there anything you can't do? Move over, Zeus - archaeologists have found evidence of a pre-Jove deity in Greece. more ›

With the geographic world continuing to shrink in the 21st century and the increased ease of travel and communication opening new doors every day, today’s musical landscape is constantly evolving. Instruments from other cultures have always been utilized in western music, but of late, world styles are making major dents in the indie scene. Be it Vampire Weekend’s African accentuation, M.I.A.’s Bollywood beats, or Beirut evoking adventures in far off lands, we have been privy to some choice innovations in this decade. New York based Gogol Bordello’s brand of “Gypsy Punk” (falling in the geographic vicinity of Beirut’s concoctions) has been garnering momentum with the release of 2005’s Gypsy Punks: Underdog World Strike and last year’s Super Taranta! more ›