Interdependent commentary has always been at the root of Coleman’s music, and is what helps to make it sound so natural, simple and easy, even with superimposed rhythmic and melodic lines or bursts of instrumental commentary. When he released Sound Grammar in 2004, recorded with the same quartet that will be appearing Thursday, some critics were assuming that he would reinvent the wheel for his first record in almost a decade. What they got was pure, classic Coleman. more ›

Xiu Xiu are what many would call a success story. After all, they’ve evolved from an experimental freakshow of a duo who appealed only to the outer edge of musical snobs and depressed hipsters, to a full-on, four member, MySpace friendly, blog-writing, book-producing, ceaselessly collaborating, networking whirlwind with legions of fans and the respect of critics. Not only that, but unlike some rise-to-glory stories, Xiu Xiu’s transformation has been nice to see, mostly because founding members Jamie Stewart and Caralee McElroy always seem to be having a lot of fun, connecting well with their fans and managing to maintain their sense of humor and their honesty. more ›

Promotional still from Alamo website Music Mondays: My Name Is Albert AylerMonday, November 19Alamo Drafthouse Downtown (320 E 6th Street)(9:45pm, $2)[info] | [tickets]Though not as well known as Ornette Coleman or John Coltrane, Albert Ayler is seen by many as one of the most important figures of the free jazz movement. Over the course of 16 studio albums and countless live releases, Ayler's passionate, aggressive saxophone playing pushed jazz back toward its improvisational heyday--an idea... more ›

It was announced today that Austin-based scribe Lawrence Wright was awarded the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for general non-fiction. This is not the only award his book, The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11, has won, but it is one of the more illustrious honors it has received. Wright is currently a staff writer for the New York Times New Yorker, has written for Texas Monthly, and helped pen the screenplay for the Denzel... more ›

One of the cornerstone events put on by the Texas Cultural Trust -- which also runs the fledgling young professional arts group, StrataTX -- is the biannual Texas Medal of Arts Awards. Since 2001, the Medal of Arts have recognized "outstanding contributions" by standout Texans, notable past winners of which include Tommy Lee Jones (film), Willie Nelson (music), Phylicia Rashad (TV/theatre) and Joe and Teresa Long (for arts patronage). A slew of events are... more ›

"If something is boring after two minutes, try it for four. If it’s still boring, then eight. Then sixteen. Then thirty-two. Eventually one discovers that it is not boring at all." --John Cage. Tonight Alamo Music Mondays presents Sound Unbound Volume 2, a film examining American avant-garde composers from the late 1940s through to the early 1980s. Through extensive interviews, performance footage and video art, the film focuses on experimental musicians (including John Cage, Philip... more ›

You don't take care of your CDs very well. Your car—probably a mid-nineties Honda Civic with hit-or-miss air conditioning—is littered with albums, sans jewel cases. On this particular, hypothetical afternoon, you find that five discs have melted together whilst carelessly stacked in your center console: My Morning Jacket's Z, The Flaming Lips' Zaireeka, Broken Social Scene's Broken Social Scene, Ornette Coleman's Free Jazz: A Collective Improvisation, and anything from any labeled band out of Athens, Georgia... more ›

See any good shows this weekend? Don't forget to send us your Reader Weekend Reviews! Send 'em here. M O N D A Y music · Green Potato Ventures presents Chicago's The City on Film, Stories from the Frontier and Sad Accordians at Emo's. Inside, 10pm [myspace stream: Stories From the Frontier] [mp3: The City On Film - For Holly] music · "Puyo Punk Music for All": Gadjo Bango at The Parlor [mp3: Gadjo Bango... more ›