Apart from being a showcase of sorts for up-and-coming indie and punk bands, Austin's Fun Fun Fun Fest also provides a look at the history of underground music, presenting reunited groups whose place in the canon varies from assured to freshly revisited. Last year brought a blistering live set from Detroit/Vermont hard rockers Death and a no-stones-unturned dynamism from the Jesus Lizard. more ›

A scant few years ago, the prospect of an Os Mutantes reunion seemed about as far-fetched as seeing Morrissey and Marr patch things up and hit the road, even in these reunion-crazed times. If Kurt Cobain’s public pleading to the Baptista brothers to reconvene Mutantes for a gig didn’t work, what would? Nevertheless, 3/5s of the São Paulo-based Tropicalia legends found enough common ground between them to reunite for a brief international tour in 2006, 34 years after the original lineup splintered off into their various solo careers. more ›

Okay, before we begin, there are some things we must know about El Guincho. First of all, El Guincho is one man, Pablo Díaz-Reixa, and he named his album after the uninhabited island of Alegranza, which is at the northeastern tip of the Canary Islands, which are—of course this is common knowledge—an autonomous domain of Spain located on the west coast of Africa. Díaz-Reixa is from these Canary Islands, and, via Barcelona, he creates swirling and excitable indie pop using loops and samples and an amalgam of musical influences ranging from Benga (Kenyan traditional music) to Bhangra (Indian folk) to any brand of tropicalia that flies well above the head of our good friend Jimmy Buffett. more ›

Dear reader, we’re sure you’ll agree that it’s been too long since we’ve heard from our favorite Bear Den/music venue, The Chain Drive, up there on Willow Street. more ›

Belaire'sExploding Impacting is an album that very well captures the essence of summer madness: the spectral emotional range goes from playful romanticism ("You Really Got Me Goin'") to the deeply reflective ("Waiting Patiently" and You're Not A Kid Anymore". ) The band's sound is somewhere between '60s Brazilian Tropicalia (Caetano Velosco, Gilberto Gil, Os Mutantes) and early '80s synth-pop (Gary Numan, Talking Heads, OMD) taken in a new direction. Though twin sisters Cari and Christa... more ›

After an incredibly (too) long hiatus, the lovable local kaleidoscopic synth pop band Belaire return with a brand new album titled Exploding, Impacting, despite the non-stop touring schedule of members Jason Chronis and Matt Simon (thanks to a little side project they have called Voxtrot) and twin sister (and singing partner) Christa Palazzolo now living in New York City. The album is a tour de force of Cari Palazzolo, who, with this release, has emerged... more ›

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