Texas boys Best Fwends are back at SXSW this year, bringing their video game-centric melodies and hurried electronic downbeats to old fans and new ones. Call them out on their tongue-in-cheek approach to music making if you must, but these cats know exactly what they're doing, and manage to make three-dimensional songs that also know how to get down. Does Antony know how to get down? No, he really doesn't. Via email, Best Fwends Anthony and Dustin talk with us about their storied history, SXSW, and Daryl "Fucking" Hall....

Photo of Moth! Fight! by Aubrey Edwards courtesy of MySpaceIn 2007, Le Diamant Brut sifted through MySpace, show listings and press releases, bringing you a weekly dose of information and advice on all the bands you might have missed. If you missed a week, or want more information on the bands listed here, check out the archives. Happy New Year! AUSTIN BANDS 12/18 - Ringo Deathstarr: Fuzzy, super-loud shoegaze with guitar noise and warm vocals.......

José González In Our Nature (Mute) Last year, González talked to us about the never-ending tour schedule, the slow process of songwriting, and how his next record --well, this record-- would focus on the guitar. His first full-length, Veneer, wooed us back in 2003, and though Gonzalez has been touring fairly relentlessly in support of it, he has found time to put together this work, a ten song album that sounds quite similar to......

Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie and Postal Service fame played to a sweaty, sold-out crowd at a sweltering Emo's on Tuesday night. Openers Jonathan Rice and David Bazan (Pedro the Lion) opened the acoustic evening with solid sets and a profuse thanks to Gibbard for giving them the opportunity to tour. Gibbard's set was comprised mostly of Death Cab favorites with a dose of Postal Service thrown in for good measure. In......

It would be hard to go wrong by attending Sub Pop's SXSW showcase on March 14th. Seattle's little label that can has released some awfully wonderful records in their day: Nirvana, The Shins, The Postal Service, and Band Of Horses to name just a few. Don't you owe these guys the benefit of the doubt? This year's Sub Pop party at Emo's IV will feature Oxford Collapse, Kinski, and Tiny Vipers, a one-woman band......

Chris Adams (of Hood) puts forth his first solo effort in the form of Bracken’s We Know About The Need, out now on Anticon. Featuring plenty of lo-fi, down-tempo beats, the album is a montage of assorted sounds, ranging from dub-step to drum n’ bass, mixed and produced every which way. We Know About The Need is equal parts coherence (“Heathens”) and cacophony (“Evil Teeth”), while leaving room for some “normal” standards (“Back On......

Seattle's Aqueduct have been doggedly honing an indie/laptop pop sound for several years. Essentially a one-man studio band, David Terry channels influences ranging from a suburban Oklahoma upbringing to fandom of Guns 'N' Roses and The Princess Bride into his catchy, lo-fi home studio creations. Live, the band is a very different animal: at SXSW two years ago, they simply demolished the crowd with a blend of original tunes, rap covers, an Aqueduct theme......

Austin made the list of the Top 10 Sweatiest Cities in America. But some people in Florida are pissed that they didn't make the list. The Central Texas Area, including Austin, of course,was listed as one the Top 10 Chill Places in America. We found this and thought you needed a good tear-jerker. Local animal rights activists are accusing Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus trainers of abusive behavior towards the circus animals.......

The new year started off pretty slowly for music, with a few lackluster albums (The Strokes' third LP, Morningwood's bubblegum rock rehash) failing to excite, really, anyone. Not today. Cat Power's eagerly awaited follow-up to 2003's You Are Free comes out alongside the new Jenny Lewis (Rilo Kiley, The Postal Service) side project, Jenny Lewis with the Watson Twins and Richard Ashcroft's Keys to the World. Other notable bands include the unfortunately-named Test Icicles,......

Metric emerged a few years ago from Toronto's thriving indie scene, a fact which in and of itself seems to put a band on most hipster radar screens. To be fair, they're not technically from there - before and after forming in New York City in the late 90s, various members of the quartet floated around parts of Canada and the United States. They've collaborated extensively with Toronto staples Broken Social Scene, kc Accidental,......

When we first heard Southern California-based Rilo Kiley's More Adventurous last fall, we were hooked almost immediately. Lead singer Jenny Lewis, also part of synthpop group The Postal Service, pens melancholic tales of heartache, betrayal, loss, and even the occasional social commentary, with the rest of the band supplying a sound that alternates between folk pop and surf rock.In our opinion, the lyrics are the driving force behind Rilo Kiley's success. The songs have......

What with the resurgence of 80's Zeitgeist influencing nearly everything from fashion to music to politics nowadays, it was only a matter of time before someone brought the retro badassness to Austin. Last night the gregarious folks over at Teleportdoor kicked off the premiere of Holy Trinity, a monthly party showcasing the hugely influential repertoire of the 80's English New Wave Synthpop triumvirate: The Smiths, Depeche Mode, and The Cure, and the bands that subsequently......