With South By Southwest and the Austin City Limits Music Festival, Austin’s gotten pretty used to being a destination spot for big-time acts and celebrities. But Radiohead-big? That’s pretty special, especially given that they stopped here in the midst of a regular tour, untied to any festival—a fact that just might mark a turning point for our (once) little city. The venerated British band taped their very first Austin City Limits episode last night at the ACL studios with a stellar performance that threatens to overshadow next week’s musical madness. more ›

Big news for Radiohead fans - they're taking it to the States next year. more ›

Thank you, Fiery Furnaces. Not only for releasing yet another notable album in a long line of notable albums (either for their critical and musical excellence, or for being utterly confounding), but for inadvertently picking a fight with perhaps the most defensive and trigger-happy fanbase this side of Glenn Beck: that of Radiohead. To recap, for those of you who've missed out on all the terrible and delicious drama: back in early November, Furnace mastermind Matthew Friedberger chastised Radiohead for writing a song about Harry Partch, the late American composer who, according to Friedberger, was used by Radiohead because Radiohead "brazenly and arbitrarily associat[es] with things that [they] know people consider cool." The big oh shit moment came for Friedberger when he realized that not only had he broken a cardinal rule of good sense by never ever ever ever ever saying anything bad about Radiohead, but when he was informed that the song wasn't even about Harry Partch, but about Harry Patch, the last surviving soldier from World War I. Whoops. more ›

• Newsweek predicts that Democrat Bill White will beat Perry in the governor's race in 2010.


• Thom Yorke at Copenhagen climate summit: "The Americans...don't seem to be coming in offering anything new."


• US border agents who work for drug traffickers.

You can also head out to buy Bob Dylan's The Best of Bob Dylan Limited Edition Collector's Crate edition which comes packaged with a t-shirt, or go economy and nab the The Essential Bob Dylan which is a mere 3-disc set. Also out this week are a handful of Radiohead gems, including Amnesiac, Hail to the Thief, and Kid A all in 2-CD/1 DVD packaging today. Finally, don't miss the Wilco Being There and Summerteeth 2xLP vinyl reissues. more ›

Looking back, there probably wasn't a more appropriate patch of weather to be weathered than the intermittent rain and deep, damningly grey clouds that fans had to maneuver underneath on their way the Woodlands Pavilion last Saturday evening. Spirits weren't dampened by one high E string, though. Not only did the mildly adverse meteorological conditions set a suitable tone for the set to come (not to mention the copy of In Rainbows we were warming up to whilst waiting our turn for a space in the White Lot), but it was endearing to see that the multitudes milling towards the venue would have straddled the San Andreas fault line in the middle of the Big One to catch a glimpse of Thom wheedle his internal narrative out of a Rhodes piano until being swallowed alive. Needless to say, we were all looking forward to the show, rain or shine. more ›

We don't think anyone will question our assertion that Radiohead are the most respected and sought-after band in the universe. Ever. After The Bends, OK Computer, and Kid A shorted out the synapses of the entire world, all of us insignificant plebes agreed to elevate them to legend status along with the boys from Liverpool, a few members of the Stones, and Evan Dando. That's it. That is the VIP list for our musical Mount Olympus in its entirety. Thom, Mick, and Evan watching America's Top Model and eating pepperoni pizza Hot Pockets in the inner sanctum of some island-volcano hideout. more ›

After Van Halen, Bruce Springsteen, Radiohead, and Jay-Z all elected to skip Austin on their spring US tours, it's not unreasonable to feel that our music-loving town seems to be off the radar of the arena pop and rock circuit. This despite a perfectly functional (if rather dated) basketball arena smack in the center in town. Thankfully, the Louis Vuitton Don Kanye West agrees with you, and has elected to show Austin some big-production love with a date here at The Frank Erwin Center in late April. more ›

The first segment of Radiohead's North American tour has been announced, and Austin gets the shaft: Houston's Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion will get a show on May 17, and Dallas' Superpages.com Center (!) will host the Brits on May 18. Tickets go on sale Thursday (Valentine's day) via W.A.S.T.E. with general on-sales following on February 16. more ›

Our Indieroke night returns this Tuesday to The Mohawk. What started out as a one-off fling with rock stardom has turned into a monthly gathering of like-minded folks craving that fleeting moment of exhilaration. If you haven’t made it to one yet, we strongly recommend getting there in a timely fashion to get your name and song on the list early…and often. (You know who you are!) We will have multiple song list books going forward to ease that pain. more ›

Looks like ACL Fest organizers have chosen Groundhog Day to release their mildly discounted multi-passes. 3-day passes priced at $150 including service charges are on sale now at ACLFest.com. more ›

Robert Harrison’s forte has always been melodious pop music and his current outfit Future Clouds and Radar is no anomaly. The act’s stellar self-titled album (out now on Star Apple Kingdom) contains boundless hooks and plenty of Beatles-esque psychedelia, and has garnered rave reviews from a plethora of publications such as HARP, Paste, Pop Culture Press, and No Depression. Check out the video for “Dr. No.” here. more ›

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... more ›

It's hard to explain in 2007 what it feels like for music to be both uniting and important. Having spent nearly three years of the '90s living in London, it's with honest nostalgia and wonder that we examine Rhino's The Brit Box. The set's mission is rather broad: it attempts to examine the whole of UK indie rock from 1985-1999 and devotes a disc each to '80s indie, shoegaze, Britpop, and the late '90s. One... more ›

Three UT students make national news for getting stuck in local cave. "Well, that's the last time I throw my son a birthday party," said Father. "I'm getting too old for this crap." Radiohead stands to make approximately $9.6 million from sales of their latest record, "In Rainbows." Ex-General who served in Iraq speaks out on the war: "There is no question that America is living a nightmare with no end in sight." Study:... more ›

First things first: we must differentiate between the chutzpah of a band at Radiohead's level of critical distinction and popularity initially releasing their album for donation and making the most revolutionary music industry statement since the dawn of the Internet Age... (big breath) ...and the chutzpah it takes to make truly ground-breaking musical statements. In Rainbows does not employ the latter. Still, one leaves with the impression that the boys from Oxford are convinced that,... more ›

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Welcome to the latest edition of Band Slam!, wherein I navigate the murky waters of Austin's club listings for the best and worst band names playing this week. The only rule: I can't know anything about the actual band, thus limiting my critique strictly to the band's chosen moniker. Let's cook!! Harptallica - Elysium, Friday 10/05 After the Radiohead reggae album, all bets are off as far as taking ultimate creative license with canonized... more ›

Coldplay's Chris Martin recently described Travis as "the band that invented my band and lots of others." That should give most people a solid idea of what to expect when Glasgow's indie-pop quartet stop into Stubb's Thursday night. After debuting with the raucous pub rock album Good Feeling in 1997, the band did an about-face with 1999's The Man Who, a moody, ballad-filled acoustic record produced by Nigel Godrich (Radiohead, Beck) that produced several... more ›

Last March, Birmingham, England's Editors made quite an impression on those who attended their packed SXSW showcases. An airtight quartet, the band blazed through their sets with energy and precision. A measured mix of post-punk and UK arena rock, Editors project intensity and a dark mood throughout their recorded output. Their debut album The Back Room went gold and produced four Top 40 singles in the UK, and American hipster mag The Fader liked... more ›

Fridge The Sun (Temporary Residence) Kieran Hebden, Adem and Sam Jeffers have been working hard since 2001's Happiness, though perhaps not with each other. Hebden's Four Tet is almost as prolific as Prefuse spin-offs, and Adem has released one of the greatest folk-pop albums of the decade with Love & Other Planets (2006). Jeffers is no slouch, working hard in the graphic design and web industry, as well as continuing his musical aspirations. As... more ›

Taylor Mills Lullagoodbye (Aquapulse) There’s a new safe word being grunted out of S&M dungeons everywhere, and it is Lullagoodbye. It means slow down, ease up and take fewer risks. Although the album mostly lies within the boundaries of uninspired adult contemporary, at times her voice is filled with smooth, sometimes-sultry melody and a graceful piano whispers like a bedtime story. Then, there’s the added bonus of looking at her staggeringly attractive mug on every... more ›

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After a month of guesswork, the ACL Fest lineup is here. And it's quite a good one. While the wild speculation of headliners like Neil Young and Stevie Wonder once again proved false, the key items one sees this year are depth and balance. Having spent yesterday looking over the roster, we have the following observations on the 2007 edition of ACL. The Good: A Great Top 10. Had you told us that we'd... more ›

The second album curse has felled bands both big (The Killers) and small (Clap Your Hands Say Yeah) in recent months. The short attention span and indie band hype created by the music blogger community only add to the pressure of the big follow-up. It is a relief, then, to report that Bloc Party emerge relatively unscathed on A Weekend In The City, their follow-up to 2005's wonderful Silent Alarm. A wider (and louder) sonic palate and reach has emerged from the band, as they attempt to grow yet retain what we enjoyed about them to begin with. more ›

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 The Calder Line”) at the end. Bracken has arrived at a futuristic, electronic bliss, comprised of intricately arranged textures; organs, horns, keys are all used appropriately to augment his laptop output. Adams evokes a wide range of relevant acts - there are traces of Tortoise, the Postal Service, AIR, maybe even later Radiohead (or Thom Yorke) in his work but his ingenuity separates his style from any of those. The result is a one of its kind, ethereal post-something-or-the-other album that clatters, drones, almost rocks n’ rolls. more ›

Eric Woodruff, formerly of Delay, a space-rock outfit out of Washington, has been churning out material for his new project, Prosser. The final product is a pleasant miasma that's rather hard to classify simply as another offering from a singer-songwriter. He's Matthew Ryan without the gravel and Pinetop Seven without the pathos. Is it alt-country? Is it psych-something? No matter, it doesn't take abbreviated slang music terminology to enjoy the multi-instrumentalist's eponymous debut album.... more ›