For maybe four years running—until I got overwhelmed with being so popular and having too much work— I think I could count on my nipples the number of times I missed the regular Wednesday night gig Matt the Electrician plays with Southpaw Jones, a running residency going on something like seven years now (and currently held at Flipnotics on Barton Springs Rd). I never, ever, ever get tired of hearing either M or SP play. And I’m so happy to tell you that this week Matt’s sending a new record out into the world, Animal Boy, with an official CD release party Friday, October 9th, at the Cactus Café. The disc is pure brilliance from the rich horns that open the first song— and you have to have cojones muy grande to open with a cover of Journey’s Faithfully and pull it off the way Matt does—right on through to the end. Matt somehow manages to consistently spin the equivalent of a multi-plot novel in four minutes or less, and he can rhyme and sing while he’s doing it. The imagery in his songwriting is nothing short of cinematic so that you find yourself in each song, interacting with the cast of characters that inhabit his tales: a naked valedictorian at graduation, an arrogant leash-loathing dog owner, giddy girls on bicycles in Osaka in the rain, an underpaid yet terribly kind Walmart employee saving the day, a truck driver peeing into a Gatorade bottle. In Animal Boy (the song) we get a spectacular view of a child looking back at some of the curious rules and choices offered by the grownups at dinnertime. more ›

we are co-sponsoring the 2009 edition of the 6th annual Kick Ass Awards this Friday at BookPeople (our co-sponsor). Come one, come all and bask in the glorious warmth that is community recognition! more ›

“Well,” I asked Chris, upon the conclusion of the recent Austin City Limits taping of Duffy, “what did you think?” “I wanted to like her…” he said, trailing off. Bingo and ditto. Oh how I wanted to like the young Brit with the big pipes and the hit song Mercy. But oh how, during her short performance, did I find my mind drifting to the critical place. Now, there was a time in my life when being critical and sarcastic was high priority. It’s part of my grew-up-in-Jersey legacy—greet everyone with suspicion and resent others for success that you determine is truly undeserved while wondering how your own talents, which are far, far greater, have slipped recognition. more ›

Having been raised by one hoarder and once married to another, I myself am a big purger. No way do I want to ever again live in a house crammed with crap. Nor, when I check out, do I want to leave my son to sort through 5,000 coffee cans of rusty nails, a vast collection of headless Barbies, and a stack of National Geographics dating back to the 1800s. So, several times a year, I go through my already very small pile of possessions and I purge. I take bags of clothes and kitchen stuff to my favorite thrift store, Top Drawer. I redistribute CDs I’ve imported to my Mac. And, once in awhile, I part with books, which is a little bit more difficult, as books and yarn are the two things I would hoard if I did hoard. more ›

I first saw Southpaw Jones back in ’04 when he was playing in the tin roofed barn behind the original Moxie and the Compound. The very first song I ever heard him sing was The Cruelty of Teenage Girls, and in that moment my life radically and permanently changed for the much, much better. And I’m not even saying that because I read a recent article in Wired telling me that hyperbole is the path to more page views. I’m saying it because, thanks to Southpaw Jones, I got my picture in the New York Times, I was afforded the privilege of home ownership, I collect royalty checks for decent sums of money, and—I am not shitting you—I regained the ability to walk again. more ›

Local writer Spike Gillespie (along with a dozen of her closest friends) has been holding forth on the subject of wookin pa nub in all the wrong places. The Dick Monologues run once a month at Hyde Park Theater. When we walked in, there was a sea of women with tiny plastic cups of red wine. Any trepidation over being surrounded by that many sleeveless tops quickly dissipated as the raucously hilarious women (and... more ›

Thursday, June 28 artOpening Reception for Whitney Lee: Power Craft at Women and Their Work, 1710 Lavaca Street (6-8pm) artOpen House Work Viewing at Atelier 3-D, 2209 Pasadena Drive (4-10pm) artArtistic License: Josefina Guilisasti at The Blanton Museum of Art, MLK at Congress Ave (Free, 6-8pm) booksAmanda Eyre Ward presents Forgive Me at BookPeople (7:00pm) comedyPat Dixon with Brendon Walsh at Cap City Comedy Club comedyParallelogramophonograph with special guests Look Cookie at ColdTowne Theater (8pm)... more ›

Monday, June 25musicGreat Northern, Experimental Aircraft, Seaholm Electric at Emo’s musicWhen Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth, Pataphysics, The Jimmy Buffet Experience at Emo’s music"Wet Hot American Summer" with Friends of So at Beauty Bar film"The Princess Bride" Quote-along at Alamo Drafthouse Downtown filmMusic Monday: "Nashville Girl" at Alamo Drafthouse Downtown... more ›

This Thursday, May 17th at 7pm, Austin fixture Owen Egerton will be celebrating the release of How Best to Avoid Dying, his brand new collection of short stories, at BookPeople. The book is also the latest release for local publisher Dalton Publishing. They're offering a free peep of the book's first story, "Spelling," here. While the book itself is worthy of celebration, so too is its author. Egerton is one of Austin's renaissance men.... more ›

TUESDAY [8] music • Bruce Springsteen Tribute with Southpaw Jones, Matt the Electrician, Scrappy Jud Newcomb, Nathan Hamilton, Abia Tapia, Graham Weber, JJ Barron, Nakia at Cactus Café (FREE, 8pm) music • Elf Power, AM Syndicate at Emo's music • Ryan Shaw at Stubb's music • Jimmy LaFave at Waterloo Records (5pm, Free) music • Cathar, Fire vs Extinguisher, Connie Ball at Beerland music • The Mohawk Residency with White Denim, Brazos at The Mohawk... more ›

MONDAY [7] books • Caro Soles and Anthony Bidulka read from their latest works at BookWoman (7:00pm) comedy • Funniest Person in Austin Contest, hosted by 1986 Winner Kerry Awn at Cap City Comedy Club film • "Strangers on a Train" with Farley Granger live at Alamo Downtown film • Music Mondays: "We Were Never Here" at Alamo Downtown food • Central Market Cooking Class: Picnic Food with Amuse Bouche at Central Market Cooking... more ›

Note: Several weekend events will be added in the afternoon. THURSDAY [5] fashion/music/party • Car Stereo (Wars), Visuals by Super!Alright!, and 30-40% Everything at Strut (6-10pm) film • "Military Intelligence and You" at Alamo Drafthouse Lakecreek (7:30pm) art •Opening Reception for Aki Nagasaka's "Yellow Labyrinth" at Women and Their Work (6-8pm) books •Pam Oslie presents Love Colors at BookPeople (7:00pm) books •Hans Ulrich Gumbrecht presents "In 1926: Why and How?" at The Harry Ransom... more ›

MONDAY [2] books •Peggy Collins presents Help Is Not a Four-Letter Word at BookPeople (7:00pm) comedy •22nd Annual Funniest Person in Austin Contest at Cap City Comedy Club (Check site for lineup) film •Serge Gainsbourg Birthday Feast at Alamo Downtown film •"El Duce Vita" with The Mentors at Alamo Downtown food •Central Market Cooking Class: Midnight in the Garden of Food and Evil at Central Market Cooking School, 4001 N Lamar ($40, 6:30-9pm) music... more ›

Couldn't score a table at Aquarelle? Arby's not going to cut it with your sweetie? Why not try a little Free Sex in Public this Valentine's Day? Whoa, whoa, you've got it all wrong tiger. Pull those pants up! Please refrain from actually fornicating in the streets this Valentine's Day. For the seventh year in a row Austin's literary wonder woman, Spike Gillespie, will assemble her unusual cadre of poets, musicians, amateur psychotherapists and friends... more ›

This week these posts caught our eye: Southpaw Jones lists 63 reasons that 63 birds died on Monday. Greg at Beetsolonely remembers "The Catch" made 25 years ago this week that ruined the Cowboys' hopes of an NFC championship (along with his appetite). Chris Trew tells about judging the Air Guitar Championships a while ago. Rhiannon celebrates ramen. Huevos Rancheros led us to this short documentary (filmed in Austin) about bathroom graffiti (may not... more ›

FRIDAY [13] music/art • Austin Museum of Digital Art (AMODA) presents their latest Digital Showcase with Drop The Lime, MVSCLZ, HAPPYSUCKY, Wonder Jam Twins, Yatsuzaki, DJ Who's Jealous and DJ Radicon, plus visual artists including Ben Aqua, Ben Hibon, Bleep Labs, Cari Palazzolo, David Salinas, DEFASTEN, Eli Welbourne, Friedrich Kirschner, Johnny Cisneros, Lanneau White aka Karl Sapien, Lonja, Mike Ruiz, and Yuki Kawamura at The Mohawk (9pm-2am, $7/$4 general/members, 18+) ® music • Faceless... more ›

He's a comedian, a novelist, an ordained minister, a dad, a husband, and a walker through Spain (ask him about that walking trip sometime). What's isn't Owen Egerton? If you ask that question, one of your answers won't be a member of hot local boy band Cedar Fever. And, as if he isn't busy enough already, he's one of the main dudes behind The Right to Marry, an awesome organization whose goal "...is to promote... more ›

MONDAY [9] books • Ted Bishop presents Riding With Rilke: Reflections on Motorcycles and Books at BookPeople (7:30pm) film • The Agronomist at Texas Union (7:30pm) ® film • Imagine - The John Lennon Sing-along at Alamo Drafthouse (7pm, $10) ® film • Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown at Arbor (2:45pm, 7:30pm) ® film • Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers at Café Mundi (8pm, Free) film • Run Lola Run... more ›

THURSDAY [29] [music] Loxsly at Whisky Bar (link) [books] Barbara Robles presents The Color of Wealth: The Story Behind the U.S. Racial Wealth Divide at BookPeople (7pm) (link) [music] Everyone Knows Everyone Volume 3 with Those Peabodys, Visitors, Mars Wars Feat. Pure Filth, Young Love, Rory + The Artificial HeartS, Pirates Of Darkwater, DJ Shane and visual art a bunch of folks (including Austinist's own Justin "Juice" Cox and Jackie Young) at Emo's (link) [film]... more ›

Mike Shea at BookPeople (7pm) (link) [music] Awesome Cool Dudes, Daniel Francis Doyle, Zom Zoms, Ralph White at Emo's (link) [music] Tristan Prettyman, Michael Tolcher at The Parish Room (link) [music] Pete Yorn instore at Waterloo Records (6:30pm) (link) [music] An Irish Sing-a-long with Brobdingnagian Bards and Campbell Wilson at Cactus Cafe (Free, 8pm) (link) [film] AFS 20th Anniversary Screening: Godard's Weekend at Alamo Downtown (7pm) (link) [film] Rolling Roadshow: The Goonies at Central Market... more ›

MONDAY [27] [ music ] Jay Moeller's Birthday Blues Bash, with Ephraim Owens, Mike Barfield, Scott Nelson, Damien Llanes, James Bullard, and loads more at The Continental Club (9:30pm) (link) [ music ] KOOP Radio Monday Benefit with Guy Forsyth, Wammo and Sick, and Southpaw Jones. Hosted by Owen Egerton (of Sinus) at Ruta Maya ($5, 8:30pm) (link) [ art ] "Art is Imagination": Paintings of the American West at Blanton Museum of Art (Free,... more ›