Thank God for shiftless, neurotic, pothead New Englanders. In the late 1980s, Lou Barlow, lately laid off from his day job as bassist for then-indie powerhouse Dinosaur Jr., hooked up with fellow "noise-terrorist" Eric Gaffney to expand his home-recording project, mindlessly dubbed "Sebadoh" after a nonsense word he coined while stoned, into a proper touring band. A steadily growing cult pursued the group (teenage Jason Lowenstein quickly joined as touring drummer) well into the......

Share a story about a visit to Austin or a previous trip to SXSW. - Chandler: I was getting a slice from Hoeks Pizza; they were playing a live Slayer DVD. It was blaring on their speakers. Meanwhile, up the street comes a group of fundamentalist Christians with placards giving details of the upcoming Armageddon. The leader of the group had a megaphone and was preaching all kinds of nonsense. It was the perfect......

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......

Welcome back kiddos, the year is kicking off with a shotgun bang. Head over to Waterloo or End of an Ear and ask for these albums: as far as we can tell, it's hard to go wrong this week. The Shins Wincing the Night Away (Sub Pop) Well, they're definitely stretching, and they're definitely getting more and more familiar with the studio, as "Phantom Limb" demonstrates: James Mercer is still having trouble falling asleep,......

Like fake boobs and dyed hair, fake Ohio State vs. Texas tickets are out there to ruin your day. Clay Aiken of American Idol fame just might be President Bush's new pet. Former President Clinton is getting a pimp ride, a custom Mercury Mariner Hybrid surely outfitted with features that rival the Batmobile. Ladies, ladies. Your high heels are a death trap. A man's gun accidentally fired while he was in a Wal-Mart bathroom.......

Thank Andy Gately for the three-hour assault on conservative values that is the first-annual Austin Underground Film Festival (tonight, 7pm, Drafthouse South Lamar). Andy’s a veteran of Troma Films, Cahiers du Cinemart, and all sorts of interesting projects, including something called the Holocaust Film Sourcebook. He graciously answered a few questions about his latest venture. Thanks for talking to us! Thanks for the chance. And for not being owned by Rupert Murdoch. How did......

[The following is an editorial column by contributor Alison Coffey and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Austinist staff. --The Editors] I don't know when new episodes of Everwood will be airing, but I hope it's soon. I'm pining for some Bright and Amy and Ephram and Hannah time. Thank God the reruns have ended and I can finally share a meal with the Gilmore Girls. Rory is back at Yale and......