Half Japanese formed in the mid-seventies, and the band, which initially consisted of just brothers Jad and David Fair, would go on to have an musical impact on par with fellow primitive rock and roll ideologues Beat Happening and forebears The Shaggs. Kurt Cobain and Penn Jillette both championed their qualities to a larger audience, and their early history is even chronicled in a film entitled Half Japanese: The Band That Would Be King by The Devil and Daniel Johnston director Jeff Feurezeig. Even after David left Half Japanese to pursue other things, Jad kept the love lights glowing by recording both under the band’s name and his own, collaborating with many other musicians along the way. ...

If you're in the campus area tomorrow, swing by the Speedway Mart corner (Speedway & 31st Street) if you want to witness a true miracle in Austin restaurant history. Battling stubborn/cheap students, rising rent and bad weather for foot traffic, Fricano's Deli has accomplished something that even national chains can't pull off in the campus area—they have reached their first anniversary. As a provider of an amazing variety of creative sandwich options to students,......

The Hold Steady have been holding, er, steady in the limelight since 2004, picking up a Village Voice cover here and a best album of the year there (2006: The Onion’s A.V. Club), and just generally best-ing all over the place: they were Blender’s 2006 Band of the Year and made it to Rolling Stone’s annual album ranker at number 8. Critical acclaim blah blah blah. The big hit from the big album Boys......

FRIDAY [1] party • Rare Magazine Summer Issue Launch Party at Mean Eyed Cat (5:30pm) bikes • Republic of Texas Biker Rally at All Over Austin dance/benefit • Project Transitions Hosts 12th Annual Texas Swing at Saengerrunde Hall and Scholz’s Beer Garten ($40, 8-Midnight) art • Opening Reception: Cantanker/us, the Cantanker Magazine staff show at Else Madsen Gallery, 411 Brazos, Suite 99 (7-11pm) art • The B Scene at The Blanton Museum of Art,......

Raggedy Canadian quartet Ladyhawk dropped their self-titled debut last year on Jagjaguwar. On the heels of their accomplishment (it's a fantastic record, probably sorely over-looked in 2006) comes SXSW 2007, and you know what that means: a trip to Austin. We caught up with them somewhere in the wilds of Vancouver to talk about how awesome Austin is... Is SXSW fun or business? If it's business it's probably not fun, and if it's not......

Although they haven't specifically made mention of their stellar vegetarian frito pie, the Wheatsville Food Co-op people request your presence Saturday and Sunday December 2nd and 3rd for the Wheatsville Artsfest, 10am-5:30pm both days. According to Wheatsville head honcho Dan Gillotte, "The Artsfest is a great annual event that is not to be missed! 75 Artists and craftspeople will be on hand displaying and selling their incredible handiwork! We'll also have great live music,......

Where in the hell did My Morning Jacket come from? If you answered "Louisville, Kentucky", you're only half right. Few people know this, but MMJ was actually birthed collectively from a anthropomorphic bear-god, assuming human form so as not to scare off prospective audiences. They learned to play music on instruments they found while foraging at an abandoned mining camp. No, seriously. The reverb that coats their hauntingly translucent albums like so much honey......

FRIDAY [9] [music] Shellac, The New Year at Emo's (link) [music] Twilight Singers w. Mark Lanegan, Afterhours, Jeff Klein at The Parish Room (link) [music] The Late Fees at End of an Ear (6pm) (link) [music] Sons of Hercules, Jesus Christ Superfly (15th Anniversary!) at Beerland (link) [music/danceparty] Waxploitation! at Red's Scoot Inn (9:30pm) (link) [music] The Beer Garden Series presents South Austin Jug Band at Threadgill's World HQ (link) [dance] A Place to Land......

: : FRIDAY : : [music] Early Man, Atomic Bitchwax, Lions and Black Earth @ Emo's [art] "A Pairing:Exhibition of Works by Women of Wine & The Men Who Adore Them," 5:30pm-8:30pm @ Gallery Lombardi [music] St. James, Andy Davis and Matt Wertz @ Stubb's [music] The Ugly Beats and American History Project @ Beerland [music] Beta Valentine CD Release with Super Sonic Soul Squad and DJ Bigface, 8pm @ End of an Ear......

What a difference a year makes. It seems like only yesterday we spent our summer Mondays at Cedar Street Courtyard, sipping Lemon Drops and relaxing to the soothing sounds of Austin’s own Slowtrain. The band, which “borrows influences from everyone from Dave Matthews to The Band to Bob Dylan to Johnny Cash” (according to their website) is undergoing some changes so we haven’t heard much from them lately. However, we were happy to learn......

The Bill Jerram Band will rock the Saxon Pub this Saturday night at 9PM for the release of their new self-titled cd. For the uninitiated, singer-songwriter Jerram and his band meld a raucous mixture of country, roots-pop, Americana rock and soul. Jerram’s guitar playing and powerhouse vocals are supported excellently by keyboardist Will Cornforth, bassist Marty Hobratschk and drummer Slade Crabtree. The band’s solid sound reminds Austinist of an amalgam of The Band, The......