Montreal based outfit Stars has managed to capture our heart every time we take in their pop melodies and poignant lyricism. Amy Millan and Torquil Compbell are true stars, countering each other perfectly with crisp vocal delivery, while crystal clear production on the band’s recordings complemented by immaculate instrumentation make for a mighty fine final product. The band has two releases to be proud of this year -- Stars released In Our Bedroom After The......

Ace Fu buzz crew Annuals have come on strong in 2006, thanks to their luminous debut Be He Me and tours with The Dears and Calexico; besides that, they got a song on "Veronica Mars," and is there no surer indie taste-maker these days? Bassist/engineer Mike Robinson kindly spoke to us about, well, SXSW and everything: If you could open for any artist living or dead, in any era of their career, who would......

We have discovered yet another wonderful entry in the “if you’re too tired or broke or claustrophobic or agoraphobic to make it to ACL” music alternatives. La club and radio DJ Paul V. will be airing his Smash Mix of ACL indie bands on Indie 103.1FM tonight at 7:30pm. Mix and Tracklisting: Flaming Lips vs. Massive Attack - Unfinished YeahYeahpathy (DJ Paul V. mashup) Deadboy & The Elephantmen - Stop, I’m Already Dead Muse -......

I swear, the last few previews are the hardest to write. It's not that I'm having trouble with them, it's just that I have SO much other stuff to do - shopping, packing, making sure I'm well-rested enough to cope with three days of non-stop awesomeness and the scorching heat that comes along with it. But my flight leaves tomorrow, so I promise I'll have the last few previews up by tomorrow morning when......

There have been a few changes to the ACL schedule since last week - as Tom noted yesterday, both Ghostland Observatory and The Dears have been added to the lineup, replacing Feist and Kasey Chambers. And there's another dropout - Fields are off the schedule, so Brett Dennen has been added to the Austin Ventures Stage lineup on Sunday, shifting a few of the artists to later slots that day. You can check out......

- Rolling Stones tickets are on sale tomorrow at 10am via Ticketmaster. Prices are $75 for students, $95 for general admission, and a whopping $350 for bleacher seating near the stage. Expect at least an additional $10-20/ticket in service charges. - ACL Fest acts continue to drop like flies: Feist and Kasey Chambers have both left the bill. They join a parade that also includes Editors, Damien Rice, Alexi Murdoch, Fields, and Goldfrapp. To......