As Christmas approaches, good shows tend to get sporadic and good friends tend to leave town, but the promise of Emo’s Free Week will carry us into the empty canvas that is 2008. Still, we have ten days or so to find that one last good moment of 2007....

The following message (and accompanying photo) comes from our publisher, Jake Dobkin -- Ed. Note Hey everyone-- you may have noticed that we've made a few small changes to our commenting and feedback systems: 1. Commenters now have profile pages with a bit of information about them, and links to their recent comments, along with comments other people have left in response. If the commenter is also a Austinist author, the page will include a......

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)......

No one has had their fame stripped away from them in such short order as UT quarterback, Colt McCoy. The red-shirt freshman out of Tuscola, Texas had the enormously unfortunate job of replacing the most famous (and entertaining) Texas football athlete of the modern era--Vince Young. As that January 4th hangover started to wear off, Texas fans were uncertain as to who would replace VY during the preseason, McCoy or true freshman Jevan Snead.......

A visit to The Belmont, the new bar and restaurant project by Sucky Lucky Lounge owner Matt Luckie, proved to be simultaneously unsatisfying and promising. It seems like no one can shut up about their Belmont excitement level. Admittedly, the staff was friendly and the retro interiors by ubiquitous downtown designer Joel Mozersky were, as usual, spot on. We were especially excited to try Executive Chef Ben Nathan's creations. Unfortunately, an amazing Sidecar on......

For those of us who are normally turning out the lights and falling asleep to the peaceful sounds of ocean waves and gulls around midnight, last night's Islands show at Emo's (with Why? and Cadence Weapon) was a nice alarm clock. Performing for a good-sized crowd (Monday night and the place was loaded), Islands put on a head-bobbing, toe-tapping and thoroughly breathless show, despite some minor sound glitches and hot, hot heat. Canada's Islands......

We've a pair of tickets to give away for tonight's show at La Zona Rosa, featuring LA rockers Mardo and Kings X! Downloads: Mardo - Poor Paul [mp3] Mardo - Cold Creepin' [mp3] Check 'em out on their official website or MySpace, or their press release below: Lock up your daughters! Mardo are live-wire energy incarnate. Their unique brand of loud, unapologetic, swaggering rock has wowed audiences the world over and this is just......

Last last fall, while still living in New York, we stumbled out of Webster Hall after a particularly excellent show put on by Muse. Intoxicated equally by the half dozen drinks we'd slammed down while Matt Bellamy and his cohorts rocked out onstage and by the sense of promise that hung, suspended aloft, in the chilly autumn air, we were more than a little giddy. Enough so that, when navigating the sea of promoters......

The opening track to The Heartless Bastards' Stairs and Elevators hits you with the untamed ferocity of a tropical typhoon, lead singer Erika Wennerstrom's voice the shrieking gale winds set aloft amidst the torrential thunderclap supplied by her band's driving bass line and wild drumming. Stairs is the debut album from Fat Possum Records trio , a blues-tinged garage punk outfit from Ohio. They've the pomp and flourish of a 70s rock band, and......

Tonight, Dallas-based retro sextet The Deathray Davies play a special show at Emo's to celebrate the release of their new LP, The Kick and the Snare. From starting off as an all-but unknown act at SXSW back in 1999, the indie popstars have since come to enjoy both modest celebrity and critical respect. Think delicate vocals, driving bass lines, and simple harmonies with influences ranging from Bob Dylan to New Wave to the Beach......