Dean and Britta have that certain je ne sais quoi, do they not? They're good looking, look and dress like Europeans, and dig artists like Joy Division and Nancy Sinatra. Hell, they even did The Squid and The Whale's soundtrack for Noah Baumbach. Their music is similarly themed: it's minimalist, beautiful, effortless, and full of an icy cool. (If one wishes to puncture the image, it's amusing to know that Britta Phillips was the voice of 80's cartoon icons Jem and the Holograms.) Dean Wareham, of course, has legions of fans from his work with Galaxie 500 and Luna, and this certainly isn't a huge departure from his signature sound. Expect dreamy and reflective tales with some irony and beautiful melody lines sprinkled throughout. The duo are touring behind 2007's Back Numbers, which combines some D&B originals with like-minded covers of The Troggs and Lee Hazlewood. Simply put, if you enjoyed Luna, you'll have a good time here. And for Wareham's more ardent fans, he has recently written a memoir about his life in music titled Black Postcards which will be published in March by Penguin. D&B arrive tomorrow at the Cactus Cafe for a pair of shows at 7 and 10pm....

Last Saturday, actor Will Ferrell made a quick stop in Austin during a press tour for his new film Semi-Pro. He also attended a sneak preview of the film and did a Q&A session at the Alamo Drafthouse, where attendees were required to dress in 70's basketball attire for admission - you can see the Drafthouse "team photo" here. Austinist's Tom Thornton and Gordon And The Whale's Chase Whale spoke briefly to Ferrell during the media day....

Image from Wild Sweet Orange’s MySpace, by Jason Wallis The Whigs & Wild Sweet OrangeThursday, November 15Stubbs (801 Red River)$10 | Doors 10:30 p.m. | Inside[info] | [tickets] | [The Whigs MySpace] | [Wild Sweet Orange MySpace]Wild Sweet Orange are in town this Thursday at Stubb’s to offer introspective dream-pop from their recently released The Whale EP, as well as their upcoming full-length for Canvasback Music. The Birmingham, Alabama act’s “Ten Dead Dogs” was featured......

It's Tuesday, which means that your local DVD shop has several shiny new titles on the shelf. This week's biggest entry is James Mangold's Walk The Line, a Johnny Cash biopic in the mold of Ray that is up for five Oscars this weekend. The film wisely steers clear of a wide-scope biography, and instead concentrates on Cash's romance with second wife June Carter, his early music career at Sun Records, and his struggles......

We spent an inordinate amount of time going to movies, shoveling buttered popcorn into our trawls, and drinking Mr. Pibb through red vines (Watch this SNL clip we just referenced if you want to laugh. Crazy funny.) Well, just like with our illegitimate children, we refuse to name favorites, so with that in mind, Austinist presents to you our favorite 14 films of 2005 in no particular order. *UPDATE: A late editorial note, at......

We closed down the AFF Thursday night with Jeff Daniels and arguably the best film of the festival, "The Squid and The Whale". Writer/director Noah Baumbach has penned a heartbreaking tale, based on the real-life drama of his parents' divorce, peppered with bittersweet moments of dark hilarity. Author-parents Joan (Laura Linney) and Bernard (Daniels) have exhausted their marriage. Their love affair of the mind has burned itself to ashes, leaving both husband and wife enervated......

We're really happy to hear that The Press is back in action tonight at Beerland (711 1/2 Red River) after taking a four month hiatus from shows. We caught their last show at the Resolution:Empire opening at Gallery Lombardi that the Chromatic Consortium presented in January. At the time we had never heard of them and we were shocked as they stole the show with a fun blend of organ-laced guitar rock that turned......