Indie rock legends Guided By Voices have recently reunited their "classic" '93-'96 lineup, paired with the announcement of plans for a full-fledged reunion tour across the US. One of their first stops was in Austin's newly opened East Side Drive-In last night (with supporting act Times New Viking). Our photog Pooneh Ghana was there to capture the evening. more ›

What a ticket: the stage at Antone’s tonight will be shared by two bands whose sounds contrast one another in particularly interesting ways. Yo La Tengo have for over a quarter of a century comforted their many devotees with consistently beautiful and musically intellectual albums. Times New Viking, on the other hand, reward their fans with a sound that is perhaps best described as startling you back to the comforts of youth. Capable of the most tender racket, perennial favorites Yo La Tengo are veterans of a genre they painstakingly shaped out of both homage and innovation, cobbling together folk, punk, shoegaze, noise, and electronic impulses. Veterans without being staid, Yo La Tengo have remained an indie institution without ever becoming demure. This level of consistency is not to be overlooked in an industry that likes to console itself by the rule that most artists only have two great albums in them. Yo La Tengo’s twelfth full-length release, Popular Songs, was one of our top albums of last year. more ›

Few bands do a better job tossing catchy melodies and choruses into such a mucky stew of noise and deliberately crappy recording techniques than Columbus, Ohio's Times New Viking. The trio, critically-lauded yet still dodging most of the mainstream love they probably deserve, is riding high on perhaps their crispest and most complete LP yet, Born Again Revisited, a batch of concoctions that sticks in the mind even though about 80% of its words are unintelligible. In preparation for their performance (which, if their other concerts are any indication, will be a nonstop onslaught of energy) at Fun Fun Fun Fest this Saturday, we shot some questions across the internet at Times New Viking, and guitarist Jared Phillips shot back some answers, including this little nugget: "fuck art." Enjoy. more ›

If it's too loud, you're from out of town. more ›

Emo's outdoors was packed last night for a double bill of noise rock featuring Matador's Times New Viking and Bradford Cox's Deerhunter. Both bands have garnered tons of praise in '08, and Deerhunter's latest album, Microcastle, is already appearing on a slew of year-end lists. more ›

Okay, Deerhunter, Deerhunter, Deerhunter. Where oh where do we begin to discuss such a spectacular, unclassifiable, confounding, excellent, inexplicable act? Do we begin with Bradford Cox, the impossibly lanky (read: lanky like crazy lanky) frontman? The frontman who maintains what quite likely is music's most accidentally inflammatory blog, and who puts his ever-honest foot into his mouth on a regular basis? The frontman who has been known to wear sundresses while performing, and is prone to bouts of both joy and breakdown? The frontman who is amazingly generous to his fans, and who is so prolific that he wrote three whole albums this year? Or do we begin with those albums themselves, two of which were released under the Deerhunter name? That Microcastle is practically unquestionable in its quality, and seems likely to find itself near the top of many best-of lists? Or that its companion album, Weird Era Cont., a supposed toss-in, is pretty fine itself? Or do we discuss the very good band, beyond its idiosyncratic lead singer? Or should we just cut the questions altogether and just say we circled this date on the calendar three months ago? more ›

Some of us out there long for the days of lo-fi, before everything was digital and silky-smooth, when tape hiss roared in the background and the vocals were scratchier than anything a real human voicebox could create, and guitars were crunchy and ugly—you know, the time when the technology of recording music was so unrefined it lent the music a spontaneous kind of character, roughing up the sounds rather than prettying them. For years, those of us who missed the days before Danger Mouse flocked to deliberately lo-fi acts like The Mountain Goats, The Moldy Peaches' Kimya Dawson, and M. Ward, before all of them decided the lure of 21st century recording was too much to ignore. But the good news is, there's a new hero on the lo-fi block: Columbus, Ohio's Times New Viking write catchy rock music that just so happens to be covered in a delightful veil of recording ugliness. They have garnered praise throughout the music community for their tunes, and their loud, unpolished studio work brings to mind DIY punk and the days of audio cassettes melting in the front seat of your car. And you can witness their refusal to go pretty tonight at Emo's. more ›

Another day, another long list of long list of web-darling music acts and their attendant corporate sponsors. more ›

White Shoes & the Couples Company are rumored to be coming in from Indonesia (via) for SXSW 2008. The band, formed in 2002, is inspired by Indonesian films of the '70s and retro disco beats, as well as classic '30s jazz. They recently signed to Minty Fresh, and we predict 2008 as their break-out year, provided they roll into town with a couple of good shows booked. more ›

Inclement and hardly seasonal weather drowned our hopes of seeing Yo La Tengo with Times New Viking at Stubb's this weekend, and though we were disappointed, we weren't really too anxious to be standing outside in the muck, either. Although there is no word currently on a reschedule date, we're keeping tabs on the situation and will update ticket holders (and our contest winner) as soon as we know anything official. In the meantime,... more ›

Ira Kaplan, Georgia Hubley and James McNew, known throughout the world as Yo La Tengo, are one of the most beloved and respected groups in the history of indie music. Their music is timeless, atmospheric, and provocative. The best combo to ever blend innovative psychedelia and post-punk pop. Ira Kaplan is one of the all time guitar greats. He is easily up there with legends such as Kevin Shields, J. Mascis, Pete Townsend, and... more ›