In the tradition of house/venues like the departed Jesse’s Bed and Breakfast and Natrix Natrix (a label as well as a venue, who are also co-presenting this show), the up-and-coming Rancho Relaxo is poised to take its part to promote music in residential spaces in Austin, at least until the neighbors call the cops. The venue has already played host to Sir Richard Bishop and Yellow Fever, and will hopefully continue to sponsor creative performances for some time to come....

We understood that Cleveland, Ohio was known for rock music, but for subtly bouncy electronic art pop? We we dubious until we discovered that the midwestern mecca is the origin of Joe Williams, whose project White Williams will be stopping through our fair city tonight at Emo's for a show opened by Rings (New York) and Cry Blood Apache (Austin)....

This Sunday, come to one of one of Austin’s most comfortably worn-in bars to see four promising local artists strut their stuff. The Pillow Queens, Canopy (or CCANOPYY), Spirit of Space and Jacob Borshard will all play The Hole in the Wall starting around 9, with no cover. ...

It's official: Lou Reed is the keynote for SXSW music 2008. His speech will be held in conjunction with Julian Schnabel’s film Lou Reed’s ‘Berlin,’ which documents a recent performance of the landmark 1973 album. ...

AFS Essentials: J’Entends Plus la GuitareTuesday, December 11thAlamo Drafthouse Downtown (320 E 6th Street)$4 / Free for AFS Members, 7pm[info]When we think of a muse, we don't typically imagine the corporeal, but rather a winged sprite, strumming a lyre, an apparition that is not of this earth and cannot be held in its confines. We also imagine that once you have found your muse, or that which turns on the flowing faucet of your......

An Evening With Todd RundgrenDecember 4, 2007 at 8:00 p.m.Antones (213 W 5th St)$23-$25[info] | [tickets] There is this entire world of brilliant artists that produced oodles of fantastic work in the '70s that most of us know because of a standout hit here or there that makes its way into a more mainstream outlet, or an association with some more widely known entity. Vince Guaraldi's jazz piano works introduced us to a career's......

We first fell in love with Yo La Tengo at 17. We were still stuck out in the sticks in high school, still reading Rolling Stone and still wearing those pink crackle-finish Vans. And Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out had just been released, and Rolling Stone recommended it for people who liked the Velvet Underground. We ordered the album from Hasting's, and when the album came in and we popped it into the Discman we......

Pseudosix Pseudosix (Sonic Boom) Pseudosix began as Tim Perry's solo project, but quickly became a group effort with Emil Amos (Grails, Dolorean), Joe Kelly, and a handful of other local, talented friends. The band has written and recorded with pals from Joggers, Decemberists and The Standard in their relatively short existence, but the impetus has been barreling towards this release since back in the day when Perry wrestled with the nerve to perform live,......

Although Hoot Nights and Tribute shows tend to occur frequently, Saturday’s extravaganza at Ruta Maya promises to trump all with an extensive lineup of local talent set to cover a variety of tunes recorded (or released) in 1967, known otherwise as the Summer Of Love. Get there early, even if the music does only start at the respectable time of 4:20 p.m. Full lineup below but we have to mention some of our favorites --......

The New Pornographers Challengers (Matador) Once in a while, you walk into a bar, and you order a martini. You know what a martini is, you've drank dozens of martinis in your life. Maybe you have a martini recipe you make at home and particularly love. Maybe you're even the sort of person who can say smart things about the differences in various gins. But, on occasion, you order a martini, and it's not just......

With a one-word moniker like Jima (Jim A., a self-imposed nickname taking his first name and last initial), you kind of have to bring it, right? So front-man/bassist for Seattle’s The Purrs does what he can—he’s known for his rhetorical swagger, spouting off cocky quips inspired by the bottle. Enter comparisons to Brian Jonestown Massacre and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. But musically, The Purrs prove more than cock-rockers, giving us a history lesson in......

Shearwater's back in town tonight for the penultimate stop of their summer tour, and seeing as how we were floored by their new album, Palo Santo, we're looking forward to the Emo's show: Palo Santo shows Shearwater progressing from straight-forward folk tunes to something richer and harder to pin down. Folk elements remain prominent, but the band demonstrates skill at pilfering the best elements of other genres as well. Bits of gospel, rock, and......

M O N D A Y [12] [music] UT Ethnomusicology Dept Ensembles at Momo's (8pm) [music] David Newbould at Flipnotics (8pm) [music] Singer-Songwriter Night at Longbranch Inn [music] Elizabeth McQueen at Theadgill's (8pm) [music] Listening party for Ludacris' new album, Disturbing Tha Peace at Nasty's (8pm) [music/shopping] Armadillo Christmas Bazaar with the Eggmen at Austin Music Hall (Check website for dates/hours) [party] Friends of the Spade Christmas Party at Velvet Spade (11pm) [film/food] "Narnia"......

A founding member of The Velvet Underground, among the most visionary and influential bands of all time, John Cale is a master craftsman of "chords, tones and textures" whose work on The Velvet Underground and Nico documentarian Joe Harvard beautifully described as "assailing the boundaries confining rock's instrumentation, his arrangements and textural palate so accomplished that afterward all maps had to be thrown out and all borders redrawn." In the four decades after the......

[In which we use the word fuck no less than three times. Well, four.] A few months ago, at a house party in Hyde Park thrown by local label Christmas Mountain Records, we found ourselves lounging idly with our mates on a plushly upholstered sofa, near the stage setup of a living room so sardine-packed with Austin hipsters that, in the dimmed lighting and from our low vantage point, all one could make out......

Compiling a respectable musical showcase of local talent that lends credibility to Austin’s self-proclaimed "Live Music Capital" claim is, if not a Sisyphean endeavor, certainly an extraordinarily daunting task. But indie upstart label I Eat Records somehow manages to accomplish just this with their debut compilation CD, "Appetizers & Leftovers". Make no mistake, the album's modest titling almost deliberately shrouds the fact that hidden within lies an ambitious 21-course aural feast featuring everyone from......

Much like our friends who live in New York City, we rarely go above 14th Street. Only on truly special occasions do we venture into that hub of dive bars, bad food and overpriced clothing stores known as “campus.” Tonight, however, is one of those special occasions as three rocking bands hit the stage (er, platform in the corner) at the venerable Hole in the Wall. We know it’s smoky and loud there (yes,......