Xiu Xiu are what many would call a success story. After all, they’ve evolved from an experimental freakshow of a duo who appealed only to the outer edge of musical snobs and depressed hipsters, to a full-on, four member, MySpace friendly, blog-writing, book-producing, ceaselessly collaborating, networking whirlwind with legions of fans and the respect of critics. Not only that, but unlike some rise-to-glory stories, Xiu Xiu’s transformation has been nice to see, mostly because founding members Jamie Stewart and Caralee McElroy always seem to be having a lot of fun, connecting well with their fans and managing to maintain their sense of humor and their honesty....

It’s been two weeks since Pimp C’s death. Last Thursday he was buried in Port Arthur. Reading through all of the eulogies and obituaries that have poured out of the local papers, the blogs, the national media, and the rap community since December 4th, you obviously will see trends. Everyone immediately identifies Pimp C by his drawl and how he rhymed through his vowels, and it seems as though this – his voice - will be a big part of his legacy, along with his production and his pioneer-status as an early and consistent member of the Texas rap scene....

Like an uncomfortably morbid Renaissance Faire, the debut album from Orion Rigel Dommisse is a bit of ancient escapism mixed in with near-constant themes of death and disintegration. Altogether, it amounts to a captivating but unsettling tour of a freak-folk take on mortality. To prove this isn’t an exaggeration, see a few of the song titles: “Fake Yer Death,” “A Faceless Death,” “Suicide Kiss (Because Dead),” and, ending the album on an unsurprising note, “Drink......

We knew it would happen. After an unseasonably cool June and July, August is here, and it's hot. It's clearly time to eat a ginormous salad. This is what we're having: Jo's Cobb is surprisingly delicious. You could douse Grandma Winslow's hand in the tamari dressing at Mother's and I'd nibble on it. Hence, the side salad there is to die for by default. (Editor's note: While Mother's recovers from a little incident they......

United Abominations – MegadethMegadeth (AKA Dave Mustaine) follows up 2004’s politically charged The System Has Failed with, well, the politically charged United Abominations. Due to contractual obligations, TSHF had to be released as Megadeth, although it was primarily a Mustaine project. No report indicating why the new album also falls under the Megadeth moniker, but it does contain all the staples of a typical Megadeth record: Mustaine’s trademark vocals, soaring six-string solos, and insistent drums,......

THURSDAY [22] music •Third Coast Festival Listening Room, hosted by David Brown (KUT) at Cactus Café (7pm) books •Melissa Kirsch presents The Girl's Guide to Absolutely Everything at BookPeople (7:00pm) music •The Charms, Gentlemen's Social Club, The Deadly Companions at Emo's music •Jack Rabid and the Slims, American Business Machines (Mass), Abby Birds, The Steed at Trophy's music •Weird Weeds, The Dead Science, The Parenthetical Science, Hello Lovers at The Mohawk film •Alejandro Jodorowsky's......

THURSDAY [8] film • Super Happy fun Monkey Bash 5 at Alamo Drafthouse Downtown film • Now That's What I Call a Singalong: Pop Royalty at Alamo Drafthouse Downtown film • Terror Thursday: The Beast Must Die at Alamo Drafthouse Downtown art • Opening Reception for "In My Stairwell" by Mark Seliger at Fielding Lecht Gallery (6-9pm) art • Artistic License: Matthew Day Jackson at The Blanton (6-7pm) art • Public Tour: The Geometry......

One of the films we're most excited about seeing at this year's South By Southwest Film Festival is Laura Dunn's The Unforeseen, a documentary look at the controversy surrounding Austin's real estate development and its impact on the Edwards Aquifer and on Barton Springs. Co-executive-produced by Terrence Malik and Robert Redford (who reportedly learned to swim at Barton Springs), the film explores the unseen relationships between our natural environment and our urge to destroy it.......

THURSDAY [1] party • Learning Secrets hosts Optimo's JD Twitch (Glasgow, UK) at Whisky Bar (10pm-2am, $5) art • Public Tour: The Geometry of Hope: Montevideo in the 1930s at The Blanton (7:00 - 8:00 PM) art • Curator's Tour: The Geometry of Hope at The Blanton (12:30-1pm) art • Texas Biennial Opening Reception at Dougherty Arts Center (7-10pm) art • Art Fix: Enjoy an introduction to Latin American wines with Seth Pollard, Central......

Interview conducted by Miguel Hinojosa on October 26, 2006 In my brief career as a journalist, I've dealt primarily with close friends, local musicians that I love and respect, and the conversations are candid and open. This I was rather nervous about. I interviewed Adem the afternoon of his show with Juana Molina at the Parish. He is definitely a man of great ideas and by far one of the nicest people I have......

In 1983, Martha Coolidge’s cult hit Valley Girl brought suburban L.A. slang (and Nicholas Cage) to mainstream America. 20 years later, L.A. video artist Michele O’Marah recreated Valley Girl with a cast of non-actors and sets made of construction paper; both as a loving paean to the original, and as a densely layered piece of cultural critique....

Recently, following the extraordinary back-to-back successes of Satanic Panic in the Attic and The Sunlandic Twins. Polyvinyl Records reissued three albums from Of Montreal's back catalog, off the now-defunct Kindercore label: The Bedside Drama: a Petite Tragedy, The Early Four Track Recordings, and The Bird Who Continues to Eat the Rabbit’s Flower. We had a phone chat with frontman Kevin Barnes a while back (admittedly, before SXSW), where we discussed the band's recent successes,......

We caught up with Independent gubernatorial candidate Kinky Friedman recently to discuss the upcoming election and why he wants primary voters to save themselves for him. As you would imagine, Kinky did most of the talking. We found him to be thoughtful, engaging and funny. What follows are highlights of that interview for which we used Kinky’s song titles as subject headers.* *The first reader to email us with the names of the three......

Sale information on wristbands for SXSW will be announced by the Austin Chronicle in this Thursday's issue -- we'll have it posted here as soon as we find out! Arab Strap - The Last Romance Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I Am Not Asylum Street Spankers - Pussycat: Bootleg Series V.2 Bela Fleck & the Flecktones - The Hidden Land Billy Bragg - Box Set V.1 Billy Bragg -......

The South by Southwest Film Festival recently released their complete lineup of this year's short films. All told, 130 - ranging from documentary and experimental to narrative shorts - are to be shown from March 10-18. We've gone through and selected a few that caught our attention (based solely on their descriptions): ANIMATED SHORTS A Painful Glimpse into my Writing Process (In Less than 60 Seconds) Dir: Chel White A darkly satirical tour de......

Trailer from the Bloc Party Documentary/Concert DVD, "God Bless Bloc Party" [mov] Be Your Own PET - "Let's Get Sandy" [ram] Richard Ashcroft - "Break The Night With Colour" [stream] Shelby - "The Golden Boy," created by Austin's Super!Alright! [view] Downloads [mp3] Cat Power - "The Greatest" [mp3] Clearlake - "I Hate That I Got What I Wanted [mp3] Clearlake - "No Kind Of Life [mp3] Film School - "Pitfalls" [mp3] Pansy Division -......

*The views expressed in Truesday are those of the author and do not represent Austinist as a whole.* -The Editors It always seemed to me that Austin’s entire social scene could be divided into two distinct groups, which I won’t bother to discreetly define or label here due to the pointlessness of it all. There are whole industries dedicated to that nonsense. What I will state is that age, sex, or education level do......

-The Washington Post's Terry M. Neal speculates on Miers' failed bid for the Supreme Court -The latest move in Google's quest to take over the internet: crushing eBay? -Janet Jackson has a secret kid! (Maybe) -2,000 international firms have been accused by the United Nations of paying off Saddam Hussein's regime -MSNBC explains the whole hubbub over the CIA leak story -Charles and Camilla, desperately trying to stay relevant -Another luxury condo's going up......

Tonight, Comedy Central will broadcast Stella for the first time. But for those of you who are big fans of The State, you've probably seen a video or two of Michael Showalter, David Wain and Michael Ian Black - the trio who comprise Stella - on the internet. We got our grubby hands on a promotional copy of the episode that will air this evening. Full disclosure: We've been looking forward to this premiere......