Austin (Texas)

Ipecac Records Toys Around with Their Bands

They've Put a Hex on Me

Saul Williams Brings Niggy Tardust to SF in March

Human Giant Hit SF for NoisePop

The Black Keys Play Free SF Weekly Party in Austin, Texas at SXSW: Just Announced

Track of the Day: The Strange Boys

Last week I got a great little platter of artfully sloppy garage pop from In the Red. It was the CD The Strange Boys...And Girls Club by a band that sounds to either be fronted by an eight year old or is rapidly aging backwards: Austin, Texas' the Strange Boys definitely live up to their name. They' ... More >>

Street Economics: Lopsided Moving Rates, Discarded Furnishings Portend San Francisco Jobs Exodus

Adventures in moving indeedBusiness boosters may talk about "green shoots" suggesting an economic recovery, but SF Weekly has been monitoring real-world indicators implying things are still bleak in San Francisco. Two informal economic indicators suggest the city is suffering a jobs exodus. First, c ... More >>

SF @ SXSW: Talking House Records' Texas Takeover

EKAphotographySee You in Austin: Bart Davenport If you're going to Austin, Texas' annual music festival SXSW, remember the date March 20. On that day, SF-based indie Talking House records is throwing what it calls a "14-hour rager" featuring "a ton of the Bay Area's most interesting bands" at the W ... More >>

Track of the Day: Hex Dispensers

Sometimes you can't help but love a cynic. Case in point: Austin, TX punks Hex Dispensers--who although they're very much alive, still crow about their imagined obit, sneering, "I can't believe that's what they said about me." The song is the group's latest single, "O-B-I-T," and it's a taste of the ... More >>

Revival Meeting

HighTone Records' Roadhouse Revival Tour

The Flying Nun

Former punker Alejandro Escovedo returns to the roots of rock

Rude Reels

Former punker Alejandro Escovedo returns to the roots of rock

Mexican bribes and high gas prices: The May Fire's tour diary

Former punker Alejandro Escovedo returns to the roots of rock

Going Off

Explosions in the Sky's illustrious groundswells

South to the Future

High School Students Sabotage Security Bar Codes

Hip Pocket

In Austin, Texas, it's a neck-and-neck race between art and commerce at South by Southwest

Get Your Bearings

Crabby asides from the South by Southwest Music Festival

Down by Law

Tom Waits raises dough for pal Don Hyde's defense

Samples

Tom Waits raises dough for pal Don Hyde's defense

Air Sex Competition Makes Us Want to Start an Air Abstinence Campaign

Air Sex is a novel and intriguing concept. "It's like air guitar, but sex," the Austin-based creators of a national touring Air Sex competition like to say, and with that explanation come the mental pictures of people idiotically humping, sucking, and rubbing up on air. It's practically ine ... More >>

The Nine Best Bar Foods in the U.S.

Photo by Rick via Flickr Creative CommonsBuffalo Wings​Bar food is designed to keep you thirsty as you toss 'em back. Fatty, often crunchy, and above all salty, bar food is so popular there's even a new L.A. gastropub simply called Bar Food. We've culled the nine best from across the country, from ... More >>

Art Installation Pays Tribute to the Corner Market

Okay MountainBut where's the rack with the titty mags?​Earlier this week, we called attention to Noe Valley SF's recent blog post on the subject of decrepit corner stores, a.k.a. "shitty little markets." This blogger once wrote a short piece for the late Onion A.V. Club about corner stores. "A ... More >>

More San Francisco Parties @ SXSW

The Fresh & Onlys on the night they kicked the cat outta the band​If you're headed down to Austin in March for the big music industry party SXSW, there are a bunch of locals hosting great acts throughout that week. We told you about our big bash on Friday, March 19 with Superchunk, the xx, the ... More >>

Noise Pop matches orchestras with pop acts and art with sound

The Fresh & Onlys on the night they kicked the cat outta the band​If you're headed down to Austin in March for the big music industry party SXSW, there are a bunch of locals hosting great acts throughout that week. We told you about our big bash on Friday, March 19 with Superchunk, the xx, the ... More >>

The Strange Boys write another rough masterpiece

The Fresh & Onlys on the night they kicked the cat outta the band​If you're headed down to Austin in March for the big music industry party SXSW, there are a bunch of locals hosting great acts throughout that week. We told you about our big bash on Friday, March 19 with Superchunk, the xx, the ... More >>

SXSW 2010 Showgoers' Guide to Bay Area Acts

The Fresh & Onlys on the night they kicked the cat outta the band​If you're headed down to Austin in March for the big music industry party SXSW, there are a bunch of locals hosting great acts throughout that week. We told you about our big bash on Friday, March 19 with Superchunk, the xx, the ... More >>

Plancast at SXSWi: Nothing Says Body Shots Like a Bar Full of Tech Reporters

Photo by Laughing Squid/ Scott Beale​ It's T minus 19 hours until the annual liquid re-union that is SXSW. While the more massive crowds show up for the music festival on the 17th, SXSW is also home to the world's biggest tech-fest, SXSWi, which runs from the 12th to the 16th.  That means a ... More >>

"SXSW Interactive is a Wrap!" Declares Larry Chiang

Ok, ok... Larry Chiang, Duck9.com founder and Business Week editor, didn't actually declare SXSWi a wrap last night, but this photo of him (taken at approximately 9 p.m. at #theParty on the roof of the Speakeasy) speaks louder than words. After a week of extreme networking, packed parties, many high ... More >>

SXSW Roundup: Thursday AM, RIP Alex Chilton

I spent most of SXSW's opening day en route (or, I should say, en airport....) but the big news on Wednesday wasn't about any specific show, but about a performer who would no longer be in Austin this week. It seems the sad news of Big Star frontman Alex Chilton's death spread fast here, not only ... More >>

SXSW Roundup Thursday PM Pt. 1: Didn't Meet Bill Murray

In Austin, you can research and schedule and make the right Twitter friends and you're still gonna miss something with every decision that you make. Case in point: on Thursday afternoon, realizing the last thing I put in my stomach came in a tall can, I left a random day party where GZA was performi ... More >>

SXSW Roundup Thursday PM Pt. 2: Surf City NZ

Levi's took over the east side of Austin for all of SXSW, creating a semi-private world of tight pants and tall beers, a denim labyrinth where the 45-minute line to grab a wristband was made slightly more entertaining by a DJ who loved Michael Jackson. Loved him so much he told the crowd repeatedly, ... More >>

SXSW Friday Morning Scorecard (So Far)

​Scorecard for SXSW w/ 2 Days Down, 2 Left To GoAwesome!*Sets by The Antlers, Real Estate, The Morning Benders, Surf City*Your first veggie dog with a can of Lone Star in the sunshine* Music "venues" in old museums, warehouses, and giant dead lawns, across the industrial side of Austin*Free ice cr ... More >>

Photo: But What About Our Motherfucking Uniques?

Photo by Ekai via Robert Scoble​ A remarkably vituperative sign in front of Austin's Beerland Bar, captured during SXSW by Ustream's Eddie Codel. How much do you want to bet the sign's creator has still got debt from some fancy J-School? Follow us on Twitter at @alexiat and @sfweekly.

SXSW 2010: The Rest of the Best (Best Coast, Broken Bells, Demolished Thoughts, More)

Best of SXSW: Saturday w/ Real Estate, Best Coast, Fool's Gold, Demolished Thoughts, Broken Bells, Dam-Funk, and Billy Murray Thinking back on SXSW's finale, I saw Real Estate more times than I probably should've (and that includes a Saturday day show). But that was in large part because the band's ... More >>

Track of the Day: Surf City, A Post-SXSW Favorite

Now that I'm back in San Francisco, thinking about just one band at a time, I plan on spending the week re-highlighting my favorite acts from the big SXSW weekend. I heard some truly awesome music that I'd hate to see buried in a deluge of Austin wrap-up posts. Surf City topped my list of new disc ... More >>

Who Were the Big SXSW Hits? Next Big Sound Has the Stats

One of the fun games to play while you're in Austin for SXSW is trying to figure out who's going to be the breakout act of the festival. Some years it's obvious--I remember seeing Peaches and At the Drive In in tiny rooms where word spread so fast it was almost like those acts got famous by the time ... More >>

One Band's SXSW: Ty Segall's Drummer Gives Us the Lowdown

Ty Segall's first of ten SXSW shows ​Editor's note: Emily Rose Epstein is a great music writer who also happens to be a great musician. She plays drums in Ty Segall's band--an act that had 10 officially-scheduled shows in Austin during SXSW last week. There's been a barrage of reports from critics ... More >>

Video of the Day: Sonny and the Sunsets Live on an Airplane

Sonny and the Sunsets - Heart of Sadness from Yours Truly on Vimeo. We're pretty damn excited about Sonny's Smith's "100 Records" project, where the jack-of-all-arts-trades created fictional bands and had real artists create the album covers (and real local acts help him record the songs). To get t ... More >>

Video of the Day: Bill Murray Serves Everyone Tequila at SXSW

This may look like an ordinary video of a man serving hipsters drinks, but make no mistake. This is a video of Bill Murray, one of the coolest, non-smilingist actors of our time, deciding to help out slinging booze while he was in Austin for SXSW. Originally posted on The Blemish (with the approp ... More >>

Lance Armstrong Denies Link to Doping-Tied Company -- Registered to Armstrong Address

Matt Smith illustrationDoping Investigation Gaining on Armstrong​Lance Armstrong today distanced himself from a federal doping fraud investigation by claiming he had no ties to the San Francisco company set up to own and manage the U.S. Postal Service Cycling Team, the New York Times reports.  ... More >>

Loud and Squealing

Matt Smith illustrationDoping Investigation Gaining on Armstrong​Lance Armstrong today distanced himself from a federal doping fraud investigation by claiming he had no ties to the San Francisco company set up to own and manage the U.S. Postal Service Cycling Team, the New York Times reports.  ... More >>

Wednesday's Pick: Woven Bones

​Woven BonesThe SandwitchesThe SplintersBottom of the Hill9 p.m., $10Austin, Texas, the Live Music Capital of the World, brings us - live music. Woven Bones is a garage rock trio, emphasis on rock. The band features brittle tempos that make you want to throw your head around, a bassline that's les ... More >>

Batter Blaster to Launch Bacon Pancakes In an Aerosol Can (PIC)

​ The folks behind onetime San Francisco-based Batter Blaster (they're in Austin, Tex., now), reduced the act of making pancakes to "Just point, blast, and cook!" They're currently in the process of rolling out a new product: the Hickory Smoked Bacon pancake in an aerosol can. This is either a sig ... More >>

Resistance Is Futile

​ The folks behind onetime San Francisco-based Batter Blaster (they're in Austin, Tex., now), reduced the act of making pancakes to "Just point, blast, and cook!" They're currently in the process of rolling out a new product: the Hickory Smoked Bacon pancake in an aerosol can. This is either a sig ... More >>

SXSW Music 2011: Hi Austin, Are You Sure This Isn't SXSF?

SF Weekly music editor Ian Port is in Austin this week covering the sun-glazed sound orgy that is South By Southwest. He will try to keep his reports free from from unnecessary personal details, talk of tacos, the phrase "killed it," and the eliciting of excessive jealousy. Please feel free to comme ... More >>

Download Three SXSF Mixtapes From The Bay Bridged

Yes, but do they have Rainbow Grocery?​Feeling bummed because you're not in Austin right now for SXSW? Buck up, young modern. As our fearless leader Ian S. Port has already discovered, you "pretty much can't spit in Austin" without hitting an act, or a festivalgoer, from San Francisco and environs ... More >>

Helpful Advice: How To Survive NOT Going To SXSW

This week, thousands of music lovers, wayward drunks, and music industry folk have descended upon Austin, Texas, for the 2011 South By Southwest music "conference" (yeah, right). If you're still here at home in the Bay Area, the reality that you're missing five days of non-stop free music/beer/b ... More >>

SXSW So Far: The Highlights and Lowlights of Two Days in Austin

The Dodos​Far more occurs in the maelstrom of South-By than bears retelling -- even in just two music-packed days. So in lieu of lengthiness, here's a drive-by roundup of the highlights and lowlights from our last two days in Austin. HighlightsSqueezing onto a tiny, cramped balcony at 1 a.m. ... More >>

The South-By Diet: How to Get Hipster-Skinny in Four Days on Barbecue and Beer

Flickr/ghewgillPizza: Still not a diet food, not even at SXSW.​Sure, you ostensibly came to SXSW to see live music. But pick your shows and your meals right, and the week of South-By can also make an amazing body-slimming opportunity. You might even graduate to a new leg-hugging level of skinny je ... More >>