Austin (Texas)

Sizzle & Fizzle: Highs and Lows from the Last Week in S.F. Music

Finding the Yay Area: Local Artists Pull a Few Surprises at South by Southwest

The Worst Moments from SXSW 2012

The last few days, Village Voice Media's indefatigable music staff has been regaling you with stories of the best from SXSW 2012. In the midst of these discoveries, we've been culling another list: the worst shit. The acts that ranged from huge bore-fests to downright lame. Below, you'll find our cr ... More >>

The Best of SXSW Music: Thursday 3/15/2012

If you're familiar with chaos theory, which in its basic form is the attempt to find patterns in the random acts of shit on Earth, then you may understand the difficulty that comes with describing a full day at SXSW. To break down the bright, scintillating chaos, Village Voice Media's roving music e ... More >>

How to Get Through SXSW Without Dying

​Yes, music lovers, it's that time of year once more where we pack our party shoes into our well-worn cases and fly off to Austin, Texas, for the South by Southwest music "conference." (Really, people? Conference? If everyone was being honest, this thing would be called South by So Wasted.) As any ... 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 >>

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 >>

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 >>

Resistance Is Futile

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 >>

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 >>

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 >>

Loud and Squealing

​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 >>

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 >>

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 >>

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 >>

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 >>

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 >>

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 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 >>

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 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 >>

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 2010 Showgoers' Guide to Bay Area Acts

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 >>

The Strange Boys write another rough masterpiece

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 >>

Noise Pop matches orchestras with pop acts and art with sound

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 >>

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 >>

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 >>

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 >>

Rude Reels

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 >>

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 >>

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: 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 >>

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

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 >>

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

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 >>

Human Giant Hit SF for NoisePop

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 >>

Saul Williams Brings Niggy Tardust to SF in March

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 >>

They've Put a Hex on Me

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 >>

Ipecac Records Toys Around with Their Bands

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 >>

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

The Flying Nun

Former punker Alejandro Escovedo returns to the roots of rock

Revival Meeting

HighTone Records' Roadhouse Revival Tour

Samples

HighTone Records' Roadhouse Revival Tour