Austin (Texas)

The Making of Mikal Cronin: How a Shy Kid from Laguna Beach Became the Best Pop Songwriter in San Francisco

San Jose Rapper Antwon Breaks Through a Hellish Set at SXSW

Antwon Holy Mountain // SXSW Wednesday, March 13, 2013 At midnight in Austin, Antwon is onstage performing his third show of the day -- and it is not going well. The microphone in the hands of one of the Bay Area's most promising new rappers is crackling and cutting out intermittently. The sound g ... More >>

Triathlon Deaths: By the Numbers

Hi-Lo BBQ: San Francisco Gets Its Own Barbecue

Green Day Needs to Stop Releasing So Many Things at the Same Time

Hold onto your skinny jeans, everybody, because Green Day has not one, but two movies showing at this year's SXSW film festival in Austin next month. One is titled Broadway Idiot (a documentary about Billie Joe Armstrong's work on the American Idiot musical) and the other is called ¡Cuatro! (a docu ... More >>

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

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

Yeah Yeah Yeahs, James Murphy, The Antlers, Squarepusher, More to Play Free at Fort Mason

While the music industry gathers in Austin for SXSW, San Francisco will get a two-day confab of art and music, courtesy of Vice and Intel's Creator's Project. On March 17 and 18, the project is taking over Fort Mason, bringing live performances from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Squarepusher, the Antlers, Ja ... More >>

Miracle Faker: Rick Perry's Texas Teaches America the Wrong Lessons

San Francycle: Your Bike to the Future

​Oh, sure, you may think that the fantasies of municipal infrastructure bureaucrats are boring. But allow us to shatter your misconceptions with just five words: Two-Stage Turn Queue Boxes. National Association of City Transportation Officials is a sort of national clearinghouse for transportat ... More >>

U.S.A. Gets Silver in Cocktail Olympics

42BelowTeam Italy's Luca Sai, Alexander Frezzai, and Daniele Dalla Pola went all Cirque de Soleil clowny.​Team U.S.A.'s run at the 42Below Cocktail World Cup ended with a second place showing Sunday, netting a final score that was a mere half-percentage point shy of the winning Italian team. ... More >>

Easy Fame in the Pitchfork Era: Be Young, Find a Trend, Get a Drum Machine

Dirty Beaches: This could be you!​Did you want to play at SXSW, but perhaps felt you weren't ready? Are you comfortable with stylish gloss instead of creative substance? Do you know how to work a drum machine?Well, good news kids: You don't need to work much at making music anymore -- at ... More >>

Lil B Went to SXSW and Made This Video

When it comes to public opinion, Lil B is working to legitimize himself in 2011. He's doing things like cutting a single with 9th Wonder, Jean Grae, and Phonte. Or peforming at the MTVU Woodie awards. Or being one of XXL's Freshmen class for 2011. But I miss the not-so-distant days of his hastily as ... More >>

'Fuck Zoe Deschanel': 10 Great Quotes From SXSW 2011

Jim Jones wants those fucking transistors out of his amplifier.​ No surprise that SXSW -- a four-day confab of cool kids, corporate sleaze, would-be famous people, and free booze -- leads to some pretty outrageous jaw-flapping. Here, 10 of the most memorable quotes we heard at SXSW this year."I im ... More >>

S.F. at SXSW: Six Bay Area Artists to See in Austin

In Print: Roach Gigz's Big-Ring Ambition, the Sway Machinery's African Adventure, and More

Roach Gigz​Roach Gigz: In 2008, the San-Francisco-born rapper Roach Gigz visited New York City. He went out to Southside Jamaica, Queens, the area 50 Cent and his G-Unit crew mythologized in rhyme. He visited Harlem, where he bought two small pet turtles for $10. And he fueled his trip by wolfing ... More >>

Our SXSW Party: Wu-Tang Clan, Erykah Badu, Wild Flag, and More

​And so we join the SXSW deluge: Village Voice Media, the parent company of SF Weekly, yesterday announced the details of our annual SXSW party: We'll deign to spare you any unfortunate lyrical references to the Wu-Tang Clan but it is headlining. Other eyebrow-poppers you'll want to check out ... More >>

Resistance Is Futile

Return to Sender

How Would Immigration Reform Look if the Feds Got Off Their Duffs?

Paul Rudd on "Dinner for Schmucks" and playing himself

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 >>

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 >>

Intelligent People are Never Bored

​ This is our favorite slice of SXSWi thus far. Well, what would Don Draper do at Texas' premier tech conference? Most likely he'd spend four days in Austin, pay nothing for food and drink, and end up sated and sauced every night. So next time you feel like whining because you didn't make the V ... 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 >>

Lazer Sword Releases New Split EP

​Lazer Sword, the DJ/producer duo that was once based in our fine city, is now an East and West Coast outfit split between San Francisco and New York. The group's two members, Lando Kal and Low Limit , take things to the international level with the release of a split EP on Glasgow's Numbers label ... More >>

The Driskill Hotel Yell: "Get Off My Lawn!!!"

Shannon CottrellMaya Baratz and Alexia Tsotsis at The Driskill​There comes a time during every party hopping night when you want to stop hopping, but keep your juices flowing along with the champagne and wine. The unofficial designated venue for this practice last night was Austin's historic hotel ... More >>

The xx Get CHLLNGR's Dubstep Treatment

CHLLNGR is an "Island"​By now the xx's hit track "Islands" is inescapable. You've heard it once, you've heard it a billion times. But there's a reason the song's become such a hit--its cool seduction tactics partner pop subtlety with lyrics about desire taking over. CHLLNGR's Steve Borth (a forme ... 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 >>

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 >>

Last Night: The Strange Boys at the Hemlock

The Strange BoysThursday, July 2, 2009The HemlockBetter than: Fireworks.The Strange Boys' ringleader, Ryan Sambol, has the girth of a stray dog and the voice of an alley cat. Last night he was a scrawny scrap of musician tucked under a white two gallon cowboy hat, and his gaze was cockeyed: of his ... More >>

El Mundo de Mando: The Great Taco-Burrito Smackdown

Mando Rayo: Which one roolz?Austin, Tex., taco blogger Mando Rayo (aka El Mundo de Mando of TacoJournalism) is in Cali this week, getting his first-ever taste of Bay Area-style flavor. We've asked him for a blog-by-blog account of his findings in the MIssion and beyond. Got a tip for Mando? Leave a ... More >>

'Air Sex' Championships Headed for San Francisco

Well, it had to happen sooner or later. Preceding next month's Air Guitar Championships at San Francisco's Independent will be the "Air Sex" showdown -- meaning all we need are some folks pantomiming the shooting up of heroin or toking a bong and we'll have Air Sex, Drugs, and Rock 'n' Roll. What, ... 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 >>

Friday Photos: Pre-Best Buck in the Bay Rodeo Party

Xiu Xiu To Release "New Women as Lovers Double LP" and 2008 Tour

Dead Meadow Announce Tour Dates and New Album

Ship of Fools

Song Bird

Through beguiling contrasts and magical moments, Jolie Holland has emerged with a singular, elusive sound

Ugly Duckling

Sandra Bullock fires off another Miss

Letters to the Editor

Week of Wednesday, August 11, 2004

Law and Borders

Prosecutors, judges, governors, a sex offender, and a woman with a penchant for poor judgement entangle California and Texas in an epic child custody war with two sure losers -- aged 7 and 9.

Letters to the Editor

Letters from April 4, 2001

Tom Waits' Variations

Forever cryptic, a musical drifter finds solace in Liberace, Rodney Dangerfield, and one-armed pianists

Music.competition

With MP3s under attack and major labels designing new standards, three Bay Area firms try to corner the market on online music

Night + Day

Samples

Down by Law

Tom Waits raises dough for pal Don Hyde's defense

The Stick-Up Artist

Man's Ruin: The Posters and Art of Frank Kozik