The latest:
-
Sculpting Got You Down? An Interview with Twin Sister's Andrea Estella
This interview was contributed by Ruth Griffin.
It’s pretty easy to resent a band that puts out an EP before ever performing live together. However, Twin Sister has proven themselves to be worthy of nothing but adoration. Buzz from their first release Vampires with Dreaming Kids, and their following EP Color Your Life has brought them to the forefront of the underground music world, stunning us with their debut LP In Heaven. Employing styles from disco to dream-pop, these guys seemingly transcend genre specification, dazing audiences with their eccentric live performances and the charmingly serene voice of lead singer/keyboardist Andrea Estella. Embarking on their ambitious North American tour, the band plans on making a stop at one of Austin’s finest music venues, Mohawk, this Sunday. In spite of their jam-packed schedule, the Austinist was able to grab a few minutes with the lovely Andrea herself. Get ready to discover the secrets behind her eclectic style and lyrics as well as her ventures into the world of sculpture and paper maché!
-
Food + Drink: H-E-B Opens "Mi Tienda" Concept Grocery in North Austin
When H-E-B set out to renovate their North Lamar Boulevard and Rundberg Lane store, they assessed the demographics of the area and decided it was the perfect spot to bring their Hispanic-influenced Mi Tienda concept (“my store” in Spanish) to Austin.
-
Show Preview: The Beauty Ballroom Grand Opening Weekend With Theophilus London and This Ambitious Orchestra
Austin’s musical landscape never gets stagnant. There’s always evolution, constant change going on. One of the most recent developments is in the creation of what’s shaping up to resemble a mini-Red River on East Riverside. Emo’s East opened in the area last year, and now Beauty Bar’s new brand expansion The Beauty Ballroom has landed in the hood. The Beauty Ballroom is having their Grand Opening weekend Friday and Saturday and the new venue setting its sights on larger touring acts while aiming to stay true to the Beauty Bar vibe is kicking it off with a beat and a bang.
-
A Day-Long Celebration for Esme at Beerland [Show Preview]
Last night's news that the APD has identified the prime suspect in the New Year's Eve attacks - and, apparently, several earlier assaults - provides a bit of emotional respite in anticipation of perhaps the biggest benefit show yet staged for Esme Barrera. The Statesman reports James Loren Brown, 25, was found dead in his North Campus home on January 12th. He has subsequently been linked by DNA evidence to a string of attacks last summer and is the prime suspect in the New Year's attacks, including the murder of Barrera. The police describe him as a "serial predator."
-
Oh Snap! Festival at the Parish & Beale St. Tavern [Festival Preview]
Started in 2009 by fellow classmates to honor the memory of Sergio Machado, a Southwestern University graduate and musician who was killed by a drunk driver in his home country of Mozambique, the Oh Snap! Festival has quickly evolved into one of the biggest showcases for local talent the city has to offer. All proceeds from the festival will go towards Southwestern's Sergio Machado Memorial Scholarship, which helps bring international students to Southwestern.
-
The '90s, Austin Style: K-NACK Reunion With Sixteen Deluxe [Show Preview]
You’ve heard it all before: an Austin band puts out a stellar debut, garners a bunch of national press, signs a major label deal, then slowly fades from the spotlight. That first act story plays out a few times per decade, and as F. Scott Fitzgerald once said, “There are no second acts in American lives.” Obviously, Fitzgerald hadn’t heard of Sixteen Deluxe. Tonight at the ND, the once-forgotten local act is joining forces with once-forgotten radio station K-NACK 107.7 FM to celebrate the ‘90s, Austin style.
-
Get a Job, Then Celebrate at SXSWi This Year
Though getting a job at the interactive festival used to involve a little luck and more legwork than it was often worth (sort of like being a Private Eye at the circus), the grooming and handshakes can now be saved for the first ever Tech Career Expo at SXSW. The official expo will be held at Austin Music Hall on March 9th and 10th and will be available to the 20,000 plus attendees as well as any locals who won't be throwing down for a badge this year, but are looking for work nonetheless. Engage Digital, who is putting on the event (they also do the excellent GDC) has confirmed 24 companies have joined so far and expect 10 to 20 more by the curtain. There's a boatload of jobs on their already (that's MR. Data Scientist to you) and only two companies have posted so far.
-
Indie Picks: At The Movies This Weekend
This weekend's lone new release hits town with three Oscar nominations under its belt as Glenn Close stars as the title character in Albert Nobbs (Roadside Attractions).
-
Gallery
The Kills and JEFF The Brotherhood @ Stubbs [Snapshots]
Like we mentioned to you, The Kills are on tour celebrating their tenth year as a band. Chad Wadsworth caught the band along with openers JEFF the Brotherhood during their performance at Stubb's.
-
Food + Drink: Hillside Farmacy to Open on East 11th this March
East Side Show Room Chef and Owner Sonya Cote’s hotly anticipated new specialty grocery and eatery Hillside Farmacy is expected to open its doors just in time for the annual invasion.
For Cote, the farm to table movement is not just the latest culinary craze; it’s at the very core of her as a chef.
-
“Serial Predator” Linked To New Years Attacks, Barrera Murder is Dead
On January 12th, the APD investigated a deceased persons call at the 3000 block of Guadalupe. James Loren Brown was found dead by his roommate after coming back from the holidays, and APD linked the composite sketch of the Barerra suspect with Brown while also taking into account the proximity of Brown's residence and the attacks that took place on New Year's. FOX is reporting that DNA taken from a New Year's Day attack matched Brown's, and that it also matches four other unsolved cases. No word on whether DNA has been matched to Esme Barrera's case, though police are confirming Brown is the prime suspect in her case as well. Brown was considered a suspect in attacks in "South Austin early July 1, on joggers on July 8, and an attack on Sept. 11 around 8:30 a.m. at Comal and Haskell streets in East Austin," according to the Statesman.
-
UT Math Professor Luis Caffarelli Wins Wolf Prize For Something That Has To Be Explained To Us
The Buenos Aires-born Luis Caffarelli, a math professor at UT, will share this year's Wolf Prize in mathematics with Michael Aschbacher. Caffarelli's work includes "nonlinear analysis, partial differential equations and their applications, calculus of variations and optimization."
-
Black Eyed Vermillion, Whiskey Dick, Zero Skills [Show Preview]
If you like punk in your twang and getting into shows for free, Lovejoy’s is serving up a mean cocktail tonight as Black Eyed Vermillion growls their way through the taproom. WhiskeyDick sets the stage with more straightforward southern rock that steadies its drunken swagger on the shoulders of classic country music. Austin cow punks Zero Skills pull the cork on tonight’s gig as they take a ranch hand’s buzz saw to the gnarled roots of country rock.
Note: we reported both on Vermillion and WhiskeyDick at a KAOS radio event three years ago.
-
Is The Fleshlight an Austin Entrepreneurial Success Story? [NSFW, OBVS]
Understandably, the majority of press releases from the Austin-based "number one selling male sex toy company" Fleshlight end up in our spam filter, but the recent creation of a "Flight" model, paired with the fact that the locals swept the "AVN Awards for Best Sex Toy Company" - subcategory "Large" - and "Best Sex Toy for Men" (for their "Blade") means that this company is at the very least newsworthy, if still understandably not a part of dinner conversations in most kitchens. However, given that the company sold 4 million models of the Fleshlight, there's more than an above-average chance of said project taking up residence in a lot of bedrooms.
-
Austin's Modern Home Tour: Visually Stunning And Remarkably Clever
Saturday, February 4th, the Austin Modern Home Tour is celebrating its fifth anniversary in style. Join the tour to peep an impressive variety of sustainable solutions Austin architects have incorporated into their spaces that “foster progressive, yet responsible design.” Meet homes with vanishing edge pools, electric car charge hook ups, private outdoor showers, and even a floating living roof.
-
Rick Perry is #1! (at killing people...)
Just one week after suspending his campaign, Perry is about to oversee his 239th execution, making him the number one governor for executions ever. Well, at least he's number one at something.
-
Arts & Drafts: Champion + Circle Brewing Company
Art and draft will meet tonight at Champion for the exhibition opening of Daniel Heidkamp’s Glow Drops At The Chill Spot and Jacques Louis Vidal’s Free Range Sculpture. In addition, Circle Brewing Company will be releasing their latest seasonal beer, a winter amber called Nameless, at the opening reception.
-
That Radiohead ACL TV Taping is On March 6th
Image From Nasty Little Man
PBS has announced that the Radiohead show we've all been waiting for (aside from this one) will take place on March 6th at ACL Live. Want to win tickets? They're giving away a pair for one lucky so and so who signs up for their newsletter, plus they're promising more on Twitter and Facebook.
-
Moontower Comedy and Oddity Festival Announced For April 25th - 28th
Austin is finally hosting its first another really big all-comedy festival with the just-announced Moontower. Taking place on April 25th, the event has 24 featured comedians announced so far, including headliners Seth Meyers, Aziz Ansari and Steven Wright. The event will be spread out at multiple venues, including sponsor The Paramount, Cap City Comedy Club, landing somewhere around twelve venues to host the 60+ comedians expected to hit town for the festival.
-
Trip the Mexican Fantastic—Tonight at Book People, 7 p.m.
Tonight the Mexican writers Bernardo Fernandez (aka Bef) of Mexico City and Pepe Rojo of Tijuana will be reading at Book People to celebrate the publication of Three Messages and a Warning: Contemporary Mexican Short Stories of the Fantastic, a new anthology of Mexican fiction in translation co-edited by Chris N. Brown of Austin and Eduardo Jiménez Mayo of San Antonio. Bef is a novelist and comics auteur whose latest novel, the narco thriller...
