On Wednesday night, Austin was treated to show #2 of Har Mar Superstar's February residency at Mohawk. Our photographer Pooneh Ghana was there to capture the fun. more ›

On Sunday night, two fresh New York exports brought a genre-bending showcase to Mohawk, courtesy of Gorilla vs. Bear. A sold out crowd packed in to the inside stage for Brooklyn-based newcomers Ava Luna, who combine doo-wop, gospel, rhythm and blues, and electro-pop with their melting pot sound. Think Dirty Projectors’ girl/guy harmonies and falsetto mixed with soul that stylistically fluctuates from '70s deep grooves to '90s diva - the sixtet’s eclectic compositions create a truly unique experience. more ›

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. more ›

Your intrepid photographer Ryan Pollack braved Warbeast's stomp, Every Time I Die's frenetic and kinetic riffs, and GWAR's omnipresent bodily fluids to bring you these photos. more ›

You know how most bands perform their songs a little faster in a live setting? With the adrenaline and alcohol flowing on stage, it follows that a band would unconsciously up the tempo. But Real Estate actually slow things down live, which is fitting: the band’s music is evocative of lazy suburban summers spent in their native New Jersey, with layers of chiming guitars and cyclical melodic fills ebbing and flowing like the tide. There’s a sense of goodwill and ease permeating everything they do, and that effortlessness was on display Wednesday night at The Parish. more ›

Tuesday night The Moody Theater hosted an epic performance - an evening with The Queen of Soul. The famous songstress drew a large, well-rounded audience for this classy, high profile event. Opening act The Blind Boys of Alabama set the mood for the evening with their Motown throwbacks and helped to create an appropriate lounge act atmosphere for the special occasion. more ›

A typical Monday night finds Emo's about half-full of people who have listened to the band slotted on that night’s bill, are friends of the band, or have simply popped in for a little background listening while drinking a beer or two. This past Monday was a typical night at Emo's, though one might be hard-pressed to find an Austinite who personally knows 22-year old Idahoan Trevor Powers, who records and performs under the name Youth Lagoon. more ›

Phantogram had the luck of the scene setting the stage, with a nearly full moon and a slight arctic influx perfectly synced to the band’s snowy shoe-gaze guitars and remote, beautiful beatscapes. Austinites duly overreacted to the temperature dip by busting out the exotic Russian hats, equal parts Philip Treacy and dead thing. Packed to capacity in Mohawk’s homey outdoor half shell, the anticipation had a cozy campfire intimacy. more ›

A perfectly clouded sound against an overcast sky, Asobi Seksu brought a sedated study in contrasts of harmony and noise, feedback and fuzzy slur to the stage. Yuki Chikudate’s sweet soaring voice cut through the shoegazed effects pedal symphony, preventing the energy on the date from dissipating into monochromatic gauze. more ›

Our five-part photo album of FFF Fest's formative years continues today with a look at 2008. Rocking Waterloo Park this year was Leftöver Crack, St. Vincent, Octopus Project, DOA, the Yuppie Pricks and Cro-Mags. Our photos again come from a troll through Steve Hopson's music photo archive. more ›

Towards the end of their set, Das Racist de facto frontman Heems casually unleashed his sole moment of unabashed, transparent, audience-addressing dialogue: “Alright guys, thank you for putting up with us.” more ›

Friday night ACL Live hosted the taping of Fleet Foxes for Austin City Limits' 37th season. With their band's sophomore album Helplessness Blues released earlier this year, a subsequent tour with The Walkmen, and an appearance at Austin City Limits last month, the Seattle-based sextet had the small crowd anxious for an intimate show. more ›

Day two with Chad Wadsworth - in this set you'll see a little Iron and Wine, a little Stevie, the boys from Chromeo, and maybe yourself. more ›

Our photographer Chad Wadsworth saw quite a bit of music this weekend. Maybe you and yours were out in the crowd during this verdant installment of ACL? more ›

Friday night the Handsome Furs played for a jam-packed, sweaty crowd at Mohawk. Throughout the show the Montreal-based husband/wife duo of Dan Boeckner (formerly of Wolf Parade) and Alexei Perry could not have demonstrated more enthusiasm for their fans and the livelihood they afford them. At their first non-SXSW performance, they blasted through new tracks showcasing their newest release, Sound Kapital, while pausing between songs to catch their breath, engage with the crowd, and steal kisses from one another. more ›

Saturday night's Theophilus London show at Lustre Pearl turned out to be quite an intimate affair - attendance looked to be around 200 fans at the non-traditional venue. With the back patio converted into a full blown production stage, complete with crane-operated HD cameras, lighting from Ilios, VIP areas, and plenty of elbow room, the crowd was in for a spectacular show. Noisey.com's kick off concert series, "Special Engagements", went big and it paid off. more ›

Gavin Rosedale and company showed up last night to sweat it out with a sold out crowd at Stubbs. The ladies were swooning and the dudes fist pumping as Bush powered through their '90s megahits as well as new tunes off of their upcoming album, The Sea of Memories. Austinist photographer Chad Wadsworth dropped some water weight in the photo pit to bring us these images. more ›

Before Joanna Newsom took to the stage with a five-piece band for her debut Austin City Limits Live performance on Monday night, producer Terry Lickona strolled out to quickly introduce the songstress. In his opening remarks, he told the audience that the number one quality for booking talent to play for the iconic show, now in its 37th season and first in its new digs at the Moody Theater, is "originality." Newsom plays the harp and has a squeaky voice that sounds like it's been stepped on. She carries herself with the wide-eyed, spiritually-attuned folksiness of a faerie. Her songs routinely top ten minutes in length and are knotty, meandering, obtuse constructions that rely on arcane instrumentation and are so lyrically dense and allusive that you'll need a lyric sheet to understand what's going on; they might better be described as "yarns." In 2011, she's an original, and she's also, for our money, one of the most rewarding musicians of the 21st century. Her performance on Monday was an exquisite demonstration of musicianship and narrative songwriting that few working musicians can match. more ›

Last night Widespread Panic - the little jam band from Athens, Georgia - rocked a full house at Austin's ACL Live at the Moody Theater. Working on their 25th anniversary tour, and leading up to a planned hiatus in 2012, John Bell and company once again pounded out WP's trademarked blend of Southern Rock and jammy solos. more ›

Our series continues with these shots of Night Birds and Toys That Kill. Much thanks to Dan. more ›

It’s been a few years since Beirut graced Austin with their dynamic, brass-fueled production. It’s obvious that time was spent fine-tuning, practicing, and crafting new material. Zach Condon and his five-piece band confidently took the stage at ACL Live Wednesday night for a truly beautiful presentation. In a town where indie acts pass through nightly, their Balkan-influenced songs take flight with billowing brass, lighthearted ukulele chords and an altogether soothing element of enchantment. more ›

Adam Norwood

Take a good look at this fucking owl, sitting brazenly on goddamn bike. You might think he's a jerk, but it turns out he was just a baby waiting for his mom to swoop down to that bike and take him back home. Austinite Adam Norwood spotted the owl and snapped a photo, then updated folks with news that the owl's mom had come down to rescue him, saying, " She kept him well fed, and this morning I spotted him hopping away towards a tree, so I think all's well in his world." FARK picked up the story and plenty of Impact Bold owl images have been created to support it, so basically we're starting a brand new LOL OWL craze right here in ATX. Jalopnik took the opportunity to equate the situation with the larger Austin experience, noting, "If you want a good summation of what it was like to live in Austin for four years, that's it. Mostly well-meaning people in weird situations who tend to solve their problems by doing nothing." more ›

Fleet Foxes are having something of a cultural moment right now. This show was sold out months before the release their second album, Helplessness Blues, which has garnered eye-popping reviews from just about everyone and placed them in that rarefied space wherein an indie band can chart on Billboard, have their album streamed by NPR*, and sell out major venues while still maintaining a level of hip cache and critical adulation. Animal Collective, Arcade Fire, Grizzly Bear and Vampire Weekend are among the other bands there. It doesn't hurt that there is nothing offensive whatsoever about Fleet Foxes: they're a young, attractive band with, for better or worse, a modest, folk-hippie style that matches their gorgeous and heartwarming folk-rock music; music that is obviously the result of oodles of talent meeting with painstaking craftsmanship. Something to be held up, admired, and appreciated. more ›

The second day of Psych Fest featured a full day of live music at the Seaholm Power Plant, and, like on Friday, we were there to watch it all go down. Pooneh Ghana, as per usual, took some great photos. more ›