Cover Story
Sixth Street Showdown
Downtown is growing, and with that growth come rising tensions between police, partiers, and activists
Robert Morrow: The Ads
We thought we recognized that name …
Getting Around Austin: SXSW Edition
Alternatives to driving your car (because that’s a terrible idea)
Tear Dungeon: Black Rubber & Blood
Sweet Spirit and A Giant Dog’s abrasive metal abomination
Live Fire!, Farm to Plate Debut Lineups
Daily Austin food news
HB 2 Oral Arguments
Justices press both sides of Texas abortion law
Behind the Obama Bookings
SXSW Director Roland Swenson on the conference’s biggest get ever
Muse for the Ages: Loreena McKennitt
Canadian chanteuse warms to vinyl and Texas
Obamas for SXSW
POTUS, FLOTUS announced as keynotes for Interactive, Music
Super Tuesday in Travis County
Live coverage of the primary election
Early Voting Low, Election Day Energized
Crunching some numbers in Travis County elections
DVDanger: The Sheik
The world broke his back. He made it humble.
Aging Gracefully with Slug
MC matures ahead of Friday’s sold-out Atmosphere show
Deconstructing ISIS
UT professors discuss the rise of the Islamic state
Election Website Down
Travis County Elections suggests alternate websites
Supreme Court to Hear Texas Abortion Case This Week
HB 2 oral arguments start Wednesday
Austin Music Legends Honored at AMAs
Susan Antone will receive the first-ever Margaret Moser Award
Argus Cidery Open Weekends, Bribery Open Nights
Daily Austin food news
Swallow Some Otis the Destroyer
Fuzz rockers tease new Belushi EP
News Roundup: Campaigns, Courts, and Campus Carry
Democratic socialism comes to Austin
Mayor Presents Creative Stimulus Policy
Addressing music and arts survival in this “affordability crisis”
Council: Rosewood Moves Forward
Nondiscrimination ordinance stalls
I Like to Watch
The Oscars may be so white, but TV is all Grey’s
The Townsend Debuts Candidate Cocktails
Vote with your liver
SXSW List No. 9
Number nine (Wale), number nine (Miike Snow), number nine (Peaches)
DVDanger: Children Shouldn’t Play With Dead Things
Star Alan Ormsby on the counterculture zombie classic
Only Yesterday
Animated Japanese film about a woman reflecting on her childhood
Son of Saul
Hungarian Oscar entry finds original way to present a Holocaust drama
Risen
A Roman soldier is sent to track a rumor about the Christ’s resurrection
Busco Novio Para Mi Mujer
Mexican romantic comedy fails to seduce
Triple 9
Grimy policier is an electrifying muddle with killer cast
Hitchcock/Truffaut
Go behind the groundbreaking book of interviews; a must for cinephiles
Neerja
Indian drama about the heroic flight attendant on a hijacked plane
Women of Mystery
With this debut, Melissa Lenhardt delivers a punchy page-turner with a real feel for life in small-town Texas
Texas Platters
Buhu’s live video EP, 2014’s 4-track Cinemat, embodied spontaneity through nonstudio settings: in trees, while getting a tattoo, in a food truck. Debut LP Relationshapes hasn’t surrendered any of that freewheeling ethos under the production of Brad Bell (Arcade Fire, Spoon) and mixing and mastering from Jeff Lipton (LCD Soundsystem). All parties cohere on the…
The End of STR 2s?
STR 2s may be on the verge of extinction here in Austin. During Tuesday’s work session, Council voted 9-2 to approve a set of regulations for Type 2 short-term rentals (STRs) – non-owner-occupied rental homes – after lengthy debate. Council Members Ellen Troxclair and Don Zimmerman voted against the long-awaited measure, which most notably phases…
Women of Mystery
Melissa Ginsburg’s Houston-set debut is a steamy potboiler and a perfect detective novel for millennials
Texas Platters
Feedback wails, polyrhythmic pounding, and distorted chords compose the basic building blocks of Boss Eye’s fractured trash rock. Add creepy synth stabs and vocals harmonized like cats yowling, and it’s a party. These brief blasts of barely structured noise by members of the Crack Pipes, Attack Formation, Total Sound Group Direct Action Committee, and other…
Section 8 Renters File Suit
Residents say ongoing construction made it impossible for disabled tenants to live safely
Women of Mystery
Murder, She Read: What Hooked Us on Women of Mystery You can always rely on Nancy Drew. Whether you are reading her original 1930s adventures or contemporary comic books, you get certain guarantees: strawberry-blond hair, two odd-couple best friends, a baby blue Mustang convertible, a varsity boyfriend who will always help you get out of…
Texas Platters
Progressive rock in the grand UK tradition, Absorbed by the Forest introduces Austin to its Peruvian Montoya brothers. Hallucinant Telepherique gets it right on its debut platter. Dominated by multi-instrumentalist Sergio, the duo emphasizes songcraft over flashy technique. “Pishtaku” and “The Main Hall” let analog synthesizers and tuneful guitar figures drive the sweeping arrangements forward…
Campus Carry: Everybody’s Unhappy
UT president announces his recommendations for implementing guns on campus
Gay Place
In the world of queer lady party-throwing, two years feels like a victory
Deconstructing Sonic Borders
The 13th annual No Idea Festival explores everything from phenological sound art to avant jazz and microtonal composition
Election Notes
Election day is almost here!
Better Living Through Chemistry
Science and craft combine at SPUN Ice Cream
Musical Personae
Tim Barnes: Percussionist, sound designer, and Jeph Jerman collaborator from Louisville, Ky. Alex Bruck: Multi-instrumentalist and curator of the TonalÁtonal series in Mexico City. Chris Cogburn: See intro. David Dove: Composer, trombonist, and teacher from Houston. Sandy Ewen: Experimental guitarist and architect based in Houston. Ingebrigt Håker Flaten: Prolific Norwegian double bassist now residing in…
The Hightower Report
Should big corporations have to pay the taxes they owe?
The Luv Doc: Always High
Who doesn’t love sodomy?
Playback: Spotify Gifts Kealing Middle School
After the SXSW carnival leaves town, Kealing Middle School will have something to show for it – thanks to Spotify
Point Austin: Primary Thoughts
For your consideration as you enter the voting booth
Mr. Smarty Pants Knows
According to SwiftKey, Russians use more “romantic” emoticons than other nationalities. Brazilians use twice the number of religious emojis. The @ sign is called “klammeraffe” in Germany and Austria, which translates to “spider monkey.” Dutch speakers in the Netherlands and Belgium call it “little monkey tail.” The Romanian word for @ is also “monkey tail,”…
Public Notice: Farewell to STRADUTNC
With a decision made on STRs, perhaps we can move on to other things?
East Texas Noir
Joe R. Lansdale’s Hap and Leonard get a swampy series
Satchel Paige and the Kansas City Swing
The script for this baseball play is a bit wobbly, but Austin Playhouse fields a strong production for the win
Headlines
City Council meets today, Feb. 25, with an agenda somewhat lightened by using Tuesday’s work session to wrestle with short-term rental regs and a number of briefings. Among other things, they’ll take up gender discrimination in city employment, and a renewed proposal to designate Rosewood Courts for historical preservation. See “Council: Not Just STRs,” Feb.…
Nature’s Treasures or Trail Mix
Banff Mountain Film Festival descends on the Paramount
“Mark Mothersbaugh: Myopia” at the Contemporary Austin
The solo exhibition celebrates Devo but also the artist’s sound-machine sculptures and high- and low-tech illustrations
Quote of the Week
“It’s always our prerogative as council members to seek out information from both sides. In fact, that’s our job. … The idea that we’re being brainwashed when we’re up here listening to staff is not fair.” – Council Member Delia Garza, responding to CM Don Zimmerman’s accusation that staff fails to present “alternate points of…
Review: Central Standard
South Congress bar and grill is pleasingly out of time
Day Trips: Pontotoc
Former Old West ghost town becomes scenic wine destination
The Take-Out
What Austin dining can learn from San Antonio
Hornography
Judging the Situation On Friday, a judge of the Oldham District Court (Louisville, Ky.) will hear arguments on Jonathan Blue’s motion to oblige Charlie Strong – former University of Louisville head coach – to testify in Blue’s divorce suit against his estranged wife. Blue, a Louisville trustee and businessman, claims to require Strong’s testimony –…
A White-Knuckle Western
Co-directors Duane Graves and Justin Meeks aim to Kill or Be Killed
Soccer Watch
For masochists only: The FIFA presidential election is this Friday, where a successor to Sepp Blatter will be chosen. Fox Sports will televise the proceedings live, starting at 5am. The U.S. Women cemented their spot in this summer’s Brazil Olympics last week, finishing the qualifying tournament without allowing a goal in five games, capped by…
Women of Mystery
Investigating the latest “persons of interest” in Texas’ literary crime scene
Texas Platters
Following the path beaten by 2013’s critically acclaimed Unknown, Bill Carter veers a bit further from the blues he’s been associated with since Stevie Ray Vaughan covered his cowrites “Willie the Wimp” and “Crossfire” in the Eighties. At 65, the Austinite since 1976 now enters an American heartland closely associated with Joe Ely and Bruce…
Minerva Koenig on South of Nowhere
Minerva Koenig wanted her mystery series to show how someone becomes a sleuth
Texas Platters
What at first glance appears to be the Gary Graves Kama Sutra – its cover depicting a ménage à trois picnic – more accurately offers the Buddhist folksinger’s meditations on love in its varied forms. “The Lost Lay” envisions sensual perfection, “When I Was a Soldier” portrays romance as war, and “Andy Fisher” (as in…
Page Two: May the Circle Be Unbroken
The sensibility of this column, paper, and writer can be traced to originating in a number of distinct places. Some, though geographical specific, occurred at a place but over a period of time, proving more long range incubators of what was to come eventually. There was Ed Lowry’s and my house on Hollywood, the Daily…
Women of Mystery
Attica Locke’s stylish novel proves she knows how to craft a fiendishly intricate detective story
Texas Platters
Terri Hendrix opens her ninth studio effort with a determined statement of purpose, the Celtic roots rhythms of “Feel the Time” demanding a carpe diem intention. That impulse runs across the LP, which serves as the first in the San Marcos songwriter’s ambitious “Project 5” series of four planned albums and an autobiography over the…
Council: Not Just STRs
Restore Rundberg, nondiscrimination also on the menu
Women of Mystery
Lisa Sandlin’s gem of a noir set in 1970s Beaumont is atmospheric, by turns amusing and harrowing, and surprisingly compassionate
Texas Platters
Mangham “Monk” Parker spent three years crafting his delicately haunting solo debut, recording with over 30 musicians on the family farm outside of Austin after returning from New York and the breakup of the Low Lows. The sound he extracts plies the harrowing depths distinguishing his earlier work, especially the often brutal unwinding of Parker…
Kitchen Recall Petitions Submitted
Vote likely to take place in November
