Review: A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder
Tony-winning musical serves pure stage magic & killer hilarity
Austin Bombings Suspect Dead
Suspect blew himself up early Wednesday as officers closed in
SXSW Film Review: Upgrade
Cyberpunk action thriller has a few hidden features
Bill Murray Plays It Straight – Mostly
Still, you can’t keep Peter Venkman down
The Blackheart Announces April Closing
Rainey Street’s live music headquarters loses lease
SXSW Film Review: Rush Hour
The time we lose in traffic, on a global scale
SXSW Film Review: American Animals
A docudrama as audacious as the heist it re-creates
SXSW Film Review: Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
Mister Rogers documentary reminds us of the bravery of kindness
SXSW Panel Recap: Does Satire Still Matter? Eh, Sure
The Onion writers question what’s left to mock
Bomb in Southwest Austin Is Fourth in Past Two Weeks
Two in hospital with non-life-threatening injuries
Arrest Made in Fair Market Bomb Threat
Police say Trevor Ingram made Saturday threat to Live Nation
SXSW Announces Gaming Awards Winners
From Nintendo blockbusters to local faves
Bomb Threat Cancels Roots Show at Fair Market
Annual jam shuttered while APD investigates venue
SXSW Panel Recap: Dungeons & Dragons in the Writer’s Room
Is playing role-playing games the best training for writers? Maybe.
SXSW Film Review: Eighth Grade
Instagram and FOMO dominate this teen’s inner life
SXSW TV Review: Krypton
First look at the Superman without Superman show
SXSW Music Review: Keith Urban
Country superstar’s “Wasted Time”
SXSW Music Review: A Tribute to Blaze Foley
Ethan Hawke’s film spotlights ATX Eighties grit
SXSW Film Review: Prospect
Classic gold fever drama heads to space
SXSW Announces Audience Awards
First Match, All Square lead narratives
SXSW Music Review: The Veldt
Afro-shoegaze pioneers re-emerge for their close-up
SXSW Panel Recap: From CBGB to the World – A Downtown Diaspora
“Mushrooms grow in the dark”
Package Bombings: More Questions Than Answers
Rumors and research after an uneasy week
SXSW Music Review: Mozart La Para
“Viva Latinos!”
SXSW Music Review: KUTX – The Breaks
The state of local hip-hop
SXSW Music Review: Clash + Vero Showcase
Star-studded rap stack croons, swaggers, and hooks
SXSW Music Review: Thank You for Sweating
DJ booth elevates international house and techno
SXSW Music Review: Cifika
SZA B-sides with a dash of Sugarcubes
SXSW Music Review: Hatchie
Harriette Pilbeam’s Aussie newcomers refresh shoegaze
SXSW Music Review: Soccer Mommy
The epitome of cool
SXSW Music Review: Abhi the Nomad
Third-culture kid sweats up some Childish Gambino
Weekend Wine
Great wines from Spain, Italy, France, Corsica, and … Texas?
In Memoriam: Draylen Mason
Remembering the gifted young bassist who lost his life
SXSW Panel Recap: Immerse Yourself: AR & VR in Museums and the Arts
An odd juxtaposition of VR experience and expert panel
SXSW Music Review: Willie Nelson’s Luck Reunion
Outside the Downtown fray the Americana fest didn’t disappoint
SXSW Music Review: Idles
The youngest, angriest, motorik-punk band on the planet
SXSW Panel Recap: Why Music Journalism Matters in the Streaming Era
Music critics and curators make their case
SXSW Music Review: Soweto Kinch
UK saxist proves the absence of a band a piece of cake
SXSW Music Review: Khalid
Texan chart-topper champions youth in VR and IRL
SXSW Music Review: China Night
The Fest’s global presence extends to attendees too
SXSW Panel Encore: U-God’s Journey Into the Wu-Tang
What becomes of Wu-Tang’s Once Upon a Time in Shaolin?
SXSW Panel Recap: Sexual Misconduct in the Music Industry
The many dimensions of bringing #MeToo to music
SXSW Panel Recap: Linda Perry & Kerry Brown
Indie label ethos from two major hitmakers
SXSW Music Review: Roi Perez, Monoloc
German boom per square foot
SXSW Music Review: Princess Nokia
Breakout rapper reps an entire matriarchy
SXSW Music Review: #ICMLadiesNight
Rapid-fire rap, R&B, and soul stacking
The Strangers: Prey at Night
Home invasion classic becomes a franchise.
Gringo
Long-delayed stoner comedy is a little stale.
Love, Simon
Coming-out story remembers the romance.
The Death of Stalin
Russia’s political upheaval rewritten as dark farce.
Souvenir
Isabelle Huppert as a musician reconsidering celebrity.
I Can Only Imagine
MercyMe’s hit song gets its own biopic.
7 Days in Entebbe
The 1976 hijacking of Air France Flight 139, retold again.
Seen / Soon: March 16
Getting virtually swept away by A Colossal Wave! and hearing America singing via Bill Murray and Jan Vogler
The Road to CodeNEXT
Mapping out the final stages of the land use code rewrite
Snapshot: SXSW Art Program
These art installations surprise by using technology to bring us closer to humanity
Headlines
City Council celebrates South by Southwest with the rest of us this week, resuming regular session March 22, when it will pay for its break with an agenda just shy of 100 Items (96), including setting public hearings (tentatively in May) for the long-awaited arrival of CodeNEXT. Budget prep gets serious April 4. See “Council:…
The Problem With K2, Downtown Austin’s Most Dangerous Drug
APD cannot depend on big busts alone to solve the problem
Point Austin: Welcome to the Future
Texas is just like America, only more so
“Rodney McMillian: Against a Civic Death” at the Contemporary Austin
In this thought-provoking exhibition, the Suzanne Booth Deal Art Prize winner asks, “What does an architecture of power look like to you?”
Public Notice: Are We on a Road to Nowhere?
CodeNEXT – what a buzz kill!
Council: It Ain’t Over ‘Til It’s Over
City Council plans strategically, reappoints some judges, and cuts water rates
Quote of the Week: Eric Goff
Bears in the air
Domestic Terrorism in Austin
Trio of package bombs target minority homes
Top 10 Austin Breweries of 2018
Power ranking the local leaders in craft beer
Medical Board Loses a Case … and Attacks the Judge
Judge Hunter Burkhalter forced to resign by State Office of Administrative Hearings
SXSW Gaming at a Glance
From the Expo to the Awards, it’s time to play
Playback: SXSW Again Pivots on Rap
Hip-hop sustains the Festival’s star power
McKalla Place Eyed for Soccer Stadium
North Austin location identified as Precourt Sports Ventures’ third first choice
Free Events at SXSW
Festival music and more on the cheap
Rude Mechs’ Fixing Troilus and Cressida
The third show in the Fixing Shakespeare series makes his mess of a play about the Trojan War hilarious and even engrossing
30 Restaurants to Try in Downtown Austin
Eat some good food while you’re in town
ColdTowne’s Missed Connections ATX
The show improvised from actual Craigslist ads is as hilarious as it is oddly cathartic to the singles in the crowd
Famous People Looking Pretty
Photos from the first weekend
“Katy Horan and Teruko Nimura: Residual” at ICOSA
In their joint show, the two artists use paper crafts as a medium for exploring how traces of the past disrupt the present
Day Trips: The Goose’s Acre Pub, The Woodlands
Bar and restaurant transported to Texas retains its Irish brogue
Soccer Watch
MLS clubs went 3-0 against Mexico in the first leg of the CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals last week; two of those return legs are being played Tuesday as we go to press; you can still catch Seattle at Guadalajara, tonight, Wednesday, 10pm. And if you’re really quick, you can catch the last of the European…
Gay Place
SXSW keeps on trekking and we’re still here with your queer guide
Abused Hutto Detainee Gets Her Day in Court
An immigrant woman whose detainment at the T. Don Hutto Residential Center in Taylor has drawn calls for her release from Austin City Council members and sparked a request for a congressional investigation into detention center sexual abuse had her day in court on Tuesday. A hearing Downtown before U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman that…
The Luv Doc: Truth Tellin’
Being diplomatic isn’t being deceptive; it’s being thoughtful and caring
Council: Danielle Skidmore to Challenge Kathie Tovo in D9
Mayor Pro Tem Kathie Tovo has competition in her re-election campaign for the District 9 seat on City Council. Danielle Skidmore, an engineer by trade and local transgender and LGBTQ advocate, filed her campaign treasurer appointment last week. The paperwork is the first step toward announcing an official bid for the Council seat. (Official filing…
Mr. Smarty Pants Knows
The first known stapler was made for King Louis XV. Each staple was inscribed with the insignia of the royal court. An adult grasshopper can fly for miles to search for food, eats half its weight in foliage each day, and can eat wood or paint if foliage is not available. Ogimi, Japan, has the…
Vandals at UT Strike Again
If you happened to walk by the Littlefield Fountain on UT campus late last week you may have noticed something different about the water. Dyed bright purple, the fountain changed colors after vandals on Thursday tagged its concrete wall with the message “This is the blood of survivors that UT ignores” in red paint. The…
Oops!
Last week’s story “The Border Patrol Myth” incorrectly identified the cause of death for Isaac Moraless. He was stabbed, not shot.
RideAustin Hangs On
Local nonprofit to trek on in world belonging to Uber and Lyft
SXSW Music Interview: Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats
“We’re kinda stuck here in Nashville,” laughed Denver’s blue-eyed soul wunderkind Nathaniel Rateliff on his way to breakfast last Sunday. “We’re supposed to be doing this big weekend festival down in the Dominican Republic, but there’s weather. We’re trying to figure out how to get down there, and I forgot we had an interview!” Easy…
Pivotal Punk at SXSW Music
Bad Moves Tue. 13, Sidewinder Outside, 7:30pm; Fri. 16, Barracuda, 7:45pm Going by the self-titled debut cassette this D.C.-based, mixed-race/-gender quartet issued in 2016, Bad Moves have spent a lifetime absorbing lessons by the Pixies and Superchunk. “Shitty Tomorrow” and “The Verge” bristle with power-pop and New Wave hooks flying from oblique angles, creating a…
SXSW Music Interview: Max Richter
In his debut SXSW performance, contemporary classical polymath and Englishman Max Richter, 51, performs Sleep, an eight-hour orchestral composition played overnight to an audience laying in actual beds. Austin Chronicle: What’s a film score that would be a good entry point for your music? Max Richter: Probably The Leftovers. It’s an amazing show. Aside from…
SXSW Music: Ruled by Women
French Vanilla Tue. 13, Barracuda Backyard, 7:45pm; Wed. 14, BD Riley’s, 11pm L.A. art rockers French Vanilla tackle power structures with danceable post-punk and a wall of sax. Infectiously persistent, Sally Spitz’s wailing vox trade tumbling lines with off-kilter guitarist Ali Day. The trio is humorous and earnestly grandiose, pulled off with thunderous style on…
99 Austin Acts at SXSW Music
A. Sinclair Fri. 16, Hotel Vegas Annex, 8:55pm Frank Smith and Grape St. alum Aaron Sinclair moved under his own truncated moniker in 2016 for Get Out of the City. The shift allowed the decadelong Austin scene veteran to fully embrace brooding indie rock, full of guitar nerd solos and power chord bursts that recall…
99 Luftballons (International Acts at SXSW Music)
1982 “diecinueve ochenta y dos” Wed. 14, Speakeasy Kabaret, 9:10pm; Fri. 16, Townsend, 10pm Ecuadorian synth-pop duo 1982 sounds straight out of a tropical John Hughes movie. Debut LP Nuevas Ondas roots in guitar, while last year’s Homesick follows a sample-soaked route framed by glittery synths and Sebastián Narváez’s muffled vox. – Isabella Castro-Cota Ace…
International Female Producers
Ruby Fatale Mon. 12, Elysium, 9pm; Thu. 15, 3ten ACL Live, 9pm Doom emanates from this Taiwanese composer as broken glass samples shatter over dissonant strings and damaged drums. It’s propulsive music, aggressive and confrontational, then suddenly pastoral in a way that feels distinctly Eastern. Expect immersive visuals, and bring ear plugs. Lali Puna Tue.…
SXSW Music Interview: David Ramirez
A Wim Wenders film. A lonely night in a motel room. A drive through the desert contemplating life and death, love and heartbreak. Such vignettes come to mind when listening to David Ramirez, a Houston native who found his way to Austin by way of Nashville in 2010. “Originally I moved here for a gal,”…
11 Can’t-Miss DJs at SXSW
Perel Mon. 12, Barracuda, 12:10am; Thu. 15, Barcelona, 9pm DFA Records looked abroad for latest signee Annegret Perel Fiedler, a Berliner with a Berghain pedigree. Drifting arpeggios hover over snappy snares and long, Kraftwerky pads on her latest single “Die Dimension.” Her debut long-player drops next month. David Gtronic Tue. 13, Kingdom, 10pm David Gtronic…
SXSW Music Interview: Dawg Yawp
Tyler Randall’s sitar can’t help but serve as focal point for Dawg Yawp. It functions as the divining rod for the Cincinnati-bred electronic folk duo’s singularity. Randall and fellow multi-instrumentalist Rob Keenan toy with transcendence on the strength of their earthy, evocative songwriting and warm vocal harmonies, but it’s the sitar that elevates “Can’t Think”…
Must-See Country Acts at SXSW Music
Nikki Lane Tue. 13, Gatsby, 10:30pm; Fri. 16, Radio Day Stage, Austin Convention Center, 3pm 2014 sophomore platter All or Nothin’ broke out Nikki Lane as part of the new wrecking-ball crew razing the Nashville establishment. 2017 follow-up Highway Queen on New West paired the South Carolina native with producer Jonathan Tyler for a more…
SXSW Music Interview: Haley Heynderickx
“When the right person says the right thing in an awkward moment, I definitely grab what they say midair,” Haley Heynderickx explains in her quiet, gentle voice. “I keep a notebook for that.” The Portland, Ore., advocate of tiny details excerpted some ripe entries as the bulk of her startling debut, I Need to Start…
Essential Indie Acts at SXSW Music
Anna Burch Tue. 13, Valhalla, 10:20pm; Thu. 15, Cheer Up Charlies, 10pm This Detroiter maintains a careful balance between twee and slacker rock on February solo debut Quit the Curse (Polyvinyl). Burch’s shimmery concoction leans heavily on Nineties disaffect, “Asking 4 a Friend” trudging sing-songy skuzz and apathetic vocals alongside the longing, twang-n-tropics-infused “Belle Isle.”…
SXSW Music Interview: Mozart La Para
Dominican singer Mozart La Para never had a plan B. “I always visualized it. It was my biggest dream and now it’s a reality,” he types in Spanish after muffled phone hookups. Born Erickson Fernández, the reggaeton singer/rapper branded himself at age 12 after composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who got his start at the same…
Future R&B and Old Soul Acts at SXSW Music
Son Little Mon. 12, Pour Choices, 12:10am A deeply soulful singer-guitarist who’s collaborated with the Roots and RJD2, Philly native Son Little’s modern take on blues and soul offers subtle electronic inflections and a nod to hip-hop in both timing and lyricism. 2017 sophomore LP New Magic flexed and fleshed. SassyBlack Tue. 13, Iron Bear,…
SXSW Music Interview: Shamir
“I begged to play any other song,” recounts Shamir Bailey, 23, about being asked to perform his hit song “On the Regular” during his national television debut on Late Night With Stephen Colbert. “After that moment, I was like, ‘I can’t do this anymore.’” The song, like the rest of his 2015 debut Ratchet, references…
SXSW Music’s Hip-Hop Hierarchy
Ivy Sole Mon. 12, Pour Choices, 8:15pm Wrestling spirituality, mental health, and Philly, the Wharton business grad slides between a smooth, singsong cadence and poetic reflection on last year’s EP West. Soulful timbres (“Rooftop”), political musings (“The Four”), and dancehall rhythms on “My Way,” a flip of KP & Envyi’s “Shorty Swing My Way,” spiral…
SXSW Music Interview: Snail Mail
Last SXSW went a little too well for Lindsey Jordan. After performing her drowsy, guitar-driven debut EP Habit at the weeklong talent sniff, the Baltimore native found herself naively navigating an ambush of potential contracts, labels, and management. All this while finishing up her senior year of high school. The indie rock wiz has since…
SXSW Music Jazz Sampler
Moses Boyd – Solo X Wed. 14, the Main II, 8pm London drummer Moses Boyd wowed improvisational music fans during SXSW’s UK jazz showcase last year behind a spectacular set fronting his group Exodus. He returns with grooving psychedelic jazz/electronica hybrid Solo X, hot on the heels of self-released EP Absolute Zero. Ashley Henry Trio…
SXSW Music Interview: Tunde Olaniran
Tunde Olaniran doesn’t set out to write anthems for outcasts. He just can’t help it. The Flint, Mich., artist who spent stretches of his youth living in London, Germany, and his father’s native Nigeria drops uplifting self-affirmations over beats that bang like Beyoncé’s Lemonade. On “Namesake,” Olaniran spits rapid-fire verses before soaring operatic on the…
Priority Pop at SXSW Music
Lola Marsh Tue. 13, Blackheart, 9pm; Thu. 15, Maggie Mae’s, 11pm; Sat. 17, International Day Stage, Austin Convention Center, 1pm Israeli duo Yael Shoshana Cohen and Gil Landau enter new pop territory through the former’s deep, earthy vocals and the latter’s folk soundscape of whistles and ukulele. On their 2017 EP, Cohen’s tone recalls Lana…
