Here comes another weekend and thus, the perfect time to push away those rat race blues. Rock-A-Round Entertainment brings us two days of melodies and harmonies in the form of the first annual Wild Weekend Power Pop Festival at The Mohawk....

We had an initial, brief crush during Xemumba '07 (at The Compound last September) but now Bemba Entertainment wants us to have a full-fledged love affair with Latin music. The entity presents Xemumba '08 on September 12th and 13th at The Mohawk and we’re proud to co-sponsor the fest this year. Latin and South American inspired music will take center stage, and as per Bemba Entertainment, “The weekend will showcase a wide collection of styles—salsa, Cuban son, mariachi, Brazilian baile funk, samba, rock, and hip hop.”...

Xiu Xiu are back at The Mohawk tonight, as the seminal mope-core trio and habitual oversharers are touring in support of their latest album Women As Lovers. They're on the first leg of their journey right now, which even included a show in Lubbock last night. Also: fans will want to stop by the merch table, as explained in this blog post by percussionist Ches Smith just last night: “hello, Please ask David Horvitz at the merch table for "the recorder," and record anything you want. I will make percussion/tape pieces using the material, to be posted as mp3s on this blog.”...

The emergence of Ariel Pink as a musical cult figure, mostly thanks to the release of The Doldrums on the Animal Collective’s record imprint, Paw Tracks, has fostered debate and curious wonder from fans and foes alike. His most severe detractors bemoan the inconsistency of his releases, and the very, very primitive recording ethos that informs them - but they’d be lying to deny the catchiness and strength behind some of Pink’s best tracks. ...

Austinist Indieroke had another successful outing last Friday on the patio at The Mohawk. From The Cranberries to The National, and from Led Zeppelin to Iron Maiden, we heard it all. As always, stellar renditions of The Cure and Journey classics were in the mix as well. Good times!...

Allow us to set the scene: you and your best girlfriends and/or bros are ready to get a liquored up, a little vocal, a little crazy. So you all pile into the van and head down to one of the karaoke rooms on North Lamar, bring in a Heineken mini-keg and hope for the best. The first in a list of disappointments is the song selection – mostly bygone hits, Helloween and chart-toppers from the Far East, and after warbling “Thunder Road” to your pallys, you get the big bill. Ouch. So at the end of the night, you’re right back where you started, which is singing The Smiths into a hairbrush, though you’re now poorer, hoarse, and the melancholy itch of “How Soon is Now” is ever more palatable....

Chicago’s Flosstradamus is comprised of Josh Young (a.k.a J2K) and Curt Cameruci (a.k.a Autobot), and the duo brings its exhilarating blend of beats to The Mohawk on the 22nd. Already veterans of many a festival such as Coachella, Pitchfork Music Festival, and yes, SXSW, Flosstradamus toured with Canadian retro-synth connoisseurs Chromeo in 2007. A healthy dose of hip hop and house music mashed up with rock and trance can be expected to power the dance party tonight....

We were hearing constant clamors for more weekend Austinist Indieroke events, and as a result, we offer up the latest edition next Friday the 25th at The Mohawk. Come on down and check out Buttercup and Elsinore inside at 9 p.m. but save your best for upstairs when Indieroke fever takes over The Green Room at 11 p.m. for another evening of wonderful renditions of classics and not-so-classics....

When we caught up with Ian Orth in April, we discovered that he had big plans going forward for his Learning Secrets entity. True to his word, Orth and Learning Secrets deliver a blockbuster party this Saturday in conjunction with Transmission Entertainment at The Mohawk. Besides having a stint at the DJ booth himself this evening, Orth also welcomes fellow local DJ Abominatron to take a stab at the beats. But the ace up the sleeve is British DJ and producer Riton (pronounced Ree-ton) who has wrought dance parties all across the globe and collaborated with artists such as Erol Alkan and Soulwax....

Japanese outfit Boris derives its name from the opening track on the 1991 Melvins record Bullhead and much of its down-tempo drone-rock shares a musical border with the legendary Washington area act. Boris has released a number of stellar records since forming in the 90’s; their full-length studio album count per our math currently stands at 14. Their debut, Absolutego, originally consisted of one 60 minute title-track, but the U. S. release by Southern Lord Records a few years later featured an even longer version of Absolutego and included a bonus song. Highly experimental, extremely sludgy, sometimes psychedelic, and full of scorching riffs, the band has walked the fine line between different genres over the course of its career and employed an array of noise generating devices over time, resulting in a sometimes deranged, often convoluted sound that could be the soundtrack to many a scary movie or just your everyday angst. We are licking are chops already in anticipation of a belligerent performance this Saturday at The Mohawk. Torche and Clouds open with their respective brands of raucous rock. (Buy your tickets here.)...

Oxford Collapse conjures up vivacious, noisy pop songs and The Mohawk hosts the New York act’s fuzzy textures and inviting melodies this Thursday. The band utilizes layers of vocals (courtesy of Michael Pace and Adam Rizer) to produce catchy verses and sing-along choruses, and engages the listener throughout with jittery post-rock backdrops. “Amongst Friends” is a poignant anthem that a current crop of youth could play on graduation night while “Please Visit Your National Parks” kicks off like an R.E.M. ditty before exploding with Pace’s assertive yowl and sustaining six-strings. In fact, there is an '80s college-rock feel to a number of their songs but whatever their inspirations may be, this trio’s quirk-pop compositions do more than enough to keep things interesting, and they are sure to put on a raucous live show. Oxford Collapse’s upcoming fourth record Bits is scheduled for an August release on Sub Pop. The band just got back from a U.K. tour with We Are Scientists and will tour again with their fellow New Yorkers following the current stint with Frightened Rabbit....

Shout Out Louds, Shearwater, Liam Finn, and A Place To Bury Strangers may have been some of the highlights of our day show at SXSW this year but one of the surprise packages came in the form of Jukebox the Ghost’s piano pop potions that had many in the audience at the Mohawk enquiring about the band. So what’s the 4-1-1? Comprised of Jesse Kristin, Tommy Siegel, and Ben Thornewill, the act formed in 2003 as The Sunday Mail but by 2006, they adjusted to their current moniker (probably in anticipation of erroneous Google search results!) In April of this year, the trio released their debut Let Live and Let Ghosts. (Get the scoop behind their name and more -- Gothamist’s recent interview with the band.)...

Austinist Indieroke took over The Mohawk’s Green Room this past Sunday for a night of thrills, frills, and plenty of awesome stills (courtesy of Nash Cook). We would like to thank everyone who came down and made this an incredible party, especially the early birds -- we had six songs in queue before we even had a bartender up there! Of course, very special thank you’s go out to The Mohawk for putting up with our shenanigans, and our rock star friends from Zykos, White Denim, The Boxing Lesson, and Belaire, all of whom turned in some magnificent renditions....

As you may have read somewhere, we are launching Phase Two of our almost-monthly Austinist Indieroke shindig this Sunday at 9 p.m. at The Mohawk. The event will take place upstairs on the deck -- please look for the “green light” on 10th St. and enter through there since there is a band (Colour Wheel) and a cover charge downstairs. Hopefully you have already added us as a friend on MySpace since all our nominees in the various contests shall have their sweet face historicized in our “Hall Of Mirrors.” Additionally, each winner’s mug will also be displayed on Austinist the following day. As promised previously, there will be a handful of local rock stars present to serenade us with renditions of their favorites -- Mike Booher (Zykos), Cari Palazzolo (Belaire), and James Petralli (White Denim) are all expected to take the stage during the course of the evening....

Matador records describes newish signees The Cave Singers as "folk music approached by way of punk rock," and apparently this Seattle band didn't have an inclination to work in this genre in the first place - it just worked out that way. It's moody, maudlin stuff, and the kind of genre-splicing act that fits right into the Matador roster, which includes everything from Matmos to Shearwater, Cat Power to Mission of Burma. ...

Austinist Indieroke: The Second Chapter begins next Sunday the 25th at The Mohawk’s sweet outdoor deck next to their brilliantly renovated Green Room. Fret not though because all the classic tunes you’ve grown to love in our karaoke collection are still available for you to enhance (or slaughter) with your personal renditions. But we are confident that you will love our new ideas and incentives. First off, there is an Austinist Indieroke MySpace page now. Get in there and add us as a friend -- photographs of all our contest nominees and winners shall be archived there in our “Hall Of Mirrors” because “even the greatest stars find their face in the looking glass / even the greatest stars live their lives in the looking glass.”...

Founded in 2000, Kentucky post-rock outfit Foxhole specialize in (largely) instrumental epics that utilize the tried and tested routine of building songs layer by layer until the desired crescendo and ensuing coda can take full effect. The band’s early compositions employed a number of instruments, some generic, others self-created, while the trumpet is heavily featured on most of their work. Previous recordings in Church settings have accentuated their sound with a distinct, spacious element and Foxhole’s intricate arrangements include exhilarating moments of clarity perfect for pacifying far reaching emotions. The act falls within the Mogwai and Explosions In The Sky family tree (relatively speaking) and their grand soundscapes should definitely appease fans of the genre. Their newest EP, Push/Pull is available off their official website as is their 2004 debut full-length We the Wintering Tree....

Kid Koala, or Eric San started experimenting with record players at a young age and has been a vanguard in the turntablism field for over a decade now. He brings his jazz flavored, hip-hop influenced concoctions to The Mohawk this Wednesday. Kid Koala compositions range from downtempo electro beats to movie and T.V. soundtrack-esque backdrops, and his use of a diverse array of samples always keeps things interesting. His impressive resume includes collaborations with the likes of Gorillaz and remixes of acts such as Coldcut. And since both the opening acts, DJ Jester the Filipino Fist and Rae Davis are Kid Koala fans, we decided to check in with them regarding Eric San’s influence on the genre and also recent developments with their own projects. Check out some of their insightful (and hilarious) responses starting below and enter for a chance to win free tickets to the show after the jump....

Disturbing psycho-sexual lyricism, multifaceted percussion skills, quivering vocals, all combined with curious extroversion and a skewed appreciation for cuteness? This can be none other than the damaged experimental rock outfit Xiu Xiu, who will play The Mohawk’s outside stage this Saturday. Xiu Xiu’s has a knack for combining whimsy and pain, and we recently called them out as “one of the most excellent and fascinating bands of the decade” in our review of their last record, Women as Lovers. ...

There was the unexpected acoustic Decemberists set. Then there was the sudden Spoon gig. This Sunday, The Mohawk revives this exciting tradition with a surprise show featuring Bill Callahan. Callahan first came into prominence under the Smog moniker; his collection of work from previous decades has stood the test of time while 2005's A River Ain't Too Much to Love is quite simply a masterpiece. In April of last year, Drag City released Woke on a Whaleheart; you can read our review here....

Austinist Indieroke is back in action tonight. Come on down to The Mohawk and sing away your hump day blues. We are expecting some of our regulars to do wonderful renditions of songs ranging from "Young Folk" by Peter Bjorn & John to "Easy" by The Commodores, and from "Creep" by Radiohead to "Material Girl" by Madonna. But we definitely want to see some new blood in the mix. Will it be you who takes a stab at "Never Ending Math Equation" (Modest Mouse) or "All The Wine" (The National)? Or maybe you're just so excited about this breaking news that there's a performance of "Open Arms", "Never", or "Dream Police" lurking within you, waiting to be unleashed....

SXSW provided ample opportunities for all of us to indulge in mass quantities of live music and overwhelming amounts of events but really, what are we left with now? Besides the rumors, archived concerts, and what not, hopefully each one of us can look back now to realize we found fresh inspiration from some form of art or discovered a new idol whose work will get us through our daily rat race....

Because we love you so very much, we've gone ahead and put together a special mini-site dedicated to this year's SXSW Festival....

Austinist & Gothamist are proud to announce our SXSW day party, taking place on Wednesday, March 12 at the Mohawk. The party kicks off around 11 a.m., and the day ends at 6, but not before Shout Out Louds, Shearwater, Liam Finn and Phosphorescent perform. As usual, the party is free, open to all. See you then!...

Kick off this weekend early on Thursday at Antone’s with music from Black Joe Lewis, Bankrupt and the Borrowers, and The Best Love In Town on the special occasion of The Versatile Syndicate’s “Launch Party.” The entity is now open for business, and their agenda is to aid any artist in pursuing their dreams and professional development via booking/tour management, consulting, live production, and so on. This event is a part of the Austin Music Foundation’s Love Austin Music Month and cover for AMF members is $5. The rest of us mere mortals can get in for $10. The shindig also marks AMF's 6th Birthday; free cake and food (courtesy of Whole Foods Market) and free 2008 She Rocks Calendars while the goodies last....

When the band Minor Threat dissolved, lead singer Ian MacKaye famously declared he wanted his next project to sound "like the Stooges with reggae.” For about fifteen years, Fugazi was that band, whose atypical sound and grounded approach to touring and performing have made them legendary, and nearly deistic to their many granola-punk followers....

Sonic Boom (a.k.a. Peter Kember) makes his 2nd appearance in Austin within the last six months at The Mohawk on Saturday. Since our city regularly hosts acts numerous times in a year, this might not seem too extraordinary. But this is no ordinary act -- Sonic Boom was once part of the legendary British outfit Spacemen 3 whose psychedelic innovations influenced many of the bands you might listen to today....

“Ever wanted to be a space ship pilot in an 8-bit Nintendo game?” With that subject title, the latest press release from local synth-pop outfit Built By Snow grabbed our attention well before we even ventured into deep space. The “rad dudes” rescue a princess in the brilliant video for “Underneath”, the first song on their debut EP Noise, eventually scoring cheeseburgers for their troubles. The video incorporates plenty of eye catching imagery and retro animation and the result is a hilarious conglomeration of pop culture influences....

If you love booze and cinema, well, have we got a deal for you. Cine Las Americas, Austin's own multicultural, non-profit media arts center, will be holding Chicha 56, a combo happy hour and after party fundraiser to benefit this year's programming. The event comes a mere 56 days before the Cine Las Americas International Film Festival kicks off....

The Mohawk presents a solid double bill of local pop this evening. The Lemurs have been writing new material over the last few months and a handful of those songs will be included in their set tonight. The band enjoyed a stellar 2007 -- highlights included licensing their music to NBC show Las Vegas (as well as an Australian indie flick called Newcastle) and touring with Canadian act Stars. This past Sunday, ME Television telecast a 2nd ME Live! featuring The Lemurs' shimmering melodies in concert at a recent La Zona Rosa gig....