I would be a poor example of a super fan if I didn't mention that Autolux have announced that their new album will be entitled Transit Transit and the first track from said disc, "Audience No.2", will be released to radio stations and iTunes in the next week. If their incredible SXSW performances were any indication of what to expect from the album I'd say it's going to have a lot more quiet moments and a lot more exploding / droning moments - and I mean that in the best of ways. As long as "Reappearing" is on there, I'll be content.

Recapping the full experience of SXSW is not something easily done in text. The music is always great but the people / general hanging out makes it all that much better. I am consistently impressed by the quality of people that live in Austin and thank them for never failing to bring the goods.

But it is about seeing a bunch of music, so here's the rundown of what I was able to catch. I'm still digesting a bunch of it so I will have to report back later on the new music that I saw that is worth mentioning:

Shearwater, The Most Serene Republic, The Dodos, Autolux, Black Before Red, Blood on the Wall, The Weakerthans, Rogue Wave, The Little Ones, The Helio Sequence, Autolux (x2), Eugene Mirman, Earles and Jensen, The Human Giant, White Rabbits, White Denim, Bad Veins, Tim Williams, Mason Proper, No Age, HEALTH, Cloud Cult, The Features, Port O'Brien, She & Him, Why?, Cassettes Won't Listen, Project Jenny, Project Jan

There were more bands / comics in there but those were the ones that I actually paid attention to and made an effort to write down that I had seen them. Highlights include: seeing Autolux twice, finally seeing White Denim, dinner with Janet and ChaCha, watching a man cascade vomit down the passenger side of his truck while I was riding in the back of a station wagon, stumbling upon Bad Veins at the Hot Freaks party, quality nerd time with Mikesell, cookout with Paige and Kevin, Jed, MTSU alumni late night party and tons and tons of tacos. That's a rather incomplete list but it's a nice little bit of what I got into.

In short, thank you SXSW.

So, SXSW is next weekend and I'm kind of on the fence about attending. I've got a free place to stay, possibly a free badge and Autolux will be playing. So I have good reason to go, I just haven't bought a plane ticket. If I can find one for under $350 I think I'm in...

On a slightly related note, everyone should check out Band-Aid (A last.fm / SXSW schedule merger) and SXSW @ Sched.org - a giant calendar of events.

Apparently the Nigel Godrich series From The Basement will begin airing in the US on Rave HD - part of the of the Voom Networks. On one hand, this is great news because the series looks pretty incredible (if you didn't know it's a studio performance with no host, no audience shot in HD with 5.1 Dolby Surround featuring the likes of Radiohead, Beck, Eels, Autolux, PJ Harvey, The Shins, etc. etc.) but on the other hand it is unfortunate because I've never heard of anyone carrying the Voom Networks or Rave HD. Thankfully I can cross my fingers that it will show up on the torrents before too long.

Thanks for the heads up Jessica.

Banksy in Bethlehem - six new pieces have sprung up from Banksy on the West Bank barrier just in time for his upcoming show.

Reading Tea Leaves and Campaign Logos - a well illustrated look at political bumper stickers and what they, subconsciously, say of the candidates.

Madballs still available - seriously? These are still around?

Gotcha Gift Boxes - can't think of something to give? Give a USB Toaster or a membership to the "Salt of the Month" club - but not really.

Autolux - From The Basement - hi-def show put on by Nigel Godrich in which he asks artists to perform in the studio. The clip is far too short but it is nice to see a snippet of the goodness yet to come.

Bishop Allen - Click, Click, Click, Click - new track from The Broken String.

Tiddy Bear Comfort Strap - the concept here is dumb enough to be real but with a name like "Tiddy Bear" I have my doubts as to it's legitness.

It's been way too long since I've heard any concrete news about new music from Autolux but judging from these photos it seems that they're slowly coming back around. I really need a properly recorded version of "Reappearing." If you've not heard it, you may download the following live mp3 but it doesn't do the song proper justice.

I'm not quite sure when it happened but at some point yewknee.com started getting free goods from random promotions companies. It's certainly not an onslaught but it's more than nothing. That being said, I openly admit to being part of the promotions machine and I'm sort of okay with that. I'm not writing about things that I'm not interested in and I plan on spreading the joy as best I can.

That being said, I recently received a rather hefty package of UNKLE goods and I'm hoping to give them away. All of the items shown feature music from the bands latest, War Stories. I'm actually a little erked that I am letting go of the dual 7" with the Autolux song on it because I am damn sure it sounds fantastic. Regardless, hit up the comments if you want one of these guys and I'll send it your way.

· "Burn My Shadow" CD Single (with b-sides)
· Night's Temper EP - double 7" with amazing packaging.. signed.
· "Burn My Shadow" 7" with "Mistress" b-side
· "Burn My Shadow" 12" single with b-side remix
· Surrender Sounds 12"

The quality may not be the greatest in the world but hearing these snippets of new songs from Autolux makes me incredibly happy. I can't wait for details of their new album to finally emerge.

I haven't listened to much of anything that UNKLE has put out since the debut disc Psycene Fiction (and that unforgettable video). So, when I started receiving promotional emails for the new album, War Stories, I was pretty skeptical. But then I discovered that there were loads of collaborations on the disc - namely the likes of Autolux and Josh Homme (QOTSA). My interest was piqued and I snagged a few tracks from the ole Hype Machine to form an vague opinion. If the entire disc is as good as the following three songs, it should be quite a treat. I also highly suggest watching the video for "Burn My Shadow" - a great amount of tension building / anticipation that ends in.. well.. the ending is too ridiculous to describe it here, so I'll let you watch it on your own.

*previously linked

So, last week I discovered that UNKLE had remixed Autolux and it pretty much sucked. Just a boring, un-inspired take on the song (from what I could gather of the sample I heard.. which did not lead me to want to hear more). That being said, there is another collaboration between the two that is much more along the lines of what I'd hoped for / expected.

The track feels like an Autolux song with a few little electronics by way of UNKLE but who knows how the actual collaboration went down. Regardless, it's going into heavy rotation for the time being.

I am always very skeptical when it comes to remixes of bands that I enjoy but no matter how often I am disappointed by the results I am always intrigued to hear more. It recently came to my attention that UNKLE had put together a remix of "Turnstile Blues" - by Autolux. As it often goes, I was excited to hear the results and disappointed when I actually did. I suggest everyone check it out and form your own opinion but I'm fairly confident that Autolux songs should not be turned into vague dancefloor style experiences.

Yesterday the full site for Little Radio launched and it is a doozy. Loads and loads of music news, record reviews, videos, and free downloads. Granted, it's only been up for a day (or less) but it is an impressive amount of information without being too overwhelming so far. I particularly enjoy having a place to see videos like the Tokyo Police Club. Oh, and anywhere that covers Autolux news is alright by me.

Rarely is a band unveiling a new t-shirt post-worthy news but when it comes to Autolux and their extreme lack of news in recent months (apparently they are recording) I will take anything. Despite the notion that I'm just grabbing at straws for new insight into what the band is up to, the shirt is actually fantastic. The bands name is incredible subtle and the overall presentation is much more of just a 'cool' shirt - rather than a 'band' shirt.

Autolux on the Jimmy Kimmel show tonight. Can't forget. Autolux on the Jimmy Kimmel show tonight. Can't forget. Can't forget..

I think I may have officially lost my title as "geeky fanboy" by letting the fact that the new Autolux video is now online (direct link here) slip past me. If the mix series wasn't enough of a treat for you, that should start your weekend off just right.

Pretty entertaining weekend for me. Friday night I was exposed, partially, to the wonder that is Ghoulies - a rip off of Critters, which was a ripoff of Gremlins. Overall, not a good film.. but I'm interested to see Ghoulies II or Ghoulies III: Ghoulies Go To College. The 80's were a bizarre time.

Also managed to catch Be Your Own Pet - a local band recently signed to XL Recordings in the UK. There's been lots of local hype about them.. blah blah blah.. had to go check them out. In the end, they seem to be a group of high school students writing some decent songs and having a good time on stage. It's not mind blowing.. not all that catchy.. but I can see why they got signed. Also happened to catch The Dirtbombs at the same show and, while I would never purchase it, I really enjoyed the show. Two drummers, two bassists, and a frontman guitarist. Might be worth investigating a bit.

Saturday was incredibly lazy so I ended up watching Brazil before heading out to see Autolux. Brazil is basically Terry Gilliams version of 1984 and Blade Runner in my opinion.. and it's a good take on it. Very surreal and strange but the stylized special effects of Gilliam are always entertaining.

Autolux was fantastic.. as always. I was pleased to see so many people at the show, and then to see the crowd thin out when The Raveonettes took the stage. Who, in their defense, put on a good show but it's just not as engaging.. guess that's the fate you suffer when your opening band upstages you every night.

Sunday consisted of working on some forthcoming changes to The Features site (little things), and Reverend Rainbow merch page. And speaking of that. If you happen to watch Best Week Ever this week be on the lookout for one of our shirts. I'm attempting to get a screen grab of it but it certainly happened.

Someone asked Trent Reznor what the music was that was being played before his shows in a recent Access question and the result has some high potential to be a nice mix. Random Autolux, MIA, My Bloody Valentine, Wire, and a bunch more.

On a related note, it's interesting to read Mr. Reznor's thoughts on the packaging for his new album, With Teeth. Apparently there is no booklet but mearly a PDF included with all the lyrics, credits, etc. and from what he seems to be not-so-subtley hinting at it has the potential to develop "into something else." I'm going to pick the disc up this weekend but I'm intrigued as it is to say the least.

To anyone living across the pond with random small indie label connections - see what you can do about procuring a copy of something like this - a promo CD version of the forthcoming Autolux 7" for "Here Comes Everybody." I'll likely order the vinyl regardless (I think I can openly admit to being that obsessed) but it'd be nice to have the "Future Perfect" b-side in a format that I can actually listen to wherever. Hopefully it's a new recording and not a repeat of the demo version.

My attention span for browsing the web has been dwindling recently. I like to look at specific things and everything else gets about 10-15 seconds to impress me, otherwise I'm moving on. That being said, these links were either sent to me, held my attention, or both.

March Sessions - a collection of new photos from Jeremy Cowart. The stuff he did for The Daylights is pretty amazing, and for some reason I find great amusement in the fact that he photographed Dave Holmes.

Aesthetic Apparatus continues to kill it with the insanely amazing graphic design. I mean seriously, don't they have to start sucking at some point? Have you looked at their portfolio that's seperate from just the poster archive? Sick!

Ain't It Cool News apparently slightly redesigned at some point because it's not the insane cluster of horrible layout that it used to be. It still kind of sucks and the fanboy mentality involved with reviewing films still annoys me.. but if you want the movie scoop, you gotta deal with it.

Robo Urinal - scary but I'd die laughing if I walked into a restroom and he was there to greet me.

New MTV - a new channel called "Overdrive" that will feature videos! Guess what the catch is? It's online. Dumb.

Rock Photos courtesy of Bryan. The pic of Rob Holmes looks fairly intense. It is interesting to browse the photos and see the sheer amount of music that NYC is offering up (and I'm sure Bryan only see's a small percentage of it).

I moved all my Autolux related crap out of the mp3 folder and made it a new home. Not that anyone cares but it was a fun little php exercise awhile back, I just forgot to post about it.

The future of Cable modems - the article predicts a 400% - 1,600% increase over the existing lines. Obviously we'd all love to see this happen but my money is on the fact that the cable company will still cap your upload at 30kb/s.

Open Courseware has been updated. If you aren't familiar, MIT has a program embracing free coursework. I've not participated in any of it, but I'd like to think that I would if I had the time.

Historic Computer Images - I'm intrigued by all the old technology but I can't help but think I should be hearing Benny Hill music accompanying super fast video of the operators plugging in wires.

70's Video - two people have sent me this now and I must say.. amazing. It's kind of on par with the America video from yesterday but kind of 1,000x better.

The Art of Retouching - a gallery of images by Glen Feron that show the insane amount of airbrushing, body shape changing, and misc edits done to photos before publication. Kind of a good thing to see if you actually think celebrities are people you should look up to.

Dolk Art - I couldn't help myself.. I was quite amused by this stencil.

There's a project called Whaleless that is taking submissions from artists to help the "plight of the whale." Honestly, I don't really understand the cause nor really like most of the art. But the Andrea Grigis piece is pretty nice.

Alright, that's all I got time for now. Go read some Fecal Face (they have a Ferris Plock interview) and send me some links so my browsing ADD can be fulfilled more conveniently. Now I'm off to do some SU work, some KNI work, and some possible JD work.

I am not entirely trusting of Pollstar, but according to this it appears that Autolux will be touring with The Raveonettes after their stint with Secret Machines, and then after their stint with Ambluance LTD. This is good for me because there is supposedly a date in Nashville on May 14th. This news basically makes my day.