Seattlest is quaking in their boots (bought especially for the occasion) with excitement for this years SXSW in Austin, Tex. We're making our initial sojourn to the festival and are so pleased to see there will be a strong Seattle contingent joining us in Austin this year. There are, to our calculations, 29 Seattle bands officially associated with the festival this year. These bands will be playing sanctioned showcases, what we will call "the......

Seattle locals The Hands released a CD unto the world on Friday and a mere four fifths of Neumos could not contain the crowd that turned out to witness the event. No! Midway through the first opening band's set the velvet curtain was lifted to allow the accumulated dirty rocking masses full access to the Neumos floor. The CD title is The Hands and we haven't gotten all the way through it yet, but it......

Photo by Andy Sternberg/LAist A posthumous tribute wall dedicated to singer/songwriter Elliot Smith sat defaced by graffiti for months on end -- LAist said enough, so did the fans and city council.SFist was surprised to learn that chronic presidential candidate Ralph Nader picked former San Francisco Supervisor Matt Gonzalez as his running mate.Phillyist explored the possibilities of green cleaning.In the latest edition of Reel Toronto, a bi-weekly feature looking at films shot in Toronto......

In case it doesn't snow too much tonight, or in case you're not too much of a pussy to venture outdoors, head to Queen Anne to network with the organizers of South by Southwest and other like-minded music geek individuals. Join us from 7-9pm on Monday evening, January 28th at Solo Bar in Seattle (200 Roy Street). This is the chance for Pacific Northwest digital creatives to meet with SXSW organizers, as well as......

It's been a while since we've heard from The Forms. The Brooklyn four-piece put out their debut album Icarus in 2003 to widespread acclaim, with the Steve Albini-produced work earning an 8.5 from Pitchfork for its "wiry, punchy, indie pop with refreshingly un-hackneyed time-signature games and judiciously placed dissonant chords." And then? Nothing. Till this year, when their cover of "Ignoreland" was included in Stereogum’s fifteenth anniversary tribute to R.E.M.’s Automatic For The People,......

Audrey pretty much summed it up yesterday, but to paraphrase: Rocky Votolato and Jesse Sykes are a miraculous match made in Americana heaven. It was over two months ago that we spotted this double-feature and -- no exaggeration -- we actually gasped. Having seen Sykes and Votolato on separate occasions and having been blown away by both, the prospect of seeing them perform on the same night (and hopefully together -- fingers crossed), well, we're......

Yes, British indie rock quartet Editors are headlining at Chop Suey tonight, but we're more excited for super-catchy opening-opening band Ra Ra Riot. The Syracuse-based six-piece has guitars and cello and violin (oh my), and they've got one certifiably awesome song ("Dying is Fine") that's based on an ee cummings poem and reminds us of "Come on Eileen"--in a good way. Earlier this year, they wowed the critics at SXSW, ending up on NME's......

Flickr photo by Anziano311 For the last few years Austin’s SXSW Music festival has brought Seattle their best European (mostly U.K.) bands; many of them making their first appearance here before heading back across the pond or whisking away to the many summer music festivals around the country. Seattle seems like a good enough launch pad though, and we’ve got a few beauties lined up. On Monday, May 5th two of the biggest bands......

There are a lot of reasons to like The Ponys (and consequently, to attend tonight's show at Neumos). You could go because you've got Chicago roots, as does the band. You could go because you like your rock to be on the garage end of the spectrum (but without being labelled formulaic). You could go because Pitchfork likes the new record despite spending much of their review likening the band to Sonic Youth minus the......

When Seattlest first got word that we could interview Jesse Sykes we got really excited. Then we got nervous. You see, she kind of intimidates us. She's deep. She's beautiful. And that voice. Oh, that voice. But you know what? We really had nothing to worry about. What began as an interview became more of a conversation. One of the best conversations about music we've had in awhile. This is about half of that conversation.......

...in which we pit two bands against each other, to better determine how you should spend your Tuesday night. In this corner: Peachcake Weight: 200 lbs soaking wet Hometown: Phoenix Peachcake is composed of Stefan Pruett and John O'Keefe, two enthusiastic Arizona kids who like to dress up and make sunny electro-dance rock. Their debut full-length won't be out until this summer, but what we've heard of it is upbeat synthy pop songs with completely......

It seems like, all across the network, folks were up to no good. Maybe it was all the green beer from last weekend... Gothamist spent the week writing about New Yorkers behaving badly: at the post office, at the Garden, and at the fertility clinic. Calvin Klein may not be misbehaving, but he's just a little dirty, and in a completely different way than some NYC kitchens. SFist had its share of misbehave-rs, too,......

BOOKS: Suze Orman, Seattlest's unofficial accountant from television is at the Central Library tonight. Mrs. Seattlest refuses to acknowledge that her name is pronounced "Susy." 12:30pm (whoops, already missed this one // Microsoft Auditorium/Central Library // free MOVIES: Roll your own double feature at the Crest tonight. Blood Diamond and Casino Royale are both there, but don't do that thing where you pay for one show and watch like eight movies. Actually, you'll have to......

We came across two examples of Microsoft's less-successful marketing attempts yesterday. One from the '80s via YouTube: And one from SXSW a few days ago via BoingBoing: In a rare instance of us supporting The Man, Austin P.D. hauls off a guerrilla marketing posterer for Microsoft Zune on 6th St. at SXSW. I am not sure I heard everything clearly, but I think he said: “We’ll have none of your advertising for your DRM’d crippleware’d......

Spring appears to have, er, sprung, at least temporarily, in most of the Ist-A-Verse, so naturally, we're all feeling pretty good. (Yes, we know that spring doesn't officially start till later this month. Just let us enjoy our weather!) And that makes us that much more eager to share all of the nifty things we're up to... Over at Sampaist, spring has more than sprung: it's sweltering! But, as everyone knows, museums are an......

READINGS: Jonathan Raban continues his all-out assault on the bookstores of Seattle with a reading tonight at the University Bookstore in support of Surveillance. How many times can we say it: Go. 7pm // University Bookstore // free THEATRE/FUND RAISER: Book-It's raising the funds tonight at Seattle Center with a Guilty Pleasures style romp through material that people actually read, for a change. Not for the faint of wallet, however. Remember a few years ago......

Austinist gets arty with an interactive guide to SXSW, loved some local art galleries and a new art exhibit and lamented the possible loss of "Friday Night Lights" production to New Mexico. Bostonist was happy they finally found an Anna Nicole Smith connection to their fair city and that an Apple Store was opening up. They were less happy that new rules have been established limiting underage shows and that their Governor is spending......

--When someone called out "Who wants the Sonics?" everyone but Renton and Everett stepped back. Looks like Renton might take it. --LaRouchbags have been striking on campus, in classrooms even. --Sound on the Sound has a comprehensive list of Seattle bands slated for SXSW. They also cover Portland and Vancouver. --Seattlest inspires something. --Octopus porn is scheduled at the Aquarium tomorrow. Two long separated creatures meet and satisfy all your tentacle dreams. --ESPN's Sports......

Valentine's Day is only a few days away, and we here across the Gothamist network wanted to express would like to tell you, in the spirit of the holiday, just how much we love you, our readers. Don't let it get to your heads, though. There are plenty of things we love, you included. Just be glad you're not amongst the things we hate. SFist saw their beloved mayor enter rehab, and they loved the......

Without any pointless lead-in prattle, we're going to tell you that The Trucks killed Friday night. Killed. The music was huge, the crowd was amped and the energy throughout the evening at Jules Maes Saloon was hot to the touch. Thanks in no small part goes to No-Fi Soul Rebellion for getting things moving in a big way. NFSR brought it hard to the old saloon Friday night, with singer Mark Heimer leaving no......

Between fake terrorist alerts and scandals big and small, this just might be the Best Best of the -ists ever. We're exhausted just thinking about it. First up, SFist, who saw their little 'ole site be the center of what was a nice little scandal (even getting their editor on TV) only to find their scandal dwarfed by the even bigger scandal caused by their Mayor boffing one of his aides' wife. We're not......

Tuesday, January 30 >>> Jacob London at Baltic Room. Jacob London is known most widely for their house music releases (they've put out material on the legendary Classic Music Company label), but tonight they'll be exploring their more techno-oriented output with a live set. We don't know if that makes it more or less likely that they'll bring their microphone monkey, but expect quality music with a lot of quirky turns. 10:00 pm //......

As the world holds it's breath, teetering precariously on the cusp of the Super Bowl (well, at least in America), the wheels of the -ists keep on turning. Austinist was in a musical frame of mind as they listened to the new Shins album, updated the SXSW band listings and got called "punk rock" for their efforts by MTV. And an ice storm swept through the area. Bostonist said goodbye to John Kerry's plans......

Our sisters in arms down the road a piece have created something from nothing; That is, they went through a bunch of press releases, MySpace sites and Purevolume profiles --all of which are "information" only in the softest, squishiest, most generous sense of the word, and extracted the concrete details of who's going to be at SXSW this year. The list, in contrast to most press releases and MySpace pages, is something that's actually useful.......

Sunday. Usually, a quiet, contemplative day in the Blogosphere. But not here in the Ist-a-Verse. Nonono! Just look below and see all of the wild and crazy stuff our staffs are up to. In Austin, bands are beginning to confirm for SXSW and the rumor mill is up and running. Good thing, too, because we all know how much Austinites love live performances. Austin also found itself in the national spotlight, with Longhorn Legend......

--Pot is now the number one cash crop in the United States. We can't help but feel a tinge of Washington pride while reporting that. --SXSW becomes that much more do-able for Seattleites this week as American Airlines announces direct Austin-to-Seattle flights. --Wikis have been kind of a flop, except for Wikipedia, of course. Well, now Amazon may keep the wiki flame alive. --A timber company purchased 440,000 acres of southern Oregon for the......

This was not a very happy week for the -ist network as one of our own, Phillyist co-editor Star C. Foster, passed away early in the week. Her wit, intelligence, and good nature shone through the site, making Phillyist an immensely fun read. She was loved by many and will be missed by all. Phillyist paid tribute to her this week with a heartfelt letter to her and an obituary. And now, the awkward......

Tomorrow night, online radiobox Pandora drops into Seattle. Tim Westergren has been zipping about the country doing research on local music for the Music Genome Project. Coincidentally, we heard about Pandora for the first time last week when a friend of ours made us come over and look at the incredibly intricate musical descriptions they use to determine "other music you might like." So far, Westergren's road trip has looked over Portland's indie scene, Austin's......

SFist commeters pose for before and aftershocks when the mayor commemorates a 1906 earthquake...at 4:30 in the morning. A hot tip on the Chronicle vending machines comes in and the SFist war correspondent risks life and limb to post this dispatch from the frontlines. Houstonist announces their new Cops spinoff "World's Funniest Tazer Videos" and the possible cancellation of their pervs' "World's Grossest Bathroom Videos" and PBS trains cams on cows at, uhg, Mootube. Also,......

Phillyist notes a fistfight between local pols that leaves one man down for the count. Jehovah's Witnesses get a Philly contributor out of bed, things get a little geeky with a film festival and geeky gets taken to a whole new galaxy when they talk with the Dragon Queen of the Dark Kingdom. Shanghaist gets all excited this week over a new nightclub in the city unfortunately named "Snatch" and Mike Tyson is scheduled to......