It’s that time of year when CMJ Showcases and parties will start be announced. One of the first is from Sub Pop & Hardly Art which features a stellar lineup including J Mascis and Jacuzzi Boys performing at the Mercury Lounge on Thursday October 20th. Read on for set times.
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Moogfest takes place Halloween weekend, October 28, 29 & 30, in Asheville, North Carolina and the lineup is pretty rad. Highlights include Brian Eno, Flaming Lips, St. Vincent, TV on the Radio, Atlas Sound, Crystal Castles, Zomby and CANT.

Godspeed You! Black Emperor played one of their first NYC shows in eight years (playing Terminal 5 & Brooklyn Masonic Temple earlier this week) in the gorgeous venue, The Church of St. Paul the Apostle, with amazing acoustics for their epic soundscapes. The 2 hour plus set started with a wavering, swelling of noise to a screen flashing scrawled drawings of the word “Hope” until the full band kicked in cueing the projectionist to play through grainy brief films. From what I can tell the band had at least 3 projectors all controlled live as opposed to just hitting a button and letting it go. The band’s music always played well to film, (as obviously seen in 28 Days Later) and even though some of the videos were a bit mundane, (long closeups of a cat’s face, trees blowing in the wind etc) the music was able to transcend that and make them captivating. Granted it’s only March, but this is by far the top show we have seen of 2011 thus far.

They have another show at the Church tonight so go scalp some tickets to it fast.

2011 Fader Fort at SXSW includes appearances from Trash Talk, Oh Land, Matt & Kim, Odd Future, James Blake, Lower Dens and La Sera as long as plenty of others.

Mog Music Network is boasting a pretty impressive party this at SXSW 2011 with performances from Big Boi, TV on the Radio, Okkervil River, Smith Westerns, Wild Flag, Yuck, Tune-Yards, Twin Shadow and Theophilus London. Show takes place March 19th from 12 to 6pm at The Mohawk on 912 Red River.

Bright Eyes brought out all the hits for night one of their performances at Radio City Music Hall for an epic 2 hour set after openers Superchunk and Wild Flag.

Thrasher and Converse have teamed up to bring a Texas Style Death Match to SXSW 2011 from March 16th to 19th at the Scoot Inn. This is the one of the most abrasive lineups for this years SXSW besides Full Metal Texas. Read on for more details.

As always Mess With Texas boasts a killer lineup. This year it will be on March 19th at the East Side Drive In at 6th Street and San Marcos starting at 11:30AM. Read on for full lineup and RSVP link.

Force Field PR has teamed up with Terrorbird to bring a fantastic free party that does not require a badge at SXSW on March 16th at the indoor / outdoor venue Red 7. The line-up features Toro Y Moi, tUnE-yArDs, Lower Dens, Braids, Cloud Nothings, Nite Jewel, Weekend, The Soft Moon, Generationals, Pictureplane, The Death Set, Lord Huron, Rainbow Arabia, Exray’s, Violens and our personal favorite The Screaming Females.

Check out a playlist of all the bands below.

The line-up has been announced for the 2011 edition of the Black N Blue Bowl (formerly the Superbowl of Hardcore). The show will take place at Webster Hall in New York City on May 28th featuring Gorilla Biscuits, Terror and Agnostic front.

Mexican Summer and Gorilla Vs Bear have put together a solid party for SXSW 2011 with performances from No Joy, Toro Y Moi, Lower Dens, Games w/ Prefuse 73, White Denim, The Fresh and Onlys, Lia Ices and Cass McCombs among others. The party will take place at Klub Krucial on March 18th from noon to 2 AM.

The Syndicate will bring their Conflict of Interest party (an annual CMJ Marathon kick-off event) to Austin this year to kick off SXSW 2011. The party takes place at the Purevolume House (504 Trinity Street) with a headlining performance from Swedish pop band The Sounds. Rounding out the lineup will be up and coming acts Grouplove, We Barbarians and The Lonely Forest (who happen to be on Chris Wall of Death Cab for Cutie’s label).

RSVP for Conflict of Interest at EventBrite.

The Purevolume House will also host parties during SXSW for RCRD LBL, Macbeth, Keep-a-Breast, Idolator, Buzznet and Stereogum. More details below.

Dickies has posted the line-ups for their SXSW 2011 day parties taking place at Lustre Pearl on 97 Rainey St starting Thursday, March 17th through Saturday, March 19th and based on the talent they have lined up you are going to need to get to these early. Highlights include DeVotchka, Phantogram, Cold War Kids, Dum Dum Girls, Okkervil River, GAYNGS, Pac Div and our personal favorite The Black Lips. Find the complete lineup on the flyer above and RSVP over at Filtermagazine.com/dickies. Badge holders are also welcome.

Shepard Fairey will be releasing a new print this Sunday, featuring birthday boy Henry Rollins who turns 50. The print based on a photograph of Black Flag by legendary photographer Glen E. Friedman will be limited to 450 pieces and signed by Fairey, Freidman and Rollins.

We caught Henry at Joe’s Pub in New York this week doing spoken word to celebrate his 50th birthday and he was engaging as always, with topics ranging from watching the Dictators with Joey Ramone (photo) to traveling to North Korea, Tibet and many other places all over the globe before this tour started. You can check out some of the excellent photos Henry took from his recent travels here and here.

Find out more and purchase on Feb. 13th via Obey. This will sell out fast.

(poster info via The World’s Best Ever)

It’s that time again where SXSW party invites start flooding the inbox. The first one I have seen thus far is for Filter Magazine’s Culture Collide which will be taking place at the Cedar St. Courtyard on Thursday, Friday and Saturday of the festival. The line-up is fairly solid with highlights being Cults, Phantogram, Surfer Blood and Maps and Atlases. Check out the full lineup on the flyer above and RSVP at Filter’s website.