Pitchfork TV has released a new session with Smith Westerns. The band perform's four tracks for their recently released album Dye It Blonde. The band is performing six shows at SXSW including the Pitchfork Party on 3/17 at The East Side Drive In, 6:15pm and the NPR Showcase @ Stubb's BBQ pn 3/16, 10:15pm.

Brooklyn based Tiny Victories play an interesting, rich brand of electro-pop. Floating on several layers of synths, electronic sounds, and steady drum patterns, their songs are luscious in the arrangement department and properly structured. The vocals add sobriety to the mix, through minimalistic melodies sung with very little emotion, in the classic "brainy pop" tradition inaugurated by Brian Eno. The band will play a series of shows at SXSW and then come back to NYC to release their debut CD on April 2 at Pianos. Check out the dates here.

Here's the cover of the 1st issue of The Deli Austin. Click on the cover to access the pdf file. 5,000 copies of the magazine will be distributed in Austin during SXSW MUSIC 2011.

The new phone book's here! The new phone book's here! Well, not quite here...SXSW 2011 is in full swing, but music has yet to officially kick off. Still some calm left before the storm - though tomorrow some of the good unofficials really get going, with Art Disaster @ Beauty Bar, SXES @ Thunderbird Coffee, and Frog ML @ The Ghost Room.

Soon we'll be bringing you reports from the fray...but for now, one last rec for an off-Sixth venue: The Lustre Pearl. It's tucked away in an odd pocket of real estate south of Cesar Chavez and west of 35 - area is home also to the G'Raj Mahal, worth a peek. The Pearl is hardly a secret - the line tends to be long and the names tend to be large, but it's a venue worth seeing if you can squeeze your way in.  This year's performers include Okkervil River, The Black Lips, Dawes, and The Cold War Kids. 

The latest video on Giant System comes from White Mystery. The duo is headed to SXSW so if you are as well here is preview of what you can expect.