1. NBC is currently casting a new Project Runway-style reality fashion program, and the prize is pretty major — the winner will launch their own line in a major retail store across the country. [via CocoPerez]

2. We’re not sure how to feel about the news that Glee is doing an episode based on Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours album; given the way that they fumbled the >Rocky Horror episode, it seems like the ’70s might not be their best decade. [via Vulture]

3. Watch a video of Jack White’s surprise parking lot performance at SXSW; he was in Austin to promote the maiden voyage of the Third Man Records Rolling Record Store, which is part record store, part recording studio. [via NPR]

4. Refusing to let a $430,000 defamation lawsuit get her down, Courtney Love has reportedly returned to Twitter under a new handle — @cloverxxxlove — and with a new target of disdain — Chelsea Handler. [via Gawker]

5. The Unsound Festival comes to New York City April 6 – 10 in various venues around Manhattan and Brooklyn. The lineup includes Emeralds, Julianna Barwick, Blondes, Arp, Harald Grosskopf, Kode9, Lone, Ben Frost, Laurel Halo, Pink Skull, Tin Man and Oni Ayhun, among others. [via Pitchfork]

Bonus link: Fake Irish Blessing

Global-based web project CitID is enlisting the help of artists to give cities worldwide a typeface makeover. As they explain on their website, “Our hope is that creatives from around the globe will make a logo or a visual interpretation of the city closest to their heart.” We rounded up a few of our favorite designs from larger cities around the country to see if the fonts matched the local scenes; let us know what you think in the comments.

Read More »

We’re already on the record as Nneka fans (she caught our collective eye as one of the top ten acts from this year’s SXSW festival), and now the Nigerian-born singer is taking her continent-crossing, genre-bending act to the road with an opening slot on Nas and Damian Marley’s Distant Relatives tour. In this exclusive video feature, we see  snippets of Nneka’s past road diaries both funny and sweet, from goofing off with her bandmates to suffering the slings and arrows of a boyfriend-less Valentine’s Day. After the jump, view Nneka’s exclusive tour diaries and check out the upcoming tour dates to see when she brings her multi-culti musical melange to your town.

Read More »

With over 2,000 bands performing in Austin, Texas, for this year’s SXSW music festival, separating the ones-to-watch from the ones-to-wash was a challenge even if you were there. While we weren’t able to catch every artist in attendance, now that the dust has settled and our brains have become (relatively) unscrambled, we were able to compile the best of the best — in order to give you the top 10 acts from the melee to watch out for in 2010. From quirky UK pop to retro soul to inspired global sounds, we’ve got you covered for the upcoming months. Listen to all of the artists, watch videos, and rock out after the jump.

Read More »

Every March, Austin, Texas puts its money where its mouth is to back up its self-proclaimed status as the “live music capital of the world.” As the SXSW Music fest takes over the city for four days and nights of nonstop live acts in every venue and location possible, thousands of musicians, fans, and industry types descend from around the world to transform it into a veritable music metropolis.

Our Texan odyssey this year was filled with the usual sonic information overload, but in between catching phenomenal performances by Marina and the Diamonds, Nneka, Free Energy, Muse, Metric, and a host of fresh acts, we also found ourselves taken by the plethora of strangely costumed characters we found around town.

Check out our exclusive SXSW photo gallery, featuring a healthy mix of musicians, monsters, and general mayhem>>

If you spent last week feeling sad you weren’t in Austin, you can be somewhat comforted by the fact that attendees of Mess With Texas, Day 2 froze their collective ass off in 40-degree weather with a 30-degree windchill. Makeshift gloves were fashioned from the free Sweet Leaf Tea cozies given out at the Sailor Jerry stand, bandannas became face warmers instead of scene accessories, and 92-proof rum drinks suddenly became an absolute necessity.

Despite this cruel joke played by the weather, the bands we caught on Saturday seemed powered by the cold, inspired to work up a sweat and in some cases, encourage circle pits for warmth. So feast your eyes on our white-knuckled photo offerings, and by the way… even in teeth-chattering weather, we had more fun than you that day.

Click here to view a slideshow of images starring Fucked Up, Andrew W.K., and GWAR>>

1. Matthew Vaughn’s comedy about superhero-obsessed teens, Kick-Ass, will open this year’s SXSW Film Festival on March 12. [via Variety]
2. Sam Mendes — who already worked with Daniel Craig on Road to Perdition — is rumored to be directing the next James Bond film. Wethinks this doesn’t bode well for the Bond girls. [via Variety]
3. Production on Spider-Man 4 has been delayed after script clashes between director Sam Raimi and Sony over what direction he’ll take the villains in. [via THR]
4. Because you’re busy: Everything you need to know about the past 98 hours (and five seasons) of Lost in just 8 minutes. [via GQ]
5. Are you ready to bring 3D entertainment into your own living room? Discovery, Sony, and Imax are banking on it. And so is ESPN. [via USA Today]

Bonus link: People Of Wal-Mart Rap

The Fiction Fix is your weekly dose of short story. If that’s not your drug of choice, too bad: consider it medicine. Every week, we’ll scour the literary magazines you don’t have time to read, online and in print, and let you know where to find one story worth reading.

This week, we’re recommending Michael Cera’s Pinecone in McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern #30. Yes, that Michael Cera. Although we love pointing you toward mostly-unknown writers in literary magazines that are not available on Amazon or in your local Barnes & Noble, we are endorsing this story because maybe you decided a long time ago you were over McSweeney’s, or maybe you roll your eyes when a movie star gets literary. If so, get over yourself. Read More »

Last month, Earplug’s Michael Byrne hit massive music industry gathering (and unofficial weenie roast) SXSW alongside photographer Josh Sisk, wading through the thousands of bands and lapping up all the backyard BBQ he could eat. What’d he take away? Austin’s premiere event isn’t going anywhere. Read More »

In her final post from SXSW 2009 (no we promise — no more until next year) Danielle Kourtesis, the Music and Outreach Manager for Rooftop Films reveals a few of the bands that have dominated her iPod since she got back from Austin. She’s also offering one lucky Flavorwire reader a pair of passes for Rooftop Film’s upcoming Summer Series. Read More »