In its first five minutes Machete serves up five beheadings, a dozen gunshot victims, a couple of severed limbs, a car crashing through a wall, and a beautiful naked woman stabbing someone then getting shot in the head herself. Oh, and Steven Seagal. None of this is playfully teased off camera like most Hollywood action films. In Robert Rodriguez's latest…

Pablo Díaz-Reixa, known most popularly as El Guincho, once again proves in his latest album Pop Negro that he’s a lover of music. His passion is evident in this inspiring collection of melodies and beats that hold the perfect balance between easy and hallucinatory.  I was thinking of a way to describe this album, and I couldn’t help but think…

Love Star, a Los Angeles-based indie-pop trio, recently made their first Latin Alternative Music Conference appearance. Formerly known as Grito Mutual, the newly renamed Love Star is comprised of Jorge Torres (bass), Will Alves (guitar) and Adriana Fernandez (vocals). Their new Happiness EP is composed of four solid pop songs both in English and Spanish. The EP’s lead single, “Felicidad,” is…

Blues on the Green is an Austin summer staple. Local radio station KGSR presents multiple artists on various Wednesday nights for free throughout the summer at Zilker Park. It's one of the many musical summer events Austinites have to look forward to. On a beautiful, warm evening, there is no place better to discover or enjoy live music than on…

The Pinker Tones are a Spanish DJ duo made up of Professor Manso and Mister Furia. They are best known for their killer live sets and danceable electronic albums such as Million Colour Revolution and Wild Animals. With their fourth studio album, Modular, out today on Nacional Records, The Pinker Tones venture into a more indie-rock-oriented territory not taken on previous releases. The…

Once San Antonio’s best kept secret, Piñata Protest is no secret to Austin anymore. Often referred to as the “Mexican Drop Kick Murphys,” the group has performed many marquee showcases here in the Live Music Capital. After having been featured on Austin Vida and countless San Antonio publications before, their only missing piece was a debut full-length album. Now that Plethora has…

Most of the Austin Vida staff was at Pachanga Latino Music Festival on Saturday, May 22, and when we weren't busy dancing our booties off we were taking notes and shooting photos, while observing the sights and sounds. The festival was great fun overall, as we were there from noon to almost midnight. But our only concern is that, for…

I never imagined so many people waiting in line for the Ximena Sariñana show at Stubb’s Monday, but there they were, some even an hour before doors opened, ready to watch the Grammy-nominated artist live. The restless crowd had to wait through two opening acts before Sariñana. Starting off the night was La Royale, a Mexican DJ baring a wolf…

After a decade of musical excellence, Grupo Fantasma—Austin’s biggest and best Latin band—only gets better. Their newest album, El Existential, is the stuff musical legends are made of. New sounds, more lyrical themes, guest appearances from Curt Kirkwood of The Meat Puppets and salsa legend Larry Harlow round out the pieces for what is damn near a perfect album. It's hard…

Good thing we were warned we’d be confused as hell for the first 70 minutes of this film. Director Miguel Gomes took up quite a risky task in Aquele Querido Mes de Agosto (Our Beloved Month of August), the hectic hybrid of documentary and fiction set in the villages of Portugal’s interior. An extraordinary hodgepodge of ordinary things, the first half…