Do512 - What to do in Austin

Best-known for their ubiquitous hit "The Distance," Cake epitomized the postmodern, irony-drenched aesthetic of ‘90s geek-rock. Their sound freely mixed and matched pastiches of widely varying genres -- white-boy funk, hip-hop, country, new wave pop, jazz, college rock, and guitar rock -- with a particular delight in the clashes that resulted. Their songs were filled with lyrical non sequiturs, pop-culture references, and smirky satire, all delivered with bone-dry detachment by speak-singing frontman John McCrea. Cake's sixth studio album Showroom of Compassion is scheduled to be released on January 11, 2011. This will be their first album since the release of Pressure Chief in 2004.

Austin's White Ghost Shivers has spent most of the 2000's dishing out their wildly inventive take on the music that rocked their great-grandparents' world. The seven-piece band comes complete with an accordion, upright bass, banjo, trumpet, clarinet, violin, and guitar, playing a vaudevillian concoction of ragtime, jazz, swing, bluegrass, and cabaret. With lead vocal duties split between a 7-foot-tall, banjo-playing beanpole named Shorty Borgasm and the sultry, ukulele-packing Cella Blue (likened by Fort Worth Weekly to "a one-woman burlesque revue"), well, you just know you're in for a good time at a Shivers show.

Agent Ribbons was born in Sacramento by friends Natalie Gordon (guitar, vocals) and Lauren Hess (drums, percussion). Naomi Cherie then joined the band in 2009, adding violin to a dreamy and deliciously sinful style that blends Vintage Cabaret with Victorian Punk, Baroque Pop, and ‘60s love ballads. In the past year, the band has toured relentlessly, performing over 150 shows in dozens of cities all over the US, France, Spain and Portugal appearing with regional favorites and international legends alike. Agent Ribbons has played Barcelona’s Primavera Sound Festival, toured with Camera Obscura, and shared stages with the likes of CAKE, Vivian Girls and Portugal The Man.