More SXSW goodies: Free Lonely Planet Austin Guide for your iPhone

If you are heading to Austin for SXSW, you already know that you’ll be getting free Gogo Inflight Internet access on Alaska, American and Delta. And now Lonely Planet throws in another freebie.

The good folks at Lonely Planet have a very pleasant habit of lowering the prices of their excellent guides to celebrate events. Today, they follow that tradition by launching their new Austin guide – for free.

The app covers things to do, where to eat, , where to shop, neighborhood basics and more.

Since SXSW is a real strain on mobile networks, you’ll be happy to know that the app includes offline maps.

It is available for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad and can be downloaded from the App store. The promotion started this morning and lasts till March 15 at 5PM PST, after it ends, the guide will go back up to its usual price ($5.99).

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SXSW: 5 last minute accommodation options

Austin’s biggest festival, South by Southwest, is just around the ever-closer corner. And most decent hotels in town are fully booked. The decent hotels with remaining vacancy, if there are any left, will be charging you for the luxury of staying in a hotel during SXSW. So what’s a film, interactive, and music-lover to do? Bypass the entire festival? No. I don’t think so. Instead, get creative with your search for accommodations. Here are 5 options for last minute SXSW accommodations.

AirBnB has been targeting Austin residents for a while in preparation for this event. There are still rooms available on AirBnB and, if I had to guess, you’ll have more fun staying with some insta-friends than you will holed up in a hotel room too expensive or too far out of town.

HomeAway also still remains a viable Austin SXSW option. With a focus on vacation rentals of all sorts, you’ll see more Austin area destination rentals on HomeAway, like Lake Travis, with your initial search. Dig a little deeper though and there are still some decent close-enough properties up for grabs.
CouchSurfing
still exists, despite the growing number of websites offering home owners and renters actual money for sharing their living space. So don’t knock it until you try it and try it if you’re stuck. Especially if you’re stuck, broke, and believe in karma.


Craigslist
and its users have secured my housing several times. Although sites like AirBnB are more user-friendly and safeguarding than Craigslist, you definitely still have a chance at securing SXSW accommodations on this always-mysterious original online bulletin board.

Friends and friends of friends. Relatives and relatives of relatives. It may seem far-fetched, but ask around. Maybe you’ve exhausted your internal lists of connections for crashing in Austin and maybe you’ve already asked everyone on Facebook. But don’t draw the line there. Ask those close to you if they know anyone trustworthy in Austin you might be able to crash with. Offer your potential hosts some money for their time and space, cleaning services, and tell them you’ll chip in on drinks and food. Top that off with a warmly-welcomed gift (Out of ideas? A bottle of wine often does the trick) and you might just have yourself a home with some not-so-strange strangers.

Finally, here’s a tip for the road: If you wind up using any of the above accommodation options for SXSW, that means you’ll be staying in someone else’s home. Do not, I repeat, do not get so drunk amid SXSW festivities that you embarrass yourself or damage property. Especially if that whole ‘believing in karma’ line above resonated with you.

Ten musical destinations that will rock your world

Music has a way of taking you on a journey. Like any great trip, the songs that inspire us are filled with joyous highs and sobering lows, unexpected revelations and exotic uncertainties. It’s only natural then that each of us seeks out music during our travels. Whether it’s a CD stand in a bustling market in Morocco or a classically-trained violinist playing on a street corner in Paris, music offers travelers a visceral way to cut through the confusion of language and custom, revealing the true essence of a destination.

Wherever we go, melodies both familiar and exotic burst out of speakers, vibrate in concert halls, groove around city streets and drip off the walls in sweaty dance clubs. Yet it’s only in a few select spots around the world that the culture of music becomes a truly tangible attraction. These are the special places where a unique confluence of cultural cross-pollination, inherent creativity and a critical mass of kick-ass musicianship coalesces to create something truly special.

In the course of our journeys here at Gadling, we’ve uncovered some of the world’s most unique and memorable destinations for music. The following list is by no means the end-all-be-all of musical places to visit, but each of the ten spots we’ve chosen is without a doubt one-of-a-kind and a true musical hotspot. Did we choose any of your favorites? Click below for our picks…
Number 10 – Mali’s Festival in the Desert
At first glance, it would be easy to mistake Mali’s Festival in the Desert as a cruel mirage. Yet every year this wind-swept country in Northwestern Africa puts on one of the continent’s best musical events, featuring traditional Tuareg tunes as well as music from around the globe.

Number 9 – Pitch-perfect karaoke in Manila
Love it or hate it, Karaoke has spread its melodies around the world, from the drinking dens of Tokyo to the back streets of New York. But to truly experience Karaoke talent, head to Manila. Filipino cover bands are legendary for their pitch-perfect renditions of Western pop songs. In fact, if you closed your eyes, you’d be hard pressed to tell the difference from the originals.

Number 8 – Concert hopping in Austin, TX
They like to say everything is bigger in Texas, and Austin’s annual South by Southwest music festival certainly doesn’t disappoint. Each March, over a thousand bands from around the world descend on the state’s capital for four days of drinking, dancing and music industry schmoozing. If you’re hoping to catch rock’s next great thing or simply looking for a good time, South by Southwest is definitely one of the USA’s best music events.

Number 7 – Tokyo Record Collecting
Tokyo, Japan is one of the world’s great cultural epicenters, consuming and re-creating pop culture trends at a furious pace. This intense consumption is particularly true of music, where the Japanese excel as the world’s consummate music collectors. If you need proof of Tokyo’s status as the crown jewel for record shopping, one need only stroll the back alleyways of Tokyo’s bustling Shinjuku district. Along the narrow side streets you’ll stumble upon hidden second floor record shops packed floor to ceiling with obscure vinyl and out-of-print rarities.

Number 6 – New Orleans gets Jazzed

New Orleans is known as the birthplace of Jazz music. It was the city’s unique mixture of French, Spanish and African traditions that allowed the city to develop this particularly unique musical heritage, one that is evident even today. One of the best ways to experience the Big Easy’s Jazz culture is the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, perhaps the world’s best showcase of this distinctly southern-tinged style.

Number 5 – The London Remix
London has a reputation as a musical chameleon, a city that takes on the world’s constantly evolving musical styles, remixing and reinterpreting in a uniquely British way. Whether it’s Punk or Techno, Indie Rock or Dubstep, London has something to suit the tastes of about every music lover. Check out this list of London music venues, this rundown of record stores, or top-notch dance clubs like Fabric if you’re looking to jump along to the beat.


Number 4 – Kingston sound system parties
Jamaica holds an outsize reputation in the world’s musical lore, having birthed world-famous artists like Bob Marley along with hundreds of other equally talented Jamaican singers, producers and musicians. Though the laid-back vibe of Tuff Gong has long-since morphed into the raw sounds of Dancehall and Ragga, you can still experience Jamaican music at its finest at some of Kingston’s weekly sound system parties like Passa Passa and Weddy Weddy Wednesday. These rough and tumble affairs take over Kingston’s parks and streets with huge speakers, raucous dancing and plenty of fun.


Number 3 – All night techno in Berlin
Something happened when the Berlin Wall came down in 1989. As a divided city was slowly mended together, music fans began to take over the city’s abandoned buildings and spaces for semi-legal dance parties. It was the beginning of Techno, a music scene that would soon sweep the capital and most of Europe. Berlin today is ground zero for electronic music fans, with some of the world’s best DJ’s playing parties that can last all night and into the next day and beyond. Check out the events list at Resident Advisor for a good listing of what’s happening.

Number 2 – Shake to the rhythm of Brazilian Carnival
Much like New Orleans and Jamaica, Brazil is the product of a unique confluence of cultures, bringing together Portuguese, African and indigenous influences. Nowhere does this unique cultural history make itself better felt than during Brazil’s annual Carnival festivities, when cities across the country like Rio de Janeiro and Salvador erupt in wild displays of samba dancing and furious drumming. Check out this Rio Carnival guide to get started.



Number 1 – Find what’s new in New York City
It’s hard to even describe how important New York has been to 20th Century musical innovation. Jazz. Punk. Disco. Hip hop. Whatever your preferred style of music, you can find it here…whether its an Indie Rock show at the Bowery Ballroom or killer night of Jazz over at Blue Note, New York’s got it all. Spend a day browsing through record stores like Other Music and A-1 Records before catching a show at Mercury Lounge, S.O.B.’s or Lincoln Center.

Did we pick your favorite musical destination? Think we forgot one of the best? Leave us a comment below to continue to the debate.