Young Jeezy, for those of you who don't know (consider yourselves lucky), has made a name for himself as a slow, seething, growling MC whose half-assed verses have become ubiquitous for constantly being featured alongside just about every smooth rapper or singer with a silky voice: Usher, Rihanna, Jay-Z, Akon, Kanye West, T.I., Christina Milian and more. He's also released full albums, which must be unlistenable. On the plus side, now making fun of him requires one less syllable—next year he'll just start going by "Jee."

The video for "The Longest Shadow," the second single from the forthcoming High Places album, hit Stereogum yesterday, and it's seriously no joke: all breathy and richly textured, with no real hint of the naiveté that characterized their earlier work. If the whole album is like this, it's a surefire candidate for Year-End supremacy.

The Saturday night show at Antone's will feature original Big Star drummer Jody Stephens and newer members Ken Stringfellow and Jon Auer of the Posies acting as a house band, with original Big Star bassist Andy Hummel expected to sit in along with She & Him's M. Ward, R.E.M. bassist Mike Mills, X's John Doe and Chris Stamey of the dB's.

One can only imagine the list of guest performers will grow larger and even more illustrious over the next 24 hours.

Thanks to commenter George for linking to this incredible video of the late Alex Chilton's Box Tops just having a lark doing a ridiculous lip synch on the teevee to "The Letter." It's absurd, and I think they're enjoying themselves.

Ever since Mike and I discussed this track earlier this month, I've been eagerly anticipating the video for the second single off T-Pain's upcoming RevolveR record (dropping in May), "Reverse Cowgirl." The smoky, slow motion-y video went live yesterday, and it's everything it needed to be, with a dark palette speckled by bright red details and strobe lights, and, best of all, no Young Jeezy verse! Also, there's a woman wearing a saddle, which is both awful and exactly as it should be in light of the song's lyrics. Enjoy.

Chilton was at his home in New Orleans when he started complaining that he wasn't feeling well. He was taken to a local hospital, where he died, in the emergency room, of a suspected heart attack. He was scheduled to perform with Big Star on Saturday at SXSW, and his death will cast a dark shadow over this year's festivities.

Some videos after the jump...

I've listened to this song, off the upcoming (and brilliant) new Tallest Man on Earth record, The Wild Hunt, a million times in the past 18 hours, because "Let us float in the tears, let us cry from the laughter" is basically the best line ever. That's all. Enjoy.

The self-titled debut full-length from Vermont trio Happy Birthday comes out today, via Sub Pop, and I am in love with the album's opening track, "Girls FM," for the many ways it reminds me of the 90s and the Elephant Six collective.

So you’re headed to Austin, and you’re really excited to see Hole, right? Of course not. You’re hoping to catch a few on-the-cusp buzz bands while causally bumping into Kirsten Dunst so you can brag to your friends that you bumped into Kirsten Dunst while seeing the Next Big Thing back when they were just Things. You should therefore see the Magic Kids.

In an online interview with Nylon magazine last summer, one such Magic Kid said, “If it makes you feel sad, then it’s bad music,” which should give you a pretty good idea about where these guys are coming from. Though their happy, huggy, fairy-dust vibe is somewhat consistent with other bands boasting more than six members (see: Polyphonic Spree, I’m From Barcelona, Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros), there’s an undeniable retro-pop influence at the forefront. We're talking sock hops, soda shops and wide-eyed innocence. They’ve recently signed to True Panther Sounds, an imprint for Matador which picked up a solid reputation for sniffing out unknown talent after signing Girls last year. At the very least, take a listen to their song “Hey Boy” posted above and decide if they’re worth your precious SXSW time, or just take our word for it — they are.

Method Man, Ghostface and Raekwon's Wu Massacre album, after many delays and recent claims by Meth that Def Jam has tried to sabotage the project, now has a fairly final release date of March 30 and three epic special edition covers by comic artist Chris Bachalo in addition to the aforementioned album art. My favorite is Ghost's (below), without a doubt, but check out the other two after the jump. (NahRight)

So, the good news: They didn't play "Cousins" again. But then the bad news: Ezra wasn't really up for the falsetto parts, and the whole thing is a bit meh. Neither good nor bad, but maybe sort of funny: during a break in the song, drummer Chris Thompson puts on a hat for no apparent reason, and people cheer. That dude seems to be enjoying this a little more than the rest of them, doesn't he?

I don't know why they insist that they're such a polarizing band, because, well, they just aren't, really, but NPR has the new She and Him record, Volume Two, streaming on their website right now. Go listen, and decide which side you'll take in the fiery, fiery debate that is certain not to follow.

"Young kids should be taught about sex, but they shouldn't be taught to be sexy,” Nash said.

“It's really distasteful. They're called Pussy. Cat. Dolls. You don't need to say anything else really.

“It's encouraging sexualisation and sexuality in young kids, and I think that's a bit weird.”

If, by "encouraging sexualization and sexuality in young kids," she means to say that they've made it so that "11-year-old girls walk around the mall wearing sweatpants with the words "hot stuff" or "princess" or "flirt" emblazoned on the ass," yes, we completely agree.

Not that you guys care, but in college my school would organize a trip called "Dayton to Daytona" every year after graduation. Driving to Florida was pretty fun, but the way back to Ohio was not so much. That's how I imagine the drive back from SXSW being: lots of headaches and maybe even a friend getting sick on you. Point is, bring a few bottles of water instead of Doritos? Sets are just 20 minutes, so get there early — doors at 7pm, tickets $10.