Feels Like Sunday's Nate Smith will begin work on his second Albuquerque compilation this month. The project, Rock Outside the Box Vol. II, is shaping up to be an ambitious follow up to 2003's Vol. 1., which featured 14 tracks from as many bands. The new album will draw heavily from an original roster that included Unit 7 Drain, Foma, Oktober People, Hit by a Bus and Ki. My source hinted that the number of bands may climb in to the low 20s ... perhaps warranting a double disc? Huzzah! If you're still hungry for hot local action, keep your eyes peeled on www.KronikIndustries.com. The production team that brought us Fast Heart Mart's documentary film Arrhythmia is rumored to have a DVD compilation in the works. Nothing's confirmed though. In the meantime, a whole lot of Burque bands can look forward to schlepping back and forth to Santa Fe's Stepbridge Studios, where they'll lay down tracks for Rock Outside the Box.

Al Dimeola

To guitar aficionados and jazz junkies, the man needs no introduction. For those unfamiliar with his exploits over the last 20-plus years, here's a recap. At the ripe old age of 19, he was tapped by piano virtuoso Chick Corea to join the now legendary fusion supergroup Return to Forever. Dimeola not only held his own alongside such jazz heavyweights as Corea, Lenny White and Stanley Clarke, but went on to make his own brand of Latin/jazz/rock solo albums that set the music world on fire. Over the course of his first five albums, Dimeola was voted Guitar World Magazine's Guitarist of the Year so often they retired him from the category.

with The Fantomes, The Coma Recovery, The Riptorn and Phalcore

Friday, April 1; Launchpad (All ages, 8 p.m.): If being talked about, argued over, dually worshipped and reviled still matter for rock bands, The Locust may well hold the honored distinction of being the most incendiary punk band of the last 10 years. Whether being chastised for selling out to Epitaph imprint Anti (home also to Merle Haggard and Nick Cave) or lambasted for their dubious choices in merchandise (die-cast belt buckles and multi-use compact mirrors), the San Diego four-piece tends to stir up controversy at every turn. And whether you happen to find them annoyingly gimmicky or downright incredible, bassist and singer Justin Pearson—through his work with Struggle, Swing Kids and Crimson Curse—damn near defined screamo for a generation of late '90s romulans. While that may be good or bad depending on your particular shade of hair dye, The Locust have inarguably left their ugly mark on turn of the century indie music. Half a decade later, the forebearers of Mooged out, no-wave powerviolence are still trudging along the tour circuit, maintaining their singularly claustrophobic, brutally vicious and unapologetically odd vision of future music. Friday night they'll crash and convulse through the five movements from their new symphony EP Safety Second, Body Last, their most complex and accomplished work to date.

Ten killer moments at SXSW 2005 (plus a few more)

There's a little game I play with myself every year at South By Southwest, where I try to see more bands than I did the previous year. A couple of years ago I broke the magical 50 mark and have been unable to match it since. This year, I managed to take in 35 acts over four sleepless nights and three bleary-eyed days ... and with a mangled left toe even.

The law of averages dictates that, given the sheer number of acts being witnessed, there are going to be at least a few stinkers, and there were. But I can honestly say that the 2005 installment ranks among the top three of the 10 consecutive SXSW festivals I've been to. And that fact, in some ways, made choosing the best bands and artists I saw both a pleasure and a bitch. Here we go.