Feeling lost on the murky road of life? Well, get out and stretch your legs on the weekly rest stop known as Sound Advice.

Remember when you were a teenager and someone at your high school discovered the word “conceited?” Pretty soon they were searching for someone to attach that label to, and perhaps it was you. Then you, too, figured out what conceited meant and decided you didn’t want to be called that so you tried to adjust your behavior so people didn’t think you were a self centered prick.

Maybe you weren’t labeled conceited, but it was something else; pretentious, show off, self centered. Maybe it wasn’t someone at your school, maybe it was your parents, or a jealous cousin or your racist step-uncle. Whatever it was, it made you think twice about being as awesome as you are. You stopped wanting to draw attention to yourself, you started wearing all black, grey or army green, and agreed with everything that everyone said.

Sometimes the desire to be liked, or just not ostracized, keeps us from expressing ourselves fully. It stops us from acknowledging and appreciating our individual gifts whether that is being a bold personality, or beautiful or an amazingly talented musician. Don’t play yourself small just because someone else can’t handle your awesomeness.

Today, I give you permission to brag about what you are good at, to wear your flame red dress out to dinner even if bitches gonna hate on you, and to play the entire solo from Comfortably Numb at your family reunion. Be bold, go big, and make sure people know that you were here. Today give yourself permission to rock.

Rev your engines, it’s time for Flashion Forward, a new UI feature in which we endeavor to explore the ever-expanding universe of sonic style. Each week, we’ll pluck a recently added interview from our warehouse of current clips and try to read between the artist’s sartorial lines. Today, we’re tapping Miniature Tigers to see what the cat’s meow is.

Alterna-popsters Miniature Tigers are no strangers to the coeval godsend and menace of media attention, having basked in the ferocious glow (and pressure!) of Rolling Stone and Spin’s hearty endorsement and bonhomie.

When does a little welcome regard become suffocating overexposure? (Probably around the same time a former crush’s once-charming engrossment in the most minute details of your life becomes creepy and 911-worthy, or your new favorite purple mini-skirt snagged at H&M morphs into a totally humiliating purchase now that every mall chick in Kansas City is sporting it. But I digress).

Anyhoo, the adorably outfitted band’s media savvy extends way beyond the standard “how prevalent should our presence be on MySpace?” concerns. And OMG, if anyone else wore a sweater featuring teddy bears holding hands they’d totally get their ass kicked. Not the mention the gramps-esque sunglasses strapped for security? safety? onto the front of their shirts would mortify the most clueless member of the debate team, but how cute are they?

Let’s all put on our thinking caps and contemplate deeply as they venture into the outer limits of abstraction and existentialism regarding the importance of associating visuals with bands – but not too many visuals, and don’t even get them started on overly commercial ones, mkay?

The Beastie Boys, Tool and Coldplay will headline the second annual All Points West, with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, My Bloody Valentine and MGMT, among plenty others, also performing. The gigantic music and arts fest returns to Liberty State Park in New Jersey from Friday July 31 through Sunday August 2.

Cop your tickets beginning this Friday, April 4 via Ticketmaster starting at $89 for a one day pass up to $199 for the entire three-day pass.

Also taking the stage are a few UI artists, including Lykke Li, Mogwai, Chairlift, The Postelles, Akron/Family and Yelle. The Postelles still get a rush out of seeing their name on blogs, and we bet they’re giddily emailing their moms links to all the sites mentioning them today. Congrats guys! See the full lineup after the jump.

(FULL APW LINEUP)

Today a judge sentenced Atlanta rapper T.I. to a year and a day in the slammer for felony weapons charges. As part of a plea deal, he’ll also have to fork over $100,000 and complete 1,500 hours of community service. When he’s released, he’ll be on home confinement for 60 days and have to undergo drug counseling.

Apparently The OaKs know the feeling that got T.I. into this mess in the first place. One of them has it out for the late composer John Cage and if given the chance, would assault him with his own boring music. It’s a bit more creative than plain old whooping some ass, and we think the sentence wouldn’t be quite as severe.

It’s time to rewind with Flashion Backward, a new UI feature that’s the spiritual cousin of our recently debuted Flashion Forward. Here, we rifle through our treasure trove of interviews to fish out a vintage gem–the better to explore the strange vortex in which fashion and musicians meet. Onto this week’s flashback…

Even if you’re laying splayed on a sagging bed under far too many layers of sheets and blankets, half dead from a hangover, stuffed to the almost-barfing brim with greasy home fries and a Spanish frittata (shoulda skipped that side of sausage) and attempting to fearlessly face down a Saturday crammed with laundry…when !!! gets queued up in your laptop’s random shuffle mode, ya can’t help but shake yer rump to the dance-punk loveliness. Suddenly you realize that Excedrin you slammed 20 minutes ago has kicked in, those sausages gave you an all-important protein-packed energy boost and laundry is for suckers–you’re headed to the park.

!!! is familiar with mood and style swings from the crusty rubble of the mid-90s hardcore scene. Lead singer Nic Offer wanted to inject some light-hearted fun, funk, pop and experimentation into his music, and the eight-member ensemble !!! was born. The music definitely evolved, but their essential commitment to radical politics, in-your-face intensity and slacker fashion remained firm. (The band members hail from the mad-genius sculptor “don’t mind this pattern of whimsically scattered mystery crust on my threadbare T-shirt, and yes, I did find these jeans on the bottom of my girlfriend’s closet, but they totally fit so I’m wearing them – all my shit is dirty, dude” school of getting dressed in the morning)

Below, check out Nic as he waxes surreal on his dream to continue to transform the world around him with…wait for it…Jesus-like floating superpowers. (The ability to simply fly or make paintings talk isn’t rock ‘n’ roll enough).

Welcome back to Almost Famous, where we select one lucky Uncensored Interviewee who we deem to be on the verge of spreading beyond our illustrious tastemaking boundaries and taking over the cultural zeitgeist at large in the coming months.

This time we’re off to the land down under. But don’t worry; we aren’t reaching back for some tired Men At Work sound-alike. Instead, the four men working their rockin’ rears off for fame and fortune call themselves The Temper Trap. The Melbourne-based, now U.K.-bound band’s upcoming release was produced by Jim Abbiss, who has worked with everyone from The Arctic Monkeys to Adele and Ladytron.

The first single off the album, “The Science of Fear,” out April 20th, mixes jittery guitar work with a stuttering snare beat to support Dougy Mandagi’s vocals atop it all. The song “Sweet Disposition” from their EP is featured in the Sundance hit film “500 Days of Summer” starring Zooey Deschanel, and they were in the top 15 of the BBC’s Sound of 2009. With all of this attention, a bidding war among record labels has thusly ensued over their full length album that drops this June.

The singer also studied fashion and worked in a clothing store before music became his number one priority. But unlike most fashion trends, which are here today and gone ages before tomorrow, expect The Temper Trap to last the length of the catwalk and beyond. Even if they do sometimes show up to gigs wearing the same outfit. The horror!

March was a mad, mad month in all of its sweat-soaked, cuckoo competitive, my-dick-is-bigger-than-yours glory–and no, the madness to which we’re referring does not involve that whole college basketball playoff thing. It’s SXSW mania, bitches! The 23-year-old Austin festival has ripened from a wee little anonymous Texas toddler to a full-grown star in the pop-cultural firmament whose sultry glory and ever-extending influence can only be ignored by card-carrying members of the AARP.

But like the best celebrities, SXSW seems impervious to all of the attention, and has managed to maintain the spirit of a cool little indie fest, while simultaneously attracting every expense-account touting suit in the industry, tout le musical monde spanning every conceivable genre (everyone from Metallica to Erykah Badu to Micachu and the Shapes staged a show) and, of course, thousands of rabid fans.

The lovely economic slump we’re ensconced in and the general “Uh-oh WTF is going on now that the Internets are here?” vibe the industry’s been dealing with left the artists and fans as ready to chillax as the party’s hosts.

Below, five clips of artists dispensing tips to achieve tranquility now (no prescriptions or dudes who know dudes who can get you this stuff required).

5. Amazing Baby: Just Cinch It

Unlike, say, Vanilla Ice, The Goo Goo Dolls or Hootie and the Blowfish, folktronica punkers Amazing Baby actually deliver what they’re nominally sellin’. Lush, epic, hybridized and glamorama without needing eyeliner, Amazing Baby dishes out the kind of incandescent tunes that would make any momma proud.

And they’re all about the ladies–in a totally non-creepy way–which is something a gal likes to see. Let’s hire some fancy scientists to analyze the substance in those little bottles they’re drinking, because I can’t remember the last time I saw, heard about, read about or even dared to imagine five hot young men–accomplished artistes who live in Brooklyn, no less–sensitively discussing the importance of comfort for recently pregnant women.

Their sage advice? “Get a belt and cinch it.” It being a mumu, caftan, smock or adult onesie. After all, it’s what Santa wears. Check out their wisdom, prudence and panache below.

4. Thunderheist: Mom Boobs

Dance-rap funsters Thunderheist stormed SXSW with their infectious, sexy, electro-disco-drama and wicked funk stiletto-tapping beats. On their MySpace page the duo claims their influences include Red Bull vodka, French boys, dirty dirty synths and Asian chicks…with bangs! And you can totally hear it in their joyful sonic exploitation of good old fashioned hedonistic fun.

Despite their laissez-faire approach to life and love, they have their limits, dammit! And as self-proclaimed professional thunder-stealers, I’m guessing they’re a force to be reckoned with. I pity the fool who–uninvited–unveils her boobies in front of these two. Check out the two kicking back, soaking up some Austin sun and laying down some ground rules re: mom boobage.

(READ ALL ABOUT CHILLAXING AT SXSW HERE)