Bob Thompson’s passionate preview of last night’s Biblical Proof of UFOs show at Spaceland told the story of one of the truly great lost Los Angeles bands. Three unassuming nice guys who subverted the local scene for six-some years, then dissolved into the ether. Bob’s reverence is not undeserved. In their prime, BPUFO mastered the art of dynamics better than any band I’ve ever seen. I always pictured them crammed into a sweaty practice......

During the six years relocated Clevelanders Biblical Proof of UFOs haunted the dives of Los Angeles, they made my world a better place. This one band brought so many of my favorite things in the same package. They had a simply colossal sound, shape-shifting between glacial-pace Black Sabbath grind and Who-like momentum, powered by memorable tunes and sweetened with angelic vocal harmonies. They could step on any stage, in any room, with lousy acoustics......

I am thankful for… Thanksgiving - even though I think it’s a stupid holiday, and I pretty much hate all the food associated with it - for giving me the opportunity to spend the day with family that I love and actually enjoy being around. I am thankful every day that I am able to make a living being creative and doing something I love. (Except for when I’m on strike) I am thankful......

For many of you, this week is all about Turkey Day. For others, it's still all about The Strike. For me? This week will go down in history not because of the strike or Thanksgiving, but because the most awesome video game of all time, Rock Band, was released yesterday. I got my kit set up and ready to go within minutes, and began rocking out almost immediately. First impressions? The drumming element is......

Whew! We're a little more than half-way through this music marathon in New York and I'm starting to realize how similar this experience is to an actual marathon. It requires a lot of endurance, patience, and you'll wish you were an amputee afterwards. With two more days left, I'm still yearning for more and I'm certain that CMJ's final days will sate me. Yesterday started off a bit slow. I began my trek in......

Various Artists Kurt Cobain About A Son Music From The Motion Picture Barsuk Records, released 9/11/07 The loud-quiet-LOUD bipolarity and creepy darkness of Kurt Cobain's music comes across loud-and-clear in this excellent collection of grunge, punk, and blues that make up the music of Kurt Cobain About A Son. The fact that no actual Cobain material is used in this makes it even weirder, and if you ask me, better. It makes you miss......

I don't know how I missed this, but there have been a slew of major announcements regarding the upcoming release of Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, and lemme tell ya, this shit is serious. Apparently even Lars Ulrich got the memo about GH being an incredible (and lucrative) game, because Metallica's classic "One" has been confirmed to be a part of the set-list for the fall release. ("Enter Sandman" will be appearing on......

OUT TODAY: These and other new releases are conveniently located at your neighborhood record store (sigh) or online retailer… The Chemical Brothers - We Are the Night (Astralwerks) Suzanne Vega - Beauty and Crime (Blue Note) The Dark Crystal: 25th Anniversary Soundtrack - Trevor Jones (La-La Land) KT Tunstall - Hold On [SINGLE] (Relentless Records) Editors - An End Has a Start (Epic) Meat Puppets - Rise to Your Knees (Anodyne) The Cribs -......

Shredding ensued at last night’s LA regional competition of the US Air Guitar Championships at the Key Club in West Hollywood. 16 air shredders competed to represent L.A. in the US Championships in NYC on August 16, and a possible chance to represent the US at the world championships in Finland. The evening was emceed by the now retired Bjorn Turoque , the author of “To Air is Human.” He opened the show with......

If it seems like Vin Scully has been doing Dodger games forever, that's because this is his 50th season broadcasting LA Dodger games (1958-2007) and his 57th as a Dodger announcer. He's one of the few major broadcasters who works alone in the booth. No color man needed, no ex-jocks, no sidekick. The only problem with that is sometimes he can casually blow you away with precise diction and perfect tone, and sometimes the......

MAY 7 1833 -- Johannes Brahms BIRTHDAY 1840 -- Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky BIRTHDAY 1903 -- Bing Crosby BIRTHDAY 1961 -- Phil Campbell (Motorhead) BIRTHDAY 1972 -- Reginald Dwight legally changes his name to Elton Hercules John. 1972 -- Rolling Stones release Exile on Main Street 1973 -- George Harrison releases Give Me Love [Single] 1980 -- Black Sabbath, with vocalist Ronnie James Dio, begin a four night stand at London’s Hammersmith Odeon Theater to promote......

We get a lot of email at LAist. A lot. We reply to almost none of it because then that would double the email, if not triple it. When people are patient, polite, and do us the favor of being persistent if something is truly special, they usually get what they want. And although we might not reply, we do read everything that we get. Today we got something that was just so good......

Backbiter, The Bob Lee (Black Sabbath Christmas songs), Hot for Chocolate @ Mr. T's Bowl Kingdom of Ozzy, Seventh Son, Automatic Hotel, Compound X @ Paladino's Jews & Mexicans, Jet Fuel, Big Tone, Black Fuzz, Space Fuzz @ The Scene Scissors for Lefty, Last American Buffalo, The Bloody Heads @ Spaceland Gliss, The Oohlas, The Secret 6, Pop Levi @ The Knitting Factory The Reyes Brothers w/ Mellow Man Ace and Sen Dog @......

Mon 6/12 - Boy Kill Boy / Monsters are Waiting @ Spaceland (Free) – Spaceland's always a safe bet on Monday night. London’s Boy Kill Boy play that catchy dance-rock that you might like if you’re into Bloc Party and Franz Ferdinand. They’ve been on tour with Charlatans and Echo & the Bunnymen, so take advantage of seeing them for free. They’re also playing Lollapalooza and the Reading and Leeds festivals. Their first single,......

The Bellrays Have a Little Faith (Cheap Lullaby) – Local rock band with a powerful female soul singer. Catch them live at Sea Level Records on 5/2 at 7:00 PM and Safari Sam’s on 5/12. Listen to some tracks on their Myspace page. Pearl Jam Pearl Jam (J Records) – Critics are saying that this is Pearl Jam’s best record since Vitalogy. They even eponymously titled it. It seems like Clive Davis has once......