It's a good week so far for basic cable programming. "Mad Men" was great, as was last night's season premiere of "The Shield", and tonight we have the series premiere of "Sons of Anarchy" on FX. Somehow the show is becoming a darling of the critics (not this one, because, hint hint, FX hasn't sent me any previews). What we _do_ know about is the "Cocaine Diaries" on BBC America at 9:00pm - a really......

LAist was among a couple hundred lucky fans left with goose bumps after being treated to an intimate set of music by Brian Wilson. The former Beach Boy debuted material from his brand new, Van Dyke Parks-produced album, That Lucky Old Sun backed by his energetic 10-piece band. Classic Beach Boys faves "California Girls," "I Get Around," "Good Vibrations," and more. A couple audience members were chosen to ask Wilson questions mid-set and inquired......

I'm hoping you got a bunch of DVDs to tide you over during this dead week as well as until the writer's strike ends. It looks like TCM is running an "aviation in movies" marathon tonight and IFC's featuring Harvey Keitel. For further marathon action, check out BRAVO which is showing all of Project Runway's fourth season (starts at 6:00pm). 4:15pm Five Easy Pieces IFC - (1970) If you've got the day off like me,......

Oh, to have unlimited resources and $8,000 to blow. My perceptions of rock 'n' roll fantasy camps forever changed this morning when my eyes skimmed an e-mail touting the mother of all rock experiences. My skepticism led me to open the e-mail and I was genuinely shocked by the caliber of the special guests and "camp counselors," which include Brian Wilson, Nick Mason, Cliff Williams and more. The Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy Camp will take place Feb. 15-18 at a recording studio in Los Angeles and will include an on-stage performance with Cliff Williams at the House of Blues. ...

MUSIC: CalTech isn’t just about nerdy rocket scientists. They have glee clubs, too! All kidding aside, tonight's concert will feature traditional holiday favorites as well as the Women's Club taking on Porpora’s Magnificat, written in the 1730s. 8 pm // Dabney Lounge at California Institute of Technology // 1200 East California Blvd., Pasadena // Free. DANCE: From CalTech, we’ll head over to CalArts in Valencia. The Sharon Disney Lund School of Dance is holding its......

Protest over national vs. regional chains, the never-ending debate over the place of cars and bicycles in our metropolises, professional sports scandals, remembering a solemn day, and being issued a search warrant - it all happened across our sites this week! Another banner week at Chicagoist started off with daily reports from food writer Lisa Shames on her attempt to eat only locally grown and raised foodstuffs all week as part of a farmers......

Daniel Johnston at SXSW, 3/07 He's probably best known for his "Hi How Are You" tshirt that Kurt Cobain often wore, but if you don't know Daniel Johnston's music you're really missing out and you should definitely pick up the award-winning DVD, "The Devil and Daniel Johnston". Equally amateurish and darkly genius, Johnston's tunes lie somewhere between Brian Wilson and Wesley Willis while being heavily influenced by the Beatles: Daniel Johnston @ Henry Fonda......

Menomena - Cough Coughing Brian Wilson @ Pasadena Civic Auditorium John Doe @ Amoeba Menomena @ Troubadour Ne-Yo @ House of Blues Dave Stewart @ Largo LCD Soundsystem, Yacht @ El Rey Lifesavas, Strange Fruit Project @ Roxy The Duke Spirit, Twilight Sleep @ Spaceland Bleed the Dream, Hey Mike, Umbrellas @ On the Rox Hazelden, Tattooed Millionaires, Firebug, Stepsonday @ Safari Sam's Cold War Kids @ Echoplex......

If Perry Farrell wants to have a Flash Mob situation happen in Venice on Sunday, fine. Bro invented Jane's Addiction, an LA band so great it ranks right up there with the Doors, Guns n Roses, and the Beach Boys. Like Brian Wilson, Perry could have holed himself up in a house doing drugs and thinking about surfing, but instead he invented Lollapalooza and then made the underground classic film The Gift. So if......

He's probably best known for his "Hi How Are You" tshirt that Kurt Cobain often wore, but if you don't know Daniel Johnston's music you're really missing out and you should definitely pick up the award-winning DVD, "The Devil and Daniel Johnston". Equally amateurish and darkly genius, Johnston's tunes lie somewhere between Brian Wilson and Wesley Willis while being heavily influenced by the Beatles. He took to the stage yesterday at the Convention Center......

LAist could have seen the Jesus & Mary Chain in 1986 but they played on Good Friday at the Santa Monica Civic and we were all, "if you see a band called the Jesus & Mary Chain on Good Friday you're gonna go to Hell." But we loved the band, and with each new album we loved them more and more. Quasi-gothic take on Brian Wilson is how it always felt to us. Beautiful......

Anavan, Crooked Cowboy, Bob Bellerue, Bizzart @ Il Corral (fundraiser - go) Brian Wilson @ Long Beach Terrace Theater (final all Pet Sounds concert) Robbers on High Street, Lemon Sun, Mezzanine Owls @ The Echo (6pm) Of Montreal @ Avalon Cherryholmes @ Citrus College The Chieftains @ Cerritos Center The Briefs @ Alex's Bar (LA Derby Dolls afterparty) Shirley Caesar, Angie Stone, Kelly Price @ Galen Center RTX, The Binges, Year Long Disaster, HDR......

Jim Noir, Tower of Love, on Barsuk Records. "My Patch" is a pleasantly interesting start to this album with telephone-tweaked vocals, uppity rhythm and twangy instrumentation. The clue of what was to come was the Brian Wilson styled bridge. [Hint: if you are a Jim Noir fan, please stop reading here] Jim Noir's effort is one of those singer-songwriter-with-access-to-nice-recording-setup albums. He's an excellent musician and he sure knows how to lay down track after......

Brian Wilson @ UCLA Royce Hall Dirty Sanchez, Jefree Star @ Key Club Joshua Bell @ Disney Concert Hall Bob Lind @ Little Pedro's DJ AM @ LAX Sarah Green, Evan Bethany @ Tangier Tina Stevens @ Canter's Kibitz Room Jamie Lidell, Safety Scissors @ Safari Sam's Voxtrot, Low vs. Diamond, Yellow Fever @ The Troubadour River City Rebels, Penny Royals, Umbrella Tree @ Viper Room Kelly Dalton, Until June, Jay Nash @ The......

The white smoke slowly rose from atop the Angelyne billboard which meant the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce had decided who would get stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2007. The lucky winners included KROQ pioneer Rodney on the Roq who was the first d.j. to play such bands as the Ramones, the Sex Pistols, the Cure, Van Halen, Duran Duran, Oasis, the Smiths, Blondie, the Go-Gos, Depeche Mode, the Strokes, the White......

With influences ranging from Prince to Brian Wilson, Sabrosa Purr's sound is hard to pin down. And if you ask the band, that's the way they like it. With the exception of a few songs, they've ditched the formulaic verse-and-chorus routine we've all been accustomed to hearing. The result is something that stands out from everything else you hear on KROQ or Indie. Keep reading to find out how the band got its enigmatic......

It seems there aren't any good vibrations in Surf City, USA. Beach Boy Mike Love is suing cousin and ex-bandmate Brian Wilson over Wilson's recent Smile release. According to an Associated Press report: Love filed the lawsuit in federal court Thursday accusing Wilson of promoting his 2004 album, "Smile," in a manner that "shamelessly misappropriated Mike Love's songs, likeness and the Beach Boys trademark, as well as the `Smile' album itself." The Beach Boys,......

LAist would like to send you and a guest to see Brian Wilson perform the legendary lost Beach Boys album SMiLE live at the Hollywood Bowl on Sunday, September 4th. The Polyphonic Spree will open the pop extravaganza; Wilson will also perform some of the Beach Boys greatest hits alongside the music of SMiLE. To enter for your chance to win tickets to a night of sublime harmonies, fill out the form below:......

Editor's Note: Here is the second part of our Interview with author Domenic Priore. Since he's such an expert on SoCal in the 60s, we've asked him to answer our questionnaire as a resident of the Sunset Strip in 1966. Domenic will be discussing "Smile: The Story of Brian Wilson's Lost Masterpiece" at Vroman's Bookstore in Pasadena next Saturday, July 23, 2005 at. 3:00 PM. He'll be joined by Van Dyke Parks, Danny Hutton &......

Southern California is lucky to have Domenic Priore, 45, as a native son. The author and documentary filmmaker has focused his considerable energy on documenting the heyday of the Sunset Strip music scene and Beach Boys hagiography resulting in books like his latest "Smile: The Story of Brian Wilson's Lost Masterpiece," which can be considered an adjunct to the documentary on Brian Wilson called "Beautiful Dreamer," and his upcoming book "Riot on Sunset Strip:......

THURSDAY • At the Troubadour hosts Dwarves, Mondo Generator, The Willowz and DJ Brian Vasquez. Doors open at 8 PM; tickets are $12 advance. • Popsters Kinski perform a free in-store at Amoeba Music at 6 PM, followed by a set at The Echo featuring Polar Goldie Cats and Open City at 8:30 PM. Tickets are $8. [18+] • The Like, Soft and The Chapin Sisters perform tonight at the Viper Room. • "Also......