I've always been intrigued by other "best of" lists, but this year I decided to take it to a whole new level. I e-mailed a handful of bands that I've seen this past year in order to unearth what exactly captivated them in '07. As music listeners, it is our duty to take a keen interest in our favorite musician's influences. After all, they rocked our little world, might as well see what rocked their......

Grammy nominations were announced early this morning in Los Angeles. Kanye West's album "Graduation" earned eight nods, including Album of the Year and Rap Album of the Year. The increasingly unstable Amy Winehouse garnered six nominations for "Back to Black," including Album of the Year, Song of the Year, Record of the Year, and Best New Artist. Surprisingly, Bruce Springsteen did not get an Album of the Year nod for "Magic." Other nominees in......

Tonight is the most excellent show, Open Road on KCRW, which begins at 9:00 p.m., ending at midnight. DJ Gary Calamar mixes roots of Rock, Country, Jazz, Blues, and Soul with new releases that you can most see on his peer's lists. Calamar got his start at KCRW as a volunteer, moving his way to DJ after literally begging on his knees to Chris Douridas for a show. Douridas made a great choice. 1)......

When you have a huge music collection and you listen almost all the time, there tends to be a few artists that you come back to over and over. In our house, full of CD's, concert DVD's, and iPods a few artists reign supreme: The Beatles, Elvis Costello, and Loudon Wainwright III. Loudon's music can make you feel, make you smile, and make you think-- he is a master storyteller. Often listed with the......

My heart wasn't saying Bruuuuuuuuce, it was booing. The biggest cliche in amateur criticism is to say "I liked his older stuff better". Bruce Springsteen is supposed to be held on the same level as Bob Dylan, Neil Young, or Johnny Cash. However, if one is to keep it real, the songs The Boss released after the mid '80s don't hold up to contemporaries like Tom Waits or Tom Petty. Seriously, after the Born......

The Boss has been my favorite my whole life, the soundtrack to my life if you will. Born to Northeasterners and brought up in the eighties, I knew that Bruce was it. I even wrote my fifth grade Social Studies report on him after we were assigned to choose an “Amazing Americans”. My teacher didn’t get it. That’s why last night was so special for me, seeing Bruce in concert is an experience everyone,......

Bruce Springsteen & Neil Young - "All Along the Watchtower" We can't recall a more star-studded Tuesday night in rock in LA in a long time. We realize that many of you might be preparing to head out tomorrow night, but friends, tonight is the night to rawwwwwk! And Neil if you're reading this... if you feel like recreating this moment from 2004, the Sports Arena is just a freeway away from the Nokia.........

Please tell me I'm not the only one who thinks of John Cafferty & the Beaver Brown Band every time I hear The Arcade Fire's "Keep the Car Running," off Neon Bible. I'm used to getting death threats for even suggesting that The Arcade Fire may be the most overrated band of the year but hey, it's not like I'm calling for Eddie and the Cruisers III. They ripped off a band that ripped off......

Bruce busking in Copenhagen Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band @ Sports Arena Tegan and Sara, Northern State @ Orpheum Queens of the Stone Age, Mastodon @ Nokia Rakim, Ghostface KIllah, Brother Ali @ House of Blues Limbeck, Annie Stela, Rachael Cantu, Tiffany Randol @ The Hotel Cafe Abe Lincoln Story @ Mr. T's Bowl Castledoor, Aaron Espinoza, Frankel, The Morning Benders @ The Echo Hot Hot Heat @ House of Blues, Anaheim......

It's black on the outside and as colorful as hell on the inside. It's sound system is perfect, it's Basement Bar is cozy, and the room always seems smaller than it should. A good thing. Notorious for a celebrity death and a famous former owner, the Viper Room is a jewel on the Sunset strip. The other night at the Donnas show we met Viper booker Melissa Renee Hernandez who's super hot and friendly......

As if the past couple of weeks haven't been bad enough for Britney, her former bodyguard has officially testified about her drug use, more specifically a bender she went on with singer songwriter and fellow rehaber Howie Day - News of the World Nicole Richie's pregnant body has her at a normal weight finally - Daily News Dennis Rodman has been accused of sexual battery for smacking a bar patron's ass and leaving a mark......

That faint murmur you heard this morning weren't boos. It was three guys quietly saying "Bruuuuuce" to themselves as they heard that Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band will return to LA on Oct. 28 to a venue to be named later. The Boss has seem out of sorts since Born in the USA, churning out mopey, cheesy middle of the road forgetables. Even the 9/11-inspired The Rising didn't hold a candle to......

Happy Monday. Here are cat songs. And since racist stereotypes know no species boundaries, and psychedelic jazz is as much for cartoon felines as it is for the children who love them, please also watch the post-jump video and behold Eva Gabor in all her boho wonder. France is swinging y’all. Dylan Hears A Who - The Cat In The Hat &righticonhover=0x333232&text=0x333232&slider=0xF2F2F2&track=0xFFFFFF&border=0xFFFFFF&loader=0x838383&soundFile=http://andysternberg.com/laist/TheCatInTheHat.mp3"> Squeeze - Cool For Cats &righticonhover=0x333232&text=0x333232&slider=0xF2F2F2&track=0xFFFFFF&border=0xFFFFFF&loader=0x838383&soundFile=http://andysternberg.com/laist/03 Cool for Cats.mp3"> Bruce Springsteen -......

Zuma Dogg needs a dramatic and evocative musical score to accompany him as he travels back and forth to City Hall fighting injustice without the help of a cape or sidekick in stockings. Sadly, this is not that music. However, please to help yourself to some songs about the government and the city. Talking Heads - Don't Worry About The Government &righticonhover=0x333232&text=0x333232&slider=0xF2F2F2&track=0xFFFFFF&border=0xFFFFFF&loader=0x838383&soundFile=http://andysternberg.com/laist/08 Don't Worry About The Government.mp3"> The Modern Lovers - Government Center &righticonhover=0x333232&text=0x333232&slider=0xF2F2F2&track=0xFFFFFF&border=0xFFFFFF&loader=0x838383&soundFile=http://andysternberg.com/laist/12......

Last night my friend and I had a debate regarding why we liked the bands that we listened to in the 1990s. My friend claims that we liked them because they were good, or at least because they had some magnetism. I say that we liked them just because we didn't have enough musical diversity and choice to have the luxury to discriminate. Sources for new music were limited to MTV and...well...MTV was it......

Oh when the saints, go over there... Oh when the saints go over there... Bonde do Role - With Lasers (Domino) The Afghan Whigs - Unbreakable: A Retrospective (Rhino) Disco Deutschland Disco: Disco, Funk & Philly Anthems From Germany 1975-1980 (Marina) Rjd2 - Third Hand [Instrumental] [LIMITED EDITION](XL Recordings) Paul McCartney - Memory Almost Full [Bonus CD] (Hear Music) The Aggrolites - Reggae Hit L.A. (Hellcat) Elvis Presley - Elvis at the Movies [REMASTERED](RCA)......

Last night at the El Rey, The Hold Steady did just that -- Not playing the coy, indie-nerd wallflowers and never crossing into absolute rock and roll mayhem, Craig Finn and the boys held the line, well, steady. Looking like a more-hip Paul Giamatti and gesturing feverishly like a less-nebbishy Woody Allen, Finn led the charge with flails and jolts, hand claps for miles, and his frighteningly accurate, wholly incongruous, Springsteen voice. Mesmerizing. The......

"The Humane Society of the United States said it purchased coats from reputable outlets, such as upscale Nordstrom, with designer labels -- Andrew Marc, Tommy Hilfiger, for example -- and found them trimmed with fur from domestic dogs, even though the fur was advertised as fake." - NBC4 - LA Olympic leaders ready to throw $112 million at the Coliseum - OC Register Woman, 30 miles outside of LA, in a secret spot, is......

Before he got his sweet gig at Tony Soprano's right hand man, Miami Steve Van Zandt was Bruce Springsteen's left hand man (Clarence took care of the things on the right). In this rare clip we see Sprinsteen out of the spotlight and on piano, while Little Steven handles the vocals and pays tribute to Joey Ramone's modern Christmas nugget.......

Tom Waits turned 57 today. LA's own gravel-voiced minstrel got his start at the Troubador in 1970 and gained commercial success primarily through other artists covering his tunes, for example, the Eagles (the Eagles!!!) covering "Ol' 55" on their On the Border album. Later his songs were covered by the likes of Bruce Springsteen ("Jersey Girl"), Rod Stewart ("Downtown Train"), and even the Ramones ("I Don't Wanna Grow Up"). This is an artist who......

Elf Power Back to the Web (Rykodisc) – They’re an Athens, GA band and part of the Elephant 6 collective of indie rockers. They’ve got a record label and a commune. Apparently this album is less poppy and more acoustic folk. Appearing live at Spaceland on 5/13. Sample tracks on MYSPACE. Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris All the Roadrunning (Nonesuch/Warner Bros.) – This is more a Mark Knopfler album than an Emmylou album. It’s......

Bruce Springsteen sings "Promised Land" in at an anti-nuclear concert at the Hollywood Bowl, 1981. Check out those mutton chops! The skinny guy singing with him is, we're pretty sure, Jackson Browne.......

Sly Stone gets on stage for the first time in 19 years. That made the Grammy Awards worth watching. Was there anything else that did? U2 and Mary J. Blige singing "One" together — that woman can put it all on the line. Matt Dillon saying that they were a tough act to follow. Kanye winning. Dave Chapelle. Jay-Z's John Lennon t-shirt. Bruce Springsteen. Sam Cooke. What could we have skipped? The cheesy black-and-white-ification of......

Whether your side claimed victory or conceded defeat, those of us who choose to publicly proclaim our politics to friends and strangers alike are faced with an odd dilemma. How long should you leave that bumper sticker on, or leave that sign in the window? Do you trash the political t-shirts amassed over the course of the campaign, should you continue to wear them with pride, or are they headed straight to the personal......