Rating: 5 Stars (out of 5) more ›

Elvis Costello and The Attractions essential 1978 record This Year’s Model was re-released for the twenty-third time earlier this week as a deluxe 2-CD set. This year’s model of This Year’s Model includes a bevy of previously released bonus tracks, and a previously unreleased live concert. more ›

I've got a conundrum, folks. You might, too: In a study entitled "The End of the Music Industry As We Know It" (suggested subhead: "And consumers feel fine"), Forrester Research, Inc., is reporting that half of music sales will be digital by 2011, and digital sales will surpass CDs entirely by 2012. more ›

The Guide to March Rock Music Residencies has been updated with a few more listings -- it seems as if residencies are catching on, which is a good thing. Meanwhile, Howlin Rain plays their last LA concert before a tour promoting their new album, Magnificent Fiend, that was released yesterday. more ›

Our brain is going to explode with all the great choices tonight. From friggin' amazing jazz (see, we're not swearing) at UCLA to folk-punk sensibilities of The Hackensaw Boys at Tangier in Los Feliz (video after the jump), tonight is a bounty of gold. Also, Jim Bianco will be at Amoeba and it's the first night for Wednesday night March residencies. more ›

Trent Reznor is a free man. In the year since he officially released his last album -- Year Zero -- under contract to Interscope Records, Reznor, 42, developed an Alternate Reality Game built around Year Zero and released a Year Zero remix CD which included a data disc with raw WAV files meant to encourage mass manipulation. He also produced and performed on Saul Williams' excellent free-or-$5 downloadable. more ›

LAist catches up with Michael J. Nelson, a former host of Mystery Science Theater 3000, as he talks about his latest project, RiffTrax. In the interview, he also gives us the scoop about political ads, bloopers and a possible live event in Los Angeles. more ›

If you cannot make it to hear the amazing jazz vocalist, Julia Fordham, at The Roxy tonight, opening up at Hotel Cafe tonight is Tiffany Randol, who we caught at one of <strong>Alex & Sam's Tangier shows. The front woman of NYC based glam rock band, Valeze, has now gone solo singer/songwriter style, making Los Angeles her second home, and is bringing out a new sound that is more folk-acoustic-pop than anything. The LA newbie can belt out her lyrics like a pro and her body and hips swing as if the music has seduced her in some kind of trance. Later at the Hotel Cafe, one of acoustic favs plays his last night of the Hotel Cafe residency -- stay for Brian Wright and the Waco Tragedies. ~ Z.B. more ›

It’s shaping up to be a busy year for singer-songwriter Cary Brothers. With the fourth annual Hotel Cafe Tour beginning in just a few days and his first full-length CD, Who You Are, getting great reviews, things won’t be slowing down for him anytime soon. Brothers first received nationwide attention when his song “Blue Eyes” was featured on the Garden State soundtrack four years ago, and his fan base has grown with the release of two EPs and the new LP. more ›

So I won't go on about how dry and average the Oscars were last night and how the TV ratings reflect that. I will say, however, that I'd like to find anyone involved with the development and production of the movie Enchanted and incinerate them on a pile of every DVD and CD soundtrack copy of that rancid film. A brief burst of carbon emissions and pollutants now will save us from more such dreck in the future. more ›

Release Date: January 29th, 2008 more ›

When was the last time an actor executed a more profound career turnaround than Casey Affleck? Gone Baby Gone is his second superb performance of the year. If you don't see it for him, see it for Amy Ryan's breakout, Oscar-nominated turn. The mere presence of the divine Anne Hathaway makes was released? Greatest poster ever? more ›

Usually Tuesday nights are slow for music in this town. Not tonight -- the spirit of Super Tuesday and democracy must have rung clear to bookers. Of course, LAist is having a party too, starting at 7:00 p.m. at Seven Grand. Choices, choices. more ›

Release Date: 01/29/08 more ›

First Amoeba Music scored a "secret show" featuring Paul McCartney, and now Ringo Starr is coming to town. Amoeba announced tonight that Starr and Dave Stewart will play an exclusive short set at the House of Blues this Friday to promote the release of Liverpool 8, Starr's new album. In order to be guaranteed entry, you must be one of the first people in line to purchase the new CD at Amoeba Music on Tuesday morning. The only other way to reserve a place is to win a pair via a KLOS on-air giveaway. All others must wait in line at the HoB beginning at 9 a.m. Friday morning. more ›

Thanks to those who responded yesterday to help make this LAist column more useful. You can still chime in, it's never too late. Today, here's a short form list of our picks with select MP3s embedded after the jump. more ›

Here in LA, we’ve seen record store closures from the behemoth Tower chain to the local gem Sea Level Records as of late – a clear sign that the record business is edging closer to extinction with each new year. We are most likely heading towards a world where music is primarily consumed digitally, with physical product existing only for the die-hards who feel that they need to own something tangible along with their music. Would a plastic card emblazoned with album artwork or a band photo do the trick? That’s what Starbucks and now Sony are betting on. more ›

So we heard that at 12:00 a.m. EST, 9:00 p.m. PST (or LA time for those of us who could give a crap about the rest of the West Coast) tonight, those sexy boys at Current TV, Max Lugavere and Jason Silva, will be hosting the exclusive (yes, exclusive) US broadcast of Radiohead playing In Rainbows. In its entirety. Sexy, exclusive, entirety. After the broadcast, M and J will be hosting a very special Best of Current TV hour. more ›

Record shops and CD purveyors are going the way of the 8-track. Joining the now-defunct ranks of Aron's Records, Rhino Records and Tower on Sunset is the Virgin Megastore. The rent's too high (tell us something we don't know!) And maybe, the sluggish music sales don't help much, either. more ›

At the end of each month LAist attempts to review some of the music and musicians that were covered over that four week period. Below is a mix of just some of the month's musical moments: more ›

Release Date: 10/23/07 more ›

Procrastinating gift givers everywhere can stop at their local Best Buy to grab a CD from a plethora of music superstars and avoid the dreaded regifting faux pas. The holidays have always been a time when record labels ramp up their releases to make a pretty penny off of shoppers. Don’t know what to get your kid? Take your pick of shiny round plastic discs with a fancied up singer on the front. Of course they’ll love it! more ›

As Christmas approaches, we get inundated with holiday themed programming (just look at last week's Classical Pick, sheesh). Fear not, though, not everything is annoyingly chock full of jingly tunes. The San Francisco based and Grammy nominated "orchestra of voices," Chanticleer, is visiting Los Angeles on Tuesday with traditional Christmas songs from Gregorian Chant to Gospel, including selections from their newly-released holiday CD, “Let It Snow”. If you're not familiar with their sound, check them out on iTunes (10+ albums) or sample a 16th century Spanish Christmas song at the bottom of their homepage. more ›

The Hollow Trees are the best folk band "for families" that you have never heard. By "for families" we mean little kids would love it as much as their parents. more ›

Listen to the interview here: Deborah Harry is on her way to LA to play the Music Box at the Henry Fonda Theater tomorrow, Friday the 7th. She's got her first new solo album in fourteen years out, Necessary Evil, and you can hear some samples of it at her MySpace. Unfortunately our conversation sounds like I'm contacting her by sat-phone somewhere in Tibet but these are the days of multiline patch-ins so it couldn't... more ›

Release Date: Fall '07 more ›

Vampire Weekend, decked out in polo shirts and loafers, played their blend of indie rock meets afro-pop to a packed house at The Echo last night. The show was sold out and the band did not disappoint despite singer Ezra Koenig’s ailing vocal chords. Armed with enhanced energy and a couple of new songs since the last time they were in LA, Vampire Weekend proved that they are very deserving of the buzz currently surrounding... more ›

Here's the mix: Download or listen to the mix above which contains the songs and their related articles below: - Spoon "Infinite Pet" for show review by Staci Goodner - No Age "Everybody's Down" for a story/show review by Joshua Pressman - Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings "Tell Me" for a CD review by tomdog - MIA "Galang" for a show review by Joey Maloney - Cake "War Pigs" cuz they play on 11/30 at... more ›

When you find yourself sitting around the house (your house, your parent's house, your friend's house, the house of the weird person you met on the Goldline last week) over the long holiday weekend, you'll probably be too full of beer or wine or turkey or stuffing or pumpkin pie to do much of anything besides sit on the couch and stare at whatever's in front of you. Which is fine - if you're into... more ›

Although it might be "understood that Hollywood sells Californication", the boys who wear tube socks on their magic johnsons are headed to court to argue that you can't just steal it. Showtime has found itself on a little roll with "Weeds", "Dexter", and now the sexy/dickish David Duchovny series "Californication", but someone forgot to ask the Red Hot Chili Peppers if it was kosher to use their word for the show. The Hollywood Reporter's... more ›