You still have time to take part in the Lunar New Year festivities in Chinatown today! CELEBRATE THE YEAR OF THE RAT The annual Lunar New Year Festival continues today in Chinatown. Catch pan- Asian entertainers including Chinese acrobats, as well as Thai dancers and Taiko drummers. Food, games, children’s activities, and more will also be on tap during the free festival. Until 5 p.m. // Chinatown // Free FUNDRAISER BASH! OPEN BAR! The......

The LA Times reports that local indie stalwarts Dim Mak Records has made a deal with Downtown Music (Gnarls Barkley, Cold War Kids, Art Brut, Justice) in which Dim Mak will continue to discover and develop new artists, and Downtown will give them that boost in distribution and promotion that Dim Mak has never been fortunate enough to be able to offer. Sounds like a deal that could make everyone happy. Founded by well-known local......

Artist: The Deadly Syndrome Album: The Ortolan Label: Dim Mak Release Date: September 2007 Listen to "Eucalyptus": OK, so yeah I know Silver Lake's own The Deadly Syndrome came out with The Ortolan a couple months ago but I didn't know that it was hiding in a pile of CDs that was sent to me and I'd somehow missed it but I should get some credit for being a good boy and cleaning up after......

I've been eagerly awaiting DJ Dan Le Sac and poet-rapper Scroobius Pip to make their way across the pond and they're finally doing it. I first heard of them in '06 but they didn't have anything more than a MySpace page, now that they're on Lex Records they have actual releases coming out. Here's where they're playing in LA (and remember, they're just a band): Monday: Spaceland @ 8:00pm for FREE (they're the opener......

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......

Artist: Foreign Born Album: On The Wing Now Label: Dim Mak Release Date: 8/21/07 Listen to the track "Letter of Inclusion" While all of Foreign Born's members may not be native sons of LA, they are emissaries of a Silver Lake music scene with their own, almost classic, West Coast flavor. "Almost classic" because the era of the Beach Boys, and the Mamas and the Poppas (and to a lesser extent the Eagles) is now......

You shoulda seen the kids run down the street during the LA Weekly Detour Festival a few weeks back. You shoulda heard them scream when they appeared behind their wheels of steel. You shoulda seen em dance once the dirty streets of downtown. Add the filthy, nasty, hilarious Peaches, who rocked out with Tone-Loc last night at the Avalon, PLUS the godfathers of controversial rap, the 2 Live Crew - and now you got......

Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga (Merge) Gogol Bordello - Super Taranta! (Side One Dummuy) Mark Ronson - Version (RCA) Oh No! Oh My! - Between The Devil And The Sea (Dim Mak) Gravy Train!!!! - All the Sweet Stuff (Cochon Records) Danzig - The Lost Tracks of Danzig (Evilive) The Monkees - Headquarters [DELUXE EDITION] (Rhino) Chris & Rich Robinson - Brothers of a Feather: Live at the Roxy (Eagle) They Might......

Wait, the Cobra Snake and Corey were bf/gf? We thought she was his intern and then became famous and then started dating Vincent Gallo? But you're telling me that there was more than a normal twinkle in her devious smirk? We're so confused. And apparently not as down with the Dim Mak-Cobra Snake-LAX scene as we thought we were. Which, strangely gives us street cred, we think. Regardless, we think Mark is the best......

Björk - Volta (Atlantic) Bone Thugs -N- Harmony - Strength & Loyalty (Interscope) Barbara Streisand - Streisand: Live In Concert [2 CD] [LIVE] (Sony) Keren Ann - Keren Ann (Blue Note) Brakes - Beatific Visions (Rough Trade) Electrelane - No Shouts, No Calls (Too Pure / Beggars) Elliott Smith - New Moon [2 CD] (Kill Rock Stars) The Clientele - God Save the Clientele (Merge) Page France - Page France and the Family Telephone......

On April Fool's day, why not see the biggest fool of them all? However, after watching Mr. Superstar get away with being fat, bald, and outrageous (by getting tipped, free drinks, and french kissed by the ladies of the crowd), you might ask yourself who in the place is the fool and who is the genius. We last saw him at SXSW where he closed the Dim Mak show on 6th Street. Tonight he......

Out Today (The Baby List) Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha (Fat Possum (Ryko)) LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver (Capitol) Ted Leo & the Pharmacists - Living with the Living (Touch & Go) Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank (Sony) I'm from Barcelona - Let Me Introduce My Friends [US Bonus Tracks] (Mute U.S.) Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark - Junk Culture (Caroline) El-P - I'll Sleep When You're......

Because we have the greatest boss ever who just let's us do whatever we think is the right thing to do, we gladly accepted his invitation to post on Austinist this week while we're at SXSW. So yesterday we told the nice people here of Texas what we thought the best LA bands were who were playing. One commenter was negative to our suggestion that Har Mar Superstar was worthy of inclusing. Well last......

Drew Barrymore's favorite new band, the Swedish trio Peter Björn and John, filled the Red Eye Fly this afternoon as the headliners for the Little Radio barbecue. Hipsters were lined up down the street in the drizzle getting their lo-tops muddy in the puddles, and to be honest, the boys might be super sweet but their music isn't meant for a live crowd. It's mellow, introspective, and not at all partying. The whistle song,......

Personally we don't get the hate for Mark "The Cobra Snake". Sure he gets to hang out with hot young chicks and take their pictures and go to hipster clubs and take pictures, and go to fun concerts and take pictures and get paid mo money mo money, but hi, that's his job. He's a photographer, and judging from most of the pics that we see on the Interwebs, he should be getting paid.......

They're dreamy they're psychedelic and they're heavy. They're Darker My Love and they've been holding court at Spaceland these Monday nights, for free, for your collective asses. Here's what we wish. You know how they have all these festivals and everything has a theme? You don't even need a festival for this, but we'd love to see one with Cypress Hill, Snoop Dogg, Black Crowes, Wolfmother and Darker My Love, because this band just......

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,......

Fri 5/19 - Kelley Stoltz / Irving / The Little Ones @ the Echo ($10) – This is a very strong lineup for the indie pop fans. San Francisco’s Kelley Stoltz put out an overlooked album earlier this year on Sub Pop. He sounded great at the Echo in February, but his set was cut short by a DJ night. Hopefully he won’t be rushed tonight. He writes songs that are informed by all......

After 18 months of planning and Sisyphean struggles with the city, Safari Sam’s finally opened on Thursday. Located at 5214 W. Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood (with free parking in the 99 Cent Only Store parking lot) it’s half way between the east side venues and the Cahuenga corridor. It’s a cool spot with a Knitting Factory type layout with a wide-open downstairs and an upper mezzanine (still under construction). There’s a large bar in......