Maybe you think that Labor Day is just a celebration of the fine American past time of grilling. Well, it's time for you to learn a thing or two, courtesy of some of our country's finest TV anchors and actors. Here, Katie Couric schools the world on the real meaning of Labor Day... more ›

Tonight Sacramento-bred alternative rockers Cake will be headlining the Troubadour. Minnesotan genre-hopping, full-figured singer-songwriter Har Mar Superstar is poised to take on the Satellite. And, lastly, LAist favorites the Monolators (LAist Review, #2) will be gracing hole-and-corner Pehrspace. But we strongly suggest heading over to the Echo to catch NY's most proficient guitar player Marnie Stern. LAist favorites, Sacramento's Tera Melos are slated to kick things off. more ›

Oh, Har Mar, our little Superstar. After a long day of photographing bands at the Silver Lake Jubilee and Synchronicity, there are very few people that could get us to brave the traffic and parking nightmare in Hollywood at midnight. But as soon as we said the secret word at the door (thanks Facebook!), we were whisked into Bardot's tiny stage area for the strip-tease soul train that was Sean Tillman and Jacob Cooper. more ›

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The annual Noise Pop Fest is San Francisco's largely successful and mostly fantastic attempt to pull off something that feels, if not identical, then vaguely similar (in a very excellent way) to Austin's overcrowded (and, arguably creatively moribund) SXSW. Starting out in 1993 as a strictly music festival, it's grown to include film and other arts, and now spans multiple venues' worth of booze soaked musical and artistic merriment. Unlike SXSW, Noise Pop remains relatively obscure and as a happy result, manages to showcase appearances by formidable out-of-town talent while still showcasing the best of the Bay Area's unsung, but usually wonderful, music scene. more ›

Tonight Minnesota-bred genre-hopping, full-figured singer-songwriter Har Mar Superstar will be headlining Spaceland for this week's edition of Club NME. Nashville-by-way-of-Los Angeles garage rock outfit the Ettes are poised to grace the Echo with none other than the Blood Arm (LAist Interview, Review). And, lastly, Berkeley-bred hip hop producer and rapper Jel and labelmate Odd Nosdam will be taking on the Airliner in Lincoln Heights. But we strongly suggest heading over to the Good Hurt in Venice to catch Oxnard-based Grammy nominated DJ/multi-instrumentalist Madlib, who will be ringing in his latest endeavor, The Madlib Medicine Show Vol. 1—a once-a-month, twelve-CD, six-LP series. more ›

In these fiscally responsible times, it's all about the size of the bang relative to the buck. While the days of blowing cash on the trendy, half-assed, and all-around mediocre are long gone, I'm inclined to see this as an opportunity for those who do more with less to garner our attention and our paychecks, because, quite frankly, it feels good to promote a thoroughly good time. more ›

Oh, this hipsterville to hipsterville concept has potential be wicked awesome, or an ultimate fail. Ellen Page and two others are writing and executive producing a comedy that "follows two painfully cool hipster girls as they relocate from Brooklyn's Williamsburg neighborhood to Los Angeles' Silver Lake enclave in hopes of becoming artists -- of any kind," reports the Hollywood Reporter. more ›

Tonight legendary Austin-based art rock sextet ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead will be headlining the Henry Fonda Music Box with none other than Cardiff-bred rockers Future of the Left in tow. Fresh on the heels of a three year hiatus, Boston-based hard rock outfit Cave In are poised to perform at the Knitting Factory for free with Kansas City's own metalcore masterminds Coalesce. And, lastly, New Mexican folk act A Hawk & A Hacksaw will be taking on Spaceland with Bakersfield-based Americana outfit the Grizzly Owls. But we strongly suggest heading over to the Echo to catch Minnesota-born genre-hopping, full-figured singer-songwriter Har Mar Superstar. LAist favorites, local hip hop duo Brother Reade (LAist Interview, Review) are slated to kick things off. more ›

At the end of Fucked Up’s powerful, frenetic set, frontman Pink Eyes looks out at the crowd and says something along the lines of “You can say we played the Hipster Woodstock. You can say we play punk rock. One thing I know, my hips are in a state of shock.” It’s actually a fitting summary of last Saturday’s FYF festival - whose crowd is a healthy cross-section of young hipsters, and aging punk rockers with bad hips. I’m not entirely sure of the significance, but there seems to be a poetic irony in the proliferation of teenagers in Black Flag T-shirts and forty-somethings in Vivian Girls T-shirts. more ›

Long lines and food shortages aside, it would be hard to call the FYF Fest anything but a success. Now in it's sixth year, an inspired lineup and a great cause made the "hipster Woodstock" the most successful F-Yeah yet. In-depth reviews are fothcoming, and make sure to check out more LAist coverage here. more ›

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This week Cleveland-bred industrial rockers NIN will be performing not two, not three, but four farewell shows with Danish rockers Mew and local noise-infused rock outfit HEALTH in tow. Illinois-bred Smashing Pumpkins front man Billy Corgan will be playing to a sold-out crowd at the Hotel Café. And, lastly, the sixth annual F Yeah Fest, which boasts a bevy of artists including: the Black Lips, Tim & Eric, No Age, Lightning Bolt, Lucero, Converge, the Thermals, Glass Candy, Fucked Up, Matt Skiba, Times New Viking, Japanther, Mika Miko, Telepathe, Crystal Antlers, Darker My Love, AA Bondy, Wavves, Dios, Peanut Butter Wolf, the Strange Boys, Ninjasonik, Cold Cave, Har Mar Superstar, Avi Buffalo and Kurt Vile, will be taking place at Los Angeles State Historic Park. And, lastly, local indie rock act Division Day (LAist Review, #2, #3) will be gracing Spaceland with LA-based indie pop outfit and labelmates Bad Veins for this week's edition of Club NME. more ›

Tonight English electronic band Depeche Mode will be headlining the Hollywood Bowl with Swedish indie rockers Peter Bjorn and John (LAist Review, #2). East Los Angeles-based three-time Grammy Award-winning chicano rockers Los Lobos are poised to share the stage at the Greek Theatre with none other than Texas-based Grammy Award-winning rockers Los Lonely Boys. Little Radio's weekly Summer Camp, which features the likes of Har Mar Superstar, the Living Things and Restavrant, is kicking off today in the outskirts of Downtown. And, lastly, LAist favorites the Monolators (LAist Review, #2) will be headlining Spaceland. But we strongly suggest heading over to the Echo to catch local electronic chanteuse Nite Jewel, who will be performing for this week's edition of Part Time Punks. NY-based experimental electronic act Silk Flowers are slated to kick things off. more ›

It may be months late, but Little Radio's weekly Summer Camp series finally returns on Sunday, August 16th, with performances by The Living Things, Har Mar Superstar, and Restavrant as well as DJ sets by Ana Calderon, Daisy O'Dell, and Clifton Weaver. Summer Camp runs every Sunday thereafter until September 20th. "That's three Sundays in August, then 3 more in September," according to Little Radio. "Let's just call it September Camp. New location, new pool, new turf. Same water slide and shennanigans!" more ›

Tonight British pop starlet Lily Allen will be performing to a sold-out crowd at the Wiltern with Seattle-based electro pop outfit Natalie's Shaved Head. Local indie rocker Voxhaul Broadcast are poised to grace the Echo with LA's own alt-rockers Olin & the Moon. And, lastly, Minnesotan singer-songwriter Har Mar Superstar, otherwise known as Sean Na Na, will be letting it all hang out at the Bootleg Theater. But we strongly suggest heading over to the El Rey Theatre to catch Louisville-based folk troubadour Will Oldham, a.k.a. Bonnie "Prince" Billy. more ›

Last night the El Rey Theater was host to British music magazine NME's first US awards. You can find the list of award winners at Twisted Ear, since it seems like the sudden attention has crashed NME's website. For a recap of the awards show, check out MOG. more ›

Last Sunday, local electronic pop duo Electrocute (MySpace), perhaps best known for their song "Bikini Bottom" on the soundtrack, concluded their February residency at Spaceland (MySpace) in Silver Lake. The lineup included Totally Radd!! (MySpace) and Har Mar Superstar (MySpace). more ›

DJ Craze, Klever, Treasure Fingers, Villains @ Henry Fonda more ›

Is the word Hipster even allowed to be used anymore without disdain dripping from the user's tongue? Is it outdated? What about the connotation - good, bad, both? The Anti-Hipster's Guide to LA is a listing of people, bars/clubs, musicians/DJs, artists, installation, etc etc that may be deemed hipster-centric but don't really carry the negative connotation of the word (meaning pretentious, inaccessible, you get my drift). more ›

Bloc Party, Justice, Satellite Party, Kinky, Comedians of Comedy, Turbonegro, Teddybears, The Raveonettes, Shout Out Louds, Autolux, Celebrity Skin, others @ Detour Festival Dengue Fever, Mia Doi Todd, Chuchito Valdes, The Pity Party, others @ Eagle Rock Music Festival Kenny Burrell, The Pete Escovedo Family Orchestra (with Sheila E.), others @ Jazz at Drew Natalie Cole, Sheryl Lee Ralph, RuPaul, Linda Hopkins, Loretta Devine, Ann Nesby, Deniece Williams, Jennifer Holliday, others @ Divas Simply... more ›

Har Mar Superstar - "Power Lunch" Har Mar Superstar, Lady Dottie & the Diamonds, Rolan Bolan @ Viper Room Ryan Adams @ Wilshire Theatre Shout Out Louds @ El Rey Team Dresch @ The Echo Kenny Loggins @ Pacific Amphitheatre Jon Brion @ Largo The Fray, Gomez @ The Greek Jill Sobule, Julia Sweeney @ The Hotel Cafe B-Side Players @ Key Club Dickey Betts & Great Southern @ The Canyon Kenna, Carina Round... more ›

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. more ›

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 night he put all haters, doubters, and cynics to rest with a sweaty, cocky, beautiful set at the Flamingo Cantina as part of the Dim Mak showcase on 6th Street. more ›

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,... more ›

About once a month here in LA there will be a night of rock that is perfect. A night where you really should do yourself a favor and take advantage of the overflowing monkey cup of killer tunes happening in our own backyard. A night so filled with great music that if you don't go outside and listen to the music you should really ask yourself why you a) read this blog b) have... more ›

Local heroes Ozomatli are at the House of Blues, Hollywood with the B Side Players. more ›

The week that was finally caught up with us. We planned on having a relatively light night on Friday with Ben Lee (and Har Mar Superstar) at the Troubadour and then waking up bright and early for the Revlon Run/Walk. Part A was a grand success. While the crowd was very tame, Ben Lee was animated and thankful for the final audience of his American tour in support of his new album Awake is the New Sleep. By the end of the set, he had all of us clapping in unison and singing along to songs about particles and togetherness. Awww. more ›