This Sunday afternoon, the family-friendly Kidrockers returns to The Echo, hosted by comedians Matt Dwyer and Jonah Ray with performances by His Orchestra and LAist favorite Warpaint. In the meantime, enjoy photos taken at Kidrockers shows earlier this year with Buddy and Dengue Fever as well as The One AM Radio and The Watson Twins. more ›

Tonight Scottish rock outfit Biffy Clyro (LAist Interview) will be gracing the Troubadour, warming up the stage for headlining act, Atlanta-based indie rockers Manchester Orchestra. Local indie pop quartet Superhumanoids are poised to take on the Silver Lake Lounge with none other than Highland Park-based psych-infused synth pop act... more ›

Tonight Nashville-based bluegrass singer-songwriter Gillian Welch will be gracing Largo at the Coronet. Washington D.C.-based alt-rockers These United States are poised to headline the Echoplex with LAist favorites Olin and the Moon (LAist Interview) in tow. And, lastly, local indie rock outfit the Minor Canon will be performing at the Silver Lake Lounge with his Orchestra. But we strongly suggest heading over to UCLA's Hammer Museum to catch local alt-rock act Everest (LAist Review, #2). LAist favorites Red Cortez (LAist Review, #2) are slated to kick things off. more ›

December is was list-making season. And for us music journalists, it is a time to look back on scores of albums, reflect upon the music and recapitulate our favorites. But this year, just like the last, we took this opportunity to flip that tradition upside down, asking the artists that influenced us what influenced them. The prompt was not limited to albums that came out in 2008. more ›

• As was reported today on LAist, the writer's strike, which cost the city about $1 billion, is nearly over. We all know how involved Mayor V has been nudging the two sides back together. Oh, wait. But at least he weighed in today: "This agreement is a blockbuster for the Los Angeles economy. It will put thousands of writers, set designers, caterers, and behind-the-scenes workers back on the job this week." Blockbuster! HA!
• Election central: Barack Obama added a Grammy to his momentous weekend and Hillary Clinton sacked her campaign manager today. Obama won the award for his oratorically smooth stylins, reading Audacity of Hope and Clinton announced today that she replaced her campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle with longtime aide Maggie Williams in what has had to be a long weekend for beset by four resounding primary and caucus wins by Obama in Washington, Maine, Louisiana and Nebraska.
• The rest of the Grammy winners can be found here and you'll be happy to know that Jimmy Sturr And His Orchestra took the prize for best polka album.
• Is Scientology a cult? Blogging.la found a few Anonymous people who might think so at a demonstration outside the L. Ron Hubbard center on Sunset today.
• A week after a plane crashed into the mountains near Banning Pass, rescuers reported Sunday that they have found the plane more than 11 miles from the site where it was originally reported missing. The fate of all four people on the plane is still unknown.
• Six kids and three adults from southern California fell ill today in D.C., where the group of students from West Covina and their chaperone's were visiting the White House. Insert [Bush Makes Me Sick, Too] joke here.
• From the turnabout is fair play department: A former Internal Revenue Service officer working as a tax preparer in Inglewood has been arrested in connection with an alleged scheme to defraud the government by filing false tax returns. How big of an economic stimulus check do you think he's getting?