Summer has passed and acts such as Suzanne Vega, Tegan and Sara, M.I.A., Spoon, and Rilo Kiley have reclaimed the spotlight after significant hiatuses, but the year is far from over. It’s now time to look forward to albums on the horizon that look like winners already: 21. In Our Bedroom After the War – Stars: The popular Canadian indie outfit is poised to take America by storm. (Release date: September 25) 20. As......

The greatest surprise performance at the 24-hour Live Earth was not Kanye West and John Mayer joining the Police on "Message in a Bottle." Hell, no. It was Spinal Tap (reunited) with some help from Metallica (they actually laugh) bringing down London's Wembley Stadium with hits like "Stonehenge" and "Big Bottom." Madonna's gypsy-hobo-punk performance -- fully choreographed -- of "La Isla Bonita" with Eugene and Serge from Gogol Bordello was also surprisingly excellent (watch......

LA’s Stones Throw Records are quickly becoming the most important purveyors of independent hip-hop in the new millennium, much like East Coast indie stalwarts Rawkus were in the late 1990s. There is, however, one particularly notable difference between the two. While both labels are known for their independent spirit and bohemian rosters of hip-hop artists (Stones Throw with Madlib and his many aliases, MF Doom, J Dilla, et al and Rawkus was with Mos......

A Word or 36: Baseball season is just starting up folks, am not sure how comprehensively I should be posting gametimes on TV Junkie. Weeknights I will be putting gametimes for the Dodgers and Angels here. Any feedback is appreciated. Tonight - Friday - April 6th, 2007 A's @ Angels (KCOP, 7:00 p.m.) Lakers @ Sonics (KCAL, 7:30 p.m.) Ghost Whisperer/Close to Home/NUMB3RS (CBS, 8-11:00 p.m.) From the paranormal to terrorists, all new stuff.......

Was that Hollywood fire just a brilliant marketing scheme for tonight's benefit? Bad Religion @ Santa Monica Civic (Heal the Bay benefit) Captured By Robots, Teddy Bear Orchestra, Yeh Dede @ The Mint Bone Thugs-n-Harmony @ Ventura Theatre John Legend, Corinne Bailey Rae @ Gibson Richard Swift, David Vandervelde @ Spaceland Billy Talent, Cancer Bats, Drive By @ The Troubadour Talib Kweli @ House of Blues Veruca Salt, Charlotte Martin, Poets & Pornstars, Hello......

John Legend and Corinne Bailey Rae kicked off their 33-date US tour at UCI’s Bren Events Center on Tuesday night, reuniting two of the young stars who (along with Mr. Jessica Simpson John Mayer) delivered a poignant sleepy set at February’s Grammy Awards. In contrast to that milquetoast performance, Legend and CBR gave a lively three-hour show which even got the normally subdued Orange County crowd on its feet. In this current era of......

The Mars Volta @ Orpheum Theater Son Volt (above) @ El Rey Theatre John Legend, Corinne Bailey Rae @ Bren Events Center Killola @ Key Club (free, all ages) Ozomatli @ Amoeba (6pm, free) Don Carlos @ House of Blues Gregory Page, Tom Brosseau, John Doe @ Largo The Lashes, Ambulette, hosted by DJ Andrew WK @ Safari Sam's The Steve Carlson Band, Jake Coco, Leland Grant, Jackie Bristow @ The Hotel Cafe Piebald,......

We're big fans of Bill Maher and his weekly Real Time on HBO. The hour-long show features a panel of distinguished guests discussing politics and pop matters of the day with Bill, but the highlight of each show is the "New Rules" segment, in which Maher introduces a set of hilarious new rules. (Also, highly recommended is the book, or audiobook of the same name.) The "New Rules" above are from Friday's episode --......

People always ask us, "how do you always get great tickets to all those shows?" And we say, "we get them the day they come out." And they say, "how do you know?" And we say, "you mean you don't know?" Tickets go on sale Saturday morning (10am) for: The Mars Volta @ Orpheum Theatre, 4/3 The Format @ Mayan Theater, 6/14 Iggy and The Stooges @ Wiltern 4/23 John Legend @ Gibson, 4/6......

A Word Or approx. 60: Goodbye O.C., a shame that the show is better now than it has been for the last couple seasons. Hey, who is the amazing Thai girl that was in Lost last night? Lots of new shows tonight, am going to have to order that second Tivo. Tonight - Thursday - February 22nd, 2007 Ben Hur (TCM, 5:00 p.m.) Saddle up for the long haul with this epic classic, cast......

Most equate "panel discussion" with "snoozefest," but BMI and the Los Angeles Times have teamed up to bring us a pretty cool roundtable discussion tomorrow. "How I Wrote That Song" brings together musicians and writers Cee-Lo, John Legend, Butch Walker, Patrick Stump (Fall Out Boy) and others to play a particular song and then discuss the angstfest it took them to get there. There's also time alloted for Q&A so, you can ask those......

Compton gangsta rap is #1, sweet girl harp is #2. We can't wait for that mash-up. 1. Game - Doctor's Advocate 2. Joanna Newsom - Ys 3. Damien Rice - 9 4. Akon - Konvicted 5. Beck - Information 6. +44 - When Your Heart... 7. Sufjan Stevens - Songs for Christmas 8. Neil Young - Live at the Fillmore 9. Tenacious D - Pick of Destiny 10. Yusef - Other Cup 11. ...And......

John Legend @ Wiltern Rooney, Ben Lee (pictured), John Ralston @ Avalon The Hush Sound, Murder By Death @ El Rey Ariel Pink, Beach House @ The Echo Cut Chemist @ Viper Room James Blunt, Starsailor @ House of Blues Howard Tate @ Amoeba The Dollyrots, The Randies @ The Scene Cinder Garden, Pins & Needles, Lo-lita @ Key Club Melt, Jay, Lee Ferris, Jeff Turmes @ The Mint Astra Heights, The Brokedown, Glass......

For the third or fourth week in a row (who's counting?) our lovable loser, Beck, tops the charts at Amoeba in Hollywood with his latest collection. Just behind Beck is the super sweet double-cd Pavement reissue of Wowee Zowee that included, in some cases, information as to how to download a pristine MP3 copy of their April 1994 concert at the Palace here in Los Angeles. 1. Beck - Information 2. Pavement - Wowee......

Alabama - Songs of Inspiration (RCA) Amy Annelle - Songs for Creeps (High Plains Sigh) George Benson & Al Jarreau - Givin' It Up (Concord) Jello Biafra - In the Grip of Official Treason (Alternative Tentacles) The Blow - Paper Television (K) Bright Light Fever - Bright Light Fever Presents the Evening Owl (Stolen Transmission) Children of Bodom - Chaos Ridden Years: Stockholm Knockout Live (Spinefarm) Converge - No Heroes (Epitaph) Cowboy Junkies -......

Golden Smog @ Avalon Spencer Davis @ Highland Grounds Japanese Motors @ Spaceland Paolo Nutini @ Hotel Cafe John W. Dean @ Royce Hall The Black Keys @ Troubadour Ass Pocket of Whiskey @ Harvelle's John Legend @ Roxy The English Beat @ Malibu Inn Louis C.K. @ Comedy & Magic Club Turning Robots Into People @ Whisky Ray Bradbury @ Encino-Tarzana Branch Library Ian Gillan @ House of Blues The New Amsterdams, Mae......

Tomorrow night, Avalon Hollywood in conjunction with Will.I.Am of the Black Eyed Peas is hosting a Tsunami Benefit. All of the proceeds of the show, which features Justin Timberlake, James Brown, Carlos Santana, John Legend, Macy Gray, Herbie Hancock, Earth, Wind & Fire and more, are going towards UNICEF's Tsunami Relief efforts. We're not quite sure of all the details yet but we will update this as soon as we do. A week from......

Need to shake off the sight of two trains crashing and the anger over a selfish act causing so much pain and loss? Yeah, we do too. Thankfully, Pete Rock -- easily one of the 5 best hip hop DJs to ever command the ones and twos -- will be at The Conga Room tonight. RSVP is required to get in (and sadly it looks like RSVP is closed) but if you arrive early,......