Mellowdrone | Photo by Todd Becker via their MySpace page UPDATE, 12:10 P.M.: We forgot to remind you that Sia is playing this afternoon in Santa Monica for free. 2:00 p.m., Starbucks, random (see first bullet in Extra, Extra list). Maybe you're going on a rock n' roll date tonight with one of these bands. Or maybe you're going to the launch party of RocknRollDating.com. Or maybe Valentine's Day sucks and you'll be joining......

Away From Her is one of the best movies I never want to see again. As if getting old and losing your mind weren't depressing enough! Still, Sarah Polley (already a superb actor) is now a director I'm planning to watch. Are you like me? Were you deeply in love with Barbara Crampton as a young lad? Has The Graduate aged well? I think not so much, but find out for yourself with this......

So the girls hit the American Idol stage last night, and they proved once again that they can sing so much better than the boys this season. So the question on our minds this morning is whether co-front-runner Melinda Doolittle (heads and shoulders above the pack with LaKisha Jones) is just frontin. Can she really be that meek and unsure about her singing? She comes on stage like a lion and leaves like a......

Last night, about 15 miles west of the Kodak Theatre -- a veritable light year -- Taylor Dayne and Doogie Howser starred in film awards gala skits of their own. Little Miss Sunshine took Best Picture, Director, and Supporting Male honors at Film Independent's Spirit Awards. Half Nelson took consolation for losing Best Picture by capturing Best Male (Ryan Gosling) and Best Female Lead (Shareeka Epps) awards. And America Ferrera set the bar for Oscar......

It all started with talk of Posh & Becks moving to Los Angeles. Then it was about Posh and the Spice Girls and their horrible videos. The conversation turned to boy bands of the same era (give or take) and their horrendous videos that often seemed sexually, well, questionable. LAist has now officially laughed ourselves silly watching these old videos and have to share them with you. They have a certain, "this can't possibly......

OUT TODAY: Aereogramme - My Heart Has a Wish That You Would Not Go (Sonic Unyon) Barenaked Ladies - Barenaked Ladies Are Men Belinda Carlisle - Voila [Bonus Disc] (Rykodisc) Bloc Party - Weekend in the City (Vice) Chicken Shack - Complete Blue Horizon Sessions (Blue Horizon) Deerhunter - Cryptograms (Kranky) Dexys Midnight Runners - Projected Passion Revue (Umvd Import) Eleni Mandell - Miracle of Five (Zedtone) Fall Out Boy - Infinity on High......

Here's the second entry in our special pre-Valentine's Day series of PDLs (Public Displays of Lovelessness). Once again, I'm not sure if this is viral marketing (after the faux Toronto bridezilla, I trust no one), but this was spotted on Glendale Blvd. in the Silverlake area.......

Tues 5/30 - Bedroom Walls / Let’s Go Sailing / Lavender Diamond @ Troubadour ($8) – Catch three strong local bands on one bill. Bedroom Walls has a new, critically acclaimed album on Baria Records. Download “Somewhere in Newhall (string quartet version)” Let’s Go Sailing is Shana Levy with various members of Silversun Pickups, Tanya Haden and others helping her out from time to time. Lavender Diamond is Becky Stark backed by some other......

Fri 4/14 – The Greenhornes @ Troubadour ($12) – This Cincinnati three-piece plays quality retro rock’n’roll that’s heavily influenced by The Yardbirds. The band includes the rhythm section that played on Loretta Lynn’s great album, Van Lear Rose, and they're also members of the Raconteurs (along with Brendan Benson and Jack White). Download Pattern Skies Sat 4/15 – Kennedy @ The 4th Annual Rock Paper Scissors Rumble ($5) – A rare opportunity to watch......

It's good to be a live music fan in Los Angeles. We regularly get the opportunity to see shows that people in other cities (with the exception of New York) don't get to see. Last week we attended three "special" performances. Sun 4/2 - Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and Silversun Pickups played a benefit show at Spaceland. Silversun Pickups wore their fancy clothes and played sitting down. Usually they put on a sweaty, energetic......

Max S. Gerber has captured janitors, scientists, porn stars, Willie Nelson, Carrie Fisher, Tim Hawkinson, Jim Jarmusch and many more. He's a photographer who does editorial portraiture, and his website features engaging editorializing of its own. His photos have appeared in Time, Newsweek, the UK's Sunday Telegraph Review, the LA Weekly, LA Magazine, LA Citybeat and more. Later this year, his photo series My Heart vs. the Real World will be published as a book.......