Everybody's doing it, right? I don't pretend to be hip or edgy or rebellious. I mean, I grew up on Billy Joel and Madonna and Motown and then the Gen Xer's basic dichotomy of KROQ versus Top 40 in the 90s. I find it increasingly harder to fall in love with albums in the downloading age, and am one of those people who obsessively compiles mixed cds for friends and iPod playlists full of individual tracks from a broad sampling of artists. The three places I'm most thankful for getting me turned on to new music would be my fellow LAisters, the awesome site 3hive, and good ol' KCRW. So without further ado, here are my pics for the 2007 releases I most enjoyed: more ›

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 little world. Therefore, this is an act of paying it forward to those hardworking, underpaid musicians who truly made a difference within the music scene this year. more ›

Tonight is the most excellent show, Open Road on KCRW, which begins at 9:00 p.m., ending at midnight. DJ Gary Calamar mixes roots of Rock, Country, Jazz, Blues, and Soul with new releases that you can most see on his peer's lists. Calamar got his start at KCRW as a volunteer, moving his way to DJ after literally begging on his knees to Chris Douridas for a show. Douridas made a great choice. 1)... more ›

Still on tour in support of Wincing the Night Away, their third and most recent release from January of this year, The Shins hit up the Greek Theatre on Sunday to a packed house. Up until a few days prior I really only knew the Portland, OR based band from their two songs on the Garden State soundtrack, Caring is Creepy and New Slang. But I packed in some pre-show listens to the newest... more ›

The Shins, "Australia" from Wincing The Night Away, Subpop The Shins, Viva Voce @ The Orpheum Elemenopy @ Safari Sam's Eek A Mouse @ Malibu Inn Rock & Roll Adventure Kids @ The Smell Jack Tempchin @ The Hotel Cafe Lyra, Forget Cassettes, Yes Me to Death @ The Scene Elemenopy, "It's Tricky" - live from the Whisky 7/05... more ›

Billboard has a lot of charts. And usually we just give you the No.1s. However, the line up for this week was rather uninspiring, and it seemed in everyone's best interest to instead list the top ten winners from just a few featured charts. So here they are. Issue Date : March 31, 2007 Top Independent Albums 1. Arcade Fire - Neon Bible (Merge) 2. Type O Negative - Dead Again (Steamhammer) 3. The... more ›

LAist is proud to offerer a weekly chart roundup of Billboard Magazine’s most coveted rankings. Join us as we revel in the conventional standard of musical success. Let us cross our fingers, hoist our lighters, and dream together of the supreme resurrection of artist-driven recordings that will forever eclipse the dark cloud of big label greed, A&R sleaze and disposable audio. Amen. Here are this week’s chart toppers. Behold the #1s. __________________________________________________________________________________________ Billboard Charts... more ›

LAist is proud to offer a weekly chart roundup of Billboard Magazine’s most coveted rankings. Join us as we revel in the conventional standard of musical success. Let us cross our fingers, hoist our lighters, and dream together of the supreme resurrection of artist-driven recordings that will forever eclipse the dark cloud of big label greed, A&R sleaze and disposable audio. Amen. Here are this week’s chart toppers. Behold the #1s. __________________________________________________________________________________________ Billboard Charts... more ›

LAist is proud to offerer a weekly, chart roundup of Billboard Magazine’s most coveted rankings. Join us as we revel in the conventional standard of musical success. Let us cross our fingers, hoist our lighters, and dream together of the supreme resurrection of artist-driven recordings that will forever eclipse the dark cloud of big label greed, A&R sleaze and disposable audio. Amen. Here are this week’s chart toppers. Behold the #1s. __________________________________________________________________________________________ Billboard Charts... more ›

LAist is proud to offerer a weekly, chart roundup of Billboard Magazine’s most coveted rankings. Join us as we revel in the conventional standard of musical success. Let us cross our fingers, hoist our lighters, and dream together of the supreme resurrection of artist-driven recordings that will forever eclipse the dark cloud of big label greed, A&R sleaze and disposable audio. Amen. Here are this week’s chart toppers. Behold the #1s. __________________________________________________________________________________________ A selection... more ›

This might be a good week to give your piggybank the ol' smasheroo and excavate your couch cushions for awol monies. The CD player NEEDS your donations. Don't delay. Rush out now in a buying frenzy. Here's a glanceable list of new noteables and rightous reissues being handed down today. Ten octzillion more after the jump... Arbouretum - Rites Of Uncovering (Thrill Jockey) The Bird & The Bee - Bird And The Bee (Blue... more ›

Wanna' know what's hot and fresh on our playlists? Look no further. Here's the 411 on what your favorite LA-centric blog is listening to. Whether it's sick and twisted or straight up embarrassing to mention -- it's all here: more ›

STARTERS & DIPS Was the MTV President NEXT-ed? Mutiny at Music Television. [via Gawker] 50 Cent condoms will cover your wankster. [via Stereogum] Slash loses his hat. Big whoop. [via Idolator] EARLY BIRD SPECIAL The Shins' new album, "Wincing the Night Away" + iTunes glitch = download early. [via Retro Music Snob] ENTREES Money talks. And now it spies on you too. [via BoingBoing] eBay buys scalper website. This article comes w/ a side... more ›