Last year we did a lot of Best Of lists, and this year we are on a roll to eclipse the quantity and quality of last year. One thing I have noticed is there seems to be two ways to do a Best Of list. You can do a politically correct one for the hipsters and cynics - which is boring and a lie. Or you can keep it real and talk about how......

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......

I am thankful for… Thanksgiving - even though I think it’s a stupid holiday, and I pretty much hate all the food associated with it - for giving me the opportunity to spend the day with family that I love and actually enjoy being around. I am thankful every day that I am able to make a living being creative and doing something I love. (Except for when I’m on strike) I am thankful......

Maybe it's cuz we're old and jaded and bored of everything humanly possible, but we're sorta loving these Nissan Live Sets on the Fox lot. Last month we saw PJ Harvey, Monday we saw Wyclef who danced inches away from us - on top of a freaking hand rail. The set looks huge online, but when you get there the sound is perfect and - well, it's just an ideal way to see and......

Last month LAist was lucky enough to be invited to the Nissan Live studio on the Fox lot to see PJ Harvey perform one of her very few live appearances in support of her new cd, White Chalk. From what we heard, Polly Jean played once in NYC, once in LA, once on the Tonight Show, and once for Yahoo's Live Sets. It was an intimate, eerie, and fragile hour in West LA. PJ......

On the last night of a short west coast tour to promote his ridiculously great new record Bluefinger, (review here) Charles Thompson the Third aka Frank Black aka Black Francis hit Safari Sam’s last night with a blistering hour-plus set comprised of the entire Bluefinger “rock opera”, and just a very few extra songs thrown in for good measure. The set was loose and blissfully raw. Like any good maestro, Black was talkative, and......

PJ Harvey made a pitstop last night at the Orpheum, playing one of only a handful of shows to promote her haunting new album, White Chalk (review here). I knew this was going to be a special night when a scalper actually paid me face value for my extra ticket. On entering, the sparse stage seems to echo the stripped-down nature of the new record. A keyboard, a cymbal, an autoharp on a chair, two......

PJ Harvey - "White Chalk" PJ Harvey @ Orpheum Rilo Kiley @ Santa Monica Civic Sarah Silverman @ Largo Black Francis, Eastern Conference Champions @ Safari Sam's Castledoor, Hearts of Palm UK, Princeton @ The Echo Limbeck, Travis Shettel, Andrew Deerin, Chris Koza @ The Hotel Cafe Metal Skool, Born as Ghosts, Immune, Glacier Hiking @ Key Club Suburban Legends, Taxi Doll, Skrotum Kiss @ The Knitting Factory Abe Lincoln Story, Doug Stewart &......

Artist: PJ Harvey Album: White Chalk Label: Island Release Date: October 2, 2007 A recent ad for White Chalk, the new PJ Harvey record, boasted – without quotes – that some people are calling it one of PJ’s greatest albums. The vagueness of the claim made me wary. For the last 15 years, PJ Harvey has always managed to sound relevant, while producing some of the most consistently challenging material. Despite her constant reinvention, each......

If you keep walking west down Hollywood Blvd past the nonsense of Hollywood & Highland, past the tourist and super heroes at the Chinese Theater and down the next block, you will find the Knitting Factory, tucked away beneath what was once a movie theater. Boasting three stages and tons of bands every night, the Knitting Factory comes to us via New York and has hosted some shows this year that LAist had a great......

Wearing a slimfit, pin-striped pantsuit, and a giant, gold medallion, Joan Wasser, the prolific NYC singer-songwriter who performs as Joan As Police Woman, made a rare, solo, appearance last night at the Hotel Café in support of her new record Real Life, out now on indie-friendly label Cheap Lullaby Records. Switching and bewitching between piano and guitar, she cast all variety of soul-punk voodoo on the captivated crowd. Her voice -- like Chrissie Hynde......

Eleni Mandell, with her sixth full length release, Miracle of Five, hit up the Echo for the KCRW release party last night. The packed and almost giddy crowd filled with literally all walks of life (think middle aged baldies, a trannie, and the usual hipsters) were swaying along to EM’s hushed, moody, jazzy folk. Is jazzy folk even a thing? If it isn’t Mandell has made it one. Highlight of the evening? The Echo......

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......

Bowling for Soup - The Great Burrito Extortion Case (Jive) J.J. Cale & Eric Clapton - The Road to Escondido (Reprise) The Chelsea Smiles - Thirty Six Hours Later (Acetate) El Goodo - El Goodo (Empyrean) Europe - Secret Society (Sanctuary) The Evens - Get Evens (Dischord) Foo Fighters - Skin and Bones (RCA) Josh Groban - Awake (Reprise) Jim Jones - Hustler's P.O.M.E. (Product of My Environment) (Koch) Librarians - Alright Easy Candy......

We hear that Moris Tepper, onetime guitarist for Captain Beefheart and Tom Waits, takes the stage tonight at the Echo, early, with buddy PJ Harvey on bass. His band Candlebone will open for Tenacious D this weekend at a benefit for the Women's Reproductive Rights Assistance Project. So you can always go see that and do some good. But tonight is Candlebone's chance to practice in front of a live audience. Do you want......

Silverlake rock club Spaceland continues celebrating its month-long 10-year anniversary with two shows this weekend. Tonight, get your alt-country on with chanteuse Eleni Mandell (pictured), who is equal parts Patsy Cline, Tom Waits, and PJ Harvey. Opening is San Francisco's The Court and Spark and Whiskey Biscuit headlines. On Sunday, it's alt-that-and-more with WACO's 13-instrument cacophonous melancholy, Extra Fancy's queercore, and Touchcandy reuniting with a sound explosion that'll knock you back to 1995. If......

Get a chuckle in at Borders on the Third Street Promenade when George Carlin makes an appearance to sign his new book, When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops?, at 7:30 PM. Tonight at the Wiltern, KCRW presents PJ Harvey with special guest Moris Tepper at 8:00 PM. At the Egyptian Theatre, see a screening of Peter Bogdanovich's Saint Jack. The director will introduce the film and stay for a discussion and signing of......