The year is coming to a close and, like all procrastinators, I am late on my "Best of" duties. Nevertheless, 2007 was a jam-packed year full of great music. With some very welcome returns, some flops, and some breakout contenders, 2007 was a testament to the ever-changing, ever-exciting musical atmosphere. Anyway, here it is... The Best of 2007: 1. Feist – The Reminder There is a reason that Feist has become as popular as......

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......

Artist: The Most Serene Republic Album: Population Label: Arts & Crafts Listen to their sample track "The Men Who Live Upstairs": The Most Serene Republic play at the Echoplex tonight, opening for Los Campesinos but don't miss them TMSR because they might be the better reason to go to the show. I love how their new album opens, the first track, "Humble Peasants", is an instrumental but I'm a sucker for whistling during songs. TMSR......

Redd Kross, Santa Monica Pier, 1982 Redd Kross @ The Echoplex The Bronx, The Mercy Killers @ Safari Sam's The Polyphonic Spree, Rooney @ Henry Fonda Yo La Tengo @ The Ivar Dropkick Murphys @ The Wiltern Jon Brion @ Largo Mezzanine Owls, The Black Kites @ The Echo Dax Riggs @ Spaceland Ferraby Lionheart, The Hundred Days @ The Bordello Low Vs Diamond, Something For Rockets @ Viper Room The Monolators, Correatown, Frankel,......

The Pogues @ The Wiltern - Tonight ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of The Dead, Dethklok @ UCLA - Tonight Redd Kross @ Echoplex - Tomorrow The Polyphonic Spree, Rooney @ Henry Fonda - Tomorrow Yo La Tengo @ The Ivar - Tomorrow Low Versus Diamond @ Viper Room - Tomorrow The Bronx, The Mercy Killers @ Safari Sam's - Tomorrow Rodrigo Y Gabriela @ Henry Fonda, 11/3 Yo La Tengo......

Bruce Springsteen & Neil Young - "All Along the Watchtower" We can't recall a more star-studded Tuesday night in rock in LA in a long time. We realize that many of you might be preparing to head out tomorrow night, but friends, tonight is the night to rawwwwwk! And Neil if you're reading this... if you feel like recreating this moment from 2004, the Sports Arena is just a freeway away from the Nokia.........

There was some really good music released over the summer and it's always nice to return to school with some "indie cred" so here are the Top 5 Albums to bring back to school with you: 5. The Stage Names - Okkervil River The next hot band on the indie stage. 4. Marry Me - St. Vincent After departing from the mega collective Polyphonic Spree, Annie Clark blazes her own glorious trail on her......

Last Saturday evening, the overwhelmingly beautiful, Audrey Hepburn-esque Annie Clark, a.k.a St. Vincent, performed a stellar set of songs from her latest Beggars Banquet release Marry Me. I've watched her play solo via the internet before, but her independent renditions just don't do her record justice. For the first time, Clark nearly duplicated the orchestral vibe strewn throughout her debut album, incorporating sampling and the backing of a three-piece band. I'm beginning to believe......

You may have noticed a new button on our left-hand column with the title We See The Best Concerts. It dawned on us the other day that we really do go to the best concerts and we usually write about them the next day or a few days later. So here's a wrap up of all 37 shows we reviewed this month, with links to the posts just in case you missed it. Chris......

After having seen The Polyphonic Spree this week at the El Rey, I fear I am spoiled for seeing live bands from now on. I've been a fan of the Spree since their debut album, The Beginning Stages Of... was released to critical accalim in 2002, but confess that at times I found the album perplexingly unlistenable in its entirety, but in turn felt that to listen to individual tracks--or Sections, as they call......

Polyphonic Spree "Lithium" Isaac Hayes, Angie Stone, William Bell, others @ Hollywood Bowl, 50 Years of Stax Fergie, Rooney @ The Wiltern The Fray, Gomez, Eisley @ The Greek The Polyphonic Spree, Jesca Hoop @ El Rey Weird "Al" Yankovic @ OC Fair Vagrant Dead, Hellzaboppers, Paul Lemire @ Lighthouse Sinkhole, Little Baby Justice @ Mr. T's Bowl X27, Go Motion @ Safari Sam's Die Die Die, The Youngs, Ghosts of the Russian Empire,......

Artist: Spanish Harlem Orchestra Album: United We Swing Release Date: May 2007 Label: Six Degrees Records I don't pretend to be a connoisseur of Latin music: my collection includes a couple Esquivel CDs, Cal Tjader (on red vinyl!), Herb Alpert, Stan Getz, and the Big Latin Band of Henry Mancini - this all pure cheeseball of course. I do love old movies though, am a TCM addict, and I sure do dig it when......

The White Stripes - Icky Thump (Warner Bros.) The Polyphonic Spree - The Fragile Army (TVT) Art Brut - It’s A Bit Complicated (Downtown) The Aliens - Astronomy For Dogs (Astralwerks) The Moony Suzuki - Have Mercy (Elixia) David Vandervelde - Nothin' No (Secretly Canadian) Dimitri From Paris - Cocktail Disco (BBE) Nouvelle Vague - New Wave (District 6) Bon Jovi - Lost Highway (Mercury Nashville) Van Morrison - Best Of Vol.3 (Manhattan/EMI) But......

Besides being adorable and ridiculously talented, Annie Clark aka St. Vincent is a total smart ass. If we hadn't read her interview with John Vanderslice (who she is opening for tomorrow night at the Largo), we might have mistaken her flippant humor for dry insults. But no, she's being funny and we love her for that. So we asked the former Polyphonic Spree multi-instrumentalist some questions that would throw her, but it appears that......

"Danielson: A Family Movie" Laemmle Grande 4-Plex, 345 Figueroa Street, Downtown LA special engagement, showing thru Thursday You're doing ok when you've got Steve Albini inviting you to a rock festival that he's curating. You're doing ok when you're straightforwardly hurling your Christian agenda on a cynical young hipster crowd and they can only stand and watch and smile, in awe, and think of David Byrne and Frank Black, and how the Polyphonic Spree......

We hate to admit it, but sometimes people outside of LA do some pretty sweet things. While chatting with some of our friends we were turned on to the Yuletide Carolers of Portland, Oregon, who roamed the (sometimes unfriendly) streets of Oregon spreading good cheer in bars, outside gas stations, and in front of drug stores. We have no idea why someone would get uptight passing these wannabe members of the Polyphonic Spree, but......

James Ellroy (reading) @ Skylight Books A Tribe Called Quest @ Wiltern Willie Nelson, Ryan Adams, Neko Case @ Hollywood Bowl Tracy Lawrence @ House of Blues Polyphonic Spree @ The Henry Fonda Carlos Guitarlos @ The Liquid Kitty Jews & Mexicans @ Mr. T's Bowl La Traviata @ Dorothy Chandler Bonnie Raitt @ Santa Barbara Bowl Megadeth, Lamb of God, Overkill @ Hyundai Pavilion photo by the slow wonder via flickr......

LAist would like to send you and a guest to see Brian Wilson perform the legendary lost Beach Boys album SMiLE live at the Hollywood Bowl on Sunday, September 4th. The Polyphonic Spree will open the pop extravaganza; Wilson will also perform some of the Beach Boys greatest hits alongside the music of SMiLE. To enter for your chance to win tickets to a night of sublime harmonies, fill out the form below:......

Tuesday means it is once again new release day, second only to Friday as LAist's favorite day of the week. Check below for the newest in music and video for all your fresh entertainment needs. CD Darkest Hour—Hidden Hands of a Sadist Nation (bonus DVD) Dogs Die in Hot Car—Please Describe Yourself (import) Dokken—Hell to Pay Fiery Furnaces—Blueberry Boat The Hives—Your New Favorite Band (bonus DVD) Johnny Thunders & Wayne Kramer—Gang War Kool Keith......