Photo by Avvocatessa Lo via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr. FESTIVAL If you love going to really random festivals, then you should definitely check out the Los Angeles Accordion Festival this weekend. With three days of music featuring the [timeless?] accordion, who can resist? 6 p.m. // Fraternity of Eagles Aerie 2188 // 1596 W. Yosemite Dr, Eagle Rock // (323) 257-8869 // $10 PARTY Aimee Mann and her CD cover artist......

I don't know if it was all those Ikea fish eggs I consumed this weekend, but I was definitely ready to be in a Swedish frame of mind Monday night at the El Rey, where Anna Ternheim and Lykke Li opened for El Perro Del Mar. All three artists are representing a new wave of Scandinavian indie pop, with danceable rhythms, melancholic lyrics, and a moody, sensual sound that feels like a cold, fresh breeze......

If you haven't heard their infectious single "That's Not My Name" burning up LA radio stations, you will soon enough. The Ting Tings, the latest UK import, brought their carefree blend of electro/dance/pop duo to Echo Park's Rec Center Studio in what was their first (and most likely of many) "proper" show in Los Angeles Tuesday night. The Rec Center was packed to see the Tings, a band that at this point really only......

Luckily, since SXSW Music officially starts on Wednesday, tonight's massive line-up of residencies is hardly affected, save for The Voom Blooms who are replaced by We Barbarians and others at the Viper Room tonight (full list of tonight's residencies after the jump). However, the exodus of Los Angeles based bands is upon us. Also, ticket sales for 2008 Premiere Marquee Club have begun. The "club" has no membership fee and will host over 60 concerts......

Robert Francis | Photo via his MySpace page As we said yesterday in this column, Robert Francis fell ill earlier this month, prompting the cancellation of his Monday night residency at the Silverlake Lounge. Good news, though, the new favorite local artist of ours is playing tonight at El Rey at 8:45 p.m. with the Australian Missy Higgins performing after. There's no better way than letting you get to know Francis via a few......

For a band of two 16-year-olds and one 17-year-old, Din Caliber has a huge sound that's quite exciting. And Linda Perry, record label owner/producer (credits include Gwen Stefani, Pink, Alicia Keys, Christina Aguilara), has her eye on them. The home schooled trio practices four to five nights a week for four hours and has played the House of Blues and a few shows at the Whiskey A Go Go. Tonight they play the Knitting Factory......

Aimee Mann will play tonight and tomorrow night at Largo. Dinner is booked, but they say come down early for drinks | Photo via MySpace Usually Tuesday nights are slow for music in this town. Not tonight -- the spirit of Super Tuesday and democracy must have rung clear to bookers. Of course, LAist is having a party too, starting at 7:00 p.m. at Seven Grand. Choices, choices. If there's a show you do......

If you're like me and you hate pro football, or if you're looking for something to do after Football Team A defeats Football Team B in the field of Superbowly Combat, go to The Scene in Glendale tonight, and see NYC based Indie Pop Band Murder Mystery, along with LA's The Tartans and Oxnard's Maria. So why should you brave the rain and the perils of Glendale? Well if you're like me, you're in need......

Portland based musician and known as "the Stephen King of Indie Pop," Chris Robley and his band -- Fear of Heights -- play at Mr. T's Bowl tonight in Highland Park. Plenty of MP3s to check out of this indie-pop folk band below. Mr. Lif & The Perceptionists @ The Knitting Factory Jessie Evans, Von Iva, Deadbeats @ Silverlake Lounge Chuck Berghofer Midnight Jazz Band @ Charlie O's (Valley jazz club, not downtown one) The......

FILM ”Cinema Legacy” – a series in its 7th year by the American Film Institute and the Skirball Cultural Center – brings in filmmakers, actors, writers to discuss the origins of their own artwork. Tonight, director Jason Reitman introduces 1999’s Election – starring Reese Witherspoon-Matthew Broderick – as the film that inspired him to become a director. 7:30 pm // Skirball Cultural Center – Magnin Auditorium // 2701 Sepulveda Blvd., Los Angeles // $6-$10. ART......

Pop the pink champagne and slip on that tiara to help welcome the arrival of 2008's first celebrity socialte and rock star spawn, Harlow Winter Kate Madden, who came into the world at the nicest hospital money can buy, aka Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, today. Harlow's mommy, 26-year-old Nicole, is now free to return to her pre-pregnancy and eerily thin body weight. Let's just hope she doesn't take any parenting tips from fellow fan of the......

It’s the first day of work for many of us -- and it pretty much sucks. Thank God it’s a short week. If you haven't gotten enough going out for the New Year, here’s what's going on around town tonight: PARADE REMNANTS If you want to see the Rose Bowl floats before they go off to the big parade in the sky, you have until 4 pm today. Noon to 4 pm // Post......

"La Gallina" - Ozomatli Los Pinguos @ La Ve Lee The Lilys @ Spaceland Pixelform @ Il Corral Rumspringa, Devil Makes 3, Chief, Army Navy @ The Echo Ozomatli & Chali 2na, Cut Chemist, Weapon of Choice @ House of Blues Pop Noir, Nude, On Blast, No One Goes Home @ The Knitting Factory Relax to Paris, That Was Then, Switch @ The Derby Count Basie Orchestra @ Walt Disney Concert Hall Ride On......

Close, but not close enough: a 3.9 earthquake hit Baja California today at 1:50 p.m. Now that we think of it, getting yourself prepared for a major earthquake is a great New Year's resolution! Those rodes are slick, stay safe! This morning's crash on the 5 near the 170 left one dead and three others injured. Who loves the politics of hair? Pam Spaulding at Pandagon writes that Essense Magazine's Top Ten Celeb Hair......

Helena Bonham Carter and her boyfriend, director Tim Burton, both Golden Globe nominees for Sweeney Todd welcomed their second baby together, a girl, in London this weekend - People What better way to get attention than talk smack about some Hollywood heavyweights? Rupert Everett is starting trouble by talking about how Al Pacino and Robert De Niro have turned into "tragic paradies" of the icons they once were- StarPulse Britney Spears's home away from home,......

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)......

How apropos; today on LAist it's Sex Saturday, but today also happens to be World AIDS Day. Several events took place yesterday and will happen today in order to remind the world community that HIV/AIDS remains a global threat. The LA Times reports today on President Bush's public appearance yesterday at a church in northern Maryland, and that his speeches did not propose new plans or funding, but rather focused on humanitarianism. According to the......

Diana & Alice Bag circa '78 I almost didn’t go to see Ann Summa’s Los Angeles punk photo exhibition at Track 16 Gallery in Santa Monica. No offense to the once, raw obscure photographers who happened to be at the right place at the right time 30 years ago, snapping amazing images of once, raw obscure bands. Your recognition is well past due. It’s just that there’s been a plethora of punk picture/art/flyer/book exhibitions......

Yesterday we started our Best of 2007 list with choices from KCRW's Nic Harcourt and Tom Schnabel. But then we realized we weren't being gentlemen. The ladies of KCRW should have gone first! D'oh! So fasten your seatbelts for The Drop's host Liza Richardson's picks for 2007. Something tells us our comments will be buzzing. Will it be for the inclusion of M.I.A.? Let's hope. 1) Devendra Banhart - Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon......

In the 80s, I kind of felt like I was living in the Twilight Zone. Particularly the episode where everyone thinks people with pig faces are beautiful. Back then, people were wearing asymmetrical everything, giant hair, giant shoulderpads, giant polkadots, and dayglo colors to complement the ultrathick, bushy eyebrows. My mother would try to force these horrible clothes on me in the dressing room, and it was as if they were burning my skin.......

With reports of The King of Pop's financial troubles continuing to moonwalk all over the press, it's hard to feel sorry for the middle aged superstar, considering he hasn't really seemed to try to work out his issues - literally. You'd think a guy like Michael Jackson could do a few concerts and collect the $212,963 that's reportedly outstanding on his $23,212,963 mortgage on his sprawling ranch north of Santa Barbara. This summer Pollstar......

Jay-Z w/ Rihanna - "Umbrella" Jay-Z @ House of Blues Hanson @ Avalon Backstreet Boys @ Jimmy Kimmel (out back) Stars of Track and Field @ The Roxy Architecture in Helsinki, Glass Candy, Panther @ The Troubadour Teaneck, On Blast, Pop Noir @ Key Club Tunng, Big Search, Karin Tatoyan @ The Echo......

It's black on the outside and as colorful as hell on the inside. It's sound system is perfect, it's Basement Bar is cozy, and the room always seems smaller than it should. A good thing. Notorious for a celebrity death and a famous former owner, the Viper Room is a jewel on the Sunset strip. The other night at the Donnas show we met Viper booker Melissa Renee Hernandez who's super hot and friendly......

Call this number and give them some money right now! 310-338-5958. Or do it online! Come on, who doesn't want a KXLU toothbrush? It could be yours for a measly 5-dollar donation. When have you ever even seen a black toothbrush before? How much cooler could a toothbrush get? Not good enough for you? You need a reason? Alright, fine. Then you force my hand. I'm going to make you listen to a scary,......

Iron & Wine The Shepherd's Dog Sub Pop Records Release Date: 09/25/2007 Iron & Wine, Sam Beam's moniker, is one of those prolific songwriters that can pump out album after album of, for the most part, flawless tunes. I'd like to think that he just wakes up one day, arbitrarily decides to go into the studio, and then effortlessly bangs them out. On The Shepherd's Dog, Iron & Wine consciously explores a variety of......

Cardinals 12, Dodgers 2 - At least the Dodgers took the first game from St. Louis. They were hammered in the rubber game, as Mark Hendrickson allowed eight runs on 11 hits in just 2 and 2/3 innings. Andre Ethier was the only Dodger holding up the offense, with a double, triple, and RBI. Angels 6, Twins 2 - The Angels shut down Minnesota in three straight games this weekend. Jared Weaver lasted 7.1 innings......

If you're not really the Guitar Hero type, here's another (drunker) option for your Saturday: the vegetarian-biking-cooking-podcasting team Hot Knivez will be leading their first biking tour of Los Angeles's best beer stores on August 11th, starting at around 10am: we plan on traversing L.A. side streets to collect a wide array of bombers and six packs with the express purpose of throwing a tasting/swigging/gulping/retching party at the finish line. We’ll be starting at......

OUT TODAY: Flight Of The Conchords - The Distant Future (Sub Pop) [MP3]: “Business Time” via Tunes Consumed Magnolia Electric Co - Sojourner (Secretly Canadian) [MP3]: “Leave The City” via Aquarium Drunkard The Budos Band - The Budos Band II (Daptone Records) [MP3]: “Chicago Falcon” via Inflight at Night Okkervil River - The Stage Names (Jagjaguwar) [MP3]: “Unless It’s Kicks” via Music For Kids Who Can’t Read Good Augie March - Moo, You Bloody......

Wendy’s – home of square hamburger patties, decent fast-food chili and the Frosty – is giving aspiring musicians and producers a chance to show off their stuff by promoting their new “Baconator” burger. (That includes six strips of bacon! At 830 calories and 51 grams of fat for the Baconator, LAist asks only one thing: What obesity epidemic??) But we digress: By submitting an original song, contestants will get a chance to win “a......

Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga (Merge) Gogol Bordello - Super Taranta! (Side One Dummuy) Mark Ronson - Version (RCA) Oh No! Oh My! - Between The Devil And The Sea (Dim Mak) Gravy Train!!!! - All the Sweet Stuff (Cochon Records) Danzig - The Lost Tracks of Danzig (Evilive) The Monkees - Headquarters [DELUXE EDITION] (Rhino) Chris & Rich Robinson - Brothers of a Feather: Live at the Roxy (Eagle) They Might......