Trent Reznor is a free man. In the year since he officially released his last album -- Year Zero -- under contract to Interscope Records, Reznor, 42, developed an Alternate Reality Game built around Year Zero and released a Year Zero remix CD which included a data disc with raw WAV files meant to encourage mass manipulation. He also produced and performed on Saul Williams' excellent free-or-$5 downloadable. Ghosts I-IV is Nine Inch Nails' seventh......

Ahh how glorious the post-In Rainbows world is. Albums being released for free, people downloading them without being prosecuted--all is tranquil. Trent Reznor has announced that his forthcoming project with spoken word artist Saul Williams, The Inevitable Rise and Fall of Niggy Tardust, will be released in Radiohead fashion. However, as Trent explains, the only real difference is that Saul needs your support: "There are obvious similarities in how Radiohead just released their new......

We saw how excited you were over concerts at Disney Hall last month; we're giving away another pair of tickets. This time to Russian Chanson, the Thursday, May 24 concert of the Shadow of Stalin festival: Join indie-gypsy-rock group DeVotchka and special guests as they explore the compelling and controversial underground musical movement known as the Russian Chanson. With roots in pre-revolutionary, anti-establishment Russia, chanson has evolved as "the soundtrack of contemporary Russia," reflecting......

At LAist, we believe in literacy and we believe in the power of the printed word. And, we love books. If you feel the same way and want to meet others who share your feelings, head on over to the West Hollywood Book Fair tomorrow. From the official site: Join more than 300 authors, 100 exhibitors, and 25,000 guests at the 5th Annual West Hollywood Book Fair. This year’s Book Fair will include an......

FRIDAY • Bob Mould and Curt Kirkwood play the Troubadour tonight. Doors open at 8 PM; tickets are $15 advance. • Ariel Pink, Indian Jewelry, Gris Gris and Belong are at The Echo tonight. Doors open at 8:30 PM and tickets are $8. [18+] • Tangier features The Court and Spark, The Autumn Defense and Biirdie tonight at 8 PM. Tickets are $10. • Saul Williams presents and signs The Dead Emcee Scrolls: The......

THURSDAY • Paul Ruscha will be signing books for his exhibit "Full Moon" tonight during the Second Thursday Downtown Art Walk from 6–9 PM at Pharmaka Gallery. • Also during the Art Walk, El Nopal Press hosts an opening reception for "The Russian Prints," recent works by Peter Liashkov, also from 6–9 PM. El Nopal Press is located at 109 West 5th Street, between Main and Spring. For more info, call (213) 239-0417. •......

The ArcLight has two special midnight showings of films opening tomorrow: Zhang Yimou's House of Flying Daggers and Mike Nichols' Closer. At Dutton's Beverly Hills, Aimee Bender, Carol Muske Dukes, Susan McCabe, and R. Allison Ryan will be signing Visa for Avalon at 7:00 PM. At the Troubadour, KCRW presents doe-eyed Norwegian Sondre Lerche with The Golden Republic at 8:00 PM. Tickets are $15. Doors open at The Roxy at 8:00 PM to see......

Garth Trinidad is familiar to most LAist readers as the host of "Chocolate City" on KCRW, a show that contributes to a local radio scene that makes Los Angeles the envy of listeners across the country (fortunately for them, there's online audio streaming.) Thanks to Garth's radio presence, heaps of hip hop, soul, jazz, and all sorts of underground and non-mainstream music is broadcast over FM radio that otherwise would be heard by far......