Matador Records has announced that tickets for its’ 21st anniversary celebration in Las Vegas will go on sale tomorrow morning at 9am PST via ticketfly.com. As previously mentioned on LAist, the three day “Lost Weekend” music fest, will take place over October 1-3 at the Pearl Theater inside the Palms Casino. Given the ridiculous lineup and the fact that the Pearl has a capacity of 2,100, getting tickets might be akin to a crapshoot. But hey, a little gambling alongside our indie rock is part of what makes this such an appealing gig in the first place. more ›

Ready for a road trip? Indie super label Matador is turning 21 this year. And what would any right-minded individual do to celebrate that milestone birthday? Head to Vegas of course. more ›

Tonight British indie rock outfit the XX will be performing to a sold-out crowd at the Henry Fonda Music Box with none other than NY's latest buzz band, electro-infused rock duo Phantogram (LAist Review). Austin-based indie rock mainstays Spoon (LAist Review, #2, #3, #4) are poised to take part in the 2010 KROQ Weenie Roast, which boasts a bevy of heavy hitters, at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre. And, lastly, Boston-bred heavy rock progenitors Isis (LAist Interview) will, unfortunately, be calling it quits after some thirteen consecutive years with their head to the grindstone. Their final West Coast show, which is completely sold-out, takes place tonight at the Troubadour in West Hollyweird. But we strongly suggest doing whatever it takes to get into the Bootleg Theater to catch Silver Lake's own indie rock sensation Local Natives (LAist Interview, Review, #2). LAist favorites, local indie rock act Voxhaul Broadcast and indie folk outfit Marvelous Toy are slated to perform as well. more ›

The 2010 Coachella Music and Arts Festival capped off to a rather anticlimactic ending on Sunday night, with the standout performance of Atoms For Peace ending well before the rest of the festival did. more ›

This week Austin-based indie rock mainstays Spoon will be performing to a sold-out crowd at El Cid, ringing in their latest endeavor—2010's Transference. Long Beach-bred indie rockers the Cold War Kids are poised to headline the Wiltern with none other than Clap Your Hands Say Yeah front man Alec Ounsworth. Long Island-bred folk/country singer-songwriter Mindy Smith will be gracing the Bootleg Theater. And, lastly, two of Austin's most promising up-and-coming acts, Brazos and White Denim, will be performing at the Troubadour. more ›

When will secret shows actually be secret and not announced? But we digress. For Spoon fans, here's some good news, via The Scenester's Twitter: "Spoon (@SpoonTheBand) will be playing a "secret show" at El Cid on Monday! Tickets on sale today. Details: http://tinyurl.com/SpoonElCid". Tickets go on sale at noon today. Also: The Coachella line-up is expected to be announced on KROQ's Kevin & Bean show on Tuesday morning. more ›

Tomorrow music magazine Under the Radar will auction off handmade protest posters by some of indie music's biggest names. In the photos from the project, the musicians, hold their posters to shout there message loud and proud. Brit Daniel from Spoon show off his his 'VIVA LA RAZA' poster, Sharon Jones pleads "END THIS WAR NOW', and OK GO warns 'THEY BANK ON YOUR APATHY' . more ›

Stoking the flames of independence, KCRW released its latest compilation album from live Morning Becomes Eclectic performances cut from twelve different in-studio acts. Crowd pleasers like The Shins and The Swell Season imbibe the album with not so new takes on their even older songs while Spoon and Indie Brits, The Orange Lights dig deep into their live repertoire to deliver interesting versions of their already strong songs. more ›

Silver Lake's favorite son, Beck Hansen, returned to Los Angeles on Saturday night for a one night engagement at the Hollywood Bowl (9/20/08). In his largest, hometown-headlining gig, Beck took a decidedly different approach to his performance -- rather than relying on the gimmicks and theatrics of previous tours, he put the music on display. more ›

Now in its tenth year, the Lobster Festival at the Port of Los Angeles offers a mouthwatering array of not only food but local LA bands as well—most notably the Henry Clay People, Weather Underground and Olive Future. The music definitely overshadows the food this time around. And the Smell, in all of its drab glory, will be hosting LA-based experimental artist BARR and San Diego's Crocodiles, who are best known as the phoenix that rose from ashes of TPTBUTET and the Prayers. (Yes, that is in fact Kristen Gundred of Grand Ole Party's hubby.) However, the Hollywood Bowl is hosting what could easily be the best lineup to come through Los Angeles this entire year. While Brooklyn-based MGMT may be old news in Williamsburg, the buzz continues to shroud them here. The formidable and youthful band of bohemians are slated to open the extravaganza with epoch-making psychedelic pop, followed by Austin-based indie rock mainstays Spoon. And lastly, but certainly not least as far as we're concerned, hometown hero Beck will be wowing the audience, sampling tracks from his rather expansive catalog. The mere possibility of hearing anything off of 1996's Odelay excites us. But for your sake and our mental well-being, please, watch out for those bellicose "security" guards! more ›

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... more ›

A sad week for LAist as they lose their trusted and amazing editor Tony Pierce to the LA Times, but what a blast his last week was. He shared his 25 Favorite CDs of 2007 and wrote a great review of just a good movie, No Country For Old Men. At UCLA, thousands of students celebrated the end of their quarter by running around campus in their undies (lots of photos in a two-part photo essay, one, two). That wasn't the only photo essay either: Joss Whedon/Mutant Enemy friends and Star Trek actors all joined in at the Writers Strike and KROQ's Almost Acoustic Christmas brought two nights of amazing bands that included Avenged Sevenfold, Linkin Park (Part I), Modest Mouse, Muse, Spoon and The Killers (Part II). Not only is L.A. a great music town, it has just been named the best city for bookish types. For those who are looking for something a little more active, American Gladiators are back (yes!) and if that's not enough, how about a Christmas gift of action and adventure? 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 ›

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 ›

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 ›

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One look at the bill for Night Two of KROQ's Almost Acoustic Christmas one might think with all of the INDIE flavor that that LA's "other" rock station was behind the programming. But alas it was KROQ and Night Two featured great performances by Modest Mouse, Muse, Feist, Silversun Pickups, Jimmy Eat World, Spoon and a surprise unannounced performance from the Killers.
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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... 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... more ›

"Knights of Cydonia" - Muse (One of the best videos of the year because we can relate to it via Guitar Hero 3 and we love Western themes. That and it's a great song.) Abstract 3's Armenian Folk Jazz @ The Baked Potato Muse, Feist, Jimmy Eat World, Modest Mouse, Silversun Pickups, Spoon, The Shins @ Gibson Amphitheatre at Universal Citywalk The Cult, The Cliks @ House of Blues - Disneyland Heavy D @... more ›

"I Used to Dance With My Daddy" - Datarock Spice Girls @ STAPLES Center Ninja Academy @ Safari Sams The Cult, Death By Stereo, Action Action, The Cliks @ The Wiltern Bloodcat Love, The Lieutenants, Hollerado Spoon, Pinback, Datarock, Sea Wolf @ The Avalon Jesse Malin, Holly Ramos, Johnnie Newman, Julia Othmer @ Hotel Cafe Ten Count Junky, Crystal Stafford Project @ The Derby The Diletantes, Electromagnetic, Idyllists, Tom McShane @ Silverlake Lounge Michael... 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... more ›

If you totally dug the soundtrack to American Beauty (not the orchestral score by Thomas Newman, which is amazing too), then you must know that KCRW DJ Chris Douridas was behind it. His choices in music for that movie led to a Grammy nomination, but that is only one of many movies and accomplishments under his belt. As a DJ, Douridas hosts New Ground on Saturdays at noon for three hours. In September, we... more ›

This week we have been spotlighting KCRW djs and their favorite cds of this year. Yesterday we gave you Liza Richardson, before that Nic Harcourt and Tom Schnabel. This morning we bring you Anne Litt's list. Anne of course is the host of The A Track, and hers is the first list to include the Arcade Fire's Neon Bible. Let's see what else struck her fancy as we continue our parade of KCRW dj's... more ›

Here's the mix: Download or listen to the mix above which contains the songs and their related articles below: - Spoon "Infinite Pet" for show review by Staci Goodner - No Age "Everybody's Down" for a story/show review by Joshua Pressman - Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings "Tell Me" for a CD review by tomdog - MIA "Galang" for a show review by Joey Maloney - Cake "War Pigs" cuz they play on 11/30 at... more ›

It's a dream date for fans of Canadian songstress Feist and Austin's Spoon. Feist is just now making her break on the world stage, with a little help from Uncle Steve. But anyone with an ear to the Toronto indie rock scene could hear her coming ever since her solo debut, Monarch, was released on the heels of By Divine Right's "Bless This Mess" Tour (she was their rhythm guitarist). For most of this... more ›

Not long ago a little band called Jet had a little tune that sounded like the White Stripes a little. Apple used the hyperactive rockabilly flavored single "Are You Gonna Be My Girl" to hype its iPod and the band went on to sell millions of records because of the arrangement. Tonight Feist, an artist no one knew about until Apple used her catchy little song for an iPod commercial, is headlining at the... more ›

Feist, Spoon @ Gibson Spiritualized @ Vista Theatre Little Brother, Evidence, Black Milk @ El Rey Sondre Lerche @ The Troubadour The Parson Red Heads, Or the Whale @ The Echo Gliss @ The Viper Room The Jealous Girlfriends, A for Attack @ Silverlake Lounge The Airborne Toxic Event @ Detroit Bar Stars @ Glass House... more ›

Richard M. Sherman is half of the famous Sherman Brothers songwriting team. Responsible for the scores of “Mary Poppins” and “Jungle Book” He has two Academy Awards, A Grammy, A star on the walk of fame, 23 gold and platinum albums, and is in the Songwriters Hall of Fame. I got a chance to speak to Mr. Sherman about his current projects and some of his much beloved past ones. His current project is... more ›

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... more ›