Last Thursday evening, photographer/director Octavio "Winkytiki" Arizala (MySpace) celebrated the release of his Vivid-Alt (MySpace) movie at the Redwood Bar & Grill in Downtown LA. more ›

OK so now Oprah wants her own network and she's going to get it. Remember that she is one of the four founders of the Oxygen Network, you know, that paragon of programming that now includes: The Bad Girls Club, Snapped, and the Oxygen Original movie Husband for Hire. Now she's distancing herself from that loathsome swamp of bad TV because of her new altruistic endeavor, the modestly named OWN (The Oprah Winfrey Network) which replaces the Discovery Health Channel. Will the Big O stay with this for the long haul or just until something else, like a Stedman replacement, gets her attention? more ›

Don't forget to donate to the Sweet Relief Musicians Fund this month, because you should, and for a chance to win their latest fun gift: a special, one of a kind silk-screened Clash T-shirt designed by bassist Paul Simonon (now of The Good, The Bad, and The Queen). The shirt goes to one lucky person who donates at least $20 to the charity between January 15th and February 26th. Simonon designed most of the band's look, and this is an original, 1977 era "Security" T-shirt. The shirt's cred is upped one further by the fact that its original owner was Patti Smith, who gave it to her drummer, Jay Dee Daugherty, who in turn donated it to Sweet Relief. Find out how to donate at Sweet Relief's website or myspace. 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... more ›

Tea in the Sahara The Police @ Staples Miggs, Johnette Napolitano, Bernadette Colomine @ Temple Bar Radio Birdman, Miss Derringer, Nothing People @ El Rey Prs Hltn Mthrfckrs, Juiceboxxx, 3oh!3, Porterville @ The Echo Great Lake Swimmers, Eleni Mandell, Ferraby Lionheart, Buddy, Marissa Nadle @ The Hotel Cafe Barbie & the Hookers, Cut the Line, Lower Class Kids, Second Class @ The Scene Das Llamas, Moonrats, The Girlfriend Experience, The Bad Things @ Safari... more ›

The Good News: Nancy Grace will no longer be on Court TV, at least not until she finally gets to sit in the defendant's seat herself. The Bad News: The diminutive Southern blond rabble-rouser will continue her work as a nightly nuisance on the one-time news channel known as CNN Headline News. In her career as a talking head taking on all kinds of imagined and otherwise biased and inaccurately portrayed wrongdoers, Nancy Grace has... more ›

Björk - Volta (Atlantic) Bone Thugs -N- Harmony - Strength & Loyalty (Interscope) Barbara Streisand - Streisand: Live In Concert [2 CD] [LIVE] (Sony) Keren Ann - Keren Ann (Blue Note) Brakes - Beatific Visions (Rough Trade) Electrelane - No Shouts, No Calls (Too Pure / Beggars) Elliott Smith - New Moon [2 CD] (Kill Rock Stars) The Clientele - God Save the Clientele (Merge) Page France - Page France and the Family Telephone... more ›

Red Hot Chili Who? The Good The Bad And The Wha? Clearly, the belle of this year’s 104 degree ball was Pittburgian genius, Greg Gillis, aka Girl Talk. This master sampler/DJ/remixer melted faces on Saturday night with his awe-inspiring, intense nonsense -- super creations of musical hybrids -- a dozen songs spliced together to create something overwhelmingly familiar and entirely new. Energy, energy and more energy -- a giant screen flashed four frames reading... more ›

American Idol was only an hour and seven minutes tonight, which we think meant shorter songs clips and shorter packaged coaching segments with guest judge Gwen Stefani. And the shorter show was just fine with us because (1) most of these “Top 10” singers are good -- but they’re not great; (2) while the song choices were better than last week’s British Invasion, they were ripped right from the Adult Contemporary radio station playlists... more ›

Here's a little something to help wash out the taint of Celine Dion's "tribute" to Ennio Morricone at last night's Oscars. Sure, Celine has a great set of pipes. No one will argue that. But her singing? Puke! She might as well have been singing the latest bit of background fodder from American Idol for how much you could tell that it was an Ennio Morricone tune. But that's who Celine Dion is. That's what... more ›

Mare Winningham, Cari Howe @ Genghis Cohen
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LAist is proud to offerer a weekly, chart roundup of Billboard Magazine’s most coveted rankings. Join us as we revel in the conventional standard of musical success. Let us cross our fingers, hoist our lighters, and dream together of the supreme resurrection of artist-driven recordings that will forever eclipse the dark cloud of big label greed, A&R sleaze and disposable audio. Amen. Here are this week’s chart toppers. Behold the #1s. __________________________________________________________________________________________ Billboard Charts... more ›

LAist is proud to offerer a weekly, chart roundup of Billboard Magazine’s most coveted rankings. Join us as we revel in the conventional standard of musical success. Let us cross our fingers, hoist our lighters, and dream together of the supreme resurrection of artist-driven recordings that will forever eclipse the dark cloud of big label greed, A&R sleaze and disposable audio. Amen. Here are this week’s chart toppers. Behold the #1s. __________________________________________________________________________________________ A selection... more ›

Morricone, who has scored over 500 films and TV series, is known for his haunting musical accompaniments to such films as The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, Danger: Diabolik, The Mission, The Untouchables and Cinema Paradiso, among many others. For the tribute, which will be part of the 2007 Oscar ceremony, Dion is expected to sing lyrics that have been specifically written to accompany the score for Once Upon a Time in America, according to E! more ›

RSVP: Go to the Creative Screenwriting website and sign up to receive information about future events. You should then receive an email with further instructions about how to sign up for this event. more ›

This might be a good week to give your piggybank the ol' smasheroo and excavate your couch cushions for awol monies. The CD player NEEDS your donations. Don't delay. Rush out now in a buying frenzy. Here's a glanceable list of new noteables and rightous reissues being handed down today. Ten octzillion more after the jump... Arbouretum - Rites Of Uncovering (Thrill Jockey) The Bird & The Bee - Bird And The Bee (Blue... more ›

The password for Goldenvoice's presale is... roxanne. Could there possibly be any more of a hint at a Police reunion? Also allegedly reuniting -- Rage Against the Machine, The Stooges (again)... Not a whole lot is confirmed but all we can say is THREE DAYS -- can you handle it? Presale ends at 8 PM for the 3 Day pass @ $199. April 27-29. UPDATE: Kevin at the Times' Buzz Bands blog sez: Damon... more ›

Rocket @ Spaceland Yo La Tengo @ Henry Fonda Civet, Hollowpoint @ The Scene Johnny Polanco @ El Floridita Metal Skool, Damage Inc. @ Key Club Margaret Cho, Greg Behrendt @ Largo Abe Vigoda, National Sunday Law @ Il Corral Wheatus, Melee, Mayday Parade @ Safari Sam's Serenade Me Kaedance, Less Than Zero @ Whisky Kind Hearts & Coronets, I Make the Music @ The Echo Miracle Dolls, VxPxC, Sleepwalkers Local 242 @ Mr.... more ›

Born in Northridge on this day in 1961, Haley was best known as the cigarette-smoking teen baseball hero Kelly Leak, in "The Bad News Bears", which was released 30 years ago this summer. A '70s classic that was a kid favorite despite/because of its adult dialogue:

Amanda Whurlitzer: We could use a good outfielder on our team more ›

In a city permeated with entertainment and industry types, Netflix (or its rival Blockbuster) are becoming as prevalent as TiVo. At a recent LAist staff meeting, we got off topic and discussed how Netflix was the best and worst thing since sliced bread. After the chat, we nailed down the ubiquitous service's biggest pros and cons. more ›

• 7:30 pm : lecture on "Artist & the City as Social Imagination" at Villa Aurora more ›