Photo by Ned Raggert via Flickr more ›

This is a good time to be a Kinks fan. Last year Ray Davies put out a solo album, then "A Well-Respected Man" and "This Time Tomorrow" popped up this year in movies like Juno and The Darjeeling Limited. And now a Kinks Retrospective box set is scheduled for release in 2008, and NME has announced that a reunion tour for the seminal 60s, fighting-brothers band The Kinks is supposed to take place this year. (For the love of God, please come to L.A.) Dave Davies is reportedly recovered from his stroke in 2004 but bassist Pete Quaiffe has supposedly also been suffering from kidney problems. According to Ray, however, everyone is on board. more ›

So most of these are, yes, from Christmas specials from when I was a kid, but that definitely counts. Besides it just means you get to watch as well as listen. Here's the list. #'s 2-10 are embedded after the jump: more ›

OOOwww! Good evening Los Angeles! Wooo! How you all fee-ull? more ›

Okay, so in case you haven't heard, Green Day now has a new side project to tack onto the list, right smack under The Network. (You remember the Fembot song. Billie Joe's vocals did sort of give them away, but it was still exciting.) This one was reportedly leaked in a Green Day blog (are we talking "The Idiot Club" or what? I can't get in there, you have to pay), and is titled Foxboro... more ›

The Mods and Rockers invite all Beatles fans, Anglophiles and latent mods and rockers to attend A Holiday Rave-up: A Very British Sixties Christmas! tomorrow night. more ›

I was struck this weekend by a most wonderful thought: my neighborhood, the NoHo Arts District, is getting to be a fun place to walk around at night. I used to jokingly refer to the District's studiously "fun!" new moniker as "merely an exercise in public relations rather than a reference to anything 'real,'" but after getting out and about on Friday night, I have to say that this stretch of Lankershim Boulevard really... more ›

Whew! We're a little more than half-way through this music marathon in New York and I'm starting to realize how similar this experience is to an actual marathon. It requires a lot of endurance, patience, and you'll wish you were an amputee afterwards. With two more days left, I'm still yearning for more and I'm certain that CMJ's final days will sate me. Yesterday started off a bit slow. I began my trek in... more ›

So I'm sort of a musician and a writer, albeit aspiring, who after feeling like a misfit among yuppies that I continually ran into in the South Bay where I grew up, was thrilled to finally make the move into L.A. a couple years ago, specifically Koreatown and then Los Feliz. Finally, I was free to wear whatever the hell I wanted to wear, and not get hostile looks from people (I once wore an American Idiot shirt in Manhattan Beach, frankly just because I needed to do laundry, and received glares from every soccer mom I passed. ...Because Green Day are sooo controversial). Finally, I was not the only person alive who had heard of The Kinks. Finally, there were other options for live shows than hardcore punk and reggae. (I'm not dissing either; it was just limiting.) more ›

Photo by Prawnpie via Flickr I recently discovered that my friend's brother does PR for Lee Scratch Perry, one of the first reggae artists and experimenters in dub. Being half-Jamaican, (but born in Louisiana), I was a bit ashamed for only barely recognizing the name, but hey, my dad was listening to The Kinks and The Who at the time, and took off to England as soon as he was old enough, so I... more ›

by Jake Dobkin more ›

586 New Releases on the wall, 586 New Releases! Take 16 down, pass em' around... Monty Python - Monty Python and the Holy Grail [Bonus Tracks][REMASTERED] (Sony Legacy) Sly and the Family Stone - Collection [Box Set] (Sony) CocoRosie - Adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn (Touch & Go) Madlib - Other Side: Los Angeles (DeAf Dumb & Blind) Blonde Redhead - 23 (4AD) Bright Eyes - Cassadaga (Saddle Creek) Laura Veirs - Saltbreakers (Nonesuch)... more ›

In the six seasons of American Idol, LAist can't recall a more average group of singers -- in voice and personality. Tuesday nights so far have been two hours of tedium, except for one or two standout performances a night. Last night -- British Invasion Night -- was no different. The song choices were unappealing to those under 40, and it's a safe bet that many of the contestants never even heard of their... more ›

Welcome to the latest edition of Ask the MACist, the column where I answer your Mac and Mac-related questions with hopefully more clarity and insight than you could ever need. As always, I want to thank those of you who sent in questions this week. They are much appreciated. Keep it up! And remember, if you have a question about anything Mac, Mac-related, or even something about another technology like TiVo, cell phones or... more ›

The alt-rock phenoms Death Cab For Cutie played to a full house last night at the Wiltern. With five albums of material at their disposal, the band selected an eclectic mix of new and old. All the big crowd pleasers were included, like "The Sound of Settling," "The New Year," "Soul Meets Body," and "Marching Bands of Manhattan." They saved the gems, "Transaltanticism" and "I Will Follow You Into The Dark" for the encore. The latter was the strongest song of the evening. The lights were dimmed - leaving only Ben Gibbard, armed with his guitar, romantic lyrics, and vulnerable vocals. more ›

In our ongoing quest to provide coverage of the best free gigs around town, LAist stopped by Amoeba Records last night to sample the amplified sounds of The Greenhornes. more ›

Speaking of CPK, California Pizza Kitchen opened a brand new location at Sunset and Crescent Heights late last month. After a week or so to work out the kinks and get into a groove, the grand opening activities start this week. The major part of this is that 100% of sales in the Sunset Blvd. CPK this week will be donated to AIDS Project Los Angeles. more ›