Tonight Australian electro pop duo Empire of the Sun, which is of course composed of Luke Steele of the Sleepy Jackson and Nick Littlemore of Pnau, will be taking on the penultimate night of a four-date stint at the Music Box at Henry Fonda Theater. LAist favorites, experimental English indie rockers Wild Beasts are poised to take on the El Rey Theatre. And, lastly, Washington D.C.-based alt-rock collective These United States will be taking on Spaceland with none other than San Franciscan alternative country outfit Or, The Whale. But we strongly suggest heading over to California Plaza in Downtown to catch a free performance by Mali-based musician Bassekou Kouyaté & Ngoni Ba. LAist favorites, local Cambodian rock outfit Dengue Fever (LAist Interview, Review) are slated to perform as well. more ›

Yesterday was the official kick off of the music section of the SXSW Festival in Austin, TX. Every bar, house, and parking lot in town had a band in it, near it, or sleeping on it. The streets were teeming with literally thousands of musicians, who were looking for their big break, desperately trying to stick out of the pack, as well as all of the support system clamoring for your attention. Every radio station, blog, publication, record company, pr company, and book agent has decided to put on a party here, each competing for the crowd's favor, wooing them with free beer and bbq and trying to put on the best show possible. We waded into the fray with one mission on our minds: finding you those bands who were actually worth seeing and reporting back with details on when they would be playing in Los Angeles. more ›

Tonight, as always, local multi-instrumentalist/producer extraordinaire Jon Brion (LAist Interview, #2, Review) will be jamming with friends at the Largo at the Coronet. Athens-based psych rockers Dead Confederate and Austin-based rock outfit Ume are poised to open for none other than legendary Phoenix-bred alternative rockers the Meat Puppets. And, lastly, English electro-pop songstress Little Boots will be headlining the Roxy with Boston-based electro-pop quartet Yes Giantess and local retro 70s pop act Music Go Music in tow. But we strongly suggest heading over to the Troubadour to catch local alt-rockers Everest (LAist Review, #2). LAist favorites the Parson Red Heads (LAist Review, #2, #3) and These United States are slated to kick things off. more ›

Tonight Nashville-based bluegrass singer-songwriter Gillian Welch will be gracing Largo at the Coronet. Washington D.C.-based alt-rockers These United States are poised to headline the Echoplex with LAist favorites Olin and the Moon (LAist Interview) in tow. And, lastly, local indie rock outfit the Minor Canon will be performing at the Silver Lake Lounge with his Orchestra. But we strongly suggest heading over to UCLA's Hammer Museum to catch local alt-rock act Everest (LAist Review, #2). LAist favorites Red Cortez (LAist Review, #2) are slated to kick things off. more ›

Tonight LA is brimming with shows. We've got Weezer and that sorry excuse for a Blink 182 side project, Angel & Airwaves, performing at the Forum. Indie-pop duo the Ting Tings (LAist Review) and Brooklyn-based queen Santogold will be prancing around the cavernous confines of the Wiltern. NY-based avant-garde artist Antony and the Johnsons will be employing his otherworldly vibrato at the Walt Disney Hall in Downtown. Kentucky-based folk collective These United States are slated to headline the Silverlake Lounge. And, lastly, Seattle-based indie rock band the Dead Science will grace the Smell with local singer-songwriter Devon Williams in tow. But legendary English post-rockers the Wire will be making their triumphant return tonight at the Echoplex. San Diego's own garage rock heroes the Muslims will be opening the show, testing out songs from their forthcoming 2008 eponymous debut. more ›

While SFist cringed at the fatal dose of crime littering the Bay Area, it found solace in Hillary Clinton's San Francisco campaign headquarters opening, which featured loads of exposed mammary glands. In other news, SF Taxi Commission ruled that Satan's cab must keep its (in)famous medallion number, 666; and in an un-fashion-forward frenzy, San Francisco Fashion Week (chortle) bars bloggers from covering and getting smashed at their shows and parties, respectively. Also, they found a picture displaying the woes of cruising in a tacky limo on the streets of San Francisco. more ›

It appears to be singer/songwriter night or something more ›