RIP Tower Records building on Sunset: 1971-2008 The fate of the empty Tower Records store on Sunset Boulevard has been decided: Demolition. Yesterday it was announced that the once-iconic yellow-and-red building at 8801 W. Sunset on the Strip would meet its un-maker, as it is being razed by a Chicago-based developer in order to build a multi-use office building slated to boast a gym and retail shops. Though by no means an architectural wonder,......

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......

If you like songs that are fast, heavy and noisy, then LA trio Icebird may just be up your ear-splitting alley. Comprised of Barry Monahan (guitar and lead vocals), Kate Wise (drums and vocals) and Mike Monahan (bass and vocals), Icebird brings an energy and exuberance to rock that shines with each pounding performance. The band recently released a follow up EP titled "Championship Bloodline." Looking back at the tour earlier this fall, lead man......

Jack White discussed this bonus re-working of the Patti Page classic on NPR's Morning Edition:For the new B-sides, The White Stripes teamed up with Beck and recorded in his Los Angeles home studio. The new songs include an acoustic, mariachi-style reworking of "Conquest." Being in Southern California, Beck pointed out a place where they could find mariachi ensembles standing around waiting for work. "While we were working on a song, we asked if somebody......

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......

What's better than spending your Friday night among free donuts and over 85 pieces of art from The Simpsons? Yeah, that's right, nothing. Starting at 6 p.m. tomorrow night, Every Picture Tells A Story on Montana Ave. will have an art opening showing off and selling 40 original production drawings from The Simpons Movie, over 25 original production cells from TV show and limited edition prints and treatments from film. Many of the prints are......

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......

Yes it's a material world, and we are material girls. But look what they've done to our great record store. Is that really necessary? Isn't there a law against defacing a tomb? The state of outdoor ads in Hollywood is a sorry one. People should say sorry.......

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......

The email from the White Stripes had the subject line of ? and inside it said: "The tricks of today are the truths of tomorrow." - Man Ray X XV MMVII So we took a magnifying glass to our collection of Man Ray prints and lithographs. And nothing. We asked our friends if it possibly had something to do with Lips Over Hollywood, and we found no connection. And then someone suggested that we......

It's black on the outside and as colorful as hell on the inside. It's sound system is perfect, it's Basement Bar is cozy, and the room always seems smaller than it should. A good thing. Notorious for a celebrity death and a famous former owner, the Viper Room is a jewel on the Sunset strip. The other night at the Donnas show we met Viper booker Melissa Renee Hernandez who's super hot and friendly......

Seattlest watches as a S.L.U.T. is born and Seattle Flickr users go nuts over a local art installation. A restaurant critic demands a Diner's Bill of Rights over a gnat next to her drink, and, in lieu of a Portlandist, Seattlest debates with itself over the identity of the Northwest's crown jewel. Seattlest also joins the guys from Fantagraphics for an ill-fated gun party in the woods. LAist saw national headlines soar this week with......

Since Wednesday’s White Stripes show at the Forum was cancelled, those of us with tickets were forced to find something else to do. Some probably went to other concerts, maybe some drank their sorrows away. I went the more obvious route – I went to Babeland to learn how to blow a banana. Babeland is the very woman-friendly sex store on Melrose and La Brea. They’ve been open for nearly two years here in L.A.,......

Justin Timberlake @ Staples New Pornographers @ Henry Fonda Theater Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Elvis Perkins @ Troubadour Peanut Butter Wolf, Pigeon John @ Roxy Joe Frank @ Largo The Vacation, Kennedy @ Viper Room The Dilettantes, Run Run Run, After Midnight Project, Jake Smith @ Safari Sam's canceled: White Stripes, Cold War Kids @ Forum Amy Winehouse @ Wiltern Jesca Hoop @ Ivar Theater......

June of 2007" src="http://www.laist.com/attachments/tony/ifroneicky.jpg" width="640" height="406" /> Those of you who saw Jack and Meg at the Tower Records - whoops, we mean the Icky Thump Records in-store concert earlier this summer, you might be the only people in LA who will get to see the duo this year in the Southland. According to an email that was just sent out by the band's email team, the tour has been ixnayed. The White Stripes......

If there's one show that I'm super jealous that I don't have tickets for, it's the Yeahs at the Mayan - tonight. Who is cooler than Karen O? Seriously? I was lucky enough to see her a few years back at the Greek opening for the White Stripes and they were the epitome of punk rock. Everything they did was about emotion, not details, not math rock, not market penetration. Earlier this summer I......

In the last year, HBO has lost four of my favorite shows for various reasons--The Sopranos, Extras, Deadwood and Rome. Do you hear that sound, HBO? That sound is Showtime creeping up on you. At least the second season of Rome is now available on DVD. If you like gratuitous sex mixed with your gratuitious violence (and who doesn't?), then Rome is the show for you. One of the last great seasons of The......

Sole is a rapper who as a teenager was already blowing off major record deals, because he thought having an album produced by Jermain Dupree was lame. He set forth making rap music for the advanced listener, and choosing never to pander what TRL, MTV, and Record Executives want to cram down all of our throats. Being one of the co-founders of anticon places sole on a special branch of the family tree of hip-hop.......

We didn't know how lucky we had it when the White Stripes came to Hollywood last month and took over the location formerly known as Tower Sunset and turned it into Icky Thump Records. OK, yes we did. But we had no idea how much more White Stripes love we were going to get compared to the other parts of North America in regards to these "secret shows". For example on their tour across......

You’ve heard it already, “Wow, they’re like 13 years old and in a band!” The Jack Bambis have gotten a lot of attention for their ages – guitarist Indio, bassist Jasper and singer Lia are all 13. Cash, the drummer, shies a few years behind. But the Jack Bambis sound better than a whole lotta crap on the radio being made by people 21 and up (i.e. old enough to know better). Cash graduated......

LAist was comped front row seats by the Dodgers due to Malingering being struck by a foul ball last week, and she came back with some great photos, and earlier made fun of 4th of July on Venice Beach. But the biggest stories of the week was that the Mayor's Hot Tamale was revealed, and that a Kwik-E-Mart was erected in Burbank. Phillyist was busy doing the Fourth of July up right, exercising their......

From the tallest skyscraper in the City of Brotherly Love to Canadian tourism copywriting brilliance, here's what you should know from our -ist cities: This week, Phillyist took a gleeful listen to the White Stripes' exciting new release, watched in awe as their new tallest skyscraper was finally completed, found a cheaper way to get to Gothamist, invented a tasty new dessert, and brought back their Craigslist Round-Up feature with a bang. Bostonist watches......

Last night, I went to see The New Year play at Spaceland. I’ve liked The New Year since they were Bedhead in the ’90s, so I was pretty excited about it. The New Year (somewhat inexplicably) have four guitars, but there are still a lot of quiet moments in their sets. Unfortunately, every time one of those moments came, all you could hear was people chatting and squawking about their various BS, so that......

The White Stripes and Warner Bros. Records have transformed our beloved Tower Records on Sunset into Icky Thump Records, named after the Stripes' new cd. As we showed you in this photo essay on Monday, people stood in line for days to not just get the new album, but to also get to see Jack and Meg perform tonight inside the former record store. The first 200 people who bought cds Monday night at......

The White Stripes - Icky Thump (Warner Bros.) The Polyphonic Spree - The Fragile Army (TVT) Art Brut - It’s A Bit Complicated (Downtown) The Aliens - Astronomy For Dogs (Astralwerks) The Moony Suzuki - Have Mercy (Elixia) David Vandervelde - Nothin' No (Secretly Canadian) Dimitri From Paris - Cocktail Disco (BBE) Nouvelle Vague - New Wave (District 6) Bon Jovi - Lost Highway (Mercury Nashville) Van Morrison - Best Of Vol.3 (Manhattan/EMI) But......

If you drive home past the former Tower Records on Sunset you'll see that it looks slightly different. And you'll also see about 200 to 300 people melting in the hot parking lot. Warner Bros. Records has turned the classic record store into Icky Thump Records, which will sell the new White Stripes cd Icky Thump tonight at midnight, about 10 hours earlier than most record stores. But then the band will play Wednesday......

Tennessee is having a quaint little version of Coachella. Called Bonnaroo, the three-day outdoor festival is being headlined by the Police, above, and features the Flaming Lips, Gogol Bordello, Wilco, Wolfmother, and The White Stripes among others. Many of those bands have yet to play and thanks to the AT&T Blue Room you can see some of those heavy hitters live thru your computer. Just go to blueroom.att.com and click Live Now. Or you......

In a brilliant melding of marketing genius and a tip of the hat to a bittersweet time in LA rock history, the White Stripes announced today that they will be performing an intimate show at the location formerly known as the Tower Records on Sunset. Transforming it to Icky Thump Records (named after their upcoming cd) the duo will perform at the now-closed-and-shuttered West Hollywood landmark for the benefit of the first 200 fans......

Seattlest has a talk with the photographer from last week's "Segway Mom" and then experiences some dissension in the ranks over the question of wine vs. beer. It's not West Side Story, but about as close as they'll get. They're also still waiting on some inbox relief after a spammer is arrested. As Chicagoist counts down the days to its third anniversary party, they found all-organic pizza to be underwhelming amidst the hoopla, tried......

Hi new "Icky Thump" video. Hi LAist. Whatcha doin? Rockin. That's for damn sure. What cha doin? Waitin for that weekend to begin and thanking the Icky Thump above for having you here today to help me watch that clock tick tock tick me into three days of blissful bbq love. Awwww, that's awesome LAist. Yep and after the jump are ten more trippy-ass videos by the White Stripes over the years.......