Molly Bergen

The curtains pulled back and emerging from a cloud of bright orange smoke, the Shout Out Louds bounced joyfully onto the stage at the El Rey Theatre in front of a sold out crowd. They had every reason to be exuberant. It's been seven years since their debut disk, Howl Howl Gaff Gaff, came out in the US and after being dropped by EMI and reborn on Merge Records, this band is finally hitting their stride.

Like a pre-teen who just got a hold of his first Playboy, looking at the list of bands playing the Silver Lake Jubilee makes us hyperventilate. The question is of course, what should you see? With such a plethora of names and genres, how do you know where to go? Fear not! We have put together a list of a dozen bands per day that you simply must see. As usual we've included a list of tunes so you can judge for yourself and more importantly set times of when they go on!

The cheeky, flame-haired singer, Kate Nash played to a sold out crowd at the El Rey Theatre last Tuesday. Equipped with a back up band that played well, but never showed off, Nash showcased her latest release, My Best Friend Is You. With a thick cockney accent and an appreciation for mischief, Miss Nash has long won the hearts of those who like their pop on the saucier side, but find Lily Allen a bit too bitter and Adele a tad too sweet. (Honestly, London has got the cheeky 1960s girl group influenced pop market cornered right now.)

Huddled in the gloom of his apartment in Brooklyn, Steve Schiltz, lead singer of the indie rock band Longwave began writing songs that didn't really fit with his current band's guitar heavy, rock aesthetic. These were mellow songs that were meant to be played in the quiet of the late evening hours. So Schiltz created Hurricane Bells, named after the big, heavy bells that are hung in trees to warn of impending doom. Well, at least stormy weather.

To say that it's been a good year for Avi Buffalo would be an understatement. They've managed to pull off what most teenagers only fantasize about it. Graduate high school? Check. Sign to Sub Pop? Check. Tour the country? Check. Sellout the Troubadour for their record release party? Check and check.

The depressing joint on Pico and La Cienega Blvd known as The Mint rarely books bands that will rock your socks off. I blame the chairs. Any place that calls itself a music venue and has chairs and tables on the dance floor, is sure to be a subdued affair. Not to mention an establishment that makes you buy a drink for the privilege of sitting down even though you just paid a cover to get in there. Add those elements together and you've got a pretty stale atmosphere most nights. Unless! Every once and awhile, if you're really really lucky, you get a traveling band coming through town who doesn't know any better and books a gig there. On those very rare occasions, the Mint shakes off its cobwebs and people actually get to dance.

Warm, hearty, back-porch folk is back in town tonight. That's right. Durham's own Megafaun will be gracing the Echo in support of their new mini-album, Heretofore, which will be out on HomeTapes later this spring. Since the disbanding of their previous band DeYarmond Edison (with Bon Iver's Justin Vernon) in 2006, the trio: brothers Phil and Brad Cook and drummer, Joe Westerlund, have acquired a reputation for raucous live shows that are heavy on audience participation. We caught up with Brad Cook, before his show in San Francisco last night and chatted about what a mini-album actually was, his jazz ambitions, and Gram Parson's corpse. Here is some of what was said.

If all had gone according to plan Peasant (aka Damien DeRose) wouldn't have an album, let alone two. Heck, he probably wouldn't have bothered writing songs all, but as we all know, things rarely go according to plan. The cosmos usually finds some reason or other to throw us a curve-ball or in DeRose's case a sea lion.

The restless sonic explorer RJD2 is near impossible to pin down. Nothing seems to really fit. Hip hop producer? Multi-instrumentalist songwriter? DJ? At this point it all of these labels seem inconsequential. RJ (Ramble John) Krohn has been making interesting, multifaceted albums for a decade now and just seems to be hitting his stride. We caught up with RJD2 to talk about his fourth album, The Collosus, newly released on his record label Electrical Productions, which is a near indefinable, genre-hopping frenzy.

Last year was a rough one for Ted Leo and The Pharmacists. Their label dissolved and the album that they were working on was scrapped. Undeterred they set about writing new material and self produced a new album in Brooklyn which was released a couple weeks ago on Matador Records. We caught up with Leo a few weeks ago to talk about these crazy transitions, the health of punk music, and Malibu rum. Here is some of what was said.