The year is coming to a close and, like all procrastinators, I am late on my "Best of" duties. Nevertheless, 2007 was a jam-packed year full of great music. With some very welcome returns, some flops, and some breakout contenders, 2007 was a testament to the ever-changing, ever-exciting musical atmosphere. Anyway, here it is... The Best of 2007: 1. Feist – The Reminder There is a reason that Feist has become as popular as......

A sad week for LAist as they lose their trusted and amazing editor Tony Pierce to the LA Times, but what a blast his last week was. He shared his 25 Favorite CDs of 2007 and wrote a great review of just a good movie, No Country For Old Men. At UCLA, thousands of students celebrated the end of their quarter by running around campus in their undies (lots of photos in a two-part......

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......

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......

Everybody's doing it, right? I don't pretend to be hip or edgy or rebellious. I mean, I grew up on Billy Joel and Madonna and Motown and then the Gen Xer's basic dichotomy of KROQ versus Top 40 in the 90s. I find it increasingly harder to fall in love with albums in the downloading age, and am one of those people who obsessively compiles mixed cds for friends and iPod playlists full of......

Last year we did a lot of Best Of lists, and this year we are on a roll to eclipse the quantity and quality of last year. One thing I have noticed is there seems to be two ways to do a Best Of list. You can do a politically correct one for the hipsters and cynics - which is boring and a lie. Or you can keep it real and talk about how......

One look at the bill for Night Two of KROQ's Almost Acoustic Christmas one might think with all of the INDIE flavor that that LA's "other" rock station was behind the programming. But alas it was KROQ and Night Two featured great performances by Modest Mouse, Muse, Feist, Silversun Pickups, Jimmy Eat World, Spoon and a surprise unannounced performance from the Killers.......

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......

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......

"Knights of Cydonia" - Muse (One of the best videos of the year because we can relate to it via Guitar Hero 3 and we love Western themes. That and it's a great song.) Abstract 3's Armenian Folk Jazz @ The Baked Potato Muse, Feist, Jimmy Eat World, Modest Mouse, Silversun Pickups, Spoon, The Shins @ Gibson Amphitheatre at Universal Citywalk The Cult, The Cliks @ House of Blues - Disneyland Heavy D @......

"I Used to Dance With My Daddy" - Datarock Spice Girls @ STAPLES Center Ninja Academy @ Safari Sams The Cult, Death By Stereo, Action Action, The Cliks @ The Wiltern Bloodcat Love, The Lieutenants, Hollerado Spoon, Pinback, Datarock, Sea Wolf @ The Avalon Jesse Malin, Holly Ramos, Johnnie Newman, Julia Othmer @ Hotel Cafe Ten Count Junky, Crystal Stafford Project @ The Derby The Diletantes, Electromagnetic, Idyllists, Tom McShane @ Silverlake Lounge Michael......

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 totally dug the soundtrack to American Beauty (not the orchestral score by Thomas Newman, which is amazing too), then you must know that KCRW DJ Chris Douridas was behind it. His choices in music for that movie led to a Grammy nomination, but that is only one of many movies and accomplishments under his belt. As a DJ, Douridas hosts New Ground on Saturdays at noon for three hours. In September, we......

This week we have been spotlighting KCRW djs and their favorite cds of this year. Yesterday we gave you Liza Richardson, before that Nic Harcourt and Tom Schnabel. This morning we bring you Anne Litt's list. Anne of course is the host of The A Track, and hers is the first list to include the Arcade Fire's Neon Bible. Let's see what else struck her fancy as we continue our parade of KCRW dj's......

Here's the mix: Download or listen to the mix above which contains the songs and their related articles below: - Spoon "Infinite Pet" for show review by Staci Goodner - No Age "Everybody's Down" for a story/show review by Joshua Pressman - Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings "Tell Me" for a CD review by tomdog - MIA "Galang" for a show review by Joey Maloney - Cake "War Pigs" cuz they play on 11/30 at......

It's a dream date for fans of Canadian songstress Feist and Austin's Spoon. Feist is just now making her break on the world stage, with a little help from Uncle Steve. But anyone with an ear to the Toronto indie rock scene could hear her coming ever since her solo debut, Monarch, was released on the heels of By Divine Right's "Bless This Mess" Tour (she was their rhythm guitarist). For most of this......

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......

Feist, Spoon @ Gibson Spiritualized @ Vista Theatre Little Brother, Evidence, Black Milk @ El Rey Sondre Lerche @ The Troubadour The Parson Red Heads, Or the Whale @ The Echo Gliss @ The Viper Room The Jealous Girlfriends, A for Attack @ Silverlake Lounge The Airborne Toxic Event @ Detroit Bar Stars @ Glass House......

Richard M. Sherman is half of the famous Sherman Brothers songwriting team. Responsible for the scores of “Mary Poppins” and “Jungle Book” He has two Academy Awards, A Grammy, A star on the walk of fame, 23 gold and platinum albums, and is in the Songwriters Hall of Fame. I got a chance to speak to Mr. Sherman about his current projects and some of his much beloved past ones. His current project is......

The Pogues @ The Wiltern - Tonight ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of The Dead, Dethklok @ UCLA - Tonight Redd Kross @ Echoplex - Tomorrow The Polyphonic Spree, Rooney @ Henry Fonda - Tomorrow Yo La Tengo @ The Ivar - Tomorrow Low Versus Diamond @ Viper Room - Tomorrow The Bronx, The Mercy Killers @ Safari Sam's - Tomorrow Rodrigo Y Gabriela @ Henry Fonda, 11/3 Yo La Tengo......

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......

The annual Street (Not so much anymore) Scene down in San Diego went of last weekend, boasting an impressive lineup of , The Killers, Muse, Arctic Monkeys, Spoon, TI, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Infected Mushroom and many many more. Lots and Lots and Lots O Pics.........

Introducing the TV Junkie Black List: While waiting for Spoon to go on the Tonight Show last night I had to endure Leno and guest Denis Leary talking about how they'd like to get cyclists off the roads and how they enjoy honking at them, etc. Both of these a-holes know* what went down recently in Beverly Hills as reported by LAist and the last thing LA needs is more SUV drivers feeling justified in......

Dengue Fever @ Levitt Pavilion for the Performing Arts (MacArthur Park, 7pm) Spoon @ Henry Fonda Joe Frank @ Largo Kinski @ The Echo Rezurex @ Safari Sam's Nightcat, The Nimoys, Spinal Frog, Laura Steenberge, Free Radical @ Mr. T's Bowl......

It was an odd pairing of acts at the Creative Commons benefit presented by Wired Magazine with indie darlings Spoon headlining the first of three nights at the Fonda and underground hip hop legend Dr. Octagon aka Kool Keith opening. Billed as the kick off event for this weekends Wired NextFest, the show was dynamic and entertaining.......

Last night Spoon played alongside Kool Keith at the Henry Fonda Theatre. Need I say more? Oh and it was for a great cause! Both artists rocked out to raise money for the non-profit organization Creative Commons. This was the third time they've held a CC Benefit. Prior CC Benefits featured David Byrne, Gilberto Gil, Girl Talk, Diplo, and Peeping Tom. I had no idea who was opening this special event until I arrived......

9:00pm Big Brother 8 CBS - Another houseguest gets the boot [who are you betting on Tony Pierce?] 9:00pm i-Caught ABC - Soldiers use of the internet; also, so-called blogebrities who have access to the hottest events - hmmmm, that kinda sounds like our lauded editor Tony Pierce ;-) 10:00pm P.O.V. "The Camden 28" PBS/KLCS - Back in the day, people used to do more than just bitch about the war on blogs -......

David Lee Roth w/ Steve Vai - "Yankee Rose" Art Brut @ Key Club Spoon @ The Henry Fonda Steve Vai @ The Wiltern Jon Brion, Dana Gould @ The Largo Brandi Carlile, A Fine Frenzy @ House of Blues Maserati, El Ten Eleven, Good to Be @ Silverlake Lounge Acid Mothers, Guru Guru, The Phantom Family Halo @ The Troubadour Papillon, Longevity, Hornz & Halos, Subtance Abuse @ The Knitting Factory Teaneck, New......

Spoon - "The Underdog" Spoon @ Henry Fonda The Airborne Toxic Event @ The Viper Room I'm a Bird You're a Bird @ The Cat Club 14 Year Old Girls @ Pehrspace Lucinda Williams @ El Rey Gram Rabbit, Donita Sparks @ Spaceland Metal Skool, Zombies Ate My Nation @ Key Club Todd Rundgren @ Grove of Anaheim Doug Benson, Patton Oswalt @ Largo The Happy Hollows, The Western States Motel, Tigers Can Bite......

Austin-fave Spoon is coming to town for three shows next week and LAist has two pairs of tickets for all of you fans that love bouncing to Gimme Fiction. If you’d like to get access to the SOLD OUT show on September 11 at the Henry Fonda Theater, just tell us your favorite lyric from any track (e.g., My boots are on the mend/And they ain't walking home from "Black Like Me") on the......