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 photo essay, one, two). That wasn't the only photo essay either: Joss Whedon/Mutant Enemy friends and Star Trek actors all joined in at the Writers Strike and KROQ's Almost Acoustic Christmas brought two nights of amazing bands that included Avenged Sevenfold, Linkin Park (Part I), Modest Mouse, Muse, Spoon and The Killers (Part II). Not only is L.A. a great music town, it has just been named the best city for bookish types. For those who are looking for something a little more active, American Gladiators are back (yes!) and if that's not enough, how about a Christmas gift of action and adventure? more ›

The video for Spoon's "The Ghost of You Lingers" is floating around (even if it's probably unofficial) now, have a look: It's a blue, bleeding piano, y'all. Incidentally, we found it amusing to watch this guy read his poetry in one tab while the Spoon song plays in another ... be sure to start them at the same time, it's a sort of Wizard of Oz / The Wall accident that worked out smashingly well.... more ›

Sadly, it is upon us. We'd say they saved the best for last, but the whole darn fest has been great from start to finish. Along those lines, all of the offerings these last several days look to be par excellence. Here're just a few. The Blue Screen International Program, Part I, curated by Lisa Kaselak. (Read Lisa's interview with Refraction Arts' Ron Berry here.) This 1.5 hour program, tonight only, 8pm at the Blue... more ›

THURSDAY [26] music • The Beauty Shop, The Shells, The Drawing Board, Just Guns at Emo's music • Broken Social Scene with Do Make Say Think at Stubb's music • Reunion Show for Clifford Antone's Birthday at Antone's music • Jamie Lidell w. Back Ted N Ted (late show) at The Parish Room music • Juana Molina w. Adem (early show) at The Parish Room music • Pete Yorn, Minibar at La Zona Rosa... more ›

Our common pitch to the non-theatre-goer: Hey, you’re a fun looking guy/gal. Wanna give something new a try? You know that persnickety twitch in the back of your head, reminding you that you feel disconnected from friends, neighbors and co-workers? You know how, in a quiet moment, alone in your apartment with the sinking feeling that there just isn’t anything imaginable that you could possibly want to do, you wish that you’d felt one... more ›

Recently, following the extraordinary back-to-back successes of Satanic Panic in the Attic and The Sunlandic Twins. Polyvinyl Records reissued three albums from Of Montreal's back catalog, off the now-defunct Kindercore label: The Bedside Drama: a Petite Tragedy, The Early Four Track Recordings, and The Bird Who Continues to Eat the Rabbit’s Flower. We had a phone chat with frontman Kevin Barnes a while back (admittedly, before SXSW), where we discussed the band's recent successes,... more ›