Each Tuesday we will feature new music that should (or whatever) be on your radar.

Other CD's being released today:
1. Nancy LaMott - Ask Me Again
2. Morrissey - Greatest Hits*
3. Carrie Newcomer - The Geography of Light
4. Michael Jackson - Thriller 25th Anniversary Edition
5. Simple Plan - Self Titled
6. Widespread Panic - Free Somehow
7. The Puppini Sisters - The Rise & Fall of Ruby Woo*

We recommend*
Image courtesy of amazon.com

Each Tuesday we will feature new music that should (or whatever) be on your radar.

Take the jump to see what other CD's are coming out today...

Each Tuesday we will feature new music that should (or whatever) be on your radar.

Don't be fooled by the juvenile hand-writing or Crayola markers on the cover of this album. This is anything but juvenile. Each song Sia creates an emotional journey - sometimes literal, sometimes metaphorically - where she discovers something very important. The life-saving "Little Black Sandals" lets us see her struggle on starting a new life. She sings, "These little black sandals/Are walking me away/These little black sandals/Saved my life today." Sia travels back and forth between hopeful optimism and deep emotional betrayal. The heartfelt pleas in "The Girl" seem a bit shallow until you realize that the song is really called "The Girl [You Lost to Cocaine]." "No I don't need drama, so I'm walking away/Yeah I am a girl with a lot on her plate." Yikes.

In "You Have Been Loved" her lover walks away and she is left behind feeling empty: "Only sadness remains/And it will pass." This album ends up being emotionally-charged without being superficial and meaningless yet somehow it still remains upbeat. If you missed her last show at the Fillmore, it's okay, she's back in February (the 18th to be exact). Get your tickets now; it was nearly sold-out last time.

Download: "Day Too Soon" and "You Have Been Loved"

For more info on other CD releases, take the jump...

They released their fourth full-length album this summer as they set off for their small headlining tour. They finally found major success when Higgenson sang a very simple plea to Delilah in his acoustic guitar love song, "Hey There, Delilah." It's catchy and simple but mostly repetitive. It's sold over 2.35 million digital downloads and is one of the biggest songs of the year world-wide. With all this hype, it seems that we favored Plain White T's without ever actually listening to rest of the album. We assumed that it would be just as good. It's not. Hence the reason why they didn't get an "Album of the Year" nomination, too. They should feel a little better about themselves looking at who did get nominated: Rihanna and Foo Fighers?! Who votes for this shit?

To read about the concert, take the jump...

Each Tuesday we will feature new music that should (or whatever) be on your radar.

Standouts:

Download: "Tick Tick Boom" and "Try It Again"

For more info on other CD releases, take the jump...

Sara Bareilles (Bar - rell - is) -- summer's hottest, as they say, new singer/songwriter -- has gained a broad fan base throughout the U.S. via her extensive touring and #1 selling album, Little Voice, on iTunes, resulting in an impressive debut on Billboard's Top 200 Album Chart at #45. Praised by critics for its depth and honesty, even Rolling Stone raved "Bareilles' writing voice is uniquely her own." Luckily, we were introduced to Bareilles while covering Aqualung (for our neighbor site, Phillyist) earlier this year at World Cafe Live. We were so impressed with her singing ability, stage presence, and songwriting, we just had to get in touch with her to learn her secrets and get to know her a bit better.

If you haven't had the chance to check out her album, some of our favorites include: "Love Song", "Gravity", and "Between the Lines". Bareilles will co-headline with Jon McLaughlin (another one of my favorites) for an eighteen-city tour. But her touring schedule doesn't stop there. She continues with Paolo Nutini as well as Maroon 5. Unfortunately, this is her only stop in the Bay Area that's scheduled for now, so take this opportunity to check her out tonight. And if you already have plans for Friday night, then do stop by the good-ole Virgin Megastore, pick up her new album, and meet Bareilles in person. Be sure to bring a Sharpie and your camera: we want to see her in-store performance up on youtube later this weekend.

Sara Bareilles and Jon McLaughlin (with Raining Jane) go on tonight at 9 p.m. at Great American Music Hall; for ticket and other info, go here. SOLD OUT

Sara Bareilles meet-n-greet happens tomorrow (Saturday) at 1 p.m. at the Virgin Megastore (Stockton and Market Streets); free.


By Spencer Williams

Submit your found photos, letters, objects, grocery lists, etc to found @ sfist.com, or tag them as sfist on Flickr! Tell us where and when you found them and any other helpful info. They must have been found in the Bay Area and their previous ownership unknown.

Today's find is a very intense and forlorn love letter found by SFist reader Jeff Webb. Here's his description about the find from his blog:

I found this love letter in an old Grateful Dead Family Album book I bought for a buck either at a garage sale in the Haight, or a flea market in downtown San Francisco many years ago. I've kept the book all this time because of this letter, even tho the book is in horrible condition. There's even oil stains on the letter. Anyway, there is no other information in the book, nothing else written, just the letter. I'm reminded to finally scan this after seeing this SFist post. I'd like to find the owner and return it someday. Click on the images for a larger view and feel free to copy and send anywhere if you think that might help..Thanks

See the other side after the jump!

Since we happen to be engaged to lead singer Daniel Phifer, we get asked what Aim Low Kid sounds like quite a lot. We usually get frustrated because their sound is pretty hard to categorize (and we're not the best with musical genres to begin with). We say, "Rock with a punk/folk/pop edge, and there's an electric violin that's sometimes switched up with a mandolin and even a musical saw!" Better yet, here's a great excerpt from 's Hiya Swanhuyser's recent description of Aim Low Kid's sound (the blurb is no longer online): "A ringing but slightly fuzzed-out lead guitar, a solid but never perky backbeat, and an overall unwillingness to let go of the best parts of emo... The songs are elegiac and sound as if pulled from a deep well..." Right on, Hiya.

Aim Low Kid are playing their album release party tomorrow night at Hotel Utah, so go check them out!

Aim Low Kid Album Release Party
Saturday, February 10 at 9pm
w/The White Thighs and The 3
at Hotel Utah
500 4th St @ Bryant

We're also doing a giveaway! Enter to win Aim Low Kid's Soundtrack for the New Depression and a T-shirt, both featuring artwork by fabulous Oakland artist Teppei Ando. Be sure to tell us your American Apparel T-shirt size!

By SFist Leanne

* Album Of The Year: Mogwai -- "Mr. Beast"
The mostly-instrumental music of Glasgow's Mogwai has been described as big instrumental rock music for a soundtrack. The soundtrack of your whatever-you're-doing. If whatever-you're-doing really rocked.
Learned post-rock power with the rise-and-fall energy of a high tide's waves. Persuasive, intricate, enthralling.
Watch the video for the song Travel Is Dangerous here. Quicktime required.

* Song Of The Year: A.T.O -- "Break Out"
This is a mystery. No idea where this perfect piece of surf rock confection came from (perhaps Japan?), but it is the best song that we've heard in the last year. Do you have any idea who this is? What band? What album? We'd love to know.
Download the song here, and if you know anything, please let us know or speak of it in the comments section below. We'd really appreciate it.

* Movie/Book Of The Year: An Inconvenient Truth
Best horror movie in a while.
Seriously though, it's a frightening/galvanizing thing to see all the facts on global warming strung together in concussive fashion. You do good work, Al.

* Game Of The Year: Madden 07 (PS2)
A crippled, rushed, unfinished entry in the Madden NFL series that obviously suffered as EA Sports moved its flagship gaming franchise onto the next gen consoles.
Doesn't matter, it's still the best NFL video game available, and a source of simple joy to our heart. Of course, it's the only NFL video game available. Hrrrm.
Frank Gore's player ratings next season are gonna be .

* Television Programme Of The Year: Metalocalypse
A TV show hasn't had an opening sequence this good since Sky Commanders.
Super-silly metal-based amusement from Brendon Small, the co-creator and star of the wonderfully subtle Home Movies cartoon.

* Restaurant Of The Year: Absinthe
Never before had a meal driven us to tears of joy, yet that was what happened.
Susy and myself treated ourselves to oysters, goat cheese, wine, and unforeseen tears rolling down our cheeks. Incredible. Totally brightened up a dreary day.

* Website Of The Year: cuteoverload.com
Hell yeah, it is!

The Beatles are one of a few big bands who have yet to sell their wares online. The only other major bands that we could think of (and we're probably missing a few) that aren't on iTunes are Tool, Radiohead (!), AC/DC (!!), and the mighty Led Zeppelin. With the Beatles hopping on board, that'll narrow that list and hopefully make the others finally give in.

You would think with all the gobloads of ways the Beatles have been marketing their stuff that putting their music on iTunes would be a no brainer, but Apple and the Beatles have been fighting for years over the word "Apple." Mainly in that Apple also happens to be the long lost name of the Beatles record company (man, did we love the Apple logo they put on the lps- one side would be the outside of the apple, the other the inside of the apple, cut in half). After Apple (Computer) finally beat Apple (record company) in the greatly named Apple vs. Apple dispute (if only Gwyenth would go involved in all this so we could have an Apple vs. Apple vs. Apple dispute), tensions have cooled between the two camps, making this whole wonderful thing possible.

It also goes without saying that all of this kind of coincides with the release of the Beatles "Love" cd, which is a bunch of Beatles tunes re-done and resmastered (kind of like the infamous Grey Album except not illegal and without Jay-Z) and Apple is about to go to music war with Microsoft over mp3 players.

Best part of this? Waiting for the infamous iPod silhouette commercials all set to Beatles tunes.

Just fill in the form below and a lucky winner will be notified by e-mail tomorrow.

In addition to our show reviews, artist interviews, and weekly concert listings, we added a new dimension to our music coverage this year: giveaways! We know you just love to read us talking about music (see: dancing about architecture), but we did our best to put CDs and concert tickets in your hands as well. We hope you enjoyed it.

These giveaways would not be possible without the cooperation of friendly music publicists, band reps and record label contacts. Speaking of, our friends at AddVice put together the mother of all prize packs to end this year with a bang.

As much as we'd like to steal this for ourselves, it's going to one of our faithful music-loving readers. Enter to win all these great CDs! (Contest ends 1/4/2006.)