Speaking of Bjork, Darwin Bell snapped this shot at last week's Bjork Tribute Night at Trannyshack. more ›

Can we be frank? We're not the biggest Bjork fan. (More like Byuck, eh? Eh? *crickets*) However, we do enjoy Bjork's "Hyperballad" and we enjoy chanteuse Robyn, and here they are together. Best of all, Robyn is covering it in front of the Icelandic poster child herself. Chilling. more ›

Public Displays of Musical Affection busts out into a (more or less) seamless choreographed routine to Bjork's screechy but sublime "It's Oh So Quiet" in Union Square. Wee!
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• Gothamist found that an explosive set off outside the Times Square army recruiting center may be similar to five past bombings in New York City.
• Seattlest worried when severed right feet and bottles of rat poison started washing up on local beaches.
• Shanghaiist was surprised by Bjork's rooting for Tibetan independence at her concert (see video), and the political fallout has only just begun.
• SFist debated the merits of new bronze plaques that will be placed in locations where San Francisco's homeless have died.
• DCist was obliged to respond to the worst Washington Post Outlook column ever published, in which conservative writer Charlotte Allen tried to make the case that women are dumb.
• LAist found Satan's ice cream truck trolling the streets, and they recorded the music.
• Some crafty Torontoist readers didn't like the dearth of ski hills in downtown Toronto, so they just built one of their own on their deck and (of course) recorded a video of them all taking turns on it.
• Bostonist knows the city's subway and bus system, the MBTA, has problems. So does this 17-year-old who submitted a report and told the MBTA brass how to fix it.
• Phillyist explored the possibility of an Ivy League prostitute, while their commenters debated the most ethical approach to proving or debunking the story.
• Londonist spent a little too much time looking at airbrushed operatic private parts, and enjoyed an enlightening comment from someone who was there. more ›

The Coachella 2008 line-up was announced last night. The reason you didn't hear anything about it was because they announced it in Mexico City, something to do with creating international ties. “This is really a way for us to get closer to our fans throughout Latin America who have been supportive of Coachella for the past 10 years,” says Goldenvoice’s Paul Tollett. Super; we just care about the line-up. more ›

There are no less than three fantastic music festivals all taking place over the weekend of September 14-16. What gives? And how do we choose? Since we live in the bay area, perhaps our decision has been made for us: we're heading to the inaugural Treasure Island Music Festival presented by the fine folks at Noise Pop and Another Planet. The two day festival features 14 bands each day on two stages with mostly hip hop and electronica on Saturday (Theivery Corporation, DJ Shadow & Cut Chemist, M.I.A.) and a great lineup of indie rock on Sunday (Modest Mouse, Built To Spill, Clap Your Hands). And it all takes place on Treasure Island, that scrap of land you've seen a thousand times but likely have never set foot on. Getting there is sure to be an adventure! Check out the full lineup and get your tickets. We've got a pair of tickets for one lucky winner to go to one day of the Treasure Island Music Festival. (We're not sure which date yet but will update this post as soon as we hear back from our contact! But both days are really good so you can't go wrong. Contest ends 8/22; winner will be notified via email.) more ›

We parked in the hay last Saturday evening and were told by one of Shoreline Amphitheater's parking attendants, "Watch out for that big hole. We're right on the fault line!" Then, after walking for what seemed like a mile, we were finally able to hear the faint strumming of Joanna Newsom's harp and her signature, endearingly quivering voice. It had probably been ten years since we had last been to an amphitheater, and we realized upon entering the event that they all look the same, for the most part. more ›

This weekend is gonna be ginormous, with Bay to Breakers,the Maker Faire, the Prince and Bjork shows - so dive right on in with tonight's top picks: more ›

We knew very little about the art space & resource center, CounterPULSE, before attending their Second Anniversary Show on Sunday night (yes, we mistakenly kept calling it "Compulse"). This is their second year in a new location at Mission between 9th and 10th. We might’ve missed the modest front, except for the large artsy crowd milling out front (trying to squeeze in off the long wait list). more ›

Total number of people pictured in this week's Swells: 51 (plus two pictures of groups). more ›

Our concert picks for the week of 1/19-1/25. more ›

Our concert picks for the week of 6/9-6/15. more ›

Our concert picks for the week of 4/28-5/4. more ›

The Dave Eggers publishing venture McSweeney's, their Icelandic printer, and the Eggers family house band are sponsoring America's first Icelandic film festival this week (on Friday and Saturday) at the Castro. more ›