Our favorite album so far this year is “Re-Arrange Us” by husband and wife duo Mates of State. Beginning with the first single, “Get Better”, the album is a consistently enjoyable pop album. Mates of State are playing at Slim’s tomorrow and we’ve got a pair of tickets for one lucky SFist reader.......

Kate Nash (yes, she of the British music press hoopla) is playing at the Fillmore tonight, and one lucky SFist reader can win a pair of tickets simply by entering below. This contest ends at noon today, so hurry.......

New York Times, in their weekly Critic's Choice: New CDs column, introduced us to four different musicians we have never heard of: Lupe Fiasco, Jaheim, Birdman and Steve Lehman. We think that it has nothing to do with the "critic's choice", but rather there is nothing significant to write about this week - seems like a repeat of last week. We're patiently waiting for the January releases of: Radiohead (the actual CD), Kate Nash, Sia,......

If you haven't made it to the Curiosity Shoppe yet, what are you waiting for? It's one of our new favorite shops on Valencia Street. After having an e-commerce site for a year we were thrilled to hear that owners Lauren Smith and Derek Fagerstrom were setting up a brick and mortar spot in our fair city. Not only do we adore the choice of products for sale in the shop, we're big fans......

Each Tuesday we will feature new music that should (or whatever) be on your radar. All bands this week featured in our Standout section are from the Bay Area. Standouts: 1. Arp - In Light: Pop minimalism aren't two words that aren't often placed in the same sentence, let alone right next to each other, but Arp, based out of San Francisco, has fused pop and minimalism together to something organic and exciting. Also categorized......

Back in May, we were introduced to a great indie-pop band called Great Northern. We quickly fell in love with their latest release, Trading Twilight for Daylight and have been trying desperately to see one of their shows to no avail (they have been touring constantly since their release). They've been through San Francisco several times so we're sure you've already heard about them. (We hope!) Even our own Aaron Axelsen from Live 105 has......

In light of it being Halloween, we thought instead of candy, we would give out two tickets to another concert. This week has been full of giveaways (see here and here), so why not more? This time, it's two tickets to see Tunng, a London-based experimental/folk/electronic band, at Bottom of the Hill on Monday, November 5th. The press release says that, "If you're into rustic acoustic-based folk, kitchen sink experimentalism, delicate electronics and pop......

Each Tuesday we will feature new music that should (or whatever) be on your radar. Standouts: 1. Nicole Atkins - Neptune City: This New Jersey native, reaches down deep to relate stories of her hometown, Neptune City on her debut release. "From the time I was a kid I started collecting these sad little tragically beautiful personal stories from the people in my life, and my own as well. That sense of history really appeals......

Minipop, a San Francisco-based band, is releasing their much anticipated debut album, A New Hope next Tuesday. Lucky for all of us we'll be able to get their new CD this Saturday, a few days early, at their CD Release party at Rickshaw Stop. Minipop is a favorite of LIVE 105, which has played their single “Like I Do” in heavy rotation since its release in late 2006 and said they were "a band......

Each Tuesday we will feature new music that should (or whatever) be on your radar. Standouts: 1. Serj Tankian - Elect the Dead: With his newest single, "Empty Walls," System of the Down's front man sings a passionate protest against the war. He cleverly sets his newest video in a daycare juxtaposing the violence of day-to-day objects such as silly-string, bubbles, helmets, doll houses and even a fun-dome filled with hundreds of plastic balls. His......

If you fell in love with Sia when you were bawling your eyes out about the Fisher family then Thursday's night concert is for you. Sia, our favorite Australian pop singer, is coming to the Fillmore this Thursday. We recently downloaded her newest EP, Lady Crossiant - a live recording from New York's Bowery Ballroom. There is also one new track, Pictures, that is worth listening to as well. Breaking News Update: This tour......

Each Tuesday we will feature new music that should (or whatever) be on your radar. Standouts: 1. Thrice - The Alchemy Index, Vol 1 & 2: The juxtaposition of fire and water is felt on these two separate EP's that Thrice entitles, "The Alchemy Index." Thrice's investigation into nature doesn't stop with Volumes I & II - they'll continue on with Volumes III & IV in Spring of 2008. Pushing their musical boundaries, Volume I......

Yay APAture! Tomorrow night is their film night at the Victoria Theater. This screening looks awesome: how can you not want to watch movies titled, among other things, "Since You've Been Ong," "Dick Ho: Asian Male Porn Star," or "Kiss My Hyphen?" Noted documentarian and cinematographer Emiko Omori is the featured artist. We've got tickets for you and a friend for Thursday's screening! 8 p.m. at the Victoria (at 16th and Capp). If you......

Update!: We accidentally screwed up our contest-o-meter, so we're embarrassed to say we're going to have to run the contest again! Sorry, sorry, sorry, APAture. Reenter away, and we'll pick a winner by mid-day tomorrow. We promised you APAture event tickets, and we never go back on a promise: wanna see local Asian-American musicians Goh Nakamura, Dreamdate, Lumaya, and Amber Field tomorrow at the Make Out Room? It's a good mix of sounds, befitting the......

We love the Eurotrash!!! Wanna win tickets to see Gunther, the Swedo-pop source of the delightful "Ding Dong Song (You Touch My Tralala)"? (YouTube clip from his show in LA above.) The mulleted, fake-mustachioed, heavily-accented synth star's on fire (even Aidan Vaziri couldn't help but admire the guy), and people are (no joke) flying in from all over the country to check out his show this Saturday. Gunther's motto is: "Always remember: sex, love,......

With their usual whimsy, those folks from 826 Valenicia celebrated their 5-year anniversary on 8/26. They did so with a community festival at Mission Playground, which is right near the store. Entry was free; folks purchased tickets to engage in many of the activities. Kids and adult-sized kids engaged in music, games, pie-eating contests, and tried their hand at dunking folks. Seemed like everyone was having a swell time for a swell cause....

Yowza, Chronicle Books! All you need to know about this book is right there in the graphic. Didn't we promise this book to you guys last month too? Crafting meets, uh.... crafting in today's giveaway, which has instructions not only for a variety of tube-shaped objects, but also how to make certain electric accessories, a knitting pattern for a sensitive male organ, crocheted restraints, chocolate body paints, and much, much more (50 projects in all).......

Hey Giants fans, hate the Dodgers? Like, really, really, really hate the Dodgers? Wanna have some snarky yet juvenile fun at their expense? Hell, what else can you do considering they're in first place (or, well, were) and have won eleven straight at the Phonebooth. Do we have a contest for you! ...

Hey foodies! We've got a giveaway for you! Wanna grab dinner at Michelin-rated Maverick with Yahoo food columnist Eric Gower, the Breakaway Cook? What's a Breakaway Cook? Well, Gower defines a Breakaway Cook as one making easy home cooking including ingredients and techniques from around the globe. Miso-flavored mashed potatoes? Poached eggs with green tea-infused salt? Why not? The Chron says they taste great. Salon.com's got passes for one lucky winner to attend the dinner......

It is a cavalcade of giving these days at SFist! Today's present to our faithful readers: tickets for you and a friend to see new alternaband the Cribs. They're three brothers (two twins) from England, they sound kind of like Interpol, their new album "Men's Needs, Women's Needs, Whatever" was produced by the singer from Franz Ferdinand, and they're at Lollapalooza in Chicago in August. But before they do that, the Cribs are playing......

Hey, want to win tickets to see the Fray at Shoreline this Saturday? That's their sensitive pop ballad on the YouTube clip above, and Gomez and the SFist Krissy endorsed Eisley are opening! We have to get the names of the winners to the folks offering us these tickets pretty quickly, so we'll give them to the fifth commenter on this post. Only registered commenters can win, because we'll need your email address to......

More giveaways! San Francisco's own Kronos Quartet has a new album out, of their acclaimed September 2003 live performance with Tom Waits of four of Waits's songs, for the Concert for Peace and Reconciliation by Richard Gere's Buddhist humanitarian organization Healing The Divide with the Dalai Lama in attendance. There's also performances by Norah Jones's sister Anoushka Shankar, Philip Glass, and the Guyto Tantric Choir. We've got a copy to give away! Even if......

You know how they say the most effective ad uses the words FREE SEX NOW? Well, that's what we've got! We've got passes to the smuttily-highbrow Lady Chatterley, a French movie based on D.H. Lawrence's second draft of what would ultimately become Lady Chatterley's Lover, called "John Thomas and Lady Jane." The movie's won five Cesar awards (the French Oscars) -- plus it sounds like there's plenty of steamy activity as well, given that it's......

Oooh, we love giving stuff away -- and this one's for the dedicated craftster/stoner crowd -- the good folks at the hip DIY local publisher Chronicle Books want to teach you how to build your own bong. Duuuuuuuude! Namely, we've got a copy of the book Build This Bong to give to one lucky winner, randomly selected by the '-ist contest machine -- you can learn how to build a bong or hookah out of......

Passes! Passes! We got movie passes! Wanna see Eve and the Fire Horse, a movie about a high-spirited Asian-Canadian girl whose older sister is going through a Christian religious conversion, and whose family is learning to assimilate in Vancouver? (The "fire horse" part of the title refers to a superstition in Chinese astrology that children born in 1978 are particularly rambunctious.) We have no idea what's going on in that picture above, but it......

It's that time of the year again for San Francisco magazine's Best of the Bay party. The annual bash features lots of eats, drinks and chances to win prizes. Be prepared to fork over nearly a bill for your ticket here -- but as an added bonus it will also get you into the afterparty at Slide. San Francisco Concourse Exhibition Center, 635 8th St. Come watch contenders for the Air Guitar championship title......

It's the end of the week -- and it's our last Frameline LGBT film fest ticket giveaway. The last one's a blowout, though -- it's passes for you and a friend to the sold-out closing night movie and party Sunday night! Whoooo! Frameline goes out in style, starting out with Sunday night's 7:30 p.m. Castro screening of Itty Bitty Titty Committee at the Castro, an exuberantly-idealistic radical feminist punk rocker romantic comedy by the......

We're still going strong on this week's ticket giveaways for the Frameline GLBT film fest! Today's giveaway is for tickets to a screening for you and a friend on Saturday night (not Friday!): it's the new RuPaul movie STARRBOOTY! And this screening is sold out, so if you want to guarantee yourself seats, you gotta go through us. Starrbooty's a modern-day blaxxploitation comedy, with RuPaul reprising the role that made her famous, supermodel/crimefighter Starrbooty,......

There's no better way to celebrate the Frameline GLBT film fest than by entering to win free tickets for you and a friend to a screening tomorrow night! We've got passes to Nina's Heavenly Delights, which SFist Sara found thoroughly enjoyable. A closeted South Asian-Irish lesbian enters a curry cooking contest to save her family's restaurant business, only to fall in love with an old school friend along the way. Cooking, coming out, and......

Not content with just one opportunity today to get free movie passes? Well, you're in luck! We've got free passes to the new John Cusack movie 1408 tonight! John Cusack!!!! Sigh, If you want to go, send an email to VIPTickets@alliedadvpub.com and you'll get back a pass for you and a friend! Email ASAP, though, they've only got a limited number of seats to give away. 1408 is about a cursed hotel room that Cusack's......