*MUSIC: Hotel Utah launches a brand spanking new party, YEAR. The night is being labeled as an "innovative branded concept," hosted by KUSF radio personality and creative director for the Mill Valley Film Festival, Dennis "The Menace" Scheyer. Each month at YEAR, one year will be celebrated -- ranging from 1956 to 2006 -- and the playlist for that month's event will be the top hits from that year. Which year will be the......

This week there's a recommendation every night at a different venue - talk about a great week of music. Starting with Monday, MGMT, the super-hyped duo from Brooklyn, will be playing Bottom of the Hill. MGMT is: Andrew Vanwyngarden and Ben Goldwasser, two psychic pilgrims whose paths first intersected in the green pastures of Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, circa 2002. After a post-college "existential crisis" they decided to create their masterpiece, Oracular Spectacular, released......

Wow, one show on Monday and twelve on Friday. This week we definitely start off a bit slow, but by the end of the week, we have a ton of choices. Wednesday, there is the sold-out Ingrid Michaelson show that had to be moved from Cafe du Nord to Slim's because apparently everyone is into "librarian chic" right now. Though it's sold-out, you can still find tickets on craigslist; the prices aren't too inflated, yet.......

Back in December, The Lovemakers, a glam-rock outfit from Oakland, decided to stay put and forego their national tour to record their next full-length album entitled "Love is Dead." (For a band called "The Lovemakers," that's quite a title!) According to their blog, they've also decided to "be a 3-piece [band] again for the next while live. Scott, Lisa and Michael Urbano on drums. Back to basics. Very cool. Very fun." What we didn't......

If you haven't decided what you are doing to celebrate the New Year, it's okay - it seems that limited tickets are still available to tonight's biggest shows. We have a feeling they will go quick. If you don't like crowds, you can check out Radiohead's New Year's Eve bash on your couch with a bottle of booze. For the partiers, there are several options ranging from $8 at Hotel Utah to $100 at Cafe......

-- Completely Hollywood (abridged): The Reduced Shakespeare Company's latest stage play skewers "Tinseltown's most lauded stars and starlets" ranging from the silent era to today's most beloved and pretentious independent films. The curtain goes up at 8 p.m. at Marines Memorial Theater; $45-60. -- Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars (1973): David Bowie's swan song as Mr. or Miss Stardust screens tonight at 7:15 p.m. and 9:15 at the the Red Vic. --......

Between the black n' purple checkered floor and the burlesque porn that was playing in the TV over the bar, we knew we had entered the perfect world's most interesting venue, Bottom of the Hill. (We continued that thought as we ventured into the sticker/grafitti laden walls of the cramped men's bathroom.) Bumping into Chris Reynolds, Eulogies' drummer, at the merchandise table before the show was unexpected as the porn but we digress. After a......

R.I.P. When The Lights Go Down In The City November 2004 - September 2007 It was SFist's first editor Jackson West who asked me to write a music column back in '04 and he also came up with the name of it. I thought, it's SF-related and a quote from a Journey song - perfect! For the past three years my aim has been to tell you about the music in San Francisco that......

-- Wayward Sway, Diablo's Dust, Smoky as the Devil: Listen to some stellar country-ish rock music as you sup on one of Hotel Utah's tasty shepherd's pies. Mmm. Nothing more hip than shepherd's pie! Music starts at 9 p.m. at Hotel Utah,, $6. -- Coo-Yah: Stoners rejoice! And dance! Green B and Daneekah pump out roots, reggae, and dancehall tunes tonight in the Mission. Starts at 10 p.m. at Bruno's, free. -- Papillon (1973)......

-- Barefoot Nellies: "The Bay Area's finest all-gal bluegrass band" headline at one of the Bay Area's finest bars, Amnesia, starting at 8:30 p.m., 853 Valencia; free. -- Killer of Sheep (1977): Charles Burnett's masterwork about a slaughterhouse worker/father and his family living in Watts, LA screens tonight at 7:15 p.m. 9:15 at The Red Vic, 1727 Haight (at Cole). -- Ryan Auffenberg: Local, tender singer-songwriter performs in the Mission. So does Clare Burson.......

For a thorough sampling of the current Bay Area rock/indie/pop/folk scene, look no further than Penny Arcade, a monthly, semi-acoustic showcase hosted by one of the cities most likeable citizens, Raul Sanchez. For the past two years, Raul has regularly packed various venues, such as the Make-Out Room -- now the event's permanent home, Bottom of the Hill, and The Hotel Utah with bands and fans alike. Tonight, come celebrate Penny Arcade's Two-Year Anniversary at......

SFist interviews Dan Smith from the Noisettes and gives away tickets and a drumhead...

It's another music giveaway bonanza this week! First up is a prize pack from Sea Wolf. They've been touring with Silversun Pickups (see a few SSPU members in the video for "You're A Wolf"), but they're a far more mellow outfit: Alex Church's vocals and melodies are gentle, strummy and soothing. Sea Wolf open for Devotchka on Friday night at the Grand Ballroom Bimbo's, and we have a pair of tickets for the winner......

Did you miss us last week? Here are our excuses: we caught a cold, had a birthday, and were up to here with work at our dayjob, for real. We're back now and anxiously awaiting a copy of Or, the Whale's brand new CD Light Poles and Pines to arrive in our mailbox. The few songs we've previewed on their site offer up banjo, steel guitar, and a chorus of male and female vocals......

In our ongoing effort to bring music to your ears, this week we're giving away two special prize packs from a long-standing Bay area band, The Mother Hips. Formed back in 1991, it's been six years since the band last released a full album. They're back with a new studio record on April 3rd called Kiss the Crystal Flake. Said singer/guitarist Tim Bluhm: "It is very different from anything we recorded in the past.......

Hey, remember a few weeks ago when we mentioned that Noise Pop was sponsoring a one-day make a music video contest a la Iron Chef? Well, here's the winning video! The video's by the local band Blammos, for the song "Girl Of My Dreams," where the singer walks around the Mission, singing to as many different girls his team could find that were willing to be on film. It's kind of cute! And, as......

All you 9-to-5ers out there who loathe working, Aim Low Kid's got your number. Their debut album, aptly titled, Soundtrack for the New Depression, is a handbook for the thinking working folk. Listen to their track Couple Dozen People and imagine any given day in the Financial District. 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......

We're doing our part for the SFist Holiday Gift Guide this month as well, by bringing you some extra special music giveaways. Barsuk Records is home to a lot of amazing artists, including San Francisco's own John Vanderslice. One of their newest signings is Portland's Menomena, a trio who manage to blend post-rock and pop in a deliciously haunting manner. Download the title track of their newest EP "wet and rusting" and see them......

They've moved away from San Francisco to a small town in Connecticut, but we're still claiming Mates of State as our own. The birth of the couple's baby girl Magnolia hasn't slowed their relentless tour schedule: on Tuesday they play their first of two nights at Great American (The Court & Spark open Tuesday and Asobi Seksu on Wednesday). We've got a copy of their latest record Bring It Back, out now on Barsuk......

Did anyone go see G n F'n R last night? Guns N' Roses, we mean. Apparently they're rocking the Warfield for two nights with opener Sebastian Bach. Our younger self is dying inside because this was our dream concert about 12 years ago, and here we are writing about music and somehow we don't have tickets. If you went, please tell us about the show in the comments so that we can all live vicariously.......

SFist interviews Marco Panella from Dark Side of the Cop...

There's always a lull in touring during the late summer, perhaps because most other cities in the U.S. are experiencing temperatures in the triple digits and that’s not the best climate for when you pop a tire on your Econovan and have to wait on the side of the highway for roadside assistance. But some brave musicians soldier on to bring the rock to us, grabbing some respite in San Francisco’s chilly summer nights. Magnolia......

Did anyone else get rocked at The Constantines' show last Friday at Cafe Du Nord? The packed and energetic crowd was treated to songs off their last three albums plus a passionate encore of "I'm A Man" by the Spencer Davis Group. After the show singer Steve Lambke was kind enough to let us compliment their set and tell us what he'd been reading (The Old Testament) and what albums influenced The Cons' sound (he......

After travelling to Austin to see about 30 great bands in three days at SXSW, next week we don't even have to leave town for a phenomenal music festival. Monday brings the start of Noise Pop 2006, San Francisco's annual indie rock smorgasbord. All-festival passes and several shows are already sold out, but SFist will be bringing you coverage so not to worry. On Friday one of our favorite bands, Metric, brings their erratic art......

Having worked in SoMa for seven years, we consider ourselves at least slightly informed as to what's doing in that neighborhood. So we read the New York Times' "36 Hours: SoMa, San Francisco," with some interest, hoping to see some of our favorite drop-in spots in print. What we saw instead was a wallet-busting tour of an area that's got a lot of great bargains. Although SFist totally applauds the inclusion of City Kayak's......

Happy New Year everyone! Were any of your holiday presents of the musical variety? If not, don't fret because our giveaways are back. This week you can enter to win a copy of local chanteuse Paula Frazer's Leave The Sad Things Behind, released in October on local label Birdman Records. Paula's Cline-esque croon floats angelically over spooky, romantic songs with lush instrumentation including horns and steel guitar. Sounds like the soundtrack to a love scene......

You may have noticed that we're giving away 'Fisties this month. Did you read about our 'Fisties in the music category? We declared that the local boys in Two Gallants made the Best Career Move this year by signing with iesteemed indie label Saddle Creek Records. One of the perks of signing with an indie is artistic freedom, which the band exercised on the b-side of their just-released "Las Cruces Jail"/"Long Summer Day" 7-inch. Enter......

Did you snag tickets to see The White Stripes at Live 105's Not So Silent Night show on Friday? The show is sold out, but you can tune in to the station to win last minute tickets. You can join SFist at the NSSN afterparty at Club Six with a set by Morningwood, a guest DJ from Death Cab, and much more. Enter for a chance to win passes for you and a guest to......

Perusing the club listings for December, we're seeing an awful lot of blank calendars. We reckon that means many of SFist's great music venues are being rented out for holiday parties. Perhaps even parties to which we were not invited. Party throwers, don't be afraid to invite SFist. We promise not to do anything untoward that might tarnish our sterling reputation. Not like we did last year. Dear readers, there is a wealth of good......

We're giving thanks today for all the great venues in San Francisco, which attract bands of all shapes, sizes and levels of fame to our fair city. Our show pick of the week is tomorrow night in Hotel Utah's tiny two-floor room with Phosphorescent and Castanets. Phosphorescent's Aw Come Aw Wry is a strong contender for our year end Top 10, and fans of Okkervil River and Neutral Milk Hotel should listen up. Sufjan Stevens'......