We've got two giveaways this week, and the first one is particularly near and dear to our heart. We're halfway through 2007 and already thinking about what might make our annual list of top 10 records. One album that's sure to make the cut is Menomena's Friend and Foe. The band is back to play live this Friday night at the Independent with opener All Smiles, a.k.a. Jim Fairchild. We've known Jim since way back......

We hope to visit Boston soon, and when we do, we hope Bon Savants will be our ambassadors. Read lead singer Thom Moran's hilarious answers to the below questions and listen to their catchy, shoegazy pop, and you'll see what we mean. They are also humanitarians at heart and requested that we link to The Pendulum Project. Bon Savants are stopping in SF tonight to play a sold-out show at Cafe Du Nord with Portland band Menomena, who were featured in SF Weekly this week. Both bands are heading to South By Southwest next week. ...

Did you get your tickets to see Menomena on Friday night at Cafe Du Nord? Hopefully you did, because the show is sold out. As we've said before, this record is already on our top 10 of '07, so if you haven't checked the band out yet - what are you waiting for? OK maybe you're broke or you've fallen and you can't get to Amoeba, so we're going to hook one of you......

Special video bonanza! Last night we made it out to the Noise Pop BAGeL Radio happy hour at Thee Parkside just in time to see Peloton. That's right, in case you haven't heard or experienced it yet, Noise Pop is in full swing here in San Francisco. Thee Parkside was packed with festivalgoers and BAGeL fans and DJ Ted couldn't help but beam proudly at the full house. It's good to see music fans supporting......

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......