Around 2 a.m. this morning, a fire at a San Carlo warehouse destroyed around $750,000 worth of Neil Young's stuff. The blaze occurred at 593 Quarry Road west of Highway 101 at a warehouse primarily used by the classic rocker. "Young kept guitars, paintings, vintage cars and cases of other memorabilia at the 10,000-square-foot warehouse," reports The Chronicle. "About 70 percent of the belongings have been salvaged or are salvageable." Although the fire is under investigation, "it did not appear to be suspicious." more ›

Another Planet just announced that Neil Young will be playing two solo shows at the Fox on July 11th and 12th. If there are any Boomers in the audience, or hardcore fans of the soothing late-60s/early 70s sounds of Mr. Young, you may want to get tickets -- presale tomorrow, on sale on Sunday. (Also of note, he's been working on this multimedia piece, including a graphic novel and a film, called Greendale.) And speaking of Boomers, we present this video of Young's generational conversation ballad, "Old Man." more ›

By Frances Reade more ›

SFist interviews David Hyman founder of MOG, and online music community. more ›

We don't say this lightly, because there are really a lot of great artists coming out of the Bay Area, but we do have a current favorite: Birds & Batteries. We've been telling you about this co-ed quartet for a little while now, and our expectations for their new record were really high. Thankfully it's good news: we love I'll Never Sleep Again. It's still the B&B we met on their last release, but this time the woeful steel guitar and Mike Sempert's deep drawl are buffered by better production, including warm bursts of synth so thick you could hold them in your hand. The record starts out by making the simple, straightforward Neil Young classic "Heart of Gold" into an existential epic, and we love the song "Starclusters" so much that it's secured a solid entry in our top 10 tracks of the year. One lucky winner will get a Birds & Batteries prize pack, including two tickets to the CD release party on Wednesday night at Cafe Du Nord, a limited edition copy of the CD with silk screened artwork, plus a poster from the show. Enter to win (contest ends 6/25; winner will be notified via email). more ›

I'm so used to using the royal "we" when I write for SFist that it feels really strange writing "I" - sort of like driving on the left side of the street. And my favorites of 2006 have left me feeling not quite myself either - I've never been a huge fan of electro-rock, but this year's list is drowning in it. In fact, each of these albums share one or more of the following attributes: English-as-a-second language lyrics, baroque instrumentation, dazzling fingerpicking, drug-free/music-induced highs, gentle goodness, unbridled electro-sensuality, so wrong it's right-ness. Regardless of the genre, each of these albums struck a chord in me by being provocative, emotional, ambitious or just fun. My top three local albums are at the very end, so don't stop reading! more ›

Total number of people pictured in this week's Swells society column: 52. more ›

Total number of people pictured in this week's Swells society column: 59. more ›

Total number of people in the pictures of this week's Swells: 58. more ›

Last week's winner, the East Bay Express: A letter-writer urges the food critic to open his heart to the magic and love that is Cafe Gratitude. Typos in Ellen Corbett's mailers. Open relationships, without using the word "polyamory" ("I hate that word. It's so '70s.") Cover: going wireless in West Oakland (and other East Bay cities). Steak in Danville. New music guy on Neil Young, and Sick Of It All about the lead singer's back pain. And SFist Eve's horoscope: digest and metabolize jolts of insight! more ›

Our concert picks for the week of 6/23-6/29. more ›

While book signings themselves are not that big of an event in and of themselves, they can be depending on who is doing all the signing. Like ex-Presidents. Or skanky “celebrities.” And especially reclusive, iconoclastic writers. It’s an even bigger deal if said reclusive iconoclastic writer isn’t necessarily a writer per se, but a reclusive iconoclastic rock god. Tomorrow, the Bard of La Honda, the Godfather of Grunge, the man who can somehow still make Crosby, Stills, and Nash seem cool- Neil Young- appears at the Booksmith at Haight to sign copies of his new book, Greendale. Greendale, illustrated by James Mazzeo (who will also appear), is a book based on the CD that became a multi-media stage performance that became movie that became yet one more thing that made critics and fans alike go “what the hell is he doing now?” more ›

'Tis the season, already, for record companies to inundate the shelves of Target and Wal-mart with gift-worthy releases of greatest hits, Christmas collections, and repackaged favorites. You already know about the huge releases by Destiny's Child and Eminem, and we're betting that critics' darling Rufus Wainwright will be covered extensively elsewhere. Here are some of the releases that intrigued and amused us for the week of November 16th. more ›