Tonight we're wishing a great big Happy 4th Birthday to DJ Ted and his baby BAGeL Radio. The party is at Bottom of the Hill with performances by Birdmonster, Division Day and Two Seconds, and yes there will be cupcakes! The show is 18+ and only $10, but for those of you who aren't in the city tonight you can still listen in to the party performances thanks to the fine folks at Lala.com.......

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......

We're back from summer vacation -- did you miss us? Last Saturday night we braved a sold out Cafe Du Nord to see two of our favorite obscure indie rock bands: Tilly and the Wall and Now It's Overhead. Apparently Tilly's not so obscure anymore, since there was a line down the block at the venue before doors even opened. Luckily our friend in Now It's Overhead got us in – thanks Andy! We caught......

SFist was blown away by Von Iva when they opened for Metric at the Great American Music Hall in late October. This all-female Bay area-based band doesn't need no stinkin' guitars -- just bass, drums & keys mixed with the loud, proud blues-gospel-soul vocals of foxy, feral front-woman Jillian Iva. Love the Yeah Yeah Yeah's? Love PJ Harvey? Love your rock to make your heart pound and your shoulders shimmy? These ladies have just......

Thomas Hawk, local San Francisco photo/blogger, posted an interesting essay on his experiences taking pictures at different private cultural venues around town. EssEffist found the link on Boing Boing, which often covers issues related to freedom of speech, expression, media and fair use....