Saturday night we had the pleasure to watch one of Noise Pop's most intriguing local acts: Wallpaper. We interviewed Eric Frederic - the man behind it all - earlier in the week and had even listened to his new EP, T REX on his MySpace page but we had no idea it was going to be that much fun. We were on such a high from Wallpaper's set that we didn't want to ruin it......

We volunteered to meet and greet sell Noise Pop merchandise to festival attendees who often ended up spending all their money on band merch (as if) and/or beer (or more specifically in Cafe Du Nord's case -- Fernet Branca and Poppy Jaspers). It was quite a fun experience though, and we highly recommend it. Contact them about volunteering at next year's event! Tuesday: Our first Noise Pop night was on Opening Night at the Rickshaw......

Wallpaper, a sweet/sleazy duo from Oakland will be serenading the head-bopping Noise Pop fans at Rickshaw Stop on Saturday night. They will be opening for the hipster-loving band, Panther. Wallpaper's infectious electronic sound can be heard on their new EP, T REX that will be digitally released in late April. You might file their EP between Prince and MSTRKRFT - quite an adventure. We touched base with the lead singer who answered (quite humorously) our......

*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......

*MUSIC: Kelley Stoltz, Grand Archives, the Morning Benders, and le Weather Underground sing some songs for you over at the Independent. (Part of Noise Pop 2008.) COMEDY: Get ready to hee yourself silly. Kenny Altman hosts Ron Vigh, Kelly McCarron, Maggie Newcomb, and Morgan Ryan Kasmier at "Gays and Dolls," a homosexually-charged night of stand-up hilarity. You can catch the queers killing it over at the Clubhouse. (BYOB, people. For reals.) CLUB: New York-based......

*FILM: She Done Him Wrong (1933) screens at the Castro Tonight. What's is about? Well, according to CinemaSource, "Lady Lou works as a singer at the Gay Nineties saloon of Gus Jordan, who plays her with diamonds to keep her by his side. She runs afoul of stalwart Salvation Army captain Cummings, who warns her that she''s on the road to perdition. Though Lou herself steers clear of criminal activities, Gus Jordan runs a......

Yes, we are a bit late with the listings but that doesn't stop us from being excited for this week's music offerings. It's Noise Pop - something we've been talking about since December. Since there is so much going on this week, we are going to highlight some shows that we know you can still get tickets to. Let's start with tonight: Minipop, from San Francisco, will be headlining at Bottom of the Hill......

February may well be our favorite month in San Francisco. Between the Chinese New Year parade, the glorious weather, and Noise Pop, there’s really no better place to be this time of year. Noise Pop officially kicks off tonight. To celebrate we’re reposting an interview with the man behind it all, Kevin Arnold, that we originally ran last year.......

*MUSIC: We've got two tastes for you tonight. First, aging rockers Queensrÿche perform at the Fillmore. They use an umlaut in their name, so you know they're hardcore. Too much? Then, how about award winning R&B songstress Veronica Klaus over at Enrico's? She's blusey and cabaret-y -- a stellar combo. FILM: Richard Kelly's disastrous follow up to college campus favorite Donnie Darko, Southland Tales -- a sprawling SoCal tale set over the course of......

Each Tuesday we will feature new music that should (or whatever) be on your radar. Standouts: British Sea Power - Do You Like Rock Music?: We were first introduced to British Sea Power when we were checking out the bands that are coming to the Noise Pop Festival (which we remind you is in two weeks). It's being heralded as the "...first contender for Album of 2008." Not bad, for this indie-rock band from Brighton,......

The Coachella 2008 line-up was announced last night. The reason you didn't hear anything about it was because they announced it in Mexico City, something to do with creating international ties. “This is really a way for us to get closer to our fans throughout Latin America who have been supportive of Coachella for the past 10 years,” says Goldenvoice’s Paul Tollett. Super; we just care about the line-up. We instantly checked to see who......

Each Tuesday we will feature new music that should (or whatever) be on your radar. Standouts: 1. Magnetic Fields - "Distortion" - From what we can tell, Magnetic Fields are a huge hit in San Francisco as their two-night stint at Noise Pop 2008 has been sold out since December. (The only way to get tickets is to buy a badge!) Now we haven't had the pleasure to actually preview/review this album, but with a......

It looks like several of you took our advice and joined us at the Kate Nash concert Saturday night. With lines almost around the corner, we thought, "Great, we'll be lucky to get a spot close enough to even see the stage." Looks were deceiving though - we entered and secured a spot on the second row (or so we thought). As we waited we were treated to some awesome indie tracks by DJ Nako......

Michael Pollan: Come hear this foodie sensation talk about his latest book, In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto, in which he suggests that you should not "eat anything that your great-great grandmother would not recognize as food." (Impossible. Also, yes, Michael Leaverton, we DO need to know the exercise logs of the fowl we plan on eating.) Catch him tonight in conversation with restaurant critic, Hayes Street Grill chef/co-owner, and local food celeb......

They're here - the shiny, rectangular all-access passes to your favorite indie-rock festival, Noise Pop. According to their press release, these badges will "...grant access to all general admission Noise Pop shows, film screenings, happy hours and other happenings during the festival." Yes. We want one. Don't delay; Noise Pop is offering a ticket to one of two already sold out Magnetic Fields shows with the purchase of the Noise Pop Badge. Apparently this show......

SFist interviews Onion editor, Joe Randazzo...

-- Why, it's our very own SFist Rita kicking it in the comfy confines (and breaking down the latest season of Project Runway) over at SFGate. Awesome. [Culture Blog] -- Japantown's J-Pop Center, well, pops. [Curbed SF] -- And look! It's your editor interviewed by SF Weekly. We don't come off as mildly-retarded as we did during the interview. Woo hoo! [The Snitch] -- Which '80s night is the best night? [Gridskipper] -- Yoshi's......

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......

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......

-- The Exorcist: Linda Blair, pea soup, 360-degree head turn, Satan, "the power of Christ compels you...," blah, blah -- whatever, it's still a great movie. And besides, it stars Ellen Burstyn, who is practically perfect in every way. Part of the Castro Theatre's William Friedkin Series, it screens tonight at 7 p.m.; $6-$9. -- The Turn of the Screw: Henry James' complicated Gothic tale about a governess in a haunted house gets the......

-- "Endless Strummer": It seems like at any moment in San Francisco, a Joe Strummer tribute is taking place. Ok look! Here's one now, featuring Clash City Rockers, La Plebe, David J, Odd Numbers, the Hooks, Harrington Saints, the Shakespearos, and the Ferocious Few covering his oeuvre. Starts at 9 p.m. at Bottom of the Hill, 1233 - 17th St., all-ages show; $10. -- Jay Mohr: The man who plays a most excellent asshole......

There are no less than three fantastic music festivals all taking place over the weekend of September 14-16. What gives? And how do we choose? Since we live in the bay area, perhaps our decision has been made for us: we're heading to the inaugural Treasure Island Music Festival presented by the fine folks at Noise Pop and Another Planet. The two day festival features 14 bands each day on two stages with mostly hip......

-- Litz Plummer, the Opera Lady: Wow. This should be an interesting combo: Coming to the Eagle this evening is the opera lady. You know? The one who sings on Maiden Lane, near the Hermes store. (Where you buy all of your blue separates, just like us?) She's part of tonight's "Thursday Night Live" along with All My Pretty Ones and Carletta Sue Kay. 10 p.m., the Eagle Tavern, 12th St. & Harrison; $5.......

-- Queer Jitterbugs Salsa Series: Come learn and/or showoff your salsa moves at this weekly Monday night dance class/party. Perfect for those of you who want to do something on a Monday night, but don't want to deal with DJ-heavy dance clubs. The dancing goes from 7p.m. to 9 p.m. at Julie's Supper Club, 1123 Folsom (at 7th St.). -- Dr. Bronner's Magic Soapbox: Ultra-pepperminty "all-purpose" soap -- the one with the the loony,......

Update!: We got the contest entry form working (we think) -- sorry about the mixup. Go on, enter now! San Francisco pop darlings Loquat are peeking their heads out from inside their studio tomorrow night to play a rare show at the Independent. They've been working on a new album with friends and producers the Rondo Brothers, who are also playing tomorrow night's show, along with Foxtail Somersault. They played a brief set back......

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......

The nicer the weather gets, the busier we get across the Ist-A-Verse. But we like being busy. Here's a peek at what we've been up to since last week! Chicagoist had an interview with Audrey Niffenegger, whose popular book, The Time Traveler's Wife, was based in their fine city. They also had a heated discussion about Rush Limbaugh's controversial Barack Obama parody, talked about whether Uncle Julio's Hacienda is a good place to get......

Everybody cheer! The locals in Thee More Shallows are releasing a new record this week! They're playing a free set at Amoeba Records tonight at 7pm and the big record release party is on Friday at Cafe Du Nord. Listen to their adventurous song structures, buzzy and fuzzy keyboard sounds and strangely mesmerizing lyrics ("at the night school, night school" has been running through our head all day). Enter to win a copy of their......

We've got two contests this week, one to celebrate over a decade of experimentation and the other to to support some stalwart locals. Giveaway #1! On Monday and Tuesday, Blonde Redhead make their gorgeous art rock at Bimbo's with openers Annuals. Annuals weave intricate melodies with ambitious sounds while still giving you hooks to hold onto (and remind us a little of the wonderful Aloha in the meantime.) One winner will get a pair of......

There is a place not unlike the mythical elephant graveyard that brought Jane to Tarzan, where used kitchen utensils go to rest. Cookin', located on Divisadero between Oak and Page, enjoys all the romance of the fabled elephant burial ground, and boasts of as many hidden treasures...