Nicole Atkins starts this week off strong with some soulful tunes from the Jersey shore over at The Independent, starting at 8pm. She's crazy-cool and has a voice of gold. If you're more of a rocker, than get to Cafe du Nord early to see Cold Hot Crash and Filter play. It looks like the only way you can buy tickets is at the door and there's not too many of them. A Fine Frenzy, an alternative singer-songwriter and pianist headlines at Cafe du Nord on Tuesday night. She'll be supported by the talented Ferras and the English rock band, Ben's Brother. Again, get there early, the only way you'll get tickets is at the door. more ›

In the middle part of the 19th century, a thick set of whiskers were an essential facial feature of every man of Victorian respectability. more ›

Join us tonight at the Fillmore, where Sia (one of our favorites) will be headlining. We saw her at the end of last year and the show was definitely fantastic; we highly recommend checking out tonight's show. Her latest album, Some People Have Real Problems, is stellar and has garnered critical success jumping to #26 on the Billboard charts, selling more than 20,000 copies and finishing ahead of fellow press darling Kate Nash (all in the first week of sales). The show starts with Har Mar Superstar at 8pm (doors at 7pm). See you there! more ›

Each Tuesday we will feature new music that should (or whatever) be on your radar. more ›

• Lucas (1986), Say Anything (1989), My Bloody Valentine (1981): The first film has socially-retarded Corey Haim falling head over heels in love with a sensitive football player, Charlie Sheen, or something like that; Cameron Crowe's tale of teenage love and angst has John Cusack causing egregious noise pollution when he holds up a ghettoblaster pumping out a Peter Gabriel ballad; and the final film has a murderer in a small coal mining town killing those who celebrate Valentine's Day. They screen at 7:30 p.m., 9:45, and midnight, respectively, at the Castro Theatre; $6-9.
• Editors: Yeah, yeah. We screwed up. Again. The SSRIs are running low this week. Stupid shrink. Anyway, check out this English indie rock band along hipster favorites Hot Hot Heat and Louis XIV. Music starts at 8 p.m. at the Warfield; $23.
• The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition's Love on Wheels: As SFist Jim mentioned before, tonight's Dating Game parody in Hayes Valley should be divine. Starts at 7 p.m. at Rickshaw Stop; free for members of the SFBC ($10 for non-members).

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. more ›

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 realize, is the fact they are trying out their new stuff just for us at their Thursday night residency at Cafe du Nord for the entire month of January. Last week they played with Panda and Maldroid, while this week it's N. Lannon and Astra Heights. You might want to wait for later in the month when they play with Elephone and The Frail (who we just instantly fell in love with) on January 24th and Audrye Sessions and Poor Bailey on January 31st. Better yet, why don't you go to all three shows and support some awesome local music? With great bands playing with The Lovemakers each week, we figure you won't be disappointed. Their reputation is based on their "solid and legendary bawdy, flawless and theatrical live performance." We hope they hold up to that awesome reputation. more ›

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 du Nord - something for everyone. We put the Radiohead broadcast on tivo and are headed out to the rockin' party at Bottom of the Hill where San Francisco's own, Scissors for Lefty will be headlining. If you want to dance, instead of rock, then check out popscene's dance party featuring Blaqk Audio. Where will you be tonight? more ›

Yikes. The same flu that hit us earlier this month, seems to have taken The Psychedelic Furs out of commission; they've canceled all three of their end-of-the-year shows including tomorrow night at the Mezzanine. This means that our Saturday night plans have been thwarted. Boo. We were planning on dancing the night away with the local glam-rock band, Persephone's Bees. Whatever happened to the mantra, "The Show Must Go On"? With other cancellations this week, we wonder if anyone abides by that principal anymore? more ›

Gearing up for the big New Year's Eve bash, several artists are playing mini-residencies (two or three night stays) this weekend including: Cracker, The Radiators and ALO. If you schedule correctly, you could probably see everything that you want. Though New Year's Eve has some rocking concerts, we are going to cover those shows later in the week. more ›

Earlier this month we mentioned that The Decemberists' five-night engagement at the Fillmore was canceled. It was going to be the highlight of our week, but we guess tofurkey will just have to do. This week, our picks are Travis who are playing with Maximo Park at the Fillmore tomorrow night. Friday night at the Fillmore, The Drones (listen to "Shark Fin Blues" here) are opening for Band of Horses, an indie-rock band based... more ›

Tonight, for one night only, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts will be featuring two sneak previews of Dirty Country, a highly entertaining documentary about the underground world of raunchy music, directed by Joe Pickett and Nick Prueher, founders and hosts of the Found Footage Festival, which sold out four shows at the Red Vic last month. Dirty Country, which won the Audience Award at this year's South By Southwest, is part of Yerba... more ›

By Frances Reade more ›

9 p.m. at Bottom of the Hill; $10. more ›

-- Shadow Circus Vaudeville Theatre: (In)famous night of underground "circus arts, burlesque, music, and puppetry" begins at 9 p.m. at Fat City; $10. more ›

-- Lez Zeppelin and Dolorata: Lesbian-y Led Zepplin cover band and indie-rock band perform in SOMA. Doors open at 8 p.m. at Slim's, 333 - 11th Street (at Folsom); $18. more ›

The Arcade Fire came through Mountain View's Shoreline Amphitheatre last Friday. We have the pictures to prove this. A suddenly-rather-popular independent rock band, it's surprising that this little-group-that-could is suddenly playing arena-size venues. more ›

Each Tuesday we will feature new music that should (or whatever) be on your radar. Standouts: 1. Eskimo Joe - Black Fingernails Red Wine (w/ Bonus DVD): Hands down, one of the best CD's of 2007. Eskimo Joe released "Black Fingernails, Red Wine" as their debut single in the US in August. Their CD already went quadruple platinum in Australia (it was released in 2006). The quiet application of the piano combined with the melodramatic... more ›

-- The Arcade Fire: LCD Soundsystem and Wild Light open for this white-hot -- that's right, white-hot, or so we hear -- Canadian indie-rock band. Music starts tonight at 7 p.m. at Shoreline Amphitheatre, 1 Amphitheatre Pkwy, Mountain View; $19-40. more ›

-- "Zombie Prom": Halloween approaches, and soon Walgreen's and Rite-Aids will start stocking fun-size 100 Grand and Lik-M-Sticks. But until that glorious day arrives, check out this Zombie-themed dance club night in SOMA. DJs Glamtasm, Dire Delorean, and the Reverend Dusty Danger spin psychobilly, surf, garage, dark glam, rock, and more. The dead rise at 9:30 p.m. at Club Hide, 280 Seventh Street (at Folsom); $15 if dressed in prom or zombie-ish attire, or $25. more ›

-- Aaah! Rosebud: This re-telling of Citizen Kane involves a "an evil sled, competitive curlers, an aspiring diva, and soul-devouring zombies." See, if Wells had jus incorporated those things into Kane, he might have won the Best Picture Oscar. The curtain goes up at 8 p.m. at New Langton Arts, 1246 Folsom (at Eighth Street); $20-$25. more ›

-- Scott McCloud: Experimental and wildly popular comic artist and novelist (Making Comics) speaks tonight at "Evolution of the American Comic Book". Rory Root (owner, Comic Relief) and Andrew Farago (curator, Cartoon Art Museum) also speak. Starts at 6:30 p.m. at the Commonwealth Club, 595 Market; $7-$20. more ›

-- Wing: With album titles like Wing Sings Elvis, Wing Sings AC/DC, Dancing Queen by Wing, and Beatles Classics by Wing, it's easy to see why she shot to cult-icon status and became a favorite of Trey Parker and Matt Stone, who ended up using her in South Park. See her tonight along with comedian Lisa Geduling at 8:30 p.m. at Cafe Du Nord, Market and Sanchez Streets; $12. more ›

It doesn’t get any better than this. Really. We headed to the Clay Sunday night, very relaxed and content as it was, having spent one of the most beautiful days ever up at Stinson Beach (never mind all the flies, anyone know what the story was with those flies!?), and now happily anticipating the latest SFIFF romance , featuring Glen Hansard, the lead singer of the Irish indie folk-rock band The Frames. more ›

Butoh dance is a post WWII form of modern Japanese performance art seen as a combination of dance, traditional Japanese theater, and mime, and which is described as provocative and shocking. Sounds like fun! The local Japanese dance group Theater of Yugen presents an evening of Butoh dance tonight, featuring nature-themed performances, along with music by new music ensemble the Nanos Operetta. 2840 Mariposa (between Florida and Alabama, near Project Artaud), 8 p.m., $15. more ›

As promised -- when we find people defending Newsom, we diligently write 'em up in the column we call.... Who's Defending Newsom Now! Who's swinging for the mayor? more ›

MacWorld. Keynote. It's Steve's time. more ›

Yay, Civic Center Mike's back from Palm Springs! And what should he stumble upon while wheeling his suitcases out of the BART station but Bill Clinton's Yes on 87 Rally! (87 is the tax the oil companies for alternative energy proposition. Yes arguments here, No arguments here.) more ›

It must be pretty good to be Radiohead. Here they are, having survived three of the biggest disasters in rock band-ness-- fluky overplayed radio hit, dropping maybe possibly the greatest album in music history and the attendant ascension to Most Important Band in the World status that came with it, and the "let's kill off our popularity" reactionary arty album-- and survived. Not only survived, but could still sell out two shows at the Greek Theater in minutes and play to a totally adoring and loving crowd that are quite okay with the band going from spiky guitar epic to Kraftwerk-inspired electronica from song to song. And while they might no longer be the Most Important Band in the World, they are still the Most Interesting Band in the World and maybe possibly one epic song away from reclaiming the M.I.B.W title. Not bad for a band that's first hit was almost fifteen years ago. more ›

SFist reviews Linda Linda Linda at the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival (SFIAAFF) more ›