Local musician Sean Hayes (not to be confused with the Will & Grace actor who bizarrely waited to come out of the closet until just recently) performs in Oakland tonight at The New Parish (8 p.m., $15). We'd categorize his sound as Jack Johnson-y folk, except less cloying and hippie-ish. Above, a new video for "When We Fall" off his new album Run Wolves Run. [The Bay Bridged] more ›

Wow, one show on Monday and twelve on Friday. This week we definitely start off a bit slow, but by the end of the week, we have a ton of choices. more ›

-- Aimee Mann's Second Annual Christmas Show: Paul F. Tompkins, Sean Hayes, Chuck Prophet, and Morgan Murphy join the delightfully blond songstress for a night of holiday warm fuzzies. Because X-Mas is coming and there's no way around it, come catch this wonderful singer/songwriter during the, um, recording-a-holiday-album period of her career. Show starts at 8 p.m. at Bimbo's 365; $35.50. 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 ›

So many of our favorite artists are coming to town this week, including John Vanderslice, Feist, Orenda Fink and Metric. There are also some strange celebrity bands coming through, the SF Jazz Festival is happening, and giveaways are back! more ›

Do you, fellow readers, have any Paris sightings to reveal? more ›