ALERT: After their show at MSG with R.E.M. and The National, Modest Mouse will head to Brooklyn for a just-announced late show at the Music Hall of Williamsburg. Tickets for "A Morning with Modest Mouse" are on sale now (but probably not for long)! If you miss out, there's a free (okay, $3 suggested donation) Medeski, Martin & Wood (pictured) performance in Prospect Park at 7p.m. -- you'll get to bed much earlier. EVENT: CNN's......

Brooklyn-based quintet The National have spent the last nine years slowly and steadily evolving from bar-band hobby to indie rock royalty, a success built out of old fashioned techniques like laborious songwriting, tireless gigging and the organic cultivation of their own distinct sound: a bruised, moody elegance that swells and crashes under the dreamy baritone of front man Matt Berninger. Their fourth and most recent album, Boxer, was a usual suspect on critical top ten......

A poignant week for LAist as they lose their trusted and amazing editor Tony Pierce to the LA Times, but what a blast his last week was. He shared his 25 Favorite CDs of 2007 and wrote a great review of just a good movie, No Country For Old Men. At UCLA, thousands of students celebrated the end of their quarter by running around campus in their undies (lots of photos in a two-part......

Bookeaters Return! What started off as an excellent concert lineup just got better and better as the date approached. The additions of Spoon's Britt Daniel and Kevin Drew were a bonus treat. Music, reading and charity aside, perhaps the biggest wow moment was show headliner Jim James' new closely cropped haircut. The My Morning Jacket front man sheared his trademark Muppet locks since the last time we've seen him about. Not that it affected the......

Six years ago, whether you are ready to believe it or not, The Strokes emerged from a lost and muddled New York music scene and gave a kick start to the current indie rock phenomenon that we are experiencing today. The backbone of their sound and style was the rapid fire rhythm guitar of Albert Hammond Jr. Fast forward to 2007 and all of the emerging talents from the beginning of the century are......

It seems like, all across the network, folks were up to no good. Maybe it was all the green beer from last weekend... Gothamist spent the week writing about New Yorkers behaving badly: at the post office, at the Garden, and at the fertility clinic. Calvin Klein may not be misbehaving, but he's just a little dirty, and in a completely different way than some NYC kitchens. SFist had its share of misbehave-rs, too, like......

We trust you've all seen the video of Ethan Chandler singing a Bank of America-fied version of U2's "One". If not, please watch now. It's straight out of The Office. Stereogum reports (via Angry Citizen) that this weekend David Cross and Johnny Marr opened the Modest Mouse show at Bowery Ballroom...with Ethan's version of "One". Cross is even all decked out in the appropriate attire. Luckily this was caught on tape (watch above), this......

Oxford Collapse make music that sounds made to play over a montage at the end of a weekly Primetime Drama. A cool one, though. Like How I Met Your Mother or The first season of the OC. It's not sappy or overintellectualized, but pleasantly upbeat and refreshing. The vocals are a bit rough and hysteric, not unlike the Walkmen or Modest Mouse and everyone, but the contrast with the sunny, hopeful music backing them......

O'death is: Greg Jamie, Gabe Darling, David Rogers-Berry, Bob Pycior, Captain Newman M.D., Dan Sager and Euphonium. This is a band that, when listing the instruments each member plays on their MySpace page, states the drummer also plays "whoopin it up." That might give you a clue what to expect. This is not your typical New York band. Not your typical 21st century band, in fact. They keep it real old school. Like, depression......

Bishop Allen is: Jack Delamitraux (drums) Christian Owens (bass) Justin Rice (guitar, vocals) Christian Rudder (guitar) In 2003, these 4 released one of the most popular and critically acclaimed local indie records with Charm School. Before we ever clapped our hands and said yeah, Bishop Allen were selling thousands of records on their own with no label or official support aside from the word of mouth of fans. They've got a distinct New York......

Tara McPherson, Illustrator...

Time to start the new year off right, by seeing live music and not being left out on the cold cold sidewalk listening to your favorite songs echoing down the snow-filled street. This month there are a lot of hyped up bands coming our way. We are mainly talking about the Arcade Fire, if you don't have tickets we don't know what to tell you. If you're good at haikus you could try this contest.......

If you haven't already heard about the secret show tonight, then...well...you need cooler friends. But that's what we're here for! Get over to Ticketweb poste haste and buy THIS TICKET if you love Modest Mouse. That's all we're sayin'. Actually we're also going to say that if you do buy a ticket and want to thank Gothamist for the heads up, you can do so in the form of an overpriced beer tonight at......

Scott Lapatine, Stereogum.com...

Why is it not that surprising Lollapalooza, with Morrissey as one of the headliners, would have poor ticket sales, resulting in its cancellation? Sure, Sonic Youth, PJ Harvey, The Flaming Lips, Modest Mouse, Le Tigre, Polyphonic Spree, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, all great performers...but even indie darlings can't guarantee volume. Gothamist wonders if these artists are appealing to the same customer, versus different groups of customers. [Via Chicagoist] What went wrong with Lollapalooza this year?......

Gothamist was glad to find out that no, we weren't crazy (this time) and in fact, it was the Modest Mouse song "Gravity Rides Everything" from The Moon & Antarctica that was on a Nissan minivan commercial. Deviated Septum confirmed this and alerted us to the fact that "Gravity Rides Everything" had also been used in a beer commercial. Well, you got to sell out some time... we'll check in again when Built to Spill......

Kelefa Sanneh gives a backhandedly sorta positive review of this year's Siren Festival and basically says that it wasn't that adventurous but it was rather comforting with all these younger bands aping styles of the Rolling Stones, Liquid Liquid, and New Wave bands. He also notes that the Coney Island venue that offered daylight was something new for the bands and their fans: "dazed-looking hipsters, blinking in the sunlight." Among the performers Sanneh mentions:......

Tonight at Smithfield, Jon and Mario are resuming One Small Step, their monthly DJ gig. As Jon puts it, it's like "Pulp meets Modest Mouse meets Nightmares on Wax." Or from their e-mail: "It's on...10pm-2am...indie, britpop, beats, sexuality and mangina all night long." And that's right up Gothamist's alley. Excellent. For further enticement, Smithfield has an outdoor area...where smoking is allowed. Smithfield, 115 Essex St. between Rivington and Delancey Gothamist also loves Jon's project,......

Tonight at Smithfield, Jon and Mario are resuming One Small Step, their monthly DJ gig. No Small Step tonight - the owner just called Jon and Mario to tell them about a private party. We'll have to wait until next month. As Jon puts it, it's like "Pulp meets Modest Mouse meets Nightmares on Wax" and that's right up Gothamist's alley. Excellent. For further enticement, Smithfield has an outdoor area...where smoking is allowed. Smithfield,......