If you’ve spent any time in the presence of Stephin Merritt, you’ve most likely learned that the man behind cult-favorite The Magnetic Fields is about as warm (and conversational) as a giant squid. For fans of Merritt’s musical stylings and/or epic tales about giant squids, tonight’s your dream come true as the curmudgeonly mastermind will be performing the score to the 1916 silent classic 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Merritt will perform the score, which was originally commissioned for the 2010 San Francisco International Film Festival, with accordion and organ accompaniment by Daniel Handler (better known to many by his pen name, Lemony Snicket) and David Hegarty respectively. The spectacle is set to begin at 7:30 PM at the Paramount. more ›

Tonight, if you're not already going to the second sold-out Magnetic Fields show, there's still a few tickets left for John in the Morning at Night at Neumo's, with the Duke Spirit, the Voom Blooms, and Tulsa. There's also PWRFL Power's (aka Kaz Nomura) second CD release show at the Vera Project. Since Kaz won a slot at last year's Capitol Hill Block Party (via the Stranger's Block Star contest last spring), he also won a spot in an Esurance ad, resulting in "the most unusual Esurance commercial to date." Check it: more ›

After kittens yawning and cross-species friendship, dear sweet Jens Lekman may be the most precious thing found in all of nature. The Gothenberg Swede makes orchestral pop songs in the vein of Morrissey or the Magnetic Fields without even being gay (just European). To promote Night Falls Over Kortedala, one of the best reviewed albums of the year, Jens has been touring around the States with his almost-all-girl backing band: more ›

To have been at McCaw Hall Friday night, is to have been truly blessed. It was a night filled with smiles, laughter and bottomless admiration – not only for the performers, but also for the people behind the scenes for whom this night was meant to benefit. It was a night which, at one point, brought a couple tears to our eyes. But we’re sensitive like that. more ›

So, there's that big, crowded festival-thingy going on this weekend and we could recommend a bunch of stuff to hit there, but ah, we're far too lazy to do that. Here's the schedule - make yourself happy. No one's looking. more ›

A post in Tuesday's DCist mentioned a campaign in the other Washington to adopt a bland song named "Come to Washington" as an official "city anthem." Then, in a follow-up post, DCist nominated nine other, better songs. Readers voted for their favorites and suggested a few more. The current fave seems to be the Magnetic Fields' awesomely evocative "Washington, D.C." more ›

As far as live music this weekend, may we recommend the crazy (or crazee, if you will) the Black Keys at Neumo's tonight. If you like the Liars or any noise rock band, etc, then they are for you. more ›