Next time you're at Hot Topic looking for a t-shirt with an '80s cartoon character on it or a pair of pants with 16 different zippers, you might hear something surprising: live music.

Several Hot Topics around the county are booking local bands, including the one at The District at Tustin Legacy, where I took that swell pic. I've never heard of any of those acts before, and can't even find anything on the Information Superhighway about some of them ("Skoddie"?), but it's still pretty cool. I hope "No Regime" is a Morrissey reference. The District, of course, books bands regularly to play outside, on Friday and Saturday nights. What better accompaniment could there be to purchasing a Legend of Zelda hoodie?

Compact discs have lasted nearly three decades--first on the market in October 1982!--but their farewell tour is hitting another stop, as Borders is dropping their stock of CDs (and DVDs).

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There's a fairly rich history of country music where I'm from. Jessi Colter is from Phoenix, as is the currently popular Dierks Bentley; Glen Campbell has lived there for a good long while now. Linda Ronstadt is from Tucson, not too far away. Of course, there's also the annual, massive Country Thunder four-day event in Florence, AZ, which is sort of like Stagecoach other than it existed years before Stagecoach was a twinkle in a country music fan's denims. I even wrote about it a small amount, like this cover story about a local country singer that was going on "Nashville Star," and then proceeded to be eliminated within like a half hour of the first show of the season.

Naturally, it's a bit jarring to me that there are so few country shows around here. Sometimes I forget that country music even exists; then I'll put on something like "There Ain't No Good Chain Gang" and feel better momentarily. I'll never go writing hot checks down in Mississippi, that's for sure.

The point of all this is that there is a country show going on tonight, over at the House of Blues in Anaheim: Keith Anderson, Luke Bryan (pictured), and the Lost Trailers. Now, I can't say I really specifically recommend this event, since I don't actually know anything about of those dudes. My taste in country music, with a few notable exceptions, kind of stops about a decade before I was born. But still. Refreshing to see! Er, potentially.

With the Bamboozle Left Festival right around the corner, its up to the fans at Chain Reaction to crown this years local Break Contest winner at a final showdown on stage in Anaheim...epic. The Break Contest, which I'm sure you remember from my unforgettable blog post last month, is basically a weekly "battle of the bands" competition in which a panel of judges and the Chain audience decide on a winner to advance to the finals for a chance at playing the main stage as well as weekend passes to the festival. The first runner-up receives a side stage slot. With over 70 bands competing in a marathon 15 round battle to the finals, it's about time to settle this thing. But who will be going to the big show?

Maybe the rap-rockers Close But Not Quite will gain their next big step toward being the junior version of Gym Class Heroes. Or is it possible that the dramatic rock of She Screams Remedy is just what the Bamboozle doctor ordered (clown doctors....yeeesh). And of course, what crowd can resist the tender ballad "Balls in your ass" by heavily gelled rockers Uh Oh! Explosion?

The show starts at 6:30 and tickets are $12 dollars at the door. But for those of you looking to save an extra couple bucks, try hitting up one of the bands on the roster after the jump. I'm sure they'll gladly sell you one for $10.

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I don't work in the marketing department at DiPiazza's Restaurant & Lounge, but maybe I should. I just took a gander at their April schedule and they've got some great stuff lined up.

Wednesday is Adam's Dagger, a Long Beach band that just had a streaming song on Punknews.

Friday is Fishbone. 'nuff said.

April 10 is Mike Watt + the Missingmen, Mojo Wire (featuring Monique Powell, formerly of Save Ferris) and the Jack Brewer Reunion Band (featuring members of Saccharine Trust).

April 11 is Marcia Ford and the Hollywood Canteen Swing Band. Trust me. See them. Even if you hate swing standards (and if you do you need to get your ears cleaned), it's awesome to see all those people on the DiPiazza stage.

April 12 is Tipper's Gore, some of current punk's finest.

April 25 is former Bargain Music frontman Josh Fischel doing the solo thang.

And last but not least...

April 29 is Greg Ginn pulling double duty in Greg Ginn and the Taylor Texas Corrugators and JAMBANG.

On second thought, maybe I oughta get a job with Myspace. 

Music can be made from just about anything--jugs, rubber bands, those guitars with two necks that are like, double guitars. And, in this instance, even a remote controlled car and a row of wine bottles! And of all the songs to play with such a unique set-up, why not the Super Mario theme song? Those wacky Japanese folks. (I can say that, since I'm part-Asian. Right?!) Full story here.



EMBED-Mario Theme Played with RC Car and Bottles - Watch more free videos

If you were stuck at home with pink eye or the gout this weekend, well, you've got some problems that we can't help you with. But what we can help you with is these wonderful slideshows from some 'certs this past weekend, like Chad Sengstock taking pics of Long Beach-by-way-of-Fullerton indie rock faves Cold War Kids doing their thing at the Orpheum in downtown Los Angeles on Friday. As a bonus, Long Beach's buzz-heavy Crystal Antlers opened.

Pictured up above there is Jose Maldonado of world-famous Smiths cover band Sweet and Tender Hooligans, photographed Saturday at Detroit Bar by Keith May. How could you not click on that, seriously?

Fever Dragon snapped some images of "Call Sick Loves Sucka Free," a Saturday night mash-up of Call Sick on Friday and Sucka Free Sunday at Que Sera in Long Beach. Mmhmm. Take a look! It's in a book! Well, not really. But that's from the Reading Rainbow theme song.

Orange's Aushua have had a truncated March Monday night residency at Detroit Bar--thanks to shows this month from Ra Ra Riot and Asobi Seksu--but their third and final show is tonight, and with some nifty opening acts: LA's Lemon Sun and Local Natives, formerly of Orange but currently of Silver Lake. Free as usual at Detroit on Mondays--April's residency will be from LA's wild and wooly The Ringers, who opened up for Japanese Motors at the very same venue last month.

I got my taxes done yesterday. After paying $1,300 last year, this year I should feel lucky getting away with somewhere near the $700 mark. Of course, it cost me $400, so I guess I still lose.

And just like last year, I got real angry thinking about how hard I work and how much the government comes and steals my life's savings away. So it's back to the poor house for me.

But I know I'm not the only one who feels this way. Shit, George Harrison was ranting about this decades before my parents met.