Courtesy of Parallel

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It has been a busy few weeks for Anaheim's Parallel. They were voted Best Hip-Hop Act of 2011 by the Weekly's readers in our Best Of issue in October. Now, they're on the heels of their record release, Dont Sleep [sic], set to drop Friday. The crew will celebrate the release at the Rhythm Lounge in Long Beach.

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​Our favorite LA boys are back! Here's the first video off of the Red Hot Chili Peppers' latest album I'm With You with the single "The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie."

This is not the much-hyped Kreayshawn version, which, according to bassist Flea, "just didnt work out." He added, "That happens sometimes, I think Kreayshawn is awesome and a great artist."

So who says you can't recycle U2's roof performance concept as they did back in the '80s in downtown LA? It seems RHCP had the proper permits to perform atop an apartment complex in Venice. BTW we're digging the 'stache. Watch it after the jump.

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Kanye West has always been more of the "do shit, think later" type, so Justin Vernon (of Bon Iver)'s discovery that his hook had been used on "That's My Bitch" off the newly-dropped Watch the Throne couldn't have come as too much of a surprise to the indie-rocker.

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Taylor Hamby/OC Weekly

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We were lucky enough to see the marvelous Eddie Vedder at the legendary Beacon Theater in New York a couple of weeks back during his latest solo tour, this time promoting his new album Ukulele Songs.

You might be wondering why the former grunge king would ever succumb to tour and highlight the minuscule instrument as the main focal point, but Vedder has played the ukulele on past Pearl Jam albums so it was just a matter of time that he take the small four-stringed guitar on the road.

When Bruce Springsteen was told about Vedder's grandiose tour, he said, "that takes huge balls." (Which pretty much summarizes how we feel, too.)

And although you will hear some Eddie awesomely blast Pearl Jam tunes tonight at the Terrace Theater, mixed in with the news ones, we write this post to Mr. Vedder, selfishly, as a request to play our favorite five Pearl Jam songs that we think would sound incredible on the ukulele:

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Portugal. The Man

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Portland indie rockers Portugal. The Man have just completed their sixth album, with the latest making its major record label debut this summer. Before their show at the House of Blues in Anaheim on Saturday, frontman John Gourley talks about the post indie record label life, the making of their new album In The Mountain, In The Cloud and small club shows versus music festivals.

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​It has been 10 years since the Strokes released their classic debut album, Is This It. The group is now almost done with their fourth full-length, tentatively titled Angles and scheduled for release on March 22. The advance word is that it's their best since the debut--and most similar, though the band's increasing tendency toward musical complexity will continue.
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