Michael Lavine

Not too many bands have traced the kind of eclectic arc traveled by The Cult. Anchored by the British songwriting team of singer Ian Astbury and guitarist Billy Duffy for three decades, the group has traversed from its UK gothic-rock roots in the early 1980s through a rise to global fame with the iconic college-rock album Love before becoming hard-rock kingpins and MTV favorites after the release of 1987's Rick Rubin-produced Electric.

While The Cult found even greater success with the follow-up effort Sonic Temple in 1989, the band spent much of the '90s in disarray, as the working relationship between Astbury and Duffy disintegrated. The singer would explore other outlets with his band Holy Barbarians and on a solo album before The Cult's first celebrated reunion in 1999. Since then, the group has toured and recorded regularly, while still taking time out for other projects including Astbury's stint as vocalist for The Doors of the 21st Century with Ray Manzarek and Robbie Krieger.

Though Astbury had at one point insisted The Cult would no longer be making albums, the band's brand new release Choice of Weapon is rightfully being hailed as its best in ages. The loquacious singer recently spoke with All Shook Down about recording with two producers and his lyrical inspirations. The Cult performs with The Icarus Line and Against Me! at the Fillmore this Sunday, May 27.

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Bri De Libertis

Mark Lanegan at Great American Music Hall last night.

Mark Lanegan Band
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Great American Music Hall

Better than: Staying at home and thinking about death.

Mark Lanegan plays in the dark. Literally. A blue light here, a red one there, and zero variables. All you can really make out is his pronounced frown, gigantic jawline, and the shiny Johnny Cash pompadour of his guitarist. It's only appropriate really -- the Mark Lanegan Band is the sound of brooding desolation, of loves lost and lonely roads and longing. The illuminating flashes of light in the set are few and far between, usually coming in the form of soaring country and blues-tinged guitar solos. Make no mistake, it is all very gorgeous -- but it's not necessarily great at holding one's attention for an entire show, especially in a room kept so dark.

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James Murphy plays Public Works on Friday.

As Memorial Day approaches, so does the extended pleasure of a three-day weekend. While it might be tempting to turn off your phone and barbecue straight from Friday to Monday, we strongly urge you to look over this short list before checking out completely. Read on -- your weekend awaits.

Friday, May 25
What: Selectorate presents Secret Circuit/Laughing Light of Plenty
Where: Monarch
When: 9 p.m. - 2 a.m.
Why: Back in 2008, heads turned when a band called Laughing Light of Plenty released "The Rose." Dropped on the enigmatic Whatever We Want imprint, it sounded like an inspired mix between the neo-Balearic murmurings of that year and the cockshure swagger of The Stone Roses. Though the song proved a success, not much was heard from the group afterwards; an extremely limited edition double LP did little to change that status. However, central member Eddie Ruscha Jr. has put together a new project called Secret Circuit. Pulling from a similar space as Laughing Light of Plenty, but injecting more cosmic and electronic aspects, Ruscha's latest moniker is every bit as weird and danceable. Check out tracks like "Nebula Sphynx" and "Khoi Khoi," before heading over to Selectorate, at Monarch, this Friday, to catch Secret Circuit's first ever live performance in San Francisco.

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Scott Loudoun

Lately, the talk surrounding Canadian producer and DJ Felix Cartal has focused on his hair, his love of sushi, and his latest album, Different Faces. Growing up in Vancouver listening to punk bands like Death From Above 1979, he later developed a taste for the electronic side of music. Eventually he tried his hand at producing, which culminated in his 2009 debut EP, Skeleton. Attracting the attention of Steve Aoki, he began a series of releases on the Dim Mak label; last year's single "The Joker" catapulted him to worldwide fame. His most recent album, Different Faces, exemplifies his signature vocal electro-house sound and features the big-room voice of Polina and the gritty-growling of Sebastien Grainger. We catch up with Felix Cartal on his album release tour with Clockwork and chatted about his hair, his love/hate relationship with EDM artist Autoerotique, and his following on Twitter. He plays the I Love This City rave on Saturday at Shoreline's Park Stage from 8:40 - 9:40 p.m.

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Art Zendarski

Where you might be seeing big concerts in 2018.

San Francisco is so tiny, dense, and developed that the only way to put a new stadium here is to build one on top of some piers over the bay.

Okay, so that's not a huge surprise. But building a giant arena over the bay was the dead-serious plan announced yesterday by city officials and the owners of the Golden Gate Warriors. They want to move the team from its home in the 510 -- Oracle Arena, which opened in 1966 and was renovated in 1996 -- to a new stadium at Piers 30-32 in San Francisco. The proposal involves shops, restaurants, a somewhat terrifying lack of parking, and a clear ambition on the part of the team's billionaire owners to reside in S.F., the money and style capital of the Bay Area, not ol' underdog Oakland.

Regardless of your thoughts on the Warriors plans to move, the new arena would mean one big thing for S.F. music fans: Going to see a Top 40 act in an arena would no longer necessarily require driving to Oakland or San Jose.

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Led Zeppelin II has perished. Not the album, of course, but the man: 64-year-old Illinois resident George Blackburn legally renamed himself Led Zeppelin II last fall as an ode to his favorite album of all time. Today, unfortunately, the Chicago Tribune reports that Mr. II (or is it Mr. Zeppelin II?) passed away May 18.

His shining example of rock fandom, however, got us thinking: What other great albums would make great names for human beings? So we did a little musing, and came up with this totally serious and authoritative list of the top 10 best classic albums to name yourself after. Feel free to suggest alternatives in the comments.

10. Aerosmith's Greatest Hits
You could name yourself just "greatest hits," but why leave any doubt as to whose you mean? This is actually the proper name of the album, and what a hilarious mindfuck it would be to explain/boast (because how could you not boast), "I am Aerosmith's Greatest Hits!" You'd never suffer a bruised ego again... unless of course you're not an Aerosmith fan.

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Having harangued the rap establishment to an extent that he could no longer be ignored or dismissed, Lil B is moving on to new territories. The next genre ripe for his ad-libbed, self-obsessed, endlessly positive brand of inquisition? Why, classical music, of course.

Last night the Berkeley-bred hip-hop misfit Tweeted, "THE BASEDGOD" HAS MADE HISTORY TODAY HE PRODUCED AND COMPOSED HIS WHOLE CLASSICAL MUSIC ALBUM! HISTORY!! "CHOICES AND FLOWERS" - Lil B." Yes, you read that right: He's calling it a "classical music album" (and making us wonder if B knows that an "album" isn't exactly a standard unit in classical music). But then, Choices and Flowers isn't a mixtape -- not just one more entry in Lil B's sprawling collection of free songs. Instead, it's an album in the old-fashioned sense: One of those things you have to pay for.

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Kate Radley and Jason Pierce

According to Greek mythology, the muses were the genius-sparking goddesses of song, poetry, and the sciences. Recently, the muse has more earthly origins; male recording artists often indicate that a particular woman was essential in stimulating the creative process. The Guardian's Germaine Greer described the modern female muse as such: "In a reversal of gender roles, she penetrates or inspires him and he gestates and brings forth, from the womb of the mind."

In honor of this week's 20th anniversary of Spiritualized's Lazer Guided Melodies -- one of the best muse-inspired records in recent memory, an album notably influenced by Jason Pierce's devotion to girlfriend Kate Radley, an album that was as spiritual as it was psychedelic -- we present you five other notable music muses. Spiritualized performs tonight at the Fillmore.

1. Juanita Naima Grubbs

Here is testament to the eternal beauty and emotional intensity of John Coltrane's "Naima," written for his first wife, Juanita Naima Grubbs, in 1959: Long after the two separated, the song remained part of the jazz legend's live repertoire.

Coltrane's wistful yet dynamic solos are played over a bass pattern that was carefully rehearsed by the tenor saxophonist and bassist Paul Chambers. "Naima" saunters along slowly, almost like a blues. Lewis Porter's book, John Coltrane: His Life and Music, describes the song as one that goes beyond mere balladry -- "There is no touch of that 'Oh baby, I miss you' feeling," wrote Porter -- and crosses into the realm of hymns.

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The problem with being famous and getting special treatment everywhere you go is that you sometimes forget that rules actually apply to you. Yes, music stars, we know you think you're more important than the rest of us plebeians, but make no mistake about it: In the eyes of airport security, you're a nobody. Worse: you're a nobody who's taking twice as long to take your shoes off at the bag scanner because they're vintage Louis Vuitton (to match your luggage). Since 2 Chainz got arrested in New York's LaGuardia Airport yesterday for carrying an item perceived to be brass knuckles by the TSA, we figured now was a good time to help y'all out with a handy guide. Here's how to get through airport security when you're a famous musician.

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