Every weekday of December (except for December 25, that is), Phillyist will be counting down to 2008 with our highlights from the past year and our predictions for the next. If you have a list you'd like to submit, let us know! 10. Cross – Justice While this debut album by French duo Gaspard Auge and Xavier de Rosnay leans heavily on the discography of fellow Parisians, Daft Punk, it breaks out on its own......

Portugal The Man isn't a country or a person; it's a classic 3-piece band from Alaska whose latest album, Church Mouth, is a collection of indie music with a rich classic rock flavor. Their website says that bands referenced on the disc include the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, the White Stripes, the Mars Volta and Santana, and... yep, we can hear all of those in there. Especially the White Stripes, since lead singer John Baldwin Gourley......

LAist was comped front row seats by the Dodgers due to Malingering being struck by a foul ball last week, and she came back with some great photos, and earlier made fun of 4th of July on Venice Beach. But the biggest stories of the week was that the Mayor's Hot Tamale was revealed, and that a Kwik-E-Mart was erected in Burbank. Phillyist was busy doing the Fourth of July up right, exercising their......

From the tallest skyscraper in the City of Brotherly Love to Canadian tourism copywriting brilliance, here's what you should know from our -ist cities: This week, Phillyist took a gleeful listen to the White Stripes' exciting new release, watched in awe as their new tallest skyscraper was finally topped off, found a cheaper way to get to Gothamist, invented a tasty new dessert, and brought back their Craigslist Round-Up feature with a bang. Bostonist......

by William J. Hayes For years, music scribes kvetched and moaned about Meg White’s juvenile drumming, wondering how great White Stripes leader Jack White would sound with a Stewart Copeland-esque percussionist and an ever-elusive bass player. In 2006, they got their wish when White formed The Raconteurs with Detroit singer-songwriter Brendan Benson, and the Greenhornes’ rhythm section of Jack Lawrence and Patrick Keeler. Many gleefully predicted a severe drop in the production of red, white......

Seattlest has a talk with the photographer from last week's "Segway Mom" and then experiences some dissension in the ranks over the question of wine vs. beer. It's not West Side Story, but about as close as they'll get. They're also still waiting on some inbox relief after a spammer is arrested. As Chicagoist counts down the days to its third anniversary party, they found all-organic pizza to be underwhelming amidst the hoopla, tried......

Last night, yin and yang kept coming to mind as we watched Rodrigo y Gabriela. From the first song, their opposite, yet interdependent styles of playing guitar became apparent. Her: Manic, creative energy that threatened to incinerate her guitar. Him: Intense, with a laser focus and skilled attention to detail that kept the performance grounded. Above all, both are consummate musicians who have retained their love for their art. Their excitement was contagious, but......

We were worried that, since we didn’t have time to write a preview for Friday’s Of Montreal show at First Unitarian Church, nobody would come see one of our absolute favorite indie bands. We should now revise that statement. Because we didn’t write a preview for Friday’s Of Montreal show at First Unitarian Church, not many people over the age of twenty came out to see one of our absolute favorite indie bands. But we......

The Borgata has been packing them in lately. Along with the House of Blues, the Borgata is making a push for larger music crowds. The House of Blues has drawn in Eminem and the White Stripes, while the Borgata has booked Pearl Jam, the Roots, Tom Petty, Kelly Clarkson and Gwen Stefani. There's a definite movement towards pop and mainstream alternative music -- the venues are trying to not just appeal to their previous consumers,......

If you tuned into 100.3 FM on your radio dial a few months ago, there was a good chance you would have heard Modest Mouse or Queens of the Stone Age. There was also a chance that you would hear that “Closing Time” song that has somehow survived as a jukebox legend (we point the finger at drunk sorority girls). But, that’s the tradeoff, as is the case with almost every radio station: take the......