"Man-whore" Adam Levine makes peace with his dreamy soul-man pipes

Formed in the mid '90s, the Locust used to specialize in short, shard-strewn blasts of terrifying, synthesizer-fuelled noise. With thousands of copycat acts also playing as if a shrieking litter of kittens had been thrown onto a NASCAR track, the Locust finds itself no longer satisfied with playing jarring salvos of bizarro punk.

The Dropkick Murphys' just-released sixth studio album, The Meanest of Times, finds the band offering something for fans of all generations. Warped Tour warriors with a taste for East Coast hardcore won't be disappointed by the old-school bruiser "Shattered". Those who long for the days when Joe Strummer found himself doing shots with the Pogues will love Celtic punkers like "Fairmount Hill". And traditionalists determined to make a pilgrimage to the Emerald Isle before they die will be hoisting the Guinness to the straight-from-the-pub sing-along "(F)Lannigan's Ball"

Welcome to the Night Sky may have small-town origins, but the album deals in large-scale, walloping guitar-rock. Tracks like "Archaeologists" and "Oblivion" burst out of the gate with riffs blazing, drums charging, and Murphy bellowing. But some of the record's primary pleasures occur when the band takes a more atmospheric approach

The globetrotting Aubele lived away from his beloved Buenos Aires for six years–first in Berlin, and then in Barcelona. He quickly landed a recording contract, though it wasn't with a European label. Since the late '90s, when he started working as a DJ to supplement his income as a guitar teacher back home, he'd been an aficionado of the tripped-out dub sounds of Washington, DC's Thievery Corporation, in particular its album The Mirror Conspiracy

Released in March, The Ponys' third and latest album, Turn the Lights Out, hasn't turned the band into the second coming of the Brian Jonestown Massacre. Or for that matter the Black Lips, whom Gummere, bassist Melissa Elias, drummer Nathan Jerde, and guitarist Brian Case have befriended and toured with. Blame the lack of hipster-attracting hype on the fact that the Ponys aren't peeing in their own mouths or engaging in fistfights on-stage

For certain Kits- and Yaletown-dwelling young professionals, Migs is something of a legendary figure, a one-man soundtrack to witty conversations about strata councils and luxury cars. To his detractors, the Santa Cruz native is a panderer; to Migs himself, he's just a guy with a gift for hooks and good vibrations

Local rock-guitar freaks will be hoping Chubby stays healthy enough to make it to Vancouver, as he's currently touring to promote Electric Chubby­land, a live, two-disc tribute to Jimi Hendrix. He's been a devotee of the Seattle blues-metal icon since he was a kid.

It's not just the region's punk-rock roots that fascinate the plaid-clad garage-rawk belter and celebrity interviewer, however, but B.C. history in general, as proven by numbers such as "E.J. Hughes", "Desolation Sound", "St. Roch", and of course the title track, which was inspired by Gastown pioneer and legendarily verbose saloon proprietor Capt. John Deighton. It's not too great a stretch to suggest that Nardwuar would make a pretty effective cultural ambassador for Western Canada

What's in a name? Three years ago, when DJs Nils von Hahn, Tarun Nayar, Lady Ra, and Adrian Blackhurst decided to create a worldbeat fusion collective, they needed the right moniker one that would encapsulate their outlook and stick in the public mind. At a brainstorming session von Hahn hit the bull's-eye with Beats Without Borders. The tag had an alliterative hook, and gave a clear indication of the four spinners' music and ethos.

20 years of Scratch Records, 30 years of punk rock in Vancouver

The Zero 7 singer doesn't need a Day-Glo mask to enrapture her fans

Good Lord, Britney Jean Spears. At what point in the tale of our Cheetos-chomping, baby-losing, vag-flashing, drugged-up anti-heroine do we turn our eyes away and admit our culpability in her undoing? From all the forwarded YouTube videos, cheap newspaper headlines, and gossipy Web site updates, the public hasn't quite finished watching this 25-year-old mother-of-two fall to pieces. It's easy to laugh and condemn such a colossal fuck-up of a star, especially when you overlook that she was sexualized by sleazy record execs, milked for all the jism-covered cash her teenage haunches could generate, and then left for dead on the side of the pop-cultural highway. Is it any wonder she's splaying her legs for us?

There are doubtless those who would argue that guitarist Dave "Brownsound" Baksh committed career suicide when he quit the multiplatinum-selling Sum 41 last year to focus on Brown Brigade, the metal-minded project he had started with his cousin, bassist Vaughn Lal. After all, any band that includes a note-for-note copy of Iron Maiden's "Hallowed Be Thy Name" on its debut album probably doesn't have a hope in hell of nudging the Sums' populist punk-pop off the charts

In its heyday, Blondie appropriated wildly varied styles of music, from girl-group pop to hip-hop and calypso. So it must be a special kind of hell, especially for a band that came out of the artistically fertile New York scene of the '70s, to have to play "Heart of Glass" for the 1,000th time on the festival circuit.

There's nothing sweeter in the world of rock 'n' roll than the sound of John Fogerty railing against warmongers, as he's been doing so successfully ever since Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Fortunate Son" blasted onto the radio back in '69. On Revival, his best (and most CCR–like) solo album since 1985's Centerfield, the swamp-rock legend nails George W. Bush with both barrels. "Georgie's in the jungle, knockin' on the door/Come to get your children, wants to have a war," howls Fogerty on "Long Dark Night", before using the same song to spout some venom on puppetmasters Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney: "Rummie's in the kitchen messin' with the pans/Dickie's in the back stealin' everything he can."

Jully Black, Ben Lee, Kid Rock + more

I'm not sure I quite get this, but apparently it's an Internet sensation.

The long-awaited Led Zeppelin reunion show slated for November 26 at London's O2 Arena has been postponed. According to NME.com, guitarist Jimmy Page injured his finger and will not be able to play for several weeks. The concert has been rescheduled for December 10.

Sometimes I just post things that I like, for no other reason. This is one of those times.

Awful. This might even be worse than the new Britney Spears album.

A U2 cover, from the brilliantly titled The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust!. Click here to listen.

Here's a funny interpretation of the lyrics of an Indian music video. It's kinda like Extreme Elimination goes Indian.

On November 5, National Public Radio launched its NPR Music Web site, which it describes as "a free, multi-genre, multimedia Web site that presents the best of public radio music."

CARRIE UNDERWOOD Carnival Ride R. PLANT & A. KRAUSS Raising Sand SERJ TANKIAN Elect the Dead NEIL YOUNG Chrome Dreams II SEETHER Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces KANYE WEST Graduation Day JOSH GROBAN Noel BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN

Have you heard? Bruce Allen recently said something shocking. No, not his controversial remarks regarding Canadian immigrants–that's nothing. If you want something truly outrageous, flash back to his Vancouver Magazine profile this past spring entitled "Bruce Almighty". Try this on for size: "I get pissed off that too many artists are given the label 'Great' when they haven't earned it.…I do not believe the Tragically Hip are great.