December 1, 2009 – Thao Nguyen has a strange feeling about loitering in airports. "I love it!" exclaims the sweet-voiced singer-guitarist. "You can even ask the dudes" -- bassist-keyboardist Adam Thompson, 25, and drummer Willis Thompson, 26 (no relation). Though the jaunty folk-rock trio came together nearly four years ago on the Virginia college club circuit, each member has since settled in a different city (San Francisco, New York, and Richmond, respectively), making air travel essential. "Every time we plan to meet, we have to wait until everyone's plane lands, and then we can all get in the car," Nguyen, 25, explains. "It's just like Ocean's Eleven!" Or a fairy tale. "The band's career has been charmed," she says. It's hard to disagree. In 2005, acting "totally out of character," she e-mailed a download link for her self-released Like the Linen album to Laura Veirs, one of her favorite singers.

September 14, 2009 – "This is what I'm talking about!" Christopher Owens slams his hand down on a wooden tabletop in a San Francisco diner, sloshing chicken soup out of his bowl. The singer-guitarist for Girls, the fledgling band responsible for the year's most captivating -- if not outright best -- debut album, is referring to a moment two years ago, after he and partner Chet JR White posted their band's first song, "Lust for Life," on MySpace. A fan had approached Owens at a Los Angeles show, opening her diary to a page on which she had transcribed the lyrics and elaborately pasted pictures of her and her friends all around them. Stirred by the memory, Owens straightens up, pulling his dirty-blond hair into a pile on top of his head.

May 4, 2009 – David Byrne, the National, Feist, Bon Iver, and Sharon Jones, among others, performed at New York's Radio City Music Hall Sunday night for Dark Was the Night Live, a celebration of AIDS/HIV awareness organization Red Hot's compilation of the same name. And what a celebration it was, with over two hours of collaborations (Byrne and Dirty Projectors! Feist and Bon Iver!) -- and Jones' show-stealing performance! Despite a seated, mostly sober audience, iffy sound, and songs that were often being played live for the first time, the hip 20-and-30-something audience got what they came for: A jovial indie rock revue, carried above its flaws by the enthusiasm of devoted performers who knew that, this time, it was all for a greater good. The curtain rose on prog-pop band Dirty Projectors, who established a theme for the night with their precise vocal harmonies.

March 26, 2009 – Last Christmas Eve, singer Amanda Palmer posted a message on her blog: "If you hadn't noticed, all of the Dresden Dolls and Amanda Palmer official videos have been taken off YouTube. I loved my videos. Now they are gone...Did I mention that being on a major label is starting to seem like...not such a grand idea?" Palmer, who records for Roadrunner Records, is one of hundreds of Warner Music Group artists -- including Madonna, Green Day, and the White Stripes -- whose music videos are no longer available on YouTube. The reason? Money. YouTube's licensing agreement with WMG expired in mid-2008, and after Warner pushed for a bigger slice of the site's ad-revenue pie, YouTube said no thanks. The disruption incensed YouTube's users and laid bare the record industry's frustrated struggle to turn massive exposure into tangible profits.

February 19, 2009 – Next Tuesday, War Child International will release Heroes, a compilation of younger artists (Beck, Duffy, TV on the Radio) covering songs by superstars (Bob Dylan, the Ramones, David Bowie), with the proceeds going to aid children in war-torn countries like Afghanistan and Sudan. For music fans looking to do good, it's a worthy way to spend $10. Sixteen songs on your iPod sure beat the usual charity tote bag. But is Heroes actually a good album? What makes it interesting is the concept: The original acts hand-picked the younger performers they trusted most to interpret their work. So Blondie chose Scottish rockers Franz Ferdinand to perform "Call Me," Roxy Music tapped electro-glam group Scissor Sistors for "Do the Strand," and Bruce Springsteen favored (surprise!) lyrical storytellers the Hold Steady to take on "Atlantic City." The intended result?

February 5, 2009 – Sunday night, while you're watching all the one-of-a-kind Grammy Awards performances and belting a shot of tequila every time Lil Wayne's name is mentioned, take a minute to remember the 100 or so other Grammy winners who aren't considered important enough to appear on the Big Show (CBS, 8 p.m.). Polka? Banda? Best Album Packaging? Contemporary Folk? Christian Rap? Best Surround Sound Album? What does it all mean and why should you care? Six thoughts: 1. And by "Contemporary Folk" You Mean "Old Folks"?The average age of the contemporary folk nominees is a ripe 57.5 years. And the category would be even craggier if Alison Krauss, 37, hadn't kindly agreed to join the AARP brigade (of course she had to bring along her dad, Robert Plant, 60). If this is "contemporary" folk then Fleet Foxes must be... from the future? 2.

January 20, 2009 – "Back from the dead, motherfuckers!" declared Jemina Pearl, former frontwoman of Nashville, TN, punk band Be Your Own Pet, who premiered seven songs during her first-ever solo performance Saturday at Brooklyn's Music Hall of Williamsburg. Her gig -- an opening slot for '90s grunge rockers the Fluid -- showcased tunes off her upcoming album on Thurston Moore's Ecstatic Peace label. And if the record stays true to the performance, Pearl's yet-to-be titled debut will attempt to capture the raw, youthful punk of BYOP.

January 17, 2009 – Arish "King" Khan, 32, describes his current stagewear as "a mix between Cleopatra and Rick James." Just picture a long-limbed, beer-bellied, pencil-mustached Indian Canadian in sequin-belted hot pants, layers of chains, a pouffed black pageboy wig with a gold headband, foam genie shoes, and a gold lamé veil, duck-walking his guitar across the stage. "He's the guy who's gonna make everyone go bananas," says partner Mark "BBQ" Sultan, 35, stationary yin to Khan's hyperkinetic yang, sporting a relatively modest pink turban and cape while playing rhythm guitar and stomping a bass drum, snare, and tambourine, all at the same time. "I'm glad to be sitting and just concentrating on the songs." The duo met in their native Montreal and played in the short-lived punk band the Spaceshits.

December 15, 2008 – 20. Stars, "Bitches In Tokyo" One problem with the popularity of indie rock is the lack of idolatry. Sure, it's great that a musician can be just like you, glasses and all, but what happened to the desperate adolescent joy of wanting to be a rockstar? [Directed by: Experimental Parachute Movement] 19. Vampire Weekend, "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa" Filmic proof that nobody does insufferable '80s preppy better than a bunch of insufferable preppies. I've got to say, I was just as satisfied as gothic Molly Ringwald to see them get their Cure on. [Directed by:Richard Ayoade] 18. Omaha Bitch, "Orgasmic Troopers" Headbanging ballet dancers throwing punches.

December 3, 2008 – I spent five days over Thanksgiving happily soaking up the clear air and giant burritos of my hometown, San Francisco. The Bay Area is full of amazing bands who can only occasionally come up with the resources to tour the rest of the country. So I decided to bring them to you via SPIN.com. Below are the top five groups that make me wish I had never left home. Be sure to check them out if they come to your town.The Dodos Meric Long and Logan Kroeber's catchy, mostly-acoustic pop mixes honey-sweet vocals and fancy guitar picking with complex, impatientrhythms. I guess it could be called folk, but your irrepressibly tapping feet may disagree.