Matthew C.X. Langford for AOL "Exciting day now, huh?" says Flaming Lips tour manager Chris, with an I'm-used-to-it smirk, as he supervises load-in at Toronto's Yonge-Dundas Square where his band is headlining Spinner's free daylong NXNE concert. There is, of course, no way he could've known how darkly prophetic his words would become ...

Getty The Flaming Lips are approaching their 30th birthday, an almost unfathomable age for a non-nostalgia act. They were already veterans when they took their weirdo shtick to Beverly Hills, 90210's Peach Pit After Dark. ("I have never been a big fan of alternative music," said the show's preppiest prep Steve Sanders, "but these guys ...

Justin Broadbent A decade ago, Ossington Avenue in Toronto's west-end was a crumbling street of dodgy garages and boarded-up business, sketchy strip clubs and bullet-ridden Vietnamese karaoke joints. In the years since it's resurrected itself into a bustling enclave of independently owned hipster bars, foodie restaurants and art galleries. ...

Warner If you follow the Flaming Lips' Wayne Coyne on your Twitter feed, you may have noticed that he's become embroiled in an epic Twitter war with his former "heady fwend" Erykah Badu over the NSFW music video for their collaborative cover of "First Time Ever I Saw Your Face." A few days before all hell broke loose in 140 characters or ...

Getty | AFP "Wanderlust," the penultimate song on Metric's long-awaited new album Synthetica, boasts an unexpected back-up vocal that sounds like the opposite of the album title. It's authentic, apocalyptic and instantly recognizable despite it's lack of advance billing. Oh hello, Lou Reed. "I thought it'd be nice for people to discover ...

Mutek Mutek was founded in 2000 when the rave era was at its peak, but after the monster party scene collapsed a couple years later, the festival stayed strong because they traded in a style of electronic music that was more esoteric than ecstatic. Now electronic music has exploded once again as Mutek celebrates its 13th anniversary in ...

Sub Pop Sad news rocked the indie world late Thursday May 17 when electro-punk duo Handsome Furs, also known as husband-and-wife Dan Boeckner and Alexei Perry, announced on their website: "With a heavy heart the time has come to let all of you know that Handsome Furs are no more. The most important thing that needs to be said right now ...