In a time when there’s a lot of pomp, circumstance, and bullshit, frankly, that comes along with a live show, it’s refreshing to see the MARK LANEGAN BAND play it straight. When showtime rolled around this past Sunday at the Paradise Rock Club, the former Screaming Tree and the members of his band filed quietly onto the stage, didn’t acknowledge the crowd before launching into a raucous version of “The Gravedigger’s Song,” the opening track from their latest record, Blues Funeral [Off The Record 01.

So, what if Saturn actually fell into the sea? We'll find out this month, as Boston's rocket-fed neo-glam heroes THE DAILY PRAVDA carry the torch as May's WFNX Local Exposure band for the month of May. Pravda just released their Dead House EP last weekend with a rousing gig at Radio in Somerville, and now set their sights on a free WFNX-presented show on Wednesday, May 30 at the Hard Rock Cafe.

It was one of the unlikeliest sports wagers in recent memory. CUT COPY were locked in a bitter dispute with Zonoscope mixer Ben Allen, a devout Atlanta fan (they exist!) who was repping his Hawks against the Australian electronic pop band's beloved Boston Celtics.

Happy Mother’s Day, and props to Manchester City for winning the Premiership. What a day! We capped it off by bringing HOORAY FOR EARTH into the studio, trying to put an end to all this “Are They Boston or New York?!” nonsense. Not sure we did, because Noel Heroux still lives in Brooklyn and doesn’t appear to be moving back anytime soon.

How long did it take for the internet to start making Adam Yauch hologram jokes? Oh, about 30 seconds. Here's a random assortment of people who probably thought they had an original thought.

In one of the most visually appealing music videos we've seen in a while -- and without any of the therapy-inducing nipple visuals of that Big Digits video we last lassoed under Awesome Video Alert -- ensemble indie-pop collective the MICHAEL J. EPSTEIN MEMORIAL LIBRARY is back with "Amylee." Shrinky-Dink-like depictions of the band assemble to ward off the oncoming dolphinpocalypse (lolque?) by enlisting a female shark assassin to travel to outer space and destroy their marine mammal counterparts.

On The Download had a spy in the trenches at Fenway Park a few weeks ago, and they came back with audio of this exact conversation...

John Henry: "The Red Sox are a mess, we already lost Heidi Watney, and there are empty seats around the ballpark... in May?!? How do we get people to come to Fenway Park in August?

It's crunch time. Voting for this year's poll closes May 18...that's soon! Local nominees in hip-hop, psych/experimental, electronic, jazz, live act, new act, and more are bringing it full force this week. Try to get out and see as many as you can, then get those votes in before it's too late. Power to the people.

Jimmy Rossi wants to take you on a trip around the world and back. The December Sound guitarist/programmer and mastermind behind electronic pop joyride AVOXBLUE has returned with his latest batch of icy electronic pop compositions, once again crafting an emotive voyage around ambient highs and lows.

Sleigh Bells are at the House of Blues on July 3

On Sale Now

Godspeed You! Black Emperor | October 1 at the Orpheum Theatre | $25 | On sale @ livenation.com

On Sale Friday, May 11

AT 10 AM

Matisyahu + The Dirty Heads | July 10 at the House of Blues | $28-$39.50 | On sale @ livenation.

When the first card hit the internet, the owner got "hundred of texts" in one day

If quoting pop song lyrics to girls at bars was a surefire panty dropper guys would have been asking chicks if they could hit them baby, just one time, or rub some genies out of their bottles years ago.

And yet. Since Canadian pop tart Carly Rae Jepsen's "Call Me Maybe" blew up the interwebz (53,357,025 views at the time of this post -- that's a lot for a singer who nobody knew existed until Justin Bieber and his brat pack of teen stars let us all know what was up) and exploded into our collective cerebellums like so much sonic cotton candy - tastes so good going down, makes you feel so bad later.

To date, I have had numerous opportunities to wax poetic about the indie music scene here in Portland, but of course it is a fertile indie breeding ground in another medium as well: comics! The area is home to both Dark Horse Comics, publisher of popular titles such as Hellboy and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Oni Press, the company responsible for both the somewhat overrated Scott Pilgrim series and the wildly underrated Blue Monday.

As long as the city remains his church, ANTHONY GONZALEZ of M83 will always have success in places like Boston. Tonight, the French electronic pop mastermind hits the House of Blues for another sold out show, a few months after Daniel Brockman caught up with him back in November, his first time in the big room.

The fine lads in GENTLEMEN HALL have been granted a stay of execution by rock radio. We had so much fun partying with last month's Local Exposure artists a few weeks ago in Allston, that WFNX has hooked up a free show with Boston-based pop-rock sextet tomorrow night at the Hard Rock Cafe. Consider it another homecoming -- the band spend most of April on the road for their Spring Fling tour, and are now back in Boston ready to take on the summer.