The Mountain Goats “We Shall All Be Healed” 4AD Records Album No. 11 brings Mountain Goats mastermind John Darnielle’s song count to a frightening 403. But if you’re to believe the man, these last 13 are the first to tell the story of real-life headcases, instead of made up ones. Read more...

If Britney Spears were an avid reader, she might pick up a copy of Anne Tyler’s “The Amateur Marriage” and think twice about hasty Las Vegas nuptials. Read more...

The hardest part of being a musician is finding your own voice, or at least a way to express yourself. Fear not, aspiring indie rockers, John Vanderslice is here to help. Read more...

L.A. Gay and Lesbian Wedding Expo Wyndham Bel Age Hotel Feb. 22, 10 a.m. Be prepared for an entire expo devoted to the national firestorm that is same-sex marriages. Read more...

“Topdog/Underdog” Ahmanson Theater From the beginning, playwright Susan-Lori Parks sets up history to repeat itself with two brothers named Lincoln and Booth in her Pulitzer Prize-winning play “Topdog/Underdog.” Parks pushes the pun further with Lincoln’s job: role-playing as President Abraham Lincoln in white face makeup at an arcade as kids re-enact the assassination of the president by shooting him in the back with a cap gun. Read more...

Jazz at the Grand Salon Series Kerckhoff Hall Young Grand Salon Feb. 19, 8 p.m. Local vocalist Dwight Trible comes to show UCLA students how to jazz it up for the first of the “Jazz at the Grand” series. Read more...

Hidden between an abandoned Japanese movie theater and a Latin bar just off of Main Street in downtown Los Angeles, adventurous music fans can only access The Smell through a nondescript back alley entrance. Read more...