THEATER: It’s “go time” for The Butane’s Group’s Operation Ajax, which ingenuously sets the CIA’s 1953 overthrow of Iran’s first democratically-elected government in the context of a casino. “Constructed from no less than 25 text sources (memoirs, documentaries, plays, poetry, novels, films, reality tv shows), the densely-layered performance explores how the addiction to risk and gambling has become a potent metaphor for U.S. foreign policy.” (For an enhanced theater experience, explore the show’s thorough bibliography,......

FESTIVAL: Today marks the start of the Blip Festival. The arts fest that explores the medium "of the 8-bit scene - musicians and artists who use low-bit videogame and computer hardware as their creative tools. The festival is the widest-reaching event in the history of the form, boasting a roster of over 30 international artists performing and exhibiting from places as diverse as Austria, Canada, Japan, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and across the United States."......

Oxford Collapse make music that sounds made to play over a montage at the end of a weekly Primetime Drama. A cool one, though. Like How I Met Your Mother or The first season of the OC. It's not sappy or overintellectualized, but pleasantly upbeat and refreshing. The vocals are a bit rough and hysteric, not unlike the Walkmen or Modest Mouse and everyone, but the contrast with the sunny, hopeful music backing them......

Day 2 was significantly busier than Day 1. All in all, we made it to 12 different shows between 10:00am and 2am, we'll highlight the highlights here. Bright and early yesterday morning we shot uptown to The Museum of Television and Radio for a KEXP in-studio performance by The Prayers and Tears of Arthur Digby Sellers. Due to some wretched midtown traffic, we didn’t get there until they were halfway through the set, but we......

It's CMJ week in NYC. Arcade Fire, Devendra Banhart, Lady Sovereign, Feist, Nouvelle Vague, Doves, The Wrens, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Cursive, !!!, Wolf Parade, The Hold Steady, Brian Jonestown Massacare... we can't even begin to list everything going on. Why should we? CMJ's listings reveal everything you need to know. Further inspection of CMJ.OhMyRockness.com lets you in on even more. The CMJ archives at BrooklynVegan will clue you in even further, and......

It's time to get sweaty in the sand, surf and of course the long subway ride to Coney Island. Siren Fest is this weekend, and rain or shine we'll be there. But for those not up for the long haul and long day under the sun and stormclouds, there's always an alternative. Either way, it all seems to be about the surf this weekend... MUSIC: Tonight is Insound's 2nd Annual Pre-Siren Festival delivers The Ponys,......