If you haven’t yet made plans for New Year’s Eve (and you don’t already have My Morning Jacket tickets for their Madison Square Garden show), you might want to consider Ms. Patti Smith for your evening’s festivities. While Smith doesn’t exactly have a new studio album to promote, she’s certainly been in the headlines this year. July saw the release of The Coral Sea—a live rendering of a Smith poem of the same name, and one dedicated to her good friend Robert Mapplethorpe, backed by My Bloody Valentine’s Kevin Shields on guitar. And then ther'es Dream of Life—Steven Sebring’s epic documentary on Smith’s music and life—released the following month.  read more »

What will DJs be playing at the Election Night parties tonight? We checked in with some of our favorites, including The Rub DJs, who will be spinning along with DJ Rekha and Chez Music's Neil Aline at the Raise the Volume Election Day Party at the Virgin Megastore in Times Square, starting at 1 p.m., to see what will be on the decks. Here are some selections for your own election night party playlist:

Alice Cooper - Elected

Simian Mobile Disco - I Believe

James Brown - Funky President

The Smiths - Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want

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The Brits released the results of their own election today, though it’s safe to say theirs won’t have quite the impact on world affairs as ours will. I’m talking, of course, about NME’s annual Cool List—the English rag’s top 50 list of the hottest men and women in rock. Stereogum has conveniently condensed the list for us, so let’s have a look, shall we?:  read more »

Self-described "die-hard rock fan" Mayor Michael Bloomberg joined music legends Billy Joel and Clive Davis today in announcing the development of a new 25,000-square-foot annex to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, located at 76 Mercer Street in Soho.

The new annex, opening in November, will include such priceless artifacts as Johnny Ramone's Mosrite guitar and the graffiti-clad phone booth from defunct legendary rock club CBGB.

"We're in a landmarked area of great cast-iron buildings," Joel Peresman, president and CEO of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation, said of the location, which was picked "for a variety of reasons," he added.  read more »

Nearly 30 years after the original Germs lead singer died of a drug overdose at the age of 21, the Los Angeles snot-punks have a new lead-singer: actor Shane West. That's right, the former E.R. star is the new Darby Crash—he of the infamous appetite for peanut butter (spread on his chest) and heroin (injected squarely into his veins). Apparently, bassist Lorna Doom and guitarist Pat Smear (the remaining original members) were so impressed with West's recent turn as Crash in the biopic, What We Do Is Secret, that they invited him along on their reunion tour. Dr. Barnett—er, West and company will infect the Blender Theater on Aug.  read more »

Biggie is coming to the big screen, according to Reuters. Jamal Woolard, a Brooklyn-based rapper, will play the late rap icon Biggie Smalls, a.k.a. the Notorious B.I.G., in the upcoming biopic Notorious. He passed the open casting call last fall. Like Biggie, Mr. Woolard was a drug dealer before he became a rapper. Also known as Gravy, he has released a number of albums, though he's perhaps best known for being shot before a radio appearance outside the New York hip-hop station Hot 97 two years ago, after which he proceeded with the interview and became a part of hip-hop lore. Biggie's mom, Voletta Wallace, cited "Jamal's charming personality, warm spirit, wonderful sense of humor and beautiful smile" as reasons for the casting. "He is a talented and charismatic actor, and I am excited that he will bring Christopher's character to life." Derek Luke will play P. Diddy and Anthony Mackie will play Tupac Shakur. Angela Basset is set to play Biggie's mom. The movie is set for release next January.

>> The National, Feb. 22-23, Brooklyn Academy of Music (sold out)

"No way! A 2,500 seat theater!" said The National’s Bryce Dessner, sounding more like one his band’s teenage fans than a well-traveled 34-year-old guitarist. He was calling from Ditmas Park—a few neighborhoods south of the Brooklyn Academy of Music where his brooding hometown band will take the stage for two sold-out nights tonight and tomorrow night. "It's just not something we would have considered."  read more »

On a sweltering night this past summer, at a crammed two-story house party deep in the outskirts of Williamsburg, Cole Gerard dropped his remix of Bruce Springsteen’s “I’m On Fire” on a pair of turntables. You could hear the pounding “slow mo disco” beat (as Mr. Gerard describes it) from the rooftop, where revelers escaped for a smoke and a view of the industrial skyline. In the kitchen, Springsteen’s original plinking guitar line was the lullaby for partiers passed out on the tile floor.  read more »

Oscar Peterson, whose dazzling keyboard skills made him one of the world's most popular jazz pianists, died at age 82 last weekend. The Canadian muscian made his American debut at a 1949 Carnegie Hall concert and went on to work with some of the American greats including Stan Getz, Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, Billie Holiday, Ben Webster, Lester Young and Louis Armstrong.  read more »

Gearing up for the release of In Rainbows actually being in stores on Jan. 1, Radiohead has released this video advertisement for their do-it-yourself-like packaging. How handy!  read more »