With the release of her new album, Ultraviolet, Kid Sister is finally making her mark on the music industry and showing us that she’s more than just another Kanye disciple. Over the last three years she has given us a taste of her fearless style and unique sound, but now we get to see what this Chi-town native is really capable of. We caught up with the spunky Kid Sister to talk about being a woman in a man's world and how if you don't like her sound, you might just be allergic to fun.

With peer-to-peer music sharing platform Spotify gaining attention and whetting the American palate for US inclusion, one can’t help but reminisce of the Muxtape and Mixwit days before the RIAA shut that shit down. Back in middle school, we made mixtapes (well, depending on the year you were enrolled, or repeating those grades). And, in high school, mix CDs proved our hip factor to the world. Sure, there are still those of us who invest the time and energy in making and distributing mix CDs, but usually once the time comes to burn your masterpiece, the apartment/officewide hunt for blank CDs begins. Forget that noise -- making playlists online is the most magical way to share your musical taste and gain cred for being in the know and possessing the skill to make a good list.

One thing I love about Los Angeles is that everyone comes here, and I don't have to go anywhere -- they come to me. Case in point: Joey Arias, the drag diva who first made a splash in New York's underground drag scene and then went on to infamy at Cirque du Soleil's sexytime Zumanity in Las Vegas, is here in town. I can go see him without jumping on a 3,000-mile (or 250-mile) flight for the next few weeks, in "Arias with a Twist." The name stems from the collaboration with Basil Twist, a puppeteer who conjured the fantastical set that Mr. Arias performs on.

Oh, look! Another flailing pop queen in distress. They're all the rage aren't they? What with their Brazilian boy-toying and their creative multitasking. Get too close and they may burn you with their fiery vitriol! Stay far away and they get needy. Yes these flailing pop queens are a fickle breed. But they, too have feelings. Like Janet Jackson, for instance -- who, between staring down some harsh truths about her late great brother and forthcoming obligations at some asinine awards ceremony, is having the worst week ever.

Here's the great thing about Vampire Weekend's new video for "Cousins," a track off of their forthcoming album, Contra: it makes the song better. The fact that bands are even making music videos -- and good ones, as opposed to this bullshit -- makes me happy. It's a dying art (no thanks to MTV of all people, who gave it to us in the first place). So any effort put forth on this front, I can appreciate. But I'm still a little saddened by it. That doesn't mean it's not good! I've heard the album, I've got my reasons. Lemme explain. Contra spoilers, after the jump.

Eh, it's unlikely, but the songbird has become otherwise adept at putting up walls and keeping prying eyes from getting too close. Ideally, she'd know better than to stir up a tempest outside of a nightclub. Still, this crack in her steely foundation becomes makes us wonder what sort of fire-and-brimstone brand of madness could be swirling beneath that head of perfectly coiffed hair. Recently, perhaps after her Nokia-sponsored live gig in London, Rihanna threw a tantrum when her driver was minutes late in picking her up. Some reports indicate that she was slinging thunderbolts with no mercy, threatening to get bouncers and valets at the club fired. Others say they saw her head do a complete 360 on her neck á la The Exorcist. Some, still scarred from that night, may even say that in her eyes, they could see the smug countenance of Madonna, grinning away. The truth, while peppered with colorful quips by Rihanna, is decidedly duller.

On August 7, Wale announced via Twitter that his debut album Attention Deficit, originally set for a September release, would be pushed back until October. On September 14, Wale announced that his album would be pushed back until November 3. On October 8, Wale announced that his album would be pushed back until November 10. You see where this is going. But, at last, on November 10, the album finally hit stores, only for news to break that Interscope had not provided enough in-store copies for fans to cop. All things considered, it has been a fairly tumultuous ride for the DC rapper, who, despite releasing several noteworthy mixtapes, has seen his rise to fame trickle in slowly compared to brethren like Drake and Kid Cudi. In between a steady stream of phone calls, text messages and Tweeting this summer, Wale took a few contemplative minutes to shed some insight on his pre-album, post-marijuana, state of mind.

When I walked into Book Soup on Sunset Boulevard for Mary Forbserg Weiland’s book reading on Monday night, it was immediately clear this was not your average book party. For one thing, there was an inordinate number of extremely tall, extremely beautiful, extremely well-dressed women in a crowded indie book store. That would be because the author was also a model. Then, there was the presence of a genuine rock star or two ... Dave Navarro (If I really have to tell you -- Red Hot Chili Peppers, Jane’s Addiction, yadda yadda yadda), and Dave Kushner of Velvet Revolver. A writer version of a rock star, Cameron Crowe, was also there, and yes, we stammered something stupid to him. The reason for all the celebrity fanfare? You might recognize her last name: she was married to Scott Weiland, the lead singer of Velvet Revolver and Stone Temple Pilots. Her friends in high places came to support her debut book, a memoir about her drug addiction and mental illness, co-written with Vanity Fair writer/editor Larkin Warren.

Life after American Idol is a delicate dance on coals for most who pass through the talent show. Customarily, winners/runners-up are called upon to record a crap forgettable single designed to accrue a modest number of spins on radio, and if they're lucky, they start to come into their own, then are allowed a chance to misstep for the sake of artistic growth. Then they finally hit their stride. It's here that we finally begin to regard this kind of Idol alum independently of the show that vaulted her to success. To that end, Adam Lambert's got a long, twisty path to pop stardom ahead of him. For Your Entertainment may make that ascent even more difficult.

Passion Pit: we gotta have a talk. Sit down. Let's discuss this "Little Secrets" video for a moment. Your album, which I think I once read described as akin to "diving head-first into a ball-pit filled with MDMA-stocked grapes," still sounds fresh after months of good listening. You're not a band that needs music videos; instead, you're a band who -- and I'm a huge fan -- needs to work on making live performances more substantial, and a band that needs to put money where mouths (and high-pitched voices that will wreak hell on vocal chords) are. Instead, what time, effort, and cash have you spent on music videos? Put it somewhere else. And if you've got to spend it on videos, this one? "Little Secrets" is my favorite track on the album. This treatment's just lazy.