San Diego Newsy Bits

Over the holidays, there were some newsy things that were Facebooked and Tweeted and such, so I thought I would just highlight a couple in case you missed them.

• The New York Times highlighted San Diego in their 45 Places To Go In 2012. They highlighted our booming beer culture and some of our favorite haunts and put our fair city at number 14 among places like Tokyo, Cuba, and Glasgow, with Panama taking the number one spot. 
• The San Diego Foundation awarded $285,000 arts grants among several local artists and musicians. Among them were musicians Joel P West and Gilbert Castellanos and artist Wes Bruce. You can read about their projects at the U-T, NBC, CityBeat, and Sezio.
• This week The Guardian (London) named Psychic Dancehall their new band of the day. "Chuck Rowell and Hollie Cook's synth-pop noir is inspired by San Diego's seedy side – with a dollop of David Lynch". Check it in the player below.

Psychic Dancehall - Dreamers LP by wearesolidgold

Finally, this month the Casbah is celebrating 23 years. It's been an honor to be a part of the family for the past few years and if you haven't checked out the calendar lately, I added the remainder of January's shows in the sidebar. Several of this month's shows celebrate new releases, so be sure to check out new stuff from A Scribe Amidst The Lions, Black Box Studios, The Beautiful View, and The Howls. You're also going to want to stay tuned because with Coachella being two weekends this year, you can count on some of the bands playing shows in town. I can't spill the beans just yet, but you're gonna want to pay attention.