Ah, the opera. Manipulative phantoms, suicidal butterflies and chefs for as long as the fat lady could sing for her supper.

Many excellent dishes have tumbled forth from love-struck chefs’ bubbling cauldrons; the Italian opera belter Luisa Tetrazzini caused an anonymous toque to conjure the humble, but rich and toothsome chicken tetrazzini (check out Giada’s recipe).

And one Dame Nellie Melba managed to have four fab food items created in her honor (peach Melba, Melba sauce, Melba garniture and Melba toast).

There have been a few bloopers, too. The Swedish opera singer Per Janzon caused Jansson’s tempation, a hopefully named but hideously executed Swedish casserole involving grated potatoes, copious amounts of chopped onion, pickled sprats and bread crumbs, all swimming in a gelatinous creamy goo.

The French composer Georges Bizet (Carmen) instigated the nightmarish eggs in a mold bizet (aka eggs cooked in devices lined with minced pickled tongue and served on artichoke hearts). Thanks guys.

The only contemporary singing lady to make a chef’s flames burn a bit brighter is Renee Fleming.

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Turning 21 years old in America means heading to a bar at the stroke of midnight, rashly sampling from the cornucopia of alcohol your older friends probably wouldn’t buy for you when you were a sneaky teenager and spending the remainder of your birthday with an unprecedented hangover. And what better place to experience the magic of adulthood than Las Vegas?

Matador Records is turning 21, and to celebrate they’re hosting an aptly-titled event called “The Lost Weekend” October 1-3 in Sin City. Pavement, Sonic Youth, Liz Phair, Spoon, Belle & Sebastian, Guided By Voices, Yo La Tengo, The New Pornographers, Ted Leo & the Pharmacists and several others from the label will perform at the birthday party, all going down at the Palms Casino Resort.

A very limited number of tickets are still available, but if you can’t get to Vegas, check the set times and stream it live here. Maybe The New Pornographers will throw in a little tambourine.

The idea of open content is picking up serious steam now that basic production software comes with every new laptop and video cameras fit in pockets. Wikipedia and Creative Commons were born of the idea that given access, everyone has something viable to contribute.

Musicians are increasingly aware of the power of their fans–whether bands are asking fans for remixes or fans are taking the reins to produce new material, the trend is snowballing.

In true open content form, Radiohead fans in Prague pooled footage from a show and edited it down into a two-hour documentary. Once the band caught wind, they donated high-quality audio from the performance to complete the soundtrack. Curious? Download it here. When it comes to video content, the Beastie Boys kicked things off way back in 2004 with crowdsourced concert footage, resulting in Awesome; I Fuckin’ Shot That!

The latest band to crowdsource is Metric, who are hosting a remix contest of their album Fantasies. Remixers download wav files from Indaba, and the band will select the best remixes, each winner scoring $1000. The Creators Project (the peeps behind Vice and Intel) took it a step further at events held earlier this year, where producers teamed up with the audience to create tracks live on the spot.

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Holy hipsters, batman. Pack your canvas “This is not a plastic bag” bags, grab your jeggings, round up your best buds and rev up the hybrid: Filter magazine has waved its magical wand and made your dirtiest wet dream a reality. (No, not the one involving Megan Fox.)

Filter’s Culture Collide Festival includes White Lies, Fran Healy, Sebastien Tellier, Cass McCombs, Black Lips, Klaxons, Phantogram, Monotonix, Casiokids, Tokyo Police Club, The Boxer Rebellion, Suuns and dozens of other equally boss-ass noise makers, all playing October 7-10 in Los Angeles. Download the free sampler here.

In addition to the sonic nirvana, Filter has arranged an equally impressive line-up of food trucks to serve the hungry, the drunk, the tired, the stumbling.

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Pixtape is our roundup of the best new downloads from the month of September.

1. Lower Dens “Silver and Blue”
This is actually older material from singer Jana Hunter, but she’s formally reintroduced it as a Lower Dens song. On the surface it doesn’t seem to be a love song, but there’s something hopeful and loving in it, which is a pretty refreshing realization.
Download track via The 405

2. The Pass “Trap of Mirrors”
Catchy, energetic pop from the Kentucky band’s aptly-titled debut album BURST. Do people still use the term radio friendly? That’s what this is, and there’s a lot more to come from this band.
Download track via Pretty Much Amazing

3. Burial and Kode9 BBC Radio 1 mix
The opening takes a few minutes to get into anything serious, but this dark mix for Mary Anne Hobb’s final BBC Radio 1 show is rewarding a little deeper in.
Download track via Gorilla vs Bear

4. Dumbo Gets Mad “Electric Prawn”
Like something out of a late 1960s carnival-themed surf movie, this cheeky track from the Italian band has plenty going on to warrant repeat listens.
Download track via The Needle Drop

5. Saroos “Yukoma”
Ambient and uplifting, this is a great electronic track from the German group featuring members of LaliPuna, The Notwist and Iso68.
Download track via XLR8R

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You’re doing something right when you can silence a room. That’s Elizabeth Harper of Brooklyn group Class Actress, whose seductive electro-pop has critics swooning. Catchy basslines, New Wave-inspired synths and Harper’s soothing, airy vocals on songs like “Journal of Ardency” and “Broken Adolescent Heart” borrow playful sentimentality from ’80s icons Madonna and director John Hughes.

Grizzly Bear’s Chris Taylor released their Journal of Ardency EP in 2009 via Terrible Records, and they followed with a full-length earlier this year. Class Actress has also released a few covers of beloved songs, including Neon Indian’s “Terminally Chill,” and as part of the supergroup Girl Crisis, Nirvana’s “Come As You Are.”

Harper and her fellow band members hit the road next month for a few dates alongside Dan Black, Neon Indian and Prefuse 73 before joining up with Small Black for a month-long tour. They’ll start in Baltimore and loop around the country back to Boston, playing two shows with Delorean and fellow UI interviewees Lemonade along the way.

Catch them live–it doesn’t seem to be something most people regret.

Can you make your brain hang upside down? Good.

Now, can you wrap it around the fact that the last godfather of punk has come out with a red liquid we’re meant to put on unleavened dough? That’s right. Marky Ramone has come out with his own line of pasta sauce!

Has the man completely abandoned his senses? TBD! One thing is clear: Ramone has abandoned any aspirations of the quirky low-brow genius lyricism for which his former band was so beloved. The tag line for his new line of sauce is simply, “A recipe so flavorful it beats the rest.”

Mkay, so he kind of phoned that one in, but his passion for pasta sauce appears to be legit.

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