• Chancellorpink has hearts -- both red and black -- on his mind with his latest release, "Valentine Parade."

The artist, who sings, produces and plays all the instruments on his records, calls it "a perfect suite of songs for the brokenhearted and a nice antidote for anyone who wants to avoid loved-up couples this Valentine's Day."

Chancellorpink is Ray McLaughlin, a local attorney and former frontman for the '80s alt-rock band Six Gun Jury and later Spinny Jenny and Orange Velvet Chairs. He's vowed to release a new album every year until, he notes, "I die or become boring."

"Valentine Parade" is a dark box of chocolates and an adventure in sound recalling the glam of Bowie and gloom of Nick Cave with vocals that are, by turns, pretty and pretty eerie.

For a taste, go to www.myspace.com/chancellorpink.

• Back in the day (we're talkin' 1986), he was known simply as ed fROMOHIO. That's when Ed Crawford was ragin' on with fIREHOSE, a band featuring a Minutemen rhythm section -- bassist Mike Watt and drummer George Hurley -- grieving the death of leader D. Boon.

They recorded five post-punk albums together (three for SST) before splitting in 1994. Crawford went on to play with a North Carolina band called the Grand National before becoming Ryan Adams' guitar-slinger in the late-great Whiskeytown.

On Friday night, Crawford plays an acoustic show at Garfield Artworks with Plat Maps (members of Workshop & Boca Chica), Pairdown and Junestar (a duo from Baltimore). It begins at 8 p.m. Admission is $7.

• Superstar-in-the-making Wiz Khalifa lends his smooth flow to a new single, "Say Yeah," that has the sound of a bouncy summer hit. The song uses a sample from Alice Deejay's 1999 hit "Better Off Alone." The Pittsburgh rapper celebrates with two shows this weekend: Friday at Privilege in the Strip; and Saturday at Gravity in Cheswick. Both begin at 9 p.m. Check out the song and get more details on the shows at www.myspace.com/wizkhalifa.

• There's a Riot in Bloomfield Friday night! It's a Rockabilly Riot at Howler's Coyote Cafe with The Cocktail Shakers and MC/sideshow performer Notorious Lucky. Between bands, DJ Junior will spin vintage rockabilly records. The Riot will be held the third Friday of every month at Howler's. Admission is $3. ... The SPUDS will host their annual Great Guinness Toast at the Starlite Lounge in Blawnox Friday. The garage-y New Wave starts at 9 p.m., followed by the toast, with thousands across the country, at 11 p.m.

-- Scott Mervis

• Local musician Andy Hoke broke the Guinness World Record for continuous guitar playing last weekend at the Thunderbird Cafe in Lawrenceville.

Hoke started his record-setting attempt 5 p.m. last Thursday and concluded at 7:18 p.m. Saturday. He played a total of 836 songs in the 48-plus-hour marathon.

Some of the rules included: no repeat songs in a four-hour period, songs more than two minutes long and a five-minute break every hour.

He's promoting the release of a new EP, "12+1," and has been a member of numerous local bands including Kid Bonney and The Smick Brothers. You can catch video highlights of the event at www.andyhoke.com.

--Rosa Colucci