To help newbies understand electronic music, John Santoro likens it to wine. The subtle differences in style and variation make it difficult to know what you like until after you’ve sampled a little bit of everything.

Santoro runs the Ybor Amphitheatre and is co-organizing Saturday's Sunset Music Festival, which will bring dozens of top-notch DJs to Raymond James Stadium (click here for details and set times). He said Sunset will offer a chance for listeners to sample plenty of acts on three different stages. But if you’re still not sure where to start, he offers five suggestions.

Pretty Lights: Expect a dazzling stage show from this Colorado DJ, born Derek Vincent Smith. “Google it, and just see one of his shows, and you’ll see,” Santoro said. “We don’t want to let it out of the bag, but it’s going to be impressive. There’s not going to be one person looking away from the stage when he goes on.”

Paul van Dyk: The iconic trance DJ reaches deep for large crowds. “The music that he lays down for festivals is on another level.”

Krafty Kuts (above): Taking the wine analogy a bit further, Santoro likens this U.K. breaks DJ to a refreshing riesling that’s unlike anything else on the menu. “You would definitely hear the difference when Krafty Kuts goes on.” ... Read more

R&B/gospel legend Mavis Staples, above, leads a pretty short edition of Ticket Window this week. In fact, let's just run through everything here and now:

-- Impending Doom, 6 p.m. July 11 at State Theatre, St. Petersburg, $13, on sale at 10 a.m. Friday through Ticketmaster.

-- Pomegranates, 7 p.m. July 22 at the Local 662, St. Petersburg, $10, on sale at 10 a.m. Friday through Ticketmaster online at Ticketmaster.com, or by calling toll-free 1-800-745-3000.

-- Jack Hanna’s 'Into the Wild’ LIVE!, 3 p.m. Dec. 30 at the Mahaffey Theater, St. Petersburg, $22.50-$42.50, on sale at noon
Friday at the box office, 400 First St. S, or by calling (727) 893-7832.

-- Mavis Staples, 7 p.m. Jan. 19 at the Mahaffey Theater, St. Petersburg, $25-$45, on sale at noon
Friday at the box office. ... Read more

A week of '90s nostalgia (Chris Cornell, Wilco) comes to a close on Saturday, when Jane's Addiction comes to Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater. If you missed our interview with frontman Perry Farrell, be sure to check it out here.

Elsewhere in the Bay, there's Leon Russell (above), Scars on 45, Hunter Hayes, Spam Allstars, Meek Mill, Timothy B. Schmit, Ralph Stanley, Reckless Kelly, Whole Wheat Bread, Zoso, Mike Pinto Band and more. Carole Liparoto has the details after the jump... ... Read more

Last weekend, one of the world's top DJs, Markus Schulz, stopped by the Amphitheatre in Ybor City. Think of the show as the opening salvo in a summer of major electronic music events coming to Tampa Bay.

 If 2011 was the year electronic music broke in America, 2012 is the year it’s setting up shop right in your face. Three electronic festivals are slated to take place in Tampa Bay between May and August. For the first time, a DJ will headline the Tampa Bay Times Forum. Two more shows will take place at the Florida State Fairgrounds, of all places, in a building that can hold 4,000.

If you missed them, check out our interviews with Steve Aoki (at the Ritz Ybor on May 16) and Washed Out's Ernest Greene (at Crowbar on May 13). And then click here for our preview of the rest of this summer's hottest electronic music events in Tampa Bay, including Kaskade (above), Avicii, Pretty Lights, Afrojack, Paul Oakenfold, Rusko and more. ... Read more