John Payne

This is a story is about a new arrival on the pop scene named Galen Ayers, a singer-songwriter who’s just released her debut album, Monument, an accessably sweet-but-dig-a-bit set of deeply, to say the least, personal songs. More about her in a sec....

At a recent show at Little Tokyo jazz venue Blue Whale, a packed house witnessed the curiously enthralling spectacle of three brave acrobats flying high above the stage and –– watch out! –– swooping down real low in daring feats of entirely improvised, jazz-aligned new music. No safety net! This was some real brain-/body-mutating musical matter that gave all us chin-scratchers a lot to think about. More importantly, it just plain smoked....

I was music editor at L.A. Weekly officially for about eight years, circa roughly 1997 to 2005, plus I had filled the role on an interim basis a few times before that. Following my and near all of my Weekly colleagues’ (humph!) unceremonious dumping in 2005, some might say I pathetically continued to contribute to the Weekly’s music and film sections, which I still do from time to time. Taken all together, that makes me L.A. Weekly’s longest-serving writer/editor (I started at the Weekly in 1985), a fact about which I am, I think, quite proud....

The uniquely right-on Bitchwave Records is an L.A.-based queer/person-of-color label created by Ritual of Mine’s go-getter frontwoman Terra Lopez. Formerly known as Sister Crayon, RoM is a buzzy, choicely melodic and choicely abrasive brand of synth pop/new thing given prime heft by Lopez’s authentically heartfelt lyrical topicality and the charismatic intimacy of her vocal delivery. The band have a few indie releases notched on their studded belts, along with a 2016 set on Warner Bros. called Devoted, all of which kick major butt. A new album is slated for release in mid-2019....

When Elliott Smith died, it hit a lot of us very hard and very personally.  He'd recently released a masterpiece of an album and was seemingly on a creative roll. He'd given his last performance at the L.A. Weekly Music Awards, where he was frail and fragile and, musically at least, chillingly beautiful....

Part of the Red Bull Music Academy Festival, Ryoji Ikeda's "A [for 100 cars]" turns competitive car stereos into an avant-garde work of sound art....

The Moody Blues are pretentiously arty and mystical. They intone poetry about seagulls in Brummie accents. They’re too something and not enough of many other things. And they're one of the best pop bands to ever strut their hour upon the face of the Earth....

The Greek-American avant-garde singer returns to her native Southern California for a handful of shows supporting her two new albums, "All the Way" and "At Saint Thomas the Apostle Harlem."...

Bjork, Sigor Ros, Mum, Olof Arnalds, Johann Johannsson and many more will grace Walt Disney Concert Hall over the next several weeks....

The L.A. Phil's conductor laureate on Iceland's unique place in modern music, working with Sigur Rós, and his love of Foo Fighters....