Beyonce Knowles

Rihanna - Staples Center - 4/8/13

Rihanna Staples Center 4/8/13 It was a lot of sequins and gyrating last night as pop-star, media provocateur and good girl gone bad Rihanna hit the Staples Center as part of her Diamonds World Tour. RiRi was all hair, lips and hips as she brought an unabashedly sexual swagger. Although a lot of cri ... More >>

The 20 Worst Albums of the '90s: The Complete List

Sure, you had the Bill Clinton blowjob scandal, OJ, Pakistan and India going nuclear, mad cow disease, the Rodney King decision, and Titanic. But what made the '90s truly awful was its music. That's not to say that there weren't bright spots -- early Beck, say, or Ok Computer and much of hip-hop's g ... More >>

We Review Michael Bolton's New Motown Covers Album, Track By Track

Michael Bolton was before my time. I know this because Office Space had a character who was ashamed to share a name with him, and because half the laughs for his surprise appearance in SNL's "Jack Sparrow" skit were Because It's Him, and because I haven't actually heard any of his own music. I think ... More >>

Music Picks: No Doubt, Nikki Hill, Alice Cooper

The Man Behind Amon Tobin's Jaw-Dropping Live Show

When experimental electronic producer Amon Tobin takes the stage at the Greek Theatre tomorrow, his audience will barely be able to see him. He'll be ensconced inside a massive, 2.5-ton structure made up of white, interlocking cubes, stacked Tetris-like atop one another. A sci-fi kaleidoscope of 3 ... More >>

The 20 Worst Hipster Bands: 20-11

Top 20 Worst Bands of All Time Top 20 Musicians of All Time, in Any Genre Top 20 Whitest Musicians of All Time Who are these hipsters we see each day in the streets, on our Tumblr feeds, and on the local news? And why are so many in bands? It's not the mere existence of hipster groups that distress ... More >>

The Best Jazz Concerts to See in L.A. This Month

Friday, August 10th Dale Fielder LACMA Saxophonist Dale Fielder has been honking around Los Angeles for some time now. He has recently gravitated towards the underappreciated majesty of baritone saxophonist Pepper Adams. Friday's appearance in front of LACMAs 202 streetlamps will be a preview of h ... More >>

Music Picks: Rome, The xx, Aretha Franklin

Also, Cannibal Corpse, I See Hawks in L.A., Smokey Robinson and others

Dirty Minds Think Alike

Dance Showdown on YouTube: A Reality Dance Competition That's Better Than What You See on TV

Take a look at Dance Showdown, the first original show created for the YouTube channel DanceOn. This is reality-style, competition dance crossing easily onto an online format -- and doing it better than network television, frankly. It's pretty hilarious. Launched in April, Dance Showdown is a cr ... More >>

Top 20 Sexiest Male Musicians of All Time: #20-16

Physical appearance actually has little to do with sexiness. Sure, we've all been known to stare at a shirtless dude, but to give us whiplash he needs to arouse our minds. Whether it's a sidelong glance, the hint of a smile, a swagger that piques our curiosity or just the way he flicks his cigarette ... More >>

50 Most Ridiculous Vanity Plates in L.A.

Forget 140 characters: try eight! In a city full of networking self-promoters and wannabe celebs, it's no surprise that ridiculous vanity license plates abound. That little space on the back of your car represents a precursor to the away message and the Facebook status, albeit a near-permanent one. ... More >>

Etta James Is Dead

See also: R&B Legend Etta James Has Dementia, Reveals Sordid Riverside County Money Lawsuit Etta James passed away today at the age of 73 at Riverside Community Hospital in Riverside. James, born Jamesetta Hawkins, suffered a number of health problems at the time of her death, including leukemia an ... More >>

Music Picks: Skrillex, Diplo, Wu-Tang Clan, The Health Club

Also, Art Lande, Albert "Tootie" Heath, Gilad Hekselman, The Stitches, The Villains and others

Drunken Tiger - The Jungle Concert In L.A. - Wiltern - 12-02-11

Roselle ChenTiger JK of Drunken Tiger​​See also: *Big in Koreatown: Dumbfoundead inspires a tremendous following with his unlikely story *Dumbfoundead Interview Outtakes The Jungle Concert In L.A. Tiger JK, Yoon Mi Rae and Lee Ssang The Wiltern 12-02-11 The Jungle Concert In L.A. was a nig ... More >>

Das Racist, Danny Brown - The Roxy - 11-3-11

Rebecca Haithcoat​Das Racist, Danny Brown The Roxy 11-3-11 Aural chaos characterized Das Racist's show last night. Also, "Tricks with Microphones." The NYC trio of Himanshu Suri (Heems), Victor Vazquez (Kool A.D.) and Ashok Kondabolu (Dap) had a great earworm in 2008, "Combination Pizza Hut a ... More >>

Robyn - Hollywood Bowl - October 22, 2011

Lina Lecaro ​Robyn, Royksopp At the Hollywood Bowl Sat., Oct. 23 Better than... Dancing/drinking/cruising the pain away on a West Hollywood dance floor. Robyn's fanbase is about 80% gay men. It's not hard to figure out why. She's the definition of "fierce" on stage, donning wild, androgyno ... More >>

The Ettes, Sade, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Benefit for Nick Curran

Also, Kendrick Lamar, the Punk Rock BBQ, Katy B and others

Brian Lichtenberg: Diva Duds

LA Gay Pride Music: Prince Poppycock, Estelle, Mya and Some Very Loud Queens

Lina Lecaro Prince Poppycock is pretty in Pride.​You can always expect a few things on the music stage during LA Pride weekend: powerhouse divas belting, audacious drag queens, lithe boys shaking it in something skimpy, highly danceable grooves throughout and in between it all, and signers int ... More >>

Mad Crushin' For Diplo At Departure

Lina Lecaro Diplo tears it up at Vanguard.​ Remember when everyone was comparing DJs to rockstars? Sometimes the comparison was warranted, but most of the time it was not. Paul Oakenfold is no Mick Jagger and Tiesto is no Bono, right? Rockstar eminence is about swagger and attitude, and even t ... More >>

Lina in L.A.: Can't You Take a Joke?

R&B Legend Etta James Has Dementia, Reveals Sordid Riverside County Money Lawsuit

​A sad, sordid saga is unveiling right now in Riverside County: papers filed in court concerning the administration of her fortune and the care-taking of R&B legend Etta James reveal a family feud over money and allegations that the "At Last" singer's health has been wrecked by leukemia and de ... More >>

Holy Sh*t! Top 10 Uses of Profanity in Music in 2010

​Cuss words can be a lazy lyricist's exclamation points but, in the right hands, profanity affords a landscape of creativity and rhyme schemes that breathe new life into descriptions of coitus, anger, and self-reflection. There may not be enough amazing uses of "fuck," "ass," and "shit" in roc ... More >>

Today's New Releases: Stereolab, Girl Talk, Dum Dum Girls and Tommy Santee Klaws

​ STEREOLAB, NOT MUSIC (DRAG CITY) Twenty years and 12 albums in Stereolab gives us Not Music, a record derived from the same sessions that produced 2008's Chemical Chords and released during their self-imposed hiatus. This mix of "new" songs and remixes of "old" ones is fantastic, but if you ... More >>

LA Fashion Week Report: Julia Clancey's Fairytale Frocks

Lina Lecaro The fairest of them all​There is no well-defined LA Fashion Week anymore, which means the series of style events in our city straggles into the entire month. Maybe not such a bad thing, as each collection gets to soak up more solo spotlight. Last week saw perhaps some of LA fashion ... More >>

Manic at the Polysexual Disco

Music geeks and local promoters have created a gay-straight dance alliance

Nightranger: (Art)Walk This Way

2009: The Year in Obsessions

L.A. Weekly’s music editor lists the 10 records he couldn’t get out of his head

Photo-Enhanced Counter Intelligence: How to Tell a Snout Taco From an Ear Taco and More Notes on Carnitas From "Pork in the Time of Swine Flu -- Mexico City's Pig Cuisine"

Anne FishbeinCarnitas Exhibit #1: Metro Baldera's costilla, or rib meat taco In his latest Counter Intelligence column, "Pork in the Time of Swine Flu -- Mexico City's Pig Cuisine, Snoot to Hoof," Jonathan Gold writes: "Toasted corn has its place. Chiles are indispensable. The indescribable scent ... More >>

GO LA: Andrew Lloyd Webber, Young Frankenstein and Other Horrors

Plus, Doug Stanhope, Fake Radio, Oliver Sacks and more, April 17-23

Those Skinny Britches: Grabbing L.A.'s Thinnest Jeans ...

... before the wide-bottoms take over

Grammy Hair Talk: Night of the Long Bob

If you're doing Pink's hair, even if you're not doing her hair in pink, you have to remember she's still Pink.

Gallery Roundup: Liebowitz, Beshty, Hoshino, Bon

Leviathans, vessels and bees

The Last Days of Disco

Nightranger’s welcome to the jungle

Primp'n Hos

Uncovering the goods in Hollywood Boulevard’s legendary stripper-ware shops

And I'm Telling You...

The Style Council's Oscar winners and losers

Grammy Shmammy

Paws for Effect

What to do in L.A. this week

Mandingo Versus Metal

Sista Act

When it comes to Sugar Water, Jill Scott knows how to share. (Props to Big Bird.)

Grokster Bites the Dust! Ho-hum

At least Modest Mouse got name-dropped in a Supreme Court case

White Man’s Burden

Eminem’s Encore falls into the gap between his obvious talent and his elevated stature

Shedding Light on the AIDS Blackout

The first-ever national African-American summit on AIDS grapples with the record numbers of blacks contracting the disease

You’ve Been Served

Reading tennis queen Serena Williams’ fashion statement

Stars and Bars

A night lover’s guide to party spots

Cold Tears

Nudge Nudge, Wink Wink

Goldmember and other double entendres

Letters

Chúntaro Power

El Gran Silencio mix it up in Monterrey