Brixton plc

Music Picks: Coachella, Merle Haggard, Spiritualized

San Diego Beer Week: Top 5 Events Worth The Drive South

To most Angelenos, San Diego is the kid sister of SoCal cities. But to beer lovers, San Diego is Mecca. Ten years ago, when L.A. was still trapped by endless Bud and Miller tap handles, San Diego brewers were over-hopping their suds, blowing palletes (and minds) and defining an entirely new west coa ... More >>

Music Picks: Bettye LaVette, Johnny Thunders, Johnny Hallyday

Also, Kate McGarry, Enter Shikari, Hype Williams and others

Kutmah's 
Deportation Blues

[Editor's note: Weekly scribe Jeff Weiss's column, "Bizarre Ride," appears on West Coast Sound every Wednesday. His archives are available here.] You can't sort 30 years of life in 30 seconds. But that's what confronted Kutmah on the morning of May 5, 2010. Except that he didn't know it at the time ... More >>

Music Picks: Iggy & the Stooges, Morrissey, Esa-Pekka Salonen

Also, Henry Rollins, Liz Pappademas, Greg Bissonette Quintet

Music Picks: Fucked Up, Dolly Parton, Ty Segal, Fitz & the Tantrums,

Also, Soundgarden, Iceage, Earth, Wu Lyf and others

"Hardcore Is a Complete, Legitimate California-born Music Form": An Interview with "American Hardcore" Author Steven Blush, Who Speaks Today at Book Soup with Keith Morris and Others

​ In his 2001 compendium, American Hardcore: A Tribal History, New York writer and former promoter Steven Blush all but dispensed with your dad's glamorized spit-scabs-and-safety-pin punk, instead focusing on hundreds of DIY, anarchic hardcore bands from the scene's peak between 1980 and 198 ... More >>

Punked in Spain

Alex Cox returns to his disaster film Straight to Hell

Tonight: The Soft Pack, Kurt Vile, Nosaj Thing, Dean Wareham, Tim Kasher, KT Tunstall, Sonny & the Sunsets, Sabrosa Purr

The Soft Pack​During their year of touring dangerously, San Diego-bred, L.A.-based quartet the Soft Pack have succeeded in getting everyone to forget their old band name ... you know ... the one that people misunderstood ... and they tired of answering questions about ... what was that name, a ... More >>

This weekend: HARD Haunted Mansion, Ninja Tune 20th Anniversary, KCRW Masquerade, Of Montreal, Stone Temple Pilots

Perou.co.ukUnderworld​Whether you're all about the costumes or just in it for the tunes, Halloween weekend offers some massive show-going choices ... starting with, well, something very close to a massive. HARD Haunted Mansion, with an eclectic electro lineup including Bloody Beetroots, Busy ... More >>

This weekend: Sufjan Stevens, Interpol, the Temper Trap, Shakira, Monster Massive, Bobby Brown

Denny RenshawSufjan Stevens​If you take in Sufjan Stevens' shows in Los Angeles this weekend expecting some warm-and-fuzzy orchestral pop from a banjo-toting folkie, you've got another thing coming. In fact, dancing shoes may be in order. Stevens' newest album The Age of Adz is full of insist ... More >>

This weekend: Plastic Ono Band, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, School of Seven Bells, the Avett Brothers, Fountains of Wayne

Yoko Ono​John Lennon would have turned 70 next week, and among the events celebrating the legendary Beatle are two shows this weekend featuring a reconstituted Plastic Ono Band, the loose collective of musicians Lennon assembled 40 years ago. His widow Yoko Ono and son Sean Lennon (the musica ... More >>

This weekend: Rx Bandits, Band of Horses, Vampire Weekend, Muse, Abbot Kinney Festival, Epicenter Festival, Willie Nelson, Rancid, Waved Out II, Helmet

Rx Bandits​Few would have thought that the Orange County ska-punk kids who a decade ago started playing as the Pharmaceutical Bandits would grow up to be a Coachella band. But the quartet now known Rx Bandits has, their party in the desert last spring certifying Matt Embree and crew as musica ... More >>

This Weekend: Sunset Junction and Other Functions (Like Service With Rev. Al Green)

Al Green​You've perhaps debated the lineup, read Nightranger's survival guide, gotten the reasoned perspective from Falling James, seen a certain local blog's mixtape and even tried to gauge the hippie traffic patterns. You either have the compunction for Sunset Junction, or you don't. Fact ... More >>

Tonight: Betty LaVette, Jews on Vinyl Revue, Eastern Conference Champions, Wallpaper, Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Jets Overhead

Elizabeth FladunBetty LaVette​One of the best Betty LaVette stories came out of the veteran soul singer's performance a couple years ago at the Kennedy Center Honors in Washington, D.C. In a nod to one of the year's honorees, the Who, LaVette delivered a show-stopping rendition of "Love Reign ... More >>

Music Picks: Evelyn Evelyn, Booker T. Jones, Kaki King, Pete Rock

Also, the National, Entrance Band, Noodles, Bunbury and others

Music Picks: Neil Innes, Korean Music Festival 8, Avi Buffalo, Lupe Fiasco, Coheed and Cambria

Also, No Age, Sheila E & the Escovedo Family, Greg Laswell and others

Music Picks: Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri, Bad Religion, Non

Also, The Wedding Present, Phil Alvin and others

Theater Reviews: Proof, A Song at Twilight, West

Also, The Pee-wee Herman Show, The Kings of the Kilburn High Road and more

West

Stage Raw: Getting Our Fringe On

COMPREHENSIVE THEATER LISTINGSNEW THEATER REVIEWS This week's Theater Feature on Camelot and Baal. GETTING OUR FRINGE ON I've heard it said at numerous receptions and parties that the reason L.A. has so much bad theater is because it has so much bad theater - that less would be more. Fringe Fe ... More >>

Stage Raw: West

COMPREHENSIVE THEATER LISTINGSNEW THEATER REVIEWS This week's Theater Feature on Camelot and Baal. NEW REVIEW GO WEST ​Photo by SpeedgraflexSteven Berkoff's 1983 tale of adrenaline, lust, rage, and violence amongst a group of young thugs in 1960s London is written in modified metrical verse, ... More >>

The Clash's Coolest Dance Floor Moments

There are those who think that The Clash was at its best during its early punk rock days and others who believe that the band didn't hit its creative stride until London Calling, when the dance floor-friendly rhythm section began to truly take shape. Since this writer falls into the latter category, ... More >>

Jason Reitman's Concert Highlights: David Crosby's Live Gig at Rob Lowe's House (And More)

Editor's note: This week director Jason Reitman is guest blogging at West Coast Sound. Reitman, whose new film, Up in the Air, was nominated for six Golden Globes earlier in the week (including Best Director and Best Screenplay nominations for Reitman ... congrats!), is also a pretty big music head, ... More >>

Rock Picks: THE JOE KROWN TRIO, THE FIERY FURNACES, THE LILYS, MR. GNOME

Also, Simian Mobile Disco, Wolfmother, El Perro del Mar and others

Date of the Week: Warehouse Walkabout (Guns, Pool, Pub Food)

So, it happened. You got a date. It could be a first date, or maybe just a night out with your special someone, but either way you're going to need a plan. Los Angeles offers an endless array of nighttime activity and it's easy to be paralyzed by all the possibilities. That's where Squid Ink's Date ... More >>

Rock Picks: Quantic and his Combo Bárbaro, Elvis Costello, Rock & Roll Summer Circus

Also, Flaming Lips, Clipse, Silk Flowers, the Muffs and others

Music Picks: Sky Saxon Tribute, Daddy Kev, Grace Jones, The Mekons

Also, Jarvis Cocker, Regina Spektor, Ida Maria, Themselves and others.

Rock Picks: Jon Brion, Andrew Bird, Tortoise, Vice Squad

Also, Beyonce, the Datsuns, the Veils, the Germs and others

Rock Picks: The Kills, Lady Sovereign, Fischerspooner, the Dears

Also, Sun Kil Moon, St. Vincent, Alexandra Hope and others

Kaki King Gigs Redondo Beach Tonight for Instrumental Guitar Show, Talks Working with Timbaland and Margaret Cho

This morning we got an intriguing email from the wonderful guitarist/singer Kaki King's people reminding us of her upcoming show in Redondo Beach on Sunday night. Part of the email contained a funny little anecdote from Ms. King about her to-do list and tour: Greetings, Comrades! I'm looki ... More >>

Indie 103.1 Announces Move to Internet-Only Broadcasting, Cease Transmitting Over the Airwaves Immediately

Indie 103.1 FM, the lauded, independent-streaked commercial rock radio station, just announced on the air that the station will stop broadcasting over the airwaves effective immediately, and will become an Internet-only station. The station has already updated its website to reflect the move. It's ... More >>

Rock Picks: Scarcity of Tanks, the Walkmen, Chromeo

Also, the Ettes, the Dogs, George Jones and others

Rock Picks: The Little Ones, Eagle and Talon, Elliott Murphy

Also, Ida Maria, Sara Lov, John Legend and others

Rock Picks: George Clinton, the Kris Special, Banyan

Also, Eleni Mandell, Tom Verlaine & Jimmy Rip and others

Rock Picks: The Duke Spirit, New York Dolls, Lil Wayne

Also, Darker My Love, X, Legal Weapon, and others

Rock Picks: Amanda Palmer, Metallica, War Tapes

Also, J.D. Souther, Von Iva, Juliette Commagere and others

Rock Picks: AC/DC, Dressy Bessy, Meshell Ndegeocello

Also, the Submarines, Ruben Guevara, the Coup and more

Rock Picks: Holly Golightly, Sergio Mendes, Wu-Tang Clan

Also, the Hanson Brothers, Oasis, Azure Ray and others

Rock Picks: The Kooks, Neil Young, Jerry Cole Memorial

Also, Kaki King, The Notwist and more

Diplo, Santogold, Cutty Ranks Re-imagine Black Flag's "Six Pack" (MP3)

There's only one CD that matters in my car right now, and that's Diplo's raucous and sharp recent Santogold mixtape, called Top Ranking. It moves all over the place, from early '60s girl groups -- a stunning reworking of the Dixie Cups "Iko Iko" -- to 60s rocksteady (Desmond Dekker's "Shanty Town" ... More >>

Pre- and Postmodern

L.A. WEEKLY DETOUR FEST, FEATURING QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE, BECK, PEEPING TOM, BASEMENT JAXX, RED KROSS and others in the streets of downtown L.A., October 7

Sex and Drugs and Sex and Rock & Roll

Michael Winterbottom’s monomaniacally intoxicating 9 Songs

The World Outside, Again

Never mind the bollocks, reissues can be newer than new