Frank Zappa

Fanatics! We Are Onto Something With This Playlist

RADIO BROADCAST #219 06-09-13 See also: Henry Rollins: The Interview! Anger, Drugs and the Black Flag Reunion Fanatics! Good grief, we are onto something with this playlist. Celebrating the Stooges being in Southern California this weekend, we will begin both hours with Raw Power tracks. Alas, t ... More >>

The Best Concerts to See In L.A. This Week

Don't forget to check our constantly-updated Los Angeles Concert Calendar Tuesday, May 28 Lissie HOLLYWOOD FOREVER CEMETERY When Elisabeth Corrin Maurus first came to attention with early releases Catching a Tiger and EP Why You Runnin', her folk-pop songs had a restlessly rootsy intimacy. Lissie ... More >>

Fanatics! Henry Rollins' KCRW Show Tomorrow Night: Marnie Stern, Hendrix, Bowie and a Very Special Guest

KCRW BROADCAST #209 03-30-13 Fanatics! I am well aware that you might be getting tired of reading that "tonight's show is amazing" week after week, but what can I say, tonight is a great one. For instance, look at our first track. That's right, Fanatic, thirty years ago, the Birthday Party live at ... More >>

Rock Star Fashions, Without the Douchiness

[Editor's note: Weekly scribe Jeff Weiss's column, "Bizarre Ride," appears on West Coast Sound every Wednesday. His archives are available here.] Almost everyone has once wanted to dress like a rock star, but most people realize how absurd they look in leather pants and sequins. Wisely, then, Holly ... More >>

The Ax Man Cometh

The Five Best Concerts in L.A. This Weekend

Friday, January 4 Los Cincos, Silver Daggers, et al, at The Smell's Quinceañera THE SMELL When a truly DIY, all-ages space lasts for 15 years, you don't celebrate a birthday -- you celebrate a victory! So let's salute L.A.'s Smell, which has survived and even thrived to become a hometown instituti ... More >>

Music Picks: Lord Huron, Matthewdavid, Smell 15th Anniversary Party

Music Picks: No Doubt, Nikki Hill, Alice Cooper

The Gaslamp Killer Confronts Tragedy and Finds His Way Forward

Ariel Pink Is the King of Whatever

Raised in Beverly Hills, he became the preeminent Eastside satirical musical madman

Fanatics! Henry Rollins' KCRW Show Tomorrow Night: L.A.'s Experimental Punk Band Bark Bark Bark

KCRW Broadcast #148 for Saturday, January 14, 2012 Fanatics! As you know, I am on the road and will be for some time. Engineer X, the Young Will Bentley and I got together recently at the Auxiliary Wing of the Jasonic Temple and put together a fine show for you all. As you can see below, we have a ... More >>

Fanatics! Henry Rollins' KCRW Show Tomorrow Night: Three for the Price of One -- Engineer X, the Young Will Bentley, and Henry

KCRW Broadcast #147 for Saturday, January 7, 2012 Fanatics! Just so you know, this set was specifically engineered and put together with great care in order to bring you the maximum enjoyment as we gather together live for the first time this year. 2012 promises to be interesting to say the least ... More >>

The Best Los Angeles Jazz Concerts of 2011

Blue Whale​Walter Smith III Blue Whale, December 17 Joon Lee, the modest personality behind Little Tokyo's Blue Whale, is an indispensible part of the local jazz community who books some of the most daring acts in Los Angeles. Saxophonist Walter Smith III, a hard-swinging transplant, was one ... More >>

Fanatics! Henry Rollins' KCRW Show Tomorrow Night: Recovering From A Stooges Coma

​See also: Henry Rollins: The Column! Is Raw Power the American answer to Exile on Main St.? KCRW Broadcast #144 for Saturday, December 10 Fanatics! What a show! It's the mother of all shows. It's gigantic and fantastic! It is extraordinary and wonderful in every way. It hits all the marks a ... More >>

The Three Best Karaoke Bars in L.A.

Tiffany Rose We can't promise James Franco doing karaoke in drag, but you never know​Did you catch our Best Of issue and snag our free Best Of app? Even if you did, we're betting you didn't make it through all of our write-ups; there are about a billion. So in the coming weeks we'll walk you t ... More >>

Henry Rollins: The Column! Henry Speaks On His Consciousness-Expanding Trip to the Library of Congress With Ian MacKaye

[Look for your weekly fix from the one and only Henry Rollins right here on West Coast Sound every Thursday, and come back tomorrow for the awesomely annotated playlist for his Saturday KCRW broadcast.] See also: Henry Rollins: The Column! Copping MP3s For 
Free Is Not Cool I have just wrapped o ... More >>

Fanatics! Henry Rollins' KCRW Show Tomorrow Night: A Time Change and Curtis Mayfield

​KCRW BROADCAST #131 for Saturday, September 10 Fanatics! I'm writing to you from Port Au Prince, Haiti. I have been here for about a week now and tomorrow will be flying back to Los Angeles, getting a few hours of sleep, and then coming into the studio at our new time of 8 pm to do the show ... More >>

Sun Araw and Warm Climate - Hard Rock Cafe - 8/3/11

Sam BlochCameron Stallones (Sun Araw) and Caitlin C. Mitchell (Warm Climate)​Sun Araw Warm Climate Hard Rock Café in Hollywood 8/3/11 Better Than: The Elvis impersonator at Palm Thai. "Had we known it was gonna be like this, we might have done it a little differently." Cameron Stallones ... More >>

Music Picks: NKOTBSB, Mixed Message, Earthless

Also, Catwalk, Holly Miranda, Darwin Dees, and others

Henry Rollins: The Column! Sound Trekking

Timothy Norris​[The one and only Henry Rollins contributes a weekly column and far-reaching reportage to the music section of the LA Weekly. Look for your weekly Henry Rollins fix right here on West Coast Sound every week and make sure to tune in to Henry's KCRW radio show every Saturday eveni ... More >>

Captain Beefheart (Don Van Vliet), Dead at 69

Captain Beefheart (1941-2010)​ Don Van Vliet (1941-2010), the genius surreal poet, painter and blues performer best known as "Captain Beefheart" died today. He was a month away from turning 70. Van Vliet had retired from music in the early 1980s and had lived a reclusive existence for the la ... More >>

Captain Beefheart: The Legendary 1980 Profile by Lester Bangs

Captain Beefheart artwork for Doc at the Radar Station album ad (1980)​[As we reported this afternoon, Captain Beefheart, Don Van Vliet, died today at 69. We already posted a list of the "Top 14 Reasons Why Captain Beefheart Was a True American Genius" by Beefheartologist Rob Chalfen. You can ... More >>

MUSIC PICKS: Ruben Guevara, Buika, Bill Frisell's Beautiful Dreamers

Also, Combichrist, Papercranes, Simone White and others

You Can't Go Home Again: Henry Rollins on Being Back in the USA, Autumnal Feelings and his Favorite Thomas Wolfe Passage!

Maura LanahanOur eminent columnist, Mr. Henry Rollins!​[The one and only Henry Rollins will be contributing a weekly column and far-reaching reportage to the music section of the LA Weekly. Look for your weekly Henry Rollins fix right here on West Coast Sound every Friday and make sure to tune ... More >>

Open Mike Eagle Unapologetically Talks About "Art Rap"

[Make sure to read Jeff Weiss' piece on Open Mike Eagle, from the LA Weekly print edition.] Open Mike Eagle - I Rock from Mush Records on Vimeo. In the first ten minutes of his acidic and excellent debut, "Unapologetic Art Rap," Open Mike Eagle samples Pavement and sings a portion of TV on the Ra ... More >>

On the Cover: The Elusive Madlib Gives His First U.S. Interview in Four Years

Star Foreman​For this week's L.A. Weekly cover story, writer Jeff Weiss pens an intimate piece on L.A.'s own oft-elusive living legend, Madlib. We visit the producer in his hallowed studio, "surrounded by samplers, CDs, cassette decks, 4- and 8-track recorders, keyboards and drum kits -- no c ... More >>

When Zappa Met Schoenberg: An Interview with Ojai Festival Programmer George Benjamin

This Sexy Katy Perry Bikini Photo wants you to read a great interview about the Ojai Festival of contemporary music!​The 64th Ojai Music Festival takes place June 10-13. A four-day series of concerts, symposia and auxiliary events set amid the tranquil oaks of Ojai Valley (also known as Califo ... More >>

Recession Be Damned: Best Theater of 2009

A thriving year for stage in L.A.

YOU HAVE FOUND IT!

Top 5 Topless Groupies: Women Who Bared It All For Music (NSFW)

​Rock-n-roll and breasts often go (tee-hee) hand in hand. In fact, Motley Crue drummer and groupie magnet, Tommy Lee, has this rule about coming into his dressing room: "You're not allowed in unless you remove an article of clothing. And I'm not talking about your socks. It's pretty f***ing c ... More >>

Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeroes: First Radio Performance This Morning on KCRW

West Coast Sound has had the great fortune of witnessing the rise of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes from nearly the beginning. We saw their raucous first Troubadour gig in the summer of 2007 when Edward Sharpe (aka Alex Ebert) and Jade Castrinos were exuding the joy and thrill of new love - ... More >>

Revisiting LA Music History: Guns N Roses' 'Appetite for Destruction' Studio

Nikki DarlingThe studio formerly known as Rumbo, where "Rocket Queen" was recorded It was a time when the Valley lingered somewhere between Frank Zappa's ramblings and a real life version of Paul Thomas Anderson's Boogie Nights. A mix of agriculture, dust, white wagon wheels, diners, car dealershi ... More >>

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

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

Robert Plant Rules Out Led Zeppelin Reunion

Rock critics speak, art mavens debate, Mideast authors talk peace

From Decor to Door Whores

A peek inside some Hollywood hot spots. Plus, LCD Soundsystem and Mondo Hollywood shows

Jazzed? But Not Motivated?

The week in fun, June 27-July 3

Stadium Devildare: Battle for G*dzilla X

Free-food Alert!

What to do in Los Angeles this week

Bookworm in a Tequila Bottle: 2007's Most Intriguing Music Books

Oh, those bed-wetting, penis-injecting, 43-person gangbang days of yore

People Who Need People

What to do in LA this week

Mommies and Tommy's

The Contemporaries

Solo Sax

Plas Johnson and his eight-bar miracles

Good Vibrations

Some great sessions

All Tomorrow’s Parties Today

Matt Groening talks outsider music and party planning with a fellow gearhead

Droning Man

Cliff Martinez: The buzz

That Other ’70s Show

Mas Better Party

From a to Tea

A guide to ready-to-drink iced teas

How To Snort an Airplane

The raunch and roll of rock autobiography