Gustavo Turner

Inside Insane Clown Posse's Genius Media Operation

See also: *Insane Clown Posse Calls the FBI's Actions "A Public Lynching of Our Name" *Insane Clown Posse: Exclusive Interview When I started as LA Weekly music editor last summer, I was fairly committed to not covering Insane Clown Posse. After all, we'd put them on the cover earlier that year and ... More >>

Lars Von Trier's Zentropa at LACMA

The Five Best "Awful" Prince Albums

Gustavo TurnerPrince, wielding the world's largest metaphor​How can an artist be hailed as one of the greatest of all time, when a big chunk of his later career is dismissed or hated on by his fans? Sure, lots of young firecrackers age into old snoozes and perhaps this means they're not the gr ... More >>

L.A. Observed Preview

Thom Andersen and others present experimental nonfiction films about Los Angeles

Inni: Sigus Ros' Second Movie

Falling James' Gig of the Week: The Middle Class and Kid Congo & the Pink Monkey Birds at the Echoplex, 6/24

Falling JamesThe Middle Class​So much of punk rock is centered around nostalgia these days, whether it's played by modern corporate pretenders aping their elders in watered-down, insipid ways or the surviving elders themselves, whose reunions are often too sluggish and self-congratulatory to e ... More >>

Ben Westhoff Named LA Weekly Music Editor

Ben Westhoff​Ben Westhoff, a New York music writer and author of two recent books, has been named music editor of LA Weekly. He fills an opening created earlier this year when music editor Gustavo Turner decided to return to writing full-time, becoming a contributing writer. Westhoff has writ ... More >>

Music Picks: Alison Krauss, Flying Lotus, My Morning Jacket

Also, Jaga Jazzist, Kid Cudi, Baths and others

Our Exclusive "Interview" with R. Kelly

Randee St. NicholasMr. Kelly ponders our hard-hitting questions​"Interview" by Rebecca Haithcoat and Gustavo Turner. R. Kelly is a god-level genius and he's coming to town this week. He puts on some of the most amazing performances we've seen, with a kind of old-school showbiz know-how rarely ... More >>

Music Picks: The Undertones, Prince, Eternal Summers, Check Yo Ponytail 2

Also, Earth, Wind & Fire, Tinie Tempah, Arctic Monkeys, Woodsman and others

LA Press Club Awards Finalists Announced: LA Weekly Receives Several Nods

Journalist of the Year nominee Patrick Range McDonald.​LA Weekly dominated the design category of the Los Angeles Press Club's 53rd SoCal Journalism Awards Finalists, announced today. Staff writer Patrick Range McDonald was named as a Journalist of the Year finalist and saw his piece on parent ... More >>

Music Picks: Of Montreal, Kristeen Young, Sofia Gubaidulina,

Also, Federico Aubele, Fancy Space People, Golden State and others

UPDATE: 5 New Prince Shows Added!

Gustavo TurnerPrince at the Inglewwod Forum on the opening night of the 21 Nite Stand tour​ [UPDATE, 1:30 pm: the show for Sunday the 15th was incorrectly announced. There are 5 Prince shows added. See below.] LiveNation has just released the following announcement: Prince, one of the most d ... More >>

Secret Afterparties and Surprise Set-Lists: Prince Returns to the Forum Tonight (and Sheila E Talks to Us Tomorrow)

Gustavo TurnerPrince at the Inglewood Forum​ So, Prince is back for another bout of his 21 Nite Stand at the Inglewood Forum in LA. He'll be performing tonight, Thursday April 28, tomorrow, Friday, April 29 and Saturday, April 30 (yes, there are still tickets and you should get some; trust us ... More >>

NWA Reunion Today at the Santa Monica Pier: Here Are All the Details

​ Everyone has been asking us all the details about the NWA reunion show that's supposed to happen today at the Santa Monica Pier. Here's what we know:

Page Two: A Young Person's Guide to Odd Future

The Complete Discography (till this afternoon)

Music Picks: Roseanne Cash, Theophilus London, Acid Mothers Temple

Also, George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic, Raphael Saadiq, Wu Man and others

Music Picks: Breakestra, Slang Chickens, the Muffs, Miguel Atwood-Ferguson

Also Meth Leppard, Tennis With Lord Huron, Kid Infinity and others

This weekend: Best Coast, Stars, the Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Fistful of Mercy, Mayer Hawthorne, Junip, Pennywise, Ghostface Killah

Best Coast​"I went from being a college dropout to being NME's top-four cool list," Best Coast's Bethany Cosentino tells the Weekly's own Gustavo Turner in last week's cover story. "It's just bizarre the way life kind of turns and changes sometimes." Yeah, we'd say so. The L.A. trio's modest ... More >>

Music Picks: Amanda Jo Williams, Usher, Masaki Batoh, Procol Harum

Also, Dustin Wong, Greg Dulli, Ghostface Killah

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

Also, Combichrist, Papercranes, Simone White and others

NIGHTRANGER: Monster's Ball

Music Picks: Ornette Coleman, Gary Numan, Natacha Atlas

Also, Marnie Stern, Kristian Hoffman, Elton John & Leon Russell

R.I.P. Ari Up of the Slits, Dead at 48

The Slit's Ari Up was 48 years old.​Terrible news. Reggae-punk icon Ari Up has died, according to John Lydon. The Slits singer, born Ariane Forster, was 48 years old. Lydon, who is married to Forster's mother Nora, announced the following on his website: John and Nora have asked us to let ev ... More >>

MORE ON "FAMILY PROSTITUTE"

Cut Chemist: Too Many DJs

Call yourself a DJ 'cause you bought two turntables and a mixer? World-class L.A. DJ is putting you on notice

Q&A: The FYF Fest

Music Picks: Sunset Junction Street Fair, Lucinda Williams, Y & T, Tanya Morgan

Also, GZA, Jimmy Webb, Fol Chen and others

Music Picks: Ida & Michael Hurley, Rasputina, Hercules & the Love Affair

Also, Natalie Merchant, Earthless, Seu Jorge & Almaz and others

Over the Weekend: Joanna Newsom at the Orpheum

Gustavo TurnerDifficult? Complex? Nah, just one-of-a-kind: Joanna Newsom​Joanna Newsom presents a challenge for the reviewer. So much of music writing is anchored in comparison, from the facile (this artist is so-and-so meets so-and-so), to the workmanlike (placing the work in a general or par ... More >>

Music Picks: Circa Survive, Joanna Newsom, El-P, Roots Roadhouse

Also, Scorpions, Viza, the Park and others

Music Picks: Phosphorescent, Bomba Estereo, Gangi, Pablo Heras-Casado

Also, Jimmy Cliff, Suzy Williams, Funeral Party and others

Music Picks: Cobra Lilies, Gaslight Anthem, Shelby Lynne, Die Antwoord

Also, The Dead Weather, New Pornographers, the Swell Season and others

Darby's Last Stand

Remembering the night when the Germs' singer led his band to one final triumph

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

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

Last Night: The New Lineup of Jane's Addiction @ Bardot

Gustavo TurnerJane's'n'Roses!​ Historic (i.e., pre-Chinese Democracy debacle) Guns'n'Roses bassist Duff McKagan debuted last night holding the low-end for Jane's Addiction in a small gig at Hollywood club Bardot. The band, dubbed by the fans Jane's Addiction 6.0 or Jane's'n'Roses, sounded hap ... More >>

Music Picks: Stagecoach Festival, Yoshitake Expe, Hole, Chicha Libre

Also, Aquaserge, Norah Jones, Dr. Dog and others

Day 3: Coachella WINs and FAILs (featuring Charlotte Gainsbourg, Thom Yorke, Phoenix, etc.)!

Gustavo TurnerThe Great Thom Yorke in the Sky​ Sunday was the hottest day of the Coachella weekend and it felt like the most crowded, a change from previous years when (thanks to the one-day passes) the last day had shown a welcome self-weeding-out of the masses. In terms of festival logisti ... More >>

Day 2: The Gobi Tent Can't Contain Beth Ditto's Gossip

Gustavo TurnerNumber 1 in our hearts: Beth Ditto's Gossip​ "This is how I know I'm too big for my britches," joked Gossip's Beth Ditto between songs. "I can't possibly wake up before 2 [pm] to see the man who made me what I am." She was talking about John Waters, who was watching her amazing ... More >>

Day 2: John Waters Is a Great Role Model for Young America (No, Seriously)

Gustavo TurnerStars! They have trouble with reception just like us!: John Waters backstage at Gossip's set​ [Report by Justin Jasper] Once Know as the "Prince of Puke", John Waters has become something of an elder statesman of fringe Americana. His one-man shows have repositioned him from cu ... More >>

Music Picks: Gary Numan, Ana Moura, Mark Sultan, XBXRX

Also, California E.A.R. Unit, Bonobo, Mr. Gnome, Grouper and others

Music Picks: Liz Pappademas, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Mad Professor, Bill Frisell

Also, Taylor Swift, Los Tres, Saint Motel, David Allan Coe and others

David Lynch Double Feature

​ Tonight the New Beverly kicks off a three-day run of a David Lynch double feature: the underrated/underseen Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, followed by the wide critical consensus choice for the best film of last decade, Mulholland Drive. To mark the occasion, our music editor Gustavo Turner ... More >>

Music Picks: Soweto Gospel Choir, Paul McCartney, Melissa Auf der Maur

Also, Jay-Z, Metric, Triorganico, Air and others

Manny Mania

West Coast Sound: A Stroke Chokes (And Nearly Goes Broke)

Redemption Songs: Mose Allison Live @ Largo at the Coronet (1/17)

Mose Allison has always been a misfit. Not a misfit in the sense of a James Dean or even a Chet Baker (I mean, if Bruce Weber does a documentary on your meaningful junkie wrinkles, you've found some kind of "fit"), but a true unclassifiable. After all, the blues are rumored to be something the devil ... More >>

Brian Eno Has Plenty of Time for Coldplay But No Time for Oscar Paperwork

"Hey Oscar! Take your paperwork and shove it up your gold-plated arse!" screams Brian Eno​We fess up to not having paid much attention to the current film The Lovely Bones, a remake of 1990's Ghost with the Patrick Swayze part played by a prepubescent girl and the Demi Moore part played by Mar ... More >>

Snoop Dogg Endorses Cupcake-Shaped Beanies

INT. SMOKY ROOM DEEP WITHIN THE MUSIC INDUSTRY HEADQUARTERS - NIGHT The late 1990s. A group of shady white guys are sitting around a boardroom-type table. Framed gold and platinum records all around them. JENKINS: Wait, let me see if I get this right--we're gonna rebrand Calvin as a kid-friendly p ... More >>

Rage Against The Machine Win UK Chart Upset, Issue Statement, Plan Free 'Thank You' Concert

"No [sour] grapes!"​Typically, your standard-issue Christmas miracle concerns such causes as peace on Earth, but willfully launching a nearly 20-year-old single with "Killing" in its title to the top of the charts during the holiday season? Well, we're not quite sure what to call that, but Rag ... More >>