J Dilla

Fuck Guilty Pleasures: In Defense of Common

[Editor's Note: Fuck Guilty Pleasures celebrates the over-produced, commercial, artless, lowbrow music that we believe is genuinely worthwhile. Like, among the best music ever.] Rap only exists in extremes. Don't let the polite reviews of Lil Wayne's Carter IV fool you, for instance. It got lots of ... More >>

The Mystery of Shuggie Otis

Gone for nearly four decades, the celebrated singer-songwriter is back. But where has he been?

Miguel Atwood-Ferguson Has Classic Training and Modern Sensibilities

Tucked away in the heart of Koreatown lives Miguel Atwood-Ferguson. One of L.A.'s most revered instrumentalists, he picked up the violin at age 4, and 28 years later has collaborated with a diverse list of artists -- including Kobe Bryant, of all people, with whom he played on his very first profess ... More >>

Andrew Lojero Creates Timelessness on a Budget

[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 quite call Andrew Lojero a promoter. It does him a disservice to say that he "throws shows." What he does is closer to arranging love letters t ... More >>

What's the Difference Between the EDM Scene and the Beat Scene?

Dance music is all the rage these days. That time you thought giant robots were battling at your recent family reunion? Nope, that was just your 12-year-old niece listening to dubstep. See also: *Moon Rocks: The Best High on Earth *What the Hell Is Trap Music (and Why Is Dubstep Involved)? But no ... More >>

Alex Isley Has Her Own Thing

Alex Isley is the daughter of Ernie Isley, longtime member of soul legends The Isley Brothers. In the '70s and '80s, the group had hits like "Footsteps in the Dark," "For the Love of You," and "Between the Sheets." For Isley growing up in Los Angeles in the '90s, however, those revered voices were ... More >>

Flying Lotus' Nocturnal Visions

Once believing himself destined to fail, the DJ-producer returns triumphant on his new album

Music Picks: Kaskade, Dirty Projectors, Ondatrópica

The Pharcyde - The Roxy - 5/23/12

See also: *The Pharcyde's Bizarre Ride, 20 Years Later: 
An Appreciation *Top 20 Greatest L.A. Rap Albums Of All Time: The Complete List The Pharcyde The Roxy 5/23/12 Better than ... listening to the album. The city's been a little tense lately, honking on the freeway, power drinking, and tra ... More >>

The Pharcyde's Bizarre Ride, 20 Years Later: 
An Appreciation

See also: *J-Swift Made Big Hits 
With the Pharcyde 
Before Tragedy and Drugs 
Nearly Took Him Down *Top 20 Greatest L.A. Rap Albums Of All Time: The Complete List To fully appreciate the impact of The Pharcyde's "Ya Mama," you had to be in a junior high lunchroom in the spring of 1993. It w ... More >>

Miguel Atwood-Ferguson Birthday Bash - Blue Whale - 5/4/12

Miguel Atwood-Ferguson Birthday Bash Blue Whale 5-4-12 Better than...celebrating Craig Ferguson's birthday. Violist Miguel Atwood-Ferguson is a really a nice guy - a "beautiful cat" as they might say in advance jazz speak. He radiates an openness and familiarity that few musicians possess and that ... More >>

Robert Glasper's New Album Is Not Jazz. Who Cares?

Thirty-three-year-old Robert Glasper has been putting out fairly straight-forward jazz records since the mid-'00s. Last month, however, Houston-bred, New York-based pianist released a R&B and hip-hop indebted album, Black Radio, under the moniker the Robert Glasper Experiment. This has some jazz fan ... More >>

Music Picks: The Descendents, Stones Throw 15th Anniversary Show,, Princess Pangolin, Brian Setzer

Also, Guns N' Roses, Weingart, Stevie Wonder's House Full of Toys, and others

Erykah Badu - The Wiltern - 12/8/11

​See also: Erykah Badu Responds to D.O.C., Speaks On Their Private Life Together Erykah Badu The Wiltern 12/8/11 From landmark debut Baduizm -- which helped defined the neo-soul movement -- to the more recent electronic and hip-hop inspired material created with producers Madlib, 9th Wonder ... More >>

R.I.P. Jovan "J-1" Coleman, Drummer in Dam-Funk's Group Master Blazter

Jovan "J-1" Coleman, producer and drummer in Dam-Funk's band Master Blazter, passed away Sunday. He was 32 years old. The cause of death is unknown. Late yesterday afternoon Dam-Funk tweeted, "At this time we send our most deep condolences 2 family & friends of @THEDEER (aka J-1/Jovan Coleman) who ... More >>

Peanut Butter Wolf, Gaslamp Killer, Jason Bentley -- 11/11/11/ Party -- Eagle Rock Center for the Arts

Lainna FaderGaslamp Killer​Peanut Butter Wolf, Gaslamp Killer, Jason Bentley, Hyasynth and others 11/11/11/ Party Eagle Rock Center for the Arts Since 2006, Stones Throw label head Peanut Butter Wolf has specialized in numerically-aligned calendar day parties. Last night's party, which went f ... More >>

R.I.P. Alphonso "Fonce" Mizell

Alphonso "Fonce" Mizell​Alphonso "Fonce" Mizell, member of Motown hit-makers The Corporation and half of the production duo The Mizell Brothers, has passed away. He was 68 years old. The cause of death is unknown. Mizell was recruited by writer-producer Deke Richards to join The Corporation, ... More >>

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

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

Rock Picks: DJ Spinna, Bodega Girls, Andre Nickatina, Elevated Suspects

Also, Hilary Hahn, People Under the Stairs, KROQ Almost Acoustic Xmas and others

Over the Weekend: Rock the Bells Hip-Hop Festival, featuring Snoop, Wu-Tang, Lauryn Hill

Kasey StokesMethod Man of Wu-Tang Clan​As it turns out, you should not fuck tha police. Our Rock the Bells road trip began promisingly: left for San Bernardino early, avoided traffic. We'd maintained a cool objectivity all week, but now were free to exclaim over the lineup, a mix of ones-to- ... 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 >>

MP3: Tortoise Goes Gangsta with 'Drums,' Feat. Guilty Simpson (Plus, Koushik Remix)

Guilty Simpson meets Bumps on "Drums"​Over the band's storied 20-year career, Chicago post-rock giants Tortoise have covered a great deal of stylistic ground. Jazz, electronic, Kraut, dub, and the avant-garde have been fair game, but only on the occasional remix have the efforts of those gif ... More >>

Flying Lotus Rising

Could spiritual electronica be the next great California sound?

Day 2: Hannibal Moncrief, Hot Chip & Flying Lotus & The Ascent of Nerd-Chic

​ Hannibal Moncrief saw the future last night. No, he didn't brew mushroom tea and watch Doc Brown tinker with the fabric of the space-time continuum. And no, he didn't spend three hours inside the glowing pink origami bird mumbling the phrase, "cool colors, man." The double-stacks of white ... More >>

Hypnotic Brass Miguel Atwood-Ferguson Ensemble Shake the Explex

Hypnotic Brass Miguel Atwood-Ferguson Ensemble Shake the Explex

Rock Picks: Mulatu Astatke, The Soft Pack, Katy Perry, Merle Haggard

Also, Cut Chemist, NOFX, Hal Blaine’s 80th bash and more

Thursday Night Music Stuff in LA: The Monks film at Silent Movie Theater, DFA at the Roxy, Rootdown Soundclash at Little Temple

I love LA. Love it love it love it (except when Indie 103 gets tossed off the airwaves). One reason: nights like tonight, when the music offerings are so far-flung and wide-open that my proto-punk gene is being pulled one direction, my turntablist strand is being pulled another, and my disco-house b ... More >>

Question in the Form of an Answer: An Interview with Chef Raekwon

No introduction necessary. Q: So what brings you out to LA? A: Just business brought me out here. I have an office set up out here and we’re just out here networking and keeping our minds at peace and just working on the album, staying in the studio. I’m doing a lot of things—dealing wit ... More >>

The Many Moods of Rock the Bells

Hip-hop's been in a lull. Meet the new torchbearers

Kiss and Makeup

In the Ghetto; Peanut Butter party; English food; Capture scratch

An Interview With Pete Rock

Pete Rock needs no introduction. His new album NY's Finest drops on Tuesday. While it might not be a classic on the level of a Soul Survivors or Mecca & The Soul Brother, it's a strong record with occasionally great moments. But buyer beware: Jim Jones yells "floooosssssiiiin'" no less than fo ... More >>

Record Reviews: Jonny Greenwood, Bishop Lamont, Melchior Productions

Blood soundtrack, Caltroit mixtape and No Disco Future

Bishop Lamont-The Next Great West Coast Hope?

I...listened to all that Death Row stuff....and Lords Of The Underground, Busta Rhymes, Redman and Keith Murray, where your takes had to be so clean and ill to get off the phonetics that you were dropping. Your lines had to be crisp. Other cats don’t come from that school. It took me studying R ... More >>

Rock Picks

For the week of Feb. 8 - 15

Oops! Year-Ended Again!

Music Picks

For the week of July 20 - 27

Garth Trinidad & Friends

GARTH TRINIDAD & FRIENDS “Chocolate City” birthday at The Roxy, February 10

Electromash

Into the Mix

Black Steel

Common in commotion

Thieves Like Us

Stalking classic rock with the Charlatans UK